New York Times Takes Up Hate Crimes
The New York Times on Thursday took up the issue of attacks on homeless people. The problem is especially acute in Florida, and the National Coalition has taken up the challenge by putting together a homeless curriculum as well as a Statewide VISTA program to educate young people against violence. Despite all the attacks, not one state has passed a homeless hate crimes bill. Five states rejected the idea in 2007. Ohio will take up the issue in 2008 with a bill introduced by State Representative Michael Foley.
We see the need for this bill after a heinous attack in January in Akron. According to the Plain Dealer, five individuals kidnapped a homeless person, burned the man, and assaulted him over two days. The victim, John Rice, spent three days in the hospital and will need continued medical treatment. One of the strange correlations is that the meaner the City is to homeless people the more likely that citizens will attack homeless people. Florida has repeatedly been selected by the National Coalition as one of the meanest states in the United States toward homeless people. The Coalition gave Akron an award last year as the Roadblock of the Year for their horrible panhandling law. It seems as though when a city passes a law at a specific population like homeless people, it is a signal to the citizens especially young people that it is open season on that group. It is almost like it is a signal to a disturbed, unstable, and frightened group that the municipal government will ignore crimes against this largely forgotten and isolated population residing on the streets of everyone of the major cities in the United States.
If you talk to your local Ohio State representative ask them to support HR 419, the homeless hate crimes bill. It would allow prosecutors to ask for additional penalties if a person is convicted of a hate crime against homeless people. Thanks.
Brian Davis
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Correction and Ione Biggs
Teach In and Biggs Award
The next Teach In is actually set for Thursday February 28, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. This is a 3 hour tour of homelessness inCleveland and a chance to hear from people who have moved out of homelessness in Cleveland
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The next Teach In is actually set for Thursday February 28, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. This is a 3 hour tour of homelessness in
Also, the Coalition is announcing today submissions for the Ione Biggs Social Justice Award. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless would like to recognize the amazing work of Ione Biggs and keep her legacy alive in Greater Cleveland. We have partnered with representatives from Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice, the Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland Tenants Organization, Women’s Re-Entry Network, and the Church of the Covenant to select a representative to receive the Ione Biggs Award for outstanding contribution to advancing social justice in 2007 and to encourage others to follow in her footsteps. We intend to announce the winner of the award at the NEOCH Annual event “Help us End Homelessness” on May 2, 2008. This application is due to NEOCH by March 17, 2008. You may also submit your entry online through the NEOCH website.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Much to Do in the Next Month
Upcoming Events for the Coalition
The next Teach In is set for Wednesday February 20, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. This is a 3 hour tour of homelessness in
The Self Help Legal Clinic ribbon cutting is February 26, 2008 at 1 p.m. The Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program invites the public to the grand opening of the Pro Se Legal Assistance at the
An update on the Heading Home/County Trust Fund March 10, 2008 at 3:30 pm. The City/County organized a strategic plan for addressing the housing crisis in Greater Cleveland. The Coalition and the Cleveland Tenants Organization will host a public meeting to discuss the Heading Home implementation plan and the plans for finding funding for the development of affordable housing. We need your support and your assistance in implementing this important initiative. We will provide opportunities for involvement in the effort to start constructing new affordable housing units again. The meeting is March 10 at 3:30 p.m. at the Coalition offices in the third floor conference room. All are invited.
NEOCH is hosting the 3rd Annual Homeless Poetry Competition. As part of our Annual fundraiser, NEOCH hosts a competition to hear from local poets who have experienced homelessness. Anyone who has been homeless between March 2007 to March 2008 is welcome to submit a poem. Details are available through the Coalition at 216/432-0540. The winners will be announced at the NEOCH Annual fundraiser on May 2, 2008. Get your poems into the Coalition offices in the next month.
NEOCH is looking for local Photographers: We are also looking for photographers or those who want to learn how to be a photographer. We have an internship available for 7 photographers who will be trained on the art of photography and will receive a stipend, bus pass and a camera as part of the two month internship. Any homeless person with a physical or mental disability is welcome to apply through one of the local homeless shelters. The art will be displayed at two locations, and will be available at the Annual fundraiser. The images will be published in the Grapevine and will have the opportunity to sell the work and keep the profits. For more information call Teri’ at the Coalition.
Save the Date on the NEOCH Annual Fundraiser. Speaking of the fund raiser, mark your calendar for May 2, 2008 as the date for the NEOCH annual fund raising event. We will have details and ticket prices available in the next month.
NEOCH Annual Meeting is March 20 at 5:30 p.m. The Coalition will have a low key Annual Meeting to review the previous year and look forward with regard to the Coalition. The Annual Meeting will take place at the Coalition offices and will offer a light meal. Homeless individuals, members, key stakeholders in the community are invited to attend. You can meet the 2008-2009 Board of Trustees and find out ways to help the Coalition regroup after a tough year.
Training for Housing
Staff
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Bad Times in Cleveland
What if We Had a Recession and No One Noticed?
The Coalition, along with First Call for Help and the Cleveland Tenants Organization, presented to the Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance on Monday. Three of the four horsemen of doom and gloom reported to local housing advocates on the state of poverty. (Dana from Hunger Network--the fourth horseman of doom was not part of the event, because that would be too depressing for one meeting.) As Steve Wertheim from First Call for Help said, this is the worst he has seen things in Cleveland in his 30 years of work. Mike Piepsny from Cleveland Tenants Organization talked about the evictions in the community and the large number of people who pay nearly 50% of their monthly income on rent in the community. I distributed and talked about the State of Homelessness report full of depression and stunning statistics.
After sitting through the meeting and hearing all the negative trends in the community, I had to wonder how much worse could it get? I kept wondering that we might miss this whole recession because we have fallen as far as we can fall. Our housing has collapsed; we lost a majority of our manufacturing jobs; and we have a higher than average number of uninsured. Do we have a blank canvas on which to build? One bad sign from this weekend...the main shelter needed overflow even with North Point Transitional opening with 160 new beds.
Aviation High School, which houses between 100 and 160 people a night, closed on Friday. It was the beginning of the month when many people have money to pay for a place to stay with friends, and traditionally the smallest number of people sleeping in the shelters for the month. It was not especially cold and North Point opened, offering space for 160 people. Everything pointed to at least a little breathing room for the shelter at 2100 Lakeside. But even with all these things working for the shelter, they still had to have people sleep on the mats and had to bus people over to the Volunteers of America and City Mission. This is going to be a rough few months if we need overflow on the first weekend without Aviation. I thought we would make it until the last week of February, but the lesson we have never learned in this community is that if you build it they will come. Every improvement to the shelter system has resulted in more people seeking help. We all hope that this does not push the County to end guaranteed access to shelter.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The Coalition, along with First Call for Help and the Cleveland Tenants Organization, presented to the Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance on Monday. Three of the four horsemen of doom and gloom reported to local housing advocates on the state of poverty. (Dana from Hunger Network--the fourth horseman of doom was not part of the event, because that would be too depressing for one meeting.) As Steve Wertheim from First Call for Help said, this is the worst he has seen things in Cleveland in his 30 years of work. Mike Piepsny from Cleveland Tenants Organization talked about the evictions in the community and the large number of people who pay nearly 50% of their monthly income on rent in the community. I distributed and talked about the State of Homelessness report full of depression and stunning statistics.
After sitting through the meeting and hearing all the negative trends in the community, I had to wonder how much worse could it get? I kept wondering that we might miss this whole recession because we have fallen as far as we can fall. Our housing has collapsed; we lost a majority of our manufacturing jobs; and we have a higher than average number of uninsured. Do we have a blank canvas on which to build? One bad sign from this weekend...the main shelter needed overflow even with North Point Transitional opening with 160 new beds.
Aviation High School, which houses between 100 and 160 people a night, closed on Friday. It was the beginning of the month when many people have money to pay for a place to stay with friends, and traditionally the smallest number of people sleeping in the shelters for the month. It was not especially cold and North Point opened, offering space for 160 people. Everything pointed to at least a little breathing room for the shelter at 2100 Lakeside. But even with all these things working for the shelter, they still had to have people sleep on the mats and had to bus people over to the Volunteers of America and City Mission. This is going to be a rough few months if we need overflow on the first weekend without Aviation. I thought we would make it until the last week of February, but the lesson we have never learned in this community is that if you build it they will come. Every improvement to the shelter system has resulted in more people seeking help. We all hope that this does not push the County to end guaranteed access to shelter.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Stand Down 2008
Homeless Attend Health Fair at Cleveland Convention CenterOn Friday February 1, 2008 at the Cleveland Convention Center over 600 homeless people attended one of the largest Health and Human Services fairs in our history. We should have final numbers in two weeks, but it was packed Friday. The Convention Center is a great place for the event, and we thank them for all their help. There were 60 providers including 20 health care providers on site. Haircuts and massage specialists. Great food from Catholic Charities, and nearly every shelter were a vital part of this year's event. In the picture, you can see Leonard Spence registering people to vote. We registered 21 people to vote. (Yes, homeless people do vote!) NEOCH also signed up 23 people with new voice mail telephone numbers.
It was a great event this year, and there will be plenty more photos in the next Grapevine. Gospel artist Jeff Major attended and then did a concert at the Word Church. Radio One did a large amount of free advertising of the event, and we had help from the County, City of Cleveland, Salvation Army, Veterans Administration, Cosgrove Center, Trinity Cathedral, Lakeside Shelter, and InterAct Cleveland. There are two more smaller events coming over the next two weeks. InterAct is still looking for a few volunteers for the Stand Down on President's Day. Special thanks to Pam, Megan, and Sr. Donna from InterAct, Nicole from Cosgrove, Kathy and Karil from the Department of Public Health, Rosemary from County Office of Homeless Services, Josh and Larry from NEOCH, Toni from the VA, and Dorothy from Divine Outreach Ministry for all their work in planning this event.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Council Challenged to Sleep in Shelter
Homeless Congress Asks Council for Help
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless on behalf of the Homeless Congress is challenging the City of Cleveland Council members to either spend a night in a homeless shelter or introduce a shelter standards bill. The Homeless Congress is a representative body of homeless people which meets every month, and feel that improving the protections within the shelters is a priority. This group of homeless people spent four months to prepare a potential piece of legislation for City Council to pass, but no Council member has taken up the challenge to even introduce this bill. At the January meeting of the Homeless Congress, the members voted to request Council members attend the next meeting to set a date for the introduction of the bill or schedule a time to sleep in the shelters.
NEOCH has asked Council members to pass a law to set a minimum standard for the shelters in exchange for their public funding. The challenge was issued after NEOCH and Congress members repeatedly requested movement on the bill to council members about the proposal and received little response.
Currently, there are no existing standards in law, instead there is a list of recommendations by the state of Ohio and there is no penalty for compliance. Between 2006 and 2007, the Homeless Congress drafted a proposal of Shelter Standards in an effort to ensure all publicly funded shelters are required to provide a basic level of care. The big issue that has repeatedly come up from homeless people is that there is no public agency that will receive complaints about the conditions or treatment that homeless people receive within the shelters.
The next Homeless Congress meeting is February 7 at 1 p.m. at the Bishop Cosgrove Center. Anyone is welcome to attend and Council members are invited to the Homeless Congress meetings. The center is located at 1736 Superior Avenue in Cleveland. Please enter through the back into the cafeteria and go upstairs to the gymnasium.
For more information please contact Brian Davis at (216) 432-0540.
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless on behalf of the Homeless Congress is challenging the City of Cleveland Council members to either spend a night in a homeless shelter or introduce a shelter standards bill. The Homeless Congress is a representative body of homeless people which meets every month, and feel that improving the protections within the shelters is a priority. This group of homeless people spent four months to prepare a potential piece of legislation for City Council to pass, but no Council member has taken up the challenge to even introduce this bill. At the January meeting of the Homeless Congress, the members voted to request Council members attend the next meeting to set a date for the introduction of the bill or schedule a time to sleep in the shelters.
NEOCH has asked Council members to pass a law to set a minimum standard for the shelters in exchange for their public funding. The challenge was issued after NEOCH and Congress members repeatedly requested movement on the bill to council members about the proposal and received little response.
Currently, there are no existing standards in law, instead there is a list of recommendations by the state of Ohio and there is no penalty for compliance. Between 2006 and 2007, the Homeless Congress drafted a proposal of Shelter Standards in an effort to ensure all publicly funded shelters are required to provide a basic level of care. The big issue that has repeatedly come up from homeless people is that there is no public agency that will receive complaints about the conditions or treatment that homeless people receive within the shelters.
The next Homeless Congress meeting is February 7 at 1 p.m. at the Bishop Cosgrove Center. Anyone is welcome to attend and Council members are invited to the Homeless Congress meetings. The center is located at 1736 Superior Avenue in Cleveland. Please enter through the back into the cafeteria and go upstairs to the gymnasium.
For more information please contact Brian Davis at (216) 432-0540.
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Cleveland: State of Homelessness 2007
Coalition Issues Report on the State of Homelessness in Cleveland
Last week as part of the press conference to introduce the Stand Down, NEOCH issued our State of Homelessness in Cleveland. It is available on our website as a pdf here under State of Homelessness 2007. It compiles all the statistics on foreclosures, evictions, shelter usage, money spent on homelessness to give a unsettling picture of the increase in homelessness in 2007. NEOCH staff gathered stats from the social service community as well as a few government agencies. Some of the most alarming statistics include:
The report lists the positive trends in the community including a great deal of work done by the County to find new spaces for homeless men to live or sleep because of the anticipated loss of Aviation High School. We also applaud the County for remaining committed to guaranteed access to shelter. We have not had to hang up the sign "There is No Bed at the Inn" sign locally. Those who want a bed show up at the shelter and they will not be turned away (thus the need for overflow). There are also a couple of pages dedicated to "dangerous trends" in the community that we all need to watch. Finally, we give a laundry list of 35 things that could be done locally to reduce the homeless population. We are very proud of the report, and we hope that you will check it out.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Last week as part of the press conference to introduce the Stand Down, NEOCH issued our State of Homelessness in Cleveland. It is available on our website as a pdf here under State of Homelessness 2007. It compiles all the statistics on foreclosures, evictions, shelter usage, money spent on homelessness to give a unsettling picture of the increase in homelessness in 2007. NEOCH staff gathered stats from the social service community as well as a few government agencies. Some of the most alarming statistics include:
- The Cleveland Public Schools saw a 32% increase in the number of kids in the last six months of 2007 compared to the same time in 2006.
- First Call for Help saw a 30% increase in calls regarding housing and a 39% increase in requests for food.
- 75% of the shelter population in Cleveland is African American.
- A person must make $10.93 per hour working 40 hours a week in order to afford the fair market rent in Greater Cleveland.
- The men's shelter averaged 129 people over their legal capacity in 2007, which forced Cuyahoga County to offer overflow shelter 365 days a year.
- 35% of the homeless population reported an income of over $501 per month while staying in the shelters.
The report lists the positive trends in the community including a great deal of work done by the County to find new spaces for homeless men to live or sleep because of the anticipated loss of Aviation High School. We also applaud the County for remaining committed to guaranteed access to shelter. We have not had to hang up the sign "There is No Bed at the Inn" sign locally. Those who want a bed show up at the shelter and they will not be turned away (thus the need for overflow). There are also a couple of pages dedicated to "dangerous trends" in the community that we all need to watch. Finally, we give a laundry list of 35 things that could be done locally to reduce the homeless population. We are very proud of the report, and we hope that you will check it out.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
History is 20/20
Where were You When the Foreclosure Crisis was Starting?
I saw this morning one of the federal Administration officials was asked why they took so long to look for regulations to control the fraud within the housing market and specifically the sub-prime market? The Treasury Secretary said something like "Chris, you know that history is 20/20. I will leave what happened in the past to historians..." We raised this same issue when the state finally passed a foreclosure bill then gutted it with little or no penalty for consumer fraud in 2006. We said that the horses were all out of the barn by 2006 and that the hundreds of thousands were already harmed by the inflated appraisals, excessive fees, and fake documents while the state was busy studying the issue. I believe that this is the reason that citizens are hostile to government: they demand someone to step forward and take responsibility for massive mistakes. I know people are thinking, "We cannot trust these guys with our money if they never admit when they fail."
History is not just for the historians, Mr. Paulson, because the crisis is not over. Our federal officials failed us by allowing the robber barons to take over the housing industry. Our state officials did nothing for six years allowing 5,900 people to be foreclosed on in 2000 and see that rise steadily to 14,000 in 2006 just in Cuyahoga County before the week Ohio law was passed. Our local community tried to do something and was shut down by the court system. Why can't someone step up to the plate and say we fell down on the job, but we are committed to making this right? We realize we made a mistake and we will do everything we can to make things right. I guess that I am sucker and still trust the government. I believe that bureaucrats and elected officials can stop the bleeding, help those who have already lost their housing and put those who help to rape Slavic Village, Mt. Pleasant, East Cleveland, and Broadway of all the equity left in those neighborhoods into jail for a very long time. I have a soft spot for the underdog.
60 Minutes did a feature tonight on the "House of Cards" and the foreclosure crisis. If Steve Croft were submitting this for a grade, I would give him a 79% or a C+. He put too much emphasis on the individuals who did not stick to their fraudulent agreements, but Kroft did a good job of characterizing the scandal as just beginning to unfold.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
I saw this morning one of the federal Administration officials was asked why they took so long to look for regulations to control the fraud within the housing market and specifically the sub-prime market? The Treasury Secretary said something like "Chris, you know that history is 20/20. I will leave what happened in the past to historians..." We raised this same issue when the state finally passed a foreclosure bill then gutted it with little or no penalty for consumer fraud in 2006. We said that the horses were all out of the barn by 2006 and that the hundreds of thousands were already harmed by the inflated appraisals, excessive fees, and fake documents while the state was busy studying the issue. I believe that this is the reason that citizens are hostile to government: they demand someone to step forward and take responsibility for massive mistakes. I know people are thinking, "We cannot trust these guys with our money if they never admit when they fail."
History is not just for the historians, Mr. Paulson, because the crisis is not over. Our federal officials failed us by allowing the robber barons to take over the housing industry. Our state officials did nothing for six years allowing 5,900 people to be foreclosed on in 2000 and see that rise steadily to 14,000 in 2006 just in Cuyahoga County before the week Ohio law was passed. Our local community tried to do something and was shut down by the court system. Why can't someone step up to the plate and say we fell down on the job, but we are committed to making this right? We realize we made a mistake and we will do everything we can to make things right. I guess that I am sucker and still trust the government. I believe that bureaucrats and elected officials can stop the bleeding, help those who have already lost their housing and put those who help to rape Slavic Village, Mt. Pleasant, East Cleveland, and Broadway of all the equity left in those neighborhoods into jail for a very long time. I have a soft spot for the underdog.
60 Minutes did a feature tonight on the "House of Cards" and the foreclosure crisis. If Steve Croft were submitting this for a grade, I would give him a 79% or a C+. He put too much emphasis on the individuals who did not stick to their fraudulent agreements, but Kroft did a good job of characterizing the scandal as just beginning to unfold.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
New Shelter Opens
The Grand Experiment Begins
North Point Transitional Shelter opened this week. This is a huge change in the shelter landscape and is a much different model. This facility is reserved for men who have some ability to earn income and therefore leave in 6 months. The shelter will not screen out those who are still battling alcohol or drug addictions. This is a noble experiment and treats the addiction as a health problem not a lifestyle choice to be "punished." The rough part will be the time limit for residents. Those with an addiction have markers on their path toward recovery and six months and one year are for some reason big milestones. Working on finding a job, putting your life back together, and dealing with a time limit may be an insurmountable obstacle. We shall see how this works.
There are big questions ahead for Greater Cleveland. Will we soon end the guaranteed access to shelter in our community? How soon will we need to open up another overflow? How long can the County/City afford this new transitional shelter? Will the men be willing to go into the facility? Will the women in the community demand a similar facility? Some of the guys that I have talked to are worried that they will go over and will not be able to find a job and will have to slink back to 2100 Lakeside and basically start over. The other tough part of making the move is that they are afraid that the temptation will be too much. The men have made some progress toward sobriety and are currently living in one of the sober communities at Lakeside. These communities do not allow addicted people to stay there. If a person falls off the wagon, they must go back to the entry community.
We shall see if all this works outs. They have hired some competent staff, and the County gave them plenty of resources to make this work. We need this kind of facility in the community. I hope that it works.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
North Point Transitional Shelter opened this week. This is a huge change in the shelter landscape and is a much different model. This facility is reserved for men who have some ability to earn income and therefore leave in 6 months. The shelter will not screen out those who are still battling alcohol or drug addictions. This is a noble experiment and treats the addiction as a health problem not a lifestyle choice to be "punished." The rough part will be the time limit for residents. Those with an addiction have markers on their path toward recovery and six months and one year are for some reason big milestones. Working on finding a job, putting your life back together, and dealing with a time limit may be an insurmountable obstacle. We shall see how this works.
There are big questions ahead for Greater Cleveland. Will we soon end the guaranteed access to shelter in our community? How soon will we need to open up another overflow? How long can the County/City afford this new transitional shelter? Will the men be willing to go into the facility? Will the women in the community demand a similar facility? Some of the guys that I have talked to are worried that they will go over and will not be able to find a job and will have to slink back to 2100 Lakeside and basically start over. The other tough part of making the move is that they are afraid that the temptation will be too much. The men have made some progress toward sobriety and are currently living in one of the sober communities at Lakeside. These communities do not allow addicted people to stay there. If a person falls off the wagon, they must go back to the entry community.
We shall see if all this works outs. They have hired some competent staff, and the County gave them plenty of resources to make this work. We need this kind of facility in the community. I hope that it works.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Correction
Regret the Error
I got a call from the Plain Dealer reporter about the posting on East Side Catholic back in December. Stan Donaldson did not like the fact that I did not call him to ask about the article he wrote, and was concerned that I wrote, "Stan D. never asked Ruth Gillett why she could not have kept the shelter open or forced a change in leadership." Donaldson is correct that this sentence is difficult to verify and is factually incorrect. I am sorry for the error.
What I intended to say was that the Plain Dealer did not print the heart of the story and what matters to all of us working on homeless issues. The heart of the story is what does Cleveland do to replace or bring these beds back into service? Family homelessness is out of control and we need every bed, unit, opportunity for families we have in the community. I do not fault reporter Stan Donaldson, because my experience is that getting a solid answer from the County about homelessness is nearly impossible.
One thing that I learned about East Side Catholic that was never printed was that the agency was $1.5 million in debt. I do not know who loaned these guys over $1 million. There was just no way that this organization could continue, but did we have to lose the beds? There are rumors of another organization stepping in to take over the beds, but those details have not been finalized. The families who have had to split up over the last month because every bed is full would have appreciated a deal worked out before East Side Catholic closed.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
I got a call from the Plain Dealer reporter about the posting on East Side Catholic back in December. Stan Donaldson did not like the fact that I did not call him to ask about the article he wrote, and was concerned that I wrote, "Stan D. never asked Ruth Gillett why she could not have kept the shelter open or forced a change in leadership." Donaldson is correct that this sentence is difficult to verify and is factually incorrect. I am sorry for the error.
What I intended to say was that the Plain Dealer did not print the heart of the story and what matters to all of us working on homeless issues. The heart of the story is what does Cleveland do to replace or bring these beds back into service? Family homelessness is out of control and we need every bed, unit, opportunity for families we have in the community. I do not fault reporter Stan Donaldson, because my experience is that getting a solid answer from the County about homelessness is nearly impossible.
One thing that I learned about East Side Catholic that was never printed was that the agency was $1.5 million in debt. I do not know who loaned these guys over $1 million. There was just no way that this organization could continue, but did we have to lose the beds? There are rumors of another organization stepping in to take over the beds, but those details have not been finalized. The families who have had to split up over the last month because every bed is full would have appreciated a deal worked out before East Side Catholic closed.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Arena Football: Cleveland Squatters??
Dismiss the Gladiators/Bring on the Squatters
In light of the foreclosure crisis and the poor state of the Cleveland economy, I am starting a campaign to rename the new professional Arena Football team the Cleveland Squatters. Rarely, do sports team names take on a social justice flavor. This would tell the world what is going on in Cleveland. For all those who skip the news section of the paper and head straight to the Sports section, they would remain uninformed, but would at least capture a sliver of the problems facing Cleveland over the last five years. Besides, what does a Gladiator have to do with Cleveland? The Gladiators is just a generic name that has no connection to this city. The Squatters is a bold name that could provide interesting and fun special event nights. How about... you sleep in your seat for a week and you earn yourself season tickets for that seat? The Boarded up house could be their logo. "Enter through the window night" at the arena--no doors would open everyone would have to enter through the window. The Columbus Destroyers would cower in fear having to face the Cleveland Squatters.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
In light of the foreclosure crisis and the poor state of the Cleveland economy, I am starting a campaign to rename the new professional Arena Football team the Cleveland Squatters. Rarely, do sports team names take on a social justice flavor. This would tell the world what is going on in Cleveland. For all those who skip the news section of the paper and head straight to the Sports section, they would remain uninformed, but would at least capture a sliver of the problems facing Cleveland over the last five years. Besides, what does a Gladiator have to do with Cleveland? The Gladiators is just a generic name that has no connection to this city. The Squatters is a bold name that could provide interesting and fun special event nights. How about... you sleep in your seat for a week and you earn yourself season tickets for that seat? The Boarded up house could be their logo. "Enter through the window night" at the arena--no doors would open everyone would have to enter through the window. The Columbus Destroyers would cower in fear having to face the Cleveland Squatters.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
This is Not A Joke
back of the card
front of the cardSo, What Do You Think?
This postcard actually came to us during the holidays from the Domestic Violence Center. Now, we are a bold organization and are not afraid to get in the face of the power establishment in the community, but I would never send this out. It is one thing to call attention to your issues, but to step on the Christian high holy season seems overly confrontational. People don't want to be brought down to reality during the holiday season. They want to focus on family, friends, presents, snow, Santa, etc--not family violence issues. Then that little "Peace on Earth" next to the picture is an additional jab at the holiday.
I have to applaud the DVC for their strong stand, and their forcing reality into Christmas. I wonder if they received any complaints. I wonder what others think? This is not a fake card from a cast member of Saturday Night Live. This is real, and pretty stark representation to get during the holidays. We put all the Christmas/Holiday cards up on the door of the office at NEOCH. We decided not to post this one.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Foreclosures Stories
Homelessness and Foreclosures
Sorry for not posting recently. We have all been working on a big foundation meeting we had this last week. There were a series of stories in the Plain Dealer about squatters and the foreclosure crisis. Then there was an editorial lecturing us to play nice with the city. We have played nice with the City since Napoleon stepped aside in 2001. Finally, reporter O'Malley attended our meeting with the Police to discuss the growing problem, and wrote about that meeting.
The story behind the story was nothing news worthy for readers of this blog. We wrote about this problem back in November here. We presented a whole list of reasons for the drop in numbers of people sleeping outside. One of the reasons on the list was the large number of abandoned buildings and foreclosed houses that exist in Cuyahoga County. The foreclosure crisis has devastated this community to such an extent that it is now a huge issue in the media. We only briefly touched on the inability for law enforcement or neighborhood groups to monitor all of the foreclosed buildings. National media are finally paying attention and Cleveland is ground zero for the problem of foreclosures. It has drawn a great deal of print and television face time, unfortunately long after the flood gates were destroyed. We sure could have used some of this attention years ago when there were signs on every street corner screaming to "buy ugly homes" or "Get into a house for no money down!"
Many people that I talked to were impressed by Lt. Stacho comments as forward thinking and proper. It was a great quote, and someone needed to say it in the article. But just for clarity, we did not raise this story to tattle on our own clients. We put it in a press release to explain another issue in the community. We did not approach the media about this issue, because the reality is that people have been sleeping in abandoned buildings for decades. After all, there are 4,000 people on the streets every night and only 2,000 beds in the community. Some stay in cars, some are outside, but a sizable number are in abandoned buildings. The point of our release was there are so many options now that these properties are becoming even more attractive to those who lose their housing. I have talked to five other media outlets about this story.
Squatters are a huge issue that go far beyond law enforcement or the outreach workers. The development corporations, government, recycling centers, United Way, Foundations, and all poverty organizations need to figure out a response. We are dragging down entire streets, entire neighborhoods, and in the case of East Cleveland entire cities.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Sorry for not posting recently. We have all been working on a big foundation meeting we had this last week. There were a series of stories in the Plain Dealer about squatters and the foreclosure crisis. Then there was an editorial lecturing us to play nice with the city. We have played nice with the City since Napoleon stepped aside in 2001. Finally, reporter O'Malley attended our meeting with the Police to discuss the growing problem, and wrote about that meeting.
The story behind the story was nothing news worthy for readers of this blog. We wrote about this problem back in November here. We presented a whole list of reasons for the drop in numbers of people sleeping outside. One of the reasons on the list was the large number of abandoned buildings and foreclosed houses that exist in Cuyahoga County. The foreclosure crisis has devastated this community to such an extent that it is now a huge issue in the media. We only briefly touched on the inability for law enforcement or neighborhood groups to monitor all of the foreclosed buildings. National media are finally paying attention and Cleveland is ground zero for the problem of foreclosures. It has drawn a great deal of print and television face time, unfortunately long after the flood gates were destroyed. We sure could have used some of this attention years ago when there were signs on every street corner screaming to "buy ugly homes" or "Get into a house for no money down!"
Many people that I talked to were impressed by Lt. Stacho comments as forward thinking and proper. It was a great quote, and someone needed to say it in the article. But just for clarity, we did not raise this story to tattle on our own clients. We put it in a press release to explain another issue in the community. We did not approach the media about this issue, because the reality is that people have been sleeping in abandoned buildings for decades. After all, there are 4,000 people on the streets every night and only 2,000 beds in the community. Some stay in cars, some are outside, but a sizable number are in abandoned buildings. The point of our release was there are so many options now that these properties are becoming even more attractive to those who lose their housing. I have talked to five other media outlets about this story.
Squatters are a huge issue that go far beyond law enforcement or the outreach workers. The development corporations, government, recycling centers, United Way, Foundations, and all poverty organizations need to figure out a response. We are dragging down entire streets, entire neighborhoods, and in the case of East Cleveland entire cities.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
We Have A Great Deal of Work
Fannie Mae Foundation Measures Perceptions of Homelessness in America
In November, Fannie Mae released a report entitled "Homelessness in America: Americans' Perceptions, Attitudes, and Knowledge" conducted by the Gallup Corporation. There were a lot of interesting findings, but it points to the need for more education about homelessness in America. We still have to overcome a number of myths about homeless people. The study was conducted in 8 American cities, and found that the majority of Americans believe that we could do more to address homelessness in the United States.
The good news from the perception studies were that 58% of the population believes that homelessness has increased while only 7% believe it has decreased. The bad news is that homelessness received only a handful of votes as one of the most important issues facing the United States. This means that the chance of a presidential candidate mentioning homelessness is slim. The National Coalition is challenging each candidate to spend at least one night on the street in 2008 to raise awareness of the problem, but based on the survey this is unlikely to rise to the top of a question in one of the debates. November is Hunger and Homeless Awareness week, and Fannie Mae is active in raising dollars with a walk in DC thus the reason for the report.
The survey properly identified the federal government as most responsible for addressing homelessness with 35% of those answering the question identifying the federal government. The State government was second with 25% and City or Local government and Community Groups were tied for third with 20% of the people thinking that these entities should take a lead role in solving homelessness. Only 51% believe that communities are safer when people do not have to live on the streets. The vast majority (85%) of the American public believe drugs or alcohol abuse is the major reason that causes homelessness and 26% of the population believe that that drugs/alcohol is the primary cause of homelessness. The most surprising and dangerous perception in the study was that only 4% of the American public believes that the lack of affordable housing is the primary cause of homelessness. This is one percent more than believe that laziness as the primary cause for homelessness. There are millions of people who spend most of their days high or drunk or both and have no problem staying in housing. This leads me to believe that we need to do more education starting at a younger age on the causes of homelessness.
You should check out the study yourself, but here are some other quick notes on the study:
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
In November, Fannie Mae released a report entitled "Homelessness in America: Americans' Perceptions, Attitudes, and Knowledge" conducted by the Gallup Corporation. There were a lot of interesting findings, but it points to the need for more education about homelessness in America. We still have to overcome a number of myths about homeless people. The study was conducted in 8 American cities, and found that the majority of Americans believe that we could do more to address homelessness in the United States.
The good news from the perception studies were that 58% of the population believes that homelessness has increased while only 7% believe it has decreased. The bad news is that homelessness received only a handful of votes as one of the most important issues facing the United States. This means that the chance of a presidential candidate mentioning homelessness is slim. The National Coalition is challenging each candidate to spend at least one night on the street in 2008 to raise awareness of the problem, but based on the survey this is unlikely to rise to the top of a question in one of the debates. November is Hunger and Homeless Awareness week, and Fannie Mae is active in raising dollars with a walk in DC thus the reason for the report.
The survey properly identified the federal government as most responsible for addressing homelessness with 35% of those answering the question identifying the federal government. The State government was second with 25% and City or Local government and Community Groups were tied for third with 20% of the people thinking that these entities should take a lead role in solving homelessness. Only 51% believe that communities are safer when people do not have to live on the streets. The vast majority (85%) of the American public believe drugs or alcohol abuse is the major reason that causes homelessness and 26% of the population believe that that drugs/alcohol is the primary cause of homelessness. The most surprising and dangerous perception in the study was that only 4% of the American public believes that the lack of affordable housing is the primary cause of homelessness. This is one percent more than believe that laziness as the primary cause for homelessness. There are millions of people who spend most of their days high or drunk or both and have no problem staying in housing. This leads me to believe that we need to do more education starting at a younger age on the causes of homelessness.
You should check out the study yourself, but here are some other quick notes on the study:
- 44% report that they have taken in a friend or relative who was facing homelessness. THIS IS A HUGE NUMBER!!
- Medical expenses is now the leading worry for Americans that might lead them to become homeless themselves. 43% for medical expenses with 38% job loss.
- 28% of the general public reported that they have worried that they may not have a place to live.
- 9% reported that they did not have enough money to afford food over the last 12 months with 5% reporting that they did not have enough money over the last 12 months to provide housing for their family.
- 91% of the public believes that we can never totally eliminate homelessness.
- 80% report a willingness to volunteer at an organization that helps homeless people.
- A slight majority (54%) would be willing to pay additional taxes to fund programs that help homeless people.
It was also interesting to see the differences in the perceptions in various cities. NEOCH will use this perception study as a place to start for our public education campaign.
BrianPosts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Holidays Are Rough
2007 Vigil and Today Show Toy Drive
The 21st Homeless Memorial Day was a sombre occasion with special guest County Commissioner Peter Jones. Mayor Frank Jackson also stopped in to honor those who had passed. I was asked at least 8 times that I should invite the Mayor to talk. For the record, I asked him twice and he was not interested in talking. He is not the ribbon cutting Mayor that we have all come to expect. Representative Foley attended the memorial and announced the introduction of the homeless hate crimes bill in Ohio. The legislation was introduced and already received a bill number HR 419. To date only Rep. Mike Skindell, Rep. Jennifer Brady and Mike Foley have signed on as co-sponsors from the Cleveland area. We will work on this in the new year. We read the names of 39 people who passed away and then six additional people were added by members of the audience. We will add those names to our list on our website.
The volunteers from Franklin Circle Church were great, and provided an excellent meal for our friends and our members. We had representatives of 2100 Lakeside, Care Alliance, Catholic Worker, County Office of Homeless Services, the Veterans Administration, and the Coalition in attendance to honor those who had passed. This year we asked a number of other organizations to co-sponsor the event, because we wanted to also honor a person who had probably saved more lives than anyone else in our community: homeless nurse Patricia Tomcho. Peter L. Jones presented a County resolution recognizing all her 25 years of service to the community. The Coalition and the other partners presented her a Lifetime achievement award to thank her for all her years of service. Tomcho is retiring next year, and without her our reading of the names of those who passed would be a lot longer every year.
The vigil is always a beautiful service, but certainly depressing to realize that our society is letting all these people slip quietly into the night. To raise our spirits, NEOCH gets to be part of the NBC Today Show annual toy drive. Toy manufacturers from around the country send out toys to various cities to be distributed to homeless children. NEOCH is the central distributor of these toys in Cleveland. We usually take the whole lot over to the family shelters in the boxes and then the staff distributes them. This year, I decided to have the family box and wrap the presents and then take them over on Christmas eve to distribute. So we spent Christmas eve wrapping new presents for a few hundred and then taking them over to the shelters for distribution. It is a nice way to balance out the first day of winter when we remember those who died by giving some comfort to the future County Commissioners and doctors who happen to find themselves living in a homeless shelter this year.
Brian
---Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
The 21st Homeless Memorial Day was a sombre occasion with special guest County Commissioner Peter Jones. Mayor Frank Jackson also stopped in to honor those who had passed. I was asked at least 8 times that I should invite the Mayor to talk. For the record, I asked him twice and he was not interested in talking. He is not the ribbon cutting Mayor that we have all come to expect. Representative Foley attended the memorial and announced the introduction of the homeless hate crimes bill in Ohio. The legislation was introduced and already received a bill number HR 419. To date only Rep. Mike Skindell, Rep. Jennifer Brady and Mike Foley have signed on as co-sponsors from the Cleveland area. We will work on this in the new year. We read the names of 39 people who passed away and then six additional people were added by members of the audience. We will add those names to our list on our website.
The volunteers from Franklin Circle Church were great, and provided an excellent meal for our friends and our members. We had representatives of 2100 Lakeside, Care Alliance, Catholic Worker, County Office of Homeless Services, the Veterans Administration, and the Coalition in attendance to honor those who had passed. This year we asked a number of other organizations to co-sponsor the event, because we wanted to also honor a person who had probably saved more lives than anyone else in our community: homeless nurse Patricia Tomcho. Peter L. Jones presented a County resolution recognizing all her 25 years of service to the community. The Coalition and the other partners presented her a Lifetime achievement award to thank her for all her years of service. Tomcho is retiring next year, and without her our reading of the names of those who passed would be a lot longer every year.
The vigil is always a beautiful service, but certainly depressing to realize that our society is letting all these people slip quietly into the night. To raise our spirits, NEOCH gets to be part of the NBC Today Show annual toy drive. Toy manufacturers from around the country send out toys to various cities to be distributed to homeless children. NEOCH is the central distributor of these toys in Cleveland. We usually take the whole lot over to the family shelters in the boxes and then the staff distributes them. This year, I decided to have the family box and wrap the presents and then take them over on Christmas eve to distribute. So we spent Christmas eve wrapping new presents for a few hundred and then taking them over to the shelters for distribution. It is a nice way to balance out the first day of winter when we remember those who died by giving some comfort to the future County Commissioners and doctors who happen to find themselves living in a homeless shelter this year.
Brian
---Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Federal Funding Announced Friday
HUD Announces Christmas Gift to Cities
On Friday December 21, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the release of the majority of federal funding for state and county efforts to address homelessness. The State of Ohio received a total of $70 million to fund all the shelters, homeless vouchers, homeless housing programs, case workers, prevention effort, and outreach program in Ohio. This may seem like a lot until you consider two things. First, it is only $51.39 per person for every person living below the poverty level and thus in danger of becoming homeless in the state of Ohio. Also, over $60 million of these funds are just to renew existing programs. So, 86% of the money is used just to keep the doors open on existing programs. Most of the new programs are housing vouchers for disabled people and currently homeless--called Shelter Plus Care. In the entire State of Ohio there were only 9 new projects funded this year.
Cleveland fared best in the State of Ohio. No mistakes on any applications. We have to thank Ruth at the Office of Homeless Services for putting this mammoth application together. There are very few in our community who could check all those boxes and put all of that information together in a timely fashion to get the money that we deserve. After a rough year for the Office, they must feel good that they were able to bring a total of $23.4 million to the City and County. Basically, the way this works is that HUD tells the cities how much we are entitled to received ($13.7 million for Cleveland) based on some complicated formula no one understands. Then, the City/County can renew their disabled housing vouchers (Shelter Plus Care), and that does not impact your share of the pie. So, Cleveland has always tried to get as many Shelter Plus Care vouchers as possible thus we must renew more vouchers then any other city in Ohio. We received an additional $1.3 million for the emergency shelters and outreach in our community. Cuyahoga County received $9.6 million above our share of the federal share of homeless dollars, because we had to renew our S+C disabled housing voucher program. This works out to $724 for every person homeless in 2006 in Cuyahoga County, which means we spend $100 per person more than any other city in Ohio. Cleveland was only able to fund two new projects and some more new S+C vouchers for a total of 14% of the allocation. Basically, if those in charge of the application put the application together correctly, the City and County receive all that we are entitled to receive from the Feds.
Columbus does poorly in this formula. While Franklin County is only a little over 200,000 smaller in population than Cuyahoga County, they only received $8.1 million this year from the Feds (35% of Cuyahoga County). They only received $365,000 in Emergency Shelter dollars. They only have $3.7 million in S+C housing for disabled vouchers renewed this last year. Columbus/Franklin County only spend $46.28 per person living in poverty or $249.97 per homeless person using Federal government funds. Franklin County only has 5% of their total allocation going to new projects. Since I keep hearing at the national level how great Columbus is doing in addressing homelessness, I guess that they don't need much money to put up a good fight. I know that it is a huge annoyance that they get so much less than Cuyahoga County. The way that Columbus is expanding soon they will have annexed all the land south of Cuyahoga County, and will demand an equal share of the pie.
Cincinnati/Hamilton County with only 822,500 people does better than Columbus. They received $11.1 million in funds from HUD and $3.8 in renewals of the S+C housing vouchers. They spend more than double the federal dollars spent on people living in poverty at $95.10 per person and $621.79 for every homeless person. Cincinnati had enough capacity to spend 13% of their grant on new projects. We will have all the statistics in the next Homeless Grapevine to be published in January. The big question: why does HUD make these announcements on the day that cities are remembering those who died over the last year while homeless? Spin control? They don't care? I have no idea, but it seems callous to me.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
On Friday December 21, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the release of the majority of federal funding for state and county efforts to address homelessness. The State of Ohio received a total of $70 million to fund all the shelters, homeless vouchers, homeless housing programs, case workers, prevention effort, and outreach program in Ohio. This may seem like a lot until you consider two things. First, it is only $51.39 per person for every person living below the poverty level and thus in danger of becoming homeless in the state of Ohio. Also, over $60 million of these funds are just to renew existing programs. So, 86% of the money is used just to keep the doors open on existing programs. Most of the new programs are housing vouchers for disabled people and currently homeless--called Shelter Plus Care. In the entire State of Ohio there were only 9 new projects funded this year.
Cleveland fared best in the State of Ohio. No mistakes on any applications. We have to thank Ruth at the Office of Homeless Services for putting this mammoth application together. There are very few in our community who could check all those boxes and put all of that information together in a timely fashion to get the money that we deserve. After a rough year for the Office, they must feel good that they were able to bring a total of $23.4 million to the City and County. Basically, the way this works is that HUD tells the cities how much we are entitled to received ($13.7 million for Cleveland) based on some complicated formula no one understands. Then, the City/County can renew their disabled housing vouchers (Shelter Plus Care), and that does not impact your share of the pie. So, Cleveland has always tried to get as many Shelter Plus Care vouchers as possible thus we must renew more vouchers then any other city in Ohio. We received an additional $1.3 million for the emergency shelters and outreach in our community. Cuyahoga County received $9.6 million above our share of the federal share of homeless dollars, because we had to renew our S+C disabled housing voucher program. This works out to $724 for every person homeless in 2006 in Cuyahoga County, which means we spend $100 per person more than any other city in Ohio. Cleveland was only able to fund two new projects and some more new S+C vouchers for a total of 14% of the allocation. Basically, if those in charge of the application put the application together correctly, the City and County receive all that we are entitled to receive from the Feds.
Columbus does poorly in this formula. While Franklin County is only a little over 200,000 smaller in population than Cuyahoga County, they only received $8.1 million this year from the Feds (35% of Cuyahoga County). They only received $365,000 in Emergency Shelter dollars. They only have $3.7 million in S+C housing for disabled vouchers renewed this last year. Columbus/Franklin County only spend $46.28 per person living in poverty or $249.97 per homeless person using Federal government funds. Franklin County only has 5% of their total allocation going to new projects. Since I keep hearing at the national level how great Columbus is doing in addressing homelessness, I guess that they don't need much money to put up a good fight. I know that it is a huge annoyance that they get so much less than Cuyahoga County. The way that Columbus is expanding soon they will have annexed all the land south of Cuyahoga County, and will demand an equal share of the pie.
Cincinnati/Hamilton County with only 822,500 people does better than Columbus. They received $11.1 million in funds from HUD and $3.8 in renewals of the S+C housing vouchers. They spend more than double the federal dollars spent on people living in poverty at $95.10 per person and $621.79 for every homeless person. Cincinnati had enough capacity to spend 13% of their grant on new projects. We will have all the statistics in the next Homeless Grapevine to be published in January. The big question: why does HUD make these announcements on the day that cities are remembering those who died over the last year while homeless? Spin control? They don't care? I have no idea, but it seems callous to me.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
PBS Program Look at Homelessness
Finally Someone Asks the Administration about Their Cuts
David Brancaccio of the great news program NOW finally asked the Bush Administration about their dramatic cuts to housing at the same time they are "solving" homelessness. I have waited for five years for the answer to this question. At least Mr. Brancaccio asked the question, but there was no answer; just spin. Brancaccio asks Philip Mangano, leading homeless car salesman for President Bush, about all the cuts proposed by the Administration in the face of claiming to "solve homelessness."
It was a good segment, which you can watch online. I wish more media would start challenging the spin in Washington DC.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
David Brancaccio of the great news program NOW finally asked the Bush Administration about their dramatic cuts to housing at the same time they are "solving" homelessness. I have waited for five years for the answer to this question. At least Mr. Brancaccio asked the question, but there was no answer; just spin. Brancaccio asks Philip Mangano, leading homeless car salesman for President Bush, about all the cuts proposed by the Administration in the face of claiming to "solve homelessness."
BRANCACCIO: Does it frustrate you when you see this administration, in its budgets, cutting back money for programs like that?The Coalition agrees that Housing First initiatives are great, and that it proves that mentally ill and drug addicted people can live in housing. These homeless individuals do not have to cure themselves before society offers them housing. The unspoken truths are that we are going to have a big price tag to sustain these operations, and it is a raindrop in an river of need. It is hypocritical to destroy public housing while putting millions into permanent supportive housing. The administration seems to be saying public housing is an experiment that America has tried since 1946 and we still not sure that it works so we choose to put one one thousandth of that money into the Housing First movement which we are sure will work because it is so successful over the last decade. Where does the rest of the money go that is cut from HUD and Dept of Agriculture? Iraq, defense, homeland security and drug companies are the places we have decided to put our federal tax dollars.
MANGANO: No one has an intent, whether in Congress or in this administration, to increase homelessness, but we're still wrestling with how to best apply housing resources to get a better effect. It's only as we've concentrated resources on people experiencing chronic homelessness, to create change where change was thought to be impossible. The promise of that, is that as the numbers of people on the streets go down, that will re-moralize us to invest more in the other populations.
It was a good segment, which you can watch online. I wish more media would start challenging the spin in Washington DC.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Candlelight Vigil for Homeless People
Homeless Memorial Day FridayThe Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless will host the 21th Annual Homeless Memorial on December 21, 2007 at
This year as well, State Representative Michael Foley will be present to introduce a bill to protect homeless people from Hate Crimes. In
The memorial day is part of National Homeless Memorial Day with similar ceremonies on the first day of winter in over 75 cities in the
The names of those who passed away over the last five years are posted on the Coalition website at www.neoch.org. NEOCH staff are currently gathering names of those who died. The memorial is co-sponsored this year by the City/County Office of Homeless Services, the Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Department, Care Alliance, InterAct Cleveland, and Franklin Circle Christian Church. This year the co-sponsors will give a lifetime achievement to a nurse in the community who has worked to improve the health care system for homeless people.
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Another Friend of Homeless People Passes
Congresswoman Julia Carson Dies
I only was able to hear Rep Carson speak twice, but she was an inspiring woman. Here is the statement that Barb Anderson put together upon hearing of the death of Rep. Carson on Sunday.
I couldn't have said it better."As a member of the Board of Directors of the National Coalition for the Homeless, I have worked for many years as have my peers, to end homelessness in this country. It is an exhausting and frustrating effort. Many programs have been developed over the years with good intent, but they lack the human element and often reduce those we serve to just numbers in a system, or they "cherry pick" the easiest to serve in order to boost their success rate.NCH and the advocates in Indiana fight daily to serve the most difficult and hardest to reach and heroes are often hard to find. Representative Julia Carson was such a hero. She was a champion, one who utilized the resources around her to promote change and policy that would result in ending homelessness. She worked tirelessly every day to reduce the impact of poverty on our communities. Her work with veterans across this country was phenomenal.As the sponsor for the Bring America Home Act and the Hearth Act, Representative Carson pursued Congressional support with a vengeance and often managed town hall type meetings to educate her peers. She and her staff worked diligently to provide leadership on the Hill, and not because it was the popular thing to do either but because it was the right thing to do. Representative Carson did things that way, because they were right, they were necessary, and often they weren't popular.So many who serve us Congressionally stick to the middle of the road or cater to extreme positions without thinking or planning for the ramifications of their votes. Carson stood for: A living wage, affordable housing for all Americans, health care for all Americans, and Civil Rights for all Americans. Julia Carson embraced those ideals and fought hard for them. She worked through the many committees she served on, in the district, and in partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus. She did so with grace and humor.
To hear her speak was enlightening and fun. She would take the most serious subject and make us see our folly with her humor. It is with great respect, love, and admiration that I write this. To those whose voices Julia tried to hold up, understand NCH and homeless advocates throughout the country will continue to champion your causes and will support and embrace those legislators who do so as well. To those who set policy at a national level, we challenge you to try to meet the bar Julia set while she served this wonderful country. We remember her grace and humanity as a Congresswoman, a wife, a mother, and most of all a strong and passionate Christian soldier."
Barb Anderson of Jeffersonville, Indiana and NCH Board Member
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Cincinnati Activist Passes Away
Jimmy Heath, Photojournalist, DiesAfter a long fight with a chronic health condition, Jimmy Heath has passed away. Jimmy was the editor of the Streetvibes in Cinncinnati and had a very nice website with all his photographs. I had regular contact with Jimmy as I helped to found the street newspaper in Cincinnati. He was a great guy with a passion for the rights of homeless people. He was a deep thinker about the interaction of street newspapers, especially photographers, with those experiencing homelessness who are featured in papers. He was previously a Congressional Hunger Fellow at the National Coalition for the Homeless. Jimmy loved bringing dignity to homeless people and loved the street newspaper movement.
He passed away quietly at Hospice Care on Thursday in Cincinnati. He edited the street newspaper in Cincinnati for seven years and was a member of the North American Street Newspaper Association. The Cincinnati Enquirer recently wrote a profile of him and his experiences finding his way off the Cincinnati streets. We will miss his voice in Ohio. There will be a public memorial in January.
Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.
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