CAHA Meeting Cancelled in January

We have written about the desire by Cuyahoga Suburban Development staff to learn the addresses of those who live in the suburbs and receive rental assistance from EDEN (mentally ill and other disabled clients).  We have developed a petition to respond to this invasion of privacy on the Change.org website.  We are still collecting signatures here...http://chn.ge/1f8RF6A to sign in support of getting the suburban government out of the business of monitoring the addresses of the disabled.  The staff at First Suburbs Consortium after reading the petition and hearing concerns asked to be put on the agenda for the Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance Meeting.  There was not room on the December meeting agenda, but we made space for the Monday January 6, 2014 CAHA meeting for a fuller discussion.  Right before Christmas, staff of the First Suburbs Consortium dropped out of the meeting. 

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NEOCH Work in 2013

Here are some of the items NEOCH worked on in 2013:

• NEOCH staff worked with other groups to push an expansion of Medicaid in Ohio attending rallies, writing letters and writing editorials to assure that most of our constituents had access to health care.
• NEOCH was able to successfully settle our lawsuit over voter ID with the State of Ohio to extend it until after the 2016 Presidential election.
• Held 12 meetings of homeless people to talk about solutions to homelessness. This included meetings with the Cleveland City Council, County Council and State Representatives.  We also held a meeting with the Cleveland Police after the shooting death of two homeless people in East Cleveland in late 2012. We focused on shelter budget cuts and the impact of Sequestration locally on poor people.

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Names of Those Who Died Listed on the Website

Thanks to Jay Westbrook as one of his last acts of official business provided a few remarks for our Homeless Memorial Day 2013.  The event was at St. Malachi on December 21, 2013 at 7 p.m. as the Metanoia project was getting started for the night.  We had Rev. Dr George Jackson from Agape Renaissance Center and Fr. Tony Schuerger of St. Malachi both offering prayers for those who passed away.  Jim Schlecht of Metanoia Project read the names of those who passed away, and I gave a brief look at the current state of homelessness.  We have a video on the front of our website of the entire service.  We also have a posted the names on our Memorial Section of our website. 

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Homeless Memorial Day Video

NEOCH has posted a video highlight of the Homeless Memorial Day from December 21, 2013 at St. Malachi.  We remember those who we lost over the past year with a candlelight vigil.  This is to honor those who typically are overlooked by society.   This is the 27th Memorial Day for homeless people in Cleveland.  We have posted this on the front of our website as well.

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Medicaid Has Expanded But Just Barely

The Ohio Supreme Court has upheld Medicaid Expansion in Ohio, but by only a 4-3 margin.  Medicaid survives for another day.   It did not make it through the legislative process, but was resurrected at the obscure Controlling Board.  The process of signing up new people started on December 9 in Ohio by going to http://benefits.ohio.gov/ to apply for expanded Medicaid.  This now applies to nearly everyone living in poverty in Ohio no matter if they have children or if they have a disability.  After the information is verified by a staff person from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, the person will have health insurance.  They will have access to preventative health care, and will not have to rely on emergency room care. 

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Shelters Face Cuts in 2014

There was a vote today on the recommendations for shelter funds for 2014.  These are federal dollars from the 2013 allocation from HUD which involves a 5% cut because of Sequestration.   To fully fund all of our currently funded shelters, services, and housing programs for homeless people we need $24,608,600 and HUD is only giving us $23,995,100.  This means that a few of the shelters will face a large cut in funding and another group of services/shelters will not know if they are going to get funded at all until February 2014.  For five facilities in Cleveland, they are going to wait to see if HUD picks their project based on the amount of money unspent at the national level and competition from every other city in America.

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Received a Strange Call Today

I got a call from a pedestrian who bought a Street Chronicle newspaper today from one of our vendors and wanted a few questions answered.  He confirmed all the information that is on page 2 of the paper (Code of Conduct and newspaper operations).  How much do they pay for the paper--$.35?  Where does the money go when a pedestrian buys a paper--into the pocket of the vendor?  Then he asked, "Do you verify where this money is going to assure that it does not go to drugs or alcohol?"   This is an amazing question. 

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Homeless Count and the Danger of Releasing Numbers

I did not do a good job of describing the NEOCH position on the release of numbers by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.   We have talked about this every year that these numbers come out, and a report is issued for Congress.   This is to prove to legislators that the millions spent on homeless services are worthwhile and not sending good money after bad.   In the 1980s and early 1990s, there were so many exaggerated numbers released by advocates, researchers, local government, and social service providers that Congress demanded some real numbers.  Now, we get this terribly flawed report with no basis in reality.

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Changes Coming to Social Security in 2014

There was news from the Cleveland Identification Collaborative. 

• Printouts will no longer be issued in February at local offices. Printouts were being used as a document needed to get a state identification.
• Security and budget constraints require Social Security to stop the practice of issuing printouts.
• 6 million printouts were issued last year (2012) up from the 200,000 issued in 2002
• Employers can utilize I-Verify to verify employees numbers there is also a business service offered by Social Security which allows for online verification on a fee basis

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Ohio Safer Compared to Other States

In the new report issued by the National Coalition for the Homeless they rank the states according to how dangerous they are for homeless people.  Ohio has been in the top 5 for dangerous states for the past 10 years.  Typically, we have had seven to ten attacks with one or two resulting in death.  Cleveland has seen rock attacks, stun gun attacks, rapes and bricks thrown from cars.  Most of the attacks over the last 14 years took place in Cincinnati and the Dayton area.  It is always strange how cities with a great deal of hostility toward homeless programs and people always are at the top of the list of hate crimes directed at the poor.

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Homeless Memorial Day 2013

December 21, 2013 at 7 p.m. at St. Malachi Candlelight Vigil to remember those who passed away!
Please join us as we remember those who have experienced homelessness and died over the last year.  This is a candlelight vigil as part of the National Homeless Memorial Day taking place in over 100 cities in the United States.  The memorial is on the first day of winter at St. Malachi social hall as part of the Metanoia project at 7 p.m.   We typically have a group of religious leaders who offer prayers for those who died. 
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Hate Crimes Report Released by NCH

Senseless Violence: A Survey of Hate Crimes and Violence against the Homeless in 2012 documents the known cases of violence against homeless individuals in 2012. The report includes descriptions of the cases as well as recommendations to help prevent violence against homeless individuals.
The National Coalition for the Homeless has been tracking hate crimes against homeless individuals since 1999. This year’s report only shows a slight improvement in the number of lethal attacks. In 2012 alone, of the 88 attacks, 18 resulted in deaths.
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Homeless Stand Down Volunteer Opportunities

Greetings from our friends at Hands On NEO:
Please visit our website www.handsonneo.org to view volunteer opportunities for the 2014 Homeless Stand Down to be held at Cleveland Public Auditorium, 500 Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44114 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday January 25, 2014. Opportunities in support of the Stand Down begin as early as January 5th for donation sorting and continue through February 2 for CareVan Day support.   Please encourage your co-workers, congregation, and friends to volunteer for a truly worthy cause.

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Nelson Mandela: A Social Justice Champion

A sad day for Social Justice groups around the world with the passing of Nelson Mandela.  Most community organizers, advocates and progressive activists cut their teeth participating in Anti-Apartheid demonstrations.  I joined a group at Case Western Reserve pushing the university to divest of investments in South Africa until their racist form of government was ended.  We had demonstrations and pushed the board of trustees to divest.  Mandela has to be considered one of the greatest champions of Social Justice of the last century.  He persevered and prevailed through his strength of spirit.  He inspired a generation of social change agents throughout the world.   He was willing to die for freedom, but through his imprisonment he started a movement. 

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Woodchoppers Ball on December 7

Please remember that the Woodchopper's Ball is this weekend.   This fundraiser for NEOCH is held on Saturday December 7 at 8 p.m. at the Kent Stage.  Here is a detailed description of each guitarist.  Nine of the best finger-style guitar players in America come together at The Kent Stage for the 13th Annual Woodchoppers Ball. The Woodchoppers Ball is a Benefit for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. All seats reserved.

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Donate to NEOCH on #GivingTuesday

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is a valuable essential service in Cleveland.  We have:

• Kept advocacy that has an impact on homeless people such as the Change.org petition to protect the privacy rights of homeless people in the community. 
• Regularly updated the Homeless Street Card as a resource for those on the streets of Cleveland to direct them to the services available in the community.  
• Marketed HousingCleveland.org to other Counties and it is regularly used by 100 housing case workers every month and 153 unique users a day conducting 57,000 searches in the last 28 days. 
• We host the Homeless Memorial Day on December 21 every year for the last 26 years to remember those who were homeless and passed away. 

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Where Have All the Homeless Gone?

I am just amazed by the small number of people sleeping downtown these days.  Only a dozen years ago there were 40 people at the Welfare building. Public Square had at least a dozen people sleeping, and Superior Ave always had people at East 9th because of the heated sidewalks.    They are all gone.  No one sleeps at the Welfare building and there are rarely people on Public Square.   Where have all the homeless people gone in Cleveland?   On the Friday after Thanksgiving since 2000, we have gone downtown to count the number of homeless people sleeping outside.  In the past, we had 15 people to cover the downtown because there were so many people sleeping outside. 

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Change.org Petition to Keep Private the Addresses of Tenants

I don't understand how the petition to bring "Brian Griffin--the Dog" back to the Fox TV Show Family Guy has 96,000 people signing on to the Change.org, while important petitions about the right to privacy among tenants living in the suburbs of Cleveland has only 29 supporters.  A talking cartoon dog is funny, but asking the suburbs of Cleveland to follow the law should be a no brainer.  Besides, its a cartoon dog that can talk, the writers can bring Brian the Dog back anytime they want in a fantasy world.  We are petitioning a real issue that could have negative consequence for real people in the suburbs.  Just click here if you have not signed this petition yet http://chn.ge/1f8RF6A. 

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Food Can Kill Those who Sleep Outside

As many Americans sit down at Thanksgiving to break bread with family and friends, there are some who feel a sadness that everyone does not have the means for a feast in late November and so they want to volunteer to serve a meal to the "less fortunate."  There are thousands who reflect on the holiday and want to take a day to help the hungry.  Reservations to serve Thanksgiving meals are typically full in June of the year, and some of the big providers take reservations the previous year for this Thanksgiving.  Then there are those religious organizations who feel it is important to "minister" and serve those who stay outside.  This is a core belief for some to bring their understanding of God to people having a rough spot in their life with something warm to fill their stomachs.  

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Next Affordable Housing Meeting

One of the most fragile groups because of the Sequestration and the fact that regular federal budgets are not passed is the public housing authorities around the United States.  We worry about how the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority in Cleveland is surviving with the unstable funding from the federal government.  They have taken hit after hit and forced to rely on reserves that have dwindled over the last five years to house the thousands of people waiting for affordable housing locally.  They have done everything they can to avoid evictions as a result of budget cuts, but it is a huge juggling act.  This next Cuyahoga Affordable Housing Alliance meeting is Monday December 2, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. in the lower level of the US Bank Building (1350 Euclid Ave. ) and will feature both sides of the CMHA programs.

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