Cleveland Homeless

Be Careful What You Wish For...

2012-02-07T18:01:00.001-05:00

Atlanta Shelter Gets Sacked by Judge

The powers that be in Atlanta received a favorable ruling from a Fulton County Judge, now they have to figure out what to do with 400 to 800 people who show up seeking shelter every night. The local United Way, the Downtown Business Improvement District and the local foundation community have pushed around the Peachtree Pine shelter for years. This week they succeeded in getting a favorable decision by a local judge that could result in the closing of the shelter by August 2012. We have had short discussions about the Atlanta situation here and here and here on this blog. The business elite in Atlanta got their wish, the shelter director is being evicted, and the shelter will be forced to close as summer winds down. They cut off funding for the facility, and yet it stayed open. They foreclosed on the building, and it remained. A new owner purchased the property and worked to remove the existing shelter staff, but the Beaty's who run the shelter held on.

In an especially harsh verdict against the Metro Atlanta Task Force, the director, Anita Beaty, was told by the Judge that she must leave the facility by February 15, 2012 at noon. The United Way will take over the facility and have until August 31, 2012 to relocate all the residents to other shelters or into housing. It is likely that the Task Force's lawyers will appeal this decision, and this will likely push these deadlines. But no city in the United States has ever relocated thousands of long term homeless people in a short period of time. If it were not for the fact that these are peoples lives that the court is gambling with, it would be interesting to see if a social service collaboration can put together enough funds to relocate such a large number of fragile people.

The judge was very angry that the Occupy Atlanta advocates were allowed to move into the shelter. Judge Craig Schwall in issuing his verdict on Friday had harsh words for Anita Beaty, the director of the Task Force. The Atlanta Progressive News article quoted the judge as saying, "I'm not convinced they ( Jim and Anita Beaty) have the best interests of the homeless in this city. If they did, they wouldn't be in contested litigation and move Occupy Atlanta in, which is a political statement. And they would've let United Way in. If they can't do that, its about power and control and revenge." It is sad that the judge felt the need to condemn and question a person who has put 30 years of service to those struggling with their housing in his public comments.

There will be many around the country watching this experiment in homeless crisis management. Cities typically do a poor job of assisting populations without media consultants or lobbyists with expensive suits in a time of emergency. In context, the city of Atlanta already cut $18 million out of their 2012 budget and the next budget does not look good. The United Way of Atlanta reported a 10% decline in funds for 2011 to 2012. Where is the money going to come from to serve a couple thousand people?

The Atlanta Journal article quoted Protip Biswas (I know, looks like a text message mishap) from United Way as being able to find space for 25 people in transitional beds. He said, "We know we can small manageable numbers of 20 to 25, but if there are more that it will have to be a drastic solution of throwing mats on the floor." How many mats will fit on the floor of the Georgia Dome? Based on those numbers and the reality that half the population turns over every 30 days, the United Way will start with 550 people and add around 275 new people per month. At the rate of finding housing for 20 to 25 people per month and with the hope that Homelessness in America ends to coincide with the August 31st, 2012 deadline, Atlanta would be able to relocate those who show up at the Peachtree Pine Shelter over the next six months by April 2020. We have plenty of experience with overflow shelter in Cleveland, and what judges, media, elected officials, and bureaucrats often do not understand--homelessness does not stop to allow us to solve a community problem. When we shut down our overflow facility one winter in Cleveland, the discussion was always where are we going to put the 120 people who were living in the overflow shelter every night. But the real discussion should have been about the over 900 people who used the facility during the course of the winter.

What typically happens when shelter is curtailed is that more people will live outside or they will ride the transportation system all day. They will squeeze into the libraries or the hospital waiting rooms. Transportation officials will become frustrated that more people will be holding signs at the freeway exit ramps. There will be more people panhandling and sleeping on sidewalks. Tensions will rise at the Atlanta City Council meetings urging relief from people trying to squeegee cars downtown or selling anything and everything to get enough money to find housing or find transportation to some other place. Out of fear and a misunderstanding of the problem, the public and media will demand action. Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression will win the day. The elected officers will be forced to react with policies that transform the police into guards of orderly conduct. Atlanta will overturn common sense, and will become colder, meaner and poorer. The cradle of the Civil Rights movement will be transformed into the Capital of the Intolerance Movement.

Should we demand the MLK Freedom Center be relocated to a more appropriate city where there is not this intolerance of the impoverished? I understand that the judge was tired of this long complicated acrimonious court case. I understand he was angry with the shelter throwing this hail mary, but why shut down the facility in six months? How about ordering the City or the United Way to offer space to everyone in need within the city limits? Under a court order to provide housing, shelter or a safe place to everyone who shows up at the door of City Hall that would force a compromise by both parties who were appearing before him. There is no way that the shelter would close if the bottom line for the court was concern for those who need a place out of the sun or out of the rain in Atlanta.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Good News for the Shelters

2012-02-06T17:31:00.000-05:00

Mild Winter and Low Numbers Welcomed by Homeless

This warm weather has been a big help for those trying to help homeless people, and we have not had to spend huge dollars on overflow in Cuyahoga County. Cleveland is one of the last cities in the United States that will find a place for everyone who shows up at the door requesting help. This has been policy for 20 years, and has kept the number of people who pass away down to a minimum. We do not have large numbers of people freezing to death that is seen in other cities. When things are horribly cold more people choose to go inside. We have spoken about the confusion that some have regarding diversion, but overall the system is built to provide shelter to everyone in need.

The nice weather has translated to fewer days this winter of overflow for the men. The County has not had to pay for as many days of overflow as they did last year. So far through January, we were told that the Shelter has only needed 7 to 10 days worth of overflow for the whole winter. This is great news. The way the shelter system for men works is that they go to Lakeside, and then after dinner the staff figure out if there are enough beds inside the building to serve all those who showed up. They have a mat room that can serve as the primary overflow. They also fill empty beds within the shelter of people who have a pass for the evening. These are people who may be visiting family or have an early interview on the far west side so they stay on a couch for the night or they may be in the hospital. They get a pass so they do not lose their bed, but those empty beds must be used if needed. Then once the beds are all full and all the mats are full, the bus is pulled out and transportation starts to other facilities. They have at least three other groups in the community who are willing to help out including Volunteers of America and City Mission and a religious group. It is a pretty elaborate system worked out between the County and the Lutheran Metro Ministry. Thankfully, with the warm weather we have not had to implement it as much as last year.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

In Memory of a Friend

2012-02-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

Gloria attended the 2011 Hand Up Gala

Gloria Wilson 1974-2012

The Bishop Cosgrove Center remembered Gloria at a memorial on Monday January 30, 2012. Gloria helped us start a women's residence council at the Community Women's Shelter when the program was run by Catholic Charities. Before health issues limited her ability to attend meetings, she was always vocal about her opinion. Gloria attended Homeless Congress meetings, and encouraged others to speak up. She attended the St. James church and sang in the choir. She had found subsidized housing, which was the hand up she needed to find stability. Gloria was very good at briefly and clearly telling an audience the problem and providing an avenue for others to help. I remember that she testified about poverty at a gathering of advocates at Trinity Cathedral. Gloria had five children and a loving family. Gloria volunteered a great deal to help clean up at the Cosgrove and I always saw her at the Homeless Stand Down. We will miss Gloria's voice at local meetings.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Privacy for Homeless People 2

2012-02-01T15:27:00.000-05:00

Public Comment Due to HUD February 7, 2012

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is recommending those experiencing homelessness and local advocates to respond to the call for public comments with regard to the release of Homeless Management Information Systems requirements. These rules are critical to the protection of privacy for homeless people, and could have a major impact on how the shelters are funded going forward. We have an advocacy alert available to those interested in responding just send us an e-mail and we will pass that along to you [neoch (at) advocacy (dot) org.].

To respond go to: http://www.regulations.gov
Enter the Docket Number: FR-5475-P-01
or the Title: Homeless Management Information Systems Requirements.

If you do decide to respond, please send us a copy of your comments to our advocacy e-mail. Here is the subject of our comments.

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has accepted the use of HMIS to improve the delivery of services to those experiencing homelessness, but we do not support the use of HMIS as a system to report the extent of homelessness to Congress. We have seen that the statistics are often mistaken for a count of the total number of people homeless in a city or county. No matter how many qualifiers are included in the national Annual Homeless Assessment Report, both elected officials and the media mismanage the data as a complete count of homelessness. There is such wide disparity in how this data is collected that there is no way to compare among service provider and certainly between cities this case management data. We believe that a voluntary case management system would be worthwhile to collect data, but a mandatory system that attempts to collect an unduplicated count is nearly impossible in such a fractured system.

In a period of tightening budgets and federal cuts, we believe that these resources could be redirected to basic human services or housing assistance instead of the administrative services of counting people. We see the value of one electronic case management system overseen by HUD used by every social service provider in a community. If the eventual goal is to arrive at the number of homeless people in a city or state as stated by Congress, we believe that HUD would receive much better information by funding local experts to conduct a census in representative cities. We believe that local universities or foundations in various size representative cities, suburbs, and rural jurisdictions could develop an accurate estimate of the number of homeless people and then they could use that data to extrapolate a national estimate of homelessness.

Here are a few of the areas that we have concerns:

It should be made clear that there is not a minimum participation rate by clients for the social service provider. The user who is experiencing a housing emergency and refuses to enter data should not result in a penalty or an issue with the performance standards for the local social service provider.
We believe that the security standards should emphatically and unequivocally state that law enforcement agencies should not have access to personal identifying information contained within the HMIS data without a warrant signed by a member of the judicial branch of government.
We believe that the requirement for every publicly funded homeless service provider contribute data to a central management system is an unfunded mandate from the federal government. There should be dedicated resources separate from the Emergency Solutions Grant or Continuum funding to implement this project.
We believe that there are a number of state privacy laws that make it difficult for local agencies to submit data under these proposed rules.
NEOCH does not believe that an HMIS Lead organization should also be a service provider.
The security standards, local policies and procedures and grievance process should be posted on an easily accessible publicly available website.
There are no protections for clients outlined in the regulations for improper usage or improper release of data especially privacy violations by an HMIS Lead organization.
Since this data is being used by the public and Congress for planning and local decision making on the proper allocation of resources, there should be a way for advocates or the public to challenge the data’s accuracy.

If you have questions or need more detail feel free to contact us. Even if you disagree with our comments, it is important to have the public weigh in on these rules. These requirements are forcing every publicly funded shelter in America to require everyone entering to provide data and then that data is compiled in an annual report and delivered to Congress. While I understand the importance of data, it just seems like we are surrendering to the reality that we will always have homeless people in the United States. We are forced to construct this elaborate infrastructure to keep track of those people without housing, because homeless families are going to be with us for generations. We are resigned to have detailed rules about the counting of homeless people, and we are going to need shelters for decades into the future. I want some political will to end homelessness this year. I want to not have to count people next year with all the vacant housing in the United States. Maybe I am a dreamer, but writing down all these rules to count homeless people just seems like we are agreeing to sign on to a similar document presented to General Lee in the parlor of McLean House in April of 1865.

Brian Davis
Community Organizer

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Homeless Stand Down 2012

2012-01-25T14:00:00.002-05:00

A Wonderful Day for Those Experiencing Homelessness

2012 Homeless Stand Down (photo by William Gilmore)

2012 Stand Down at the Masonic Auditorium (photo by William Gilmore)

All reports from the Stand Down was that it was a great day for those experiencing homelessness. There was a very good positive article in the Plain Dealer. HandsOn NEO took the lead and did a great job coordinating this huge event. Our long time partner, InterAct Cleveland, went out of business, and HandsOn Northeast Ohio took on all the responsibilities of this critical event. This is the 20th year for the City of Cleveland to feature an all day service fair for veterans and non-veterans in the same facility on the same day. Cleveland was the first city to expand the Stand Down to include non-veterans in the early 1990s. Stand Down is a military term for a period of rest away from the battlefield. The Stand Down originated in San Diego as a day in which every part of the Veterans Administration along and most other government agencies who serve veterans would meet on an open field and set up tents to provide housing, jobs, benefit check and health care screenings.

Cleveland has done the Stand Down at Cuyahoga Community College campus, Old Stone Church, Trinity Cathedral, the Cosgrove Center, the Convention Center and now at the Masonic Auditorium over the years. We have served 700 to 1,700 people depending on the year and the size of the facility. NEOCH began partnering with InterAct in 2003 after years of doing it ourselves. We moved the Stand Down to the winter as a Winter ReStock operation. The thinking was that those who spend time on the streets get a boost from all the volunteers and help during the holiday, but by the end of January all of those winter items were worn out or lost and they needed a hand up. I really believe the Stand Down is an important event for the community that many wait months to attend.

It is important to have all the services in one place. The 2012 Stand Down took place on Sunday January 22 at the Masonic Auditorium on Euclid Ave. It is great that all of these volunteers show up to help. There are valuable items given away, and a great deal of information passed onto the community. But on the individual level it is transformational for the people who attend. I have seen many people show up beat down by the stress of finding a bed and food every day, and walk out with a full heart, full stomachs, a full bag of winter clothing, and full of hope for the future. They get a haircut, a beautiful portrait, new clothing, and a relaxing day centered around their needs. I have had women who had their lives saved after discovering a lump at the breast cancer screenings at the Stand Down. A lot of people who are resistant to shelter wait for the winter coats and boots. There is entertainment, food, and a chance to catch up with a social worker or a friend you may not have seen for many years.

The care volunteers at the Stand Down are highly professional and sensitive to the needs of the population. They go above and beyond to make the men and women feel welcome and the whole event is centered around those without housing. Despite the large number of people, HandsOn did a nice job efficiently and effectively serving those who were requesting help. Here are the numbers from the 2012 Stand Down:

840 people attended including families.
172 haircuts were completed free of charge.
89 Podiatry screenings.
147 non-food service volunteers helped out, and a total of 400 volunteers to stage the days activities.

Thanks to the community for opening its arms to help those in need with some extra tender loving care on one day out of the year.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Los Angeles Times Questionable Behavior

2012-01-22T14:45:00.000-05:00

Is the LA Times Partially Responsible for a Homeless Death?

Imagine the outcry if a major American paper put a picture of a women walking home in the dark on the front page of the paper when illustrating a story about a serial killer targeting women who were walking home late at night. What if they identified the woman's name and the very next week she was targeted and killed by that same serial killer. There would be protests and calls for a resignation of the editor from other papers. This happened in Los Angeles and there has not been a peep from the media or even an apology from the editors of the Los Angeles Times.

The LA Times posted on Friday January 6 a story about police warning homeless people to go inside in Orange County California with a photo accompanying the story. This photo was taken on January 5, 2012 of John Barry, 64 (identified as a homeless man in the caption along with his name) talking to Anaheim Police Mike Lynch by LA Times photographer Allan Schaban. As we all know from watching Criminal Minds serial killers feed off their own publicity in the local newspapers. They often play to the local news, and FBI and local law enforcement often use the media to draw out a serial killer. A week later on Friday January 13, Barry was killed by what police are claiming is the same serial killer who had targeted and hunted down this individual pictured on the front of the LA Times. Photographer Schaban has to be feeling horrible that he did not hide the victims identity on the first photo. The LA Times has said nothing in the week after the tragedy apologizing for their involvement in this case.

We publish a paper so we have some understanding of the use of images in the paper. Almost every time a newspaper features a homeless person, donors come forward to help. It is almost always the case that the person experiencing homeless benefits from the publicity, but this situation was different because it involved a serial killer targeting a segment of the population. This killer was hunting down a somewhat small community living within Orange County. There were a couple thousand people homeless in a city like Anaheim at any one time. Not a huge population vulnerable to this killer. A newspaper editor in a modern American city should know what the rules are with regard to posting "bait" for a serial killer. Law enforcement should have put additional protection on Mr. Barry when he was made the face of homelessness in Anaheim by the Los Angeles Times. I am not saying that government should get involved in publishing decisions, because nothing done by the LA Times was illegal. It just seemed unethical for the paper to identify a homeless guy while police were searching for a serial killer targeting homeless people. At least, the LA Times owes the family and the community an apology. They should compensate the family or the homeless community for using John Barry's image that led to his death.

The alleged killer hunted John Barry. In the article, Barry indicated that he was worried that someone was watching and following him. The alleged killer was watching Barry and then killed him when he was alone. Witnesses followed Itzcoatl Ocampo, a recently discharged US Marine, who was arrested and charged with the killing of four people including Barry all of whom were experiencing homelessness. I just don't understand why the Police and other media are not outraged over this story. We mourn for John Barry and send our condolences to his family as well as the other three victims of the Orange County serial killer.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Stand Down This Weekend

2012-01-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

Here are the services being offered this weekend at the Homeless Stand Down:

Cleveland Dept. of Public Health / Centerpoint

Cleveland Dept. of Public Health / Nursing (flu shots)

Mental Health Services

CareAlliance

Sanford Brown Nursing Students

American Sickle Cell Anemia Assoc.

St. Vincent's / Podiatry

EMS

Cleveland State University - College of Science and Health Professionals

Planned Parenthood

Michael Christopher's Salon - 5 haircutters

Paul Mitchell/The Ohio Academy - 15 haircutters

Center for Families and Children / WSEM

Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland

Dept. of Aging

Joseph's Home

NEON

ODJFS/Employment and Family Services

First Call for Help / 211/Community Voicemail

MetroHealth

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections

Louis Stokes VA Medical Center / Parma Vet Center

NEOCH--Street Card, Voter Registration Services

AARP Work Search

Ohio Benefit Bank/Cleveland Food Bank

Family Promise of Greater Cleveland

Neighborhood Family Practice/We are the Uninsured

Community Service Alliance

Oriana House/Cleveland Transition Center

Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA)

VA - Incarcerated and Homeless Veterans Outreach and VOA (Volunteers of America)

The Free Clinic

Legal Aid Society of Cleveland

Cleveland Dental Hygienists

Westside Catholic Charities

Long Term Care Ombudsman

This is the first year in which HandsOn NEO will be in the lead of this critical event in the community. They still need help with transportation on Friday, Saturday and then transporting guests to the event on Sunday. Let them know if you can help at 216/432-9390. This should be another wonderful event in the 20th year of offering this service in Cuyahoga County.

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

More Blankets Coming In

2012-01-17T10:31:00.000-05:00

Still Seeking Blankets

The holidays are now over, but the we still have three long months of winter. Those warm fuzzy feelings of the Christmas season are fading, but homeless people still need your help. We are still collecting blankets for homeless people who are resistant to shelter. Thanks to Mission and Members of Holy Trinity Church on East 131st Street for collecting blanket this last week. We distributed those and are looking for help from other churches, synagogues or civic organizations in the community. Our goal is to collect between 3,000 and 5,000 blankets this year.

Brian

PS the above picture is from the Transformation Art Center at the Cosgrove Center.
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

New Street Card Available

2012-01-16T20:49:00.000-05:00

The new Street Card was updated and printed. It is now available on the streets for distribution. In case you have not seen it before, it is a one page (front and back) with all the services available to homeless people on a walk in basis. This has all the shelters, daily or weekly meal programs, housing services, legal assistance and counseling help available in Cuyahoga County. We will have the new version on the website this week as we update our new site. Right now, you can pick the Street Card at our office or at many of the local social services. Thanks to University Hospitals for printing the 10,000 copies of the Street Card. We will be distributing these at Homeless Stand Down next week and throughout the next month to Police Stations, Libraries, social service providers and hospitals. We will have them available to print from our website in the next week.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Serial Killer and Hate Crimes

2012-01-15T12:04:00.001-05:00

Orange County Captures Alleged Killer

Orange County and the city of Anaheim California are dealing with a serial killer targeting homeless people. Today, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the suspect in these murders of four homeless people is an Iraq War veteran. The Orange County Register has done a great job in covering this story, and they report today that the Police Chief is confident that they have captured the man responsible for these deaths. The national news has centered on a serial killer targeting homeless people, but these individuals were members of our society and were brothers, Dads, and co-workers of the other residents of this Southern California community. James McGillivray was killed Dec. 20, Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was killed in Anaheim on December 22, and then on Christmas eve Paulus Cornelius Smit, 57, was found dead near a library. The last victim was only identified as John at this point.

The Register also covered the release of the National Coalition for the Homeless' hate crimes report which was released last week. Advocates from Orange County have been regularly talking to the staff at the National Coalition and law enforcement has been in contact as they investigated this killer. The report received a great deal of coverage throughout the United States as a result of the serial killer. Most of the data in the report is from 2010, but it is still shocking to have all these vicious crimes laid out in one report. Ohio once again was in the top tier of states with reported hate crimes with six incidents in 2010. We have mentioned most of the incidents in the past on this blog, but there was one that we missed that happened in Youngstown Ohio:

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO–November 4, 2010
Fifty-eight-year-old homeless man, Tommy was beaten and stoned by a group of young boys ages nine, thirteen, and sixteen. Tommy was well known in the neighborhood and could not defend himself due to his mental illness. The injured man was found by the police sitting on the ground and was taken to a hospital to be cared for. The group of boys is expected to be charged in juvenile court. Their parents will also be held responsible in accordance with the “Parent Responsibility Act” for the delinquency of their children.

Florida was once again by far the most dangerous place in the country for those living outside followed by California and Texas. Maybe all this attention on the issue will encourage elected officials to do more to protect the vulnerable and will encourage those living outside to accept help and come inside. Also, considering the leading suspect in these murders is an Iraq War veteran, it is obvious we need to do more to reach out to those struggling with mental illness as they are discharged from a war zone.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Hand's On Needs Your Help with Stand Down

2012-01-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

Stand Down 2012

The 2012 Stand Down is set for January 22, 2012 at the Masonic Auditorium. Since InterACT has gone out of business, Hands On Northeast Ohio is taking the lead in the Stand Down. They are doing most of the planning and especially gathering the volunteers. They are looking for volunteers to help with the transportation and organizing of the event on the couple of days before the Stand Down. Volunteers are gathering on Friday January 20th at Pilgrim Church in Tremont and Saturday January 21 to get ready for the event. For more information or to volunteer call 216/432-9390.

Larry Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-03T15:58:00.000-05:00

Street Newspaper Hits the Streets in December!!
In the busy holiday season, we forgot to report that the new paper is on the streets. Issue 18.4 was published last week and hit the streets. It is on sale now from your friendly vendor mostly at the West Side Market and downtown. Some of the stories featured in the paper include a series of interviews with members of the Homeless Congress about their most important issues that they want the city to address with regard to homelessness. There are a number of commentaries by our vendors. We have a very nice center spread on photos from the 2011 Hand Up Gala.

There is a front page story about the Cleveland Tenants Organization, and a number of poems. We continue the popular NEOCH Index of current statistics prepared by Luke Drotar is in the paper. We hope that you will pick up a copy of the paper today. Support your local vendors, and support your local street newspaper.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

What is Happening With County Homelesness?

2011-12-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

Jan Eaton (Community Women's Shelter), Ruth Gillett and Sheri West (OHS) and Cathy Alexander (Mental Health Services) (sitting) at the June County Council hearing on Shelter Standards. Photo by Pleasure Simmons.

Cuyahoga County Homelessness 2011
The County Office of Homeless Services (OHS) "Advisory" board only meets every other month. The last meeting was in November 2011, and we haven't written much about the County for the past few months. At their last meeting they worked to clarify the definition of homelessness to include transitional programs, which was causing confusion for the Mental Health/Alcohol and Drug Boards and their staff. This will all have to be updated again as the newly passed HUD rules are implemented locally which dramatically redefines homelessness. This new definition will only confuse the entire community (Thanks Congress). The Board also expanded to include a representative of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District--a very good idea.

The Housing First group (overseers of permanent supportive housing programs) has decided to expand to include families and young adults as the HUD rules change to allow for a small portion of federal dollars to go to these populations. With the huge increase in family homelessness in America over the last three years (including Cleveland), this makes sense if not a little late. Progressive cities such as Minneapolis and Denver expanded to include families years ago using state and local resources since HUD dollars were not available. These communities have done a much better job in addressing the problem of homelessness, because they have not chased the federal gravy train, but instead set about solving homelessness and found the dollars to implement their strategies. We did learn from the Housing First group that there is not really a solid source of funding for the supportive services associated with these properties. This is concerning in that if HUD moves on to a new trend will these severely disabled people be left in apartments without case managers? Also, will we see the same problem we saw with Public Housing when they got rid of their social workers repeated with Permanent Supportive Housing?

We regularly criticize the Office for having the most talented and knowledgeable people sitting around the table, but wasting those opportunities never doing anything of substance. From the surveys conducted by a consultant to OHS, it seems like one quarter of the board is similarly dissatisfied. A lot of this frustration came up in the discussion as the "advisory" made plans for the next three years. They attempted to put in writing some goals for the Office of Homeless Services, and I heard concern from many of the members that the Board should be working more on solving community problems and bringing more resources to address homelessness. There is also some confusion if the "advisory" really advises anyone and are staff, elected officials or county bureaucrats really listening to the advise?

One of the best things that the OHS accomplished this year was to remain committed to universal access to shelter in Cuyahoga County by negotiating overflow beds for this winter. With the disabled men's shelter gone and the building being used for offices and the VOA using their facility for other purposes, we were worried that we would not have a place for overflow mats. Gillett assured us repeatedly that there would be overflow, and in the end she negotiated over 100 spaces for overflow of the men's shelter in Cleveland. This is always difficult but important for Cleveland to keep the population inside and safe. OHS staff, Ruth Gillett, attended the November Homeless Congress meeting, and heard from the men that they wanted the County to host a meeting of all the shelters to clarify the rules for staying open during an extreme weather situation. Last year, on an especially snowy day in January a few of the shelters closed while others stayed open. There did not seem to be clear guidance to all the shelters about the Cuyahoga County snow emergency policy. This meeting has yet to be called.

Ruth Gillett did attend the November CAHA meeting about homelessness in Cleveland. She presented some interesting statistics for the group:

The Office was established in 1993 and federal allocation of dollars to Cuyahoga County has grown dramatically from $1.4 million in 1989 to over $34 million in 2010.
There are 1,122 shelter beds and 868 Transitional Shelter beds in Cuyahoga County.
22% of the funds go to emergency shelter, 12% goes to transitional housing, 49% goes to permanent housing and 5% goes to supportive services, and 12% goes to prevention services. (0.0% goes to public policy/advocacy/dispelling myths--FYI).
Using the deeply flawed management system, Gillett claimed there were 5,208 un-duplicated individuals using the shelter system in 2010. So, using those numbers (which are probably way off) we spent $6,528.41 per person to get those individuals into housing. (An apartment at fair market rent is around $7,236 for a one bedroom unit in Cleveland.)
Gillett tracked only 471 families using the shelters in 2010 with 645 kids using her deeply flawed management system. (the schools served over 2,000 school aged children in the same time with an broader definition of homelessness that the Department of Education uses.)
Using more credible statistics, Gillett claimed that 50% of the population stay less than 30 days in a shelter, but 20% stay more than a year.
Ruth Gillett presented statistics on the one day count of homelessness. These are of no use to the community since so many people are missed on this one day count compared to other cities.
Currently, there are 470 permanent supportive housing units open with a goal of 1,000

Gillett also identified a few problems with the current system in her presentation. Those included:

Homeless people cycle through the shelters
There are minimal prevention services.
There is a mismatch of need and access to resources.
The homeless system is inefficient.
The current shelter system is not very effective.

The OHS staff are proposing a "NEW Approach" to address homelessness. This includes:

Close the front door to homelessness by putting more resources into prevention activities and diversion activities. (We have discussed diversion activities in this space earlier this year.) Better discharge planning and the creation of a real central intake where everyone gets a unified screening with a clear path outlined to get out of homelessness.)
Open the back door which means using HUD funding to develop permanent housing and affordable housing options for those experiencing homelessness. There should be more short term rental assistance funding available and housing subsidies. Finally, Gillett's plan includes more permanent supportive housing to serve those who have been homeless for a long time.
Need to focus on shortening the length of time people are homeless. Gillett suggests that this can be accomplished by helping people rapidly exit from shelter (Are there a lot of people hanging out at the shelter for longer than necessary because it is so fun to live without privacy or keeping your stuff safe from theft?) Ruth Gillett suggests moving toward home based case management for those leaving homelessness. She is proposing re-thinking assessment of household needs to focus on housing stability. Finally she is suggesting that we connect people with mainstream resources for ongoing assistance.

Brian Davis
Director of Community Organizing
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Privacy For Homeless People

2011-12-27T16:55:00.000-05:00

HIPAA Regulations and Homeless Memorial

Background
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed by President Clinton in 1996, but the privacy provisions did not go into effect until 2003 in the United States and the enforcement rules were not in place until 2006. They govern most health care organizations including mental health providers from releasing information about patients or disclosing health information collected from health insurers, hospitals, clinics while working to upgrade all records to an electronic platform. The Coalition has been overseeing a homeless memorial day since 1987 in Cleveland with the reading of the names of those who died over the past year. We call every social service agency to gather names, and then read an alphabetical list of homeless or formerly homeless people who died over the past year. In the 1990s, we were reading 10-25 names. These last two years, we were reading 40 to 50 names. Our national sponsors for this event are the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Health Care for the Homeless Council who both help coordinate memorials all over the country.

We have had no problems collecting names because privacy does not survive death. All births and deaths in the community are public events that are announced in the paper. The coroner does not identify people as homeless, but they will release the names of unclaimed bodies every year or those who were previously buried in the "Potter's Field" at the cemetery off Warrensville Center Road. This year, only six days before the memorial, I was notified by Mental Health Services staff that they could not provide names with a link to a 2002 Q& A about whether HIPAA patient information survives death. No meeting, no discussion, and no assurances that the agency talked to other health care organizations in the United States who participate in the memorial. Just a two sentence e-mail was all we were given from MHS. We had received names from the agency in previous years, and we sent the first letter asking for help collecting names in mid-September. We heard nothing from the agency, which happens to be the largest homeless social service provider in Cleveland until December 15.

Another bit of background information, NEOCH is one of the most sensitive organizations in the community when it comes to privacy. We have filed numerous complaints regarding violations of privacy with social service providers. When we had to submit data to the County regarding our clients, we assumed that the client would want to remain anonymous in the system and so they had to affirmatively declare that they wanted to have their social security number used in the County management system. Most providers force the client to affirm that they want their social security numbers removed from the management information system, which is often uncomfortable when they are hoping for a bed that night. We oppose the use of the County Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) in the shelters because it is too easy for private client data to be viewed by other social service providers to construct a registry of "bad homeless people." Mental Health Services submits personal information to the County including social security numbers through the HMIS network, and we have even caught agency staff declaring that submission of social security number was a requirement for entry into a MHS facility (which is wrong). So, while we do a great deal to protect the privacy of homeless people, we understand that once a person dies they really cannot object to their name being remembered and honored at that point.

Why HIPAA Does Not Apply to Homeless Memorial
The Coalition is not releasing patient information as part of the memorial. We are not saying, "Joe Smith who was mentally ill and sleeping at Lakeside and was a patient of MHS died this year." We are not even saying that the person was homeless in 2011 and then passed away. The list is a strictly the names of people who passed away in 2011 and had previous experience with homelessness. It comes from many different sources and is not divided by agency. While homelessness certainly contributes to bad health outcomes, it is not a medical condition. We also have used street names on the list and sometimes we only have their first name. If the agency was in fact worried about the privacy of their clients there are ways around this concern. With a little more time and some discussion, we could have satisfied the issues brought up by the MHS attorney. Involving an attorney in this type of community service is why lawyers are held in such low regard and the reason we have warning labels on everything we consume, wear, or even use to clean with. "Warning: May Contain Traces of Nuts" on a Hershey's Almond Bar or "Do Not Take if Allergic to Aspirin" on the side of a Bayer Aspirin container are typical of the nonsense we have to put up with today because of well meaning but overly nervous attorneys.

We suggested calling the National Health Care for the Homeless Council who should understand HIPAA as a leading health care organizations and co-coordinator of National Homeless Memorial Day. I have no idea if they ever did this, since no one at MHS would talk about this decision. They just kept saying, "we want to help and we understand your position, but we cannot." We suggested calling the many health care for the homeless organizations in the United States who participate in and in many cases even organize a Homeless Memorial Day in their cities, but heard nothing except a couple of short e-mails. This is the kind of frustration that homeless people have to put up with everyday. The lights are out a 11 p.m. for no good reason even if the NBA playoffs go long or some agencies throw away all a client's valuables when they are transported to the hospital by ambulance, and then when they come back they are even barred from digging through the trash to retrieve their own original birth certificate or family pictures. If the shelters were more transparent and acted like members of the community who were always trying to provide a hand up, we would all be better off.

HIPAA Privacy Claims
The Center for Democracy and Technology is lobbying to get an improvement in HIPAA regulations, and they have criticized the enforcement of HIPAA regulations. Here are their comments to Congress from 2009.

"Unfortunately, the HIPAA rules have never been adequately enforced. As noted above, HHS
has not levied a single penalty against a HIPAA-covered entity since the rules were implemented (footnote 18). The Justice Department has levied some penalties under the criminal provisions of the statute – but a 2005 opinion from DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) expressly limits the application of the criminal provisions to covered entities, and prosecutors seeking to enforce criminal penalties against individuals have had to rely on other federal laws."

There have been thousands of complaints, but very few have resulted in any prosecution or even any follow-up from the Department of Health and Human Services. The handful that were prosecuted were obvious huge violations in which the release of information was to cover some criminal enterprise or obvious stupidity such as throwing away un-shredded patient information in an unlocked dumpster. The likelihood that the local agency could have any problem with HIPAA and homeless memorial day is nearly non-existent. We were willing to sign any agreement between the two agencies that we would not disclose any patient information from the agency, but never heard anything back. It is hard to guess why MHS took this position. Was it that as the largest provider, they have a stake in keeping the numbers down? Was it that they did not want to be bothered asking their staff? Did they not want to participate in anything associated with the Coalition? I have no idea what the real reason was because we never got the chance to sit down face to face and discuss the issue. We were never given the courtesy of discussing this important event in Cleveland. These names were lost to the community in 2011.

The training manual from the National office does not mention HIPAA problems. But in searching the public record, I could not find one place where this came up as an issue. As a board member of the National Coalition for the Homeless, one of the national coordinators, I have never heard any other city raise HIPAA as an issue. I could not find any controversy regarding any memorial in any part of the United States with a Google search. So, again the chance of any backlash against Mental Health Services is minimal. If anything, the Coalition is taking the risk not the social service providers in our community. If Nightline can feature an entire show reading the names of US soldiers killed in Iraq, then we should be able to honor those who passed away in our cities. The US Military has huge health care costs and does respect HIPAA privacy concerns, but they release the names of those who are killed in action every week. Our fear is that by standing behind unreasonably cautious legal advice, we will forget these individuals. We will not recognize that homelessness can kill by keeping down the number of people on the memorial list. As we say every year, these individuals are largely forgotten in life, it would be a crime to forget these individuals in death as well.

Brian Davis
Director of Community Organizing
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Candlelight Vigil

2011-12-27T16:54:00.001-05:00

Collecting Names

As the Coalition tried to honor those who had died and had some experience with homeless in much the same way the military who lost their lives in Iraq were honored, we ran into some local resistance. These are my words before the 2011 Homeless Memorial/Candlelight Vigil at St. Patrick's Hunger Center at 5:00 p.m. on December 21, 2011. This was the 25th Vigil held in Cleveland and we were apart of over 100 across the United States over the last year. We have posted a long discussion about why HIPPA does not apply to the National/Ohio Homeless Memorial Day on this blog.

“We know that there were exactly 4,485 US soldiers killed in the last ten years as a result of the Iraq war and an additional 314 members died from other Coalition forces (mostly from the United Kingdom). As we leave Iraq, we could give you an honor roll of all those who died over the next four hours, because every week the US Military releases those names. We can only give you an approximate number of wounded of 32,000 soldiers, because those soldier’s names are protected by federal regulations. It is up to the soldier and their family to alert the community that they were wounded in Iraq. We have no right to know their name, and the homeless community hopes that we never know their names as they recuperate from their wounds over the next 10 years. We do not want to see them show up at the shelters and we hope that the federal effort to end veteran’s homelessness is successful.

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless reads the names of those who have passed away over the last year and have had some experience with homelessness on the first day of winter. This is the 25th time we have done this activity in Cleveland, and the large number of names are painful to hear every year. The first memorial was 1987 on Public Square with a handful of very cold and very committed activists reading the names of a couple of homeless people who had died. We honor these individuals as friends who slipped through the cracks and often we could not help. This is done in 105 cities throughout the United States and it is the least we could do to remember these moms, dads, sons, grandfathers, daughters, and grandmothers. We feel it is appropriate and respectful that we acknowledge these individuals in our community.

The largest homeless service provider in the Cleveland, Mental Health Services, refuses to provide names of individuals who passed away over the last year. They have contact with the largest number of homeless people and administer the Central Intake in Cleveland, so Mental Health Services' information is critical to give us a full picture on the number of people who passed away over the last year. We do not understand why MHS will not help us to honor those who died over the last year. They are claiming a higher degree of secrecy than the US Military, and to the veterans in this room this is almost unimaginable. So, I am sure that the list that we have today is not a complete list, and many of those friends we lost will be forgotten. In my opinion this is deeply troubling that a group of people largely forgotten in life will also be forgotten in death. I am sorry that we cannot remember the names of all those we lost over the last year.

We will read the names of those we have collected and then we will ask you if there are others that we do not read. We will ask you to announce their names at the end of the service."

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Distributing Toys

2011-12-24T09:49:00.000-05:00

NBC Today Show Toys and Household Items Distributed by NEOCH Staff

NEOCH Staff Wrapped and Distributed Toys Locally
Every year, NEOCH is the local recipient of the NBC Today Show Toy Drive gifts. These are books, toys, and other household items donated by major retailers in the United States to go to children and families in shelters. This year William (Santa hat) and Larry played Santa Claus by distributing the items. Ms. Harris and Ms. Barnes wrapped the toys that we received from HomeGoods. We gave out new cutting boards and kitchen cutlery and cooks' tools to those in transition to housing. We distributed women's intimates, and bath and soap items to a women's shelters. We gave away winter clothing, and a few smaller items that came in. All of these items are new and the kids items we wrapped and delivered to family shelters with name tags identifying who would appreciate the toys the most. This is a great program for shelters throughout the United States. Thanks to NBC and the Today show and all the corporations which participate in this program.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Homeless Memorial Day 2011

2011-12-23T13:35:00.001-05:00

We Remember Those We Lost

This is the 25th time that we have remembered those who passed away in Cleveland. What began with a few advocates shivering on Public Square and protecting themselves from the wind remembering a handful of people who died over the past year has grown to a large vigil with 175 people attending every year. We join over 100 other cities with similar memorials on the first day of winter. This year we were joined by State Senator Nina Turner (pictured above) who was moved by the emotion of the event. We also had Rabbi Joshua Caruso of Fairmount Temple and Rev. Joan Gattuso from Unity Greater Cleveland who both said a prayer from their faith traditions. Deacon Bill Merriman of St. Patrick's Catholic Church welcomed us and said a prayer to remember those had frequented the meal site, but had left us this year. There were a number of homeless people who added names to the list and it was comforting to have other social service providers in attendance. Thanks to William Gilmore for saying a few words and staff from Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Our old staff person and current CSU social work student finished the sombre evening with a song.

Here are the list of names we read. These are names from the community of individuals with some experience with homelessness who passed away in 2011.
Tommy Atkinson
Bobby B
Joseph Barnett
Gary Bolten
William Bowdry
Maurice Brent
David Burkes
John Carlyle
Robin Carter
John Cicero
Jason Collins
Ed Cox
Bobby Crabtree
Brian Cushner
Ariel Delgado
James Hartman
Bobby Henderson
Kevin Holdsworth
James Johnson
Joseph Kopp
Virginia LeCato
Twila Legg
Leroy Lewis
James Lloyd
Lorenzo Longshaw
Robert Marsh
James Mitchell
Robert Moore
Richard Neil
Victor Nieves
Clarence Patterson
Lee Patton
William Reynolds
Renaldo Rias
Daniel Rose
Umber Samular
Alonzo "Sonny" Taylor
Ronald Tidwell
Mike Truskowski
Greg Truthan
Hung Van Dang
Brian Vaughn
Randy Vertocnile
Robert Williams
Jerome Willis
Debra Woody
Jacinto Wright
Jerry Wyse
Chico "Jose"

Friends of Homeless People who passed
Ken Hughes
Gloria Poindexter
Dana Budzinski
John Carlson

All will be missed and we honor those who left us over this last year. We believe it brings some level of dignity to remember those in death who society has largely forgotten in life.

Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

**This is not a complete list because the largest provider in Cleveland has decided this year not to provide names of individuals that they know passed away. More on this later.

We Are Still Looking for Blankets for Winter

2011-12-20T12:27:00.004-05:00

Blanket Drive 2011

As you take a few days off for the holidays, please remember that we are still looking for donations this winter especially for those resistant to shelter. Possible donated items that we distribute at the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless to outreach workers who then deliver it to homeless people:

1.    New Socks
2.    RTA one day Bus Tickets
3.    New underwear (any sizes)
4.    Trial size soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant
5.    Toothbrushes, disposable razors, Ziploc sandwich bags
6.    Blankets
7.    Towels/ hand wash cloths
8.    Tissue/Kleenex
9.    Hand sanitizer
10.    Water Bottles
For larger donations of blankets (over 35) we can pick up!! Call Larry Davis at NEOCH 216/432-0540 or bring them downtown to 3631 Perkins Ave. just off of I-90 near Cleveland State University.
Press call 32 at the door.

We are delivering the toys and household items we have collected on Thursday of this week as part of the NBC Toy Drive.

Last reminder that the Homeless Memorial Day is Wednesday December 21, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. at St. Patricks Hunger Center on the near west side of Cleveland on the corner of Bridge Ave and West 37th St. State Senator Nina Turner will be our featured speaker along with religious leaders.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Tough Times for Non-Profits

2011-12-18T15:24:00.002-05:00

Did the Recession Really End?

We received a media release on Friday that is a sign of the times. InterAct Cleveland (formerly East Side Interfaith Ministry) is closing. Twenty years ago, there was the East Side religious collaboration, West Side Ecumenical Ministry (WESM), and the Interchurch Council. Now all are gone. What happened? They were all collaborations built on a foundation of providing food to the hungry and they grew to serve the social service needs of Greater Cleveland. WESM grew into a huge organization and in 2011 merged with the Center for Families and Children to become a too big to fail non-profit. The other two went out of business. The Interchurch Council closing was messy with a large debt and the transfer of their emergency shelter to the Salvation Army (Zelma George) after the Hunger Network split off from the Council.

InterAct is citing the lack of foundation support, contributions from local religious organizations drying up, and individual donors turning to other organizations. The Board statement says that this unstable funding has resulted in the inability to keep or attract quality staff. The statement on the InterAct website says that the Board has analyzed their situation and concluded that the agency is not viable in the long run. My experience is that they have not figured out how to promote themselves as an essential service in Cleveland. I am sad to see the organization go out of business.

I remember Lyn Cooper and her crowded office on Euclid Ave. I remember the food program donated by the Cleveland Clinic over on Carnegie Ave. I remember Tony and Suzanne in the newly renamed InterAct as our downstairs neighbor on Perkins. They partnered with NEOCH and other social service providers on the Homeless Stand Down and moved it to the winter. For the past six years, they have brought a great deal to the Stand Down, and made this a huge event for homeless people in Cleveland. Sr. Donna, Pam, and Toni took the lead with the Stand Down and expanded it to three days. I remember the great work that they did to calm the community after the attacks of September 11, 2001. They moved over to Franklin Circle Church and struggled to find their footprint in Cleveland.

Does this mean religious groups of different faith traditions have outgrown the need to meet at the same table or have we outgrown this need in Cleveland? Does it mean that different religious organizations cannot figure out a way to sit together and work to maintain a corporation? Are the values of diverse religions not compatible with those of non-profit organizations? The "one religion non-profits" like Lutheran Metro Ministry, Catholic Charities and Jewish Community Foundation, are not struggling and are moving forward during this stormy weather. What has happened in Cleveland that we do not see the value of multi-denominational religious organizations?

This morning, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Freedom Museum is in trouble and could close by the end of 2012. How could the a freedom museum in the United States at the same time as Time Magazine identifying the protestor as the "Person of the Year" be in danger of closing? This is insane that we could lose the Freedom Museum! The Museum documents the history of the underground railroad and the critical role Ohio played in assisting slaves to freedom. I think that both InterAct and the Freedom Museum have a needed role in our community. It is a bad sign that we cannot sustain these social service and cultural institutions.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

A Couple of Items You May Have Missed

2011-12-17T17:43:00.000-05:00

Homelessness in the Media

NPR's Morning Edition had a story of a homeless woman trying to get enough money to send a Christmas Card to her daughter on the popular StoryCorp section of the broadcast. While living in the shelter, Queen Jackson was depressed around the holidays until she received a hygiene kit that contained a bottle of lotion with the most fantastic fragrance. It cheered her up, and got her through the season. Remember NEOCH is also collecting items to distribute to homeless people. We are collecting blankets and winter items including hygiene items to distribute to those on the streets. Maybe your donation could help a woman down on her luck make it through the holidays.

Staff of the local coalition as well as the National Coalition for the Homeless were quoted in the latest Nation magazine. The article describes the cuts to the housing budget nationally and the strain that is putting on those with a low income. I really like the quote from Neil Donovan at NCH:

“Today the housing safety net isn’t just frayed,” says Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “It’s missing. And still everyone’s being told to walk the tightrope without any net.”

The entire issue is dedicated to a look at the cuts to all the New Deal programs and the impact of those cuts on our society. From Medicaid to Food Stamps to poverty programs, they are all facing the chopping block, and the authors look at how this affects the Bronx or Cleveland or the Oakland school system. It is a good read--check it out.

The National Center for Family Homelessness has received a great deal of attention for their report on the sharp increase in children experiencing homelessness during the recession. The director was on Tell Me More on NPR talking about the report, and many newspaper wrote about how their state compared with regard to childhood homelessness. This is the best part of the Center for Family Homeless reports is that it compares various state efforts to address the problem. It shows how state efforts to cut taxes has a consequence on the number of people living in poverty. This report shows that nearly every deep Southern state as well as the desert southwest states having the largest increase in homelessness of over 40% in the last three years. California is also on the worst list. Texas is in the second worst category of 31% to 40% increases in childhood homelessness along with the other states bordering the South along with New York and Oregon. Two Southern states (North and South Carolina) break with the rest of the South seeing only a 21% to 30% rise in childhood homelessness. These are certainly not good numbers, but at least they are not horrible like much of the South and West. This 21% to 30% increase in childhood homelessness is the same percentage increase for Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Homeless Memorial Day

2011-12-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

Candlelight Vigil December 21, 2011

               The 25th Annual Homeless Memorial Day will take place on December 21, 2011 at St. Patrick’s Meal Site 3610 Bridge Ave. at 5:00 p.m. at the Hunger Center. This year the candlelight vigil will feature State Senator Nina Turner as our guest speaker along with three religious leaders. Media are welcome to attend and photograph the memorial/vigil.

               Joining with other cities throughout the state and country, the Cleveland vigil will include an inter-faith memorial service from the Jewish and Christian faith traditions. In 2009, Ohio legislators designated December 21 as Ohio Homeless Memorial Day. Every big city in Ohio has a similar vigil to remember those who have passed away over the previous year. This year marks a quarter century of remembering those who died with some recent experience with homelessness.   We have seen a sharp increase over the last four years in families who find themselves homeless as well as those who are classified as living daily with food insecurity. Locally, we have seen a protracted state of economic despair having never recovered from the 2001 recession and seeing a tidal wave of foreclosures leading to this rise in homelessness.

          For More information call 216/432-0540.
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Good Article on Homeless Students

2011-12-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

Columbus Homeless School Children Increasing

The Dispatch did a nice piece this week on the rise in students who become homeless during the school year. Cleveland had an incredible increase in students in the 2007 to 2008 school year, but we have small increases over the past year.   The number of students in Ohio has increased by 70% since 2006. The stats from the school district are a valuable tool to look at homelessness in the community. They do not depend on the number of shelter beds like the homeless stats released by HUD do. The definition is broad, but easily understandable compared to the definition used by HUD. And every school district is using the same definition for the past 20 years, and they all must submit data for the school year to the state of Ohio. The numbers listed in the report in the Columbus Dispatch for Cleveland are different from the numbers I have for the district. They list 1,123 homeless students for Cleveland, but the graph does not indicate what time frame this is for. I have 2,275 homeless children from July 2010 to January 2011 within the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. I have 2,567 for the 2009 to 2010 school year (July 2009 to June 2010).

But the story does show the huge growth in homeless children in Columbus. I think that it points to the problem that many cities took their eye off the ball for the past six years especially Columbus. They focused all their money and staffing on working on long term homeless people and the other programs withered on the vine without a safety net. Instead of trying to solve homelessness for everyone and trying to reduce the population across the board, they put all their money on one sub-group thus making other sub-groups see their resources decrease and numbers grow.   There is so much pent up demand for housing, jobs, and social services that if you put all your cities resources on one population, all the other groups needing help grows.   Also, if you pay attention only to shelter numbers and the count that HUD does every year, you miss trends in the community. There are a limited number of shelter beds in the community, and we do not create new beds based on increasing demand. So, if the family population grows because more people are out of work, the shelters are often the last to know about this trend. The schools are often the first to know about what is happening with families.

The story on 60 Minutes two weeks ago about homelessness in Florida had a similar message. We should pay more attention to the numbers from the schools. They say a great deal about trends and issues facing the homeless populations. It was interesting that the Dispatch quoted a Groveport school official who said that January and February are the worst times for a rise in homeless children. That is not my experience, which shows a sharp increase in homelessness in May and June after school lets out, but that is not something that the schools would be able to track. The other piece of information not in the article is the near collapse of the Cincinnati Homeless Child and Youth project. This was one of the premiere school programs in the United States until a couple of years ago, and it has fallen on hard times with massive budget cuts. There was a scathing report about the Cincinnati school districts efforts to meet the requirements to get children re-rolled within 24 hours of their family becoming homeless.

We should mention the fantastic program we have in Cleveland, and the massive undertaking of serving all the Cleveland Metropolitan School District children. Project ACT does a great job in serving all the children living in shelters or on sofas throughout the community.    If a child's family falls into homelessness and the child was a student of CMSD or migrated to Cleveland to seek shelter, we can be assured that the staff at Project ACT will move heaven and earth to get that child back into school. They will cut through the bureaucracy to get them back into their school of origin or place them in a new school if that is what the parent wants for their child.   It is a huge undertaking, but Project ACT has always done a great job with this transitory population. During the time of homelessness, which must seem like a hurricane hitting the family to a child, it is nice to have the stability of school for the young person.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Is Diversion Ethical?

2011-12-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

Guests at the 2011 Hand Up Gala

Is the trend toward diverting from shelter a passive barring the doors?

In November, the City of New York was sued by Legal Aid and the Coalition for the Homeless regarding the tactic of diverting families from shelter. New York City is one of the only communities in the United States with a court protected right to shelter for every family showing up requesting help. Diversion is a trend sweeping the country, encouraged by the so-called experts. to reduce the number of people "improperly" using the shelters.

The policy described by the City of New York is an attempt to "verify that people seeking shelter were truly homeless." There was broad concern that the policy was being pushed too quickly and the social service community would not be ready. The new date for implementation of the policy was scheduled for Friday of this week. Advocates described the policy as "harassing and mean spirited." The new policy in New York City was to determine if the person applying for shelter had exhausted every alternative including sleeping on a couch at a friends house before coming to the shelter. The goal was to free up shelter space for those who have no where else to go. The family shelter population has skyrocketed during the downturn to as many as 48,000 people on any given night just in New York City.

Cleveland is flirting with a similar policy that often confuses those who are seeking shelter. We are one of the few cities in the United States that has guaranteed access to shelter for those who request it. So, a woman or a woman with a child goes to the Community Women's Shelter on Payne Ave. and men go to 2100 Lakeside Shelter. Cleveland has also experienced record numbers in the family system. Over the last two years, the central intake staff at the Women's Shelter have been working to "divert" people from entering shelter. This means an interrogation about alternatives available in the community. I have not seen much change at Lakeside. Either the men truly have no where else to go or they understand that the answer is, "I have no where else to go." The women and women with children get confused by the questions and think that the shelter is denying them access. On the phone the women hear from the worker on the other line, "We are full have you tried to find other places to stay?" Those who do not understand the shelter system or diversion and will get discouraged. They think that the shelter is saying, "go find somewhere else because we cannot serve you." They may decide to stay with an abuser over sleeping on the street or in a car or may jeopardize a family members rental lease by quietly moving onto a couch and trying to stay away from the landlord.

Some of the potential residents looking for help do not press the person on the phone and the shelter worker does not mention that they will take anyone who comes to the door in need of shelter. They are both talking past each other and some women are turned away. It is not until they call our office or call First Call for Help back before they are told to show up at the shelter and they will be offered a bed. I do not know if the shelter is intentionally deceiving the callers or not caring what happens to those seeking the shelter, but it confusing for the mom desperately seeking help for her kids. It seems to me that if we have a truly central intake everyone in need of shelter would show up, and then the shelter would sort out where they can best be served. But playing this game on the phone seems unethical to me. We know that the courts in New York City did not look favorably on the diversion policy and the City was forced to delay implementation of this plan.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Homeless Memorial Day

2011-11-28T12:29:00.000-05:00

December 21, 2011 at St. Patrick's Meal Site on the near West Side of Cleveland at 5 p.m. We read the names of those who had passed away over the last year and light a candle to memorialize those struggling with poverty. All are welcome to attend for the 25th Homeless Memorial Day.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Woodchoppers Ball

2011-11-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

Eleventh Annual Guitar Festival

Brian Henke is once again organizing the Woodchopper's Ball at the Kent Stage this Saturday December 3, 2011 at the Kent Stage at 7 p.m. This is the eleventh gathering of these guitar aficionados. It is well worth the trip down to Kent to see these men and women do amazing things with the guitar.

Wood Choppers Ball

Sat. Dec 3, 2011 at 7:00pm EST (-05:00)

Price: $20.00

All ages

The Kent Stage - General Admission

175 East Main Street
Kent, OH 44240

Every December some of the best acoustic guitarists in the world gather together at the historic 650 seat theater "The Kent Stage" in Kent Ohio www.kentstage.org, for a concert called "The Woodchoppers Ball." The show benefits The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

This year featuring 9 of the best guitarists in the Universe
Michael Kelsey
Helen Avakian
Jimmy Deheno
Brian Henke
Mark Sganga
Shohei Toyoda
Atom Lax
Patrick Woods
Kevin Richards
That is $2.22 to see each guitarist, and all the money goes to a good cause.
Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Hockey Game Successful

2011-11-23T22:02:00.000-05:00

Michelle Russell, NEOCH Board member (2nd from Left) and Neil Donovan of NCH on the right

Impressive End to National Hunger and Homeless Week

Neil Donovan of the National Coalition for the Homeless came to Cleveland on November 19 to raise awareness about the rise in homelessness in the United States. He had done presentations around the country and finished the week in Cleveland by attending the Lake Erie Monster's hockey game. He was able to tour 2100 Lakeside which made a huge impression on him as a monument to a population waiting for social justice to arrive. There were a relatively small number of people who attended his speech, but Donovan was interviewed by WKSU before the event. He was recognized during the first period intermission, and the Lake Erie Monsters pulled out a victory in the end.

I was surprised how many people were attending the game. The games broadcast on Channel 43 on Sundays do not seem as well attended as the Saturday night game. Neil talked about the involvement in homeless people in the struggle to end homelessness. He talked about the 1% of the 99% who lose their housing or struggle to maintain their health, housing or income everyday. Neil went into a great deal about the suffering that is taking place around the country, and government is cutting back everywhere. The Coalitions are struggling to stay alive, and shelters are being starved out of existence. All of the safety net is being shredded, and there is a great deal of pain expected nationally over the next few years. Neil took questions from the Cleveland community then being from Boston he enjoyed a good hockey game.

Thanks to the Cavs and Monsters staff for thinking of us for this event. We hope that it is a regular part of their programming.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

buddy gray remembered 15 years later

2011-11-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

buddy gray a man ahead of his time

November 15, marked the 15th anniversary of the death of buddy gray (he preferred his name not be capitalized) in Cincinnati. He took over buildings and established the Drop Inn Shelter in the Over the Rhine neighborhood. There was a memorial held by activists down in Cincinnati, and a nice remembrance in the Enquirer on Sunday.

The Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Cincinnati movement has its roots in the advocacy of buddy gray from 35 years ago. He took over spaces in the Over the Rhine when the parents of most of the current Occupy protestor’s were still in high school. Buddy was offering sanctuary and unconditional love to those forgotten by society in the 1980s. He gave Cincinnati a heart. Buddy battled the City to bring to light the problem of homelessness and stopped elected officials from trying to sweep the problem under the bridges. The social justice movement in Cincinnati grew up on the strong shoulders of buddy gray.

He acted with compassion to those forgotten, ignored or neglected by society. Buddy was a friend to the addicted, the folks re-entering from jail, and those with a mental illness. He helped build housing, maintain a shelter for those in need, and he transformed the Over the Rhine neighborhood. His guiding principle was to fight against discrimination and poverty by any means necessary. This meant that he embraced civil disobedience, he demanded action from community leaders, and he was not satisfied with social services managing the problems associated with poverty. Buddy was an inspiration to case workers, other advocates, and volunteers who were infected by his charisma and passion for the issue of ending homelessness.

While buddy fundamentally changed Cincinnati, he had a profound impact on the national movement to reduce deaths attributed to homelessness. Buddy helped to create the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio by assisting with the merger of the state housing and homeless organizations, and sitting on the board for years. COHHIO successfully lobbied to make housing a right contained in the Ohio Constitution, and pushed for the creation of a dedicated fund to build affordable housing. Buddy’s legacy at the state level is that, unlike many states, there is a statewide network in place to push legislators to focus some energy on working to improve the lives of those without housing.

Buddy was also a strong guiding force in the development of the National Coalition for the Homeless NCH and the Housing Now march in DC. As a current member of the National Coalition for the Homeless board of directors, we still talk about the days that buddy was on the board. He brought a clear loud voice to the movement, and stood his ground against the other strong advocates from around county who met to push for social change. Ohio has had a representative on the NCH Board since the beginning of organization. Buddy and other advocates pushed for an emergency relief act, which became the McKinney Vento Continuum of Care funds. He stamped the organization with a strong commitment to protecting the civil rights of homeless people, and that has endured for 30 years. The National Coalition has a national reputation for respecting, listening and amplifying the voice of those struggling with their housing, which we learned from buddy. NCH has always had those experiencing homelessness in leadership positions and a sizable number of our board are currently or formerly homeless individuals.

We miss buddy gray, and we know that he would have been a leader in the Occupy Wall Street movement if he were still with us. He would have been a national voice in protecting the rights of homeless people against these new restrictions on voting sweeping the country. I believe he would have led a freedom march down to Florida to oppose the restrictions on the distribution of food by religious organizations. Buddy would have figured out a way to stop the various attacks on social service providers serving homeless people taking place today throughout Cincinnati. We lost a non-violent general in the War on Poverty. I am sure that we would be much further along in correcting the imbalances and injustices that exist in the United States if buddy’s voice had not been silenced.

by Brian Davis

Vice President of the National Coalition for the Homeless

Community Organizer in Cleveland, Ohio.

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Quick Notes

2011-11-16T12:15:00.000-05:00

Photo by Pleasure Simmons

A Couple of Comments:

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless publishes an e-newsletter with updates, save the dates, things you can do to help, statistics, and resources. If you are paid member of the Coalition, you can receive the e-newsletter called the E-Bridge every 15 days. Contact NEOCH if you are not receiving your newsletter or you would like to get on the list. Here are a few of the updates that may be helpful:

**The CMHA Housing Choice Voucher waiting list for the next five to six years was released yesterday. You can get the information from the same website that you applied or your client applied. You will need to have the number that was generated when the individual applied to see if that number was selected. Only 1 in 6 people had their number drawn (64,000 people applied). Here is the link: http://www.applycuyahogacounty.tenmast.com/ and click on lottery results.

**The new rules for the Emergency Solutions Grant were released yesterday. The federal government gave Cleveland approximately $13 million as part of the American Stimulus funding to prevent homelessness and to get people back into housing quickly. These stimulus funds run out next year, and the Emergency Solutions Grant is intended to replace these funds in the community. As with all things government, they are a sad replacement with only $590,000 going to Cleveland to replace the $4.5 million we spent previously on prevention and rapid rehousing activities. Here is the link to view the new rules. We do not know how these funds will be used locally, but NEOCH is pushing for a small amount to go to maintain HousingCleveland.org.

**We have to thank both Congressman Kucinich and Congresswoman Fudge for being two of only 46 members of Congress that signed onto the letter asking HUD for additional funding for homelessness. It looks as though both the Senate and House are going to provide level funding for the third year in a row for homeless assistance. This is amazing since we have seen huge cuts to the housing programs, the emergency assistance funding cuts, and other mainstream programs will face the budget hatchet. While there are huge federal cuts demand is increasing with all the shelters bursting at their seams and the 2009 stimulus dollars will run out to prevent homelessness in 2012. Nearly every American city needs a huge boost in homeless dollars to keep up with demand, but we are getting the same as we received in 2008. It is going to be a rough summer next year when many unemployed families are displaced and will not be able to afford rent. The letter that they signed onto can be found here. Please call their local offices to thank them for looking out for homeless people. (Fudge is 216-522-4900 and Kucinich is 216-228-8850.)

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.