12 10 291 https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/2315bec17bb72e8f6e4e0bb0a222d546.pdf 195e0870f5712bdb5b8d66aaf34730d5 PDF Text Text Need Help or Want to Help? Also Call 211 Shelter; Women and Children Treatment: Both Resources YWCABattered women's Shelter ... 672-9259 Be1h ony Hou••...557·2873 Grace Place-CalholicWol'kc.rHouse ..•661·2365 SaMtlonArmy...762·5660 AJcohotie~rAnooymous Hotiine ...351·04'22 C,C,A T....381 ~6672 C•ll>orie So<ial Se<Vices...24'1-7745 Cerner forlndepenclent Uvlng Oplions ••241·2600 Shetter; Meo Joseph Hoose (Ve1.,...;,i).,24 1·2965 Hotr0hon CountyAfJAS Boord .!146·•868 NarcoticsAnooymous Hopeflne..\820. 2947 Recovery Health A&cess Ceoter...281 •74·22· Tolbert Ho~e •..684-7~6 Clty Gospel Mission ,_241-5525 St. FrancislSi. Joseph Catholic Advocacy Worker House •••381--494·1 ~Jt. AAy Sttslter :661-4620 Appillaohlan ld~ntltyCentttr• .621· 599 I C0tholie Soclal Actlon .. 42:1...313-1 CommunityActionAgency.~S69 ~ 1840 Col'.\tactC-0n1et .•.3-81-4242 Shelter; Both Anthony HO<Jse(Y) •••961 ·408.0 C.ra<;ale (AIDS) ...761-1480 D\'op Inn C~nter .... 1..0643 Interfaith Hosf:Wtal!ty Net\Ycxk(F)...471-. 1100 Llgl\lh\l<l•• You1h C.nl.,M .•.221· 3350 Si. JOhn'~ Hou•lng ...651 ·6446 n Franciscan JPIC ..•721 4 700 GCCH .•.421·7603 lnloroornmunlty Justl~ & Peace Cente1 , _579~547 JO$tfOeWalch ...241..0490 Legal Aid Society ...241· 9400 OJPC ...421 -1108 Peaslee Nelfllb0<h00dCettte1... ' 6"21*5$14 Housing: ProjcotConneci HOl'OCICSS Kids •. CMHA... 721-4560 ExCel Oavetopr'ncot{k1H) .•.632-7149 STOPAIOS...4.21 -2437 Miami Purcha~ ...24 1-0504 OTR Communi'ly Housing ...381-117 1 Tendo1~l efcios(MH}....721-8666 loin GeigerHousC(WC} ._961-4555 Dana Transitional Bi'idgo Services, Inc. ...751-0'6 43 Volunteers olAmerica ...381-1954 Treatment: Women Flr•I Step Home •• 961-4663 Treatment: Men Chatlle'.& 314 HoutH;) ... 78~1853 OICUvo In Ptogram ...721·0643 Prospeol Houst1 •..9Z1 ~1 613 Siil111ng Over .•.961·2256 STREETVl8ES 111 i21ll St. Clnclnni:tti, OH 45202 e. 363-3300 Churches Activein Northslde.... 591·224-6 Cinoinoati Union Bethel...768·6922 EmanuelComm.;ini'ly Ceoter.. .241· 2563 Freestorelfoodban~ .. .241 ·1064 Franciscan Halrcuts from 1he Hearl •..65 t· $466 Goodwil1 lndus1Ties •..n 1-4800 Heliling Conneclions: ·- 751·0000 Ma<lsonvUle Education &Assistance Cenlef...271-550 1 M~ry Ma.gdalen House .•.nt-48t 1 PeopleW\lrl<ln9 Coopefadvely•••351 •7921 R'?eCrlsl$ and Abuse Ceot.er•..977-3541 St. Vincent OeP'8ut .,,562·&841 The Caring Place...63t· 11 14 UnitedWay, 721-7900 f9.!1.l! Lo1·d's Ponuy...621-5,300 OTR/Wolnul Hdls .Soup t<ltclic1' & Pan Uy - .961·1963 Our Dally Br.,.d ...621-<i364 SL Fran cl$ Soup. kitehen... 535·2119 Hgatth Centerior Respite Care ...621·t868 Cincinna.ti Health Net-.vork,...9~1 ~0600 Croasr~dHealth Center...38t ·2247 Harrilton County Mental H~lth Board •..94S.SGoO Hanlttvn County TB Control...94&-7628 Hearth Resource Center..•3!>7--4602. Homel ess MobilE- Heal:h Van ,_ 352~2902 Mcfvlioken Dental Clinio,.,352-8363 r.1ental Health Access Point.,.55Q.:.88$8 ~Aercy Franciscan al St. John ...981-5800 N.MH ofHamiltoo County..:458-6670 Oral Health Council •..621--024-8 P.A.T.H Outreach (MH)...Dn-'1469 ciorthom Kentucky Brighton Center .wS~Q.-49 1 -8303 Fairflaven ResGUe Mission(i\f}...859--491 4 1027 NKY Homeless and Housing Coalition _.859-727~6 . Homeward BoundYouai( 'r')...,859-581 1t11 4 Mathe•HB House _,859-261-8009 NKY Family·Heallti Center .•.859· 291·93.21 Parish Kitchen .,.859 58 1-7745 4 Welcome House(WC)...859-431-37 17 Women's Crisis Center...859~91-3~35 Transitions, Inc. ...859-491--44 35 VAOomkiilfary _.85Q..559·50t 1 v;c.:Hameles>S .. ,859-672 6226 4 "Nonprofit 010. US POSTAGE Pilid c111i::fnl\tll. OfllO P4lflTl.it No, l1l3 w 1'1H = t.1cntal tte:.alll\ Sctl•1i1UonA1tny_:&63t445 WC =Worncn andCf'llldrcn F = Fnn1Jlie$ Open OoorPuntry.-868-3276 Y-= Youth S •Single• Thank you for reading! HamlltonlM!ddletown a R•phoels...8633184 serenity HoosoDay Cooter...422-8$5$ N•w Life S.p~$1 Mlsslon...890.9800 Hop• Hou•c(S,f),An.4673 BOoker T. \i\rashlnglon Cornmurllty Cctil«.- 785·2451 Orga_nil'.a:tlol'ts"and subsctlbo,,_ • Pl~se~Cnd upd11ed 1nl'!1:0:15 treetvJbes,t@Yahoo,,com Jimmy Heath 1954 - 2007 - - ... - �Jimmy I-Ieath 1954 - 2007 T !ffi TRI-STATE'S ALTERNATIVE NEWS SOURCE Homeless Memorial Day Honors Homeless Individuals Who Passed Away in 2007 by Tiffany Harmon TheAtuwaLHomeles.• Memorial Dn.Y wa; he!~ onDecember20 atru)(ln in\l'asblnglon Pa1i<. Spon~orl~l 10<'.ally byiJieCrea1crCl11~innat1 Coall1ion l'or 1hc H0mcles.<. Homeless Me1no1iaJ Day ISaoatiotlcilda) of111ou1ning ror~te hornc.4ess rneri. v.'On1m and c:hiJdrenwlK>have passed away in 2007. 1radllionally heldondielonges1nlghrortlieye'df. Hoflleless Memotla!Day isachalice fQr frh;mls(Ind loved ones 10 gather1ornourn those, hodl kno'.vn nndunkno\vn, V\ ho are no longer \\lldl u.~. Hom(1lessJ\.tc.1n10rl;il Dny ls also ;i <.0J1ance to mou1TI th(' na1iru1(1J tragedy or horneleS:!t11ess atKIbring 3\\1t1renes~ to lhe sufferfngofl11e 1300 men. \Von~en and childrenv.·fM> expe:nC'JlCe homelessness eacl1nigl1tm Cinannati. 1lie event rea1ures amemorJalfire Hiabarrel. t11e i-e.dingornames and Jightlllgofcan1lles for diedeceased, singing. Md quiet reflectlon. 2007 wasan ox~pliQJially hardyear for peoplecxperlr.m;ing horti(•les.;nrsr.. 1\vo hornelesS-me'.n \Yere 111urcle-red. l\'-'O died frornexposure.onewas cocnpac:Led by a lr,iSh truck as he\VJSsleeputg lnadumpsi.er ruKI onedied fro1ninjuries he ~usrained \vork1ngrla}' labor. In 1j addition. 25homelesspeopledied100yo<u·1g trom tllll lllne.ssessu•iained rrom living tlie llrui;J1J1fo · af hnme~sness, a rncurdnumher In UieJtisloryaf trn~klng homeless deaUJS in Oncinn.111.The ~ >->homelesscommunliy also losuhiw:scivlceprovldl'<S.lncludlngJlmmyHe<11h. lhe formel'ly c horneless man \Yl10 se:1ved foroversix yearsa:> tlte edilorof 51.reettribesn~\\'Spape-r. : ·nus \\ras aJ1oa·ible,year rorus." st<tterl CeorgineCerty, executivedirectoroftlu:Crearer •• ~ Clnclcmau Coalition lortileJ-lomeles>. "Momeli;ss Memorial.Day gives usad iaiice wcome II fire burus as people pay lrlbute aud listell 10 SJorles~o:.if~ together as a r.omrnunilJ and rnaom 1hecontinuingtragedyof.homelessness.Nonneshauld havr rliosP. 1r1/io 1,.,,,6 ,11e,1• to die 1.r, lhese con<J11lons... · 1 1 City Ups Penalty for Targeting Homeless: "Little effect" forecast for anti-harassmentlaw lncreasetl l1omelessness within Seattle is leadmg lo Wldesp1·ead attacks from tliose lool\Jng 10 obtain a "ihrUJ" by pro.ylngnn1hedlsposed.Real Change reports on lhe effortl. to properly prosecute such felons aml 10 br111g~uadls on ihe homeless into <hecategory of HateCrlme. Seanle's homeless may ~1 be identitledil$a protec;te<I gl'oup wide.· lhe c1iy·s hate crlmefaw. l"'islwrek, 1heCity CounrJI public safely tomrnittee approved aproposal lhitwauld add homelessness 10 Its prote<:ted class~ under llie <JXi~ing Mallclr..isHarassmcnt onlinance. Theamendment will goforup for flml vote before the full council on Ooc. 10. lltis legiSl'1tio115 sup(Xlrt<d hy Mayor Creg Nickels nnd was developed by tl1eSea1de l~uman Rights Co1nmi.ssian. 11ilsgri1UJ1 aml Oihcr 0Jmmun11y Stakeholders Ciie ll\e rise of hrutaJattlcks on the ho1ne1e.ss In recemyears. i11tludb>gl'l!a.'lit st:allsl.lcs by the Nationol Coallllon for 1hr· Ho1nel~$ (NCH) which named Seattle 1he se1enlh-lll1lStcLmgerouscity for homelessJleoµle. ·111lsl111S beena long time ooml ng,- says I.co Rho1ks of SHARE. 011e or 'everal 10 provide personal testimonyof unpmvoked auacks. "11.ere.ill'ecowitlr_o;.s stades pc;oplc hav~ ·~ hC"rd. l~1twlw11 a h-0n1eless per.son s-peaks. no one li~r:ns." hesays. "Peoph• oul on 1hcstmctsrlgli1nowrton'1 feel like huma11 beiJlgs." "We need to llslcm ID lhe ~1orles or homeless people." "")~Julie Nelsonofthe Se.1N.lt• OfOreorcwn Riglus. ·\vhrn l tllillk abuul !he fa<l lhal tl1Js is 1olerc1te<j, ll"'s bonible, anything Ihave losay on clle 1113.tlet is secondaiy," she 5~)''" Scatoe·s malicious hardSSrr1enl la\Vexpandsol'I the st.1te law hy Adding gender idenmy.marllalsia1US.pouucal ideology. ~ge, and parental srotus to 11s prnmc1e<Iclasses, aJ'1d iS £neanl1oofferprolectioc1 from bodily lnjuiy. physu:al r.onllne111e01L propertydamage, and fearof l1i1m:L charge d.efendants \Vith an rni'idemeanor,'vllh annxinrum ad1illlonaktimeiflhc\i"1lm Is prlsoo s~ntence of01 ieyr.a1'." hP. homeless. ~a)'S ... A 1naUcjous J 1(Jrd~n>e1lt "lil'l.il:\\rjllhel1>makelhls ttuly Si~!f1cantis if.whl'l1o Jmes ;ireoomrnittecl. me city altorney uSt-~s lhe la\\' to hs (ull c-xtent... Said AIJso11 Eisinger or tlie SealtleKing C'.oonly Coalition on l·lon.Olesi>n~ . Bui according io City Artom¢y Thomas Carr, the ardlnaoce-diangewUIhi!Ve Utllc e-ffeclinoourt. Carr suJlpons tl1eproposal. "lrsagoocl di'1nge. hltighllghis things 1ha1 ~ happening lO homeless poople," hesays. Bui he is quick to JlQlnlool tl.,1lhe city ah1Jadytakes t11e law as fat as it <;an cr.anstltutianall}'~ An1en(ling 1he ordln(lncc "S(:iittlc's exlstlng would allow proseculors 10 hilf'dSSrnenL<."OnVK:tionis·a~ \.barge carries. 110 greater se-orence.• Funherntore. a:rnaJlcinus har;lSSl1icn1convictionrequln:s proor that the perpelrator targeterl tbe v1clin1bectJusc.•of' his "'her class. "Lt g~n""3.Uy \•,;on'1 be ciiarged hec;1use a lesser crime \Vlth the s~n1e ~itaire \Vlllbe easier toprove,"' Carr says. 111eclly chargedjust one person \VUJ1 n1allcious haf3SSn1entthls y~-<'r, \'lhC'I~as 451 o!'dinary harassment dwges were filed.acoom.lng to cuunrewrd. Butfmrn Lbe hurn.m rights Continued on 1>age JJ Inside This Issue JimmyHeath Re.1d peoplestributes 10 Ji111n1yHeaUlonpages 4 and 5 Horne.less i\fe111orial Day \Ile\\' pictures fron1the GCCII l!''ellt in Washingt<in park on pages 6 and 7 Guest Colwn~ \!je\\' amvork and an Ourguestcolwnnls1, Jnleivie<Y witl\SilviaCol.Wisoo James l'tlguediSCUSSel;life in pages 8 and 9 AtlruUll •ndCind1matl on page 12 Streelvibes V•ndors Ar111ual Dinner Catc11pictures fro1n Lhe CCCI IA1"1uaJ Dinner on December 13cm pages l 3 and 14 �STREETVIBES About Us January 2008 STREETVIBES Slllletvlbcs 11 7 Ease 12t11Su·ee1 Cincinnati. OH 45202 phone: (513) 42 1-7803x 12 fax: (513) 421-78 13 3 Our Mission Sb·eccvlbr.s Isa ncwspa(J<lr tliat providesrelevant discussionso fhomclc'SSness. povenyand other related socialjuSUce issues llis1>ublished oncea moml1 by Uie Greater Ciocinnrul Coalitionfor the 1-lomeless. The Greater Cincinnati CoaUtion for the homeless l' a groupofshelt.ers.agencit'Sand individuals committed to ending homeless In Ch\clnnatl through eoortllnaUng S<Jrvlces. educating the public, and grassrootsorganfzing. Our Vendors screecvtbes2@yal100.oon1 \iV\\'\\1.cfnrihome1<"..ss.org GCCH Staff EXECllflVElllRECTOll Georgine Getty ­ Alfn,'il \Voodfolk A11to1Uo Hodge Antl"'ny Willia1ns AIJ.\1Jl(JS11\A'l1V£COORDINAIDR Susan Snlith Andy Frt>ezc Lynne Ausman Cleo 1.amlxTI Wombles David 'A'atkim Joo Joseplth1e Dat1}1oll Darby Ba.<kerville Mruy Mueller Nell Tonia \\~lllams Haley Sih·ia Tony Collins OrlnnntruKI .:1 .. EllUCA:rtONCOORl)1",~l'OR AMERJCORPSVISll) Berta Eadeoe Moreland .' • James C1ady Cook - .. • AMEl!lCORPSl/lSTI\ Greg Olkhovsky AMP.lltCORPS\~S'tl\ Tiff.my Harmon AllAPROJECT~~\NACER L.onanl Mark Jackson Calllpbdl Raesba\vn • Riccardo G ijlSOll ·1a)1nr Sant Jackson Julie Walki:r KennethCheriyot tlECEl'nONISTS Melvin Will!ams, Della \Vooleos Streetvibes ·~ CON'l'RIBIJl'INCWRl'l'ERS Andy l'rce1.e. Lynne Ausman. Georgine Getty. tvUchael Henson. SteveSunderbnd. Greg Olkhovsky. Cleo Wo111bles. Todd Forman. Sonny Williams, Pat Clifford. Kad1ed11e Ryder, Angl~ Jones.JamesPogue.Tiffany 1-lannon PflO'fCJCRAPHY/AR'lWORK Jimmy Heath. Greg Olkhovsl1y. Andy Freeze, BenaLamberl Anthony Williams, Antonio Hodge COVF.R Jinu11y Heath is ren1en1bered ror llis work and l:tJS life asfriends and famlly pay tribute, Becoming a SIJccwlbes Vendor Is a great\\lay for homeless.alKI olhe.r loYi'· W e are proud members of: 75 r.e111.~ go£•S tlft'CCl.fJ' lo )'0111' i·121ii/Ot' Vet1</013· htt)' 1J1e {J..'f/ JCr fo1· 2.'i Gl!IJIS 1•·/1i1:/1 pays for produt·lio11. City Council Restores Human Service B11dget back to 0.06% by St,...t•ibcs Staff On December 19. 2007 Ciad nnati City Council voted to rcsrore human only council members Berdlng, Boru: and Ghiz voling agair<iULAlthough$2.3 ndllion i~ a f.1r CC)' fro1n lhe trartitionaJ amowu of 1.5% of die general fund (generally around S5·6 million) ~1at hu1nan se1vlces have tradltlonall}' rect!ived fro1n cl1e city. agencies\"'ere generally relieved dmt.lhe funding was resrored.Over ·10 agencies «>ceive !his furullitg and have a Vi1ide arra.y of 11rogiams and services 1hat address come peo11le 10 gt1·backon(or stay se.l \'ice funding to $2.3 mllllon. 1"be on) thelrleet. Sueetvl~ Vendors are humanseJ\'lce conununlt}r \Vas a.Litme<I givenan orientation anrl signa codr.of whenCity Manager Mllto.n Dahoney reco1n1uended a cut or $1 ruillion to conduct before b<:lng givena human service funding In rt>e 2008 StreelVib~ Vendar ~dge. \rendors. are privai. conlrJctor.i who DO NOT budg~1. Mayo1· Mallory then recommended that lhls amount he put workror. or rep1'<lSl'nttJ1eGreater CincinnaliCooilition forihe Homele.~s.. back to l!'s2007 levelof$2.3 mllllon. 1 All p.roflis go dlrC<'lly lo tlie vendor. Council n1erubers Cro\\1le)'. CranJey, honu~less ness . domestic \ jolence Pleasesee lheGCCHwebsite rorthe Thomas.Qualls,ColeandMoll7.el voted prevention,education and lu10Jin!!. HIV/ JA'itlt ~le 1na}'or·s1t"COOu11oodat1on, \\lld1 AJDS. litllfacy. hui>ger and dieelderly. Vendnr CodeofConducL - North American Strret Ne\vspaperAs."Joi:iation IN SP Tnll!l11lliional.Nc'lwockuf Street Papers �STREETVIBES The Vibe January 2008 4 Shutter Speed Homeless MemorialDay l'lill Hemor'* MichaeJAufrance DoliilldFrancis CJen V\lalsoi1 ScottJohnson John Earls Julie Martin Carlton Davis RalpJ1 Goodwin JucJson Ward Joiln Watkiils MichaelStarn per S~phtinSivernagel QuentinSchlater ·~teven Rice MIChll.el \"kiilg € rosby Knox John Elenne.tt Darreli Gray· "Michael Kelly Vvlhlier Gaffney DaneitaHall Maty J91lilson Mr. and Mrs. Homeless Downtowner Name:AJleJljohns-on HometO\•n: ClnciJlfl3~ Neighborhood: A\<ondale Occu1.:itimc C;UJientJy, Painting (can't teslst:Money I can' Istand: greed Person I admire most; Pastor al Westside Venue lxlcausc he gesluineJy \\'anls lO helP. lhecornmw:Lity What Uike 111~1 about Cincinnati:Thallhey help the homeless andfeed tl1em. There is alway~ a place to.ea!/ Place 1·d like to vl<il: Disney Land Ir I wonthe lotfery I \\<ould: Getmy ntcces ~nd nephe1>~ whalevertl1ey \'/'JJ1tfd andhetp my lamity. lwouldbuilda shelll!Tand gelthings righl Hap11h1~ \\'Ould be:aserenepeace •nd my 11epl1ew Life Phi!Osophy: Ife\·eiyone in the wortd were happy, ttie<ewould be nodepfllSslon Name: Cheiyl Ya1es Hometown:ClncJnnatl Neighhurilood: Over·lhe·l;l1ine Fa\'orite Interest: Alngtng. cL10ciitg. i:eading. w1itinij. sllOPfJing,·eating I can't reU.!it: Churd1 I can'tstand:vlolence Person I admire the-n1osl: M)•1nolher What Uike-most about Cincinnati: All of the different sites Place I'd like to vl'lit: California again 1f I wonthe lo1te1y 1.would: Buy a bu tiding for the hocne1.ess.andgive then1 tJ1eir o\vn clotJ1es. ~hoes, qir, food. airconaiuontng and all otherluxuctes llaripiness would be: Going to heaven DewlttB<ittle Earl Mann 'Iony BaqiweJJ ·Clrarlotte Moore Pauta:W<iil'e Magdalene Grasenrefd Pau!BtyanL Martin Stith RaJph Hill Antf\ony. Rodffgues Klinnell1 Stone Mary H!!&lle;i JoeDi~rslng Jimmy Heath life Phlla.ophy: Tojust be stable. -~h>i;inate ---------------------------------T------------------• to Stteewibes Srre'etv.ibes ls a 501(c)<i. nonproflr org;nmation, All denatlons 11re..greally apprecialed and may be ta~ deducitble. [would Uke to contribute: $10 $20 S50 $100 $:2PO $._ _ Send yol:lft heck>.ro: GCCH, 117 E. l2th St.. Cincinnati, OH. 45Z02 Interested rn having Streetvibes de.livere.ci to y0ur 111ailbox every month. lnC!ude a Che'Ck f0r $25 with yaur name and addr.ess. . _______________________________ __________ ... _____________________ .. _. �STREETVIBES January 2008 Local News 5 Tributes to Jimmy Heath \'Ve started selling Streetvibes shonJy alter the paper stan~:l. We have worked with Jimmy for almost 10 years and had tl1e opportunity 10 get 10 know him as we sold the paper. We will miss Jimmy for his willingness to listen to us, hi5 smile, and to share with us his experiences and wisdom. In response to tlie brokenmin-orsto1y by lateeditorJinuny Heath. 1experienced mostor whatJinnny did during my alcoholism and reooveiy from alooholismand druguse. 1sle1>t on mysiStm cooch in her liVing roomafterdtinkingheavily. 1 staned recovering fromalcoholis111in the late 1980s and ant sober today. Grady Cook and Earlene lv!oreland Insolidarity. SoonyWilUams Former Hon1eless Person Clifton Rememberingjimmy Heath by PatClifford lt was the spring of 1995. Iwasworking as AdmlnlstraliveCoordlnatorat die Drop Inn Center. In addition. Ihad recently been granted U1e position or voluntary "Director.. oftlie Greater ClnclnnaU Coalition for the Homeless. ' \bluniaiy· because tlieCoalition was ui tlie process of regroupingafter a change in staffand abitter loss ofthe 115-unit.Milner Hotel whidi housed M}' narne isKalt•erir•e R)ider. I i.·vas apartof tJ1eConnexionsgroup at many low-Income Indl\;duals downtown. Coupled thatwith the loss of Xavier University thatyou andJimmy spoke 10. 1received an email about sorne key granlS and \Ve had no fur1ds to pay an)1one. To top it off Jimmy"s passing. I wantyou to knowtliaUiJlimygreatly alfecte<I me. He my ";fe and rhadj ust found out we wereexpecting our flr.;t child affected my faithand my life in general. One thinghe said1>ill always stay la1erdia1year. Help was neede<ll with me. He said S()methlng to the effect of"God makes me huge. God 1talked to the staff of the Drop Inn Center's Recovery rnakesrny lire huge." I wish 1could havetold.lirruny how he trulyalfecled Prog1am. whichoonslsted of one person(fom Lee) at thatpoint. me. I wrote apaper for my theology class and wrote aboutJinimy. l wrole and asked hiJt1 to assign L\VO oftl1e ~Jive-ins" (as U1e)1're called) how he inspired me tosee God in eventlie hardest tiJnes. l have always todo theircommunityse1Vlce howswiththeHomeless Coalitlon. believed thatGod wooId carry us through hard times but.whenevera hard Botli agreed to work wididie Coalition. especially our lledgling Umecame 1would doubt God's presence.~l\lll,Jimmy helped me to reallze Street Newspaper Project which wasjust an idea at that point. die God really does give us die strengtli toget dnough diose hard limes arid Oneofthe live-Ins became our vendorooordlnatorand the other. to have faith. My faithj oomey is farfrom done. 1oontinue togrow in my apholographer. Thetr nameswere DonaldWhileheadandJinuny widerstanding ofGod buUuiunygave mesu~ngdi to koepgoing even when Heatli. ! think that I'll never get. there; that.I'll nevergetoff the · streets" of In lastmonui·s Stree!Vibes. Jimmy maner-of-facdy related 1gno1 ance to God;that1·Ii never fully knowGod.Jimmy gaveme tlie the depths towhich his addiction had taken him, literally living in a courage and die s1rengd110 keepgoing. basement like a cave. ~Vhen he came to the Drop Inn Center. \VOrtersdescribed hirn as looking likeGriUJ)'Adaitis. tl1e rnountain 1wish 1cooId have told hun tliat befo1~ he passed. Hewill forever be witli man ofthe 70s televisionseries. His familysaid thatbeforeentering the me. Drop InnCeiuerhe called tlie mall to tell tliem he was iJlunanentlygoing to Thankyou. die. That was hefore recovery. Now this self-descrihed ' basementtrolr had asecond life. Sincerely, Hespent tlie fu>t yearsor diis lifeslowly but intently re-acqutriJigdie tools dwll Katlierme Ryder wooId come to define him. Anew camera. Anew lens. He got ajob atKlnko·s In Western Hills. partially to be close to a place where he coold develop his negatives. It was dw·ing tliattime that thedreams of a Cincinnati streetnewspaperwere beginning 10 percolate. By the time tragedy AAJck In Novenlberof 1900 with thedeadi ofbuddygray. Jimmy was already considered pan of the famlly. He had quledy becomeOver-the­ Rh.ine'sofficial photograpl1er: never i.·vitlK>Uthis carnera. Hegrieved \ViU1us. Wt he also docurnented ourcornrnwlilygrief. l11eroost irnportantphot0Jinut1y evergave mewas a famlly poM!ltofmywife Katy. meandour I 1-montlioldson Mitchell at die second annualHomeless Coalition dlnner-onewoekaf\erbuddy"sdeatlL His photoo were hisgifts to us. both tlien and now. The firstlocally printed editionofStreetvihes cameout.in February of I 997. dedicated 10 the memoryofbuddygray. By thattime. wehad found agrant. loemploy Donald Whitehead 1>an-t1me to work with meat theHomeless Coalition. organl7.Jng vendorsand speaking to crowds around thecity about homelessness. Jimmy supplied all die photos. 11 was a low.1ech operation... none or us knew the procedures. software or hadany experience In editingat thatpolnL Jimmy. Donald and 1 anende<I die North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) conference in SeaIlleinSeptemherofthatyear. We learned from die folks at Real Change Ne"s diere. ~Ve all visited Scattle·s homeless art studio. 1remember having Chinese food at Pike Place Market. Compared to other cities likeChicagoand Boston. wewere rookies. Coold we keep publishing montlilyl Struting witli 500 per montlt coold we everdream ofgrowing to 5.000 per month? It's HO\r\' over ten years later and Street\'ibes has never n1issed a month ofpublicatlon. ~Ve turn out 6.000 copies each mondi. The paper was named Paper oftlie Year al U1e NASNAconferenceof2003. And Uirough ilall there was the quietdetemilnaUonofJimmyHeatli. "Editor, Layout and Design·· for overtenyears. Ourworld is mademore humane through these fragile forums that help people reclaim Identity and express themselves through an and wrldng. And. thanks to ourdedicated vendors and readers- and patientand creative people likeJinnny. we all continue togrow. • Katy, Pat aIJd Mitchell at Ho111e.Jess Coali1io11 Di11_1)er, Noi1e111/N!r 1996 �STREETVIBES Local News January 2008 6 Jimmy Heath Too Cool for School by Geoq;uie Ge(f1 person, is tl1a1he would ha1e tl1e last paragraph that ljustwroie.Jlmmywas self-de1irecallng aud deeply funny. 'V\'henever san1eone \\'ou1d s1:arlgoing -011 311cl onabou1l1int, he\\rould ntake " j oke a11{1 challglllhesubject. lie knew thevaJueofthe\\1ork he produced. .his photographs. S~eetvibes. but Ile was •bleto laughabout diem In away U1at pul lt<>ll In 11crspoc11ve, aml brought everyone ro tlie colwessauon. There was-a balance in Jlmmy bet.weeJl great cynicism and grem co1npassion.. He al\\'ays knew \Vhen Llllsl niel)lmmy when ls1arted my jobauhe GrealerO ncinnati Coalition fonheHomeless in 2002. He took me l'o ta lourof Over die RJliJ>e.I'd liVed u1 Cincinnati fi>r a few years al.that point, but f' dnever reallybeen LOOTRbefore. Willi Jimmy, walking tluotighalleys. I saw ii for 1he Orsttlmc. Por mellwas likeseeing0'11{ tlirough fa11y1ale eyes - bulldlng5 that were Uie battleground' f'or ancient SU'Uggles be~veen gtungy while knigl11s and greasy developers, crumpled u1> originsofageoclC'l diatare sQnloone \V~s legJtilnate (Ind when now legpcies. We ended atU1e makeshift. son1eone \Vas feedhlg hbu a line - be memorial where Timothy1l1001asdied. they politlclaa or1>anhandler.And d1eo -·n1a1 was messed up." Jlnnll)'. ever U1e he'd go ahead and liSten oo everyone mi11inl3liS~ exµlained. T' d seen it on die any1vdy. f tl1ink ii came.from being an nt)l\~.Jlmmyw<lS tliei'e-dorlglng be<ln anlst; he saw 1he whole 1>erson and bags witl1hiS canierain tow. accepted U1e bad witl1 grace while Thatnight LwroteabouLJlmmy in searching out the good. He.had a way my diary.1l1eword ..c<X11" was used no <lfSJ>eaklngtlieuuU1 - bluntly. lluraJW<I}~ ending ln"1mm· or "brotl1er" tl1atmarle less dran 1.2 times. Piveyear.> lat£r, lhat'S,\tlli how I pro1ilo listen and no.1"1Jtcoffense.,!in1my de.scrlbdunrtiy. Hewas reallyoool.1'he setanunSJloken code fortl1e Homeless kind of cool you read abou~ die kind CoaJiUon. a bar that V\'e all strJve to d>al only anti-heroes c•o poll.oil'. ~l his •cl1Jeve. Take itse.i·1ously.1>u1not wo O\\IJl lifelirne~Jbnntjtbecame an icon. I seriously. Laugh ;:1 Jol, bul never at heard 1he note of awP. that err.pt tow son1CJ0no. Takethethm: to listen, r<vcn If peoples voicewhen tl1ey spoke orhim. you·,-e busy,even lftliey' re Lylng. Keep Ievenhad atouch oftliai.myself. listr.ning until they' redone teUJngyou But what made Jimmy • great whattl1ey need 1osay andyoun.ed to 1J1add1epleasure orknu\\'ing.arKI \'iUfking wlt11Jlmmy fo1·a number ofyears. In1st met himafll'fhehad recentlygraduated rrom tl>e trealmeotprogram at the DIC. You r.ould tell tluu hehad aspecial spad< and U1a1he was going to uotordy !>lUYive, burshine and tooth manylives by sharing his liteexpaler~. As a highschool 1ead 1erand cornmunity servicedirector. I l>a<Itlie 01>portunity lO \YOl'J\ \\ itl1J1bnOilquite a re\I/ projectsduriJ1g 1 ovrnhcycars. Hlswlllingness 1osharc his story and lO teach my s1uda11sabout homeles.sness, sadaljuslice, phologmphy andaboot lifearewha1Iremember best I am now ttllchlngatMI. Nolle Dame High Sdiool, and I am saddened tl><>Imycw·rent studrnts"''ill no·i get io meet and 10 knQ\V Jlnuny... l\iS llfehas touched mi1ie and made 111e a benerpersou. ~levriltal\vays lJe J'Clnei11bt•l?<I. Jimmy.youare loved andyoo are miSsed! Peacl.', Todd Fonn.in hear. Honor U1e past. bul ll\'e in tl1e pre.'iffii Ftnd.d1ebeautiful, because Lt's 1he1e il'you look for iL Jimmy lookme lo an art stK1w once for •he children lo his l.lr.c<acy tlwough Photography pro<>.,ram,TI>erewasone collage done by a small boy who lived 111 OTR. The phot~were of dupe IXl)'.S UlWhiJe l·Shlrui.pilbulls. poverty. Ilookedai ltwt1hhorror and said .• 1s U1ai a dope boy?" Jlmmy"1ldyes."A11dapltboll?" Jurunysia11edoodruekle. "Yes:· he.aid, "it's perfect ThisntUe boy Is 1><lrfec1: So I looked again. The dope boy was leaning ·agal1tst a kitchen COUl\leJ'smiling al theliule boy behind tlie camera. He \Vas 110 1 a scary crunu1al, hewas tlds linle boy'solderbrother. ltwas a plccute of sw11gtl1 and love•ml adoraUon for his blg b<oU1er.The pit bull\\~S ooladru1ger.Tlie p;aure was cut Imo the shape of a.llttle he-dl'L Mewas a pet. Tluit was the power of Jimmy. He'ooulrtgiveyou new eyes. He oould make you see sometl1ingyou'd seen a million times. bulstrlp.itoflls p1e1ense and Its media hype and your own p1~ooncepuons so Uiatall that "~s left was a little nugget of truth; complicated. wonderful, uuU1. I miSs youJin1my. Vie all do. T.he Homeless Coalllion feels a Unit emp&y anrl !his lossofyou wllls1 tng fora long lime. Bue So·eetvibes will surviVe One oll11e.dowruides of'~111g a11 avid uS<'I' of P/1otos/Jop, as Jilfl111)' II'~ Is 1ha1 ivlie11 youJe9JtJmmelyser a plch1re nfyourself ll'ilh " squh't!!I 011 your //~ad. eve1:yo11e ass1111ws fr~ a fake. I asswayou. ii is uol. 1found a l>7i!)' squirrel on n walk one day rnrou.qh Colle9e Hill. This pal11ei/c erea/tire lladjustopened his dJ~S. My hu.sbafl(fmid T nursed !rim b:ick ro /U>a/lh (111)' lwsbar1d.geW11g up for 1J1e 4:00:<.m. borllc feetllngs) ;wd nmned him.B.1ron von Chippy. Jimmy. alwnp an animal 10,.er. askedme ro brf/lg rhe &ton ill/a die CoaliliotJ one day. Jtnm~' '"'-'photogmphing /Jim leaping .1bo1J1 "!I' office when the Baron jumpedon Jimmy's headandposedthere. Jin1Jnygufe/Jy handed me />is C8/Jie1-a am/ I ""s able toget l11is shot. W/Je11 tile Bamngot" flfile older. hescampered off bpck !mo the wilds of College Ifill. �STREETVIBES January 2008 Community N ew s 7 Memorial for the Homeless Dead by Michael Henson Qecember 2007 Thewinter wind they call die Hawk rounds the comer of the s~ason and skitters the last leaves to the fencelines. 'Ne stand in a park with a paper In ou1· hands ancl down the paper rutL~ a Lisi of names None ofthe names will ariswer if we.call them but we mad them to remember tliat. tliey had names. these people of 1he unclerbriclge. the condominiums of the shelters. the apartments of park benches, the cardboard havens alid bedrooms of the poor. \\!hat can we know about tl1ese nan1cs but thaLtliey died - some in JJ1e usual way and some Inways it hurts to think on. They died of violence, accident. and neglect They died of' uncreated disease. of over-dos·e aud under-attention. They were cold. U1ey were hung1y. they were sick. and they died. And now they are notl1ing buc a list of names running off Into the wind. 't'he Hawk sweeps tl1e comer of U1e shivering season and the cold grass is stiff amund ourshoes. 'Ne stand 1n a park "~ch our pockets full of wi.nd ancl nolhing in l>ur hands bur these pages full of names So1UJ)' ~Yil/fa11is lig/1ts n rt"me111beraJ1ce ti11Jt/le. PtJ(J/Jfc gatl.1er torcn1e111ber Ji'ieI1ds. faI11ily. andloved011es 1v/10 l1n1·e passed auwy. and the names are fading from our sight. 111ey were cold. they were hungry. 1hey were sick. 111ey were over-dosed and under-funded. displaced fromthe neighborhood of the living and now Uieir names trickle into the cold. stiff grass. The Hawk tes!S Ule cutre11l5 of the turning season and strips the warmth from lhe downw""1 towers. ~Ve stand in a park with our hats full of dus1and we a·sk, wbo decided wbich. doors would open and who decided wbich doors would dose and who decided these names would be on Uie list that we read this day. 111eywere cold, they were tired. they were gentrifiedand they died and nowd1eir names fade into·thc light. The Hawk calls once in U1e sweep of Uie cllangtog seaso11 and wickers away the lastof the leaves. · ~Ve stand in a park withour hands full of light and in.the light a list.ofet.e1:nal names. 1neywere cold, theywere sick'. U1ey were hungiy. TI1ey .were over-dosed and under-guided and U1ey died. If we.call these names now and It seems U1ey do not answer, we can learn w lis1en In thegrass. In the wind. in 1J1eshower ofsunlight thal fulls around us. • \I.le can liswn in die cold ciy of the Hawk. ~ Listenclose: iJ: ~ They are a whisper now on the tongue of God. :1 ~Ve call their names to remember 1hey hall names. .6 .,, these people of the w1derhridge. J. the condominiums of tlie shelters. Lil<: apartll\ents of park bend1es. the cardboard havens and bedrooms of the poor. �STREE TVIBES January 2008 Community News 8 .4bo1-c: .41·ot11w 111an talces n 11HJ111ent to re fled 011 his c/eCt>.a.se</ /'r;;u111. Rig/11: F11t11er an1J tltu1ghter look al Ifie co111111P-1,10 1t1ti1'e mwJJh I/Jal clmmides hoJ1Jrlcss deaths siI1cc Z(}{)3. lie/ow: CfJ1WJ1unlty OJf._'JJJbMSgatlter to sl1are 111eJ110l'les o/' 1J1oso 1v/Jo l1«tVe JRl~·$·e(/ HH'8f. J'linlo!'i hy ,\ Jidy F'recin• \?" \ " J­ ...,#" • • ~ �STREETVIBES January 2008 Vendor Artwork 9 Bengals Abstract Ball by Anthony Williams Berta's Art Comer Franciscan I-Iaircuts from the Heart by Cleo Wombles The Downtovvn Streetvibes Clown Esquire Theatre Sr. BoMlcStelnJagcJs a nunwho volumeeishertlnte. love.and care. me by Ctco Wombles \i\fhen)roucome in the door, greet5 youwltl1a smile. She takes your name and putsil into d>e compuler. The price ofa haJrrut or Jn the mond1ofDOO'JOberwheo II nears Chrtscmas timeyoucaucome do1,\lnto\vnand see tl1eStreet\fibes clown. Hestands arFiflhand \"lalnut oospread a llllle che.r.All day lomg. you may see him dancing and .slnglng a song, to help brighcen upyoorday. When )'OU \\lalk b}'.;·ousee his rl'd noseand how It glows: tryou can take time oo soop by and see how It goes. he pu~on a good.sho\Y. Agalll. Iwould like to leaveyou witl1.-1 littlehumor. There is ajoke I know d1at goes like tlJls.There's a readerand a wrl1J11at tlte zoo. AUon comes by and eaiS only one oflhr.m. Canyou tell nie \\11ld1 one andwhy? Hedoosn·teat tl1e writer because ""llcr's·crrun.p and reader'sdlgesL Sl)'le tsonlylwodoJJars ora bag of cans.Ai; farme,:ihe al\vays s.t~1ves m_}' head and beard. She also washes my !lead witl1waterand shampo0. Atle1wards. she massages myscalp. I don't wam lier 10stopbecause ll l'eels so good. Sheuses a massa~e tCJOIon tl1e baek of my neck. U1e 1opof my llead. and Uie Sides. Sometin..s, Igo In wlU1a headaclie.Af\crshe Is done. tl1e headache Is gone arKI Ifeel so good. I feelas tltough her hamL<are used by God wld1a heaJittg toud1.TI1e musiC tllalsheplays is ve1y suod1ing. ll makes you feel relaxe(f and calm. Whatmo~can IsayaboutSr. flo1u11e and Franciscan H\ll1culS from the Heal't'I Pleases,1op by andsee, You c•n visit at 126 East 13'' Srreet. ur call 513-381-01ll �STREETVIBES January 2008 Vendor Artwork ~ ' I • I ·~ f ' {', . 10 ~~ - . . \ • ~ Artwork by Antonio Hodge \) Vendor Profile - Silvia Collins J11Je,:rie1v IJy .4.11dy f'ii!cze 'A'he1"tdldyougrow u1i? l gr~w up acommandS<'flleant major's daughter aild t11erefore l!Ved all over tlie plaa;. J married a major sergeant In tl1earmy. I!lave Uv« Iin your feet. \\~ ueed moce uansmonal housing for l"'Qple who ha'"'Joi» but are"·1mak.IJig .enough or arerfl able to saveeno.ugh for an apartment. lflhad 1111nsltlonal housingafter I gotkicked out of my aJlartn\eot I would 11ever been homeless.. When people lose jobs tl1ey have oo b1con1efor hous.lug. Grt'eee,Jran.Gemiany. FOrt_KrKJX. Spain, Judy anrt •II across the Unltt'I Wliat do you like l>e"<t ahout-sc:lllog Srates. G<lnnanywasmyfavorite ~·treetvibes? because it V\ras avery dean envtrorunem In the sos and 60s. h1 The peo1ite who l111eractwuh rne. It 1979 f moved LO Cincinnati.. n:rakes me a\vareof ri1)1surroundings and what lsgolngon In 1hecl(Y ! live. How<lidyou lcan1aboul Streetvibes? Where do you sell the J"per? Whenl llved in Over tlie Rhine in 2000. I lived next doono the Greater CincinoatiCoalition fortlie Homeless. Ms. Mruywas U1e receptlouist aod she ronvioced me 10 sell t11e paper. Ihaw beensellingSlreetvihes far7 Y"""' l scll1nl>!itly a1Eiodlay mad<et on Frtclay. Saturday. and Sunrlay. I also sell arowid the CVS 011 Walnutand 7" St. Whal arl! your hobbies? ~\V. Ho\v d1d y·ou beco1ue bo1uele.'iS? I liketoknit alghanswtuchare blanke1S and take 2 to 3 months to 1)take and sca1\1es. I \\ as living Jn a. ReSLUc·aparuneru 1 buli(llng on lllm Stn."'etand th<\)' had lo Wliat woulcl you Uke to say to you1· close t11e buildu>g. Iwas homeless for t.'US(Otllei'S'l !he follnwlng month \\~lie I tried to find anew aparUllE'Jll and get a job. Tlw11ksforyow·suppon. Sll~ia also works a temp seivir ejob ala 'A'hatwould you Ii kt. to tcll 11cople? W>rell()IJSe. lttakes about SJ ,000 to get back on Silvia Col/i11s sells ~et vibes at lt/1 and ~~~lnur. �STREETVIBES Columns January 2008 A Christmas Message Poverty and Addiction J.fichael Henson Is author ofRansack. J\ Small Room with Trouble 011 J.fy /.find, The Tao oflonging. and Crow Call. Tiiis col11m11 is pal! ofa momhfy se1·Jes 011 po1•erty a11d addiction. by Michael Henson By the timeyou read this.it may no longer be the Christmas season. But Christmas is what I'm U1inki11g about no\v.Thedecorations are up. the malls are packed.and Ute news tells us mata great vvinterstolTTI is headed in front the wesLThere Is plenty todo and plenty to distract me. but U1estoryofCluislrnas. the real story of i~ haunts me and Icannot leave it alone. This is the season \Ve celebrate poverty and bllth. Poverty and hope, If you wilJ. But ii is a hard·bought hope. \Ve think ofCJ1risunas as ahappy time ofyear. but to my mind. U1e Christrnas story is aterrible, sad s1oiy that involves exile.massacre. conflict. desperation. and Uie depredations ofU1e great upon the fol)JOttenonesof the world.\\\, will gad1erin churches (orarow1d ourTVs) to 1ell 1hestoryofachild born homeless, to parents displaced by t11ewhlm ofthe powetful.1l1en. inUiemidstofaslaughter ofotl1erne1•bomchildreo.the Child and d1ose parents will have 10 flee ford1eu· lives and sojourn foryears as refugees Inaforeignland.We' II stngJoy to t11e World and try to turn this story into a triumph.butit would helpiftl1esuffering ofdtiS fan1ilyoould lead tosomehappier ending. For the Child is fated to be betrayed and to die on a cross. Of course.tl1ere's a Resurrectionand tl1at death and resurrectionaresupposed to saveusall. Buistill.onceyoustlipaway tl1e seasonal feel-good advel'llstng and 11 decoration. thisstory is one ofthe most of lheir homesand forced to live intents painful u1all humandisoourse. alongthe river Inthemiddleofwinter. It • \Vas asour lin1e for tJ1ern. but l' n1sure We celebratepoverty in thisseason. themine O\r\'ners celebrated a S\Veet, We honor poverty and birth and die comfortable Christmas. safe in dieu· Child. We recognize tha1 pan of the warm.comfortable homes. 111eantngof1heblrthofthlsChlld IS that Tile nllne O\Yner·s Chtistnlas Is the He is born a1nong co1nn1on people. orie we like to diinkofas Uie traditional amongthe poor,orneiy peoplelikeyou Christmas:abig family meal. presents, and me. But somehow die nouon of wannd1. and light iJI die darkness ofd1e povertygets lost in all thehonoringand turning season. the celebratlon. I' n1 not sure\Yhat\VC Butthe Christmas ofthe mlners­ really celebrate.but weschedulefeasts U1a1 of people who are embauled. and partiesand presents all around and displaced, strugglingtosurvivein a world wesay it iS iJl celeb1~Uon ofuie birthof d1a1seems bentondestroying uiem­ this Child who saves us all from sinand thatseems to me the truerChristnlas. Theirworld Is theone theChild was death. And yet tl1e sins keep coming and born into. • the dealhs keep coming. Among the homeless indie citywhere I live.atleast Alld what are d1esins ofuie poor? twenty deaths this year, from oold, They Lie:1hey drink; theyusedrugs: hunger. untreated disease. accident. they havesex with p«1pletl1ey have no overdose.andunder-altenlion. TI1e,re busi11ess having sex \Vith: they are were probably morethan twenty; those arejust theones \\le k.110\\1 of. And the sins? Icannotgiveyou a countoftheslns. • Anold man once told me, · if only die rich man would giveup somediing forlhe poor, thatwould be sweet. That vvould be theche1T)'· But what \Ve had \·Vas Uteplwn.AndLliat's rnighl)' sour." He \Vas a black man \Yithan eerie resemblance 10 James Earl Jones. lie wa<talkingaboutstriking \~'est Virginia But.whatofthesins oflhe rich? 11iey Ile. t11ey drink. t11ey . . . . It's thesame list. \~'e can read all about Uiemin Uie Jl'lll"SOfPeople 1'lagazine. But tliese sins seem to affect only d1ose sinner.; and IJ1eircitcle and seem nierelypallietic and sad. To rny 1t1ind. U1eurunentioned sin. the greatestofthese unconquered sins is diat uie powerful still run die world according to their\vhinl.Thatsin, by which the powc1ful canset the JJQ\'~rless outof U1eirhornes oroffto war. has no conlmonnan1e and does notappearin diepages ofPeopleMagazine. Andso. we stillsend thepoor into exile. \Ve still witness the massacreoft11e Innocents. The holy families ofUie poorstillstalk theoold hills insearch ofa place to give bu1l110 u1eir hopes. • Joy to the ~l\:>rld? I have ahard time gelling tojoy when I U1iJ1kofUiestory behind the season.And hope?That's a tougJi one. too.11iere is noeasy paui to eitherone. ButIkno\Y that, if \Veopen ce11a111 doo1s.joy Improbablystumbles irrespon.<ible; they are violenLJust.ask any expert in any think-tankand d1ey will tell you. WhaleVersmallchancestl1e poorhave to nlakeltln thts\ovorld, the)' spoil by tl1eirsiJis: Uieycompound U1e.iJ in. arKJ lKlpe \\ralks \Vitltus \·Vt.en we \Valk poverty thattheydid notinvent. withsins in faith, even the grumbling faith I and failures ofd1eirown nlal<ing. SOilleli.Jlles 1/1.'alk. Thesesins and failures are the b<isis The Christmas lights are up: lhe ofanentire profession.anannyofsocial roads to the malls are bumper to \VOrkers . health care \·\'Orkers. burnper: tlM:'!re'sabigstonn corning. educators. andcounselors - lam a foot Iwishyoujoy ifyoucanget tojoy. solcller iJI U1ataonymyself- whosesole lfjoyeludesyou. I wiShyou hope. function is 10 help the poor remediate 1111nersIn the1920s \Vho vvereput out theseso-called sinsand failures. Our Daily Bread Mourns the Loss of Tony Barnwell by Angela Pancella Aswe go fro1none)reat' intodM:'!next \Ve ren1ember those vvho have gone before us. Here at Our Daily Bread. \Ve lost agood friend last Novenlber, Tony Bam,vell. Hecan1e Inevei)'dtl)' to \VOrkas aporter. greeting ourguests al the door. runningerrands, and being lielpful in manyways. "Peoplestill a<k. 'Where'sTony?'" ThmmyQulshpe, whoworksatour fn:mt desk.says. •1miss his ·hellos.' liewas agood guy: We had amenlOrtal forTunyhereat Our Daily Bread. FriendsofTony's from his church. theTri-County Vineyard. mernbersofhis family. and friends from the whole neighborhood ga1hered to sharestories. One mansang "Precious Lord. Take My Hand• in his honor: anothersununed u1>howweall fcit"llcn fun person to be around; everybodyliked pain the last six months of his life he him. Hewas agood person." oontlnued tooome Infatthfully. He"oll Joan Thornpson. Volunteer be truly missed: Coordinator. remenlbers: "He alvvays Cookie Vogelpohl, Our Daily met meoutside and asked if he could Bread's founder. says occasions like help nie carry lhings in. lalways loved Tony's memorial service put tl1emeaning his heart. !loved ltwhcn he pushed the of the place In perspective. "! always loon!" (TI1e loon in queslion was a thiJik tlial ifand when Igerto heaven !'d stuffed animal in the office thatgave a like to ask Cod why He wanted Our loon call if you pressed down on its Daily Bread 10 be here. lie nlightjust back. Every tin1eTonycame into the say. ·ForTony.' · officehe made theloongive offIts call. ouR OAILV BREllci Itwas agood ULing tohear if vve \VeJe e\1er in danger of taking ourselves too serioosly.) "Hewas agreatguy. I really nlisshint n "Tonywasoneofthose peoplethat didn't knowastranger." saysMaiy Bech Peters. Our Daily Bread's Executi\1e Director. 'lie wasvery open and honest about the life he led and the mistakes he made-In the hopes ofoonvlnclngothers he said. ~Orle oftl1e great pri\'ileges of not to go do,vn thesan1eroad. Tvvoor being in this world has been getting to know'fony.'· Sandy Matthe">. oneof his fellow porters.said this at the time: "Hewas a his goals were to live to fifty and not. to die from AIDS. which he contracted vvhen he \Yas t\venty five. He \Yas blessed with therealizationof bothof 4 tlM:'!Se \Visl1es. AJU1ough he\Vas in great ..,,,., .................­ Our Daily Bread isa food and hospitality rniJListry iJ1 Over·the-Rlline. Cincinnati. \~\,serve a mid-day meal, and we se"•e more than 500 meals eve1y day. Mondayd1tOugJ1Friday. \Ve providewann meals inacomforlable place for aJJ 'vho con1e. aplace wtlere all are irl\'iled to be apartofa oommunlty that ts cartng. suppoitlveand weloomlng. We arealways looking ror volunleei;, !or food or non perisliable collections- pleasegiveJoan or Kathy acall at621 -6364 to find outmore. Our Daily Bread is located at 1730 Race Screet. Cincinnau. OM.45202. �STREETVIBES January 2008 Columns 12 "I Never Died," Said he: Goodbye to Jimmy Heath Jimmy Heath, I am told, died this somehO\r\' SUl'\rivecl. weekatHospice. I was reminded ofdie The power of his gentleness was lyric from ·Joe Hill"dialgoes."'[ never personal as \Veil as social. 1 can died," said he...•·Jimmy Heathwill Live remember our Iunches withSte\'e Elliot on i11 the n1any n1en1ories of his atMyra's as we ploned to bring peace gentleness, a light thatshone from him into the schools under the cover of CVC1) 1 t1n1e IA'C met. photography. posters. and good story Gentleness isaqualityofU1eltighest telling. le\1el of peacen1aker. Jimn1y ne\1er Jimmy, al\vayscurious.\Vondered lectw'ed. 1le\'er instrucled 1A1il11 coercive just wherewe were finding tl1e energy \Vords or actions, and ne\ 1er held that to keep teacliingand learning inschools one way was die rtghtway.Jimmy was thatseem to dislikeyoudiand fostered alwa)" skillful at opening aspace ina niacltine likebehavior.JiJruny reminded cro\vded life 10 any who wanted to sit me that we had to take theother path, orSland.remindingdiem tliatdieirspace altlioughgently. almost inviSibly. lie \\rtiS alv.•aysthereb)•hint. He had sucha would say, "The kidsget it, if wesay it !>0''~1ful hold oo th!sgenueness!rothigh With honesty.'' schoolyouth and adulls \\IOU Idrealize What a po\·Verful re1tLinderof tJ1e that hev;as · reaching" humanness in a \Yay \Ye could gro\v peace in the \Var way tliat iS rarely seen. zones ofhighschools. anudge to drop Jin1my \Vas never far av\'ay front shartngsomepart ofhlsstoiy as a plant ir1 growtlt asalearrlef in lt.e processof decoding the realities he found himself in. as acitizenofdie world of peace and justice, !likingtime and wolds toremind usthat there \Vere too n1any hon1elcss on ourstreets. too rnany hungry. rnerLtall)' ill and so many peoplebeatendown by die culture of hatred that he had ruthlessness. Jimmy seemed to forcecompetitive e1t10Uons out of the roo1t1 when he talked.11iere is hisway, the gentle touch of a caring person. and diere are tlie other \Ya)'S. the top do\vn plans. directives. grades. and fears. Listening lo his SlOty. it \·Vaseasy to hear llO\v n1uch he loved being gentle and feeling gentleness on tlie partofotlie1s as tlie major way of teaching, learning and !Mrg. JiJrunywas also fierce ~out howdie homelesswerebeingmis-handled in tlie city. tlie nation and die world. His anicles. ne\vs su111n1aries. and pictures were direct and bold calls foracUon to prolectdie mostvuhierablepeople. men. \Vomen and children of thestreets and drop inshelters.Jin111ly never\Vrotea the rhetoric a level do\vn and gi\1e the shy word aboutjustice. youtli achance to find their "vlSlon"and Attimes. hisangerwould flashwhen "voices." sornetJLing or so1t1eone had burned a Jimmy had seenandhea!d too nllch self-rtgJneous talk and acuondiat led to anotherdoor-less room for teachersand students.Teaching tliroughstoiy and through photography sparked conversations in)'Outhand adultsabout liVing a life of integrity and witl1out person orkilled thespiritofa homeless person. Yet. his eyes would never harden and his \ 1oice ne\ 1er revealed bitterness. Likehis pictures. the anger ·see" intotJ1eviole1M:eand realize thatanother ''ictin1 \vas claimed by a brutal society. He seemed to be \Vas acall to saying, although1ne\'er heard him putit In words. · How could 1>eople, people wiU1 everything. treatpeople" ' d'so little \Yithso nluch hatred?" Juiunywouldhave reminded usdiat ourrears \Vere signs ofhealthy anger. signals thatjustice denied to youtli ls worthyofa loloflearsandactlons.He'd have told us astoryabout Buddy Cray, his mentor.who refused to giVe upon any homelessperson and ho\v he \Yas "saved" byBuddy.Somehow.Jimmy's words would have helped usgel up and get back inside. There is work to be done. I DREAMED I SAWJIMMY HEATH LAS!' NIGHT. AUVEASHECOULD BE. "BUT Jl/\·~\1Y." SAYS !. "YOU'RE3 DAYS DEAD.'' "I NEVER DIED:·SAID HE. "!NEVER DIED: SAID HE. ANDSTANDING THEREAS BIG ASLl.f'E AND SMILING WITH HIS EYES SAIDJIMMY: "THERE'S NOTIME TO MOURN. coourAND ORGANIZE: coourANO ORGANIZE: Seattle Ups the Penalty for Targeting the Homeless Contjnued fro111page1 perspective, the move to include homelessness meanseve1yth1ng. In astateitier1treleased foJJov\'ing01e hearing, City Council president Nick Licata stated. "'fhese changes \Viii tJlis kind ofbehavior." ser\1ice pro\1iders. and fort.heSeattle If the ordinance is passed. city Police DcpMment. Reprlmedfrom RealChange officials and local stakeholders in tl1e 11iey alsosharediei,'<laloflaundting hornelessadvocacyco1tununityplan lo acan1p.a1gn to Include homelessness CJ $(reef .News Se.1vlce: 11111111-:.simet­ couple It with aclt)'wlde educational under tlie state's hatecrime law.Atdie papers.otg e-a1npaign in schools (NCH statistics statelevel. n1aliciousharassn1en1 isa provide tough n1easures that sho\v rhat then1ajority of atlacks are felony and canbepunlShedvvtthn1ulUple denionst1atethat the Citywill nottolc•ate perpetrated by youtli ages 16·19). for year.; iJ1jail. sa)" Carr. Food Stamps 101 in Hamilton County by Greg Ol khovsky occur.;. They have anotherofficeat 237 a year. The average food stan1p prtmarilyembarrassmentabout.entering ~Vllliam H. Tafl due to the Central allotment Is $86 a monthor $t .032 a the· welfare ofnce,.. fearofgw1ng out personal inforrnation and Jack of Food starnps are an excellent Parkwa)' location being at 1t1axin1urn year. resource. The problem is that n1an)' capacity. There are roughly I 50 An additional 64, I 28 Hamilton education about the food stamp peoplewhoq.ialifyfor dlelll doOOI utilize EllgibilityTecl~liCians (foodstamp case dtis benefit to tlieir advantage inHaniilton worl<ers) who are employed inHaniilton County. Furthermore. It ap1>ears that County. Each Eligibility Technician rJ1ere is aconunon Jackof k.J10V\•ledge works with 500-600 cases. called aboutthe food stampprogram from both Assistant Croups.AnAssistant Croup recipients andnon~recipients. can include one person. or multiple To understand more about food peoplefrom the same ramily who are all SlampsI met\\4thJer1yO'Flynn.S<!ctlon entitled recipients of a food stamp Cltieffor HamiltonCounty Department account.Assislant Groups are accow~ed of Job and Family Services OFS) . for to helpJFS organizedata easier. O'Flynn has been employed with In Hamilton County. 89.7% of HamiltonCountyJFS fora remarkable eligibleresidents received foodstamps 27yea1s .Durtngthe lnteivlew. O'Flynn In October.This 1>ercencage equates to provided slatistics. ans\'\•ered co1nn1on rougMy8 I .370iJklividualrecipien!S and questions and explained what specific 36,275 Assistant Croups. Of these criteriaonemust meetto apply for food recipients in October 2007. 49.633 stamps. were femaleand 31,737 were male. In The main building for J FS In 2006. there were 77. I23 food stamp HamillonCow1ty is located at 222 Ea.st recipients in HaitLi.ltonCounty.sho\ving Central Parkway where most of the anincrease inuse.The minin1um food intake for tlie food stamp program stamp allounent iS $10 amontlior $120 County residents areeligible for food program.O'Flynnsuggests diatpeople stamps. butdo nor recei\1ethem.Asa \Yho are uncertain as to\Vhether ornot thcyquallfyshould."app~· and see what happens. it doesn't hurt 10 see if you qualify." One can begin the a.pplication process immediately by calling 946· tOOO by walking In die doors ofJFS a1kl speaking directly to anEligibility NuhitionSer\rice reports that for C\'eI)' Tedmician.Once an applicant.completes $5 iJl new foodstamp benefits.S9.20 ui and submits tl1e necessaiy paperwork. rotal con1111unityspendingisgenerated. anEligibilityTechnician looks tosee if This means thatIncreased food stamp the applicant qualifies foremergency pal1icipalioncould resuli in S14. I59.462 assistance.AI1 e1nergent)'situation is to $121,77 1,376.64 in additional detemiined by financialstatus and ifthe community spending which would applicant iS unemployed attlie time.If enormously boost the localeconomy. an applicant does not. qualify as an What prevents eligible Hamilton eniergencythentheEllglbllityTechnlclan Cow11y residentsfrom d ainling dieirfood willdetenniJie if tlieapplicant iseligible stampbenefits?0 'Flynnoffers anumber to receive food stamps within a 30-day ofreasons tl1atbeoefiis are notclaimed. COntlnued on page 12 result. Hamilton Cooney loses between $7.695.360 arid 566.180.096 in food stamp payments togroceiy stores and otliervendors tliataccept food stamps who are pre·paid for theirgoods. This money IS lost and IS ultlmatclyhurtingthe local economy. TI1e U.S. Food and �STREETVIB ES January 2008 Community News 13 Guest Columnist - Life in Atlanta vs. Cincinnati c:uest colurnn/SI James Pogue IS know for sure, but l would guess that butnwiy. farloo m•f&'. IOund ilicmseh'-.; a 2005graduare olC/llri< Montessori llunianseivicesaJ'e even wo~ lhan bl Hf&h School anda former student at Cincin.n(1ti. Drugsareevfl)'Whetc. Inlet (/w School for rha Creative a11d more blg·1lme drug dealers In my shon Perfotn1/ng Arts in a~·er~1J1e·RJ1/ne. 1Jn1e in A,llanta than I tlLink a \·\thi~. He has been sw dy/119 ar McGiii mlddlc clas.s. noo·...ilngyrungn1<1Jecould Unf\'e1~iry Iii 1'140fll.i'Ml. Quebec and ever >'easonably expe.c t to come tn is llQlf' flt'11'elit18 CJOSS"COIJJlffY JiytraiIJ con1act.'Aith anywhere else. I rode with and li>!lmb. a trucker out ofSou1hTexas who'S<ltd lhathe used 10 carry back fro mAtlanta I spentso01e t.lmelnA1lanlll 1~emly. bciwoon ih'Cand innmllllolldollatscvciy It was only about four days. bu1 I week lrl drug money. l11a1's just one travela!byfreight lr3in t111d livedou1Side. truck. \\iorkiag forone cartel Every so I learned a 101 abQut the wo•st the 'A1eck. Buiallof Jhls feels in;ufflclenl IDme. place had 10 offer. AUI <ansay Js tlia1. h;wlng g11Jwn up In Clnclnnall,andgone llvccyonc· l talked to on the steer.ts 10 school fr1 Over Ille Hlilne; l llloughtl echoed a different theme. about had seen h;1rro\ving, ston111ch-tumi11g son1ething<:ven n1ore basic than C\ren poveny.but Atlanta Js In a class of Its )'CaJS of 1~clsm and neglea.Alotofwhat O\\tn. H01nel0S.';iness anddrugs are afact 1hey >'3Jd wasfrankly h1cohera 1Lbul l' II of life Incvecy single part of thecity. 1ry to voice It as J\llthfufly as possible. wealthy suburbs like Jrunaii Park because 1dllJlk iraruculalllSsomeihlng includ.ed. profound aboutpoverty, homeles.sne.>. It 's strange. because by any and how we lookatourcl1les. reasonablen1easw·eAtJanca Ls a n1uch Atlanta is.a b9om IO\.vn Jn Ltte \Yay richer. more successful town 1ht1n Cincinnati city leaders only dl1lam of. Ch1chu>ati.'Oie populaUon andeccu10my CaJes aod ga11erles are replacir1g are booming. condos are popping up, \\Wehouses and .sh<tdj1 bars. TI1ere's and n11Jlllnatlonal corpo1<1Uons don't moneyio dirowa1ln1er and ln11a-uroan need ID be pold to Slay downlOwn. TI>e lightrail Thlenl IS being botl1 mtained by Id~ of Allanlll asanlntcmallonal cul11141I and altl~ctcd to lhe Inner city. h's lhe cen1e1·. particularly witlt regard to tlie khid of transronnauou about which blackdiaspora. is veiymuch• realily. business and city leaders have been h'sa cultufill•ntl economlcmagPel for having we1dreams ever since April t!Je young Md etluC"dted fron1across ~1e 2001. Soutlt. ll's also terrifying.TI1e poverty rate 111e11 why are tllei'estill ci'Owdsor may be <hopping. bul where poverty homeless people and proslitules in used 10 beson1elltinganeigbborhoOO. a ColonySqoa1~? I'mnotreallyequipped communlt;y. endured In concert.d>ose 1<J say.Obviously some of ii has 1<J do conununlties fmv~ beel1 sundered Son1e with.iru;citutlmL1llz!!(l racism. I don I penpiefound anlchein the ne\-\1 \Vave, in a brave new world Uley no Jongei· understood. T<Xiay. in Atlanta, enuy level, decent payingjobs are available in bulk ln lbe.innercity. but l11ey' re at mstaurants·and ba1s that don'I have 1he courage or U1edecei;cy 1<l hire.people who don' t look and talk like tho educated. upwardly mobile. young. transplant, ~t to whldi bod1 proprieloo and pallons belong. lndusuyJobs have Jong since been puslied outoowards Uie l-285 loop. leaving tl1e inner cily poor with 11-.ichQJcebetwc:cnjoblessncssand whatls essentially forced relOC'•Uon. Tiils ISInteresting. because rents.In comparison widiodiermiyor U.S.d Ut'S. have- ren1ained fuirlv slable. TI1e usual stoiyabout gentrtncailoo Is tha1 II pushes people out because tl1ey can' I a!Tord housing. TI1ar s probably true In many cases.burwhat J lieard over ru\d over In A1laniaw;1sn'1that peoplewere plices out of housing. but •h.ai there was a fu11dmnenLal cultural Sl1ifiin lnner·cil)' AlIan ta tl1a1 left 1hc hr.avlly·acccnt1~I. uneducated. ··old-school.'' our in llie cohl All 1hls lead 10 1he crushing. destructive poverty and vlolem·e Isaw. If II's a irulsmth<it hoticlessnoss !earls to dtugaddiction. buaglne!OOhopelessoess of a cily \vhere the ' 'Cl)' cultural ru1d economic \htcads havebeen rlppcdout. \Vhere ani\1isteshave n.?places tl.e soclaJ and economicneC\\'Oli>..'ihit.her1o used b)' poor nelghboJ'hoods to develop conununil)1arKI n1utualaid. Tiie rising tlde II fled a lot ofbQals. Tiiat's undenlable. But tlle ones tliat sank. sank hard. Thepovo.ny thalwa< Food Stamps Contlnuet.I f1'Q11t page 11 period.Once it is decided thatthey are eligible. Uie.applicantwm beasslgned atLappolnunentdare In whkh lheymuS1 return toJFS rocom11letcanlntmilew In person. DurJng the intervie\v in the finaJ stage Of tl>e application Jll'OCeSS. tlle Eligibility Technician looks at the c~ll(lldatc·~ nnancial r.liglbllllywhlch factors in theappHcant's iJ1corne and resources. The EligtbilllyTechnician tl>en looks attlie applle<u1t's identity cards {i.e. birth ceiuficates. social sccuricy card) 10 conflnn 1ha1 the inte-f\·l~·ee is the same person as the food SklJTI papplfcanL UpoocomplellngUieinteivie.v. d·1e Eligibility Technician assigns "" F.k-ctronlcBenefitTffill$fercald Qooks and acts like a deb ii card) to the riew food stamp canier.The card has the carrier's mune eugiaved on 11. fa•e1y timedie carrieruses tlm EBTcrud, 11te allocated food stamp money 15 autonmticallysubtraoled. Food stamp mooey i$ replenlshe.donoea.montlt and lefioverfonds f11J1t1 die Jlfel'ious mondi taD)•averonlO thenexlrnan~1. Wuslm1gto11 PiJrk !'how by Jimmy 1Jead1 once a managcablet'Ondlllon ofllfc Is 1101va profowld·alieiiaUon from Uienew lifeoflhecity. I woriy aboutCincinnati. I wony uboul Ne\\! Orleans. I \\lorry aboul Detroit. Cities a1e always rising and fafilig In America. and diesetownswill all Sf;e their rise in lime. Bul fr;Lnkl)r. ii' economicand cultural "revtvar brings loC'ulcinnaU\\'hat it \Vro~ghL inALlaiua. god forbid II ever com1<S.No te\•lval Is worlll dieaeation ofa permanenl sratic underclas.<. This Is all based on my own impressions. and convers.aUons 'A'i111 poorAdantans:a re1tv hornelcss rr1en. :t few prostitutes. and two drug dealers. 1 purposely dldn'J quote numbm. OCe\'ffi look any up,so tak~ lthowyouwill. My point lsn'uhlll all economicdeveloprnenl Is bad. 9r lhat hlpstc1~1 ar~ somehow more at faull lllM crack lords or Geoige Bush forpoverty and dislocation. Butif people think thata mixed-IncomeOver 01eRhine is goingLo be an imp1m·ernen1, they wo~ld do well to learn from the expetlences or tlie poor who have already sulferr.d through theexpelimem In other cities. Tht')' would do well to ask Wll)' ofall 01ewhlte. liberal·owned busIncsscs on M~ InStn?e« 1he only one diat e1·erhirerJ.aneighbofllOOd JlllY \vhile I \vas in school \Va.'i Shadeau Breads. Theywoulddowcllto ask 1ra nEwgallciy i.s really acultural de\•elopmenl,or i[ ii might be pavlng over an equally valid c'ultu1~ already in place. '11ley woulddo well to ask if Uiey.are racili1ati11g d>e <lirne dial Is forcedremov<1l,and dlsoonnectlon fiom the heart ofthe city. �STR EETVIBES Community News January 2006 14 GCCH Annual Dinner 2007 - A Big Success hy ly1111eA11sma11 On December 13. 2007. GCCH held our Annual Dinner and Siient Auctionat lhe Xavier UniVl!fSilyCilltas Center. 'fhe U1emowas "Word on the S1te-e1." to celeb1·a1e 10 years of ~<>treCtvibes. 1l1eeven'''1as sponsored Du~e ·Energy. by XavierUniverslt}'· PNC Bank. and disenfranchised Individuals In our communlty. whlle hlgilllghting Uie sucre.;."'5of2007. FollmNingGettywas our keynote address by Over-)he­ Rhine's Katl1yY. Wilson. authorof l!:!ur Negro Tour Gulde: 'Thirhs In Black a11d White. Wilson. herselfhomeless as a dtild. entertarned Ole cro\Yd \Vith her ooloiful and itiythmlc.poellyandwrlting In 2006. The Individual award was a·soup k~chen lnOverUieRJ~ne Ironed awayded to Connie Cole from on Race Sueet across rrom r.1ndlay Caracole. Inc. - an agency which Market provldeshous~1gsel\1ccs forlbooe1Mng WealsohonoredSamJacksonwldJ \\'ithHJV/AIDS.The agencyaward was the Slreell'ibes Vendor of the Ye;ir aw<11dedloProjec1Coonect-anagency Award. Jackson.avendorforabouta which ke·e ps homeless child.ren year. retentlyobtailled em1>loyment at conrlf).-1ed \ViUteducatton. 1,he Brazilian Bistro in dO\\'OfO\Vn Eobert McGonagle was awarded Clnc;ln1iatJ. \l>/hJlewlllng S!reervlb.>s whilespreading the \~i:d on tlie Streel lheJinw1y Ren~erA\v~rd -- an a\·\'ard do\\1nlo\\tn, Jackson de\reJope,d a Wl arc pltr.ised to announced•at not tobc 1hankful ford1e luxu1iesd1ooewld1 only 1vas 1he eventa·~al succesci. but homes take Col granted.sudtas warm it v. asalsoour l'argestever, with.more blankets. a.bed.and the ability crank up dian 400 lJ1 attt'fldanrel The evening was our heat Inthe mlddleofthe night FoUowillg w·Iison, we hor10red four ei!)oyed by all as we reflected on our Individuals and one agency with our hlstruy. the 1xistyear.arxl celebrated our deservillg,awan:Iwlllne1s. annual suvireand achievementawards. The evening began wilhdinnerand The first award was The Julie Martin the Stale of the Coalition Address by Service Pi'Ovlderofthe Year. so named Executive D'irecior Georgine Geuy. for tl1e late Case Management Gettyasserted thal.justas Inyears past. Coordinator a1 the VV.'CA Battered we wiU oontlnoe to fight.foe homelessand \I/omen'sShelterand im'atd recipient 1 which goes to a homeless or formerly homelessindlvidualwhohascommitted themselves to lhe alleviation of homelessness. McGonagle has seived U... hornelessronununily by volunlee!ing at McMlcken Dental. working wltl1 HealdicarefonheHomeless.andSEtVJng meals on the street with hi<churd1- The Chus,h of die Redeemer In Hyde Park. relattonshlp with the GeneralManager at tl1e Bistro who eveJllually offel'ed Jackson a dishwashlng job..lackson now has his own apartment and Is no loogersta}'lngondie strrets. The even1was agccatsuttess. bul mos1 Importantly agreatway io finish lhe year -"'!joying1llecompany ofour colleaguesand friends In die community. The buddygray LifetlmeAchieveme,n t honoring those who go above and Award was awarded 10 Cookie beyondd1ccall ofduiy.niflecllngonthe \{lg~Jpohl. Cow1derofOur Daily Bread. past and renewing oursmam ror 2008. •t sll111f sente1JCl!S 11.kc crack rocks/Ikoop vm:b.s sJttflCd 111 Ill}' socks/Igot si111ilt?s /1-1·0 for Jfre: •like'' w1d ....,, "rdgga/1 tall on my r.g1diJIS iUld pediJle my wares!1 anlke my iv•y tl1ro11gl1 A1.'1in Su·eet gale/rics 11'11/le _ 1ich wl1ife people siop to state/editors tluoiv tne ~'Ork like addicts /)anti over cn.11'tlp/ed s/1)1Jfe$/on 1/1e Jlsi I .~talk t/1~ 111alln>a1) li'01t1 tny kirclie1J wintfows/cbecki11g his h81td for mycheck. • · Kal/1y Y. Wilson .Dlri11e Prince Hakiym. opens the twening wft/1 a pot1111. Co1mie Cole. wl1mer ofthe Julie AfBrlen .)CJ-vice P1'0vider oftl1c Year a1J.'8.l'd 1vlt/1 Li11tla !J·e.1·1er, Din"Clor ofCarar:o/r, /11c:. For more pictures from tl1e Annual Dinner see page 14 Cookie L'ogelpo/1/ 1~·as a1C1arded die btiddy graj life tln1e ac/1ie11!n1ent ai'larrl. She (01111ded Ollr IJaj}y Broad. a so1Jp kilcba11 In 0"1'1' the Rh/11e. �STREETVIBES Janu13ry 2008 Poetry Bob A1cGonagle accepts 1/w Ji11u11)' Rem/or a1,ard nt 1l1e GCCJ-11l1111ual Di1111er. Oae check a\\1ay byJames Clliansini f\Viitklingstarscan1keep)iOu\\1ann whoo your lsccplng In dlG parktilldie break ofdawn ll•"~P•P~r pillow and• plas!ic wp watchbtg foril1e pl~t It.it comeoutafll!rdark lost yourjob gotjacked and robbed yourlandJ011l sakl UiatsJlOt myprob doctorbils kUI you cant afford UM! pulls now yourshakbigheart breakingdnnl;kas mucha<you spill \\'ailingo-n LI~. Ors.t to quend1your lhirst alleviate tehdoscomfortof'anasphalt eanh oying to find asheller to get somerest butnowhere seems safe\\idioutil knif• opraffvesl if}'Ou oculdjust get back to square one st.anto hl"<tl diedisease d1ats·gotoyou on d1c run IOOIJng b1v~ibl<O b'OillgblS3lle srowls an<l nightsficks fullllkeraln Sain Jackso11, j'irt'tft1-·i/Jes Ve111/or of1f1P Year, d;s,11sses 1101., 1/1,,• /J.'lpi!r has t'IJabJNI 11/11110 staynli••f!. Today by Ron O'Neal Tod;iy l can liane.<ilysay thai lmglad lo be alive. ll<itrece!tlly I've been thn:iugh hell. and 1ha15 noJiv~. Today I believe you onlyg~ outoflife wMtyou put tn10 ii. Re.1Uy Iii\•lsjust life. wehave no choice buI.to get down ID it Today Im feelinggoOIJ a bourn~elf, So nQ\V 1need10 learn ho\Vl O feel forsomec;1ne else. I know Its not going to be easy roS!ay In this frnmeof rnlnd. But Ido k110\\1 it getseasie-r\Vltl• lime. So \\•lll!n lhinb'5 aren'1f:,'Oingyour\vay. [suggest you hit your knees and pray. Today its l.iJue 1og.tve batl1what was ~u freelygiven 10 me. I can do t.lc1tby becornlngall f GUI be. Today I'm hccomlgn the man hecre<1ted me In BEi 15 �STREE TVIBES January 2008 Poetry 16 What: to Tell Yow·self byMichael Hen<;on Tell v0W1>elfwhatvou woul<l tell vcwself - Ifyouwere nolyourself. ­ -die poerPaule«a Hansel to tl1e·p1)(l[ Ridia1d Hague Beyoun;clt: IW<XJ!tl tell m~lf - If! \V..re oof myself. Strip down. IVl'Ould say. Be naked lo tl1e true. Be d,.cself \\itl1saod In his po<:k!'tS liH! one \vi Lh_01eoc.Jorofsmokeiii'llis hair the onev1ho forgets hLti drf".Mll in 1he morning die m1guided one who guides the unguided lheane in a house wllh bmken windn"s the one In thegrt1> ofall seven sins tileone \'JIK> fear.s. tJeath. You know youfS<'Jf lhat l• notselfenough, SO Strip dO\VJl. Be n~ed lo mercy. 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Through tehday people look at me<md stllnd back tothetr friends and talk about me. about how l look<mdbow I s1uel1..11ever k110\\ting the real persondlat is iJiside or rue. As youwatchyourTV ar~l 11layyour tapes. I uy 1ostay warm on v~1y cold (lays. Whe11 you are \.\1ann inyourbltame, l an1 hon1eless. As Y°" sleep gt tllg)ll in yom·nice wa1m bed Iam trying to slee11 any\vl1e.re f c:an: roofLOflS and rloorways, park benches and so on � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2008 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 2008 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Front Page Pg 2: Homeless Memorial Day Honors Homeless Individuals Who Passed Away in 2007 Pg 3: About Us Pg 4: The Vibes Pg 5: Tributes to Jimmy Heath Pg 6: Jimmy Heath- Too Cool for School Pg 7: Memorial for the Homeless Dead Pg 8: Community News Pg 9: Berta’s Art Corner Pg 10: Vendors Pg 11: A Christmas Message Our Daily Bread Mourns the Loss of Tony Barnwell Pg 12: Peace Village Pg 13: Guest Columnist Pg 14: GCCH Annual Dinner 2007- A Big Success Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Pg 16: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 2008 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Susan Smith Andy Freeze Lynne Ausman Greg Olkhovsky Tiffany Harmon Kenneth Cheriyot Melvin Williams Della Woolens Michael Henson Steve Sunderland Cleo Wombles Todd Forman Sonny Williams Pat Clifford Katherine Ryder Angie Jones James Pogue Tiffany Harmon Berta Lambert Anthony Williams Antonio Hodge Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Freeze Angie Jones Anthony Williams Antonio Hodge Art Arts & Poetry Atlanta Berta Lambert Christmas Cincinnati Cleo Wombles Community News Della Woolens food stamps GCCH GCCH Annual Dinner Georgine Getty Greg Olkhovsky Hamilton County Homeless Memorial Day James Pogue Jimmy Heath Katherine Ryder Kenneth Cheriyot Lynne Ausman Melvin Williams Michael Henson Pat Clifford Peace Village Poverty and Addiction Remembering Jimmy Heath Seattle Sonny Williams Steve Sunderland Susan Smith Tiffany Harmon Todd Forman Tony Barnwell Vendor https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/e31de602086dd4a0b74d14b12efb6b66.pdf d1b4d86fda43a9ebbf44f113632382fa PDF Text Text Stickin it Wit the Most High ~ Page 11 Eight Minutes with a ‘Street Walker’ ~ page 3 STREETVIBES $1 J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9 • I s s u e 1 5 0 • C i n c i n n a t i ’s A l t e r n a t i v e N e w s S o u r c e We Will, We Will Not Be Zoned Dinner is equal parts celebration, call to resist By GreGory Flannery Editor Clark Montessori Steel Drum Band entertains the guests at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless’ Annual Dinner and Silent Auction. Photo by Andrew Anderson. The Year’s Longest Night Remembering those who are at home at last By GreGory Flannery Editor This is for those who died alone. This is for those who died unwanted. This is for those who died unknown. This is for those who died on the street, in an alley, on a bench. This is for those who died in hospital or hospice or a relative’s bed after having lived on the street. This is for those who died poor and homeless in 2008. It is bitterly cold Dec. 21, as it should be. A Channel 9 newsreader says the temperature is 14 degrees Fahrenheit, “which is ironic, because it’s the first day of winter.” She misunderstands the meaning of the word “ironic.” Friends and advocates gather for Homeless Memorial Day. Photo by Andrew Anderson. The wind cuts through overcoats, scarves, hats – for those lucky enough to have them. The wind cuts down the tiny flames that are supposed to make this a candlelight vigil. The air is so cold that feet ache from standing on cement. So cold that that the ink in a reporter’s pen freezes and will not write. So cold that no mayor, no city council member, no state legislator, no judge attends. Surely the cruel night chill explains their absence. Or is it a coldness of some other kind? This is Washington Park, where the homeless often gather. This is Washington Park, across 12th Street from the Drop Inn Center, a place of refuge for them that gots nuthin. This is Washington Park, where official visions of a more upscale green space for a more upscale constituency leave no room for those who have nowhere else to go. This is Washington Park, See Night, p. 5 A little wry humor can help any good cause, especially one that’s under assault. Thus the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless called its 2008 annual dinner “In the Zone” – a pointed reference to this season’s strategy in city council’s long war on homeless people. “We chose ‘In the Zone’ as our theme this year because zoning has been such a battle,” said Georgine Getty, executive director of the Homeless Coalition. “My theory is that people don’t talk about zoning unless they’re up to no good.” Among other initiatives that alarmed churches and charities in 2008, city council passed a resolution calling for limits on the number of human-services agencies in Over-the-Rhine. The issue is now the subject of a civil-rights lawsuit in federal court. The annual dinner, held Dec. 4 at Xavier University, featured the music of the Clark Montessori Steel Band, awards for homeless people and those who serve them and a stirring call to continue the struggle. Getty enumerated some of the lies that have gained currency in discussions about poverty. “Poor people are ruining our neighborhood. Social services are bad for development. Section 8 is to blame. Get a job. … This is the wrong story, and I’m tired of it,” she said. “There are only two choices when you’re tired. You can go to See Dinner, p. 5 �2 The Vibe Streetwise News Briefs Homeless Shelter Closing SEATTLE -- The city’s oldest homeless mission is closing as winter sets in, falling victim to economic difficulties. CityTeam Ministries houses 55 men, 15 of whom are recovering from drug addiction. Based in California, CityTeam Ministries owes more than $250,000at a time of decreasing donations. ACLU Fights Harassment LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF. – Civil rights attorneys filed a lawsuit last month in federal court accusing this coastal town and of engaging in a campaign of harassment against disabled homeless people. The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleges that a city ban on sleeping on the street is unconstitutional. Laguna Beach has no year-round city-sponsored shelters. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of mentally and physically disabled homeless people. The town of about 25,000 is famous for art galleries, festivals, upscale boutiques and luxury hilltop homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The median home price is $1.3 million. The city provides $15,000 a year to a 41-bed cold weather shelter run by local churches. Record Number of Homeless Families NEW YORK – In the past year shelters in New York have seen a 40 percent jump in the number of homeless families with children seeking emergency housing, according to the Department of Homeless Services. Nearly 10,000 homeless families were in municipal shelters in December, the highest number in the 25 years that the city has collected the data. The number of homeless people in the city’s shelters has continued to climb during Mayor Bloomberg’s five-year plan to cut homelessness by twothirds, launched in 2004, “The recession in New York is unfortunately just beginning, but already we have surpassed the alltime record high of family homelessness in New York City,” Mary Brosnahan, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless. By GreGory Flannery Shoe City Council What You Think Just when you thought contemporary journalism had given up the ghost and reporters had lost their sense of civic duty, along comes Muntadar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at president Bush, uttering the best sentence written to date about the U.S. War on Iraq: “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!” The Artful Dodger in Chief ducked both the leather missiles and the message, declaring afterward that he didn’t know what the man’s “beef” was. Let us learn from this. Times are too hard for most of us to afford the luxury of throwing our shoes at Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz or other deserving politicians. But we can join the spirit of Muntadar al-Zaidi even on a shoestring budget. Let’s all mail a pair of shoestrings to Bortz, with a note saying, “Stop attacking poor people!” That way he’ll know what our beef is. The address is Chris Bortz, Cincinnati City Hall, 800 Plum St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Subhead The generous people of Adath Israel threw something else last month: a holiday party for Streetvibes vendors. Members of the synagogue bought gifts for the vendors, who had been invited to ask for what they’d like. Some of the vendors asked for gifts for their children or grandchildren – being able to give presents at Christmas is one of the many pleasures usually out of reach for homeless people. Not content to have presented beautifully wrapped gifts, Adath Israel also served up a feast for the vendors: chili and cornbread and sacks of oranges and a vegetable tray and cookies and pastries. Oh, Yes, We Did Those clear-headed people who staff the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center remind us that, though a long struggle is ahead, 2008 ended with important victories in the movement to secure peace and justice for all people. The center’s newsletter lists many examples of progress, including: Veteran Cold War warriors Sam Nunn, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and George Schultz all have called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. …Veterans groups, churches and peace organizations have collaborated in opposing U.S. military action against Iran. …Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, and Costa Rica signed on to the UN Environmental Program’s Carbon Neutrality network. … The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their detention in federal courts. … As part of the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress significantly increased funding for federal food assistance programs -- approximately $10.3 billion over 10 years. Nearly 20,000 Safeway and Giant workers in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore won raises, affordable healthcare and pension security. In Kentucky, Alabama and Tennessee, 9,000 Kroger employees won similar gains. … Pennsylvania became the first state joining the State and Local Sweatfree Consortium with a resolution that prohibits purchasing from sweatshops and promotes vendors and factories that meet standards for labor and human rights. … The Sierra Club effectively shut down 30 proposed coal-fired power plants by winning a victory before the EPA Environmental Appeals Board that would require all coal-fired power plants to use best available control technology for carbon dioxide. … Congress passed the Second Chance Act in March, which provides $362 million for programs of education and job training for prisoners and their families and offers alternatives to prison for parents convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. Workers at the Cincinnati Rumpke Plant won significant concessions regarding fees and safety conditions. … Ohio voters approved a new payday lending law that cuts the annual percentage rate that lenders can charge to 28 percent. … Over the Rhine Community Housing has received a grant of $987,743 from the Federal Home Loan Bank to transform five buildings on Odeon Street into housing for the chronically homeless. Oh, yeah, and we the people elected a president committed to ending the war in Iraq and building an economy that prospers all Americans. Quite a year, all in all. candlelight vigil and the reading of the names of the deceased, a simple but civilized act. Moving on AND Continuing the Struggle The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, which publishes Streetvibes, is undergoing major staffing changes. Georgine Getty, executive director for the past six years, leaves March 1 to become executive director of the Interfaith Hospitality Network. She’ll succeed Bob Moore, who is retiring. Andy Freeze, who has served as the Homeless Coalition’s education coordinator for the past two years, has moved to Washington, D.C., to become executive director of the North American Street Newspapers Association. The changes on the staff, however, don’t mean the individuals involved are ending their work on behalf of homeless people. In her new position, Getty will work to help families in Greater Cincinnati to secure housing. Freeze, who coordinated the Streetvibes vendor program, will be expanding his portfolio, assisting street newspapers throughout the continent (see his farewell column on page 4). Moore, though beginning retirement, is still on the board of the Homeless Coalition. Getty, whom we’ll pressure for a farewell column for next month’s edition, has been a tireless and articulate voice on behalf of homeless people, championing their cause through years of struggle against mean-spirited legislation by city council, including such infamous lowlights as the sweep of homeless camps, an ordinance requiring panhandlers to have licenses, cuts in human-services spending and efforts to use zoning to force human-services agencies out of Overthe-Rhine. Her work in advocacy will be greatly missed -- especially, we’re sure, by City Councilman Chris Bortz. STREETVIBES January 2009 Streetvibes is a newspaper that provides relevant discussions of homelessness, poverty and other related social justice issues. It is published monthly by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Address: 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: 513.421.7803 x 12 Fax: 513.421.7813 Email: streetvibes2@ yahoo.com Website: www. cincihomeless.org Blog: streetvibes. wordpress.com Streetvibes Staff Editor Gregory Flannery Contributing Writers Margo Pierce, Angela Pancella, Michael Henson, Larry Gross, Alyssa Konermann, Lew Moores, Dede Stoops, Alan Attwood, Brittany Middlebrooks, Terrence Williams, Bill Joiner Photography/Artwork Andrew Anderson, Andrew Freeze, Angela Pancella, Richard Blumberg, DeJong family, Alan Attwood, Berta Lambert, Lynne Ausman, Laura Damasceno Advisory Committee Joe Wessels, Steve Novotni, Andrew Freeze, Georgine Getty, Michael Henson, Stephanie Dunlap, Steve Gibbs The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Programs include Streetvibes, “Voice of the Homeless” Speaker’s Bureau, Cincinnati Urban Experience (CUE), Homeless Curriculum, and Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project. All donations support these programs and are taxdeductible to the full extent of the law. We are members of: �STREETVIBES January 2009 Community News 3 Eight Minutes with a ‘Street Walker’ His services are of the social variety and strictly for the homeless By MarGo Pierce Contributing WritEr W hen Chico walks the streets, he’s looking to connect with the people rarely sought out by others -those who sleep in doorways, root through trash cans and push carts full of stuff. Chico Lockhart goes looking for people who live under bridges and shoot up in alleyways because he wants to help them. As the outreach specialist for Downtown Cincinnati Inc., Lockhart’s office is the streets; and his hours, when there isn’t a special event in the evening, are from 10 a.m.6:30 p.m. weekdays. He’ll work later on event nights so he doesn’t miss the opportunity to meet and get to know people who might need and want assistance. “I walk around the downtown city district and engage individuals that are homeless and panhandling in the street and try to find out what their issues are in order to get them engaged with social services and getting them connected to get into housing,” he says. “It takes persistence. A lot of the people on the streets know who I am now, and they refer friends to me once I help them, so we’ve had plenty of successes.” A homeless couple who couldn’t find a shelter willing to take them in together is now in temporary housing, and one of them is about to begin a new job. That’s success story number one. Then there’s “Alex.” “He’d been homeless for about 23 years because he was a (former) sex offender,” Lockhart says. “He was illiterate and he didn’t know which direction to go. I was able to get him connected to an agency by the name of CILO, which helped him with getting into an apartment. They were paying his rent for three months. He’s been in there for four or five months, so he’s doing well.” CILO, the Center for In- get help from social service agencies, they have to get a homeless certification,” Lockhart explains. “It’s a document certifying that this person is actually homeless. Most individuals have to go over to the Drop Inn Center or some kind of shelter and stay there for numerous days in order to get the homeless certification. But as an outreach worker, I’m actually able to certify people by myself, so a lot of individuals come to me first to get certified. “Say, for instance, someone doesn’t have any medical care or dental care – it’s a way to access those services. They can go to McMicken Dental Clinic and say they have a homeless certification, which is all computerized, and McMicken Dental can pull up their certification and serve them.” What could be perceived “We’re trying to focus on helping individuals as opposed to just locking them up. I have no problems with the police, and we’ve been collaborating on trying to help individuals.” - Chico Lockhart dependent Living Options, is one of the many agencies providing services to Lockhart’s street people. Goodwill Industries, the Salvation Army and the McMicken Dental Clinic are a few of the others. Before the agencies can assist a homeless person, she must be certified. “Any individual that’s looking to get off the streets and as yet another attempt by the business community to get rid of the unsightly homeless population milling around the business district is actually a carefully thought out and well constructed program. Lockhart says people who are worried about someone loitering or being overly aggressive when panhandling will call him before they call Chico Lockhart, the outreach specialist for Downtown Cincinnati Inc.. Photos by Andrew Anderson the police. “We’re trying to focus on helping individuals as opposed to just locking them up,” he says. “I have no problems with the police, and we’ve been collaborating on trying to help individuals. On several occasions police officers have called me as opposed to just taking them to jail to see if we can get them the social services they need.” The process of getting those services begins with identifying individual needs and offering options. “I have to decide what issues they have – substance abuse or mental health,” Lockhart says. “I make sure that I get them connected to the right agency before we place them in housing. That way they have ongoing support. I don’t make the decisions for the individuals. What I like to do is give them options, let them decide which route they want to go, and then that way we can go from there.” While getting to know the individuals who are sometimes lumped into the homogenous grouping of “homeless,” Lockhart has earned their respect. Friends refer friends because he has helped without judging. He’s not on a mission to save their souls; he just wants to help. That honest approach offers a bit of protection in what could be potentially dangerous situations. “When you’re going and engaging people under a bridge or you have a large crowd of homeless individu- als … you’re going to know one of them,” Lockhart says. “A lot of people understand what I do down here, that I’ve helped a lot of their friends, so I really don’t have that problem with feeling fearful. “But you do have to keep your guard up when you go into an alley or engaging people under the influence – whatever the case may be.” Even though he usually walks the streets downtown, Lockhart isn’t going to turn down a request for help. He occasionally gets calls from people in other communities, and during large events he’ll meet up with homeless people visiting from Kentucky. He’ll do what he can. That’s why he shares his phone number with anyone who wants it. “If you encounter people who are homeless or in need of some services … give me a call and I can see how I can point them in the right direction to get them the services they need, as opposed to just calling the police and get them locked up,” he says. “These individuals are going through some issues, and they need someone who is going to engage with them and try to help them in any way they need assistance.” That number? 513-2667135. Use it. Many people work hard to make a difference for the less privileged in Greater Cincinnati. “Eight Minutes” is an effort to learn who they are and what motivates them. �4 Community News Hitting the Streets Moving on with the street-paper movement of each paper are the connection between all of the papers across North America. As I leave Streetvibes, I am confident that the staff will continue to produce a quality newspaper with articles and stories that no one else is covering. Our vendors will be the consistent factor, working tirelessly to earn their living. They will be standing on street corners and intersections with a smile, looking to provide you with the latest news. I have had a wonderful opportunity the last two years to work with a very Andy Freeze (Right), executive director of the North American Street Newspaper talented group of Association, with Raynard Jones (Left), Streetvibes vendor. Photo by Georgine Getty. people and am excited about the By andy Freeze jobs while work to provide pers were started each year. future of StreetContributing WritEr quality publications on home- While many of these papers vibes. It will continue to grow less and other social-justice is- never really took off, some of and will continue to get betI want to take this oppor- sues. The papers ranged from the largest street papers today ter. tunity to thank the Greater weekly publications to four started during the mid-1990s, Thank you to the readers Cincinnati Coalition for the times a year. including L’Itineraire in Mon- for your support, your words Homeless, the staff, StreetThe roots of street newspa- treal and Real Change in Se- of encouragement, your letvibes vendors pers go back attle. ters of disagreement, your Thank you to the and many The position I am taking compliments and most of all to the 19th readers for your supporters century, when is the executive director of your support of our wonderful that I have support, your words the Salvation the North American Street vendors. I look forward to my met along the cre- Newspapers Association. So new job but will always have of encouragement, Army way the past ated the War in some way I will continue to a special place in my heart for your letters of two years. Cry, a weekly work with Streetvibes and the Streetvibes and the Greater It was two disagreement, your p u b l i c a t i o n staff at the Greater Cincinnati Cincinnati Coalition for the compliments and years ago that in Cleveland. Coalition for the Homeless. Homeless. most of all your I started as a M y From 1872 to volunteer and the 1920s the n e w support of our soon there- wonderful vendors. Christian-in- j o b after became fluenced paper w i l l the education was sold on w o r k coordinator for the Homeless street corners to help explain to help Coalition. In that position I to the public how they could papers worked closely with more help the needy. Several other across than 40 Streetvibes vendors papers followed the War Cry, N o r t h each month. I worked with but most of them were pub- Amerthe late Jimmy Heath on put- lished by religious organiza- i c a ting together Streetvibes each tions, and few used homeless g r o w month. vendors to sell the papers. a n d Jimmy taught me everyThe first secular street news- p r o thing from working with the papers did not appear until the d u c e vendors to writing stories to 1970s. Portland, Ore., claims b e t t e r taking photographs to lay- to have had the first modern p r o d ing out the paper. My interest street newspaper, the now de- ucts, as peaked, and I wanted to learn funct Homeless Times, which well as as much as possible. was founded in 1972. The old- to start In the spring of 2007 I est existing street paper today s t r e e t signed up to attend the North is Street Sheet in San Fran- n e w s American Street Newspapers cisco, which came out with its papers Association conference in first issue in December 1989. in othPortland, Ore. The conference The modern street newspa- er parts summer provided a wonderful per movement really took off of the opportunity to network and in the 1990s as public policy c o n t i meet people from across North towards the poor changed and nent. America who were provid- as desktop publishing became T h e Andy Freeze gives a presentation to high school ing homeless and low-income readily available. In the mid- v e n - students about homelessness. Photo courtesy of people with entrepreneurial 1990s, an average of five pa- d o r s GCCH. STREETVIBES January 2009 Poetry The Lump? By Holly Parker As I sat there and listened I tried to figure it out A lump they said it was Had crept into her breast First off what is a breast? I don’t understand That’s my aunt they have in there She don’t have breast She’s my aunt A lump? I get one caught in my throat every time I remember Cancer, I don’t understand They say she did nothing wrong So why did this have to happen to her It got bigger and bigger they say Till one then both her breast they had to take I still don’t understand everyone is all upset I am crying too Because today we laid my aunt to rest As a child I remember her sweet voice Calling me in for a snack She was all flat up top Not like most women Cancer did it they said Why did it have to take my aunt It’s a thief they say She didn’t have the money Or insurance back then She worked hard every day Taking care of my cousin Till Breast Cancer took her slowly away I remember her smile, her strength Never give up she said God has it all in control He knows someone one day Will find strength because of me And you know she was right Because today I write this poem In my aunts honor And all that have won the fight Or in the fight Against Breast Cancer That slips in they call it The lump......... God used them to teach us Get tested Take care of yourself Don’t suffer alone She said it wasn’t a thief It was a test She won For now with our father she is home....... �STREETVIBES January 2009 Community News Annual Dinner, continued from page 1 sleep or you can wake up.” Keynote speaker Peter Block mocked city council for arguing there are too many social-services agencies in Over-the-Rhine. “They say we have too many social-service agencies in Over-the-Rhine,” Block said. “Someone counted 113. I say, ‘Good.’ Every small social-service agency is a center of democracy.” Why, he asked, hasn’t the city regulated the number of shoe stores at shopping malls? “I think we should get together with city council and decide how many Indian restaurants in Clifton is the right amount,” he said. Saluting the agencies that work to help homeless people, Block said the city should encourage, not restrict them. “Everybody that’s vulnerable in this society is my sister or my brother or my parents,” he said. Block, a best-selling author on management, talked about his sister, who has been homeless. He described his wish to help her, to “fix her,” he said. Treatment and medication once stabilized her mental illness, but then she chose to go back to the life she preferred, the one that seemed to need fixing. “She said, ‘I know I’m better. I know I’m healthier, but I’m not myself,’ ” Block said. The lesson, he said, is that people are to be accepted, not engineered into a form that makes others comfortable. “The idea that we can fix people, to me, is part of the problem,” Block said. Even while offering services, society must accentuate individuals’ talents and gifts, rather than their apparent deficiencies, he said. “There’s no evidence that the aggregation of people by their deficiencies does anybody any good,” Block said. “I want to have the conversation of compassion, the conversation of gratitude. I want to start a conversation about people’s gifts and strengths.” To that end, the Homeless Coalition honored the people who are already holding that conversation: * Brandon Nelson, Streetvibes Vendor of the Year; * Mike Rogers, recipient of the Jimmy Render Award; * Individual Service Provider of the Year: Vivian Goodwin, operations coordinator at the YWCA Homeless Women’s Shelter; * Agency Service Provider of Georgine Getty, executive director of the Year: Over-the- the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Rhine Community Homeless. Photo by Andrew Anderson. Housing, whose Store FoodBank, Tom Geiger executive director, Mary Burke, quipped, “Now House, Tender Mercies and that the city knows we’re a other agencies. “I just did a lot of little service provider, we’ll be things,” Karl said. zoned out”; That’s cause for celebra* Buddy Gray Lifetime tion. Achievement Award: Sally Karl, who has spent 20 Photos from the Annual years working at the FreeDinner on page 8. The Longest Night, continued from page 1 Photo by Andrew Anderson. where the city has banned the those who died of exposure. distribution of food to hungry This is for those who died of people. malnutrition and diabetes and This is the shortest day of other chronic untreated illthe year. This is Homeless nesses. This is for those who Memorial Day. were beaten to death or set This is for aflame because This is the Zachary Hubtheir poverty shortest day of bard. This is evoked hatred for Albert Sumand brutality in the year. This merlin. This others. This is is Homeless is for Burnett for those who Memorial Day. North. This is killed themfor Doug Meyselves. This is ers. This is for for those who Don Henry. This is for Al- drank themselves to death. fanso Huff. This is for Earlene This is for those who drugged Moreland. This is for Jesse themselves to eternal rest. Whigham. This is for DemAn advocate for the homeetrius Wood. This is for James less speaks quietly: “This is Broomfield. This is for Ricky the longest night of the year. Malone. This is for George That’s why it’s Homeless MeHawkins. This is for Doug morial Day. Every year we Meyer. This is for Bob Sayed. hope it will be the last one.” This is for Candace Mason. A young woman leads a This is for Floyd. This is for song: “Come and go with me Hammond. This is for Carl to that land, come and go with Vickroy. This is for William. me to that land, come and go This is for Vernon. This is for with me to that land where Barry. I’m bound.” This is for the homeless No one is homeless in the who died unnoticed. This is for grave, where we’re bound. Cleo’s Joke Corner What is Santa Claus’ favorite sandwich? It is peanut butter and jolly. What kind of dog has a lot of ticks but is a good dog? A watchdog. 5 News Briefs Hunger on the Rise The FreeStore FoodBank saw a 20 percent increase in the number of people in Greater Cincinnati seeking emergency food assistance during the 2008 holiday season. During the three days prior to Thanksgiving and Christmas, the FreeStore provided food for 18,363 households, serving 49,614 people. The agency distributed 629,752 pounds of food. Census Bureau is Hiring The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking to fill 1,000 new jobs to conduct the 2010 Census in Greater Cincinnati. The Census is hiring both office staff and field staff. The office positions include office clerk, recruiting assistant, administrative assistant and office operations supervisor. The field positions include enumerator, crew leader, crew leader assistant and field operations supervisor. The pay range for available positions is between $12 and $19 per hour. The local office of the Census Bureau is currently performing placement testing for new positions at the Census office at 801 Linn St. in the West End. To schedule a testing appointment, call 1-866-861-2010 or 513-766-3040. The test takes about 30 minutes. Resisting Capital Punishment One day of requests by the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center in Over-the-Rhine led to 770 cards to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, asking him to stop the execution of Brett Hartmann. The state is scheduled to forcibly poison Hartmann on April 7. The number of death sentences and executions across the United States dropped in 2008, according to CNN. Last year Americans killed 37 prisoners, the lowest amount in 14 years. In addition, the number of new death sentences handed up by courts in the United States totaled 111, the lowest figure since 1976, CNN reported. The state of Ohio killed two prisoners last year. �6 Community News STREETVIBES January 2009 Beaten for Being Homeless Ohio says it’s not a ‘hate crime’ but victims know better 1 Hate crimes are characterBy alyssa konerMann ized as being motivated by Staff WritEr hostility towards a victim on account of membership to a “The homeless living on the group. Based on this definistreet get jumped a lot. People tion, Zack’s attack was a hate won’t help, and hospitals don’t crime: The perpetrators knew help,” says Zack R. nothing of him except his staFor Zack, this statement tus as homeless, and for this, was unfortuthey beat him. “Four people nately not a “I guess the vague notion, jumped out of the people who but rather a weeds and attacked aren’t homefirsthand exless think they me, beat me,” perience. are better than Originally everyone and from Western Kentucky, Zack can do whatever they want,” was kicked out by his mother Zack says. six months ago and came to The homeless, however, are Cincinnati for his fiancée. not protected under Ohio’s Once here, he found himself hate-crimes laws. The state’s without housing and forced only protection from hate to live by the Ohio River with crimes comes from the Eth- Zack, a homeless youth living on the streets, was attacked at his camp on Freeman Avenue. Photo by Alyssa Konermann. his brother. nic Intimidation Law, which Several weeks ago Zack requires harsher sentencing some years we don’t have any There was also one man who people in the media is negawas set on fire while he slept. tive and this is exasperated by was attacked at his camp on for crimes motivated by bias reported at all.” Ohio is ranked the fourth He also died from his injuries. politicians who blame homeFreeman Avenue. against race, color, religion or most dangerous state for the Cleveland had an incident a less people for ‘ruining down“Four people jumped out national origin. homeless. few years ago where young town,’ ” Getty says. “This can of the weeds and attacked me, “Hate crimes “ T h e people were using stun guns lead to a vigilante attitude, esbeat me,” he says. “They all fluctuate in Ohio,” “We’ve had several worst are on homeless people as they pecially in young people, who seemed to be about 16 or 17 says Georgine people who were the years slept.” feel that no one cares about years old. I didn’t know any of Getty, director of beaten and a few we have Perhaps most troubling is their victims and that they are them.” the Greater CinZack’s brother took him to cinnati Coalition who died from their h o m i - that “most of these hate crimes ‘cleaning up’ their city.” “This has been happening Christ Hospital after the at- for the Homeinjuries. There was c i d e s , ” are committed by groups of G e t t y young men—ages 14 to 18,” to a lot of homeless recently,” tack. less. “The Naone man who was says. “In according to Getty. Zack says. “There are about “They X-rayed me, but tional Coalition set on fire while he To 30 or 40 people living down the past counter this, both the didn’t do anything else,” for the Homeless slept. He died from decade in Cincinnati and National by the river — a lot more than Zack says. “They reported it has been tracking his injuries.” Cincinna- Homeless Coalitions work there used to be. It seems reto the police, but the police them for years; ti, we’ve extensively to educate high lated to the economy. The never came in. It has been and some years - Georgine Getty had sever- school students about home- homeless need a whole lot two weeks and I still have six we’re among al people lessness. more help than people are givcracked ribs, a broken jaw, the worst states “Unfortunately, all you ing.” and I haven’t been able to eat in the country, up there with who were beaten and a few a real meal yet.” California and Florida, and who died from their injuries. normally see about homeless Letter to the Editor To the Editor: I have just read the book by Carol Rainey on nuclear sites in our area, and I was glad to see Greg Flannery’s full-page review of it in Streetvibes, a work titled 100 Miles from Home: Nuclear Contamination in the Ohio River Valley. I believe that in time this book will become well known around the country, as we count up once more the terrible costs of war machines and weapon-making, the damage they do to people and the earth. Greg Flannery opened his review with a very compelling sentence: “The Ohio River Valley is a victim of nuclear war -- and the aggressor is our own government.” That is the absolute truth of the matter. As Greg reports, Rainey describes six sites of nuclear weapon making, and readers may find, as I did, that they had never realized before the vast scale of these operations. Whole communities were left devastated, whole villages wiped out, leaving miles and miles of wasteland where nothing will be fully safe again. 100 Miles seems to me a monumental work involving years of study and research. It’s most carefully documented. Yet Rainey has taken what must have been rooms of notecards and photocopies, books and newsletters and newsprint of all kinds and from them extracted a picture of these immense activities that is under 200 pages of clear and logical narration. It is a task that may never need to be repeated. I have written about radiation injury and death in Cincinnati in a book about cancer patients swept into military experiments in our hospital, and I have a good idea of what the workers and residents at Fernald and other plants have suffered. Was it not known in advance, one might ask, that workers crawling through radioactive pipes for repairs would suffer multiple tumors of head and neck? That the air we breathe, the water we drink, might be infected? Cincinnati has been an Atomic City in more ways than one. We must learn from this tragic past. After all, we did not need all the terrible weapons we concocted at Fernald and Portsmouth and the other nuclear sites up and down river from Cincinnati. Rainey reminds us that during the Cold War we came to possess 40 times more weapons of mass destruction than the Soviet Union. The enemy we met was, as Greg Flannery puts it, simply ourselves. Carol Rainey is an author whose poetry and other writings have been much admired here. It feels good to support original works like 100 Miles from Home, which can tell us hard truths about ourselves we might otherwise never know. 100 Miles can be ordered for $19 (shipping included) from Cyndell Press, 1497 Beacon St., Cincinnati, OH 45230. Martha Stephens Martha Stephens is the author of The Treatment: the Story of Those Who Died in the Cincinnati Radiation Tests, Duke University Press 2002. Want more Streetvibes? Check out the new StreetvibeS blog for discussion and coverage of other issues between editions. streetvibes.wordpress.com �STREETVIBES January 2009 Local News 7 Stickin’ it Wit The Most High Homeless by choice, seeking something with God. These tangents sometimes seem to flow toward the same end, that he has been blessed. He was destined for this life. By Paul koPP He is measured in his speech, Contributing WritEr sure of himself and confident aviyD is talking ‘bout yet pious enough that you the most high. If you can tell he is a real genuine. ask him what his life is like, Puffed up in his jacket and he will tell you it’s some real surrounded by his few borlife biblical type shit. What is rowed belongings, which include some books (one of the most high? “The most high is god -- them called, What is a FamJesus or Muhammad. These ily?), a small portable radio are different names for the and a manila notepad with a same thing,” he says, his freshly drawn sketch of some hands perched upon a small sort. A kind of emblem. It is space heater. He is holding a giant pot leaf with a crown in hand-rolled cigarette over the the center. Circling the leaf is flame of a lighter half-intently an inscription that reads “Dawatching its embers begin to viyD, all blessings to the most glow and not giving any indi- high.” He is slow to talk about the cation that he will put it to his outlines of his life. He was mouth. born and raised a foster child in Mar“I dove head-in first into ion, Ind. Growing spirituality. Some would say up, DaviyD was Christianity, some would very aware of his say Catholic, some would status as a foster kid. say Jehovah’s Witness. “I knew I was, Well I just went all out truth. but people in the Homeless, justice.” family would whis-Daviyd per and have little discussions about “Man, I’ve been sitting here it,” he says. DaviyD doesn’t have any the past couple days thinking ‘bout how I ended up on this recollection of the time he spent in an orphanage from couch,” he says. DaviyD is homeless and ages 1 to 4. He has, however, currently spending nights in met a family who said he was the basement of an Over-the- abused at the orphanage and Rhine warehouse that has that they took care of him for been turned into a loft-style a short while when he was a apartment building. His eyes baby. Joining the army at age 17, are big and always seem to be at ease. DaviyD is not used he spent time in Germany and to talking about himself. He then Korea right around the doesn’t necessarily like it, but time Desert Storm was in full is very open and willing to. effect. Upon his return to the In between answering basic states, he was stationed in Calquestions about his life, he ifornia near where his mothconsistently returns to talking ers’ relatives were living. After his discharge he about the most high, his spirituality and his life long walk worked in the restaurant busi- D DaviyD, Photo by Noah Rabinowitz ness but, never being quite satisfied, he drifted around the country from job to job and eventually ended up back in Cincinnati around 1995. “I don’t know why I came back,” he says. “I was just praying and meditating and I felt I needed to be here.” Once he was back in the city DaviyD began hustling, selling large amounts of marijuana while attending the University of Cincinnati for nursing administration. He dropped out shortly after the beginning of his sophomore year. During this period of his life he notes that he momentarily had lost touch with the most high. This developed out of a few disagreements with local churches. If he felt the preacher was incorrect in his sermon, would stand up in the middle of congregation and let him know how he felt. It was soon after these experiences that DaviyD began seriously considering “pulling out of the grid,” as he calls it. He believes the most high was calling him to the streets. This presence of God calling him is the most important part of his life. After completely disassociating himself from mainstream society in 2000, DaviyD became completely conscious that he was going on a journey to prove something. When asked what he was trying to prove, he mentions the most high. He talks about ones coming forward and telling him, “This is who you are; this is the walk you gotta walk”. It was like a sort of prophecy for him. He’s a spiritual cat. Although the circumstances of his life can at times seem a bit muddled, it is easy to tell that these things don’t particularly matter to him. “I dove head-in first into spirituality,” he says. “Some would say Christianity, some would say Catholic, some would say Jehovah’s Witness. Well I just went all out truth. Homeless, justice.” When the word “homeless” comes up in conversation, it becomes clear that DaviyD took it upon himself. He is a smart man; he does not need to be homeless, and he knows this. He has chosen this path and, in his own words, felt God would always provide him with the things he needs to survive. He says he has never stayed in a homeless shelter. A man showed up at the apartment building in late November with orders to clear out all the things from the floor DaviyD is staying on, things that have been left by past tenants, possibly DaviyD’s couch. With his veterans check due to arrive the first of December, he says he might be ready to stop walking the streets everyday. He believes his pay from the government is his admission to enter back into society. “I called up my dude, and he says I can stay with him and his girl up in Corryville,” DaviyD says, pacing slowly back and forth, close to the door. “I just found out he lives with his mom!” It’s true DaviyD might be leaving soon. He speaks so much that he is ready for change. He is trying to find that balance. In the eight years he’s spent on the streets, it’s possible that he wanted to simply lose himself to find out what was really important in life. Only purchase Streetvibes from BADGED vendors. Vendors wear their WHITE badges while they sell the paper. �8 STREETVIBES January 2009 Short Story Hidden Homeless of the Ivory Tower Higher education and lowered expectations By siBonGile sitHe Contributing WritEr DL, but we were pretty into each other. After nearly a week of unusually long hugs, public handholding and sleeping in the same bed, Ye’s father became suspicious. When his friend left, Ye’s father asked him a simple question: Did you have sex with that young man? “I’m not into lying,” Ye says, “especially to my parents.” So he said yes. “And then I realized — at that moment — that my father is determined by God, not by who pays rent,” he says. So, at the age of 17, Ye found himself in search of another place to live. * * * Among the privileged elite of Yale, Ye might seem anomalous. But he is, in fact, part of a small percentage of the stu“There was one rule in my dent body who has flirted with father’s apartment: I could not homelessness — a situation have sex with anyone, at all, perhaps unfathomable to the while I lived with him. Sex majority of anywhere else was fine — as Among the privileged elite of Yale, Ye might the student long as he didn’t seem anomalous. But he is, in fact, part of body. And beknow about it.” a small percentage of the student body who cause of Sitting on his couch in his Yale has flirted with homelessness — a situation the stigma University dorm perhaps unfathomable to the majority of the attached to homelessroom, Qiang student body. ness, few Ye (not his real students name), Class is a fundamentalist Christian,” are eager to share their expeof ’08, continues matter-ofhe recalls five years later. riences, even with their closfactly. Although he tried, nego- est friends. For this article, all “So I came home with this tiation was fruitless. At one the once-homeless students guy from (boarding) school point, Ye suggested flattening — and the friends and family who I had this huge crush on,” the parent-child structure, as affiliated with them — asked he says, “and we spent, like, he contributed to the payment to remain anonymous; their four days having really inof living expenses. His father, names have been changed so tense sexual encounters … in however, had none of it. Ye that their stories can be told. my father’s home. smiles ruefully. Some, though, chose to “We tried to keep it on the “The father-son hierarchy write about them in their ap- plications to Yale. “It does come up,” Dean of Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel says in an e-mail, “but only very rarely.” Like the rest of their classmates, these students deal with the stress of academics, athletics and a perpetually looming p o s t - Ya l e future. But more so than Harkness Tower at Yale University: Academic most, they grandeur can hide homelessness. worry about where they * * * will go when dorms close for the semester. Caleb Lucas, class of ’10, For Ye and other students like him, leaving Yale there- drives a simple four-door sefore means not just finding a dan. It’s cheaper than an apartway home, but finding home ment and easier to move. Two weeks itself. ago he See Yale p. 15 Photographs from “In the Zone: Redrawing Community” Brandon Nelson (right), Streetvibes Vendor of the Year, receiving his Streetvibes jacket from Kenny Havens (left), case worker at the Drop Inn Center. Photo by Andrew Anderson Bren Blaine (left), former executive director of Tender Mercies, presenting Sally Karl (right) with the Buddy Gray Lifetime Achievement Award. Photo by Andrew Anderson. Peter Block, keynote speaker, discussed homelessness and community. Photo by Andrew Anderson. �STREETVIBES January 2009 Poetry/Photographs 9 The Woman at the Well By Mike Henson III. I. She shuffles into the park in her big buckety boots, stumble-stupid, sag-eyed, double-damned drunk. She smells of sweat and cheap wine, a muttering haystack in her big, loose coat. The black flog of a braid falls down her back. The park is full of people who would rather ignore her, Dawn, and the river mists ghost about the park. She feels a hand at her shoulder and a voice at her ear. but she mutters and shuffles The hand shakes her and the voice says, into the unavoidable midst of them “Wake up, babe. You can’t stay here.” and down to the fountain. He probably says more, Mothers steer their children away but his words are buried beneath her curses. and a cop in his cruiser It takes her a moment watches with a long, suspicious eye, to curse some clarity into her mind, but she pays them no nevermind. She wants to hear the waters of the fountain and by then, the man has gone to wait near the fountain. cascade and overlap like a mountain stream The iron-colored light spikes her eyes and when a little wind kicks up, and drives through her skull like an axe and she aches the waters bless her with spray. The sound and the spray ---my God, she aches. She curses and cries An encounter in Florence, Italy: Are you a combat casualty? whose hand has wakened her And so she sings, to this half-blind, brain-boltered muggleton of “No, industrial accident,” he said. Lost both one of the old songs of her people. legs and had severe damage to one arm. a situation, Her throat has gone coarse with alcohol; His shoes were shined. This is his job. but she is awake and cursing into the foggy He doesn’t work Sundays. she croaks like a heron light. That’s his choice. and her voice wobbles up and down the scale. Her head aches, her body aches, are enough to make a person sing. and mutters against the stranger The children stop their play to listen and she does not know this place and the mothers watch sidelong and suspicious, and she does not know this man but the woman croaks and warbles without shame. how she came to be cursing in this bed of needles She shuffles with her song and she does not know Photo by Ben L. Kaufman Berta’s Art Corner with her clothes all odorous of sap and sweat. to a place in the trees at the edge of the park. IV. She sits in the needle bed beneath a great fir and sings as the hour darkens. This man who woke her wears a long black coat The shadows of the children and there is about him grow long in the grass. something terrible and redemptive. II. She fears him, but she wants to know Why did he wake her? The woman cannot now remember What does he want? the shame that brought her to drink. He stands in the mist at the curb of the fountain. She drinks now to relieve the shame of drinking. and it works, so she sings, where the waterfall sound is enough to make a person sing. shameless and free, But without the wine she cannot sing. her heron-croak song She does not know him, in the old words she does not understand. and her head is hammered with hangover When she finds an end to the song, but she thinks she knows how this story will turn out the mothers are gone with their safe children and the cop has taken his suspicious eye to some other corner. Alone, beneath the fir tree, she pulls on the last of her wine. She watches the mists rise from the river and gather at the fountain. She mutters another snatch of song, then stretches out to sleep. -- this whole damn story -and she hopes there will be wine enough to forget it all again. She reaches for the bottle -- the empty, terrible, traitorous bottle -and her hand begins to tremble. “Opera at the Bus Stop” Downtown Cincinnati �10 STREETVIBES January 2009 Column New Year Notes Michael Henson is author of Ransack, A Small Room with Trouble on My Mind, The Tao of Longing and Crow Call. This column is part of a monthly series on poverty and addiction. Hope rises in the face of war, heartbreak, and city council A new year, a new season. A new hope? We do not know yet what promise this new year holds, but we know it closes a bitter, wasteful, ugly chapter in human history. Will this new season bring back a sense of balance, community and compassion to our lives? Will it end a time when brute ignorance and full-face greed held sway? We can only hope. ***** In Cincinnati, where I live, it rains in winter much more than it snows. For a day or more at a time, the rains will range from a drizzle to a downpour, relentless, seemingly endless affairs that chill the body and dampen the soul. In the midst of the first of these winter rains, at 11:30 in the morning, I saw a man laid out across the stoop of a shut-down corner bar, fully enclosed inside his sleeping bag like a caterpillar inside its cocoon. He had a backpack and a pair of satchels beside him. He did not move at all that I could see. He could have been dead for all I could tell. I paused for just a moment -- I had business to tend to in the coffee shop down the street -but I thought about him for the better part of an hour before I came back. By then he was sitting up, looking around him in a groggy, half-dazed manner, pretty My daughter in New York City tells me a story of her friend Hope. Yes, that is her name. Hope goes every day for several years to a little East Village bodega (we would call it a pony keg) for coffee or a bagel. The bodega is run by a man from Korea and, because she comes in nearly every day for several years, Hope befriends him and they talk. The bodega stays busy, so she is not surprised to hear that it is successful, that it provides him a living. But she is surby MiChaEl hEnSon prised to hear about his $7 million house in MonBut we’re here. tauk and the property he owns One more day. One more around town. So maybe he year. makes a little money on real estate as well. It could be. ***** Then, on a particular day, as she talks with her Korean In the calendar of the Chris- friend about this and that, in tian faith, the new year is the walks a desperate-looking season that celebrates the time woman who wants the ownwhen the baby Jesus, accord- er’s attention. The woman lays ing to the custom of his peo- down a crumpled bill, and the ple, was taken to be presented man hands her a small enveat the temple. There he is tak- lope. The woman looks in the en as a sign and a wonder, the envelope and says, “No, not being who embodies the hope this one, the other one.” So the of a people. man hands her another and the I would like to think that ev- woman is satisfied. Then she ery child is a sign and a won- asks for a little glass pipe with der. I would like to think that a rose in it. “I’ll get you for it later,” she every being embodies some measure of hope. tells him, and she leaves. Hope knows by now this is ***** not a coffee and a bagel sort of transaction. She asks the man, much as the rest of us do when we first wake up. I think of him now as an emblem -- a sign that tells me something about hope. His bed is hard, but he’s alive. He sleeps a hard sleep, but he rises again. The rest of us have bigger cocoons, but we’re still vulnerable to the storms of life. And yet we rise; we look about us. We’re groggy and unsure of what we’re seeing, where we are, or why we’re here. ammered H and say, “You are a baby” and keep selling whatever ugly thing they are selling. Hope is not an easy thing. The story of this season is not an easy story. We like to celebrate around it, but at its core, the story of that baby is a story of exile, hardship, massacre of the innocents, poverty -- the whole heartbreak. And if conditions today are any sign, ***** easy stories will still be hard to come by. Of the children A baby. born this season, far too many A sign and a wonder. will be born to the chatter of Anew guns, far year and Of the children born this too many a new under a season, far too many will c h e m i c a l hope. be born to the chatter of B u t haze, far hope has guns, far too many under too many a lot of to will a chemical haze, far too see a catching never many to will never see a up to school, too school, too many will be do. The many will given a weapon before be given factories are they are given a book, too a weapon before they shutting many, far too many will down. are given a never sing. T h e book, too houses many, far are foreclosing. The savings too many will never sing. we counted on are evaporatCan we turn such a situaing. The wars drag on. And tion around? I hope we can. If city council wants to close the we cannot hope we can, then homeless shelters. When that what hope is there? child was brought to the temBut hope always has to walk ple, he was lifted up and seen a stony path. Hope always as a sign and a wonder, a new has the wind against it. And hope for those who were bur- yet hope is like my man on dened and oppressed. People the stoop. It wakes up, looks of hope look around and think: around, and gets up. It pulls its This has to change. This can second-hand coat tighter, and change. People who have cast goes on. And on. aside hope look at the hopeful “What did you just sell that woman?” He ignores her at first, but she keeps asking. So he tells her. “Crack.” “How could you sell that woman crack?” He rings up her bagel and her coffee and shuts his tiller. “You,” he says, “are a baby.” Book Review A Symphony of Memes ‘The Soloist’ wants us to believe in spite of it all By david HeitField Contributing WritEr One thought seared in my brain from the prologue of this book, borne from a series of columns written by Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, when the author beckoned, “I’ll be back” to the homeless man he’d just met, foreshadowing the Hollywood story treatment to come: What in the hell happened to this country? The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Mu- sic is a good story, and it’s ties get involved, and Lopez told with the yeoman-like ef- at least comes out as a much ficiency you would expect of richer man for having known a professional journalist, with Ayers. The movie, starring the proper tugs of the heart Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie strings at the right “human in- Foxx, was due to come out in November, but has since been terest” moments. Nathaniel Anthony Ayers pushed forward several times to what is currentis a homeless schizophrenic, How could we, ly an April 2009 originally from as a society, al- release. Given the subCleveland, who low a man with ject of this story was a classmate such commer- – homeless man of cellist Yo-Yo Ma at Juilliard. cial potential to with mental illness Lopez “dissimply whither treated indifferentcovers” him in away? Attention ly (and worse) by society – I cannot Skid Row in must be paid. help but think of L.A., writes a the popular work few columns, and his readers respond with that brought light to the “proban outpouring of meaning- lem” of the mentally ill when less gestures, such as donat- I was younger, which also ing old musical instruments. eventually got a Hollywood Not everything goes well, but treatment: Ken Kesey’s One Lopez tries hard, some good Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It wouldn’t be fair to comtimes are had, some celebri- pare the works directly, of course, but my interest is one of memes, since The Soloist is nothing if not a contemporary American meme-fest (heck, you have “dreams,” “friendship,” “redemption” and “music,” and that’s just in the subtitle). R.P. McMurphy was not mentally ill – in that generation, we apparently locked up too many people as mentally ill, rather than dumped them in the street as incurably uninsurable – but his message couldn’t have been more clear: You have worth and dignity as a human life, as a sentient being, and don’t let the Nurse Ratcheds of the world take it away from you. As a protagonist, McMurphy could hardly have been less sympathetic. Convicted of statutory rape, there was nothing to admire about the man – except as a catalyst to return a little dignity to the voluntary inmates of the asylum. Ignore the political ties to McCarthyism, and you still have what used to be the most powerful American meme of all: You have value and worth as an individual, no matter how messed up, nonconformist or outside the mainstream you might be perceived to be. Jump ahead a generation or two, and The Soloist presents quite a different story: Here’s an exceptional man – “He reminds me a little of Miles Davis,” Lopez says at the beginning, a rather odd thing to say about a homeless man playing a violin. He wonders “how safe it can be for a man trying to reconnect with Tchaikovsky as drug dealers, prostitutes and hustlers work streets See Soloist, p. 12 �STREETVIBES January 2009 Local News 11 Surviving the Hurt in the Heart Depression doesn’t have to be deadly um prescribed for his tinnitus. Schulte has told me I can ask him anything. “People need to learn about It’s a day of heavy rain this,” he says. “It doesn’t broken by flashes of bright bother me. That’s why I speak, sun cutting through violent that’s why I share my story clouds, a day to mirror the life openly.” that Skip Schulte has come to So I ask him: How many tell me about when he blows did you take? into the Streetvibes office red“I took 50,” he says matter- cheeked and smiling. of-factly. The first In the small “I was scared that I silence that thing he does it is hand me would die,” he says. follows, two small “I didn’t really want strikes me pieces of paagain how deto die. I wanted to be per. One is scribing the out of pain.” titled, “Falandscape of depression is mous Persons Who Have Committed Sui- like pointing out landmarks cide” (among them: Sigmund on a topographical map. You Freud, Socrates, Virginia can outline the general lay of Woolf, John Belushi, Kurt Co- the land, but you can’t ever bain). The other small piece of really convey what it’s like to paper is titled, “Have Had De- navigate from the ground. A pression.” Abraham Lincoln man can tell a reporter he once took 50 pills, but he can’t ever tops that list. The life Schulte has really really describe the wordless come to tell me about, though, morass that was a depression so deep it made him want to is his own. At age 31 Schulte fell into die. After swallowing the pills, his first diagnosed bout of major clinical depression and Schulte says he immediately grew so scared that he called tried to commit suicide. “Some people are offended his parents, who took him to by the word ‘commit’ sui- have his stomach pumped. What were you scared of? I cide,” Schulte pauses to say, “because suicide is not a crime ask him. “I was scared that I would of any type. They prefer the die,” he says. “I didn’t really phrase “complete suicide.” want to die. I wanted to be out ‘Out of pain’ of pain.” This time Schulte spent a litIn 1982 Schulte was a fi- tle more than a month in inpanance instructor at Miami tient psychiatric care. Within University. Within three days days of this release, someone over Christmas break, his two had totaled his parked car. best friends moved away and “I can laugh about this now, his girlfriend left him. Schulte but it wasn’t too funny then,” started traveling from Oxford he says. “One of the things to Cincinnati to see a psychol- with depression, it’s hard to ogist. make decisions, and here I “One day I went in to see was trying to decide what kind him and said, ‘I am thinking of car to get and how to spend about closing my eyes on U.S. seven or eight thousand dol27 one of these weeks when I lars.” come down to see you.’” He says that without exagSchulte stayed four or five geration he went to every Hondays in the inpatient psychi- da, Toyota and Datsun dealeratric unit of Good Samaritan ship in the Greater Cincinnati Hospital. On day two after his area two or three times. release, he overdosed on Vali“One Saturday morning I By stePHanie dunlaP Contributing WritEr Tues and Thurs Buffet($7.00)-11AM-2PM Wed-Thur-Fri-Sat 9PM-3AM got angry about something – Sigmund Freud called depression ‘anger turned inward’ – and I said to myself, ‘Skip, you are gong to buy a Toyota today at Howard Adams Toyota on Fifth Street in downtown Covington.’ ” And he did just that. Two weeks later he enrolled in a psychology class. He vividly recalls sitting in that class and suddenly feeling “100 percent better.” Schulte went on to earn his master’s degree in mental health counseling from Wright State University. He started Wright State’s doctorate of psychology program, but after three quarters he relapsed into depression, dropped out and never returned. He’s had seven relapses into clinical depression in the 26 years since that first bout. Though he says some of them have been more difficult, he has never again tried to take his life. He knows now how to treat his depression. He’s taken 10 different kinds of anti-depresSkip Schulte. Photo by Andrew Anderson. sants. He participates in and leads depression and suicide support groups, walks five to real talent lies in helping pro- But people just don’t know how to address depression. 10 miles a day and works on fessions.” Often family and friends developing his spirituality. Learning QPR either don’t know the char“I personally strongly beacteristics of depression or lieve in the power of prayer,” Though Schulte is a fount other mental illnesses, or they he says. “I believe everybody of statistics, there are far few- don’t take them seriously. has a spiritual side” -- whether er statistics on suicide among They think someone threatenor not someone believes in a ing suicide is joking around or the homeless. higher being. trying to get attention. The telling first result in my As a single, older male who “They are trying to get athighly scientific Google search has already attempted suicide is an article titled, “Where is tention, they’re crying out for once, Schulte says he’s in the very highest risk classifica- the Research on Homeless help!” Schulte says. He says other signs of suition. The chances of his kill- Persons and Suicide?” cide potentiality are giving Schulte believes it’s because ing himself are 38 times that the homeless are not the most away possessions, drawing up of the general population. a will and otherwise getting “I don’t lose any sleep over preferred or studied people. “A lot of people couldn’t affairs in order, risk-taking it,” he says. “But I know it, care if the homeless people behavior and obsession with I’m cognizant.” Among other organizations, kill themselves, which is so death. His preferred suicide preSchulte volunteers with the sorry and sad,” he says. Worldwide there are a milvention technique is the simPartnership for Mental Health and speaks about suicide pre- lion suicides per year and 100 ple “QPR”: Question, pervention to any group that will million people are affected by suade, refer. Ask direct questions, such have him. It gives him pur- depression. There are three suicides for every two homi- as, ‘Are you suicidal?’ Dialing pose. 211 accesses a local United “I think I’m probably mis- cides. And yet, Schulte points out, Way hotline to find help. placed,” he says. “I think my it’s easier to find a transgender Schulte doesn’t think any1128 Walnut St support group than a depres- one can save anyone else, sion support group. Not that however. Pizza by the Slice “I think you can help people there’s anything wrong with the former, he’s quick to add. save themselves,” he says. Are you interested in helping with Streetvibes? Are you a writer, poet, artist or photographer? If so, contact Greg Flannery at 513.421.7803 x 12 or email streetvibes2@yahoo.com �12 STREETVIBES January 2009 Local News ‘Soloist,’ continued from page 10 teeming with the lame and the afflicted.” Reminds me of the Beatitudes, when Jesus told people they’d need to kick the lame and afflicted out of their way if they wanted to enter the kingdom. Davis, Ma, Juilliard, “I’ll be back” … How could we, as a society, allow a man with such commercial potential to simply whither away? Attention must be paid. Where Kesey’s book made one uncomfortable – you suspect you’re not really all that different from those in the asylum – The Soloist is earnest in its attempt to reaffirm some American memes that seem in danger under the current economic uncertainties: The cream always rises to the top (unless that evil mental illness gets in the way; but even then, if you don’t give up, you’ll soon be “discovered” as special); most homeless people are that way because they like it that way (read the reviews on Amazon and you’ll be sight, in which Jill Bolte Tayamazed at how some people lor, a neuroanatomist, recounts found this message “reassur- her own stroke, in which she ing”); friendship is far better witnessed the difference befor people than health insur- tween the evil left-side, ratioance; and nal part of the music is more brain, and the ‘The Soloist’ is healing than “nirvana” of earnest in its medicine. the intuitive attempt to reaffirm right It seems to side. some American me that the Guess which memes that seem “self-help” side she liked genre, after a in danger under the better? couple of deIt’s as if current economic cades of milwe’re still uncertainties. lions of books paying for our with pretty postmodern much zero drift. The subhelp to anyone, is gradually jective has not merely turned being displaced by an “inspi- on itself; it’s transformed itrational” genre, of which this self from leftist polemics to book is one. Other recent right-wing rationalizations. best-sellers this year include So, if postmodernism says The Last Lecture by Randy there is no objective truth, any Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon explanation for life is just as professor who, before he died, good as the one science prodelivered a sentimental but vides – hence, we have that rather vapid lecture that was awful “creationist museum” a viral video before it became just across the river, working a book; and My Stroke of In- “entertainment” deals with our zoo. Likewise, any subjective experience can and should be used to make pronouncements about an objective truth that just doesn’t exist. In our current culture, with the reality television shows, the inspirational reading lists and millions of blogs that only other bloggers read, the subjective is eating itself alive. I think this is exactly what the head of the Nobel awards committee, Horace Engdahl, meant when he said American writing had become “too isolated, too insular … too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture.” I don’t mean to fault any of these authors – you can read Amazon reviews to see how thousands of readers have been “inspired” by these titles. I just find them cynical and nihilistic, in much the same way I find the current political climate cynical and nihilistic (like, say, when the best representative we have for the “common man” is Joe the Plumber, who is neither Joe nor a plumber). We can’t solve problems such as mental illness, homelessness, cancer, strokes, etc., so it’s best if you just smile and make the most of it, because a positive attitude means everything. And if you see Miles Davis hanging out next to a Dumpster, fix him up with some lessons from the Los Angeles Symphony and contact your agent immediately. Jamie Foxx needs another shot at an Oscar. And, hey, if we bring some awareness to the plight of the homeless – or, specifically, the “good” homeless people who look or act like a celebrity – that’s just gravy. The Soloist is the 2009 selection for “On the Same Page Cincinnati,” the communitywide reading program of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. To participate, visit www.CincinnatiLibrary.org/samepage/. Proving Cincy Cares Pilot project is first step in new health-care initiative 1 By lew Moores Contributing WritEr A tattoo parlor in Clifton was the first to apply. Day care centers, a few non-profit organizations, barber shops, restaurants and other small companies soon followed. Now, just a month after the process began for signing up, 92 employers representing 1,226 employees and families have applied to be included in the city of Cincinnati’s CincyCare program, a pilot health care project intended to help uninsured employees who work for small companies in the city. “I was surprised by the response,” says Dan Gahl, a Cincinnati Health Department official who will be project coordinator for the program. “I hope it highlights a diamond in the rough.” The $1.4 million program – a partnership among the city, health department and the private sector – will offer primary care, health evaluations and limited prescription benefits to employees of Cincinnati companies who are ineligible for federal health care benefits. The employees will otherwise have to meet federal income guidelines. A medical home The program was about two years in the making, according to Gahl and Hirsh Cohen, an assistant city health commissioner. The idea was born when the city’s health department was going through budget discussions with the city and there was talk of possibly closing one of the department’s seven health centers, which handle about 135,000 visits each year. Councilmember John Cranley (who did not respond to phone calls and e-mails for comment) and others stopped that closing from happening, say Gahl and Cohen. Cranley thought the city health centers a great asset and began to think of a way to get more to use them. “He thought, ‘Why don’t we leverage that asset to do a program to get employed but uninsured workers in the city into a program that would use the health centers?’ ” Gahl says. City council set up an advisory committee to look into the possibility. They came up with a two-year pilot project. Funding was provided by the city through a federal block grant of about $600,000,with another $100,000 provided by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati for the first year and again in the second year. The program is expected to begin March 1. Employ- ers who have applied to be The rationale for the proincluded generally include gram is pretty straightforward those who employ anywhere – encourage businesses to from two to 20, with most re- remain in the city and attract serving slots for three to six other businesses to the city. employees. It’s a market most “What I’ve heard from some health insurers don’t go after, employers is that it gives them says Gahl, because there’s “no an advantage among the comeconomy of scale.” petition in the suburbs for emThe process would involve ployees,” Gahl says. “They’re an employee or family mem- looking at the health of their ber filling out a medical his- employees. That’s a bigger tory and having blood drawn deal than I ever thought it for analysis. would be.” “So right off the bat we It would mean a healthy hope to identify people who work force is a productive have no idea they have high work force, with less absencholesterol, no idea they have teeism. high glucose,” Gahl says. “A lot of people who don’t Patients would choose a city have health care end up in an health emerc e n t e r, gency “Everything they need will which be at that home for primary r o o m , ” would G a h l and preventive care. That then bewill be provided at a $10 co- s a y s . c o m e “ T h e payment. There will be no the pacost of pre-existing exclusions.” t i e n t ’s doing “medithis care cal home.” in an ER is about 10 times the “With that, primary care cost of doing it in a clinic. It will intervene and stop it from will provide a more cost-efbecoming a major and ex- fective program.” pensive problem,” Gahl says. “We know there’s an unmet “Everything they need will be need of uninsured people, and at that home for primary and we want to get them into some preventive care. That will be sort of regular care model to provided at a $10 co-payment. show that getting that care is There will be no pre-existing actually going to improve their exclusions.” health over the two years,” Cohen says. Healthy for business A handful of cities that are trying a similar program, both say. Because the program is a pilot project, it will be closely monitored over the two years. “We’re going to watch what kind of people, what kinds of employers sign up,” Cohen says. “We’ll be measuring the utilizations and outcomes of this data to be in the forefront of creating maybe a new approach of going forward, maybe with different funding or subsidies. We want to have enough data to go out on the streets and expand this to a broader population -- what it costs and how it should be funded.” What they’ll be looking at, basically, after two years is the “wellness of the individuals,” Cohen says. The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama is also encouraging. “I’m not expecting a total panacea,” Cohen says. “It will be incremental. I think we’ll see counties and cities think strategically about the value of health care in our own neighborhoods and be creative about how they fund things.” “My opinion is there’s going to be federal funding for health care,” Gahl says. “It’s going to be trickled down. I think Cincinnati has an unbelievable architecture to compete for those funds. I hope to be able to say that this program is evidence that we deserve that funding.” Read the Streetvibes blog for stories between issues at streetvibes.wordpress.com �STREETVIBES January 2009 Interview 13 A Chef for the People Once homeless, Michelle Ross cooks for those who still are By anGela Pancella Contributing WritEr I n the front of the serving line at Our Daily Bread is a box where guests can put “compliments to the chef.” On a recent day the box had comments such as, “I like the hamburger, I like the pasta, I like the salad” and “Doing a good job, Chef!!” with a smiley face drawn on the exclamation points. Michelle Ross started as assistant chef in October 2007 before becoming Our Daily Bread’s chef in March 2008. How did you get started at Our Daily Bread? Actually, I was doing community service. I came down here to volunteer. I liked it, and then Kathy (Ray, kitchen manager) called me one day and asked me if I wanted to work here. I was working at 2020 at the time — Juvenile (the Youth Center). I really wanted to work here anyway in the first place but they weren’t hiring at the time. So then I said, “Sure.” What was it you liked about it? I like to cook, number one. I like the atmosphere. I can relate to all the people here because I’ve been where they’ve been at in my life. What surprised you about the job? It just was overwhelming, like, oh, God, I was scared. The quantity of people and the quantity of food. But then it just became (snaps fingers) like that, I can just do it. I love it down here. I loved serving. What makes you happiest? When the food comes out good and everybody likes it. If I can talk to somebody and help them and tell my story, that really is cool. Like, there was a couple in here, they needed help with shoes and coats and stuff, so I hooked them up in the back room. They was real grateful. That made me feel good. I got messed up in drugs and alcohol real bad in ’95. I was homeless myself, living in the woods, here and there, wherever. I went through a treatment center through the First Step Home program. I highly Michelle Ross and Eric at Our Daily Bread. Photo courtesy of Our Daily Bread. recommend that program. I meal, you’ve got a place to Have you gotten to know went in there in June of ’96 want to pass that on? Oh, yeah. And I learned a come and get warm for a couthe guests? and graduated in November Yeah, I try to come out evof ’97. I’m doing good, and lot through that program; that ple hours.” Keep your gratitude — I’m still grateful for program was wonderful. And ery day and say, “Hi, how you I like working here because somebody took the time to hot water and a hot meal. doin’?” and stuff like that. I see every day what I don’t How do you process it? And I’ve been close with a lot want to be like anymore, and help me. So, yeah, every day Most of the time I try to I get to give back here. That’s of volunteers. there’s hope for those people, think back to where I was. cool, ’cause I come to work That makes it tough when too. I talk to some people I wasn’t grateful back then, going, “God, they go away. about my story. “I got messed what can I do when I was all caught up in Yeah. It kinda hurts your If you have the today for someusing and stuff, I wasn’t very heart. up in drugs and willingness to else?” grateful. I thought I was, but What would you like to see help yourself, alcohol real bad body You know what apparently I wasn’t. I learned in the future? then you and in ’95. I was I just would like to hopefulGod can do it to- homeless myself, I mean? That’s a lot of things about myself how I feel—I through treatment. I was very ly keep cooking good meals gether. I believe living in the try to feel that selfish. But I just kinda think and doing the best job I can that with all my woods, here and way. Some days back to where I was, and I and serve the people. I’d just heart. That you have to want it. there, wherever.” are better than just let everybody be where like to see peace and everyothers, but, you they’re at right now, you body getting along. I’d like to - Michelle Ross Nobody can do know, I’m hu- know? Or I’ll go talk to (So- see people get out and try to it for you. cial Worker) Miss Joyce Cue help themselves, better themman. How did you What’s the toughest part of if I get upset. But for the most selves. get involved with First Step part, it’s great. I love working the job? Our Daily Bread is an Home? I don’t really consider anyhere, I mean, I have my days, (Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine Actually, my friends told thing to be too tough — just but for the most part I love ’it Ohio) ministry of Christian me about it; they were in AA when people complain and cause I do get to see where hospitality serving more than at the time. You feel like, because your stuff, ’cause I’m thinking, I’ve been every day, which is 500 meals daily at 1730 Race St. friends helped you out, you “Well, you’re getting a free really helpful to me. When Humanitarianism Goes Bad City Council’s sneak attack on the Drop Inn Center By toM dutton, Marcia enGland, kate Fadick, cHris wilkey, and BarBara wolF Contributing WritErS B eware the new language of concern — the new humanitarianism — regarding homelessness in Cincinnati. In October 2008 Cincinnati City Council passed an emergency ordinance that, while probably not technically in violation of the state’s Sunshine Law, sure is sketchy in that it was not formally on the agenda and never received public commentary. Placed in front of council members on the day of its passing, the ordinance sailed through with barely a hiccup. Regardless of its legal status, the ordinance clearly articulates council’s intention: “Directing the Cincinnati/ Hamilton County Continuum of Care for the Homeless to immediately address the inadequacies of the current provision of services for single homeless individuals in the City of Cincinnati and to put into place a comprehensive plan to implement such services. The plan must ensure that, as a critical segment of the homeless community, single homeless men and women will have access to safe, appropriate shelter facilities and that such facilities will pro- vide comprehensive services necessary of homeless individuals to obtain and maintain housing. “Furthermore, council directs that the comprehensive plan guarantee the highest standards of care for the homeless so they can successfully move from ‘Homeless to Homes.’ In addition, all plan recommendations must insure that any facilities are ‘Good Neighbors’ and do not result in any behavior or actions that are disruptive to businesses and residents. Recommendations for shelter facilities and service models must be based on nationally recognized bestpractice methods within the context of the Continuum of Care for the Homeless and shall include case management services, medical services, mental health services, and recovery services. “Furthermore, it is the intent of the mayor and the Cincinnati City Council that the recommended best practices model will guide city of Cincinnati resource allocations for services to single homeless men and women in the future. Any and all providers of these services will be selected through an objective, competitive process consistent with HUD guidelines that homeless services planning and implementation are coordinated, inclusive and outcome-oriented. The Continuum of Care is urged to submit its recommendations to the mayor and Cincinnati city Council no later than March 31, 2009. “Furthermore, it is the intention of the mayor and the city council to empower the Continuum of Care to respond to this mandate by creating a process that in inclusive of all of the key stakeholders in the community, including but not limited to homeless providers, the business community, government representatives, funding entities and regional/national experts. Failure to present a comprehensive completed plan to council by the deadline will lead to di- See Council, p. 14 �14 Editorial STREETVIBES January 2009 Council, continued from page 13 rect intervention by council to Fourth, the ordinance has a address the homeless system rushed time schedule. Few in in a different manner.” homeless care feel comfortIf you pardon the not-so- able that a “comprehensive veiled threat of the last sen- completed plan” can actually tence, the ordinance might be accomplished by March seem reasonable at first 2009. This raises concerns glance. Isn’t it a good idea to about the validity of the proexamine shelter facilities and cess itself. City council’s statto ascertain the best practices ed intent to implement its own of homeless care from around plan “in a different manner” the nation? suggests that a script is alIt would seem so, but a clos- ready written and that failure er reading of the ordinance re- of the process to actually deveals the emperor’s clothes of liver a “comprehensive plan” this new humanitarianism. is the desired outcome. First, the ordinance is speFifth, the ordinance is miscious. Without offering evi- guided. Rather than recogdence to support its claims, nizing homeless facilities as the ordinance’s first sentence places of compassion because sets a tone of crisis in home- they deal with the least fortuless care that needs address- nate of our neighbors and thus ing “immediately.” Shelters deserve our respect, the ordiare thereby positioned as nance has the temerity to have places of deficiency. Rather facilities prove their status as than trying to “good neighThis “good nurture a sobors.” At this cial discourse neighbor” policy is historical mothat can al- where the ordinance ment, when low citizens criminal acts reveals its true of violence to learn from and appreci- intentions, because on homeless ate otherness the elephant in the i n d i v i d u a l s — to come to are increasing room here is the see the homeand when citDrop Inn Center ies are in efless for their gifts — the fect criminalordinance reinforces the dom- izing the homeless by passing inant, pernicious discourse draconian legislation and inthat sees homeless people as curring more police sweeps deficits, as lower-than-life in- (Washington Park), the ordividuals needing to be fixed, dinance, in the worst of the disciplined or regulated. discredited blame-the-victim Second, the ordinance is tradition, faults shelters imspurious in that its pitch for plicitly as bad neighbors from comprehensiveness is be- the start and relieves other lied by its narrow focus. At a neighbors of their responsibiltime when the fastest growing ity to civil community relasegment of the homeless are tions. This “good neighbor” polfamilies with children — 25 percent of the total homeless icy is where the ordinance population are children, and reveals its true intentions, be45 percent of this number are cause the elephant in the room 5 or younger — the targets of here is the Drop Inn Center the ordinance are single men — the second largest home(49 percent of the total) and less shelter in the state and single women (16 percent). home to mostly single men Third, the ordinance is mis- and women. Many do not see directed. Rather than address room for a homeless shelter the political-economic forces in a neighborhood experiencthat actually create homeless- ing renewed development in ness — lack of affordable the so-called Gateway I, II, III housing, joblessness, poverty, and IV; a redesigned Washingless public assistance, lack ton Park; a new SCPA — all of child support, massive in- at a time when city and corequality — the ordinance ig- porate figureheads chime for nores those forces and shifts economic mix. attention to homeless proNo, all this mobilization of viders as if they are the only people’s time and resources to problem in this matrix. look at “best practices” with a Sam Burton, longtime volunteer at the Drop Inn Center. Photo by Andrew Anderson “clean slate” is merely cover Rhine, as if, yet again, they proffer is best for the poor. for city council’s real inten- are the problem. Styling themselves as the new tion: to displace the Drop Inn Attacking social services humanitarians, the highbred Center from Over-the-Rhine. is nothing new in U.S. cit- rhetoric of compassion only This should come as no sur- ies and continues to grow in masks the lowbrow project of prise. City and corporate pow- popularity. Zoning ordinances urban colonialism. Be not surers-that-be have been plotting targeting social services have prised about the new language the Drop Inn Center’s future been put in place over the past of concern that will take form behind closed doors for some several years in states such as and rain down over Cincintime now. But even when they Washington, Maryland, Flor- nati. It will go something like have been out in the open, ida, Texas and Connecticut. this: their track record has mostly Some have been challenged The way we care about the amplified Cincinnati’s unre- by the American Civil Liber- homeless, both as a society lenting war on the poor. For ties Union on the basis that and in our Queen City, is unexample, Cincinnati does not they violate the Constitution. acceptable. The homeless are have just one anti-panhan- In a landmark 1985 case, the not getting the services they dling ordinance, but two. In U.S. Supreme Court ruled that need. The homeless need supfall 2001 city council passed a Cleburne, Texas, ordinance port systems. And this lack of the “Impaction Ordinance” to similar to that put forth by support is affecting the neighrestrict public monies in af- Cincinnati City Council was borhood negatively—the confordable housing development overturned because it fur- ditions in Washington Park, in poverty-stricken communi- thered no government interest for example, have to change. ties. The ordinance mistakes other than the removal of so- We are behind the times. We symptoms for causes by im- cial “pariahs” due to commu- need to put resources behind pugning low-income housing nity prejudices. the facilities. We need to build as the cause of poverty rather It’s all just a little bit of a new state of the art facility. than job We are not l o s s , fooled by this A compassionate Cincinnati would work to governdiscourse — develop relationships and connectedness mental which is just among those who are homeless and their rollbacks, code to disneighbors, not simply move the homeless out declining place the Drop of sight. wages, Inn Center and patterns take its land. of racial discrimination and history repeating, as ShirA humanitarianism worthy geographic segregation and ley Bassey would say. In the of its name argues for a difpoor education; and the list 1960s “Urban Renewal” came ferent societal vision — for a could go on. And then this to be called “Negro Removal,” different political imaginary: past June, in a resolution (No. precisely because it displaced One that stands for eradicating 4-2008) that seems to take its blacks from their neighbor- homelessness altogether, not cue from the Housing Impac- hoods across the country. See- just building another shelter; tion’s attempt to restrict af- ing that the script has already and one that stands to counter fordable housing, city council been written, we can now call economic inequality, not just this time is trying to reduce council’s pattern of ordinanc- settle for economic mix. the concentration of social es as well as its most recent Let us work toward a society service agencies in Over-the- “good neighbor” policy pre- that is empathic and compascisely for what they are trying sionate, one that adds services to do, “Homeless Removal.” and adds housing, the sum of As the project for Homeless which the Drop Inn Center is Removal gains steam, some, already doing. A compassionof course, will be rank and ate Cincinnati would work callous to the poor. Good rid- to develop relationships and dance, they will say. But the connectedness among those more sophisticated will veil who are homeless and their their intent in a faux generos- neighbors, not simply move ity, believing that what they the homeless out of sight. If you like what you read, but don’t live in the Cincinnati area, you can subscribe to Streetvibes. Call us at 513-421-7803 x 12 to learn more about subscribing to Streetvibes. �STREETVIBES January 2009 Short Story 15 Yale, continued from page 8 drove it halfway across the country — 16 hours — to see his little brother Micah. But Lucas never goes home to Michigan for more than a week during breaks; it’s just too much trouble, he says. When he is back, he usually crashes at his best friend’s apartment. “It’s hard,” he admits, referring to his relationship with his parents. “I want to accept their apology. I want to be OK with them.” Like Ye, Lucas was also 17 when he left his house with then-12-year-old Micah in tow. He had been living in Detroit — ranked the most dangerous city in the United States in 2007 by the FBI’s crime statistics report — since he was 10 and, he explains, “It got to the point where it just wasn’t safe to be in my household.” Strangers came in and out of their house at all hours due to his parents’ lax security; and on more than one occasion he was robbed in his own bedroom. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to me when I went to sleep,” Lucas says. “And I damn sure didn’t want to have to sleep outside of my little brother’s room every night.” At first, being on their own wasn’t that bad, Lucas says. Two of the day’s meals were provided at school, and they stayed with a family already housing one of Lucas’ friends, who was in a similar situation. Though he knew he needed to move, he still felt conflicted. “I was turning my back on my family, on my neighborhood,” he says, “and that’s one thing you don’t do. No matter what.” Soon after they realized their sons were not returning, Lucas’ parents started calling. They threatened to call the police if Lucas didn’t immediately bring his brother home. Because Lucas was still a minor, he couldn’t fight his parents for legal custody of Micah. But he held his ground. After some negotiation, he agreed to let Micah stay with his older sister, who was also living in Detroit. “I would never have done it if (Micah) hadn’t said, ‘I’m going to be safe. You take care of yourself,’ ” Lucas says. * * * As a teenager, Miles Marks, class of ’10, never got an allowance. He laughs, remembering his childhood, as he sits over breakfast. “I used to sell tea bags and tell people it was reefer,” he says. He’s still chuckling as he recalls growing up in Chicago and “doing a Cheering crowds at Yale don’t know that even Ivy League athletes have experienced homelessness. lot of things I probably Marks says when asked about gambling, Ye says, declining shouldn’t * * * how much money he had to elaborate further. Shortly have been doing at that age.” When Marks was 8, his par- when he left. “If I remember after Brad moved in, Huan “I mean, it’s scary to wake ents sent him and his 5-year- correctly, I had about $3 worth went to live with friends, and up and find bums outside your old sister to live separately of quarters in my coat pocket. Ye moved in with his father. car, but it seems like people I had about 20 singles, two Ye was never formally with their maternal and patertry to glamorize it when they nal grandmothers, hoping they twenties, and $100 my grand- asked to leave, so he stayed do stuff like that,” Lucas with his father for another says, referring to Tyra Banks’ would be safer away from father had given me.” One hundred sixty three three weeks after the sex con- undercover experience as a their rough neighborhood. frontation with his friend from homeless person. Marks moved to another part dollars. boarding school. But with his of the city, and his sister went He finds the concept entirefather’s constant insistence to Missouri. ly ridiculous. * * * that he “reconsider (his) bad Marks’ grandmother died “There was no tangible end habit” — his decision to be when he was 15, but he confor me,” he says. “I had no idea “When I was born (my tinued to live in her house parents) had a yacht and two with a man — Ye knew his fa- how I would handle it menwith his two aunts. Before cats,” Ye says. “Then the yacht ther’s home was not the place tally. Would I lose my damn he needed or wanted to be. his grandmother’s death, his sank, and I got older.” mind? … I spent 48 hours in a “It’s incredibly uncomfortAunt Lind* had started dating car, where I didn’t leave but to Ye’s parents divorced when able to live with someone who a man named Greg, whom his he was 5, and he and his older use the restroom.” grandmother had never liked. brother Huan went to live with thinks very, very, very little of During the year and a half you,” Ye says, “It’s doable, Marks always he was on his own and wasn’t their mother but it’s miserable. thought it was staying with friends, Lucas es“There was no in the sub“I think for him the most because Greg tangible end for me,” urbs of Bos- upsetting thing was his reac- timates he spent three to four was white, months living off and on in his ton. he says. “I had no tion to my reaction,” Ye’s fabut after Greg car. But, he idea how I would ther reflects. “Like, he had no and Linda got Logistically, at least, benotes, living idea I would have that kind of married and handle it mentally. ing an athlete made fulfilling arrangements Greg moved Would I lose my damn did not be- reaction. I just started to cry, I some basic necessities easier, in, Marks dismind? … I spent 48 come prob- was so upset. I tried to think of even in high school. what a good father does in that covered the While he worked to pay for hours in a car, where I lematic until situation.” truth. food, he showered at the gym he was 14 or He says he was most wor- and used the school’s laundry Marks says didn’t leave but to use 15. Around the restroom.” Greg was that time, his ried about the stigma Ye facilities to wash his clothes. “loud and igHis bonds with many memmother began would face. “My biggest concern was if norant” and bers of the custodial staff alseeing a man he had chosen this as a deciwould start unnecessary fights named Brad. Although Ye was lowed him to get away with with him. He would come at boarding school at the time, sion,” he says, “it would be being at school at odd hours. into the living room and, the information his brother re- very costly to him for the rest “I know what it’s like to feel of his life.” Marks says, scream, “‘Turn layed made him uneasy. invisible, too,” he admits. The ensuing argument, that fucking TV off!’” for no Heated verbal fights bereason. When Greg got physi- tween Huan and Brad turned he says, “marked a point of * * * cally abusive, Marks knew he physical time and time again, departure that we’ve never had to leave. and Brad had problems with broached again.” To be continued...Feb 09. “I want to get this right,” Missed an Issue? Check out the Streetvibes archive at www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes �16 Vendors Resource Guide STREETVIBES January 2009 Streetvibes vendors buy the paper for 25 cents and sell the paper for $1, keeping the money they have earned. The vendors can be identified with a white badge and can be found selling the paper in downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northern Kentucky and area churches. The money they earn helps them meet basic housing, food and health care needs. Not all vendors pictured. Josephine Baskerville Doris Binion Terry Ranson Anthony Williams Nell Williams Grady Cook Cleo Wombles James Davis Jon Darby Dede Stoops Julie Walker Kenneth Stonitsch Antonio Hodge Leonard Jackson Samuel Jackson Riccardo Taylor Berta Lambert Mary Mueller Brandon Nelson Mark Shears Charles Cole Alfred Woolfolk Terrence Williams Raynard Jones Richard Tyree Michael Holley Need Help or Want to Help? Shelter: Women and Children Central Access Point...381-SAFE Cincinnati Union Bethel...768-6907 Bethany House...557-2873 Grace Place Catholic Worker House...681-2365 Salvation Army...762-5660 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter...872-9259 Talbert House...684-7965 PATH Outreach...977-4489 Treatment: Women Resources First Step Home ...961-4663 Catholic Social Services...241-7745 Center for Independent Living Options...241-2600 Churches Active in Northside...591-2246 Emmanuel Community Center...241-2563 FreeStore/FoodBank...241-1064 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart...381-0111 Goodwill industries...771-4800 Healing Connections...751-0600 Madisonville Education & Assistance Center...2715501 Mary Magdalen House...721-4811 People Working Cooperatively...351-7921 St. Vincent de Paul...562-8841 The Caring Place...631-1114 United Way...721-7900 Women Helping Women...977-5541 Treatment: Both City Gospel Mission...241-5525 Justice Watch...241-0490 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Worker House...381-4941 Mt. Airy Shelter...661-4620 AA Hotline...351-0422 CCAT ...381-6672 Joseph House ...241-2965 Hamilton County ADAS Board ...946-4888 Recovery Health Access Center ...281-7422 Sober Living ...681-0324 Talbert House...641-4300 Shelter: Both Advocacy Anthony House (Youth)...961-4080 Caracole (HIV/AIDS)...761-1480 Drop Inn Center...721-0643 Interfaith Hospitality Network...471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center...221-3350 St. John’s Housing...651-6446 Appalachian Identity Center ...621-5991 Catholic Social Action ...421-3131 Community Action Agency ...569-1840 Contact Center...381-4242 Franciscan JPIC ...721-4700 Greater Cinci Coalition for the Homeless..421-7803 Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center...5798547 Legal Aid Society ...241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center ...421-1108 Peaslee Neighborhood Center ...621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids ...363-3300 Stop AIDS...421-2437 Shelter: Men Housing: CMHA...721-4580 Excel Development...632-7149 OTR Community Housing...381-1171 Tender Mercies...721-8666 Tom Geiger House...961-4555 Dana Transitional Bridge Services Inc. ...751-0643 Volunteers of America...381-1954 Food Lord’s Pantry...621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen & Pantry..961-1983 Our Daily Bread...621-6364 St. Francis Soup Kitchen...535-2719 Treatment: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House...784-1853 DIC Live In Program...721-0643 Prospect House...921-1613 Starting Over...961-2256 Health Center for Respite Care ...621-1868 Cincinnati Health Network ...961-0600 Crossroad Health Center ...381-2247 Hamilton county Mental Health Board...946-8600 Hamilton County TB Control ...946-7628 Health Resource Center ...357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van...352-2902 McMicken Dental Clinic...352-6363 Mental Health Access Point...558-8888 Mercy Franciscan at St. John...981-5800 NAMI of Hamilton County..458-6670 Oral Health Council...621-0248 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center...859-491-8303 ECHO/Hosea House...859-261-5857 Fairhaven Resuce Mission...859-491-1027 Homeward Bound Youth...859-581-1111 Mathews House...859-261-8009 NKY Homeless & Housing Coalition...859-727-0926 Parish Kitchen...859-581-7745 Pike St. Clinic...859-291-9321 Transitions, Inc...859-491-4435 Welcome House of NKY...859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center...859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary...859-559-5011 VA Homeless...859-572-6226 Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels...863-3184 Salvation Army...863-1445 Serenity House Day Center...422-8555 Open Door Pantry...868-3276 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2009 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 2009 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: The Year’s Longest Night Pg 2: The Vibe Pg 3: Eight Minutes with a ‘Street Walker’ Pg 4: Hitting the Streets Pg 5: Annual Dinner Continued The Longest Night Continued Pg 6: Beaten for Being Homeless Pg 7: Stickin’ It with the Most High Pg 8: Hidden Homeless of the Ivory Tower Pg 9: Arts & Poetry Pg 10: New Year Notes Pg 11: Surviving the Hurt in the Heart Pg 12: Proving Cincy Cares Pg 13: A Chef for the People Pg 14: Council Continued Pg 15: Yale Continued Pg 16: Resource Guide Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 2009 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gregory Flannery Margo Pierce Angela Pancella Michael Henson Larry Gross Alyssa Konermann, Lew Moores Dede Stoops Alan Attwood Brittany Middlebrooks Terrence Williams Bill Joiner Andrew Anderson Andrew Freeze Richard Blumberg DeJong family Alan Attwood Berta Lambert Lynne Ausman Laura Damasceno Joe Wessels Steve Novotni Andrew Freeze Georgine Getty Michael Henson Stephanie Dunlap Steve Gibbs Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alan Attwood Alyssa Konermann Andrew Anderson Andrew Freeze Angela Pancella Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Bill Joiner Brittany Middlebrooks Chef Cincinnati city council Cooks Dede Stoops DeJong Family Depression Drop Inn Center education GCCH Georgine Getty Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Annual Dinner Gregory Flannery Harness Tower Hate Crime Humanitarianism Joe Wessels Larry Gross Laura Damasceno Lew Moores Lynne Ausman Margo Pierce Michael Henson Michelle Ross New Year Ohio Photography Richard Blumberg Stephanie Dunlap Steve Gibbs Steve Novotni Street Paper Terrence Williams Yale https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/ab3de947bdd825e108df5c91d23a3a2b.pdf b83266fdf36937487c6fc08fd33f12de PDF Text Text J a n ua r y 2 5 t h - F e b r ua r y 8 t h 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 6 ( N o . 3 9 9 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Keep An Eye On... Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. By Dr. Mark Mussman Article on page 8 This Issue is sponsored by Cecilia and Tom Kloecker Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N ov 2 o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Jan. 25- -NFeb. 8, 22019 No. 399 From The Director: Are Niceties the Cost of True Niceness? Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Gabriela Godinez Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Josh Spring giving a speech. Credit:Amanda Meet Layout: Gabriela Godinez JOSH SPRING Executive Director O ften people in Cincinnati have this sense that one should always act both nicely and politely. For example, at times we have been criticized after gatherings and meetings for continuing to press questions, saying things that make some uncomfortable, questioning motivations, etc. Often these criticisms haven’t necessarily been of the content of what we were saying, just simply the fact that we were forcefully speaking or acting; that we were not being nice. Now, of course there is nothing generally wrong with being nice. However, not all situations call for niceties. Some issues call for being direct and truthful. Well all situations call for being truthful, but the truth often isn’t nice. That is a part of what is interesting about this prescription to be polite and nice. How often is it truthful and how often is it a cover for what is really going on? How often are we choosing to ignore real problems and not stop or change the systems that are causing them or take on the people at the helm of those systems? We live in a city where the life expectancy of a person can twenty years less depending upon which side of a particular street they live on. In Hamilton County over 56,000 households are trying to fit into less than 16,000 homes they can afford because we are short 40,000 affordable homes. As a result, on an average day in 2018, nearly 90 percent of families with children who sought shelter, were turned away, because there wasn’t room. If you are Black in Cincinnati you are more likely to be evicted from your home, be displaced so that someone who is white with more money can move in and more likely to die at a younger than average age. In the last 15 years we have spent at least a couple billion dollars on housing, yet homelessness is the worst it has ever been, because we have built luxury housing for people who already had homes at the expense of housing people with lower incomes can afford. We play host to some of the largest corporations in this country and even the world, yet there is no requirement that people be paid a living wage. In 2018 more than 109 people died with their lives cut short by homelessness. The thing is, none of this is nice or polite. Of course, when we are criticized, these are the truths we are speaking or the motivation for what we are saying or doing, but when I say, ‘none of this is nice or polite’, I’m not referring to the important reason’s to not be nice when confronting systems that cause these major problems and deaths. I mean literally these systemic problems are not nice or polite. In a town where politeness and niceties socially are championed, why don’t we choose these for those things that matter the most like the opportunity for a healthy life, with housing you can afford and income that covers needs? I think the reason is because as a community we end up putting more value on the superficial acts of being nice and polite. Holding corporations, legislators, developers, etc. accountable and forcefully making change as united People isn’t polite and nice. Our community often chooses the niceties of social interaction over the true niceness and politeness that would mean equal access to needs; conversational respect over respect of human life. Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Ashley Archibald, Zachary Headings, Tharanga Yakupitiyage,Riham Alkousaa, Danielle Engolo, Dr. Mark Mussman , Bill Woods, Birgit Müller, Maurice Golsby, Willa Denise Jones, Zy’auna Crawford, Kimore Gover, ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Homeless Coalition, Freeimage. com, Gabriela Godinez, Street Sense, Inter Press Service, Hinz& Kunzt, Reuters, Amanda Meek ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 28, - N o v 19, 2 0 399 18 Jan. 253 -| Feb. 2019 | No. 3 U.S. NEWS Microsoft loans $500 million to address the county’s housing crisis ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Real Change M icrosoft’s leaders announced 16 January that the company would forward $500 million in loans and grants to spur the construction of affordable housing throughout King County, Washington [which includes county seat Seattle], in an effort to lessen the twin crises of housing affordability and homelessness in its home region. The company will invest $225 million at lower-than-market-rate returns targeted at subsidizing the preservation and construction of middle-income housing on the east end of the county as well as $250 million at market-rate returns to support lowincome housing throughout the county. The remaining $25 million will be doled out in grants to address homelessness, according to a blog post by President Brad Smith and Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood. The first $10 million of that money will go to boost existing efforts, including the Home Base program, which helps people avoid eviction and funding the new joint agency between Seattle and King County to combat homelessness. To put the scale of the investment in perspective, Mayor Jenny Durkan wrote that the city of Seattle and other partners have invested $710 million in affordable housing over the past two years, which they anticipate will create 4,000 new affordable homes by 2022. According to the post, the company spent eight months designing the plan in partnership with real estate site Zillow, the Boston Consulting Group and Challenge Seattle, an alliance of leaders from the region’s 18 largest employers. The infusion of funds is important, but it’s only the beginning, Smith and Hood wrote. “Even more capital will be required. And more critical still is the need for public policy changes to make it easier and more attractive to build affordable housing,” the post reads. The gap between the number of jobs created and the number of housing units is vast. Microsoft found that since 2011, the number of jobs has spiked 21 per cent while the number of housing units constructed rose by only 13 per cent. The result is a severe pinch in supply that caused housing prices to rise 96 per cent in just eight years. The increase in prices has a direct impact on homelessness. An oftcited study found that for every $100 increase in rent, homelessness jumped up by 15 per cent. Despite significant improvements in the number of households exiting homelessness, the overall homeless population continues to grow year on year. Elected officials celebrated the announcement but acknowledged that the new investments were just part of a regional solution and that more help was needed from all levels of government and the private sector. “The problem is tremendous. This investment is a wedge of the pie chart that is a solution but just a wedge,” said King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci. “I hope this will motivate and challenge the rest of us, in government and the private sector to fill out the rest of that pie. We need workforce housing, affordable housing, assisted living, housing for people experiencing homelessness, senior housing, all of it.” Funding to build and preserve housing is one critical piece of the solution, but the political will to get it built — sometimes in the face of severe public opposition — is another. Seattle is in the midst of a fight over its Mandatory Housing Affordability policy, which opponents believe will disrupt the character of their neighborhoods and potentially result in more displacement of households that are hanging on by a thread. “That is one of our big challenges, that’s a rock we have to push up the hill,” Balducci said. Balducci represents the east side of King County, and lives in a neighborhood that was developed to house workers being reintegrated into communities after the wars of the mid20th century. There was opposition then too, she said. “People who lived there before my single-family neighborhood was built used to charmingly refer to it as ‘the monstrosity up the hill,’” Balducci said. She argues that creating new housing for low- and middle-income households will make for a healthier community by providing access to high-opportunity areas that are aligned with upward mobility and success. “That’s what we should be all about,” Balducci said. “We should be all about opportunity.” Courtesy of Real Change / INSP. ngo Serving up food and literature ZACHARY HEADINGS Street Sense A t the corner of 15th and Irving NW in Washington D.C., on a cold November morning, a man stands beside a cart laden with granola bars, fruit, bottles of water, and books. As people hurry by on their morning commute, he calls out, “Good morning! Free books! Free food!”. His name is Christopher Stewart and he tries to do this every month. Stewart is the librarian at Bell High School/Columbia Heights Education Campus, which serves 1,400 students in grades 6 - 12. He started offering food and books at that corner when he was first hired last year. The “brunch” that he offers is a continuation of a program that Stewart implemented when he worked at the Bellevue Public Library in Anacostia. He says that the brunch is an opportunity to recognize the epidemic of homelessness in the District and to encourage others to think about how they can help. “When people feel like they want to tackle homelessness, it becomes such a big issue that they draw back and say, ‘I can’t do anything about it. It’s too big’,” Stewart says. “In the grand scheme, [the brunch] is small. But it could brighten someone’s day.” More than 20 people stop at Stewart’s table during his hour on the corner. CHEC students make up most of Stewart’s patrons, but they are not his only focus. “It’s not necessarily targeted specifically at people who are homeless, because we want to build community,” Stewart explains. “I want people who are homeless, people who have homes, students, teachers, and everyone to just come and eat together and to discuss a great book and see how many similarities they have, as opposed to differences.” Frederick Carter, who lives nearby, strikes up a conversation with Stewart on his way past the table to catch a bus. While he does not take a book, Carter is appreciative of the offer of both books and food. “It’s always good to see a blessing first thing in the morning,” he says. Stewart describes having books on the street, free to pick up, as “liberating.” Anyone walking by on the street is welcome to stop and chat, grab some food, and take a book. Even if they do not have time to read, Stewart encourages public transit users to take a book and leave it on the seat. “It makes all the difference,” he says. Not long after Carter continued on his commute, several CHEC students hurried by Stewart’s table. The bell had rung and they were facing detentions, according to Stewart. “Did you all have breakfast?” he asked. “You’re already late. You may as well have something to eat.” Some of the students grabbed granola bars and water and hurried to class; others stayed for a few moments to talk about books they had read. A few students listed their interests and asked Stewart which book they should take. Some people don’t feel comfortable going to public libraries, according to Stewart. A common feeling of being overwhelmed by the contents of a library or insecure about one’s own research abilities while in a library has been labeled as “Library Anxiety ” in recent years. However, Stewart is more concerned about people avoiding public libraries due to their associations with government. For example, a 2017 essay published by Time magazine outlined discrimination against undocumented people in libraries and the organization Libraries Everywhere published a detailed report about concern over immigration enforcement in libraries. It is not all about the books, however. The food is an important aspect, too. “It’s amazing how things can happen and trickle into something else,” Stewart says. “You know, ‘I didn’t eat this morning, so I’m going to go THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED into work mad, so I’m not going to give great service, so I’m going to get fired from work. So now I can’t pay my bills. So something as small as feeding [people] is huge.” Right now, the brunch is a local event. The books were either donated by the American University radio station, WAMU, or purchased by Stewart at a thrift store. He purchases the food from local grocery stores. In the future, Stewart wants to scale it up. “I want to offer this each month, in each ward,” Stewart tells me. “[I want to have] an actual table set up with books and food. No formalities, just [the] community coming together for five seconds or five minutes to grab a bite to eat, pick up a book, and/or discuss a great read.” He plans to start offering the brunch in every ward next summer. Stewart’s eventual goal — or “hopeful dream,” as he puts it — is to open a small café that “empowers readership and has great food.” He wants it to be a pay-what-you-will establishment, where those that pay nothing are treated the same as those that pay a lot. “Community, hospitality, and a safe space is the goal,” Stewart says. “[That’s] where relationships are cultivated and where strangers become family.” Courtesy of Street Sense / INSP.ngo �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED NJan. o v 225 - N v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 - oFeb. 8,22019 399 �N o. 39 3 |- N ov 2 8, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Jan. 25 Feb. | No. 399 5 GLOBAL Eat Plants, Save the Planet A plantain farm on the outskirts of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Current food production is among the largest sources of environmental degradation across the world. Credit: Friday Phiri/IPS THARANGA YAKUPITIYAGE Inter Press Service W hile the modern agricultural system has helped stave off famines and feed the world’s 7 billion residents, the way we eat and produce food is posing a threat to future populations’ food security. With an expected increase in population to 10 billion by 2050, ensuring food security is more important than ever. However, current food production is among the largest sources of environmental degradation across the world. If such production and consumption patterns continue, we will soon exceed our planetary boundaries needed to survive and thrive. “It was quite dramatic to see how much those planetary boundaries would be exceeded if we don’t do anything,” said Marco Springmann, one of the authors of a report examining the impact of the food system on the environment. “The food system puts pressure on land management, in particular deforestation. If you knock down too many forests, you basically really mess up the regulating system of the ecosystem because forests store carbon dioxide but they also are habitats for wild species and biodiversity reservoirs,” he added. Over 40 per cent of the world’s land has been converted or set aside for agriculture alone. This has resulted in the loss of more than half of the world’s forests. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) notes that commercial agriculture is a key driver, especially the production of beef, soy beans, and palm oil. This can be seen in the Amazon where trees have been cut down and land converted to make way for agricultural activities such as cattle ranching and soy cultivation, much of which is used as animal feed rather than for human consumption. In fact, half of the planet’s usable land surface is devoted to livestock or the growing of feed for those animals, an area equivalent to North and South America combined. The intensive use of fertilisers has further diminished land productivity, leading to degradation and even desertification. Moreover, such actions have contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). According to the “Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits” report, published in the Nature journal, the food system emitted over 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2010 alone. The study also estimates that the environmental effects of the food system could increase by 50-90 per cent without any targeted measures, beyond the “safe operating space for humanity.” Springmann pointed to three ambitious measures that are necessary in order to stay within environmental limits including technological improvements which can increase sustainable food production and thus decrease the demand for more cropland. Another measure seems to be even more daunting: shifting to a plantbased diet. “If you go even more plantbased that would be even better for greenhouse gas emissions, and also it is more well-balanced and better for your health. The estimates are such that we would reduce the pressure on land use if we changed our diets,” Springmann said. The Nature report found that dietary changes towards healthier diets could help reduce GHG emissions and other environmental impacts by almost 30 per cent. A new report from the EAT-Lancet Commission also highlighted the need for dietary changes for environmental sustainability and public health. “The food we eat and how we produce it determines the health of people and the planet, and we are currently getting this seriously wrong,” says one of the commission authors Tim Lang. “We need a significant overhaul, changing the global food system on a scale not seen before in ways appropriate to each country’s circumstances. While this is unchartered policy territory and these problems are not easily fixed, this goal is within reach.…the scientific targets we have devised for a healthy, sustainable diet are an important foundation which will underpin and drive this change,” he added. EAT-Lancet Commission’s recommended planetary health diet requires the consumption of red meat to be cut by half, while vegetables, fruit, and nuts must double. North America has one of the highest meat consumption rates in the world. In 2018, American meat consumption hit a record high as the average consumer ate over 222 pounds of red meat and poultry. If they are to follow the planetary health guidelines, North Americas would have to cut their consumption of red meat by 84 percent and eat six times more beans and lentils. While plant-based diets have THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED gained popularity in the region, seen through the success of the Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger companies, Springmann noted that information alone may not be enough to promote dietary changes. “Of course everyone can change their diet and it would be great if they can do that. But if it is not made easy for the average consumer to do that, then many people won’t do it,” he said. Springmann suggested changing the prices of food products to include health and environmental impacts. Beef for example would need to cost 40 per cent more on average due to its contribution to GHG emissions. This provides governments with potential revenue to invest in other areas such as the subsidisation of healthier products. In addition to dietary changes, the EAT-Lancet Commission state that zero loss biodiversity, net zero expansion of agricultural land into natural ecosystems, and improvements in fertiliser and water use efficient are needed. “The transformation that this Commission calls for is not superficial or simple, and requires a focus on complex systems, incentives, and regulations, with communities and governments at multiple levels having a part to play in redefining how we eat,” said The Lancet’s Editor-in-Chief Richard Horton. “Our connection with nature holds the answer, and if we can eat in a way that works for our planet as well as our bodies, the natural balance of the planet’s resources will be restored. The very nature that is disappearing holds the key to human and planetary survival,” he added. Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo �GLOBAL 6 NJan. o v 2 25 - N-oFeb. v 19,8, 20 18 | |NNo. o . 393 2019 399 With clubs and churches, Berlin becomes home for migrants RIHAM ALKOUSAA Reuters A li Mohammad Rezaie does not celebrate his birthday because his Afghan parents never noted the date he was born. Yet he knows exactly when he arrived in Berlin to seek asylum: 15 October, 2015. That day changed his life. "It wasn't a special day. I was tired and had been on the road for two months," he said of his overland journey through the Balkans. Since then he's sung in a choir and done internships and temporary work at a nursing home, a bakery, hotels and restaurants. It is a far cry from the village of his birth 26 years ago. More than one million people have come to Germany as migrants since 2015 under Chancellor Angela Merkel's open door policy. Since then, migration has divided Europe and helped propel a rise of far right parties. Rezaie is among those doing their best to make Germany home, but integration is a journey with many highs and lows and it requires more than simply finding a job and learning German. One woman who helped him is Chris Wachholz. They met at the choir and she later invited him to cook and practice German at the home she shares with her husband. A common interest in motorbikes deepened their friendship. "Meeting this family was like being given an opportunity for my birthday. They are like my ... mother and father," he said. But his immigration status prevents him taking further steps. His Syrian migrant Haidar Darwish performs during a show at Silverfuture club in Berlin, Germany, July 8, 2018. REUTERS/Alessia Cocca asylum application was rejected and he can only stay on as a 'tolerated person', which means he will not be deported but lacks secure status. As a result, it is unlikely the temporary job he has found preparing food and cleaning at the Lufthansa lounge at Berlin's Tegel airport will be made permanent. "I have an apartment here. I know many nice people. If they deport me I'll lose everything," he said. His fear is exacerbated because his Afghan ethnic group, the Hazaras, have faced attacks from militants in Afghanistan. Many migrants say they are welcomed by Germans but others say they have experienced hostility. At the same time, a handful of militant attacks by migrants have enabled some politicians to argue they represent a threat to German society. For some, though, the move to Germany has meant new freedom. Haidar Darwish was dancing in Schwuz, one of Berlin's oldest gay clubs, last year when Israeli student and drag queen Judy La Divana approached him and asked him to perform in her show. He had never danced on stage in his homeland Syria, but La Divana convinced him to try. "Now, many people ask me when and where my performances take place so they can come. Not to brag about it," he said. Syrian migrant Haidar Darwish performs during a show at Silverfuture club in Berlin, Germany, July 8, 2018. REUTERS/Alessia Cocca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED To supplement this income, he works at Bruno’s, a fashion and erotic shop that targets gay men. "I found out that the store manager ... had come to my shows many times and we'd even danced together once," he said. Sexual freedom was not the main reason he left Syria in 2016 - the country is at war, after all - but it represents a discovery he would not trade. For others, the quest for freedom has been fraught. Joseph Saliba was nine when his father sent him to work for a friend in Damascus who restored wood and mosaics. He slowly fell in love with the craft and later become a wood restorer. His business was booming when war broke out in 2011. Scared of being drafted into the Syrian army, he decided to flee to Europe three years ago. His German language class went on a field trip to Berlin Cathedral and immediately he felt a connection. He offered to volunteer in restoration work at the church using tools he had made himself. A year later, the church offered him a paid job. The church became a home but not Germany. Authorities refused to give him a refugee travel document and referred him to the Syrian embassy in Berlin. Saliba said he did not want to enter the embassy of the government from which he had fled and he is suing the German government to get a refugee passport. "I fled the lack of freedom to get freedom here," he said. "I didn't find this freedom here." Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo �NJan. o. 3925 3 |-NFeb. ov 2 -8, N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 | No. 399 GLOBAL 7 Morocco’s Migrant Workers Struggle to Send Money Home Last year, global diaspora remittances totalled 650 billion dollars, three times the amount of foreign aid given to developing countries. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS DANIELLE ENGOLO Inter Press Service M orocco may have hosted the United Nation’s historic Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) conference. But when it comes to remittances— migrant employees, entrepreneurs and business owners all face the same challenge in Morocco: sending money legally to their home countries. Remittances is an all-important issue for migrants and their families left in the land of their origin, and one of the compact’s 23 objectives. However, Moroccan legislation limits money transfers abroad, in effect preventing migrant workers supporting their families or investing in their home countries. “I have been working for more than four years now in Morocco, but I have never been able to invest in my home country,” says Esther, a Congolese migrant working as a journalist in Morocco. “I cannot help my family, because Moroccan money cannot be sent abroad.” Last year, global diaspora remittances totalled 650 billion dollars, three times the amount of foreign aid given to developing countries. This continual familial fiscal flow significantly helps reduce poverty, by providing funds for health, education, and the launching of businesses. Morocco’s own diaspora plays a significant part in its own economy. Money transfers from the Moroccan diaspora reached more than 60 billion dollars in 2015, representing six per cent of the country’s GDP, according to a 2017 World Bank report. Nevertheless, if Morocco is aware of the importance of its diaspora’s role in its economy, that isn’t reflected in its financial policy that does not allow the country’s migrant workers to also contribute to the development of their home countries. Like most migrant workers in Morocco—the majority of whom come from sub-Saharan countries—Esther fell back on informal money transfer networks to sustain her family, giving money to an agent in Morocco. “Several times I sent some money to my family through these informal networks, but I was never at ease because it is risky,” Esther says. “Most of the time you don’t know the person you are negotiating with. He or she might steal your money.” She recalls that two years ago, her cousin, also living in Morocco, fell victim to a dishonest money transfer network that he had used before. “My cousin used to make money transfers with a friend of his. But one day, he gave his friend 17,000 dirhams ($1,900) to transfer to his family. The guy vanished.” Due to such risks, some migrants adopt other strategies, such as annual fiscal pilgrimages, taking the money limit permitted by Moroccan customs. Emilie, a Congolese hairdresser in Casablanca, travels back to her home country every six months to buy merchandise and deposit earnings in a Congo account. “I have no choice, I have to travel regularly in order to save my earnings at home, knowing that I cannot leave Morocco with a big amount of money,” Emilie says. But while this option allows migrants to subvert money transfer barriers and the risks of dishonest brokers, it costs much more because of the flight, which for many migrant workers is unaffordable and hence makes the strategy unfeasible. Unbeknownst to most migrants, a Moroccan law actually does allow people to send a set amount per year— 10 000 dirhams (1,050 dollars)—to each member of a person’s immediate family. But this method requires lots of paperwork and proofs of identity. Also, members of the same family must have the same name and if not the case—a common occurrence among families in sub-Saharan families—the bank will reject a transfer demand or demand additional papers legalized at the THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED embassy. Often banks simply decline to assist. Observers note how it’s not just migrant workers who are negatively impacted by tight money transfer rules in countries like Morocco that drive people to use illegal money transfer networks: government exchequers lose out on the likes of fees and taxes generated by legal transfer systems. “Despite these constraints, I think it is a step [in the right direction] to be able to send money, even if it is only for family support,” says Esther, while noting how investment remains a challenge. “I thought about buying an apartment in my country, but it is not possible to send a big amount of money.” Objective 22 of the GCM’s cooperative framework aims to “Establish mechanisms for the portability of social security entitlements and earned benefits.” Whether that proves good enough for migrant workers in Morocco remains to be seen, now that the compact has officially been adopted as of the morning of 10 December. “If I leave Morocco today and return back to my home country, there will be nothing there for me,” Esther says. “It is really a pity after so many years of work.” Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo �FEATURE 8 N o v 225 - N o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Jan. - Feb. 8,22019 399 Keep an Eye On… DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer T he new year always brings a renewed interest. People head in droves to the gym for the first, attendance at Church spikes, and people’s resolutions stay on their mind. In a year, a great deal of things change. This year, we need to be vocal about things that have a disparate impact on people experiencing homelessness, as well as, those who are on the edge of homelessness. The following are a few things that we need to stay on top of this year. Pricey Policies For your housing to be considered “affordable,” you should be spending no more than 30% of your income on your housing, including utilities. Last year, Duke Energy raised everyone’s bill by $200, spread over the course of the year. This rate hike was approved by the Ohio Legislature, and there was literally fees and tickets that people who park in the residential parking spots may be able to cover some of the program costs, but what is the psychological effect on people who get parking tickets when visiting the neighborhood? The eventual fall out of this program may force the City to scrap the program, or to extend it north of Liberty. It is a new cost that we all need to keep our eyes on. Privatization of Public Space Privatization is a perennial issue that affects us all. In the past, I have written on neoliberalism, and the quest to turn public wealth into private riches. We are seeing a robust movement of privatization in Cincinnati, and across the country, which is draining our collective wealth in exchange for individual riches. For example, over the past two years, we lost Ziegler Park to 3CDC, who now controls who is able to use the park, when, and how. They provide private security to force people who are experiencing homelessness away from the park. Others have see the concerted effort put in place to remove people from the park. This loss of public space continues in other ways as well. Looking up and down the sidewalk, you will see more restaurant and bars stumbling out into public space. The loss of sidewalk space represents a serious loss of our community. When bars get seating space on the sidewalk, they create a permanent barrier so that people will be allowed to drink alcohol on the sidewalk. While this represents a double standard, as people who are experiencing homelessness are criminalized for the same behavior, it also means that people with disabilities, families with strollers, and large families, are obstructed on the sidewalk. Ultimately, this means that we are pushed out from our usual spaces. Forced to find new routes. Renaming to Own The so-called Over-the-Rhine Brewery District plans to have a banner year in 2019. The Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Permit Parking Signage in Over-the-Rhine nothing that we could do to stop it. This year, we are looking at higher food prices, higher cable and internet prices, and higher parking costs. In Over-theRhine, south of Liberty, all on-street parking will now be either metered or permit only. The cost to park in Overthe-Rhine has increased dramatically recently, and it is the most expensive outside of the Central Business District. Whether you will be paying at the meter, or for the parking permit, you will be spending more time looking for parking, and more time walking from your parking spot. The residential parking program needs to over-sell the spots to be successful. By using my basic math skills, I’ve found that at full price, the City must sell 1250 parking spots to break even. (There are projected program costs of around $75,000, and the permits cost $60 each. An unlimited number of permits will be sold.) There are only 500 parking spots, so each spot will have been, at least, double sold. The complained that the 3CDC workers have “banned” them from park bathrooms. 3CDC has leased out the park decades from the City, but they should still maintain their public status. Unfortunately, many people feel that the park is private now. In 2019, we are looking at the privatization of Findlay Playground. Model Group, a large developer, has plans to lease the alleyway next to the park. Last week, I noticed a fence around the alleyway, which to me, confirms that Model was successful with their privatization. Currently, there is a fence around Findlay Playground, and local organizers are trying to collect the stories of those who frequent the park. I have written extensively about how the police and the City team up to create a hostile environment in their quest for gentrification of Overthe-Rhine. Check out the police lights set up around Findlay Park, watch the increased patrols, and you will clearly Corporation (BDCURC) is getting ready to unveil their own wayfinding signs north of Liberty. You may have already seen medallions in the sidewalk, but have you seen the giant signs that are blocking the sidewalks in some places? The Brewery District’s Master Plan’s mission clearly shows a lack of inclusion of low-income residents: “To envision investment and development opportunities for businesses and real estate developers that will be supported by the neighborhood, and that will help guide efforts for physical public improvements to accommodate such development.” By renaming the part of the neighborhood, the Brewery District is trying to remodel the neighborhood into a false vision of the past, which is only inclusive of white, rich, and alcohol guzzling tourists. Look out for other things being renamed, including streets, so-called “Districts,” and other public spaces. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Housing Protections and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund In Ohio, renters have very few protections. Your landlord can refuse taking your rent, then evict you for non-payment of rent. This practice is a threat to stable housing. While change in Ohio may take long, we are looking to push forward housing protections that would stop this type of deceitful practice. Along with the local Affordable Housing Trust Fund, housing protections such as these will ensure people will be able to stay in their homes. Unfortunately, the Trust Fund isn’t funded yet, so we will be working this year to ensure funding for affordable housing. The Homeless Coalition is currently fighting for the right of selfdetermination in federal court. If we are successful, we will have prevented the stripping of many Constitutional Amendments, including Freedom of Speech and protections against cruel and unusual punishment and the seizure of personal property. This lawsuit will have a large regional impact, and is definitely something to watch this year. Special Improvement District (SID) Another thing to keep your eye on this year is the proposed Special Improvement District (SID) for southern Over-the-Rhine. A SID has existed downtown for a couple decades, which funds Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI). DCI employs people as Downtown Ambassadors who spend the days and night sweeping up the sidewalks and gutters. They are also available for people who have questions. As I have written before, 3CDC, Urban Sites, and the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, are planning on hoisting a SID on the southern part of Over-the-Rhine. They are using scare tactics to pressure residents at the Community Council to accept the tax plan. Only 60% of the property owners (based upon the linear footage) need to vote for the SID to impose a tax on all of the properties in the proposed SID. In the end, this will cause rents to raise, and will increase homelessness in our area. It will also create a force to police the streets, pushing people who are experiencing homelessness into the shadows. When SIDs are created, laws criminalizing homelessness are likely to follow. When people are forced into the shadows, they are more likely to be victims of violent crime. Each of these issues negatively impacts the lives of those who are experiencing homelessness and those who are on the edge of homelessness. Without the efforts of the Homeless Coalition, our member organizations, and our supporters, many of these changes would go by without note, and the voices of those who are affected would be lost. �N o. 39 ov 28, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Jan. 253 -| N Feb. 2019 | No. 399 FEATURE (Top Left) Large Sidewalk Medallion for Brewery. (Middle Left) Sidewalk Seating for Local Bar. (Top Right) Findlay Playground Fenced Off. (Middle Right) Permit Parking Signs Go Up in 2019. (Bottom Left) Sidewalk Blockage for Brewery District. (Bottom Right) Large Signage at Grant Park. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 �10 GLOBAL N o v 225 - N o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Jan. - Feb. 8,22019 399 Rescuing People At Sea Is A Sailor’s Responsibility BIRGIT MÜLLER I Hinz&Kunzt t was a full-blown distress call that the German Shipowners’ Association issued to politicians. Between 2014 and 2016, more and more commercial ships were rescuing drowning refugees in the Mediterranean – and it was leaving the German Shipowners’ Association feeling overwhelmed. One ship owner from Hamburg was – and continues to be – particularly hard hit. Christopher E.O. Opielok supplies oil and gas rigs off the Libyan coast. “Our crew members are seeing people die; they are drowning in front of our eyes,” he told German tv channel n-tv in 2015. His crews succeeded in saving the lives of 1,500 refugees during this period. A lot has happened since the height of the crisis. The ship owners’ SOS was heard, and both the EU and German Navy have since sent ships to help – periodically, at least. They are supposed to put a stop to people smuggling, “but they have also saved the lives of refugees,” says Ralf Nagel, Chief Executive Officer of the German Shipowners’ Association. There are a number of aid organisations who go out on special ships to rescue refugees, he adds: “That has been a big help for commercial shipping.” It is a good thing because, unlike aid organisations’ ships, most commercial ships are not suited to rescuing dozens, let alone hundreds, of people at sea. “Cargo ships are built for the quick transportation of goods, so they normally have high sides,” one captain told Hinz&Kunzt. This means that rescuing people at sea is a major technical challenge, he added. Using a pilot ladder is only a possibility for a few, strong people and life boats can usually only take a few people. In addition, there is often too little food, water and life-saving equipment, including blankets, on board – let alone facilities for adequately accommodating cold and dehydrated people and providing medical care. “Some refugees freeze to death within minutes [of being brought] on board after we have pulled them out of the water,” ship owner Opielok told n-tv. The psychological strain on the crew members was – and is – huge as a result. “Many crews are traumatised,” Opielok continued, “and many people are have looked for another job.” For ship owners, such rescue operations are also commercially disadvantageous. “But insurance covers many of the costs,” says Nagel, the German Shipowners’ Association CEO. It reimburses the costs for fuel, supplies and life-saving equipment. “The biggest burden is borne by people working at sea,” he says. Every shipping company and captain would, of course, pick up refugees if they were asked for help. “Rescuing people at sea goes without saying,” Nagel says. “Every sailor knows how dangerous it can be at sea. And an overloaded dingy with 150 people on board is always an emergency situation.” Rescuing people at sea is not just a matter of honour for sailors: it is also governed by international law. “The only time when it’s a matter of discretion is when the rescue would put the lives of the crew at risk,” Nagel clarifies; for example, if a ship needed to approach a burning oil platform to help people. “Then the captain can decide to keep a [safe] distance because the risk of explosion,” Nagel explains. “But if I see a sinking dinghy, fundamentally, there’s no room for discretion.” In practice, ships are ordered to the scene of an accident by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC), which knows where every ship is at any given time. Captains must obey the orders of the MRCC, whether or not they can then continue on their delayed journey. “We can’t evade our responsibility or simply pass by – that’s not on,” Nagel says. “Any captain who doesn’t follow an order can face criminal prosecution, including retrospective prosecution.” Those saving lives can also face problems. In June, Italy refused the Danish container ship Alexander Maersk permission to enter an Italian port. This was not despite, but because, of the face that the ship had 100 rescued migrants on board. “If a German ship had been affected, we would have put pressure on politicians,” Nagel says. And that is what the Danish government and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) did: Italy eventually allowed the Alexander Maersk to enter the port of Pozzallo, after days of waiting. Translated from German by Holly Bickerton Courtesy of Hinz&Kunzt / INSP. ngo Helpers from Sea-Watch spotted an overloaded dingy at the end of May in the middle of the Mediterranean. The refugees were able to be saved and brought ashore. Mitten auf dem Mittelmeer entdecken Helfer der Sea-Watch Ende Mai ein ¸berf¸lltes Schlauchboot. Die Fl¸chtlinge konnten gerettet und an Land gebracht werden. Credit: CHRIS GRODOTZKI / SEA-WATCH.ORG THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 3 |- N ov 2 8, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Jan. 25 Feb. 2019 | No. 399 STREETVOICE 11 Commissioner Driehaus, Councilman Mann, and County Issues in 2019 Commissioner driehaus and councilman mann reflect on issues confronting county and city government in 2019 at the first community issues forum of the new year. Image from Freeimages.com BILL WOODS Contributing Writer W hat are the important issues confronting City Council and the Hamilton County Commission in 2019 and beyond? Councilman David Mann and County Commissioner Denise Driehaus addressed this question as well as assessing how they see local government's role in future developments and plans at the first Community Issues Forum of the new year. Instead of speaking separately, the two elected officials informally talked in tandem and responded to the many questions of Forum attendees. Budget issues, according to both Mann and Driehaus, are the first big hurdles facing both the City and the County. Driehaus explained that the County confronted a $28-million deficit that must be dealt with. At the moment a hiring freeze is in place, and cuts have been made to basic services. She indicated that a hike in the sales tax might well be necessary. Although the projected City deficit is not as high as the County's, It still adds up to millions of dollars. Traditionally, noted Mann, the Police and Fire budgets are held harmless, and these services take a huge percentage of the City's revenue. That means that other services and departments must absorb the cuts. Mann, who chairs the Finance Committee, was critical that too much revenue has been lost in recent years due to the City's cutting of a large portion of its share of the property tax. Driehaus and Mann talked about the negative impacts on their budgets due to the major loss of money from the State Local Government Fund. They told Forum attendees to tell Governor DeWine that this funding needs to be restored. Both implied that the long-standing mantra of "no new taxes" is making government at all levels unworkable. Several members of the audience asked the speakers about tax abatements and their impacts on revenue for public services. They questioned whether these abatements were really needed to bring in businesses and spur development. Mann defended tax abatements as a tool that had been necessary to broker developments that had improved the city's economic climate. However, he said that the City's abatement policies were under review, and that stiffer requirements were now being written into abatement agreements. He mentioned a proposal being considered by Council to require major housing projects to include a percentage of affordable units in their developments in order to qualify for abatement. Staying with the theme of housing, Mann said the City has established a fund to help tenants who are evicted from housing to survive the crisis of suddenly having no place to live. Citing the book, "Evicted," he acknowledged that evictions create a myriad of problems including homelessness. Mann also noted his support for the recent establishment of an affordable housing trust fund, but he admitted that this fund still lacked a funding base. Attendees pressed Driehaus about the Sheriff 's cooperation with ICE in terms of contacting ICE officials when the County is holding an undocumented immigrant. This policy, they declared, has brought about some tragic deportations. Driehaus agreed to meet with advocates of immigrant rights to further discuss this ongoing issue. Both Driehaus and Mann voiced their support for improving the declining bus service. They said that SORTA needed to put forward a plan with an adequate tax proposal, and they mentioned growing grassroots support for having a public transit system that connects city residents with the suburban job base. Mann and Driehaus told Forum attendees they had enjoyed this informal give and take with them. They promised to come back in the fall. The Forum on January 31st will feature Josh Spring, Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, providing an update on homelessness in Greater Cincinnati. HIV Services in Cincinnati MAURICE GOLSBY I Contributing Writer t’s important that people are aware of what’s going on with HIV services. It happened to me, it can happen to anyone. No one is exempt from HIV. I came across these services when I was in jail. They told me where to go, and the Northern Kentucky Health Department asked me if I wanted to be a part of a support group. I said yes, and that’s how I heard about Positive Souls. We have a group called Positive Souls for HIV positive men and a group called Girlfriend to Girlfriend for HIV positive women. There’s another support group called Neamans and Caracole has a support group as well. Only men of color are in Positive Souls and only women of color are in Girlfriend to Girlfriend. Positive Souls is the oldest support group, around since 1999. They’re like family to me now. We lost a lot of members, people who founded the group. Some of them died from HIV/AIDS, cancer, one got killed. Caracole offers you case management and house management. Once you get a case manager, she’ll do anything you ask her, within reason. She’ll take you to a doctor if you’d like her to. Housing manager will call a furniture place to get your furniture. It’s called New Life Furniture. The case workers keep track of what I’m doing and not doing. I can’t lie to her. She has it all right in front of her and says, “Maurice, this is what you need to do.” I moved in on a Tuesday, by Friday they delivered my furniture. I was fully furnished, bed and everything. I always slept on the floor before and later came up with a bed. I only had to sleep on the floor for two nights this time! If you live in northern Kentucky, there’s the Northern Kentucky Health Department. They have HIV/AIDS THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED support services. I get a $20 gift card for groceries from them. I got a lot of donations from friends, like pots and pans, and a church called Higher Faith. They also donated a bed when I was living in Mt. Washington. Pots, pans, dishes, the whole nine yards. If anyone needs to know anything with support groups, come talk to me. I have no problem telling people about it. I have no problem sitting down and talking to people. Someone said, “You have HIV? You don’t look like it.” Well, I do. It’s safe to be around me. We look like everyone else. �12 STREETVOICE Girls Writing Circle Peaslee Neighborhood Center has a continued partnership with Rothenberg Preparatory Academy, conducing the Girls Writing Circle in the after school program. Our circle creates an open and safe space for girls to express themselves, and be heard and validated by their peers. Our hope is to give our girls an opportunity to discover and display their creativity, opinions, and voices through a process that is grounded in respect and an appreciation for each girls’ unique gifts. Blossoming I love when the flowers are blossoming. They smell delicious And are pretty. When they are blossoming, I think of when my hands Are opening and closing. I like when the flowers Are blossoming Because they open As slow as a turtle. ZY’AUNA CRAWFORD Junior Writer N o v 25 2 - -NFeb. o v 19, 2 0 18 || No. N o . 399 393 Jan. 8, 2019 Creeping Thistle A woman that I am very close with Is my mama. We are very alike, But we’re also different. I love her with all my heart, And I know she loves me. Me and my mama have fun times, Sometimes we have bad times. But when all that’s done, I know that my mama is the person That I can turn to, And I know she will always Have my back, No matter the situationIf I’m wrong, Or if I’m right. I just love my mama With all my heart. I love her smile, Her laugh, The way she talks, The advice she gives me. She is my whole heart, And I love her And I always will. I am blessed to call her my Mama. KIMORE GOVER Junior Writer Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher and Chris Wilkey for a group writing session! S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �STREETVOICE No. 39 Nov 28,- 2019 N o v 19, 2 0 399 18 Jan. 253- |Feb. | No. The Federal Government Shutdown Mother Goose 13 A Wall Did you ever think about a wall ? Or the meaning of it to us all ? Pussy cat, pussy cat, why the big frown? "I'm upset by the government shutdown. So many services unavailable to us all, So Trump can rant about his stupid wall!" BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Today we have several walls Walls between the rich and the poor Walls that define prejudice what a eye sore Walls that stop the people from having voices Walls that deny people to have choices So what are our lives worth or living for If we as a people don’t come together to open the door To the realization we are being controlled And without the faith in God our souls we sold I believe we have enough walls in our lives Why pay for another wall we already have strife We as people must come to understand That only threw God grace will we live in this land WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PUZZLE 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 188 Across Down 1. Annoying person 1. Optical device 5. Accumulate 2. Ahead of time 10. Hymenopterous insect 3. Abrade 14. Speed contest 4. Stress 15. Highest part in choral music 5. Perform 16. Friendly nation 6. Post 17. Metallic element 7. Not in favor of 18. Largest satellite of Saturn 8. Celestial bodies 19. Bellow 9. Form of musical 20. Parially melted snow composition 22. Former currency of Italy 10. Hawkish 23. Stringed instrument 11. With relatively 24. Large indefinite number high volume 26. Pace 12. Roofing material 28. Speak up 13. Funeral mound of wood 31. Diving bird 21. Chance event 32. Chess piece 25. Cut into cubes 35. Fossil fuel 27. Artifice 37. Tennis stroke 29. Average 41. Lyric poem 30. Part of a roof 42. Act of help or assistance 32. Cooking vessel 44. Lubricant 33. Fuss 45. Add up 34. Sodden 47. Net 36. Roster 48. Quantity of paper 38. Fish eggs 49. Railway vehicle 39. By way of 51. No longer new 40. Type of wood 53. Pronouncement 42. Spline 56. Devastate 43. Scorch 60. Bill of fare 46. Charge of wrongdoing 61. Oaf 48. Change to the contrary 64. Asian pepper plant 50. Measuring sticks 65. Concludes 52. Research workplace, 66. Bordered in short 68. Memorization by repetition 53. Impenetrable 69. Continent 54. Country 70. Pass along 55. Good example 71. Self-satisfied 57. Particles 72. Kind of duck 58. Garb 73. Sludge 59. Lament 74. Catch sight of 60. Food product NJan. o v 225 - N o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 - Feb. 8,22019 No. 399 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 391 - MEDIUM 62. Large sweet juicy fruit 63. Squad 67. Staining substance PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #188 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 390- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 ov 2 8, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Jan. 253 -| N Feb. 2019 | No. 399 Central Access Point 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children RESOURCES Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside Bethany House 557-2873 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 591-2246 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 Salvation Army 762-5660 St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 131 E. 12th Street 45202 1125 Bank Street 45214 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Shelter: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Shelterhouse 721-0643 2121 Vine Street 45202 411 Gest St. 45203 Prospect House 921-1613 1437 Walnut Street 45202 Starting Over 961-2256 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Parkway Center 661-4620 First Step Home 961-4663 Shelter: Youth 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Shelter: Family Interfaith Hospitality Network Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Joseph House (Veterans) 471-1100 1522 Republic Street 45202 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Seraph Ministries 549-0542 St. George Food Pantry 2554 Dennis St. 45219 751-8771 St. Anthony Center 1615 Republic St. Advocacy Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 241-2965 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Housing: 15 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Other Resources Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 215 E. 14th St. 45202 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Cancer Justice Network 404-3882 Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center (11-17 y/o) 859-491-8303 ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 799 Ann St. Newport, KY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Gabriela Godinez Feregrino, 961-0600 email streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Center for Respite Care 621-1868 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �16 N o v 211 - N o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Jan. - Jan. 25,2 02019 398 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2019 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 25-February 8, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Pg 3: Microsoft Loans $500 Million to Address the County’s Housing Crisis Serving Up Food and Literature Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Eat Plants, Save the Planet Pg 6: With Clubs and Churches, Berlin Becomes Home for Migrants Pg 7: Morocco’s Migrant Workers Struggle to Send Money Home Pg 8: Keep an Eye On… Pg 9: Feature Pg 10: Rescuing People at Sea is a Sailor’s responsibility Pg 11: Commissioner Driehaus, Councilman Mann, and County Issues IN 2019 HIV Services in Cincinnati Pg 12: Street Voice Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 25-February 8, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Ashley Archibald Zachary Headings Tharanga Yakupitiyage Riham Alkousaa Danielle Engolo Dr. Mark Mussman Bill Woods Birgit Müller Maurice Golsby Willa Denise Jones Zy’auna Crawford Kimore Gover Homeless Coalition Freeimage.com Gabriela Godinez Street Sense Inter Press Service Hinz & Kunzt Reuters Amanda Meek Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Amanda Meek Ashley Archibald Berlin Bill Woods Birgit Müller Cincinnati city council Danielle Engolo David Mann Dr. Mark Mussman Freeimage.com Gabriela Godinez Hinz & Kunzt HIV Homeless Coalition Inter Press Service Josh Spring Kimore Gover Maurice Golsby Microsoft Migrants Morocco Reuters Riham Alkousaa Street Sense Tharanga Yakupitiyage Willa Denise Jones Zachary Headings Zy’auna Crawford https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/b6c1d39aed3170cab3a223cd7c048479.pdf 12d2992b4384361ef69866f7a98977b1 PDF Text Text January 26th - February 8th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 3 (No. 374) advocating justice | building community Photo Essay: 2018 Women's March | 9 This Issue is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral INSIDE THIS ISSUE MLK and Beyond | 6 Investing In Our Future | 3 Monthly Biling Shenanigans At Water Works | 5 Left out In the Cold | 12 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 I LOCAL From The Director: Let’s Not Be Complicit JOSH SPRING hate it when people in popular seats of power fain care by offering small, shortsighted, often ineffective or even sometimes detrimental plans painted to be solutions to big systematic problems. This is especially bad when the folks offering these paintedpig plans sit in positions where they could actually make real change at the root of problems. It is common for good people to not call out this hypocrisy and ruse and instead look the other way and either act like they believe real care has been offered or convince themselves that it is better to accept almost anything offered than to demand truth and real systematic change. Acting as if hypocrisy and lying are not occurring when they really are supporting that hypocrisy and O Executive Director Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition lying. It also can harm both people and society that need the systematic changes, because it allows the same bad actions to continue because they now can receive a bit more pig-paint. We must call out this hypocrisy and this faux care as it occurs. We must not allow it to deceive and hold back real progress. Further, while we must continue to work hard to educate and empower and bring as many people as possible into the fighting for justice fold, we also must realize that we are not going to convince everybody to work for justice, nor do we need to. We have to mount enough justice-led people to complete the needed systematic changes. We must keep on pushing forward, not accepting the current systems, but instead changing them or replacing them. --------------------------------------- MIKE BROWN Contributing Writer agree with the Democrats’ decision. As things stand, the government is temporarily funded through Feb. 8. This continuing resolution extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through FY 2023, delays the medical device tax for two years, delays the “Cadillac” tax for two years, and suspends the health insurance tax for one year. It also ended a three-day government shutdown. There is a verbal commitment from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to bring a DACA bill to the Senate floor for a vote before Feb. 9. Previously McConnell had said he would not introduce legislation unless it had been first approved by President Trump. But Speaker Paul Ryan has made no promise to introduce DACA legislation in the House. And Democrats have made no promise to abstain from taking the government hostage again. There is no assurance of a fair outcome for Dreamers. At best, there is some assurance of a fair process. But this is no comfort for Dreamers, who feel abandoned and do not have the luxury of time while politicians squabble. What happened? After discussions between President Trump and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Democrats were reportedly willing to make a $20 billion down Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre DACA: A crisis for the Dreamers and the country n Jan. 19, the Democrats voted to take the government hostage by refusing to approve a stopgap measure for continued funding. It was gratifying to think Democrats had real power at a time when Republicans hold all the cards. For a moment, it seemed possible that things could be different. •That Republicans might be forced to join with Democrats to create a permanent solution for immigrant youth after the Trump administration ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA, on Sep. 5. •That the will of a majority of voters–both Democratic and Republican who back legal status for Dreamers–might be realized. •That a clean DACA solution might emerge without hawkish antiimmigrant measures being attached as the price for a deal. •That Dreamers might be free to pursue their dreams. But on Jan. 22, the Democrats voted to release the hostage, even though their demands had not been met. Did the Democrats surrender? Did they roll over, thereby missing an opportunity to implement important legislation, failing their base, and betraying Dreamers in the process? While many express their keen disappointment in the party, I find I J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 payment on a border wall, a symbol of immigration extremism, in exchange for an otherwise clean DACA bill. But conservative immigration hardliners–White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, and Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.)–overrode the proposal, claiming to better understand the president’s policy intentions. When Trump wanders from the path of “a race-based, religion-based immigration policy that prioritizes white Christians over people of color and Muslims, the hard-liners are quick to guide him back on course,” says Washington Post opinion writer Eugene Robinson in a column entitled, Trump is being used, and he doesn’t even know it. In the blame game, I agree with Catherine Rampell, opinion writer for the Washington Post. “It was always the #McConnellRyanShutdown.” “McConnell and Ryan, after all, not only lead the majority party. They also control the legislative agenda. They determine which bills come up for a vote and when. And they knew far in advance the drop-dead deadlines for keeping the government funded. They also knew the Democrats’ conditions for cooperating.” But, Rampell argues, McConnell and Ryan chose to do nothing. (Continued on page 6) THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Mike Brown, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Justin Jeffre, Dr. Claver L Pashi, Saad Ghosn, Jason Haap, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Dr. Mark Mussman, Steve Wuesthoff, Justin Jeffre, Dr. Claver L Pashi, Saad Ghosn, Patrick Cadieux, Michael Earl Patton, Key Beck, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 37 4 3 LOCAL Investing In Our Future | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 DR. MARK MUSSMAN T axes are investments. Every time you buy something and you pay sales tax, you are making an investment. In Hamilton County, our sales taxes go to fund Paul Brown Stadium, since we voted to approve that increase over 20 years ago. Keep that in mind when you are buying something in Hamilton County – that your money is going to help a stadium sit empty 350 days of the year. We also approved a sales tax increase a couple of years ago for Museum Center Staff Writer are generally taken right out of our paychecks. Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare – all funded directly through our paychecks. These are not entitlement programs, these are programs that we fund and ought to be around when we need them. We should be angry that they are raiding our savings to fund their massive tax cuts for the rich. We should be angry that we pay taxes and multinational corporations are getting away with not only paying nothing in taxes, but people the power to avoid highcost, for-profit, tax preparers. It also gives people resources in their own community, as many VITA sites are scattered throughout the region. Tax places, like Jackson-Hewitt, essentially use free tax prep resources – and these businesses are happy to give out these loans to lock them in to monthly payments. It’s a vicious cycle. Sometimes, then things seem too good to be true, they are certainly worth looking more deeply into. These for-profit tax preparers are too good to be true, when they promise that you’ll leave with your tax return. It’s a loan, not your return. In fact, if The Benefit Bank Self-Serve Page Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Taxes for a residential building in Over-the-Rhine Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman upgrades. Music Hall was left out of that deal, since it was possible to fund it through private donations. Our property taxes too are an investment into local services. The vast majority of property taxes go directly to the City of Cincinnati. Most of this money goes directly to the police department. The greatest costs we have as a city are tied up into police, and to some lesser extent, the fire department. Other miniscule investments made through property taxes include DDS (Developmental Disability Services), the library, the zoo, senior services, children services, indigent care, park district, and mental health levy. Could you imagine what we could do if we didn’t spend so much money on police and stadiums? We all pay property taxes – even if you rent your home, the taxes are included in your rent. We all pay sales taxes, as there’s no way to avoid those. And most of us pay income taxes as well. Local, State, and Federal taxes receiving all sorts of subsidies of our money. We should be angry that they are getting advantages when they take jobs overseas, and that they are getting richer by putting our hardearned money into offshore accounts as well. Wealth inequality is getting drastically worse, and if the 1980’s are any indication of what’s to come, things are going to get drastically worse for all of us. The oldest, continuously operating, anti-poverty program in the United States is tied into the tax program. It is called the VITA Program and it utilizes regular people, like you and me, to staff community locations that will do your taxes for free. VITA has a long history in Cincinnati, working under a partnership between Legal Aid and United Way. VITA sites are places where you can go and have someone, who has been trained in all things income taxes, complete your taxes for you. This is a program that gives “Breakdown Stereotypes” Supports offered through the Benefit Bank The Benefit Bank offers Veteran Services Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman like Benefit Bank, VITA, or Turbo Tax free, and charge you for them. Not only do they charge you, they don’t actually give you your refund, they give you a high interest loan for the value of your refund. When your refund doesn’t come in, you are saddled with this high interest loan to be repaid. This is how they make their money – providing high interest loans on what you think is your refund. Many low-income Cincinnatians, who think they are getting their taxes done, are actually taking out a loan that they will never be able to repay you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, they won’t release your return until February 27th, at the earliest. Since tax filing won’t actually begin until January 29th, anyone making promises right now, is certainly setting you up for a loan. One program that is not too good to be true, but is actually good, is the Benefit Bank. This is an online self-filing system that I’ve used for over a decade to do my taxes at TheBenefitBank.org. I have been using the Benefit Bank every (Continued on page 5) “Eradicate Misinformation” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community. To schedule a speaker, contact Mark Mussman at (513) 421.7803 x14 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 �LOCAL Monthly Billing Shenanigans at Water Works No. 37 4 | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 W ith some fanfare the Greater Cincinnati Water Works is going from quarterly billing to monthly billing. Why monthly billing? This exact question is answered at the City of Cincinnati’s webpage (www.cincinnati-oh. gov/water/): “Our customers, as well as City Council and County Commissioners have requested monthly billing for some time. In keeping with what is best for our customers and stakeholders, a monthly billing project was kicked off in early 2017.” So now you know that monthly billing is not only better, it is best for you. Furthermore, you were asking for monthly billing all along. You are not alone if you don’t remember asking for monthly billing – I don’t remember asking for it, either. I do remember sneaky charges in the billing and while monthly billing may make each bill smaller, it does not make the yearly total any less. In fact, there are increases now and future increases will be easier to hide with monthly billing. First, there is an increase in the base water charge once adjusted for it not being monthly. I calculate the base rate to have been $18.88 for a 91-day quarter in 2017. (I had to calculate this because none of my bills were for an actual 91-day quarter.) The new monthly water base charge will be $6.50. Multiply that by 3 months in a quarter to get $19.50. So there is an increase in the base charge alone. Second, there is an increase in water rates of 3.75% according to the city’s website, to $2.69 per hundred cubic feet (ccf). I looked at my last 3 bills and using each one I calculated the old rate to be $2.58 per ccf. All 3 bills had the same rate. This means the increase is really 4.26%. That number is if I use $2.58 as the base, which is the proper way to do it. A somewhat shady way to calculate the increase is to use a higher base such as the number after the increase, but even if I use $2.69 the increase is 4.09%. I can’t explain the discrepancy but it is just one more example of why customers need to be vigilant. Third, there is the matter of changing the minimum from a quarterly minimum to a monthly one. This pertains to the sewage charge where you will be charged for at least 300 cubic feet of usage in a month even if you used much less (that is, in fact, often my case). The old DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 3) year for my own taxes, as well as others, and I highly recommend it if you make less than $65,000 / year. It takes me less than 30 minutes to do my taxes, and it’s simple to use. The great thing about it is that 5 MICHAEL EARL PATTON Contributing Writer quarterly minimum was 900 cubic feet so at first glance this might look like the change would have no effect. Wrong. Think of your checking account and the difference between having to keep a minimum balance and an average minimum balance for the period (normally a month). I have had both types in the past and I much prefer the account where I only need an average minimum balance. With that type I can have a very low balance, maybe even just a few dollars, but I won’t be charged system you would be charged for 900 cubic feet because that is the minimum quarterly charge. Under the new system you would be charged for 300 cubic feet the first month, 300 the second, and 400 the third for a total of 1000 cubic feet. The amount over the minimum is called the commodity charge and is $5.879 per ccf. This may not seem like much to many people, but why should it be there at all? Keep in mind that this charge affects many older people on fixed incomes – people without Is there a flush fund happening in the city? Credit: Steve Wuesthoff a fee if the average balance over the month is above the threshold. And that generally happens with the next deposit. Of course I would prefer to not to have to worry about keeping any balance as long as it doesn’t go below zero, but that is often not a choice. Something similar is going to happen here with the change to monthly billing. Suppose for example the usage during a 3 month period is a total of 850 cubic feet arising from 250 ccf the first month, 200 the second, and 400 the third. Under the quarterly children but still living in their houses. I myself, although I am not living on a fixed income, often use far less than the minimum. And it is an artificial charge. The county commissioners, who approve the sewage rates, could do a base charge plus a charge for usage. After all, this is how the gas, electric, and water utilities do it, but they chose this way. I had asked about this in the past and the response I got was that the commissioners did not think this affected many people. There was no substantiation provided. I pointed out you can do your FAFSA, apply for food stamps, and Medicaid, directly through Benefit Bank, using your tax information. Since I’ve been using it for the past 15 years, all my data is already in the system, and I can pull up any tax document that I may have used over the years. It is possibly the best tool out there for those of us with low incomes who may need assistance in some way. There are certain filers that may not be able to use Benefit Bank, but it will lead you through a quick process to figure that out. In general, if you have a couple W2’s, W9’s, and student loan interest, you THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED that it would be easy to do a computer search to see how many customers were charged for 900 cubic feet (the old quarterly minimum charge) and yet used less. I never heard back. In other words, they didn’t know and they don’t care. If those on fixed income are paying for more than what they are using, this means that the extra money is being used to help pay for those who can afford it. It is also a disincentive for people like me to conserve more water (I could, for example, get a more efficient toilet). And the monthly system only makes things worse. There are other expenses, too, such as more stamps and checks being used to mail in the bill payments for those who still do it that way. With some payment methods there may be a charge for each transaction, and now the number of times has gone up three-fold. And more time is spent balancing and checking the account. I do want to mention one positive and that is that if there is a water leak on the house side of the meter, it will show up quicker on a monthly bill than a quarterly one. It is relatively rare but it does happen. My suggestion is that if the water works is monitoring our usage anyways, they could send out a notice if there is a suspicious increase. It could be by mail, automated calling, or e-mail. A quick review here: the base water charge is going up, the commodity charge is going up (and more than what is claimed), more people will be trapped by the minimum sewage charges, and more time and expense will be involved in paying the 3-fold number of bills and reviewing charges. All this makes one wonder if the purpose is to hide the magnitude of future increases. A $15 dollar a month increase may not be as noticeable as a $45 dollar quarterly increase. No real difference, but I suspect that there is a threshold amount which causes us to pay more attention. Speaking of diminishing the psychological impact of increases, I wonder what’s next – maybe monthly property tax bills? --------------------------------------- should use the Benefit Bank, rather than pay someone to do your taxes. Keeping the money in your pocket is a tax investment into your self – the most important investment of them all. --------------------------------------- �6 LOCAL J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 Community Issues Forum kicks off JUSTIN JEFFRE T he 2018 Community Issues Forum kicked off at Christ Church Cathedral with Councilmember (and former Vice Mayor) David Mann. The focus was on giving an update on the issues confront Cincinnati’s City government. When asked about his position on the .3% of the earnings tax that goes towards Metro if there’s a transit sales tax levy Mann said, “I suspect that to make the transit sales tax levy attractive we’ll have to reduce the earnings tax. My personal position would be to give back .2% and keep .1% to help with some of the operating issues and challenges in the budget.” He noted that there’s opposition to the earnings tax in the business community. Adding, “If we want the city to be a quality city, a world class city, we have to talk about more revenues, as unpleasant as that is.” Mann said that one of the things they talked about on the campaign trail and need to bring about now was the need for better civic engagement. “We’ve had a lot of instances this last term where there would be projects MIKE BROWN (Continued from page 2) Worse than nothing, they were totally irrelevant. Worse than totally irrelevant, they were “actively destructive.” But Democrats did the right thing, I believe. First, continuing the shutdown held no assurance of a good legislative outcome. And the overall political costs and benefits were also unclear. Second, while the political leverage of a government shutdown remains, the urgency of a DACA fix by March 5 has passed. March 5 was the date when the Trump administration would no longer accept DACA applications. But a federal district court decision on Jan. 9 combined with subsequent decisions by the U.S. Department of Justice have given DACA a temporary O Streetvibes Editor of poor community engagement. “If we’re going to get passed paying lip service to community engagement we have to set up some procedures that they’re required to follow and be willing to say no if they don’t.” When it comes to the budget problems one of the culprits are the rising costs of health care for city employees and dwindling resources from federal and state governments. Mann also touched on the opioid epidemic saying how the book Dreamland describes how we became ground zero for the current crisis. The next forum takes place February 1st 12pm on the third floor of Christ Church Cathedral on 4th street. For more information go to airinc.org. David Mann discusses Cincinnati's City government Credit: Justin Jeffre that came through where not only were the community council’s opposed, but they said, you didn’t involve us. We need to have a voice along the way.” He said he reintroduced a motion for the development department to develop some procedures to make sure some engagement takes place. He gave the Children’s Hospital expansion and a development at Liberty and Race Street as examples reprieve into the summer and perhaps later depending on actions by the U.S. Supreme Court. Third, any DACA legislation that manages to get through the House and the Senate must ultimately be signed by the president, whose bargaining style makes people across the table feel like they’re “negotiating with jello,” according to Schumer. “It’s next to impossible. As soon as you take one step forward, the hard-right forces the president three steps back,” Schumer said. If the DACA legislation is the product of publicly forcing the president and his party into a corner, then what are the chances he will sign under such duress? The president is, in the words of novelist Philip Roth, “a massive fraud…devoid of everything but the hollow ideology of a megalomaniac.” There is no reason to think a megalomaniac could be coerced to sign. Fourth, government shutdowns have a history of hurting the hostage-taking party more than their opponents. Do current circumstances suggest a different outcome? I don’t think so. Fifth, it would be bad for American politics in the long-run if Democrats–the party that believes in government–adopted the strategies of obstructionists who want to shrink government and eventually drown it in a bathtub, in the infamous locution of anti-tax conservative Grover Norquist. “The central political problem in American life, for years now, has been that the Republican Party is a dysfunctional institution that has abandoned principles of decent governance in order to please an ever more extreme base,” argues Ezra Klein, the editor-at-large and founder The MLK March and Beyond n Monday 16th hundreds gathered at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center then marched to Fountain Square before making its way to the Taft Theater for the annual MLK program commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy. It was the 40th MLK Coalition march. Black Lives Matter Cincinnati held its own event at the Main Library. Their program focused on how Dr. King’s legacy has largely been white washed. While most people have heard King’s JUSTIN JEFFRE Streetvibes Editor “I Have a Dream” but King lived and worked for years after that and he became more radical in his later years. Many people don’t know that King gave an anti-war speech called “Beyond Vietnam” one year before to the day of his assassination. He was denounced by newspapers and magazines across the nation for giving the speech. The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a headline March 30th of that year saying King had, “Crossed the line” and was no longer useful to the civil rights movement. In his final months he was organizing a Poor People’s movement to go to Washington D.C. in order to demand real gains for the poor. Speakers spoke about gentrification, police brutality, exploitation, white supremacy, immigration, internationalism and the need for mass mobilization. You can find more information and watch the video of the event on the Black Lives Matter Streetvibes Contributor, Kim Green walks in the Martin Luther King Day March. Credit: Daulton King THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED of Vox. “But it would be doubly bad if their outrageous behavior drives Democrats to use the same tactics in response.” “When highly committed parties strongly believe [in] things that they cannot achieve democratically, they don’t give up on their beliefs– they give up on democracy,” says David Frum, author, conservator editor at The Atlantic, and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. While Republicans as a party have not yet given up on democracy, he says, “for some people on the right, they’re discovering they care about the culture wars more than they care about a constitutional democracy.” [To contact Mike Brown email at mbrown.c4ad@gmail.com. To read more go to c4ad.wordpress.com] (Continued on page 12) Cincinnati Facebook page. �7 JUBILEE CAMPAIGN Building a Jubilee Economy: the J-RAB, INC. Business and Service Coordination Center No. 37 4 | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 DR. CLAVER L PASHI, PhD Contributing Writer [Introduction by Trenton Davis: Part of the Jubilee Dream involves imagining a new economy. In forgiving the debts of our neighbors, reclaiming of the land by its rightful owners, and identifying the underlying cooperative economy that holds our communities together, we open the possibilities to a new ‘good’ life that is more accessible and equitable to all. However, in the United States, this dream comes with a price tag and a lot of red tape.] Our system restricts economic freedom- it’s incredibly difficult to start a business as a low-income entrepreneur. Often, our neighbors have ideas and talents that are valuable, even if they are ‘small’. We mustn’t always consider scale and funding rounds. We mustn’t always place value in profitability; we should, instead shift our mindset to that which invests in reclaiming our land and a sense of place. In business, this practice of sustainability goes by many names- micro-business, social enterprise, place-based investment, asset-based community development. J-RAB, INC.’s Business and Service Coordination Center is actively working to assist in building residents’ capacities so they can take their economic development into their own hands. The Jurisdiction-wide Resident Advisory Board (J-RAB), a public housing, resident driven and owned organization, actively works in partnership with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), an asset management organization serving individuals who Dr. Claver L. Pashi have made a choice to live in public housing. There are approximately 11,000 public housing residents residing in 23 public housing developments situated in the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. This partnership combines the vast resources of CMHA with talents and commitment of local stakeholders. At its 2nd Annual Resident Empowerment Conference held in June 2016, J-RAB, INC. showcased its Business and Service Coordination Center (BSCC), which had just opened its doors in May 2016. J-RAB, INC. has developed a local small BSCC to assist Resident Owned Businesses to improve their capacity and abilities to take advantage of missed HUD Section 3 employment and contracting opportunities. The BSCC facility is designed by the residents and for the residents. It is a social entrepreneurship business facility developed to nurture the needs of starting and developing Resident Owned Businesses (ROBs), and low to very low-income entrepreneurs, to be able to effectively compete for Section 3 sanctioned Housing Authority, City and County contract opportunities and projects. This model, through its staff, network of partners, and online resources, also facilitates capacity building training for public housing residents and low to very low-income individuals, to prepare them to be ready to access contracting, subcontracting, and training opportunities generated through HUD Section 3 regulations (primarily) and other The 2018 Women’s March O n January 20th around 10,000 people gathered just south of the Underground Railroad Freedom Center for the 2018 Women’s March. Hundreds of thousands gathered across the nation to mark the anniversary of last year’s historic Women’s March protesting President Trump’s inauguration. Last year’s march in Cincinnati had an estimated 14,000 people. This year an estimated 200,000 gathered in New York city alone. JUSTIN JEFFRE Streetvibes Editor — but everyone does have a voice.” The Cincinnati march was once again organized by United We Stand and they used the theme “Hear Our Vote”. Black Lives Matter Cincinnati asked that they change the theme to “Hear Our Voices” which got a lot of attention on social media. BLMC put out a statement saying, “Everyone in the United States does not have a vote — whether because of immigration status, age, prior criminal convictions, access to official identification, transportation issues THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED income generating opportunities (secondarily). The BSCC further offers its public housing resident members, and low to very low-income entrepreneurs, access to various services of general management skills, marketing, accounting, legal, banking, and much more at an affordable cost. The small businesses served through the BSCC have shown and exhibited a high level of motivation and potential for growth. We continue to see these small businesses aligned with mainly four industry categories where there are high levels of potential growth for them in the community. These categories include: •Construction Services •Janitorial & Landscaping •Professional Services such as accountants, architects, advertising services, graphic designers, data processing, etc. •Resident Management Development J-RAB strongly believes that the support provided by public housing residents, its network of professional providers, and CMHA, has helped to create a successful and sustainable environment for potentially investing in the skills, talents and gifts that are so much embedded in these public housing developments/ communities. J-RAB INC is in the business of promoting a strong partnership with the residents, with CMHA, and with the community and other partners within the city of Cincinnati. Such partnerships aim at allowing J-RAB to empower, advocate, inform, support and educate all residents who have made a choice to live in public housing. As one resident said: “Living in substandard public housing does not mean we have substandard education” (Ms. Luwana Oglesby, Stanley Rowe Towers B, and President of the Resident Council). This says it all. There are very talented individuals who have made a choice to live in public housing. --------------------------------------- (Continued on page 12) Women marched through the streets to show solidarity Credit: Justin Jeffre �RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Called by his Christian Evangelical Faith Reverend Troy Jackson Lives with Mercy & Compassion, and Fights Systemic Injustice 8 J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 "How can one read the 66 books of the Christian Bible and not have a sense of the Christian mission in the world, which is not only what happens to someone after death, but also on this earth," says Reverend Troy Jackson, to which he adds: "In his Lord's prayer, Jesus said: 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,' pointing specifically to an earthly mandate for His followers." In fact, for Jackson, an Evangelical minister, God's call is not only for mercy and compassion for the afterlife but also, and as importantly, for justice and peace on this earth, achieved by recognizing and fighting the systemic causes that prevent their being. Growing up, Jackson at age six was sent to a white Evangelical church where he developed a discipline at reading regularly the Bible, a routine he has kept ever since. In his senior year of high school and part of a youth group event, he discovered the religiouslybased video series "You can make a difference" by Tony Campola, an Evangelical theologist. Struck by their strong social justice message, he was pleased to find that it resonated very well with his own biblical understanding. At age17 traveling to Haiti to do service work, part of a group his church connected him to, he was shocked by the massive poverty he SAAD GHOSN Contributing Writer encountered there. "Enlightened by Tony Campola's now familiar analysis, I quickly realized that poverty in Haiti was systemic in nature," Jackson says. "Major baseball leagues had their baseballs fabricated there and paid workers only $1 an hour. It was increasingly obvious to me that global inequity was shaping the world." From that time on Jackson became very animated about the importance of justice for the poor, the outcast, the immigrant, the widow and orphan, for racial and all other kinds of justice, convinced they were part of God's scheme and finding references to them in his readings of the sacred scriptures. Attending Franklin College in Indiana, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in religion, philosophy, and Spanish. He served also for a while as the president of its intervarsity Christian fellowship and facilitated a "miss a meal, make a difference" plan whereas students willingly skipped a meal and gave their saved money to fight world hunger. Having wanted from a very young age to become a minister, "wanting to have some impact on eternity," as he says, Jackson then joined Princeton Theological Seminary and graduated with a Master's degree in Divinity. What Is EVANGELICALISM Evangelicalism or Evangelical Christianity, is a worldwide, trans-denominational movement within Protestant Christianity, the origins of which are traced back to early 18th century, with various theological streams contributing to its foundation. According to the National Association of Evangelicals, a large network of American Evangelical churches, Evangelicals, in addition to a Trinitarian view of God, share the following beliefs: • Conversionism: the need for lives to be transformed through a “born-again” experience and a lifelong process of following Jesus • Activism: the expression and demonstration of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts • Biblicism: the high regard for and obedience to the Bible as the ultimate authority • Crucicentrism: the stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as making possible the redemption of humanity Today, Evangelicals are found across many Protestant branches, as well as in various denominations not part of a specific branch. The movement gained great momentum during the 18th and 19th centuries in both the UK and the USA; and today, the Americas, Africa, and Asia are home to the majority of its members. Worldwide, Evangelicals are estimated at 550 million, their largest concentration being in the United States, where they form a quarter of the population, are politically important and based mostly in the Bible Belt. Evangelicalism, a major part of popular Protestantism, is among the most dynamic religious movements in the contemporary world, alongside Islam. While on the rise globally, the developing world is particularly influenced by its spread. During his study years he became increasingly exposed to the issue of racism and the injustices of the system. At the end of his 1st year in seminary, for instance, the Rodney King verdict came out absolving the police officers from his killing, and triggered, as a result, major racial riots in South L.A. Jackson, very affected by the situation, was at the same time very surprised to see the majority of white students at the Seminary not Reverend Troy Jackson reacting as if not concerned, sitting on the sideline, indifferent. Part of his field education then was also time spent in Plainfield and Camden, NJ, communities involved in racial unrest in the 60's, which still were experiencing racial tension and a growing immigrant population. "In my Evangelical church I had heard about challenges around the globe but almost never about American racism or poverty in America," he states. "White privilege refuses to acknowledge racism and behaves as if it did not exist. Elie  Wiesel,  the Holocaust survivor  and Nobel Peace Laureate, once said: 'The opposite of love is not hate but indifference' and we, white Evangelicals, are guilty of massive indifference when it comes to racism." After Seminary, Jackson moved to Cincinnati and joined the University Christian Church (UCC) where he was ordained minister and where he served as Senior Pastor for 19 years. During these years he was involved in an immigration effort to prevent the deportation of Bernard Pastor, the 18-year-old Dreamer, who, in 2010, was held in custody by the Springdale Police Department because he was unable to produce a driver's license after a fender-bender. Pastor had been in the US since the age of 3 but his parents had no asylum status. Jackson was also involved in passing a set of ordinances in City Council providing opportunities for returning prisoners to get service jobs in the city. He also worked as a faith outreach coordinator on the campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5, issue 2 on the 2011 ballot, which would have restricted Ohio's 400,000 Credit: Saad Ghosn public workers' ability to  strike  and collectively bargain for wages, health insurance and pensions. At the same time as his ministry at UCC, Jackson pursued his education and obtained a Master's then a doctorate degree in US history working specifically on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project. This culminated in the 2008 publication of his book  Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader,  which explores the critical role the grassroots Montgomery Movement played in the development of MLK. Spending time discovering, analyzing and reminiscing on MLK's writings and on his life, further determined Jackson to become himself more involved in grassroot activities, in community organizing and coordinating, in local work building power with regular everyday people, addressing economic and racial injustices wherever they were. He decided then to leave his church and 4 years ago joined the Amos Project as its Executive Director. (Continued on page 12) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 37 4 PHOTO ESSAY The 2018 Women’s March - Cincinnati, Ohio January 20, 2018 | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 PATRICK CADIEUX Contributing Photographer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 �10 LOCAL J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 January 26 - February 17, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �11 OPINION 34th Annual Pro-Life Procession No. 37 4 | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 MICHAEL EARL PATTON Besides the second Cincinnati Women’s March there was another annual march on the same day, much smaller, but one that has been taking place for 34 years. This was the 34th Annual Pro-Life Rosary Contributing Writer annual Pro-Life Processions has been based on the date that the court’s decision was published: January 22, 1973. Obviously the close proximity in dates was not planned. and walk to Fountain Square. The speeches at the beginning are short since the focus is on the praying (there are more speeches at the end, but most people don’t stay around for them). The prayers are those of the Pro-Life Procession ended at Fountain Square Pro-Life Procession chanted the rosary as they walked through downtown Credit: Michael Earl Patton Credit: Key Beck Procession, which takes place on a Saturday around this time because this is the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion. I find it interesting the two marches had been organized in reaction to decisions with which the respective participants strongly disagreed. One was the U.S. Supreme Court decision mentioned above and the other was the inauguration of Donald Trump on last January 20. The timing for the There is one other thing to note about this period of the year -- this is when, on average, the coldest part of winter occurs. I have prayed with my rosary in this procession several times over the years, as I did this year. This year the weather was great (for the middle of winter). It has been near zero some years and I could feel the cold come up through the soles of my boots. Still, every year there have been several hundred people who show up in front of City Hall and pray rosary and for different intentions such as for civil authorities. It may surprise some to find out how openended and affirming the prayers are. Example: “Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and Secular Morality O may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.” Abortion itself is not mentioned in any of the prayers, although several signs carried in the procession did. More information on what the actual rosary prayers are can be found in many places so I won’t take the space here except to note that praying the rosary is primarily a Catholic practice. But there is one ne of my favorite YouTube shows is The Atheist Experience - broadcast live from Austin, Texas every Sunday evening. Sponsored by The Atheist Community of Austin, a local non-profit promoting the separation of religion and government as well as the exploration of positive atheist culture, the show follows a call-in format with a preference for theistic callers. The hosts - my favorite of which is a guy named Matt Dillahunty - take a pretty straightforward tact: tell us what you believe, and why you think your belief is warranted. One of the most popular topics theists like to explore with the hosts is whether there can be a basis for morality without the existence of a god. With how often this issue gets raised, it really strikes me that a large portion of the population seems unaware of how to reach objectively moral conclusions without being told what to do by a supernatural agent. Many will be familiar with some version of what's called Euthyphro's dilemma - named after a character in Plato's book by the same name. In that story, Euthyphro's discussion with Socrates is famously summarized in this question: Is it pious because the gods love it, or do the gods love it because it is pious? Variations on JASON HAAP Contributing Writer this theme abound, including one specifically geared at morality: are moral acts good because God says so, or does God say acts are moral because they are good? Many theists engage intellectual acrobatics to avoid Exodus 21 - the chapter where God tells Moses what to tell the Israelites about rules for slavery. Here are two summarized bullet points from God's rules: 1) Hebrew slaves shall serve for six years, and in the seventh they shall go free. But if, during the period of enslavement, the slave gets a wife and children, the wife and children shall remain the master's property. If the slave does not want to be separated from his family, he can have a hole put in his ear and then remain a slave. This is a great loophole for how to keep Hebrew male slaves for life! 2) If you strike your slave with a rod, killing him, the slave's death shall be avenged. But, if he survives for a couple days and then dies, the violent and murderous slave master is clear and free. I think slavery is immoral, and if your god says otherwise, then I think your god is immoral. That's because my sense of morality is not related to following instructions from an authority figure - supernatural or otherwise. On The Atheist Experience, Dillahunty frequently talks about "well-being" as a measuring stick for objective secular morality. There are some objective truths about human well-being we can derive logically, such as the fact that pleasure is generally preferable to pain, health is generally preferable to sickness, life is generally preferable to death, and so on. (Note the use of the word "generally." It could very well be that some masochist actually wants to experience pain, but that is a separate matter entirely...) If we can agree that the goal of human society is to promote human well-being, then certain key facts become objectively obvious. For example, most of us know we do not want to be owned as someone else's property. It diminishes our well-being. As such, we can call it "immoral." Some may try to argue that slavery increases the well-being of the slave-master class, but on what basis can we determine whether a person should or should not be owned as property? A system of human rights also promotes human well-being, and any system which purports to remove those rights from some and not others is inconsistent and therefore immoral. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED thing that bothers me and I do want to touch on it here. Sometimes I hear others try to pigeonhole us by saying that we believe such-and-such because the Catholic Church says so. I heard a reporter say this recently on NPR, for example. Well, there is much more to it than this. My faith and my beliefs inform each other. All our lives matter, including those of the unborn. You do not have to be Catholic to believe that. This thinking works in tons of circumstances. Living is generally preferable to death. Human wellbeing is not promoted through killing a bunch of people. As such, murder is immoral. Pleasure is generally preferable to pain. Human well-being is not promoted through bullying children and causing psychological torment. As such, bullying is immoral. It is the case that the JudeoChristian-Muslim God has issued proclamations which comport with this thinking, but His proclamations do not always comport (as with the slavery example above). I'm not sure human well-being is diminished if people use "the Lord's name in vain," despite what the so-called "Ten Commandments" state. More importantly, secular morality teaches people to be critical thinkers in the moral arena, and not blind followers of an authority figure. If anyone's god said we need to start murdering newborn babies, that god is a disgusting monster, and I hope no one would have the desire to follow such monstrous commands. Whatever your take on supernatural claims, secular humanism includes a moral system that promotes objective human well-being without all the extra baggage of supernatural deities with weird ideas - like piercing a hole in a slaves ear so he can continue to be owned as property and not be split from his family. �12 O LOCAL Left out in the cold: How we can eradicate homelessness n January 17th the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition a community forum in the Tower Room of the Downtown Public Library to discuss the crisis of homelessness in Cincinnati. We spoke about the causes of homelessness, dispelled some of the myths, and reflected on how to get involved and be a part of the solution. Around 65 people attended. Josh Spring, Executive Director, and Dr. Mark Mussman, Education Director, talked about public policy changes that happened in the JUSTIN JEFFRE (Continued from page 6) J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 JUSTIN JEFFRE Streetvibes Editor 1980s that created the modern face of homelessness, families. Under President Ronald Reagan there were cuts to funding for housing and along with increasing stagnation in the minimum wage a lack of affordable housing and jobs that pay a living wage are the primary causes of homelessness despite the stereotypes some people think of. Since that time we’ve seen even more affordable housing because of housing policies that subsidize gentrification and displacement. In recent years the city, along with 3CDC have put these policies into overdrive. There currently is a shortage of 40,000 units of affordable housing in Hamilton County. The Homeless Coalition has been working with city council in recent years to restore funding for human services which traditionally has been at least 1.5% of the city’s budget. Over the last decade or more we saw more cuts every budget season to these funds until the last 3 years. The last council had moved funding in the right direction, but we must continue to be engaged to continue this positive momentum. We’ve also been working on the creation of an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The work is ongoing and we encourage you to contact your representatives to support these initiatives. If you’re interested in booking a speaker from our Speaker’s Bureau, please contact Dr. Mark Mussman at markmussman@cincihomeles.org. To learn more go to cincihomeless. org. Particpants were able to take part in small group breakout sessions to discuss issues with each other Credit: Justin Jeffre JUSTIN JEFFRE (Continued from page 7) BLMC held its own event later that day at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center which was well attended. Mona Jenkins, an organizer with BLMC said, “You want to vote, go SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) "Amos is a justice organization that is multifaith," states Jackson. "Our main focus is to build power with people affected by injustice in order to bring a change; and being multifaith enhances our work and makes it stronger." Under his leadership, Amos is growing, with new congregations involved, and is moving deeper into evangelical justice-based work. Some of the issues addressed since have been, for instance, the Cincinnati Preschool Promise that aimed at insuring paid pre-schooling for every 3- and 4-year-old child in the city. Pairing with CPS, the proposal was presented to the community as part of issue 44 on the November 2016 ballot and was widely passed. Amos has also been very involved at fighting mass incarceration, mostly of people of color and at undoing the detrimental effects of the war on drugs. It has also been concerned with wages and work conditions in the service sector vote. You want to march, march. But there are some things we’re not going to bend on. It was not about women today. Women were being used as a front for voting for the Democratic Party. That’s very hurtful.” At the rally before the march began speakers spoke about topics such as the privatization of public schools, immigration reform, raising the minimum wage, health care, housing and racial injustice. There was dancing, chanting and lots of signs. The march went up Race Street and made its way back towards the Banks via Vine Street. I walked ahead of the march to try to get some photos starting at 4th Street. I stayed in the same spot for nearly 15 minutes before I could begin to see the end of march approaching. and in the healthcare industry where positions are mostly filled by women of color, and where the average wage is $9/hour, resulting often in child poverty. Right now, its emphasis is on collecting signatures in favor of an Ohio wide 2018 ballot initiative or a constitutional amendment to retroactively make class 4 and 5 felonies for drug possession, misdemeanors. This change will result in a lower prison population, in the absence of felony mention on records, in increased opportunities for housing, jobs, public support, family reunion, and in saving the State, at the same time, $100 Million every budget cycle, dollars that could be invested in drug prevention, drug treatment, childhood recovery. Amos recently put together an agenda for the years to come titled "Forward Together" in which economic and racial justice are forefront. Working with Crossroads, Jackson has been involved for the past 2 years with a program called "Undivided" which offers participants a 6-week experience around racial reconciliation. Including lectures, small group discussions, interactive activities, the program looks at history, at the role of empathy versus sympathy, at systemic and structural issues, at personal culpabilities... and moves those engaged at living an "undivided" life. "My faith is very important to me at the personal level," says Jackson, "but it is not a personal piety faith alone. Evangelical beliefs have at their core that one influences the world, that one has a responsibility in the world... These beliefs are mine and are rooted in the scriptures." After leaving UCC Jackson joined for 4 years the diverse People church, and this year, in the wake of the Trump election, the predominantly African American New Prospect Baptist church, led by Reverend Damon Lynch III. "I wanted a faith experience more justice-oriented when it came to teaching and preaching," he says. "I also wanted to be part of a black congregation." Jackson likes to quote the revolutionary sermon of MLK, The one sided approach of the Good Samaritain, in which MLK expands upon the Samaritan’s good, calling attention to the need, in addition to mercy, for deeper actions to uproot from systems the evil responsible for the victims along the road. "We need to understand the reason for injustice which is baked in the system," he says. "If we limit ourselves to just charity without asking the why of the problem and trying to remedy it, we may be working in the vested interest of those in power, and indirectly perpetuating the problem." Jackson's relation to God and his commitment to a Christian community trigger his passion for justice and serve as his call. He is working now at bringing people of different faiths into the mix of justice, at addressing inequities wherever they are, at finding their root causes and at empowering people at solving them. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- �No. 37 4 | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 CRYING RAIN 13 STREET VOICE Looking out the window The rain is falling hard, and fast A NEW PRESIDENTIAL WORD Did you and your family feel terribly cheated Trying to figure out Trump's "expletive deleted?" There are intervals of thunder Slashing ever so often "Shithole" is the word that The Donald used. And then it suddenly stops Haitians and Africans now feel quite abused. Until the next thunder slash appears I raise an issue that makes me sad and tired. It lets you know that God is, near Presidential dignity has certainly expired. So take heed Listen to his might BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Because thunder and rain, Will, be coming ALL LIVES MATTER AFTER ALL I BEEN THROUGH BEING HOMELESS I LIVE TO BE A PART OF HISTORY KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer TO LIVE TO SEE A BLACK PRESIDENT AND A WHITE WOMEN NOMINATED WHAT'S THE MYSTERY IT SEEMS LIKE GOD HAS A PLAN FOR PEOPLE TO COME TOGETHER AND BE AT PEACE AND KNOW WE ALL LIVE AND WE ALL DIE SO WHY THE RACISM DOESN'T CEASE ALL OF A SUDDEN IT MATTERS WHAT COLOR, RELGION AND WHAT CREED YOU ARE THINGS MATTER TODAY WHETHER YOU WORK OR FIND A PLACE TO LIVE SO WHO'S SCARED I BELEIVE WE AS A HUMAN RACE TEACH OUR CHILDREN WHAT TO BELEIVE IN AND HOW I BELEIVE IF WE DON’T SHOW OUR CHILDREN LOVE WITH UNDERSTANDING WE DEAD NOW ALL LIVES MATTER KNOWING THAT ALL LIVES END, LIFE BEING SO SHORT WHAT IS THE FIGHT LET PEOPLE BE BLESSED IN WHO THEY ARE RICH OR POOR JUST GIVE RESPECT THAT'S RIGHT SO WHETHER YOU SUPPORT THE HOMELESS OR NOT JUST PRAY IT WON’T BE YOU SOMEDAY SITUATIONS MAKING CHANGES GOOD SOME BAD CHANGING ONE’S LIFE ALL LIFE MATTERS I SAY WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 143 Across Down 1. Talon 1. Refrain 5. A chance to do something 2. Very generous 9. Egg-shaped 3. Ornamental shrub 14. Fog 4. Fountainhead 15. A long walk 5. Surprise greatly 16. Jewelled headdress 6. Above 17. Ellipse 7. Gumbo 18. Fiend 19. Emlem of a clan or tribe 20. A small stream 21. Personal property 23. Employ 24. Supplement with great effort, ___ out 25. Typo 29. Cloak used to cover head and shoulders 31. Uncommon 33. Simian 34. Type of picture puzzle 36. A regular customer 39. Rain, snow, hail or sleet 42. Rough shelter 43. Person who makes a gift of property 44. Distant but within sight 45. Layer 47. Requirements 51. Native or of a certain region 54. Draw 56. On the sheltered side 57. Meat from a deer 59. Raise 60. Enthusiastic approval 63. Part of the jaw 64. Way out J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 8. Move unsteadily 9. Freshwater mammal 10. Stringed instrument 11. Cereal grass 12. Anger 13. Water barrier 22. Surgical instrument 24. Choose by a vote 26. Edible tuberous root 27. Au fait with 28. Males 30. Small bird 32. Stage whisper SODOKU PUZZLE NO 273 - MEDIUM 35. Vitamin of the B complex 37. Expiate 38. Become fatigued 39. Drudge 40. South African monetary unit 41. Usually herbivorous land turtle 42. Caustic solution 46. Frozen spear of water 48. Panacea 49. Sully 50. Small sofa 52. Dodge 65. Usher 53. Measuring instrument 66. Misplace 55. Located inward 67. Set of related records 58. Display 68. Command 59. Remaining 69. Pitcher 60. Self 70. Large woody plant 61. Mongrel 62. Movable cover PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 373 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 142 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 272- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 37 4 RESOURCES | J a n 2 6- F e b 8 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 557-2873 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 Salvation Army 762-5660 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 411 Gest St. 45203 241-5525 Parkway Center 661-4620 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 241-1064 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1125 Bank Street 45214 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 2121 Vine Street 45202 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network Housing: First Step Home 761-1480 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 Talbert House Tender Mercies 221-HELP 721-8666 Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 961-4555 381-1954 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 27 W. 12th Street 45202 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA VA Homeless Food/Clothing 421-0065 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 351-0422 381-6672 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy 977-6800 859-572-6226 First Lutheran Church 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry AA Hotline CCAT 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing 114 W. 14th Street 45202 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 471-1100 Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 721-4700 421-7803 Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center UpSpring 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Health 621-5300 961-1983 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio FreeStore/FoodBank 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Youth Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 721-0643 City Gospel Mission 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street 45202 15 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 241-2600 621-5514 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart Goodwill Industries Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Mary Magdalen House 381-0111 771-4800 579-8547 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 for 26 issues 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options Peaslee Neighborhood Center $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 J a n 2 6 - F e b 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 4 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 26-February 8, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director DACA Pg 3: Investing in Our Future Pg 4: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 5: Monthly Billing Shenanigans at Water Works Pg 6: Community Issues Forum Kicks Off The MLK March and Beyond Pg 7: Building a Jubilee Economy Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Photo Essay Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: 34th Annual Pro-Life Procession Secular Morality Pg 12: Left Out in the Cold Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 26-February 8, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Mike Brown Dr. Mark Mussman Michael Earl Patton Justin Jeffre Dr. Claver L Pashi Saad Ghosn Jason Haap Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Steve Wuesthoff Patrick Cadieux Key Beck Bill Woods Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Cincinnati DACA Dr. Claver L Pashi Dr. Mark Mussman Jason Haap Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Key Beck Kim Green Michael Earl Patton Mike Brown Ohio Patrick Cadieux Photography Pro-Life Procession Saad Ghosn Steve Wuesthoff Willa Denise Jones Women’s March https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/f39678658de09379acd42b026ffcf063.pdf 64789980ac3c3577408439a7a01ccf67 PDF Text Text January 27th - February 9th 2017 | Vol. 20 Issue 29 (No. 348) advocating justice | Building community Civil Disobedience | 9 This issue sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter INSIDE THIS ISSUE Our Daily Bread Reopens | 2 A Tale of Two Protests | 3 Community Leaders call to protect the Affordable Care Act | 4 Why we should support public education | 9 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From the Director: Council Candidates and Homelessness JOSH SPRING Executive Director T his year in Cincinnati we will elect a mayor and all nine members of city council. People have started announcing their candidacies. Those elected will be elected to a four-year term. Candidates will start attending community council meetings, holding press conferences, and attending social functions. There will be forums and editorial write-ins to the Enquirer. The folks who will be elected will make important decisions that will affect people. Past councils have also actively decided to not make decisions and not take action that would bring positive systematic change. O This election year, let’s make homelessness and the need for affordable housing a paramount election issue. Ask what they will do to get the city to invest in affordable housing. Ask how they will hold market-rate developers accountable. Ask how they will leverage untouched revenue sources to invest in affordable housing. Ask how will they shift city priorities to significantly increase affordable housing. Explain that our shelters are all over-capacity- families with children, young adults, single women, single men. Explain that daily single women and families with children are turned away from shelter because J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 there simply is no more room because there is so little affordable housing to prevent homelessness. Explain that the answer to homelessness is to have affordable housing available for those who are without a home and making affordable housing available to people who are currently paying rents and mortgages they cannot afford. For many, many people in our city separate periods of homelessness have become what probably feels like a fact of life. So many parents spend their hours trying to figure out how to keep their children from needing shelter. Folks are sleeping outside, in abandoned buildings, in cars, parks and under bridges. More people than we know are bouncing from couch to couch, to car, to park, to couch, often in unsafe situations. Last year at least 72 people in our area died because of homelessness. Any candidate worth your vote will be able to tell you with passion how they plan to attack this issue head on. ------------------------ Our Daily Bread Reopens n Monday morning January 9, there was a deadly shooting at Our Daily Bread in Over-theRhine. According to authorities it was a domestic dispute. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. According to police, Robert Jacobs entered the building and shot two people. Deante Mattocks was pronounced dead at the scene. Jacobs had been in a relationship with his female victim that was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Dion Peoples was arrested the following day for providing the weapon. Our Daily Bread reopened Monday morning January 16, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr day. At 11:00 a.m. they held a press conference where Georgine Getty, their Executive Director spoke. “The Our Daily Bread family is proud to reopen our services today and welcome back our guests,” said Getty. “Words cannot express how difficult this past week has been and how much we have missed doing what we do: providing food and safety for everyone who needs us. We look forward to resuming our mission of serving up stability and hope and continuing to follow the vision and spirit of our founder, Cookie,” she said. Ruth “Cookie” Vogelpohl was the founder of the organization in JUSTIN JEFFRE Staff Writer 1985. Cookie, who was known to so many who have experienced homelessness and/or work in this field, passed away on December 17, 2016. “While the act of violence that took place in our agency one week ago was shocking, it was also isolated. For 32 years, we have been a gathering place for many types of people from many (Continued on page 11) Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Leslie Moorhead Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Derrick Hudson, Iolanda Barton, Patricia J. Brown, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Justin Jeffre, Key Beck, Bill Woods, Michael Earl Patton, C.J. Peirce, Kate Gallion, Dr. Mark Mussman, Jorge Garay, Jason Haap, Bobby Morris, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones Photography/Artwork: Our Daily Bread, David Little, Key Beck, Dr. Mark Mussman, Chas Wiederhold, Michelle Dillingham, Bill Woods Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Cookie Cooking Credit: Our Daily Bread THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �3 NATIONAL A Tale of Two Protests No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 KEY BECK T Contributing Writer he weekend of January 21 and 22 will go down in history. It will go down in history as a day that democracy was in action. A day where citizens came together in a rally cry for justice, equity, and basic human rights. This past weekend was a monumental grassroots effort in solidarity, democracy and civic justice. On January 21 during the 2017 Inauguration, protesters raised their voices of concern, fear, and disillusionment. They held signs, marched in the streets and battled -both figuratively and literally -- police officers. The Women’s March on Washington, held on January 22, has been deemed the biggest single day protest in US history, boasting over 1.6 million participants nationwide. The energy was high, the demands were simple, and the impact was felt. As I entered the National Mall on both days, you could hear chants of solidarity, “Whose Streets, Our Streets”, yearnings for equity, “My Rights, My Body” and words of condemnation “We Need a Leader, Not a Mean Tweeter.” It was very clear by the sheer number of people holding anti-Trump signs that we weren’t here to celebrate, but to protest. People from across the nation came together for a two-fold purpose: (1) protest the election of Donald Trump (in essence protesting the oppressive laws and systematic -and legalized -- injustices happening in our current political system and (2) support the basic rights of women/womyn’s and demand for inclusive support from our current administration by marching through the streets of Washington D.C. While the Women’s March on Washington was an officially sanctioned event, the protest happening during the inauguration was not supported by any law, political or city officials. And there were vast differences in the impact and reception of the two protests. The barrage of white feminism was coddled and condoned, as evidenced by the officer's attention and care to hurt women and their requests. A vivid juxtaposition to officers shooting tear gas, sound grenades and hard pellets at peaceful protesters over lines of riot police locked shield to shield. In one situation we were treated like the privileged, while the other was treated like the untouchables. It wouldn’t be fair to make such a comparison without more detail to set the stage. The Inauguration Protest took place between the streets H, K, 12, and 13. The number of protesters, numbering somewhere in the thousands, were dwarfed by the enormous police presence and the massive amount of press groups. The main force behind these protest were young people of color but there were other groups, the anarchist groups not with protesters who were seen destroying bank windows, limos and circular boxes. People were angry. People were hurting. People were peaceful. But, the police didn’t care. On multiple occasions, police fired tear gas and sound grenades at peaceful protesters with hands raised in the air. A young, white women confronted the line of officers imploring that, “this is how you treat non-violent protesters. Where is the justice? Where is the humanity?” as they continually pushed her and other folx back while yelling for us to move. At one point, police officers blocked the sidewalks and curbs, encircling us in the street while simultaneously telling us to get on the sidewalk. They didn’t respect our wishes not to be touched or pushed. They didn’t hesitate to roll motorcycles within an inch of our bodies, at times almost crushing our toes with tires. The Women’s March on Washington was a lot bigger and a lot more hands off. With over 600,000 people in D.C. we filled the National Mall and spilt into the streets covering Police Disrupt Peaceful Protests with Riot Formation. Photo: Key Beck Women's March on Washington Photo: Key Beck blocks and blocks. The participants looked dramatically different being majority white women. Many were young, but it was obvious this was a movement of Generation Y and X. Police could be seen waving at protesters, cordially responding to requests and helping people who fell or had injury. (I should say that police actually were pushing people down and hurting them, without giving medical attention the previous day). While this march focused on mostly on women’s rights, the intersectionality could be felt. There (Continued on page 7) Police in Riot Gear Separating Crowd Women's March on Washington Photo: Key Beck Photo: Key Beck THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL Community Leaders call on Sen. Portman to protect the Affordable Care Act O n Thursday morning January 12, community members gathered at the Interact for Health Conference Facility in Oakley to address the positives of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, which is currently under attack by the new administration and members of the new Congress. Religious leadership outlined what they say is the moral component of denying care, and medical experts addressed the impact of the ACA on the heroin epidemic. They summarized why they believe Senator Rob Portman should stand up for Ohio residents who would be dramatically impacted unless the ACA is preserved. “My tradition teaches, and I'm sure others do too, that healthcare is one of the most important services a community must provide,” said Rabbi Margaret Meyer. Meyer is the President of the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati and a member of the Jewish Community Relations Committee and the Jewish Federation. She continued, “it would be irresponsible, and I believe immoral, for our elected representatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act and deprive fellow Americans of the affordable and accountable healthcare they deserve." Then she quoted Governor Kasich who said, "What happens to those 700,000 people. What happens to drug treatment? What happens to mental health counseling? What happens to those people with high cholesterol and heart disease? What JUSTIN JEFFRE Staff Writer Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr. Photo: David Little happens to them?" Meyer’s response, "Well, Governor we know the answers. And they're not good." "Coming from the perspective of what God would like, he likens our bodies to his temple. We are his temple and our bodies are important to him. The welfare, the well-being of our bodies is important to him. So this for me, and my constituents, it’s a God thing. This was against his will,” said Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr. Senior Pastor, New Jerusalem Baptist Church. Lynch serves as a Director of UC Health and a Board Member of University Hospital. Rev. Lynch REFLECTIONS ON THE INAUGURATION BILL WOODS T he event many of us were dreading took place on Friday January 20th. Donald Trump was sworn in as the forty-fifth President of the United States. Critical issues such as health care, climate change, immigration, and Civil Rights now hang in the balance, and a large percentage of Americans fear the worst. In reading Trump's inaugural address, however, one paragraph rings true to me. He declared: "The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs, and while they celebrated in the nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families across our land." This economic inequity Contributing Writer and the corporate and political establishment's failure to address it caused a large number of Democrats to vote for Bernie Sanders, and it garnered Trump enough white working class votes to win the GOP nomination and the November election. In a June Streetvibes article, I pointed out the antiestablishment mood that seemed to be behind the results of both parties' primaries. Only Sanders and Trump as candidates were framing their messages to connect to this growing public attitude. The factors behind the 2016 election results have been developing over time. Recent studies provide evidence of both a growing lack of confidence in our political and governmental systems, and the actual dysfunction of our public systems. Reviewing the governments of 153 countries with representative democracies, the Electoral Integrity Project, conducted by Harvard University and the University of Sydney, ranked the U.S. as 52nd in terms of electoral integrity. Part of the research team for this project, Pippa Norris, a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, noted: "There is a persistent lack of confidence in U. S. political institutions which allows populists to make hay, and the institutions need an overhaul, because some, like elections, are badly broken." Meanwhile, a Gallup Poll conducted early in 2016 revealed that only 30-percent of those polled expressed confidence in the honesty of our elections. As the perceived outsider who promised to shake up the system, Trump was the beneficiary of this THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 was a public supporter of Senator Portman in 2016. On a call with Portman’s office he said, "We've been buddies across the years. We've helped him do a lot of stuff. So we've done a lot." Are you disappointed in Sen Portman? "I am." "If they had good intentions to modify or to tweak it, they wouldn't be moving to repeal with no replacement in sight." said Lynch. Adding, "If it is repealed, something has to be done the very next day to make sure there is no cut in terms of what communities need. So I think we need to push in that regard." According to Dr. Nancy Elder, "Drug abuse is a chronic relapsing health problem, and it often leads to other health programs. But treatment is effective." Elder is a Professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Cincinnati. "There are currently no options in Ohio for medication-assisted treatment unless you have cash or insurance, and I include Medicaid as insurance. Now what kind of cash? The medications alone cost over $500 a month. And you start throwing in the other treatment costs, and Hamilton County Mental Health Board estimates that it could cost as much as $22,000 the first year to treat opioid addiction. On average maybe three to five thousand dollars. Nobody can pay that. Certainly my patients, those who have already entered unemployment and poverty do not. We need to have Medicaid for our most vulnerable people in our society," she said. When asked what people can do to save the ACA Rabbi Meyer said, "We have a lot of gatherings coming up this weekend. We need to get the word out. And contact Portman. I don't know if it'll do any good, but he's got to hear from us." disenchantment with representative democracy. However, there is little that the new President has proposed that would make life better for economically squeezed Americans, and his selection of billionaires and Wall Street financiers for high positions doesn't look like a foundation for taking on the corporate and financial elite. In fact, the tax reform plan that he proposed during the campaign would once again cut taxes for the wealthy. Many labor leaders do support his promise to renegotiate trade deals, and his infrastructure renewal proposal would create new jobs. As a critic of current politics, Trump lacks any proposals to actually reform the system. Although he initially attacked his GOP opponents who were receiving huge Super PAC contributions, his list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court vacancy do not appear to be jurists who would wish to repeal The Citizens United ruling. Since he built a false premise about rigged (Continued on page 11) �LOCAL Residents Continue to Oppose Pipeline No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 MICHAEL EARL PATTON Contributing Writer T he route map for Duke Energy’s proposed pipeline extension has now been revised twice. The first proposal showed three possible routes. The second proposal, contained in the first of the formal application to the Ohio Power Siting Board, reduced this to just two possible routes and had adjusted these routes. The pipeline diameter was reduced to 20 inches and the pressure to a still high 400 psi. For comparison, the current pipeline supplying natural gas to the area, “Line A,” is a similar residential and others commercial or industrial. The opposition remains strong. A public meeting called by opponents at the Evendale Recreation Center on January 12 was full with about 200 people in the room. The parking lot was FULL and I only found a space after circling when someone else pulled out. The opposition seems to be based on several concerns, two of which are safety and the diminished use of the properties which the pipeline crosses. It is not supposed to happen, but there have been accidental Duke Energy Route Map Revision 1 Credit: Duke Energy diameter and operates at just 150 psi. Duke just revised the application on January 20, again making several adjustments to the possible routes. This is the route map that is shown below. The adjustments were made because of community opposition to the pipeline, which would cut across hundreds of properties, some explosions of natural gas pipelines. The best known is probably the San Bruno pipeline explosion in 2010 which killed 8 people and destroyed 38 homes in the San Francisco Bay area. Eyewitnesses reported that the flames reached 1,000 feet high. There have been several gas pipeline explosions since then, but none in areas that were as densely populated. A representative from Duke Energy was not at this meeting (at least not openly) but has said in the past that the line will be built to a high standard and that there will be regular safety checks. Others have still expressed concern that the required diligence may slacken off over the years. Duke Energy’s application for the pipeline gives the number of residences within 100 feet of the pipeline and the number within 1,000 feet. Whichever route is chosen, there will be over 100 residences within 100 feet of the pipeline and over 2,000 within 1,000 feet. Another major concern was that of easements. N.O.P.E., Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension, expects that the typical easement for the pipeline will be 40 feet wide – 20 feet on each side of the pipeline. Trees, shrubs, and any structures would be removed. The property owner would be restricted as to what they could do in the future in this area. Maintaining a lawn, gardening, and parking would be allowed; construction would not. Further, Duke Energy would have the right to re-enter your property in the future to do maintenance on the pipeline. This will certainly reduce the value of your property, and it would probably be best to discuss the value lost with a real estate agent. Duke Energy will offer compensation, but this amount might be less than what you think was lost. Further, as was pointed out, the payments from Duke Energy will end but the easement will go on forever. (I have personal experience with that sort of thing. There is an easement across the back of my yard for a sewer line that is 95 years old, still valid, and which prevents me from a constructing a new garage there. It did not show up in a title search when I bought my house because of its age, but it is still valid nonetheless. The Metropolitan Sewer District told me about it a few years ago when I discovered a couple workers in my backyard.) One of the speakers mentioned the importance of closely reviewing any easement agreement. For example, it might not mention that the top soil removed has to be put back on top so that things can grow again. If this isn’t specified the top Good Food Purchasing: Here is what’s going on locally T he Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, (CIWC) along with Woman’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati, C.J. PIERCE Contributing Writer (WCC) committee Thriving Cincinnati gathered for a forum on Good Food Purchasing on January 9th. The goals: 1) Is to bring locally grown, farm to table, healthy food option and learning into our schools. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 5 soil might be put back in the bottom of the ditch, and getting anything decent to grow again on top will be very difficult. Former U.C. Law Professor James O’Reilly spoke about whether you are obligated to allow surveyors from Duke Energy to enter your property. The brief answer is no, you can simply say, “I refuse permission for surveyors to enter my property.” Duke Energy would then have to get a court order to continue, and you would have a right to contest this. As he said, “Those who remain silent are consenting.” Admittedly, if no one is home the surveyors might still trespass and do their work without getting your permission. After the meeting Professor O’Reilly passed out a sheet with further general information about the easement process. With the appropriate cautions that this is not individual legal advice, if Duke Energy sues to seize your easement you should call your personal attorney or the Lawyer Referral Service at 381-8359. If you delay, Duke’s lawyer will ask the judge for a default judgment against you. A couple other items mentioned was that the proposed pipeline extension is part of a larger “Master Plan” from Duke Energy, but what that master plan is has not been disclosed. What is the need for all of this of this extra gas? They admit that that they are not planning for a large increase in the population. Then there is the question of whether there will even be enough natural gas available to fill all the pipelines that are being planned around the country. After all, the amount of natural gas produced is actually declining of late. What may be the last of the mandated public informational meetings will probably have occurred (January 26) by the time you read this, but you can still make comments directly to the Ohio Power Siting Board: www.opsb.ohio.gov. Look for the heading “Power Siting Cases,” then click on “Pending Cases” followed by “Duke Central Corridor Extension Gas Pipeline, Hamilton County.” There is a place for public comments. Duke Energy’s website on the pipeline is: https://www.duke-energy.com/ home/natural-gas/central-corridorpipeline-ext The website for the main opposition group is: www.NOPEcincy.org 2) Within this initiative is also assuring that the farm workers are receiving real, livable and sustainable wages. In addition the company must provide and require health and safety gear and clothing that protects the worker within the working environment. 3) To provide the healthiest food options the Good Food Purchasing is (Continued on page 12) �6 LOCAL J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 (Continued on page 12) THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �NATIONAL One Woman’s view from the Women’s March on Washington 7 No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 B lowback. Following the 2016 Presidential election, having witnessed the winner’s strategy of divide by hate, conquer by fear, a loose affiliation of activist women leaders called a national day KATE GALLION Contributing Writer of resistance for January 21. What started as a women’s protest against the bigotry and hate-baited rhetoric of the Trump campaign- quickly Women's March on Washington marchers on Metro Credit: Jim Luken Women's March on Washington Marchers Credit: Jim Luken KEY BECK (Continued from page 3) was signs and chants for equity for those with an immigrant status, protectors of land and water rights and marginalized black and trans lives. It was awesome to feel and be part of a movement this size, but it was easy to feel the issues of the truly oppressed being overlooked by the demands of the privileged. Perhaps this is a projection of my feelings as a non-binary, queer person of color or perhaps this was a reality only felt by those who are most oppressed. Regardless, these feelings were shared as one could see by looking as certain signs in the march. Both marches gave me a feeling of solidarity and inclusion. Both inspired me to do great work. But, only one had me fearing arrest or my safety. And, in my personal opinion, only centered the most marginalized of the oppressed (people of color, transgender and queer individuals and undocumented citizens). Police were not shy about their distaste for protesters exercising their rights to peacefully assemble at or around the inauguration. Nor were they shy about their calm disposition and willingness to support the marches morphed into a public re-dedication to America’s core democratic values (often espoused, rarely achieved): Equality, Fairness, Human Rights, Social Justice for all. Intersectionality and collaborative social media skills aligned for the staging of the largest global day of citizen activism in history. The Women’s March on Washington was the epicenter drawing more than 500,000 allies, with 300 cities around the world staging sister marches and 3 million global participants. A massive coordinated protest. When the call for a women’s resistance to Trump emerged just hours after the election, it was fueled by anger at the sexist, racist, bigoted language and divisive tactics employed by Trump, (who lost the popular vote by three million, but won the archaic Electoral College (an instrument with a racist past undermining the will of the people’s vote.) Anger was righteous. Fear was endemic. Women began to participate in Facebook groups speaking of diminished rights, marginalization, inequity and victimization by the pervasive violent rape culture. What happened next is remarkable. Anger converted to action, and out of the momentum emerged an inclusive agenda of human rights and social justice reform. Pilgrimage the drive from Cincinnati to D.C. Every rest stop and gas station was teeming with women in pink “pussy hats”- variations of a knit cap with kitten ears. From gas pumps, to buses on the turnpike. from Union Station to The Mall - a massive wall of pink hats. We walked past the Canadian Embassy toward the National Gallery, until we were stopped still by the crush. The march to the White House began at 1:00 pm, but our feet couldn't move for a full hourat which point we flowed off route, opening more streams, eventually rejoining the body of protestors. But this action was already beyond protest. It had morphed into an entity of political will, a movement not of partisan politics, but of transcendent human power. Curiously missing were police, guns, security and obvious surveillance. No helicopters, no drone cameras. Consequently, we are missing the customary aerial angles of the entire march. Lacking that evidence it becomes much easier to diminish and dismiss. Trump’s tweets of the day embraced the false narrative of a small turnout. Administration spokesperson Kellyanne Conway preferred the term “alternate truth” to describe Trump’s myopia. However the mute testimony of thousands of signs and (Continued on page 11 Women's March on Washington Marchers Credit: Jim Luken the following day. It was very apparent that the objective of officers was to disrupt and diffuse the protest at the inauguration, while the goal was to support and provide safety at the Women’s March on Washington. It’s for this reason that we need more inclusion in our movements. We need more coalition building between groups. I would have loved to have one million plus citizens at both marches. Some argue that white feminism has been fought on the backs of women of color. In the same vein, some argue that movements like Black Lives Matters is exclusionary of those who occupy a white body. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Regardless of the truth or fallacy, we need more feet on the ground. We need people willing to step up and step out. There is no reason why both marches and protest shouldn’t be protected and supported by officers. There is also no reason for us to have to choose one movement/action over another. As Hillary Clinton stated, “We are Stronger Together” and I think it is about time we show it. No longer should we have multiple movements. We need to demand our rights together because together we can achieve great things. ------------------------ �e 8 NATIONAL Civil Disobedience W DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer ith tears in her eyes, shaking and stuck in the intersection, a woman pleads with protesters to let her through. “I need to pick up my kids from school – they can’t get home without me!” Between sobs, she asks anyone who will listen, “Please! Why can’t you let me go?!” Her voice changes from sadness to terror – will she be stuck here much longer? Why won’t those police officers help her? Why are the streets blocked in the first place? At noon, on January 20th 2017, at the time American Presidents are kept a hard wall against the police. For several tense hours, a four block radius around 12th and K were shut down, creating a traffic nightmare in the area. News reports claim that 230 people were arrested and property damage exceeded $100,000. Several businesses of note, such as banks and coffee chains, were targeted because of their role in oppression here in the United States and across the globe. Their windows broken with crowbars and hammers, these corporations had new windows in place just hours after the initial confrontation. J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 station in DC was the lack of crowds. Even though the police had cordoned off an area around the parade route, known as the “Red Zone,” the streets and sidewalks seemed barren, except for people with signs disavowing the new President’s legitimacy. Slogans lambasting the character of the new leader mostly peppered the areas around the police checkpoints and around Trump International Hotel. Chants started early, some from the standards, but also some chants with nuances regarding the newly elected President. I arrived to Pennsylvania Avenue just moments before noon, and heard portions of the Inauguration Ceremony on the loudspeaker. People in the streets jeered and derided the words heard over the speaker. were also prominently displayed throughout the city. After the Inaugural Ceremony, I began to hear that “riots” were happening at K and 12th Streets, so I headed that direction. By the time I got there, the intersection was occupied by police officers, but they were still shooting loud sonic grenades into the crowd to push it back further – eventually to a block near a park that later hosted an antinuclear weapons mini-music festival. To symbolize the death of traditional media and the control of the capitalist class, people threw newspaper boxes into the street and set them on fire. The burning newspaper vending boxes set the tone for the eventual occupation of the intersections surrounding the block. Just a few A police cruiser shows damage to its window The Limo that was vandalized, later burned Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman typically sworn in, the streets of our nation’s Capitol, Washington D.C., erupted in chaos. 12th and K Street became the flashpoint between hundreds of people – of many different backgrounds – and police, armed with riot gear and special munitions. The riot police took the intersection with divide and conquer tactics by launching sonic and pellet grenades in the center and pushing people out of the intersection in four different directions. People ran from the intersection, but many It seems to me that people are not comfortable acknowledging the role of inconvenience or property damage in civil disobedience. We are encouraged to distance ourselves from the spectacle because it may not seem to advance our peaceful cause. This act of destruction may seem like a purposeless or childish response to injustice, but it is an important tactic in the vast array of ways to address grievances. The first thing I noticed when I emerged from the Metro Center train Crowds began to surround the police checkpoints, shutting them down and preventing people from entering or even getting around the checkpoint. The mood of the crowd was very apprehensive as Trump supporters in the signature red baseball caps with “Make America Great Again” scrawled across them shared space with people with “Make Racists Afraid Again” hats and signs showing the President in compromising positions with Russian Leader Putin. Shepard Fairy’s iconic poster designs feet from the burning newspaper, a limousine was destroyed – first broken then burned. A road flare was the kindling used to start the fire. What could be more symbolic of the current administration than a burning limousine? If Donald Trump is able to function as President of the United States, he must recognize the resistance towards him, rather than attempt to discredit anything that doesn’t flatter him. Civil (Continued on page 11) Media document the burning of the newspaper boxes One of many intersections that were taken over by protestors Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �9 LOCAL Vandalism and Racist symbols at Withrow University High School No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 R JUSTIN JEFFRE Staff Writer acial slurs, swastikas and the name “Trump” were spray painted at multiple locations at Withrow University High School in Hyde Park. According to police the incident occurred on January 21, between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. Video footage of the perpetrator has been released and shared widely on social media, but the person was wearing a hat and had their face covered. Police believe it was a white male that acted alone. The incident is part of a string of similar acts here locally. A swastika was painted on a sign at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, an interracial couple’s home was vandalized with swastikas and other racist images and similar images were painted on the Loveland bike trail in recent months. The overwhelming majority of the Withrow’s student population are minorities. The school’s football team recently made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem before football games in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s protests against police brutality and oppression of people of color. These local acts are part of a larger trend though. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center there’s been a large uptick in hate crimes across the nation since the election of President Donald Trump. These types of incidents happened during his campaign but have become more frequent following his election. The Anti-Defamation League released a report in October about the rise of anti-Semitic harassment and the NYPD reports that hate crimes are up 31% compared to last year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo told CNN, "The ugly political discourse of the election did not end on Election Day. In many ways it has gotten worse, [turning] into a social crisis that now challenges our identity as a state and as a nation and our people." The graffiti at Withrow was removed on Sunday. On Monday January 23, around 200 community members gathered early in the morning to greet and show students support as they arrived at school. Restaurateur Jeff Ruby has offered a reward and authorities encourage anyone with any Why we should support public education I JORGE GARAY Contributing Writer am the father of five wonderful kids, two of which are in Cincinnati Public Schools. I am crazy about my kids; I kiss them every day and will even say I am addicted to them. I support the public schools because school is like a second home to our kids, where they spend a lot of their time outside of their first home, and public education is the most democratic. Public education, to me, means everybody is welcome regardless of race, sexual orientation, culture, status, etc. Public means all the members of a community. This year has enforced my belief, more than ever, that our public schools need more support. One example I will give is an event that happened shortly after the election. My kids, along with others that attend their school, are Latino. One day, my 11-year-old daughter was sitting with a friend at lunch when two older kids of different ethnicity approached them. They turned to my child and said, “You’re from America, right?” Then they focused on her friend, who was born in Mexico, and started harassing him, calling him names and telling him to go back to Mexico, all the while stabbing their pencils into the small boy’s orange that sat on the table in front of him. This election has caused many people to forget what public and community mean; we must not allow that to happen. Why do I support public Parents and Supporters Gather at Withrow Bridge to Welcome Students Credit: Chas Wiederhold information about the incident to call CrimeStoppers at 513-352-3040. The city of Cincinnati is currently reviewing its hate crime response. Cincinnati has one of the toughest hate crime laws in the country which now includes attacks against people experiencing homelessness. education? Because education is not just about turning our kids into lawyers or doctors, but it is about teaching individuals how to be better human beings. Public education is an opportunity and a chance for every child to bring themselves up. I support it because it is a basic human right – as much as food or water. Our kids deserve to be in schools that have the resources and the support from the administration to get rid of the bullying and discrimination. Our kids also deserve to learn what diversity truly means, to accept and respect other human beings, rather than to focus or obsess over comparing themselves to the person they stand next to. Public School Rally Credit: Michelle Dillingham THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED [Jorge Garay is a parent of two students at S.C.P.A.] ------------------------. �10 R ecently, I've struggled to determine where certain boundaries should reside. When is something "weird" versus "normal"? "Healthy" versus "mentally ill"? I'm not sure I know anymore, and that fact troubles me. First, let me state that I don't really care what people do with their lives or lifestyles, so long as it does not cause harm. If you are a transgender person, I don't care if you want to have gender reassignment surgery. However, if I proclaim that transgender people are "weird," I will undoubtedly get slammed as intolerant, insensitive, and a bigot. I don't want to call transgender people "weird." That's not my point in writing this. There is a Canadian named Stefonknee Wolscht who was born as a man, had a wife and children, and then decided to live as a 6-year old girl. It's that last part that gets me. Set aside the gender identity issue for a moment, and focus on the notion that an adult can decide she's really OPINION Call me weird if you want JASON HAAP Contributing Writer a 6-year-old girl. Wolscht reportedly lives with "adoptive parents" who let her live as if she's their daughter. Stefonknee is 6'2" and 47 years old. Let me be clear: I don't care if this is what Stefonknee and her new parents want to do. I won't try to stop them. But I think it's weird, and I don't think I should be labeled as some sort of intolerant sounding word ending in "-ist" because I think so. There is a 21-year-old Norwegian woman who feels like she is a cat trapped inside a human's body. Her name is Nano, she wears clip-on ears, she walks on all fours, and she meows. Once again, I'm not going to try and stop her. It's not really my business if that's what she wants to do with her life. But I think it's weird. And I believe it's okay to think that. Is it possible that Nano isn't really a cat trapped inside a human's body, and instead that she suffers from a mental illness? Before answering that question, what if I told you about a person who has multiple people living in his body? Would that be a mental illness? Yes. It's called "schizophrenia." For some reason, if multiple people are trapped in or if they otherwise manifest in a single body, it's considered a medical condition. Why not use the same terminology for Nano, the cat woman? What about the 6'2" tall, 47-year-old six-year-old? I struggle with the boundaries here. I don't want to say that transgender people are "mentally ill." But where do we draw the line? If you think you are a toddler trapped in a grown up's body? A feline in a human's? Why might those be okay, but not multiple personalities? There are other things I find weird, like face tattoos, or holes in earlobes the size of fists. And, again, I don't care if people do that. It's just THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 strange to me. I think it's weird when omnivorous people refuse to eat delicious food because it's "vegan." I think it's weird that people genuinely seem to enjoy drinking shitty beer. Or how about the fact that people think meat from a pig's butt cheek is tasty, but freak out when I talk about facial cheek meat? I do not pretend to be a pillar of normalcy myself. I do plenty of weird things, and people tell me so all the time. I don't think this makes them intolerant, or bigoted. So that's another line I can't quite understand: why calling some traits "weird" is okay, while calling others "weird" makes someone prejudiced. In a couple months, I will turn 42. The more I ponder life, the universe, and everything, the more I feel like a stereotypical old white guy, getting crotchety about the crazy things people are doing "these days." ------------------------. �11 LOCAL No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 Trump Supporters in the foreground attempt to ignore protestors at security check Protest in DC near Hard Rock Cafe and Security Checkpoint Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 8) disobedience is necessary when the government does not function in a JUSTIN JEFFRE (Continued from page 7) walks of life. While we have certainly had squabbles within our doors, as all families do, we have never before had this level of violence, nor do we expect to again,” said Getty. Adding, “Nonetheless, we have instituted some new security measures to help preserve the safety of all within our doors. We thank our guests and volunteers for their patience with the new system and mourn with them the need for this in our home.” New security measures include two contracted security personnel who will “wand” each visitor to check for weapons and store each visitor’s belongings in a secured area until they are ready to leave the way that serves all. When individual rights are being threatened it is most important to use civil disobedience to help get the message out, help create cohesive groups, and bring the change through pressure. If we don’t recognize that injustice hurts us all, there will be no change. Sadly, “no change” affects people who are marginalized most, and this is something that we must recognize before we can move towards justice. building. Getty expressed condolences to the family and friends of Deante Mattocks. “No one should ever have to go through the suffering that you are going through. He was a young man, an artist, a brother, a son, a father. He will live on in his children. You are all in our prayers and we will never forget Deante. Our prayers are also with the young woman who was harmed. We wish you a full recovery and a full life, filled with peace,” she said. “First, I would like to thank the staff and volunteers of Our Daily Bread. We are more than co-workers, we are family. We have leaned on one another this week, cried together, and even laughed together once or twice. Every single member of this team came back the next day. Together, we have rebuilt Our Daily Bread and it will continue to be a beacon of love to all who need us. Thank you also to the friends and family of staff and volunteers. You were there when we needed you. If we are strong, it is only because we have so many rocks to hold us up. If we continue to love, it is only because we receive the love we need,” said Getty. Getty went on to thank Model Group, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the soup kitchen community, the Cincinnati Police Department, the police trauma team that provided their staff with counseling. And, “Finally, one last thank you to everyone who has already or will step forward in the weeks to come. Our Daily Bread is a space of hope, of comfort, of shared meals, and ultimately, of love. Thank you for walking with us through the worst part of our journey and reminding us of all of the good left to do,” she said. Our Daily Bread is Cincinnati’s largest soup kitchen, serving between 400-500 meals per day, Monday – Friday. In addition, Our Daily Bread also provides social work services and Kid’s Club, and after school program. In continuous operation since 1985, Our Daily Bread remains a beacon of Stability and Hope in Over the Rhine. It’s located at 1730 Race St., on the corner of Race and Elder across from Findlay Market. I’ve awakened from a surreal winter’s dream. Trees are bare, temperature neighboring near San Francisco of memory. Fog insinuates in, out. We are familiars yet gravitational forces have separated us. Now reunited we finish sentences before they are... Hearts and heads aligned. Some terrible thing has happened, we are implicated in a disaster and we have to “fix it”. We trickle, then pour onto the trains compacted into raspberry gelee with a cohesion of purpose unspoken, then shouted. Alone, we are burdened with shame and dread. Together we form a system. The well within has opened and we know- WE can do this. WE have this. KATE GALLION (Continued from page 7) posters left on the steps of Trump’s hotel, lining the Mall, stacked at the Metro stations, bear witness to our presence and commitment to stand up and fight back. Why we march… Partisanship has failed us. Corruption and lack of credibility plagued the contest. One half of the citizenry declined to participate. We march for essential women’s rights to reproductive healthcare, the defense of Planned Parenthood, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, religious tolerance and critical reform of the racist oppressors of police and judicial violence. We have transcended partisan politics to achieve solidarity with women’s rights and human rights as the goal. This is the start of a resistance groundswell, but what comes after? What does the “work” look like, and is it sustainable? (On his first full day in office, President Trump re-instated a Reagan era ban on the use of U.S. foreign aid funds for abortions or BILL WOODS (Continued from page 4) elections and illegal voting during the campaign, the forces that support tougher restrictions for registering to Protest in near Hard Rock Cafe and Security Checkpoint Credit: Jim Luken abortion counseling). Guessing he didn’t get the pink pussy hatted message. Perhaps he’s crafting “alternate facts”. Gloves off, imperative. ----We Are Water resistance vote and voting will probably be more active than ever before. Thus, as we start the first full week of the Trump Administration, reformers and civic activists better be ready to take up the cause of renewing democracy themselves. The huge women's marches in cities across the country bode well for enlisting recruits for grassroots campaigns to take on causes such as Congressional redistricting reform and protecting THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED is Knee to hip, shoulder to shoulder to shoulder. This machine destroys hate and fear. We are smiling now. We’ve eaten dirt. We are water. voting rights. The organizing tool in the coming months and years must be collaboration. Only by coming together with our diverse progressive causes do we have a chance for success. �12 T STREET VOICE The Road to Redemption o start I must say this is about me and my experiences here at Joseph House. These are all my opinions and thoughts. I came here in September of 2016. Having been living with my mom for the past 25 years after getting honorably discharged from the US Army. I came here to save my life. I am an Alcoholic. Writing that simple 9 letter word has more meaning to me than any other word in the human language. I must admit that to myself daily or I will forget why I am here. I was here 3 years ago, but wasn’t ready to stop my destructive lifestyle and more importantly be honest with myself and others. Joseph House is a place for Veterans like myself who suffer from the disease of Addiction. C.J. PIERCE (Continued from page 5) requiring the humane treatment of livestock. 4) With a drive toward sustainability and cutting down on the waste. Thus keeping functional foods and products out of the landfill. Foods often get thrown away that are still good. EX: an apple being discard because of a bruise, yet the apple is still eatable. BOBBY MORRIS Contributing Writer Let me describe who I was at my mom’s house. I was that creepy Uncle who stayed upstairs at his mom’s house who only came out to get something to eat or to do that weekly chore of putting the garbage on the curb begrudgingly. I was so isolated from life that I forgot how to feel. I was disconnected from my family and from reality. I was in a state of depression many like me can identify with. After years of this I finally had enough and made the call to Joseph House for help. Since that day in September my life has transformed. Redemption had begun without me knowing it at the time I start my day with chores, being For a brief video on GFPP: http:/vimeo.com/realfoodmedia/ gfpp?ref=em-v-share The unspoken message in this meeting was there’s variety of groups and individuals working toward good food options for our schools, our communities and neighborhoods, each with a desire to do their part for every person fairly, justly and equitably. Some of those attending were Vivian Rodger’s a C.P.S. parent “Breakdown Stereotypes” responsible is something I lack. At my age this is something I should have learned at 14, but at that age I was drinking and drugging. Joseph House uses simple activities to get me to get in the habit of doing what’s right. It’s a struggle somedays and I think even non-Alcoholics can relate to struggling with things at times. Being a Veteran is a common thread for us. Taking orders and doing things with an attention to detail has been lost over the years but not forgotten. Joseph House reminds me of that constantly. Working in groups and going to meetings allows me to get to know who I am. Here the recovery is individual based. Each one of us have our own difficulties and with the help of staff (my Counselor) I have grown. and activist for healthy foods in our schools; Michaela Oldham, Director of Greater Cincinnati Food Policy Council; Megan Gakabrill, Slow Food; Michael Taylor a Naturalpath; Penny Shore, Wyoming Farmers Market; Harriet Matthey, Soul Cycle and several members of CIWC and WCC. All deserve to have healthy options that are easily accessible and the quality of our foods determine our health. To give oneself and our J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 I am not perfect each day but I see the small changes in my life. These small changes will eventually lead to a better me and with that a productive member of society. That is one of the goals of my recovery to redeem that in which I have lost and have destroyed in other people. To conclude this brief stint into the life I have here in Joseph House. I would say that I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world right now. I can see the redeeming qualities in myself and the others around me and with that in mind we all can make the people in our lives proud to know us once again. REDEMEPTION IS POSSIBLE THROUGH THE HELP AND AID OF PEOPLE LIKE THOSE AT JOSEPH HOUSE TO CARRY YOU THROUGH THE ROUGH PATCHES UNTIL YOU CAN SEE THE GREEN PASTURES UP AHEAD. children the best, to become the best each of us can be, starts with the nutrition of our foods. This requires ALL of us to do “our part” to resist convenience, to support our local venders that purchase from other local venders, especially those that are also investing in sustainable practices. [C.J. Pierce is a member of the Woman’s City Club Thriving Cincinnati Committee.] “Eradicate Misinformation” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community. To schedule a speaker, contact Dr. Mark Mussman at MarkMussman@cincihomeless.org. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �13 STREET VOICE No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 Crying Rain AN INAUGURAL CRITIQUE Looking out the window Little Jack Horner The rain is falling hard, and fast Sat in a corner There are intervals of thunder Watching the Inauguration. Slashing ever so often He said with a sigh: And then it suddenly stops "I prefer leftover pie Until the next thunder slash appears To Trump's bleak oration." It lets you know that God is, near BILL WOODS Contributing Writer So take heed LIFE GOES ON Listen to his might THESE YEAR BEING GONE REST ASSURE HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF RIGHT HERE Because thunder and rain, THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE WITH THE MEMORIES WE Will, be coming HOLD SO DEAR KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE THOUGHT OF DAYS GONE BY I CAN SEE A PICTURE OF HISTORY IN MY MIND THE MEMORY OF TODAY AS WE REMEMBER OUR HISTORY WITH OUR HEARTS COMBINED THE MIND IS FOREVER LIVING AND BY GODS GRACE WE WILL FOREVER GO ON THE MIND WITH A MEMORY, FUNNY YOU DON'T RERMEMBER THE DAY YOU WAS BORN! THE DAY YOUR MEMORY COMES INTO PLAY YOU BELIEVE IN HEARING STRANGERS THE DAY YOU WERE GROWN, YOUR PARENTS COULD NOT TELL YOU BOUT THE DANGERS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT LIFE GOES ON IS FOR YOU TO SEE AND BELEIVE GOD IS GOOD 24 7!! I BELEIVE WE ALL WILL LIVE FOREVER CAN YOU BELIEVE ME!!!! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 117 Across 1. Institute legal proceedings against 4. Junk e-mail 8. Hoodlum 12. Hex 13. Type of cabbage 14. Wading bird 16. Not in favor of 17. Golf club 18. Bird of prey 19. Spiritual being 21. Refuse to acknowledge 23. Physically skilful 24. Sheep 25. Woodwind instrument 27. Beam 29. Scheme 30. Worthless or oversimplified ideas 31. Cutting tool 34. Brash 37. Ancient German alphabet character 38. Pool stick 39. Corrode 40. Crone 41. Naked 42. Mountain 43. Large predatory feline 45. Parka 47. Month 48. Consumed 49. Humble request for help 50. Hotshot 51. Drink made by steeping, boiling and fermenting 52. Cooking utensil 55. Space for movement 58. To a greater extent 60. Topic 62. Relating to hearing 64. Writing table 66. A particular environment 67. Superficial abrasion 68. Part of a calendar 69. Fabric used to dress wounds 70. Sleigh 71. Smoke and fog 72. Of long duration Down 1. Tendon 2. Undo 3. Way out 4. Snow runner 5. Minister of religion 6. Solitary 7. Bill of fare 8. Definite article 9. Intoxicating 10. Exhort 11. Outdoor game 12. Semiprecious gemstone 15. Mesh 20. Part of an egg 22. Food from the husks of cereal grains 26. Larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf 28. Primate 29. Domestic companion 30. Breed of dog 31. Evidence of past injury 32. Nimbus 33. Seven days 34. Pack to capacity 35. Polynesian rain dance 36. Catch sight of 37. Operated 40. Gardening tool 41. Constrictor 43. Used in varnishes and sealing wax 44. Detail 45. Beer 46. Triton 49. Very fast tempo 50. Astound 51. Freshwater fish 52. Danger 53. Ameliorate 54. Orderly 55. Tatter 56. Belonging to us 57. Examination by word of mouth 59. Betting ratio 61. Circle of light around the sun or moon 63. Was ahead of the others 65. Small cask or barrel J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 247 - MEDIUM PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 343 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 116 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 246- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 348 | J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 Central Access Point 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 Salvation Army 762-5660 131 E. 12th Street 45202 1125 Bank Street 45214 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Shelter: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Shelterhouse 721-0643 2121 Vine Street 45202 411 Gest St. 45203 Prospect House 921-1613 1437 Walnut Street 45202 Starting Over 961-2256 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Parkway Center 661-4620 First Step Home 961-4663 Shelter: Youth 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Shelter: Family Interfaith Hospitality Network 15 Northern Kentucky 241-2965 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 Advocacy Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing Hamilton/Middletown Joseph House (Veterans) 1522 Republic Street 45202 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Housing: Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both 471-1100 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY 859-491-8303 ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary 859-491-3335 859-572-6202 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 Health Center for Respite Care 621-1868 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 961-0600 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 352-6364 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513-421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@cincihomeless.org 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio $100 for 26 issues $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 J a n 2 7 - F e b 9, 2 0 17 | N o . 34 8 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALMA SIMS SINCE 5/2014 ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BELINDA CHERRY SINCE 8/2015 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DEBORAH POINDEXTER SINCE 9/2012 DONALD YOUNG ELMORE MORRIS SINCE 5/2014 GINA MARTIN GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 GREGORY RAY SINCE 4/2015 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2000 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2003 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JONATHAN SLATER SINCE 5/2014 JOHN GAINES SINCE 12/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 W. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2017 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 27-February 9, 2017 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Our Daily Reopens Pg 3: A Tale of Two Protests Pg 4: Community Leaders Call of Sen. Portman to Protect the Affordable Care Act Reflections on the Inauguration Pg 5: Residents Continued to Oppose Pipeline Pg 6: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 7: One Woman’s View from the Women’s March on Washington Pg 8: Civil Disobedience Pg 9: Vandalism and Racist Symbols at Withrow University High School Why We Should Support Public Education Pg 10: Call Me Weird If You Want Pg 11: Dr. Mark Mussman Continued Justin Jeffre Continued Kate Gallion Continued Pg 12: The Road to redemption Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 27-February 9, 2017 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Key Beck Bill Woods Michael Earl Patton C.J. Peirce Kate Gallion Dr. Mark Mussman Jorge Garay Jason Haap Bobby Morris Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Our Daily Bread David Little Chas Wiederhold Michelle Dillingham Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Affordable Car Act Bill Woods Bobby Morris C.J. Peirce Chas Wiederhold city council civil rights David Little Dr. Mark Mussman education Inauguration Jason Haap Jorge Garay Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kate Gallion Key Beck Kim Green Michael Earl Patton Michelle Dillingham Our Daily Bread Pipeline Protests Racism Voting Washington Willa Denise Jones Withrow University Womens Rights https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/b294577b5ead7567f9551711402e41dd.pdf b68e3bfa4a9f5bd3bc31b4defd5cfc25 PDF Text Text January 29th - February 11th 2016 | Vol. 20 Issue 3 (No. 322) advocating justice | Building community “No person should have to live or die homeless” US street papers unite to cover National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day | 8-9 This issue sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter INSIDE THIS ISSUE City Legislation Drafted to Protect Workers | 3 From the Director: One Year Ago... | 2 Stick with it! | 5 1789 Cincinnati Letter on American Settler - Indian Relations | 7 Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 From the Director: One Year Ago... Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. JOSH SPRING Executive Director I t has been one year since Cincinnati became the third city in the country to enact homeless hate crimes legislation. This was a very important step forward for our local government to send the signal that crimes targeting people experiencing homelessness will not be tolerated and will hold extra criminal charges. It took 15 years of advocacy by the Homeless Coalition; advocacy to get these stories in the press; in city council chambers and in the minds of Cincinnatians. More importantly it took 15 years of individuals directly suffering these crimes. This is certainly the type of legislation we wish we did not need. We wish there was no homelessness and we wish that nobody would target another person because she or he is without a home. Ending homelessness requires the creation of affordable housing. The creation of affordable housing requires the attitudes many people, neighborhoods and politicians have about people experiencing homelessness to change. Enacting legislation that values the humanity of people who are often marginalized by people, Homeless Coalition with city leaders Photo: Jon Harmon 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 neighborhoods and politicians is a part of changing attitudes. We believe that both freedom from violence and access to quality, affordable housing are human rights. Last year at this time in Cincinnati, we took a step forward. We have so many more steps to go and they are all up-hill, but we can do it together. ------------------------ Remembering Martin Luther King Contributing Writer W Bill Woods Photo: Applied Information Resources cessful City Charter changes of 1924. A municipal election campaign was then in progress, and Charter was running a slate of six candidates. Cincinnati politics was complicated in 1963. Besides Charter, the Democrats and Republicans each ran a slate of nine candidates, and a group of reform Democrats led by John Gilligan ran three Council candidates. Charter at that time had only one member on Council, former Mayor and longtime reformer Charles P. WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Leslie Moorhead Director of Education: Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Peter Kobak BILL WOODS e celebrated another Martin Luther King Day on January 18th. Although I have often walked in the traditional march downtown, I managed to conjure up some reasons beyond the cold weather to justify my not taking part in this year’s event. Possibly guilt due to this behavior caused me to think back to that time long ago when I first became aware of Dr. King. It was the summer of 1963. I had just graduated from college in June, and I was rather at loose ends. Later, when I saw Dustin Hoffman in the movie “The Graduate,” I could identify with his portrayal of a young man who felt: “What do I do with my life now?” In 1963, one was scooped up by the Draft once one left school for good. For that reason, I was enrolled to begin law school at the University of Cincinnati in September. For much of June and July, however, I suffered from a case of ennui. Then a lucky break landed me a temporary job working in the office of the City Charter Committee, the reform group that continued on after leading the suc- Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 Taft, and its goal was to win at least two more seats. My job was to work with Charter’s Executive Director Forest Frank to help garner news media coverage for our candidates. To be quite honest, Frank didn’t trust me with the three candidates who were potential winners, but he let me have free reign with the certain losers, the three sacrificial lambs on our slate who were running in order to increase Charter’s overall vote. The Charter Committee’s office was then in the Carew Tower. Forest Frank, its Director, was a former journalist with a gruff, take-no-prisoners demeanor. On several occasions he reduced a young intern to tears, but I somehow managed to stay on his good side. From the start, I loved the job, because I liked dabbling in journalism and reform politics. A word about Charter that summer will set the stage for describing my introduction to Martin Luther King. As a reform party that kept on reforming, Charter believed in diverse representation on City Council. Since its founding it defended Proportional Representation as the best method (Continued on page 5) THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Reception: Derrick Hudson, Iolanda Barton, Patricia J. Brown, Larry Johnson, Dante Williams Maintenance: Pete Roper CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Mike Brown, Dr. Mark Mussman, Jim Luken, Michael Earl Patton, Lee McCoy, Steve Sunderland, Jimmie Gipson, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones Photography/Artwork: Jon Harmon, Western Regional Advocacy Project, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, 1894 book called “The Treaty of Greenville” Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �3 LOCAL City Legislation Drafted to Protect Workers No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 MIKE BROWN Contributing Writer C ouncilman David Mann unveiled draft legislation to protect workers against wage theft and payroll fraud at a Thriving Cincinnati event on Jan. 15 hosted by the Woman’s City Club. The legislation would apply to all workers on a construction site where the developer receives more than $25,000 in incentives under an agreement with the City of Cincinnati. The developer would risk losing the incentives and could be barred from future city contracts if any contractor or subcontractor on the construction site is found to have committed wage theft or payroll fraud. People have to be treated fairly, said Mann, if our society is going to work. “We have too long a tradition in this country of building wealth on the backs of people who, at one time, weren’t paid at all and, more recently, aren’t paid what they should be paid.” The legislation not only promotes fairness and equity for workers, said Mann, but it also protects city income tax revenues which suffer when workers are not fully paid or when employers commit payroll fraud by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Independent contractors are often paid in cash with no tax withholding. Through its “Just Pay Cincy” campaign, the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center has advocated for more than a year for city legislation to protect workers against wage theft. Peter Metz, Councilman Mann’s chief of staff, worked closely with Brennan Grayson, the center’s executive director, the city solicitor’s office, and the offices of development and economic inclusion to help create the draft. This is good legislation that deserves to be adopted, said Mann. Mayor John Cranley “has indicated his support.” Rolando Perez, a Guatemalan immigrant, also voiced his support. Perez, who was twice victimized by incidents of wage theft on construction jobs, spoke of the hardship on his family who is depending on him. “It’s not easy when they steal your wages because we live on the money I make each day.” The legislation, in Grayson’s view, encourages developers to set clear expectations among their contractors and subcontractors to follow the laws protecting workers. The Susan Noonan and Brennan Grayson present Photo: Harriet Kaufman, WCC. legislation helps create a culture of compliance in construction and empowers developers to monitor and fix problems or face consequences. The Woman’s City Club gave special recognition in absentia to Molly North, president and CEO of Al. Neyer, for squelching an instance of wage theft by one of the company’s subcontractors and for her resolve to prevent such abuses in the future. The workers center, a local nonprofit, advocates for low-wage and immigrant workers. Since it was founded in 2005, the workers center has helped workers recover more than $1 million in unpaid wages. Despire the center’s efforts, Grayson estimates that tens of millions of dollars in unpaid wages go unrecovered each year in Cincinnati. The workers center needs more tools like Mann’s legislation, said Grayson, because state and federal enforcement resources are not adequate to address the problem. The number of state wage and hour investigators has dropped from 14 to six due to budget cuts at the Department of Commerce, according to Grayson, who says the closest investigator is located in Montgomery County, and none of the investigators speaks Spanish. The number of federal investigators also has declined, and some smaller cases “do not get caught in the federal net.” Col Owens, a policy advocate for a living wage and a former LeRolando Perez, center, with Manuel Perez and Pam Dixon, translator. Photo: Mike Brown, C4AD. gal Aid attorney, spoke Vice Mayor Mann discusses his proposed wage enforcement legislation Photo: Harriet Kaufman, WCC. to what he called the “ultimate wage theft” -- that is, people working full time “at a legal wage that is below poverty and radically below what they need” to sustain their families. Inadequate wages that force reliance on public benefits is part of the “underbelly of our country that is weakening our social fabric,” said Owens. He made the case that increasing wages is in the best, long-term interests of corporations because it improves worker productivity but also supports consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the country’s economic activity. While the scope of Mann’s proposed legislation is limited to certain construction workers, Grayson hopes the city will consider using its authority to enforce existing laws protecting workers in all industries in the city. The Woman’s City Club, which has been active in Cincinnati for more than 100 years, “promotes civic literacy through open public forums and models the democratic process through courageous dialogue and debate,” according to its web site. The WCC created Thriving Cincinnati in 2015 to be a collaborative of nonprofits, funders, employers, residents, and policymakers addressing income inadequacy in Cincinnati. “It is imperative for the five sectors to work together to make any headway in decreasing poverty, increasing self-sufficiency, fighting wage theft, and fostering diversity and equity,” said Susan Noonan, WCC spokesperson. “We hope to make Thriving Cincinnati a transformative movement in this region.” ------------------------ Col Owens. Photo: Harriet Kaufman, WCC. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL Feb.12- 25 , 2015 | No. 297 The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition would like to thank 4EG, The Lackman and Lachey’s Bar for sponsoring the 2015 Streetvibes Music Fest at the Woodward Theater! The 2016 Day by Day calendar is now available online at http://cincihomeless.org/ THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 Stick with it! 5 LOCAL DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer T he feedback I most often get when working with High School or Middle School students is that I speak over their heads. We get into some pretty complex discussions around poverty, homelessness, healthcare, education, housing, organizing, and, in general, topics that I am passionate about. I try to simplify the messages, but reality is messy and detangling history while keeping contemporary issues in context is difficult. Students are often sheltered from hearing about heavy topics, so when we enter their school, they can be unprepared to hear about systematic oppression. I am working on ways to help clarify the message of the Homeless Coalition to help students grasp the important work that we do on a daily basis. I remember the first time a student used their hand, passed it above their head, gesturing to me that I was speaking over their heads. I was talking about the Affordable Care Act and how it was saving tax payers money because less people were using emergency rooms as primary care physicians. The Medicaid expansion in Ohio has also had a big impact on improving the health of individuals living in poverty or on a fixed income. While this was important for our discussion, it wasn’t something that middle school students can easily digest. This sparked my interest in making our message more streamlined, so I came up with… stickers! Well, to be honest, I first thought of making buttons. I had made buttons at the Public Library’s Makerspace before, and it’s easy and relatively inexpensive. I wanted to design buttons that aligned with the main ways that students can get involved: affordable housing, a living wage, and tenant’s rights. Since we don’t do many volunteer activities at the Coalition, I encourage students to seek out resources in these areas or to find opportunities with our member organizations, such as Tender Mercies (who do game nights and serve meals). I made buttons that have the Homeless Coalition’s logo, Beyond the Box, People First, Social Justice Leader, and Love Affordable Housing. After designing the buttons, I brought them to the Makerspace, along with a volunteer from Northern Kentucky University, and we used the button maker to make about 30 buttons. Each button means something different, but I tried to make them obvious; for instance, we say “put people first”, or use “personfirst language” when we talk about people experiencing homelessness. This is one way you can become an advocate. Beyond the Box takes a little more decoding – it is meant to encourage people to see people experiencing homelessness for more than just a stereotype. Humanizing those who are experiencing homelessness is a very important mission of ours because it is only through genuine human interaction that people will get into a stable housing situation. We were also able to print an outdoor-quality banner of the Homeless Coalition that we will be able to use at different events. I plan to use it when I have an information table or when we take photos with students. Usually, when I table events, I hang Stickers made at Makerspace Photo: Dr. Mark Mussman BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) for insuring minority representation, and Theodore M. Berry, Charter’s African American candidate, had emerged as one of the top vote getters in municipal elections in the early 1950s. In fact, Berry’s success at the polls spawned a racist backlash that succeeded in abolishing this voting system in 1957 with a whispering campaign that claimed that a Negro would become Mayor unless PR was scrapped. Without PR, Ted Berry was defeated in the next election. Certainly part of Charter’s reform update of the 1960s included Civil Rights especially with regard to voting. Its top goal for the 1963 election was reelecting Ted Berry under the current at-large system. This priority meshed with the national Civil Rights movement that was picking up steam with the well planned March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In fact, five-hundred Cincinnatians including Ted Berry traveled to Washington, D.C. for that march and rally on August 28th. Local labor, religious, and Civil Rights leaders organized this large contingent that joined the 200,000 plus attendees at this Washington event. A number of people affiliated with Charter took part. On the 28th, I was in Charter’s headquarters when coverage of the Buttons made at the library Photo: Dr. Mark Mussman our T-shirts (you can purchase them at the Homeless Coalition) over the front of the table. Now we will be able to use the banner during photo ops. While I love the buttons, I realize that it’s not economically feasible to give everyone buttons. Sometimes, we talk to groups of 100 students or more at a time! I found out that you can print stickers at the Makerspace as well, so I took my designs, and added a couple more, to the Makerspace to print as stickers. I added an “I Love Streetvibes” sticker to the mix and printed out about 40 or 50 of each. Each sticker costs about 20% of the cost of a button, so they are more cost effective. I had a little trouble with the sticker printer, because it can cut the stickers out, but it wasn’t coming through the program. So, in the end, some had to be cut by hand. I took some stickers to the next Speaker’s Bureau and I felt that it transformed the students. We had a group of about 15 students from Mount Notre Dame High School who did a service-learning trip. I began my usual discussion, but this time, when I asked them questions, if they got it right, or at least tried, I gave them a sticker that had something to do with the topic. For example, when I asked them “What does advocacy mean?” I gave them a Homeless Coalition sticker. When I asked them “What percentage is considered affordable for housing?” I gave them an Affordable is 30% sticker. By the end, only 3 students didn’t have stickers, so I let them pick one. I feel that it created enthusiasm from students who had spent a long day doing physical service. It was also gratifying to see them putting them on their shirts right away. It was also a good test run to see what worked and what gaps there were in my sticker story. I realized that I didn’t have anything for housing first, raising the wage, tenant’s rights, or recognizing privilege. Beyond the Box speaks to stereotypes, but I think I may need something more explicit. I am really excited because I am meeting with an Art Academy of Cincinnati student who wants to help out with our educational program. I feel that this student may be able to add a new dimension to these stickers – as long as it is taken seriously and not as a quick project. I can’t wait to see what an art student can do with our ideas. I think the stickers will also be very useful when we have college students here for the Cincinnati Urban Experience, or even during Social Justice Walking Tours. It might be a good visual to have when we are roaming the neighborhood between service experiences or tours. I particularly like the “I Love Streetvibes” sticker because it is such a great resource for our community, and it will increase visibility during Streetvibes Shadowing Activities. We have one next week with high school students here in the Over-the-Rhine, so we’ll get to test it out! In the end, whether or not we have swag for students, it’s about giving them a message that they can understand and empowering them to find ways to get involved in the struggle for human dignity and rights. Our speakers provide heartfelt, in-depth, accounts of their struggles and successes, and knowing someone who has gone through so much to come out stronger, is a powerful way to get students motivated to learn more and do more about social justice. Wearing a sticker may be a small way to start a large conversation about our role in this society. March on Washington began on national television. Forest Frank had a TV going in his office, and he invited staff to come in and watch the rally and listen to the various speakers. It was the kind of event that galvanized our attention, but the speech by Martin Luther King is the memory that is still etched in my brain. Known as the “I have a dream” speech, Dr. King awed me with his uplifting words. He spoke with such sincerity and passion, and his sentences rolled down like poetry. It was one of those stop action moments when I was totally caught up in what this man was saying. After the completion of the speech, I knew without a doubt that I had been witness to something very memorable and important. In rehearing his speech on the news that evening or in later reruns, I never experienced any disappointment or feeling that my original impression was over blown. After such a moment, normal life goes on. That November Ted Berry was reelected to Cincinnati City Council, President Kennedy was assassinated, and I dropped out of law school. Nevertheless, words such as Dr. King’s become part of one’s experience. I like to think that remembering them from time to time can even help to bring out our better selves. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED ------------------------ ------------------------ �6 LOCAL My First (Winning) SuperBowl Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer “B eing in politics is like being in a football game. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it’s important.” Eugene McCarthy, Democratic Presidential contender in 1968. Let me apologize. I usually write about politics and social issues. This is a sports story. Streetvibes seldom covers sports. The editor is a musician and a would-be politico. He hates sports. But—since this is actually a human interest story—Mr. Jeffre is permitting me one opportunity to write about the most important ASPECT in our lives as Americans: FOOTBALL. I’ll never forget it. 2001-02. I was a flatlander from Cincinnati, having moved east into the Patriot nation that summer. I don’t think it was even a nation back then, but it proudly claimed to be something bigger than a city or a state. They were the New England Patriots. I liked that. Since I was a new New Englander, I adopted the local team, or should I say that I got adopted by “the Pats.” I had tagged along with my wife, an Episcopal priest, as she took over a small parish in St. Johnsbury, located in the most remote corner of Vermont, known as “The Northeast Kingdom.” A freelance writer, I soon found a job at daily (very small) newspaper, the Caledonian Record. I was one of three full-time reporters. And, as I recall, there were three full-time sportswriters as well. Proving that even small-town America has its priorities right. All through the previous, turnof-the-millennium season, in which the Pats went 5-11, I remember these sports guys being totally down on first-year coach Bill Belichick. The reason: because...well, he was Belichick then, as he is now (on the big national stage): crotchety, poorly dressed, sometimes flippant with reporters, not an ass-kisser, the way so many coaches are. And, he was a loser that year, 11 times. Sports reporters draw many more readers when their local teams win. Beyond that, sports reporters like to be stroked. In the first game of the 2001 season, I rooted against the Patriots. My hometown team, the Bungles whupped up on the visiting boys from Beantown. But in the second game (just after September 11) against the hated NY Jets, golden boy QB Drew Bledsoe got hurt in the fourth quarter. Brady took over, but the Pats lost the game. So they were 0 and 2. The rest, as they say, is history. The third game against the Colts (2-0 at the time) ended in a resounding Patriot win (44-13) Brady threw for 168 yards. This game proved to be the first of 17 clashes between two soon-to-be iconic QBs, Tom Brady and Payton Manning. [In head-to-head meet-ups, Brady has won 11 times, although Payton is 2 and 0 against Tom in the playoffs since 2006]. By the time this issue of Streetvibes goes to press, we will know which of the two is going to Superbowl L. Anyway, I became a permanent Pat that year. Game after game, Brady was awesome. Bledsoe recovered from his injury, but “the job” remained in Brady’s hands. The boys from New England went 11-5, winning the AFC east. On January 19, cabin fever in Vermont got the best of me. I decided to go skiing across the river in New Hampshire instead of watching the Patriot’s divisional playoff game with the Oakland Raiders. It was snowing hard as I took to the slopes in the White Mountains. And it was snowing on Foxboro (Massachusetts) stadium as well. That game became known as the “Snow Bowl,” and also the “Tuck-rule” game. The “tuck rule,” instituted in 1999, saved Tom Brady from losing a crucial (Continued on page 11) We are proud to show you what your financial support has accomplished in 2015: Education and Outreach: 95 Speaking Engagements were held. Over 4,700 people learned what systematically causes homelessness and the hardships people experiencing it go through. Approximately 30 local schools and over 1000 students participated in our Citywide Shantytown 2015. Three groups of university students spent extended time with us in intense, hands on learning. Streetvibes: This year Streetvibes turned 20, making it one of the oldest street-papers in the world. Currently we have over 50 active Distributors. Our hard-working Distributors put out approximately 2000 papers every two weeks. Our Distributors also joined with local high school students and together created our sixth Day by Day Calendar. Advocacy and Organizing: After a year of organizing by the Coalition and legal work by Legal Aid and the City of Cincinnati, a judge ruled that due to the negligence of an out-of-town landlord, five affordable apartment buildings in our city have become a public nuisance. We spent 2015 organizing Residents, and collecting evidence of building violations; 1800 just last month. Thousands of people have had to endure crime, mold, collapsed ceilings and roof, constant leaks, windows that won’t close, electric that threatens fire, threats and intimidation from the owners, etc. Because of this decision, in January we go back before the judge asking that she appoint a third party company, answerable to the court, to receive all of the rent monies and put them back into improving the properties. After 14 years of advocacy, we became the 3rd city in the country to have Homeless Hate Crimes legislation. The Winter Shelter was open all of last winter and will be this winter as well. More than 800 people are expected to move through its doors. Coordination: We held well-attended monthly Membership Meetings. Our Membership has continued to increase. We are constantly trying to provide opportunity for our MemberOrganizations to be involved in our systematic work. We work hard to listen and act according to the needs of our Members; without them, we would not be a Coalition. After a decade of our advocacy and organizing, City Human Services Funding, which many of our Members receive, was finally increased. Additionally: We received and distributed mail for nearly 3,000 people without an address. “Breakdown Stereotypes” “Eradicate Misinformation” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community. To schedule a speaker, contact Mark Mussman at (513) 421.7803 x14 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL 1789 Cincinnati Letter on American Settler - Indian Relations 7 No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 MICHAEL EARL PATTON- I had to live here for over 20 years before I began to realize that much of the early history of the white settlers in Cincinnati was glossed over. Specifically, what about the Indians who were already here? I have written some about this early history of Cincinnati before. What follows below is an extract from a long letter by John Cleves Symmes, dated May 18, 19, & 20, 1789. This letter, which was printed in Charles Cist’s 1841 book on Cincinnati was one of the earliest threads I found on the missing material. Interestingly, Mr. Cist says that although he has gathered a great quantity of historical material, that it was too much for his small book so he printed only a few portions. I would love to see what he omitted. A few notes: John Cleves Symmes had a promise from Congress to sell him much of the land which later became Cincinnati. Before he had clear title he was reselling the land and encouraging the settlers to come. Of course, many of the Indians disagreed that Congress had the power to sell their land at all – only some of the tribes had agreed to this. Nonetheless, the first white settlers arrived in late 1788 by present-day Lunken airport. They called their settlement Columbia. Mr. Cleves thought an area further west would be better and he settled there, calling his settlement Northbend (North Bend). In between was Losantiville, which was quickly renamed Cincinnati. “ … Captain Blackbird – for so the chief was called – assured me, that I need be under no apprehensions of mischief from the Shawanese nation. He even asked me permission, to come down with his tribe and settle on a prairie or plain in the purchase, about thirty miles from this place up the Great Miami which I assented to. “After they had sold to me all their furs and skins, which were several hundred, and almost stripped me of all the linen and cloth that I had brought out for the use of the surveyors and my workmen, which almost ruined me as to those articles, so much were wanted, and having lived at my expense (nor was it a very small one, as they had whiskey at their pleasure gratis,) for about four weeks, they took leave in a most friendly manner, promising to return to Northbend again by the third new moon, which is already some days past. “Those Indians which had continued in the neighborhood of Columbia all this while, moved off about the same time; not without being somewhat offended by the treatment they met with from the traders who came down the Ohio with whiskey and some other articles. They had sold the Indians whiskey that had frozen in the cask, before they reached their camp; they made an Indian pay for a rifle gun thirty, the Indians say forty, buck-skins, which they value at one dollar each, besides a horse of fifteen pounds price. A worthless gunsmith, who undertook to put a new chop – worth one and six pence – for the flint, to the cock of an Indian’s rifle, made the Indian Contributing Writer leave two bucks for the work, before he would undertake it; another Indian calling for the gun, was forced to pay two bucks more before the smith would give up the gun. “This ill usage the Indians complained of very much to me; the consequence was, that in a short time after the Indians left Columbia, several of the horses were stolen from that place; and it was not long before another attempt was made on their horses, and some more carried off; again, a third time, horses were stolen from Columbia, when a party under the command of lieutenant Bailey went in pursuit of the horses. They followed the trail of the horses about eighty miles, and came up with fresh signs of Indians being very near. Mr. Flinn went forward in order to reconnoiter and make discoveries. He soon espied an Indian camp, as he thought, and creeping out softly to inform himself more particularly, he did not perceive three Indians that were as softly creeping behind him, until one of them clapped him on the shoulder, crying out, yo ho! Yo ho! Flinn looking around, not a little dismayed to see himself a prisoner, yielded without resistance. “They led him to their camp, the Indians settling their guns, together with Flinn’s beside a tree. No interpreter being present, they could not converse together. They had not stood long at the Indian camp, before Mr. Flinn observed one of them go to get some tugs – so they called straps made of hide – and supposing they intended to bind him therewith, conscious of his own agility, he sprang from them and made his escape; they did not fire at him. Returning to his party, with whom, seizing five horses belonging to the Indians, they made precipitately for Columbia, and came in safe with only the loss of Flinn’s gun. “They had not been long at Columbia, before the same party of Indians (Wyandots) came there with their squaws, bringing Flinn’s gun, and requested of Mr. Stites the horses which had been taken from them by lieutenant Bailey and party; assuring Mr. Stites, that they were innocent of the robbery of those horses previously taken from Columbia. Several of the Indians were of those who had been formerly at Columbia. The matter was soon compromised, and the horses restored. One of those Indians, a Wyandot chief, demanded of Mr. Stites twenty dollars, which colonel Morgan, on this way to Mississipi, had promised should be paid to him, for his trouble in carrying letters from Little Miami to Muskingum and Sandusky. He promised the Indian forty dollars; but a Mr. Magee at Sandusky had paid him twenty, and he now came down to Miami for the other twenty. “Mr. Stites brought the Wyandot chief to me, on the 30th of April. I endeavored to show him, that for what colonel Morgan had promised him I was not accountable. I gave him a new calico shirt, telling him, by the interpreter, that as he had worn out his shirt in colonel Morgan’s service, I would replace it with a new one. He seemed dissatisfied that he was not likely to get this twenty dollars, and could not otherwise be made sensible, but that what one white owed an Indian, every white man was bound to pay until the debt was discharged. I informed him that I could not part with money; he replied that he would take the value thereof in whiskey, which I agreed to give him whenever he might call for the same. He had left his horses at Columbia, and came down by water with Mr. Stites. On his return to that place, they freighted their horses with whiskey, and set on for their towns, leaving behind the whiskey I told him I would pay for colonel Morgan: since which I have not heard one syllable from them. “About three weeks previous to this transaction, as several parties of surveyors were surveying in the neighborhood of Mad river, Mr. John Mills, with his party, as they were rising out of their camp early one morning, were fired upon by a party of Indians, three or four in number; two men, Mr. Holman, of Kentucky, and Mr. Wells, of Delaware state, were killed; Mr. Mills, with three others, escaped unhurt. This is the only instance wherein violence has been done by the Indians to any man in the purchase, since the death of Mr. Filson, in September last. It remains yet unknown to us, of what tribe they were who fired on Mr. Mills. The Indians who came in after the tragedy, pretended to be entirely innocent and ignorant of the murders. Some of the settlers at Columbia, were for detaining a few of the Indians, until the rest would bring in the offenders: but I thought this measure not warrantable and forbade it. “Our living hitherto in the friendly manner we have with the Indians, has excited the jealousy and ill will of many of our neighbors on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, and some even threaten to cross the river, and put every Indian to death which they find on the Miami purchase: this, however, I believe is only a threat, and will not be executed. I am very sorry, that the people of Kentucky cannot enjoy equal peace and quiet from the savages; perhaps if they would act as moderately towards them, they might live in as much safety as the people of this purchase.” Postscript: This situation did not last. About the first of June of 1789, shortly after this letter was written, Major Doughty arrived with 140 men to construct Fort Washington. The purpose was to back up the claim of the United States to this part of the country with military force. On December 29, General Harmar arrived with 300 men and took possession of it. In 1790, the peaceful relations with the Indians were definitely at an end as “fifteen or twenty” of the inhabitants of Cincinnati were killed by Indians during the course of the year. Attacks in 1790 and 1791 became so strong that even abandoning the settlement was considered. There is much more to the background and situation with the Indians in Ohio. Some of this was covered in “The Cincinnati Frontier” set of articles published earlier in Streetvibes. One further note, and an observation on events today. The young United States often took the position that it was good enough to get agreement from some of the tribes to a treaty, but not necessarily all the tribes, or even the most powerful one. Interestingly, Mr. Symmes makes a similar comment about the Indians when he says that they thought that “…what one white owed an Indian, every white man was bound to pay until the debt was discharged.” Today I often hear something along the lines that all Muslims are somehow responsible for the crimes of those who practice violence in the name of Islam, even though the Koran is quite clearly against this and most Muslims speak out against the violence. Sometimes when I look at our country’s recent mistakes in Iraq – where we pretended that the corrupt Baghdad government spoke for all Iraqis – I wonder how much we have learned. ------------------------ Image: 1894 book called “The Treaty of Greenville THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �8 WORLD “No person should have to live or die homeless” - US street papers unite to cover National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 ETHAN COHEN, ONE STEP AWAY; COLLEEN COSGRIFF, DOTTIE KRAMER AND REGINALD BLACK, STREET SENSE; ALEX RAMIREZ, SPARE CHANGE NEWS www.INSP.ngo / Street Sense Just days before Christmas, thousands of people across the U.S. gathered to remember the homeless and formerly-homeless people who died in 2015. INSP members were on the ground to cover these moving memorials and amplify their message that no one should have to live or die homeless. Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless has encouraged communities to host public events on or near 21 December - the longest night of the year - to mark National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day. Every community does so in its own way. Some hold vigils, some organise candle-lit processions, and others even put on open mic performances of stories, poetry and songs. Each memorial event shares a common sentiment, which is to honour and celebrate lives lost, and to call for an end to homelessness. It is a particularly poignant and moving time for street paper staff and homeless or formerly homeless street paper vendors, many of whom attended memorial services and vigils across the U.S. The street paper Denver Voice reported 132 dead in Denver, Colorado - with an additional 30 names memorialised that had not been recognized at the 2014 service. One Step Away reported 168 lives lost while homeless in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Street Sense reported 42 dead in Washington, D.C. - with an additional 11 in neighbouring Northern Virginia. Real Change reported 60 dead in Seattle, Washington. The Journey reported 55 dead in Fort Worth, Texas. At Philadelphia’s memorial, held on 17 December, volunteers from the community read aloud the names of those who had passed away, while audience members stood up, holding signs bearing the names of the deceased. “I think the best way to honour those who we have lost is to take the dignity that we afford the people who echoed that sentiment. “The best way to honour someone who has passed from homelessness is to see another person who is in need and help them live. In small ways or large ways, help someone else live,” he said. In Boston, the memorial service held on 21 December marked the first The same names were labelled on packaged blankets piled beneath the altar and lined up along the pews. There were 125 names in total. Diamond O’Connell, who was homeless for 20 years, knew 75 of those people - including her best friend, Risa Latinville. “[She was] fun-loving, wild. Everyone mentioned tonight I shared a part of my life with… we ended calling each other brother and sister.” O’Connell remembers huddling out in the streets for warmth, sharing meals, laughing, and getting hot chocolate with many of them. After the service, she pointed to a small vial on her necklace in which she carries some of Latinville’s ashes. “Every night she can have a home,” she says. Homeless Memorial Day in Washington D.C. on December 17, 2015. Photo: Alexandra Pamias passed this year tonight and apply that dignity to a lot of the folks who are still out there and are overlooked,” said Patrick McNeil, a case manager in Philadelphia. One Step Away vendor Jeff Rev. Laura Shatzer (second from the right) leads several other Faith Leaders in the final prayer over the candles that were lit in the name of the deceased homeless people after the 26th Annual Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service at Church on the Hill in Boston, MA on December 21, 2015. Photo: Alena Kuzub time in 26 years that last names were included, rather than simply a last initial. A flute solo played while a list of all the full names available was read aloud. A candle was lit for each one, covering the small altar of Church on the Hill in light. O’Connell gained housing last year, but still has friends on the streets. “75 people… and only one lives… What’s wrong? Who failed them? Every day I cry, because they deserved to have a warm home like I do,” she added. “If it wasn’t for each and every Homeless Memorial Day in Washington D.C. on December 17, 2015. Photo: Alexandra Pamias THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 9 WORLD Homeless Memorial Day in Washington D.C. on December 17, 2015. Photo: Matailong Du one of my friends whose names are on the blankets, I wouldn’t be where I am today. If they didn’t help me, hold me, and love me. And I’m never gonna forget ‘em.” In the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., a vigil began at Luther Place Memorial Church to honour 42 men and women who passed away in 2015. Each person’s name had been written on posters carried by participants, along with electric candles. Street Sense vendor Ken Martin gave his first-hand account of homelessness. Martin suffered two heart attacks in one week. He was returned to the street immediately after his first heart surgery. “I could have been number 56,” Martin said, referencing the 55 people who were honoured at the 2014 vigil. He went on to reminisce about how he watched a homeless woman seize up, after her complaints of headaches and blurred vision. He lamented the fact that he did not know the woman’s fate and if she was one those they were commemorating that night. “If I break the law, I am guaranteed a safe place to lay my head, a warm place to sleep, and three meals a day, but when someone does everything right, they get nothing,” said Street Sense’s Executive Director, Brian Carome. He talked about remembering Roberta Bear, a Street Sense vendor who had experienced homelessness, but died housed in 2015. He expressed frustration with attending the Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day each year; an event he believes has been needed for “far too long”. After the vigil, organised by the People for Fairness Coalition, homeless advocates marched to Freedom Plaza and City Hall, where overnight protests took place. They called on better provisions for housing as a way to save lives and emphasized the message that “housing is a human right.” “In a city that has declared itself to be a ‘human rights city,’ there are still unfortunate lost lives of people that are facing or currently experiencing housing instability,” vendor Reginald Black later wrote in a report for Street Sense. “The deaths of 42 people in the District of Columbia that have died without the dignity of a home sends a loud message to the community at large. The challenge is to produce housing in the community that those who are living in poverty can access, barrier-free. “Washington is a changing city and nights like this remind us that there are less fortunate people out there, as well as people who care.” Another Street Sense vendor, Angie Whitehurst, read an original poem ‘Wake up Dead’ at their open mic event. Her poem expressed the feelings of hopelessness and abandonment she faced when she was homeless: “Woke up dead, from exposure and death/Cold and ill from no housea home or a place to heal./The cost too high for my town to meet/Now, I am not here for you to touch and see.” As is tradition, most services ended with a call to end homelessness - one that is simple and sobering: “Homelessness is an intolerable condition. It is degrading to persons who experience homelessness and a disgrace that our society permits homelessness. “No person should have to live or die homeless.” INSP street papers are one of many organisations working to change this injustice by helping homeless and formerly homeless people help lift themselves out of poverty by offering meaningful employment and support. You can find out more about the work they do at www.INSP.ngo Rabbi Victor Reinstein (Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue) delivers a jewish prayer during the 26th Annual Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service at the Church on the Hill in Boston, MA on December 21, 2015. Credit: Alena Kuzub THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED ------------------------ �10 STREET VOICE Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 The B Word What are you saying when you call someone a “bum”? All too often when we discuss the phenomena of homeslessness, we use words like “bum,” “hobo,” or “vagrant” to describe people. But what are we really saying when we label people with those words? REMEMBER: PUT PEOPLE FIRST *Always use “people-first” language when discussing the issue of homelessness. It is a misconception that those who “People experiencing experience homelessness do so out of homelessness” choice; many work long hours. Homelessness is a multi-layered issue. When we dismiss people who live in extreme poverty as being NOT lazy or deserving of their situation we are actively contributing to the problem. “Homeless people” Learn toBugaboo change your language. Learn how to make a difference. LEE MCCOY Contributing Writer & Streetvibes Distributor 2 015 hasn’t been the greatest year of my life. I am so grateful that the Lord has seen fit for me to live this long. If I live until April 30th I’ll be 64 years young. And all the glory has to go to him. The good and the bad. I truly believe you have to go through the bad to get to the other side. I have been homeless since 2010, no fault of my own. I was living in Mt. Auburn. I moved there in 2008. I was the happiest camper in Cincinnati, but like anything, things happen. All of the sudden Christ Hospital wanted to expand and asked the nearby landlords to either evict or relocate and they (Christ Hospital) would buy the property. Well $200.50 in relocation money is not enough to do anything with so I have been homeless since 2010. I have slept on the Court House steps, Music Hall steps, in empty buildings and in empty cars. You name it, I’ve probably been there. This is nothing I am proud of, but one thing is for sure. You can say Lee McCoy is a survivor. Some nights I almost froze my tail off. But like I said, by the grace of God in 2015 God put me in an apartment. I slept on the floor for the first two weeks, good thing I had a carpet in my living room. Things are coming along slowly, but I am not worried about that. All things come in time. But I keep on thinking about 2015. Some of you know the issues I have been going through. First a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy has arrested me for selling Streetvibes. And they even made up charges like jaywalking and criminal trespassing. And I was on city property with 100 people around me, but I am the only one that they have charged. Can you imagine that? I can. I have been in front of a judge three times and three times the judge be looking at the police or the Hamilton County sheriffs like, ‘No you didn’t bring this shit in my court room.’ Three times charges were dismissed in the same year. The Cincinnati Police have taken me to court for selling papers too close to ATM machine. Did they measure the distance? No. The city law says I have to be at least 20 feet away and I can understand that law. The second time the police officer told me I had to be 100 feet away. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or bad thing when another cop came up, and he told him, “No it’s 20 feet.” But guess what, he cited me to court anyway. The third time police just stopped in the middle of traffic like I had committed a crime. “You have to be 100 feet away. Why don’t you go somewhere else,” he said. I told him as long as I am 20 feet away I can sell papers here. I guess he thought I was being a smart ass, so here comes those bracelets when he could have easily written me a ticket. All the crime that is happening in Cincinnati. Why me? I mean if this was 20 or 25 years I probably would have been doing something illegal. But how can you tell me the people up here on Vine Street didn’t come down here to buy a paper. I could show him in one year 6,600 people would have told him he was wrong. Bugaboo, Bugaboo, Bugaboo. To learn more about the lack of affordable housing and the inadequacy of services that force people into homelessness, contact the Homeless Coalition at (513) 421- 2701 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED ------------------------ �LOCAL No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 Cancer Justice in Cincinnati: What Needs To Be Done STEVE SUNDERLAND Contributing Writer “Social injustice is killing on a grand scale.”--M. Marmot, M.D. (2015). The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World. Bloomsbury. “The secret of quality is love.” A. Donabedian (R. Wachter (1/16/16). How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers. NY Times.) 1. Definition: Cancer justice could exist in Cincinnati. Here are some of the steps to reaching this goal. Were Cancer Justice alive and well then a person who is diagnosed with cancer would normally expect the following: A. A friendly, helpful, and efficient process of moving from diagnosis to treatment. Cancer treatment with justice recognizes that a person is frightened and ignorant of a lot of the cancer process and that this is normal. The health system that works with people with cancer expects people to go through emotional difficulties in facing the uncertainties of cancer. Built into a just cancer system is a helpfulness in answering basic questions, as well as a supportive set of procedures to entering into the world of cancer treatment. ACTION: A TELEPHONE SERVICE THAT ANSWERS ALL CANCER QUESTIONS ON A 24/7 BASIS. B. A patient navigator. It is normal to ask for help with basic questions, to get second opinions, and to seek support with obstacles of transportation, finances, and emotional challenges. Lay patient navigators serve a crucial role in guiding new patients to places where questions can best be answered in ways that the patient can understand and use in decision making. Most important, the patient navigator helps the patient get a timely screening to determine if cancer is present. JIM LUKEN (Continued from page 6) (seeming) fumble during a fourth quarter drive. The ski resort had an outdoor bar with its own TV. I remember skiing up to the bar, and sipping a beer as that memorable game was winding down. In the closing minutes the “tuck rule” was invoked. Brady then passed to bring the ball within field goal range. Adam Vinatieri kicked the tying field goal through a white-out of snow. Some considered that kick almost miraculous. Then, in overtime: more snow, and the winning field goal. The Pats went on to beat Pittsburg in the AFC championship game, and were scheduled to take on the World Champion St. Louis Rams [Should we refer to them as the LA Rams once again?] in SB XXXVI, the first Super Bowl that “my home town regional team” would go on to win. My wife and I had rented a huge old farm house up on a mountainside in one of Vermont’s smallest towns. ACTION: 12 LAY PATIENT NAVIGATORS PLACED AT CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY HEALTH CLINICS. C. A race and class free set of relationships. People with cancer should normally expect the best treatment irrespective of racial and economic conditions. In a just cancer treatment process the statistics about mortality for minorities, poor people and women should be similar to white, male, and affluent people with cancer. ACTION: A COMMISSION ON RACE AND CANCER TO MONITOR ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR MINORITIES, POOR PEOPLE, AND WOMEN. D. Clarity about which cancer doctors, hospitals, and methods work best. Cancer justice recognizes that cancer is a name for many kinds of diseases. With information about how successful doctors and hospitals are with certain kinds of cancer, a person can expect to enter these systems with the normal expectation that the doctors and hospitals will be as successful as their reputations indicate. G. A relationship with doctors and hospitals that is a true partnership. Cancer patients in a just cancer process are fully aware of the results of tests, informed about orthodox and alternative approaches to treatment, and engaged in a true process of patient discussion of benefits and dangers of any treatment. Patients are encouraged to be learners about the kind of cancer they have and the successful treatments that have occurred for other patients. ACTION: A COMMISSION MADE UP OF CANCER PATIENTS AND DOCTORS TO RECOMMEND CROSS CULTURAL SKILLS FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS. H. A strong relationship with the American Cancer Society. In a just cancer system, information from the ACS is readily available, in multiple languages, and aimed at a lay person who has important questions. People with cancer are made aware of the ACS at the very beginning of their process. ACTION: AN EXPLANATION OF DRUG COSTS RELATED TO CANCER AND EFFECTIVENESS OF DRUGS TO BE PUBLISHED IN STREETVIBES. ACTION: IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL STAFF AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS, EMAILS, AND MATERIALS OF AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY TO BE PUBLISHED IN STREETVIBES. 2. Cancer Justice is an Economic Boom for Cincinnati: Saving people with cancer from dying as a result of injustices would directly increase the economic well-being of Cincinnati. Unjust systems have “unnecessary deaths.” Because of untimely diagnosis, or poor treatments, or prejudiced attitudes of healthcare professionals, or the lack of lay patient navigators, groups of people die earlier than is expected. In Cincinnati there is a 20 year life expectancy difference based on the “place” a person lives. Connected to zip code is faulty cancer treatment. Millions of dollars are being lost as people die unnecessarily as well as serious disruption of families, lost work opportunities, and the reduction of the economic power of minorities and women. Early and unnecessary cancer injustice increases poverty of individuals and families as well as removes groups Our TV’s rabbit ears picked up a PBS and an ABC station. Neither were the channel I needed in order to watch the big game. I scouted around “St. J” for a bar that would carry the Superbowl. Every bar in town...CLOSED on Sundays, including that day, which resulted in perhaps the most important Patriot win in the team’s history. I never could figure why nobody stayed open for the game. Finally, I located a sensible bar in Lyndonville, VT, 7 miles west of the bigger town. I talked a friend into meeting me there. As we walked into this hardscrabble, rambling drinkery, we saw the sign: “Superbowl cover charge—$10.” Although a bit angry—if not insulted— we felt we had no choice. So we anted up. A snack table had been set out with various unexciting salty snacks and dips. “For this, they’re charging $10,” my friend groused. We bought a couple beers at the bar and sat down in a loungy area to watch some of the endless preliminaries. Finally the teams took the field. For the first time ever (apparently) the Pats chose to be introduced as a team, rather than as starting individuals. Then, at the moment of the opening kickoff, as if on cue, one of the waitresses approached our table and asked if we needed drinks. We stared up at her incredulously. She was exquisitely topless. One of us mumbled something stupid, like, “We’re OK for the moment...um, Ma’am...but please come back.” I looked around the saloon. Six other waitresses were equally topless. As she walked away, I said to my friend, “I guess that explains the cover charge.” No more whining from the two of us. The topless server, or one of them, did come back, often of course. When the second half began she returned to our table, now topless AND bottomless...as were all her co-workers. Quite a sight. My friend and I—both aging married men—did our best to focus on the game. And a great game it was for this newly-minted Pats fan. As many in New England will recall, the Rams came back from a two touchdown deficit to tie the game in the closing minutes. Then Tom Terrific marched the boys down the field, and Vinatieri kicked the game-ending field goal in the final second. ACTION: A COMMUNITY LIST PREPARED FOR ANNUAL REVIEW THAT LISTS BEST HOSPITALS FOR CANCER TREATMENT BY OUTCOMES AND PUBLISHED IN STREETVIBES. F. Treatments and drugs that are directed to the personal patient’s cancer. A just cancer system is highly personal and accepts that certain procedures, drugs, treatments may be carefully tailored to the person’s unique experience of cancer. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 11 of people from improving the quality of their lives. So many industries are tied to a “just cancer” process but are unaware of the connections of poor health to reduced economic success. Researchers have estimated that economic losses from cancer in 2003 equaled $89 billion dollars in the U.S. (E. Budish, B. Roin, and H. Williams (2015). Do Firms Underinvest in Long-Term Research? Evidence from Cancer Clinical Trials. American Economic Review, 105(7), 2049, 2080.) 3. Cancer Justice is a Spiritual Strength for Cincinnati: A city that prizes justice in health care, is a city that attracts and retains people who know that this is a compassionate environment. Having a strong cancer hospital or hospitals is a magnet for individuals and families that believe that the community is interested enough in the health of all. Looking at Cincinnati from a health statistic perspective from the viewpoint of children in poverty, or from mortality for different groups, casts a gloom over Cincinnati’s future, a belief in hopelessness for too many citizens. The lack of clarity about which hospitals are strong in what areas of cancers deepens the despair. Researchers on hospital rankings have found that 1600 medical centers claim to be in the “top 100” best hospital list. (R. Wachter (1/16/16). How Measurement Fails Doctors and Teachers. NY Times.) 4. What Can Be Done to Create Cancer Justice in Cincinnati? Plans are underway to put together a network of social agencies, health clinics, and hospitals that can provide cancer justice. What would it be like to consider every social agency in Cincinnati a site for cancer justice? Or, every school or college a place where cancer information and ties to patient navigation can occur? In order to create cancer justice a different way of thinking and a different action must occur in Cincinnati. We cannot wait for a federal “moonshot” to bring cancer justice. Justice can be a local issue with local projects to make a difference in screening and treating cancer. -----------------------With this ecstatic conclusion to the season, the flat-lander reporter had been completely won over...by the plucky team, by the irascible coach, by the (almost) unflappable quarterback. A footnote: the two of us old coots may have been among only a handful of fans at that bar who paid much attention to the game. During those closing quarters, we could hear behind us a lot of wild yelling and carrying-on. Occasionally we turned to check it out. Ongoing lap dances were taking place in various niches around the large room, each one with a small, noisy audience circling it. Some may find such people shocking. Fun lovin’ Vermonters is how I remember them. How the bar got away with it, I’ll never know. Oh, and the sports guys at the newspaper? They were pretty content with Coach Belichick after that. Proving once again that nothing succeeds like success. I’ve told this story many times since then. No one has ever questioned why I so vividly recall “my first Patriot Superbowl.” ------------------------ �12 Caracole Caracole.org - Resident Assistant Center for Chemical Addiction Treatment catsober.org - Nurse PT-3rd Shift Cincinnati Union Bethel cinunionbethel.org - Family Service Worker - Teacher - Assistant teachers - Special Needs Assistant - Cook Cincinnati VA Medical Center- Community Outreach Division vacareers.va.gov - Registered Nurse HUD-VASH Case Manager Hamilton County Public Health hamiltoncountyhealth. LOCAL Now Hiring org - Water Quality Technician 1 - Medical Receptionist - Health Educator - Sanitarian 1/11 - Nurse Program Manager Hamilton County Planning and Development hamiltoncountyohio. gov - Masters Plan Examiner Imani Family Center imanifamilycenter.org *Volunteer based - Freelance Photographers, Filmmakers and Documentarians League of Women Voters lwvcincinnati.org - Part Time Office Manager Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati lascinti.org - Client Service Specialist - Paralegal- Co guardian- Ad Litem - Staff Attorney Lighthouse Youth Services lighthouse.org *Multiple openings including: - Case Managers - Therapists/Counselor - Wrap around Service Aids - Registered Nurse - Residential Manager - Service Coordinator - Street Outreach - Intervention Specialist - Intervention Specialist - Youth Worker Shelter House shelterhousecinti.org - Cook - Shelter Director - Resident Aid - Facilities Maintenance - Service Assignment Specialist St. Vincent DePaul svdpcincinnati.org - Communications Coordinator - Conference Manager - Thrift Store Employees UpSpring upspring.org -Director of Development *Below are positions for the 2016 Summer Program - Class Intern - Office Manager - Volunteer Manager - Instructional Assistant Volunteers of American of Greater Ohio voago.org - Resident Monitor For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 13 STREET VOICE THE IOWA CAUCUS - THE GOP The Iowa Caucus is about to get raucous, And who will those Hawkeyes choose? Polls give a bump to “The Donald” Trump, But evangelicals feel right with Ted Cruz. THE IOWA CAUCUS - THE DEMS Will she prove a charmer to the Iowa farmer, Or will Hillary’s poll numbers steadily wane? Meanwhile underdog Bernie’s unlikely journey Is shaping into a possible upset campaign. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Dreams We all have dreams, they’re gifts and things we want to happen and become. They’re precious to us. We cherish, hope and wish to be that miracle we pursue and obtain. It means so much to us. We focus all the energy we can to make them come true and become reality. It’s in our mind, our heart and our soul. And we do and wish everything we can to make it come true. For that which we live for, to make our dreams come true. We work hard to make them a success that becomes miraculous. Yes the dream we make happen, it’s so rewarding and joyful, that we have dreams that we accomplished and made. The Struggle WHAT WAS ALL OF THE FIGHTING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REALLY FOR? WHY STURGGLE FOR RIGHTS WHEN HALF OF THE WORLD IS WRONG? NOW THAT’S AN EYE SORE! WHAT ARE THE MARCHERS SAYING OR WHAT’S THE BOYCOTS ALL ABOUT? WHY DO THE PEOPLE STILL CRY FOR “JESUS TO HELP”? FOR IN GOD PEOPLE KNOW THERE’S NO DOUBT WHAT DOES BEING HOMELESS HAVE TO DO WITH ALL THESE DILIMAS? WHY THE HOMELESS GET BEAT WHILE THE WRONG GO FREE JUST TO BE LATER CALLED A KILLER? TODAY WE AS A PEOPLE STILL HAVE CONTROL OF ALL OUR CHOICES AND DECISIONS SO TODAY LET’S NOT FORGET THE PAST, THE MARCHES, THE BOYCOTTS OR WE’LL BE IN A COLLISION COLLISON COURSE WITH THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY AND THE BLACK AND WHITE SYNDROME COLLISION COURSE OF WHO CAN DO BETTER OR WHY SHOULD I HELP THE PEROSN WHO’S ALL ALONE WE MUST NEVER FORGET WE ALL LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME SO WE MUST LIVE JUST FOR TODAY WE NEED NEVER FORGET NO MATTER HOW WE LIVE IN THIS LIFE, WE ALL WILL DIE ANYWAY! SO SINCE WE ALL HAVE THAT SAME COMMON GROUD WHICH IS SIX FEET DEEP FORGIVE THE PAST AND RECOGNIZE THAT OUR FUTURE WITH GOD’S BLESSING IS WHAT WE NEED!!! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer The Zen of Streetvibes “So keep dreaming dreamer, and remember dreams do come true!” JIMMIE GIPSON Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer Orange Barrels Orange Barrels, Orange Barrels They’re everywhere Each day the construction workers are there Putting up the construction signs Placing Orange Barrels all around From block to block, from street to street Construction work is on the streets So just sit down and take a seat Orange Barrels are what you’re gonna see KIM GREEN Contributing Writer & Streetvibes Distributor THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 91 Across 1. The most outstanding or excellent 5. Fastener 10. Rib section of veal or pork 14. Report or maintain 15. Large artery 16. Eagerness 17. Rescue 18. Sound of a sheep 19. Painful 20. Paragon 22. Den 23. Concentrate 24. Detection device 26. Inform 28. Drama set to music 31. Hard-shelled seed 32. Fish-eating diving bird 35. Birdcall 37. Whiskers 41. Possess 42. Height 44. Twenty-four hours 45. Harvest 47. Ascend 48. Catch with a lasso 49. Owed 51. Pursue 53. Bushy 56. Test for acid or alkali 60. Fake 61. Artifice 64. Copy of a movie on film 65. Molten rock 66. Enthusiastic approval 68. Not in favor of 69. Kitchen appliance 70. Frighten 71. Metal money 72. Moved away 73. Fur of the marten 74. Long and difficult trip Down 1. Foundation 2. Elude 3. Square root of forty-nine 4. Subversiveness 5. Taxi 6. Be lazy or idle 7. Length by width 8. Tarnish 9. A regular customer 10. Reprieve 11. Remote in manner 12. Transport 13. Leg joint 21. Cut off 25. Remainder 27. Hollow cylindrical shape 29. Bellow 30. Caper 32. Captain’s journal 33. Nocturnal bird 34. Single 36. Sudden rapid flow 38. Fuss 39. Blame 40. Used for staining 42. Cosy 43. Actual 46. Intransigent 48. Recant 50. Emerge 52. Small drink 53. Cut closely 54. Shelter 55. Evergreen plant 57. Not of legal age 58. Unfasten 59. Stench 60. Decelerate 62. Block 63. British peer ranking below a marquess and above a viscount 67. Golf peg SODOKU PUZZLE NO 221 - MEDIUM PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 321 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 90 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 220 - MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 321 | Ja n 1 5 - Ja n 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 Shelter: Women and Children Central Access Point 381-SAFE Bethany House 557-2873 1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214 Mercy Franciscan at St. John OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206 2825 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road, Cinti, OH 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224 15 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 981-5800 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Salvation Army 762-5660 4600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214 Shelter: Men Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1805 Dalton Avenue, Cinti, OH 45214 Shelterhouse 721-0643 2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 411 Gest St. Cinti, Ohio 45203 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205 Parkway Center 661-4620 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Both Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Lighthouse on Highland (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave Cincinnati, OH 45219 569-9500 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237 Interfaith Hospitality Network 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave Cincinnati, OH 45220 961-4080 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Housing: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 Advocacy Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 300 Lytle Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 Faces Without Places 363-3300 Stop AIDS 421-2437 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 Mercy Franciscan at St. John 981-5800 Health Center for Respite Care 621-1868 3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Cincinnati Health Network $100 for 26 issues 961-0600 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 352-6364 McMicken Dental Clinic 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti 352-6363 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Mercy Franciscan at St. John 981-5800 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 Other Resources Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Emmanuel Community Center 241-2563 1308 Race St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 215 E. 14th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Goodwill industries 771-4800 Healing Connections 751-0600 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary VA Homeless for 26 issues and a $50 donation 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 859-491-3335 859-559-5011 859-572-6226 �16 S Jan 15 - Jan 28 , 2016 | No. 321 treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALMA SIMS SINCE 5/2014 ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BELINDA CHERRY SINCE 8/2015 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DEBORAH POINDEXTER SINCE 9/2012 DONALD YOUNG ELMORE MORRIS SINCE 5/2014 GINA MARTIN GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 GREGORY RAY SINCE 4/2015 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2003 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JONATHAN SLATER SINCE 5/2014 JOHN GAINES SINCE 12/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 KIM GREEN SINCE 1/2010 KRISTINE HOFSKY SINCE 3/2015 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MAURICE GOLSBY MAXINE GRANT SINCE 4/2015 QUEENACELESTINE LEVY RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 TARA HILL SINCE 4/2014 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 W. KENNETH BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 LARRY FILES SINCE 6/2012 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MEACO WAITE MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MICHAEL BEHYMER MYRA WILSON RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 2001 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 TINA SINCE 4/2015 TODD HANLEY SINCE 5/2014 TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 VICTOR MUMPHRY LOTTIE MANNER NEBRASKA SINCE 3/2015 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 PERVIS MENTON SINCE 8/2015 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2015 WILLIAM BURDINE SINCE 8/2009 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRAIG SMITH SINCE 5/2014 GLENDA CANTRELL GREGORY WILSON SINCE 1/2012 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHNNY KERNS SINCE 9/2012 WILLIAM SIMMS SINCE 4/2014 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2016 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 29-February 11, 2016 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Remembering Martin Luther King Pg 3: City Legislation Drafted to Protect Workers Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Stick with It! Pg 6: My First (Winning) Superbowl Pg 7: 1789 Cincinnati Letter on American Settler Pg 8: “No Person Should Have to Live or Die Homeless” Pg 9: “No Person Should Have to Live or Die Homeless” Continued Pg 10: The B Word Pg 11: Caner Justice in Cincinnati Pg 12: GCHC Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 29-February 11, 2016 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Mike Brown Dr. Mark Mussman Jim Luken Michael Earl Patton Lee McCoy Steve Sunderland Jimmie Gipson Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Jon Harmon Western Regional Advocacy Project 1894 book called “The Treaty of Greenville” Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Cancer Cincinnati Dr. Mark Mussman Homelessness Jim Luken Jimmie Gipson Jon Harmon Josh Spring Justice Kim Green Lee McCoy Martin Luther King Jr. Michael Earl Patton Mike Brown National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day Native Americans Steve Sunderland street papers Superbowl Western regional Advocacy Project Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/14daa7fa1f9cf8e722ba1fc054132747.pdf 5a911cbb287dc5105077583726b6aa11 PDF Text Text HOMELESS MEMORIAL HELD AT WASHINGTON PARK Homeless Advocates Remember Those Who Have Died by Jimmy Heath On December 21st, 1998, friends , family, shelter workers and advocates for the poor gathered together in Cincinnati to remem­ ber the homeless or formerly homeless who have died during 1998. A candlelight procession began at the Drop Inn Center Shelterhouse and proceeded to Over-the­ Rhine's Washington Park where a barrel fire burned in memory of those who have died. About 40 persons, braving, the rain and the cold, participated in Cincinnati's memorial After participants moved to the park ga­ zebo, Donald Whitehead, Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Home­ ~ less remarked, "that while we are able to ~ get out of the rain and seek comfort in our E' own homes, lets don't forget about the E :.:; ~ Continued a. Participants of the Homeless Memorial gather to remember those who have died. The event was sponsored ·1oca//y by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and was observed nationwide. on page 2... URSULINE ACADEMY VOLUNTEERISM by Stephy Wang, 10th grade As I take my first glimpses of Over the Rhine from the window of a truck, I imbibe the scenery and surroundings with startled sincerity. This is a world beyond my clean quiet suburbia. Here, litter rules the ground, shady alleys stare insidiously between crum­ bling dilapidated buildings. and large assortments of glass bottles lay everywhe re the eye can see. I ask myself: how can anyone live here? The truck halts to a stop in the parking lot and I realize my jaw has been slack since I set my eyes on OTR. Closing it quickly. I step outside the door onto the asphalt parking lot. I take a deep breath in the morning chill and I'm mildly shocked to find that the air smells and tastes the same as the air in my neighborhood. Mr. Forman, the Student Activities Director, gathers up t he rest of the Ursuline volunteers and steers us to a tiny building that looks like a motley of wood boards, brick, and glass. It's not until we go across the street and get close enough to the building that I discover it's t he ReSTOC office building. Strike my mental picture of a small, but nea t and tidy build­ ing. proudly boasting a sign t ha t says: Re­ STOC. My view of the world is getting a good dose of r e ality here . All of us push our way into a crowded office an d after signing in, we wait for the jobs to get distributed . Most of the Ursuline girls turn around to talk to the person behind them except me, so I keep myself busy investigating the room. It's cluttered, but organized, and filled with newsletters, magazines and infor­ mation on homelessness , evic­ tions, politics, and other subjects. Pictures dot the walls, and many are of Buddy Gray. You can tell the reverence the people in the office hold for him , the ma-n who _ founded Re-STOC. A striking pencil picture of Buddy hangs above the entrance adjoining ·chis r oom; t he image rem inds me of a guardian angel w atching over t he office. At the appropriate time, I spy a Bible on the magazine rack, and I sit down on the floor to r e ad it. Almost imme d iately, a woman comes out and exp lains w hat is going on and what jobs need to be done. She asks for volunteers for each task, and I raise my hand high when sh e mentions scaffolding. It turns out I have vo lunteered to pull Ursuline volunteers working on ReSTOC bldg. nails out of a ceiling on the scaffolding. My group walks about half a block to Buddy's Place, w here the nail pulling needs t o be done. On this walk I supplement my educa­ tion about the life here around me by gazing at the buildings, people a nd str eets. Continued on page 12... �- - - - -- - - - - -- ---- - - - - STREETVIBES - - -- -- - - - - - - 1 The Tri State s Homeless Grapevine STREETVIBES THE TRAVELER The Tri State's Homeless Grapevine Streetvibes, the Tri-State's Homeless Grapevine, is a newspaper written by, for and about the homeless. It is compiled by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Home­ less. Vendors buy the paper for 20 cents and then sell it for a do llar donation to get back on their feet. All vendors sign a code of conduct before being given a badge. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a group of shelters, agencies and individuals committed to ending homelessness in Cincinnati through coordinating services, educating the public and grassroots organiz­ ing. The Streetvibes Committee meets monthly to plan o ur issues and increase circulation. If yo u are interest ed in helping o r have a comment, please call 421 -7803. Staff D onald W hi tehead , D irector Jimmy H eath , Coo r dinator Brett Zwo lins ki , Vendor Support Ron Carter, Vendor Support Photoir aph e r Ji mm y H eath Writers D a n Cahill Ron C a r ter Denise Crew Bria n Davis D wigh t G ive n Iola Green Barry G rossh eim Patr ic k H armon Henry H a rtsock J im m y H eath M u ldoon Gr e g Payton Aaro n Pitchfo rd Ja mes W. Pryor Valerie Tayl,o r Stephy Wa ng Don a ld Wh ite h e a d Lynn W ill iams Ro b e rt Woo dman Brett Z w olinski Editorial Streetvibes accepts all le tters, poems, comments or editorials. We will print everything we have room for, giving preference to those who are homeless or vendors. Please send a ll mate ri a l t o the follow ing addres s: STREETVIBES I 506 Elm Street The newest version of Cincinnati City Council is increasingly conservative in its decisions. If the current trend continues " The H ei m l ic h Zon e" scenario, while perhaps a stretch, is not totally improbable with the pull yourself up by your boot straps era we are now facing. On the front-line in the City' s unequal treatment is Councilman Phi l Heimlich. Councilman Heimlich who co ns iste ntly outspends most candidates in the race for council sea ts champions the cause of wea lthy cam paign contributo rs eve ry time he votes. While Mr. He imlich is a r ing leader he has pl e nty o f company. C ouncilwoman Jeanette C iss e ll and un-electe d ap pointed council member Jim Tarbell. 45 2 I 0 (5 13) 421 -7803 fax (5 13) 421 -78 13 e-mail: ho me coal@ primax.n et ht t p :// c in c i.com/g cch FACT OF THE MONTH: * 40% of shelter residents work full-time. Sub mit ted fo r your approva l; Ci ncin nati 2015, a city out of control. Streets are littered with peop le wandering a imlessly, cold, tired and hungry. They are moved along with angry shouts by the city's two million man police force. Many citizens head for shelter in the long aband c:>ned s ubway tu nnels, a good hiding place. In fact, the only hiding p lace w here one can ' t be dete cted by t he I OOO' s of surveillance camera' s o n every corner in t he city. Since there a re no shelters or soup kitchens o r food pantry' s many people ar e heading for t he river banks to fish . Tumorous fish are the catch of t he day. Those that are lucky can work at one of the two beautiful new stadiums fo r minimum wage which has now risen to a- w hopping s ix dollars . T hose people can afford a lmost t hree meals a week after taxes! If only they w ere CEO's, they w ould be exem pt from taxes. Sounds like some thing from George O r well's 1984 but all of th is could happen soon, because a ll these citizens have stumbled into Th e Heimlich Zon e. Most of the Trave ler st ories have been . filled with pleasant journey's and exper i­ ences. One of the most unpleasant journeys that I am forced to take _on a q~gu lar -basis is a journey down t o Cincinnati di:y Hall. Each trip is met with a growing sense of disappointment with city government. Cincinnati City Council has constantly voted against minorit/s, children, poo'r neighbor­ hoods a nd t he middle ~lass. In ' the same breath the city can complain about subsi dy for low-income residents an d in the next fo rgive taxes on st o ck options t o CEO's of majo r co rporations. T he City Government can o n one han d complain a bout subsidi z­ ing low-income housing and at the same t ime pour millions and millions of dol lars into upscale housing in the central business district. I have witnessed the City cut fund­ ing for innovative and much needed job programs like the Over-the-Rhine Housing Netw o rk Job Program and in the same breath complain about the loss o f city tax dollars. Polley: Cincinnati, O H by Donald Whitehead Th ere have been some good proposals at City Ha ll recently; Councilwoman Minnett e Coope r introduced legislat ion to do uble th e C ity' s stag nant human ser vices budget. Councilwo man C oope r's prop osa l was met w ith the same cynicism as most proposals t hat would benefit low- incom'e or disadvantaged individuals . Usually I give travel advice in this column , my advice for this month is simple; GET INVOLVED. Cincinnati's strange e lectoral process is r ipe for manipulation by the well to do. D ecis io ns Page 2 are constantly made that negatively effect the majority of citizens who are not t he affluent in our city. If we are t o avoid the scenario at the beginning of this story w e must fight back. T he He im lich's, Tarbel l's and Cissell's of this City will co ntinue t he war on average c itize ns until t hey a r e made ac­ countabl e. If you did n't like t he cond it io ns described in my vers ion of " Th e H eimlich Zone" please help us to change t hem . Unti l we start to fight back the year 20 15 scenario, conditi.ons are closer than you th ink. HOMELESS cont. from front pg... perils of living outdoo rs in this kind of weather, tha t some people in C incinnati don ' t have a home to go t o ." A poem , w ritten by the late homeles s advocate buddy gray was r e ad by Ma ry Burke, o f the Housing Network. Sister Mary Grafe, of Peas lee N eighborhood Center, lead the grou p in pr ayer. Dr. Bob Donovan, Hea lthcare for the Homeless physician, read the list of names of tho se who had passed away. The list was compiled fr om health care workers and the various shelters located in the Greater Cincinnati area : Warren Cook, of the Drop Inn Center, sang a gospel tribute to the memory of those who have died homeless. Before concluding, the group was lead in song by homeless advocate Bonnie N eume ier of Peaslee N eigh bo rhood Center. Held every year on the winter solstice, homel ess advocate s gat hered in unity in c i't ie s nationw ide in a n attempt to bring ay.tareness to the hazards of living outdoors on the streets, without shelter, without protectio n fro m t he el em ents . This year, em phas is was placed on bringing awareness to the lack of affordable substance abuse treatment centers for poor and homeless persons. Lack of affordable substance abuse treatment is one of the leading causes of homelessness in this country. O the r reasons includ e lack of living w age jobs, lack of affordable housing, welfare reform and domestic violence. Shelter w orkers and advocates are keen ly aware of these defi­ ciencies in our local and national goverr­ mental systems. In the shelters, workers ' deal with these challenges on a daily basis. ~n an attem pt to put a human face on this cri.sis , t he Homeless Memorial serves as a reminder of the countless who die needlessly every year in this country. The following is the list of names read at Cincinnati's Hom.eless Memorial: Martiniqu e Kemp Cha rlene Meyers M ichlene Wi lliam s Linda We r o n Ron To r ch C hicken Ge o rge Ra ymo nd C l endenon Addie Swa i n Cocrel Ha rold Watkins M ada ly nn Br ambl e Al Cl ay L o u is Col ston M ike Lofinnig Skeet er K amitz John Starr Paul Hill er Rodney D err Mary. Edmondso n Ron Brady Naomi Ma ssing Tracy Harris Tom Be ringer �STREETVIBES ' The Tri State's Homeless Grapevine Page 3 COHHIO AMERICORPS* CLOSING CEREMONY by Brett Zwolinski and Emmanuel Green George Niles and Emmanuel G r een from ReSTOC with Brett Zwolinski from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless attended the COHHIO (Coalition on Hous ing and Homelessness in Ohio) AmeriCorps* Closing Ceremony on Decem­ ber I 0th. The event was held at the Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark, about 40 m iles northeast of Columbus. Local AmeriCorps* members Cindy Fowler and Mindee Hedr ick were instrumen­ tal in the coordination of events for the COHHIO AmeriCorps* Closing Ceremony. Accompanied by small tokens of apprecia­ tion , staff members and leaders were lauded for their great efforts and volunteerism that went beyond the call of duty. CO HHI O AmeriCorps* staff members Cathy Johnston (Directo1r), Angela Lariviere (AmeriCorps* Leader), and Mary Scott (Ad­ ministrative Assistant) were honored for their diligence and unique contributions to the eradication of homelessness in the State of Ohio . Emmanuel Green and Valarie Evans received awards for their demonstration of outstanding leadership in the New York Service Project held earl ier in the year. In her appreciation for COHHIO AmeriCorps* member volunteerism, Cathy Johnston administered Certificates of Na­ tional Service to each member present. The Certificate reads... "ln recognition of your service to our communities and our country Writing to STREETVIBES Send your letters and comments to STREETVIBES LErrERS AND EDITORIALS: c/o GCCH, 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45210 Or send your emall's to: streetvlbes@/uno.com We reserve the right to edit stories or letters for clarity and content. Contents Welfare News Broken City Arts & Poetry Nationwide Prisoners' .News Cleveland News N. Kentucky News Letters & Editorials STREETVIBES Etcetera El Salvador Remembers AVOC Announcements Classifieds Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page7 Pages Page 9 Page9 Page10 Page11 Page13 Page14 Page15 Page15 Left to right: Robert Freklng (ReStoc), Cathy Johnston (Director COOHIO Amer/Corps*}, and Emmanuel Green (Amer/corps * ReStoc) as a member of AmeriCorps," signed, Harris Wofford (Chief · Executive Officer, Corporation for National Service) and Peter Heinaru (Director, AmeriCorps* State/National). Robert Freking of ReSTOC left a day early with his host Emmanuel Green. After checking in a~ the Universal Hotel, local AmeriCorps* members Cindy Fowler and Mindee Hedrick showed Emmanuel and · Robert around the town. Mr. Freking had the opportunity to meet and network with COHHIO AmeriCorps* members and staff at the event (see photo). "The food was gooood ," seemed to be the unanimous response to the delectable cuisine of the Cherry Valley Lodge ... the type of food us AmeriCorps* members rarely embrace. Reflecting upon the 1998 year of Na­ tional Service, Emmanuel Green stated that, "The Laughter of AmeriCorps* as a whole really emphasiz.ed the unity of AmeriCorps* and what we stand for... Helping the H ome­ less in the State of Ohio." HOMELESS VErERAN WITH PJSD'FINDS HELP Introduction by Iola Green, HCHV Program Coordinator About one-third of the adult homeless population has served their country in the armed services . On any given day, as many as 250,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters, and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are cons idered near homelessness or at risk because of poverty, lack of support from fam ily and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in over­ crowded or substandard housing. Homeless veterans are eligible for a variety of benefits, health care, and other supportive services from VA programs. VA offers an array of programs and initiatives specifically designed to assist homeless veterans . One of these programs is the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Program. This program is designed to help veterans live with the events of war. David Snow is in the PTSD Program and is learning how to live sober. The following is one veteran's story of his experience in dealing with PTSD. was a medic at that time and became exposed to the death of many of my com­ rades and that was something I never could get out of my mind. After the war I found myself drinking heavily to forget the past, disregarding help for a normal future. Soon my s ituation overwhelmed me. Homeless, suicidal, and frustrated with my life, I turned to treatment at the VA hospital in Cincinnati where I was diagnosed with PTSD because of my experience in the war. Since my diagno­ sis, I realized w ith treatment my life might become manageable again with the right help. I'm currently in treatment at the Droege House in Dayton, KY and learning to deal with the battle in my mind. I know this may never go away altogether, but with help I know I have a chance to learn how to deal with this problem and learn to lead a normal life again . I encourage any veterans who are having problems in dealing with experiences from the war or who are home­ less to contact the VA Hospital to try to get help. DAVID SNOW I was in Army EVAC in 1966 in the Viet­ nam War and that changed my life forever. To talk with a member of th e Health Care from Homeless Veterans Team please call 572-6226! �STREETVIBES The Tri State's Homeless Grapevine Page 4 STREETVIBES OFF OF WELFARE BUT NOT Welfare News OUT OF POVERTY by Lynn WI/I/ams STATES UNITING TO FIGHT TIME LIMITS by Lynn Williams At the NWMAP Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas Nove(Tlber 20-22, organized by the National Coalition for the Homeless and National Children's Defense Fund, a woman spoke with urgency in her vo ice. "We don 't have time to sit around and debate whether or not we want to design a na­ tional welfare policy fo r this country. People have already been cut off because of time limits and they and their children are hurting. We need to take action now! " At the NWMAP Conference, (National Welfare Monitoring & Advocacy Par tnership), welfare advocates and recipients agreed that the major battle we face in the short­ term is time limits for receiving TANF ( Temporary Assistance to Needy Families o r welfare assistance to families with ch ildren .) Current ly t here is a five year federal limit to receive TANF, with states having the option to shorten the time limit. Many states have rest rict ed it to less than five years. An advocat e rep resenting re cipi ents in Massa­ chusetts spoke on how recipients in her state face the time limit cut-off in Decem­ ber of t his year. Children and families in Massachusetts face a very cheerless Christ­ mas season . She stated, "Thousands wi ll be left destitute in my state, including infants! America's welfare policies wi ll t ake a deep toll." High points o f the conference includ ed agree ing to focus ou r efforts o n combating t ime limits, ge.t ting t he states t o spen d their TANF money, and pus hing fo r e ducation to be counted as the work requ irement. The conferen ce participants agreed to a reso lu­ t ion calling for a moratorium on time limits across the United States, including restoring welfare ass istance to families who have already been cut-off due to time limits. Actions that a re being planned to stop time limits include: *Holding a "Stop the Clock" Cam ­ paign with actions in cities across the U.S. at New Years' Eve events , inc luding Watch Night Vigils in chu rches. *Holding a National Call-In Day or Week to get people, including recipients, to call their U.S. Congress legislators *Mailing smashed watches to U.S. Congress legislators as part of the "Stop the Clock" campaign. 1998 by the National Priorities Project and Jobs With Justice, shows just how hard it is for welfare recipients to escape poverty after leaving the welfare roles. The report reveals an alarming reality about what kind of jobs are out there for recipients without a college degree, not to even mention those without a high school degree or G.E.D. The majority of jobs, including those with the fastest job growth, are retail salespersons , waiters & waitresses, nurse aides, orderlies-, attendants, and cashiers. None of these jobs pay more than $15, 496 a year, and few provide health care or pensions. One member of the Welfare Rights Coalition who transitioned off of welfare through a nurse aid training program told us that even though she works in a health care setting, around doctors & hospital patients all day, she cannot even go to a doctor because she doesn't have health insurance! Her . health care job does not provide hea lth care! ' In Ohio, a living wage is defined as a salary of $30,038 a year for a family of four. The report states that the majority of welfare recipients are getting jobs that pay only $5 .50 and $Z,.OO an .hour, averagjng $1 1,410 and $14,560 a year. Only 28.8% earn above $14,500 for a family of three. • •,I' The majprity of livable wage jobs require a co llege edu cation . W elfare reform laws have cut- fa r back . on .the- .q,J lo wance of time recip ie nts can count college classes as a work activity. However, if recipien ts are going to get liva ble wage jobs ~nd pu ll their famili es out of poverty, they wi ll need college degrees . According to research done at the CUNY (City University of New York) Graduate Ce nter, the li kelihood t hat a person with a college degree will be po o r is less than a I in 50 chance. W ithout a coll ege degree, the like.lihood inc reases to I in 5. If legislators are serio us about getting recipients off of welfare fQr life , they shou ld be promoting higher education as a work activity & reward recipients for taking this initiative to study! The report states that at the same time that the most job growth is in belowJlivab le wage jobs, CEOs are reaping in record salaries! Incredibly, in 1995, CEOs made 115 times the salary of the lowest paid worker. For example, the CEO of Provident Financial Group, Allen L. Davis, earned as much in two hours as the lowest wage worker did in a whole yea r. Mr. Davis makes an above­ livable wage of $123 per minute or $15,366,000.00 annually. It would take a low­ wage worker 1,023 years to make that much money! It took CEO John B. McCoy of Banc One only three hou rs to earn what his lowest paid worker made in a whole year. Mr. McCoy enjoys a salary of $85 per minute and $I 0,569,000.00 annually. His lowest paid worker would have to toil 704 years to earn McCoy's annual salary. At a press conference held on Dec. 8th, a spokesperson for the Ohio Empowerment Coalition said they are committed to fighting for livable wage jobs for recipients. Anyone who works full-time should auto­ matically be able to provide adequately for their children . Welfare recipients who attend college, job training or G.E.D. classes should be rewarded, not punished by the welfare system. In addition, along with advocating for livable wage jobs and more ­ allowance for education, the OEC is part of a growing national movement to fight for a safety net for people who are unemployed and those who have no way to provide for their fam ilies and themselves without gov­ ernment help. · (For more information about the report " Working Hard, Earning Less:, call Jobs With Justice at (202) 434-1106 or the National Priorities Project at (413) 584-9556.) OHIO EMPOWERMENT COALITION MEET~ JANUARY13th WEDNESDSAY 10:30AM at Sullivant Gardens 955 Remick St. Columbus, OH ELECTRONIC FOOD STAMPS? by Brian Davis The Cuyahoga County Office of Health and Nutrition reports that by the middle of February 1999 all recipients of Food Stamps will need to convert to the Electron ic Benefits card or they will no longer receive the stamps. The electronic benefits card is sim ilar to a bank debit card and can be used in many grocery stores t hroughout the city. Cuyahoga County has begun the process of changing from paper based system to an electronic system. Many homeless people have not made the switch and are in danger of losing their benefits next year. Cuyahoga County officials are try,ing to urge homeless peop le to sign up before the deadline so t~at they do not go hungry after February of 1999. Homeless people interviewed said that the food stamp benefits are so small that it is not worth the t ime and aggravation of switching. One homeless man who wished not to be identified said, "What am I going to do with food stamps if I don't have a kitchen to cook the food!" Many homeless people traded or sold their paper stamps for cash to buy fast food or other items that they deemed necessary in their life. �STREETVI BES 1 The Tri Stote s Hom eless Grap evin e The Broken City... by ll••T He•tb -- . While the building falls apart, the owner guards his property with a gun .•. KINGS' STRUGGLE SURVIVES TODAY by Jimmy Heath 1999 will mark 30 years since the assassi­ nation of Martin Luther King Jr. at his hotel room in Tennessee. Many people realize that the struggle that eventually took King's life still goes on today and the challenges facing human rights advocates today are even greater than ever. Even as we move into a new millennium, racism and bigotry is alive and well in this country. We war with countries against people who are not like "us." The fight for fair and livable wages, affordable housing, and the rise of hate crimes against citizens of our country; those who are d ifferent, pose new moral and philosophical challenges every day. These are the battles of in justice that King would be fighting if he was still alive today. King is remembered as the voice of justice for the rights of African-American people during the 60's. But we know that poverty and justice is not an all-black issue. Even 30 years after his death, King is consid­ ered by many to be a hero for the rights of a ll poor people - people that are left in the wake of so-called present day economic vitality, stuck in low wage jobs and poverty and homelessness. The goods and services that allow products to be affordable to the beneficiaries of todays economic blessings rely on the cheap labor of ill-paid wage earners . Then there is the quiet hate - the bigotry and racism that goes on behind the closed doors of corporate boardrooms and in our living rooms. The simple and insidious kind of racism that grovels in the dark because we all know that it is wrong and cowardly. A malice that seeks to blame som eone less fortunate and removed. As a "baby boomer" I feel the yearning to succeed and feel the pull of selfishness that drives my generation. We know how to take care of ourselves and we close our eyes to the pain of others. And we blame. Kings' powerful character taught us things about the sp irit and the inherent goodness of human nature. During the holidays and the winter months most people recognize the struggles of the homeless and the poor and the spirit of giving is found. But the struggles continue long after the holidays. Somet imes hope can not be found during the warm and friendly summer months. The battle for human justice needs to be fought everyday through the generos­ ity of our spirits, our hands and our hearts. It takes a commitment and patience to realize this calling of the human spirit. As the holidays pass, will the spirit of giving fade away? Will we forget about the suffering beyond our own walls? Will we learn to honestly confront our own intoler­ ance! In 1963, King said at the March o n Washington for Jobs and Freedom; "Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children." 35 years later, the struggle continues. Pages drinking, or using drugs, and had no major mental problems. They were broken and beaten down spiritually. They were young mothers with little children. They were men who had skills in plumbing, carpentry, etc., hard-working men who had become displaced workers for one reason or the other. All of these people had known abuse of the physical and emotional type in past relationships. They all spoke of the sadness of the breakup of their families. I discovered that being in this environ­ ment, and being an active participant and not a casual observer, has given me some valuable insights into the realities of rural homelessness. Some of the experts have concluded there are no rural homeless people. That is a sad untruth. The folks met at Blue Creek shared w ith me their life stories. They have dreams and aspirations of good jobs and security. They spoke of well-rounded relationships. Their human dignity spoke of spiritual fulfillment and of their desire to share their lives' experiences with others. " When you're on the bottom there's nowhere to go but up," one lady related to me. Yes, being there with my new friends at Blue Creek, sharing the household cheer chores, telling our stories to each other; that was deeply spiritually rewarding. As life would have it, I now am a community organizer here in Brown County, in addition to teaching and performing my music part-time. One of our grassr oots · priority issues now is building a homeless shelter here in Brown County, Ohio. Some­ times we blindly stumble into the arms of . grace ... FIRST NIGHT AT THE SHELTER by Greg Payton DO RURAL AREAS HAVE HOMELESS PEOPLE? by Wiii Henry Hartsock When we think of a homeless person, we often see in our mind's eye a person pushing a shopping cart with all their earthly possessions, along a city street. Also, we view this person as being dependent upon alcohol, drugs. or being in need of mental health care, or a combination of all three. don't know the statistics, but only speak from my own personal experience. In January of 1998, I abruptly became homeless, due to my wife forcing me to leave our home. In respecting her wishes, found myself watching the snow fly all around my head, as I left our house, with $20 dollars in my pocket ... then the real shock. Brown County Ohio has no homeless shelter. I called the local social services director. I explained that I worked part-time as an ethnomusicologist at a local rural college, but had not started the spring semester yet. I told him I had no money nor did I have a place to sleep, except in my old car. His reply was, "I do not consider you homeless . . ." These words stung in my ears as I politely stammered, "Well, thank you sir,'' and hung up the phone. After exhausting all my leads, I found a shelter out in Blue Creek, Ohio, near Ports­ mouth. A rather long way to drive just to sleep in a warm place. After having stayed there for a month, I came to a gentle realization; these folks with me were not Now that I'm here I ask myself, "What can I do? Who can I trust? And who can I talk to?" The sun went down, and I was out of the weather, thank God . First, I listened when they told me th e rules. Then, I got a chance to eat, and I w as thankful too. I asked someone for a smoke who was just like me . I looked around and asked for one of those lockers I cou ld see while I relaxed and watched big TV. Then someone said, "Showers," and I stood in line. They said, "You need an l.D. for a towel." And I said, " I lost mine." So they said, "See the advocate in the morning." I said, "I don't have any money." They said, " Follow instructions and it might be free, sonny." I laughed, something I haven't done in awhile. I got soap , toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo with that towel. When I finished , I gave them their towel. They gave me deodorant and a comb for my style. I went back to the bench to watch TV and smelled food again, coming from the kitchen I couldn't see. They said, "We have snacks this evening." And I smiled, remem­ bering and thanking God because I walked so many miles. I thanked them for having something to eat. They smiled and said, "Thank you, but please have a seat." I looked around an figured I was one of many they had to meet. I was back in line, but for a mat this time. I was clean , and I was full , and I was thankful most of all. The door, yes the door, was open for the poor. In my prayer tonight, I must recite... Thank you God for another day. Thank you D rop Inn Center for a new way. �STREETVIBES 1 The Tri Stote s Homeless Grapevine WORD ON THE STREET Arts & Poetry THE SHADOW CHANGES HIS NAME TO "THE TRUTH" Making His Book, The Odd Cookie, A Collector's Item! by Dwight Givan The author changed his name from The Shadow t o T he T ruth because he was un­ aware of the old radio show, The Shadow Knows, when he first selected his pen name. Because he is a dee p complex writer who writes from the heart and always the truth, it was only fitting to call himself The Truth. Mary Sibler of Wentworth Gallery in Kenwood Tow ne Centre Mall; Mr. Shane of The Next Generation in Cleveland, TN, and Ms. Karen Wilson of Authentic Autographs in Pigeon Forge, TN are in the business of buying and selling collectibles. They have all agreed that The Odd Cookie is a collector's item. When the author, known as The Shadow, changed his name on Octo ber 19, 1998 to The Truth, any book bear ing the name The Shadow became a collector's item. There will be no more books printed with t he pen name The Shadow. only be availa ble for purchase during Kawanza and Black History Month. At all other times, the book is only available when the author is hosting a book signing. All books will be autographed in gold lettering. Mark Pastor, co-owner of BWPI (formerly Artistic Appa r el) and co-founder of the Cincinnati Black Book Fair thought so highly of the book that he promoted it on BET during Black History Mo nth. The Truth has remain e d a headl ine r at the C incinn at i Black Book Fair for t he last three years. He's a lso appea red a the Los Angeles Black Expo as a guest of Dr. Ros ie Milligan with Black W riter's On Tour. Ar t galleri es are wa iting for the release of prints from pictures in the book. There has been so much t hat has emerged fo r m th is bo ok and I expect th at we have not se en the last of much more to come. The r eviews were grea t and it so ld o ut both Saturda y and S.unday nights. Channe l I 9's Fox News in the Morn ing did a segment o n the play. Donn ie McFinley, who wo r ked o n ·t he sm ash hit mo vie, Sha ws hank Rede m ption , d ire c ted the play. There was a cast of 17 child r en and teens. Furthe rmore, Mr. Bond, a t ea cher at Bond Hill Elementary School, co llabQr a ted with The Truth to create The Odd Cookie Awards . The awards recognize children who e xcel in the arts. the 2nd Annual Odd Cooki e Awards will be held at Hoffman Elementary School on February 6, 1999. The children will r.eceive awards and prizes in the areas of reading, writing, and acting. There will be a chance for the children afterwards. the Truth's vision is to see The Odd Cookie Awards on national television hosted by children celebrities. When you support The Odd Cookie book, you support The Odd Cookie Awards. To purchase The Odd Cookie Book, contact the publisher, Children 's Clas sics at (513) 221-5114 NOT FOR LOVE OR MONEY by Denise Crew The Odd Cookie book is a survival. Mr. Jerry Moore, a White principal at Anderson Place Elementary School , on Channe l 9 news stated that The Odd Cookie teaches blacks not to listen to white folks . The Truth, formerly known as The Shadow, in the same interview stated that his book_ is about peer pressure and that it has no color. the controversy created an Odd Cookie mania in Cincinnati causing sales to skyrocket. This is the last year during the holidays that the book will be sold. After 1998, it will You keep telling me how lonely you are feeling . No one calls you, no one visits you at hom e . You only care about making t he quo ta and b ringing in the money. You aren't fearful of me, you don't let a thing get by you. Finally my spiritual equal a challenge to work on. Too bad you don't have a social clue as to what the hell is going on. You worshi p a G o d, that controls your e x travagant life styl e. Dinner on the Diners' C lub- no prob lem Ja cket on the Gold Car d- no problem P r oblem? It was a disturbing place to visit and I wouldn't want to live there . ~ Page 6 WHEN THE FINGERS POINT . ATME by Rick AKA Vampire Wben the fingers point at me Because I dare to dream To be what I am . When the finge r s point at me , A smile gently caresses my face , And I know they can n e ve r Hurt, t ouch , bend o r br ea k me To their rules. There are others o ut there like me, Who choos e to ru n, to hide , to flee But I say to you now Rise, rise, rise up Into glory, an d stat e what you are, And wh o you are, Beca use it is people like myself, An d man y othe rs That give them t he aut hority of exist­ ence, Because without us, who or what would they have to taunt, O r point at? If I would rather to be anything, It would be; not to be like them VENDOR: AARON PITCHFORD N ot this message, that message. I decided to write because I can't talk. I wanted you to know I'm Chicago's old best street ve ndor. I sold big red and peppe r mints to prepare myself in the future. I'm like the old street vendor Charles Deve raux on Race Street who had licenses here, Cleveland, and Chicago. Now he is driving a yellow cab as opposed to Aaron who had licenses here, Milwaukee, Chicago and Dayton [and uh], A comment from the peanut gallery or Ron Carter's comedy corner. What's the best way to keep milk from getting sour. The correct answer is not this message. Ron, that ain't it. Well how you expect me to get up there to leave it in the cow[do dat doom]. COMEDY CORNER ~ by Ron Carter WAS I ~RUEL? As I awoke this morning a brigh t new day was born A Robin perched upon my window sill To signal the coming, the dawn The bird was gracefu l young and gay And sweetly did it sing T houghts of joy and happiness within my heart did ring I smiled at his cheery song Then it paused for a moments lull So ·1 gently closed the window And accidentally crushed his little skull �STREETVI BES ' STREETVIBES Nationwide ANOTHER TOUGH YEARI by Brian Davis, Cleveland's Grapevine On a local and national level, we have seen another tough year for those without a home. From an alarming number of com­ munities we have seen legislation making it illegal to be homeless to a local church that set up barriers for homeless people to keep them away from the door. For every step forward (an increase in the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget) we have taken two steps backward (in­ creased welfare sanctions, and continued losses in housing). Three years ago before welfare reform and before we started seeing large scale reductions in housing, I had hope that with better coordination of services we could begin to reunite large numbers of people with a stable lifestyle. Now we are at a point that it will take a large scale commu­ nity effort just to maintain the status quo. In late 1997, the City of Cleveland won the right to license our vendors when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the Grapevine vendors. The City of Cleveland has as yet chosen not to enforce their licensing privileges. However, in other cities we have :seen Pandora's Box thrown wide open. The city of Miami has a new paper, Street Views, which is facing litigation by the City of Miami to force their vendors to get a license. We have heard rumblings of Los Angeles, a Chicago suburb, and Cincinnati debating the issue. We do not know how many cities without a street paper will not see a newspaper spring to life because of the threat of licensing. On the positive side, we did see an increase in the HUD budget, which is no where near the need, but one has to ac­ cept the victories no matter how small. What we have seen across the country is a con t inuing decline in affordable housing. In many communities huge public housing by Brett Zwolinski An Unrhymed Japanese verse fo rm of three l i nes containing usually 5,7,5 (or 7 , 5 , 7) syllables r e spectively. Please submit your suggestions for mon t hly Haiku to Brett Zwolinsk i at STREETVIBES, 1506 Elm Street , Cincinnati , Ohio 45210 Massood Rahimi' s Homeless Grapevine projects are being destroyed. On its face this is an attempt to de-concentrate poverty in the inn er city, which is a worthy goal. But the underlying result is a destruction of ex is t ing communities and a reduction in affordable housing. There will not be a one to one replacement of the properties that are being taken down . HUD has reported a huge gap in the amount of affordable housing and yet we are reducing the opportunities for stable living arrangements for poor people at the same time. Haiku: i rea11y don't know this crap too damn exhausted shh... the neighbor is s1eeping Page 7 Please Support Our Advertisers WILLIAM R. WALLACE, D.D.S. 5258 MONTGOM ERY RO. NORWOOD, OH 452 12 1999 Actlrlty: The National Coalition is looking for another increase in the HUD budget and the Health and Human Services budget. Advocates at the state level are looking to find a stable source of funding for the Housing Trust Fund, a program to build affordable housing and services to place people in housing. Locally, advocates are working on three initiatives to strengthen oversight locally, improve homeless people's access to affordable housing, and build stronger links with the health care community. The most important work will be to continue to amplify the voice of the homeless. THE OLD WHITE GUY Submitted by Brian Davis, Cleve/ands Grapevine A published report in the St. Petersburg T imes details the marketing campaign of the network of rescue missions throughout the country and how "The Old White Guy" tugs on the heart strings of readers to donate to the missions . During the holidays, missions throughout the country (City Mission in Cleveland and Rescue Mission in Young­ stown) put advertisements in the local daily newspapers to raise funds for their ~helter and meal programs. These advertisements are based on years of focus group studies and marketing analysis according to the St. Petersburg Times. One advertising executive told the paper that "the Old Guy" sells. While minor­ ity people or mothers or children do not have the same appeal. Officials of the Missions in Florida claim that the stereotypi­ cal vision of a homeless person works best in fundraising because people think that homeless people are older alcoholic men. The paper also reported discrepancies in the price of a Thanksgiving meal. The Subscribe to Streetvlbes HAIKU Now, 1 The Tri State s Subscriptions to Streetvibes can be pur­ chased for $12 per year. Please send a check to the below address and t he paper will be mailed to you each issue. Streetvibes 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45210 Please make checks payable to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Home less--Streetvibes. If you have any questions, call 421-7803. Telephone 1513) 531· 2338 ~~ ~ PRII\'IERICA Financial Senices Clifford Jones R1p11sentatlvt 8075 Reading Rd.• Suite 1 • Cincinnati. OH 45237 Res. (513) 761·3464 • Bus. (513) 821·3332 Voice Mail: (513) 230-6353 A MemberofTravelersGroup All llMltPtndut rtprtulltllln of Prlmerlo FIHnclll Strmes Rtpresenting: Primerica Ute Insurance Company/£xeculJVe Ottices: Duluth, Georg.a ~ ~, $si A N OTHER CLASS PROD U ' TIO~ Disc-Jockey Service CLIFFORD JONES (513) 761·3464 (5 13) 230-6353 advertising agency used in St. Petersbu rg and Tampa said that meals cost $1.57 which is repeated throughout the United States while a local hunger organization reported that a meal costs $1 . 79 for one Thanksgiving dinner. 79% OF NEW JOBS IN OHIO PAY LESS THAN A LIVABLE WAGE . . . *3 9% of these jobs pay below ha l f t he l i vable wage . *I n a dd i tion , many of t hese l ow wage j o bs are part time or temporary and f ew provide health insurance o r oth e r benef its . *Most j obs held by former Wel f a re rec ip ients pay between $5 . 50 and $7 . 00 a n hour : Only 28 . 8% earn above the $14 , 500 poverty level for a family of three . *A living wage for a family of four in Ohio is $30,038 per year . *In 1995, CEO's made 115 times the salary of the l owe st paid worker . �STREETVIBES The Tri State's Homeless Grapevine STREETVIBES Prisoner News THEACA ACCREDITATION FRAUD by Dan Cahlll, Muldoon, James Pryor, and Robert Woodman Orient Correctional Institution For more than five years prisoners in Oh io and throughout the nation have been condemning the American Correctional Association (ACA) accreditation program as a sham and a fraud. In 1933, prisoners at the Madison prison in London, Ohio, issued the Ohio Prisoners' Rights Union (OPRU) position paper on the accreditation pro­ gram. It stated: · *ACA accreditation lends credibility to fraudulent claims by prison officials, and is used as a defense aga inst lawsuits through fa lse documentation. Prison offic ials claim that accreditation demonstrates a "good fa it h" effort to improve prison conditions. In reality it's an attempt to mis lead the public into thinking pri sons have better living co nditions than t hey really have. *Prisoners don' t have access to the ACA acc reditation stan da rds and aren ' t involved in the accr ed itation p roces s, and have no way to com pel priso n official s t o com ply with those standa rds . *Until prisoners are actively involved in the ACA accre ditat ion process and ha ve access to the ACA sta ndards - the accredi­ tation program m ust be recognized for the sham that it is. Prisons and their outside support groups must fight the ACA accredi­ tation program." The OPRU position paper was distrib­ uted to all of CURE's (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Erra,nts} state chapters by Eunice McAllister of South Carolina - CURE (Now the Prisoner Advocacy Network- PAN). Mrs. McAllist er also sent evidence and reports from prisoners across the nation to National CURE exposing the accreditation program as a fraud. The evidence compiled was presented at a workshop at CU RE's national convention . In the Journal of Pr isoners o n Prisons, Vol. 6, No. 2 ( 1995), "Little Rock" Reed and Ivan Demsovich condemned the ACA accreditation program as a fraud in their article, "The American Correctional Assoc: A Conspiracy Of Silence." However, in National CURE's Fall 1998 newsletter, CURE clearly supports and promotes the accreditation program ... CURE's continued support of the ACA lends credibility to the entire fraud prisoners have been attempting to expose for years... Prisoners who litigate on prison issues know first-hand how detrimental fraudulent ACA accreditation can be. W hen a prisoner sues an accredited institution, they are faced with a mountain of documentation as counter-evidence in the court. To win, the prisoner must prove that the documenta­ tion and accreditation is false or irre levant. If he/she fails to win, the prisoner loses the case , and the conditions wh ich led to the lawsu it remain unrepaired. In Reception Perceptions Uuly/ August 1998) a newsletter for the Correctional Recept ion C e nte r, t he r e was an article titled "W hat Is ACA?". The article sa id accred it a­ ti o n is " .. . a defense against law su its t hrough the documen t ation of a ' go od faith' effort to improve condit ions of con­ finement, ... and enhanced public credibility fo r administration and line staff ... " It doesn't seem to matter that the en tire process is a sham, or that t he documenta­ tion is false. The current president of the ACA is also the Director of the Department of Rehabili­ tation and Correction (DORC) , Reginald A. Wilkinson. Considering how much of tax­ payers ' money DORC spends with the ACA each year through the accreditation pro­ gram and the purchase of ACA literature, this appears to be a serious conflict of interest. The ACA is a special-interest group which represents those whose livelihoods depend on federal , state , and county prisons and jails. Is it any wonder that they lobby for larger prison budgets to c.ontinue expanding the prison systems? On October 5-7, 1998, the Orient Cor­ rectional Institution (OCI) underwent an ACA audit for accreditation. Prior to the ACA inspection, prison officials had more than 60 dump-truck loads of what they called " junk and clutter" taken to the dump and thrown away. This "junk" consisted of hundreds of chairs , couches, filing cabinets, wooden a nd steel desks, unused office supplies and cleaning supplies, computers, keyboards, tape players, TV's, unused medi­ cal supp lies, etc... Now prison officials are in the process of purchasing s.u pplies and equipment to replace what was just re­ cently thrown out! The audit team consisted of 3 individu­ als, who spent 2 1/2 days at this prison. Most of their time here was spent reviewing pol icies and procedures to ensure compli­ a nce wit h ACA standards. No effort w as made t o verify tha t polici es a nd procedures were actually carried o ut! They ignored broke n w indows which were covere d in plastic, and made no effort to dete r mine if showers, toilets, sink fixtures, fire alarms, or lights really wo rked. T hey ignored sew age dripping fro m pipes in a dorm se t aside fo r disabled prisone rs ...and extreme overcrowd­ ing. They ignored t he condemned dorms with their crumbling foundations. cracking and buckling floors, and leaking roofs... It was predetermined months before this audit the OCI would be accredited. For months guards and pri son staff spoke openly in front of prisoners saying, "The fix is in; we'll pass the ACA inspection." This wasn't hard to figure out since the DORC director is also the ACA president... The purpose of this audit was to ensure t hat necessa ry documentat ion is in order. The ACA was not concerned about the fact that OCI doesn ' t actually comply wit h the ACA standards, so long as there's plenty of documentation which SAYS they ar.e in compliance... Did someone cook the books? Or were the auditors just not look­ ing? THIS is the documentation prisoners must disprove in court if they attempt to bring about any improvements th rough litigation. Legislators won't force any reforms on a prison system that is ACA accredited; that's the enhanced public credibility the DORC refers to! A prisoner who once possessed a copy of the OPRU position paper on the ACA accreditation program was charged with possession of contraband and gang activ­ ity, placed in isolation for almost two months in 1993, and has suffered many forms of reprisals over the past 5 years. Exposing this fraud is necessary if we ever hope to see any positive changes made in the prison system. We know that by writing this article we may be subjected to reprisals. That fear Page B keeps most prisoners fro m spea ki ng out. O ur efforts to expo se t his fraud, and to educate the publ ic about intole rable living conditions are crippled so long as CURE, and people like them , buy into the ACA's lies and cooperate in perpetuat ing t he accreditatio n dece it. Can we eve r hope to convince t he publ ic? CURE is the nation 's largest prison reform organization , and part of their mission is educating the ge neral public and legislators about t he inhumane conditions and corruptio n wh ich is in herent in the prison system . In supporting and promoting the ACA accreditation program CURE participates in the oppression of more than 1.7 million people. CURE is out of touch with the prison reform movement, and should give some serious thought to the concept of "solidarity." CURE needs to condemn the ACA accreditation program for the fraud it is, help expose such activities , and stop working against prisoners . OCI will be accredited, along with all Ohio prisons. We stand by what we've written and challenge the ACA to prove otherwise! We also ask all thoughtful people on the outside of the fences to contact their legislators and ask them to stop accepting the accreditation lies from the ACA cover up serious problems with a bl izzard of fraudulent paperwork? PRISON SLAVES FOR SALE By Dan Cahill In Big Brother's continuing effort to ex pl o it prison slave labor, it has deve loped the C omputer Aided Drafti ng (CAD) Pr o­ gram here at the Orient Correctional (OCI) (at Orient, Ohio, near Columbus). CAD is part of t he O hio Penal Industries (OPI), which is supposed t o sell services and products directly only to th e gove rnm e nt agencies. However, this CAD program has done work for t he American Ele ct ric and Power, Kroger (supermarke ts), Muns el Inc., Key Blue Prints Inc., Pro Repro (now Franklin Imaging) and Trans Map Inc. CAD charges t hese companies $8.00 per hour per man on most jobs -approxi­ mately half of what outside CAD companies would charge. Prisoners receive 21 cents to 47 cents per hour, with an average pay of 35 cents pe r hour. Outs ide companies cannot compete because the government has an unfair advantage: slave labor. CAD has t urn ed out t o be such a profitable enterprise t hat t he State o f O hio has allowed a private contractor to open an OSSI (Ohio Offshore Services and Indus­ tries) CAD program at the Marion Correc­ tional Institution - in direct competition with outside companies. . Computer skills necessary in CAD require a lot of training and cold provide prisoners with valuable, marketable skills which would be helpful in finding meaning­ ful employment upon their release. How­ e ver, the demand for this type of work on the outside is diminishing as CAD programs inside prisons continue to expand. On May 5, 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice convened the first National Prison Industries Forum. Moderator Warren Cikins stated that 70,000 prisoners (out of a total of almost two million) produce $1.4 billion in Continued on page 12... �STREETVIBES 1 The Tri State s Homeless Grapevine Page 9 News From Cleveland's Grapevine ANOTHER TOUGH YEAR Ohio: In Ohio, we have sadly marked the one year anniversary of welfare reform with one­ fourth of the total population no longer receiving benefits. Again, not a bad thing if these families were living in a more stable lifestyle, but we actually have no idea. Studies have shown that only 25-50 percent of those moving off the welfare roles move to employment and even fewer move to meaningful employment. It will take a crisis before our elected "leaders" realize that we need to mobilize every resource to make the first three years of our children's lives the most nurturing and free of stress of their life. We have seen a growing gap in service to homeless people as a result of changes in the medical service delivery sysc.em. With managed care the homeless do not fit in a health organization's bottom line, and the state has done nothing to protect the health of those who stay on the streets. It is increasing difficult for a single homeless person to gain access to health care through Med icaid and even more difficult to gain access to care that treats an individual back to good health. We have managed care r ules based on saving money and are set in stone. They make no special protocol or rules for those who ca.n not recuperate in a stable environment. That is the opposite message we deliver when we sanction a Mom un der welfare reform. A surprising level of anger came out of this State and manifested itself in the No­ vember election. The governor of Ohio refused to accept money from the federal government to put people in jobs. He refused to allow people who cannot find a job a waiver from the Food Stamps rules as is allowed by the Federal government. Then in the November election, Governor Voinovich boasted of the number of people who are no longer receiving welfare assis­ tance. He did not mention the number of people working who were on welfare last year, because no one knows how many people are working. As has been said many times in these pages there is an increasing level of anger toward poor people. From championing the death penalty to support of the end of the social safety net in the political campaign was alarming. Cleveland: In Cleveland, we have seen a larger number of people who are having a difficult time finding access to health care. We have featured detailed stories in the Home­ less Grapevine which show how people on the streets have a difficult time accessing health care with the new Health Mainte­ nance Organization's rules which are di­ rected at people with homes. Recently, we saw the organization that was entrusted with assisting those who are medically indigent expand their focus at a time when we need a health care for the homeless people most. We have seen a net decrease in afford­ able housing, but because of ,Jhe vigilance of a number of organizations like the Cleve­ land Tenants Organization and the Alliance of Cleveland HUD Tenants who have drawn a line in the sand we have seen a temporary stay in future reductions. With the appoint­ ment of former Community Development Director Terri Hamilton to the position of Executive Director of the Cuyahoga Metro­ politan Housing Authority we look for a brighter futur·e and closer communication with the homeless community. We see some of the problems with the Section 8 vo ucher program beginning to be ad­ dressed, and we look for continued im­ provement for 1999. On a political front, the citizens of Downtown Cleveland voted in a former outreach worker in the homeless commu­ nity, Joe Cimperman, to Cleveland City Council. He in turn sponsored legislation that would require homeless service provid­ ers to be appointed to local homeless service provider's Boards. We have gone another year and still have not been ·able to close Project Heat, the overflow shelter system. The Heat shelters are mats on the floor in the evening and are a beneath the dignity of a human being. They are worse than the conditions at the jail, and yet people enter them voluntarily every night. It is no wonder that there is a lot of anger and distrust of the system. Then we have the unfortunate situation of a Catholic church putting up barriers to prevent homeless people from sleeping outside the church's door without the permission of the city. The City of Cleveland has as of December taken no action on this act of hatred. Two other positive developments in 1998 were the forum with City Council member Frank Jackson which allowed over I00 people ·who stay on the streets to express themselves and have their thoughts recorded and acted upon by an elected official. And we held a unifying event called the Homeless Stand Down which featured services and workshops for homeless people, but most importantly two days of respite for over 1,000 people on the streets. Northern Kentucky Housing and Homelessness Coalltlon (NKHHC) HOMELESS DAY CENTER by Barry Grossheim The Nort hern Kentucky Housing and Homeless Coalition (NKHH C) has long been concerned about the lack of facilities to assist homeless individuals in meeting their basic needs. For several years the NKH HC has researched ways to fund a day center for the homeless. This seems likely to be the year to make this center a reality. W ith Transitions Inc. acting as the lead agency, the NKH HC is hopeful that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will approve the initial funding before the end of December. If so, it will be the culmina­ tion of efforts by the Coalition and several of its member agencies over the last five years. The proposal calls for a drop-in day center and transitional housing units. The day center w ill house outreach workers from a variety of Northe rn Kentucky mental health, substance abuse, job training and placement, and social service providers. The center will offer homeless individuals a place to spend time during the day, to escape from bad weather, and to Informally interact with volunteers and professionals from the community. The center will include showers, locker space, telephones, mail and a message center. Outreach workers will be available to assist individuals as they identify their specific needs in accessing available shelter, housing and services. Even with HUD funding the center is a long way from being a certainty. More than $400,000 will need to be raised locally to match HUD funds. Plans are being made to bring togeth e r all interested agencies to address the additional funding needs for this project. All concerned are hopeful t hat HUD will agree with the need for this facil ity and will present Northern Kentucky's homeless population w ith a very real Christmas present this holiday season. / �STREETVI BES The Tri State's Homeless Grapevine STREETVIBES Editorials & Letters WORDS FROM THE EVANGELIST•.. by Rodney L. Sutton, Sr. As I sit at my desk, this warm, yet wet, December day, I reflect on this year of our Lord 1998. January began for me w ith uncertainty, because although I was gain­ fully employed I was once again moving to a new residence; and t his brought to my r emembrance the feeling of homelessness. February came , a nd with it the dread of income tax time. March brought the possibility of war m weather, but also a time of decision mak­ ing. April came and went so fas ~ I hardly knew what hit me. With May came a revelation from God that for a certainty I was to quit my job and return to full t ime ministry. As Ju ne tu rned into July, I pushed faithfully onward. Sometimes hungry and on the brink of homeless ness once again . Then came August, and while some scoffed, others prayed and gave words of encourage m ent . But when September came, and the guiding hand of the Lord was revealed many were amazed , because I met Rever­ end Leonard W ill iams , Sr.• Pastor of the W hole Life Church o f Jesus C hrist , and founder of He lping Ha nds O utrea ch Mis sion Ministries. By October, w hat had been A W ay O f Life (AWO L) Ministries had emerged u nde r t he umbrella of HHOMM , because the L.:ord had brought togeth e r t wo men of God whom He had give n a si milar vision. A vision t o help t he less fortunate and disad- · van t ag ed , who me ver and however t hey might be found. Th e n the Lord p rovided me with a job which would not inte rfer e with His work. So when November cam e it was no surprise to me that the Women of Vision Program, under the W hole Life Church of Jesus Christ, had sponsored its first Gospel Skate Night at the Fun Factory, and with the ' planning to assistance of HHOMM was sponsor its .first Bowling for Jesus Night at D~l-Fair Lanes. Both youth and adul t s had a joyful and blessed time of fellowship and fun at these events. November and D ecember were a time when · the. outreach of HHOMM was very effective in reaching out to families and individuals who were less fortunate or disadvantaged . Thanks to grou ps such as Buskens Bakery, City Cur e (Christmas Store), Toys For Tots, T he Findley Market, and too many individuals to name, HHO MM was able to bless over 2 00 individuals and families with food and gifts for the ho liday season. WE THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT! The children of the Whole Life Church of Jesus Christ planned and performed their first Chr istmas play, 'T he W ish," unde r the direct orship of Evangelist C ord elia Nowe ll. De ce mber also saw for the first time a uniting o f r e lig ious bod ie s and ind ividuals in So uth C umminsville to hold a candl e light vig il an d C h r ist mas caroling in t he co mmu­ nity. On December 3 I st, at 9:00p.m. myself, Evangelist Rodney L. Sutton , was ordained as a minister of Whole Life Church of Jesus Christ. For a year that began w ith such uncer­ tainty it has ended with my faith being rewarded by the one who said, "Lo, I am with you always. even unto the end of the world (Matt.28: 20) The year of our Lord 1999 is a time for fresh beginn ings, and He has given me one; for on January 3, 1999, I shall be installed as Pastor of Helping Hands Outreach Mission Ministries. The ceremony will take place at The Whole Life Church of Jesus Christ at ' 4:00p.m. This date, unbeknownst to Pastor Williams (when given to him by God), is my natural birth date. It shall also now be a spiritual rebirth. The Lor d has also blessed us to begin a transportation ministry, so if you do not have a church home or just wish to come a nd fellowship please call the church at 681-5537 no later than 6:00p.m. on Saturday evening and we will make arrangements to pick you up Sunday morning. May God keep you and sm ile upon you this new year. UNAACEPTABLE RACISM by Dan James Today, Monday, I w as confro nted by a punk w ith a Michelin Tire jacket. I was wal ki ng t o t he heal t h department: for trea tment for my panic d isor der. Puffy- boy confro nt ed me with , " Whatcha got for me? Muthaf@#!?" Strik­ in g hi s mos t macho po se he con t in ue d, "G ive me your money !" " Hey look, b ud , I' m hom e less and p r obably have le s s cash t han you. It ' s t im e for you t o bac k o ff. See this American fl ag on my coat. It says that as a citizen, I have a right to go whe re and when I desire. You want to f#@! with a Marine, and I'm ready!" As he appr oached me. sprouting gang signs, I became prepared for a fight that I probabl y co ul d n't win -(I've had three cervical fusions and suffer from chronic pain). But I wasn't ·going down without a fight. Moving closer, he flashed his lower­ educated gang signs and challenged . It was time for action, otherw ise I'd get my a@# kicked for sure. As he moved closer, I kicked him hard in his measily gonads, but it was wit hout effect. He came back swinging: not like a trained boxer, but more like a rab bid, crack­ infected streetfighter. We traded punches and t hreats , too. I ad vised him, "You may be able t o hurt me, b ut 'it's not before I do some very permanent damage upon yo u r f@#!in' ass !" He retreated, shouting that, "If you come back to my street, N !@#@!, I'll kick your f#@!in' ass!" I let it slide, not wanting to get into another further hassle. He walked and strutted away, thinking, 'Tm all that, and probably more!" Page Io I left thinking t hat the world is fu ll of fools . Good rid dence , Miche lin Punk. T he next time I meet you my blade is going for your thro at. Please people, le t's let pe o ple alone who mind t heir own bu siness. No one has a nything ove r an other. We 're all peop le ; we have problems , and to use a famous phrase from one of the all -time greatest losers, " Can't we just all get along?" He had a point... DEAR STREETVIBES: As a former homeless person, I have been very lucky ... Mansfield, Lebanon, Ohio Penitentiary, London Prison Farm , and County Jail were my homes for I0 years or so. Seeing the mis-treatment of inmates all those years and going through both p rison riots in 1968 w ith a parole in my pocket was tough times. I ended up having to travel to Columbus, Oh io to court because of the prison riots. Still not through w ith the law, I shot someone in 1972. I wa s ordered to leave Cincinnati, Oh io ... to not drag the story out, ended up in Knoxville, Tenn. Five years of homelessness was enough, though at times found it hard to cope with society. In prison , I was placed on psychiatric medica­ tion throughout the duration. I stayed at a mission in Knoxville. I worked there and got an opportunity to attend Temple Baptist College in C hattanooga, Ten n. I r etu r ne d to that mission as director. buddy gray and Maurice Mc Crac kin were very clos e fr iends of mine. I have gone on to other things ... now I'm a business man, but still haunt cit y officials. The hardest peo ple I have ever dealt w ith are Bigot C ity Offi cials. I am mo r e at ease at Over t he Rhine where I grew up than at t he court house or city hall. I rea lly sti ll enjoy talking to Sonny Williams , Gordon , and Berta my lo ng t ime fr iends. I will continue to help fight for the rights of humanity unt il I m eet bud dy and Mau r ice at " T he Other Place." Frie nd of the homeless, Charlie Mattingly 1958 State Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45204 phone: 921-1231 P.S. If yo u need a fri e nd to t alk to cal l me from 9:00am-3:00pm Monday- Friday. DEAR STREETVIBES: Drugs and alcohol is the biggest reason for homelessness. Mental illness, and just wanting to live on the street, is another problem . No problem, no bi lls, don't have to cook, don't do nothing but be homeless. There is no way in this world, would I waste my t im e - either way. If the streets has ca lled th e se people, and this is what they chose then so be it. Let it go, force all homeless people to work, just like the welfare is forcing us to w ork. And by the way. we don't have a choice, or we could just be homeless . Whatev e r, Vickie Will iam 1529 Vine Street Box 15 0 Cincinnati, OH 45210 �STREETVIBES 1 The Tri State s STREETVIBES Etcetera••• Press Conference Emphasizes Living Wages On Dece mber 8, the Great er C incinnati Coalition for the Homeless along wi t h the Welfare Rights Coalition held a joint press conference to publicize " Working Hard, Earning Less". The report was a joint venture between Jobs with Justice and The National Priorities Project. The report focused on the lack of livable wage jobs being produced in the United States. The press conference used inform ation pertaining to Ohio specifically. In Ohio, 79% of new jobs pay less than half the livable wage. Welfare recipients who must find jobs are especially impacted . Studies by both the National Governor's Association and the Census Bureau find that most jobs held by former recipients pay between $5.50 an~ $ 7.00 an hour, averaging $1 1,41 0 .an d $14,560 a year. Only 28.8% earn above the $14 ,500 poverty level for a family of three. Studies have also fou nd that 40% of those in homeless shelters wo r k eve ry day. The panel also included a homeless man that works full-time and is still not able to find hous ing. According to a study by the National Coalition for the Homeless in 1997 titled Un abate d and Increasi ng, the cost for a one bedroom apartment is $7.63 an hour and the cost of a two bedroom is $9.37 an hour on average. Many cities across .the country have started. successful living wage campaigns. It was the hope of organizers of the press conference that there would be renewed interest in a livable wage campaign in­ dexed to the cost of housing. Subscribe to Streetvl bes Subscriptions to Streetvibes can be purcha sed for $ 12 pe r year. Ple ase send a che ck t o the below address and the pape r will be m aile d t o you e ach iss ue. Streetvibe s 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45210 Ple ase make checks pay­ able to the Greate r Cincinnati Coalition for the Home le ss-­ Stre etvibes. If you have any questions, call 421-7803. Homeless Grapevine HUD Announces Continuum of Care Grant Awards The department of Housing and Urba n De velopment recently a nnounced its fisca l Year 1998 Continuu m of Care Home less Assista nce Awa rd Recip ients. The C ity o f C incinn ati an d Hamil ton Coun ty recently learned from HUD t hat $5 ,277,384 dollars will be allocated to the area to provide mu ch need e d s ervi ces t o th e hom e less po pulatio n. The Greater Cin cinnati a rea received fundi ng fo r nine in novative proje cts t hat will help expedite move m ent fro m homeless ness to perma­ nent housing. The G ra nts covered a ll facets of the continuum fr o m ho melessness to permane nt ho usi ng. Greater Ci ncinnati pr ograms inclu ded an expansion of the Shelte r Plus Care pro­ gram that provide dollars for much needed permanent housing. Included in the program was also new jobs programs at the YWCA and, th·rough a collabora­ tion betwee n the Greate r Cincinnat i Coalition for the Homeless, the money will also help expand dental services, services for the disabled, mentally ill and people suffering from HIV/AIDS. This highly com­ petitive process has now helped to pro­ vide ove r $ 13 million dollars in fu nding fo r muc h needed housing an d services for the homeless in the past three years. In re­ lated news, t he City of Cincinnati a lso received $591 ,000 for ESG (Emergency Shelter Grant) funds for FY99 this figure repre~ents $1 41,000 more t han the City's Economic D epartm e nt anticipated. HOMELESSASSISTANCEAWARDS: ($) 385, 000 First Step Home Independent Living Op's 124,687 2,098,020 City of Cincinnati Drop Inn Center 297,000 349,125 Chabad House (GCCH) Caracole 591,240 682,651 Oral Health Council YWCA 460,911 Tender Mercies 288, 750 Community . Celebration. Live Music! Every Sunday -6PM Free of Charge Nast-Trinity United Methodist Church 1320 Race St. Cincinnati 721-7339 Page 11 ScrambI e by Ron Carter Try to unscramble these related words: EKAM SIHT RAEY HTE TBSE NOE FO MEHT LA L ANSWERS ON PABE 1 S. WORKSHOP SERIES: RETURNING TO WORK by Valerie Taylor, LSN On Wednesday, January 6, AIDS Volun­ teers of Cincinnati (AVOC) is very pleased to be starting a ser ies o f presentations about re turning to work. The ser ies will be held e very W ednesday evening form 1/6 / 99 through 2/3/99 at Clifton United Methodist Church. It w ill be held from 6:00 until 8:30 and r efreshmen t s w ill be provide d. Present­ ers will include Ken Skahan, MD speaking about managing medication while work­ ing, and attorney Al Gerhardstein who will add r ess discrimination in employment and related issues. Concerns about how Social Security eligibility would be affected by earned income will be addressed by Scott Knox, an attorney and huge supp~rter of AVOC programs. This program was developed in re­ sponse to concerns about returning to work. New medications and treatments have resulted in many people living longer with a better quality of life overall. There is an 'eagern ess to return to work but also enor­ mous fears about giving up the relative safety of disability. What it if I take a job and then find after four months that I'm getting too tired to work full time? What do I tell a prospective employer about what I have be en doing the last three years? Should I tell them I am HIV+ ? Can I get in surance? W ill I be able t o afford my medi cations ? Infor matio n abo ut ed uca­ tional and trai ning opportunit ies will also be ava ilable. Case managers Mike Angeline and Megan O'Day have done a tremen­ dous job of planning topics and speakers to address these and many other issues . y./e are also very interested in hearing from employers who might be willing to work wit h AVOC and/or a local train ing program on assisting those who are HIV+ in re-enter­ ing the work fo r ce. For more information, call either Mike or Megan at 421-243 7 or your case manager if you have one. �STREETVIBES 1 The Tri State s Homeless Grapevine 'URSULINE' Continued from front page... Most of the buildings are abandoned and give me the impression of jails; their win­ dows are covered with metal bars, and occasionally wooden boards. Covering the streets, and most of the ground, are candy wrappers, paper, glass bottles and other debris. Loud music and the shouts of people echo from the apartment floors above. People stroll down the sidewalk, apparently not noticing the trash and filth around them as I do. We reach the door of Buddy's Place and enter into a dark gloomy room. Light filters through the cracks in the boarded windows and we are able to discern the dust rising from our shuffling. We are ush­ ered to an inner room. My eyes have ad­ justed well enough to note the old, cracking blue and green floral wallpaper that peel from the walls. We are told to try to · remove all the nails from the ceiling. I stare at the expanse of ceiling above me for a second and feel a -little faint. The scaffolding scrapes across the floor as we drag it to a good position to pull nails from. Three of us finally clamber up the metal bars and begin to swing our hammers and tug at the rusted nails. Problem: Old wooden ceiling, nails, dust and hammers. Each time a hammer missed its target, a shower of fine wood dust flies into our face, nose, eyes, and mouth. I am in a very bad situation; I am allergic to dust and today I have my con­ tacts in. My e yes are getting dried out and rubbing t hem threatens to make fall out. Afte r half an hour of sneezing and getting blinded, we each take turns pulling nails as the rest of us cower from the dust. We quickly perceive this isn't going to help finish removing the ceiling's nails. We explained the problem to our volunteer coordinator. We're promptly given eye protection and the job is finished about three hours later. After we have put everything away I pull off a couple patches of the wallpaper to keep as souvenirs, and we trudge back to office. Mr. Forman greets us as we all dropped onto a nearby couch from exhaus­ tion and wait for the others so we could get lunch at the Drop Inn Center. The rest of the Ursu,l ine volunteers appear and we leave the ReSTOC office building to saunter off in the "This Is a world beyond my clean . quiet suburbla... My view of the world is getting a good dose of reality here. ,, direction of the Drop Inn Center. On the way we pass the park, it seems like a tiny patch of land to me compared to the fields and woods the park near mx house is comprised of. In the green grass, the chil­ dren laugh and carouse while the homeless nap on benches or on the grass. It seems so n.atural, no one thinks it's odd that the children and homeless are intermixed together on the park lawn. Even more, the homeless appear peaceful and natural as they nap, but I know that there is much more going on in their minds than a leisurely nap. At the Drop Inn Center, benches are .· filled with people waiting for a meal. One particular old man in an overcoat catches my eye. He is bent over and his shoulders are hunched forward at an alarming angle, what really gets to me is that he is wearing swim shoes. His whole outfit is mismatched and patched, and is almost ludic: ous, except I can 't laugh, or even smile about it. I am saddened by his appearance and disgusted at my inability at this moment to help him, or at least give him socks. I felt a nudge from behind me and get pushed into the food line. I pick out some of the food they dole out to us, mostly vegetables . I pick at my food for a while ~nd begin to slowly chew it, while I muse deeply a~out all I have seen. A group begins forming its way to the back of the cafeteria door for a tour of the Drop Inn Center, and I follow. Dorothy, our tour guide, leads us to an inner room and explains the significance of the Drop Inn Center for her. We follow her to the women's room where we see almost two dozen neatly made beds for helping homel~ss women in the process of rehabili­ tation. Many of us are surprised to see mother and children rooms and some sigh "aww ... " over the rooms with special baby items in them. In the kitchen, the sea of sunflowers that serve as decoration amazes us. (More aww .. .'s can be heard from within the group.) Here in the kitchen, "It seems so natural, no one thinks It's odd that the children and homeless ~are Intermixed together on the park.lawn.,, Dorothy tells us her story as an ex-homeless women and drug addict. We are drawn into her narrative of how she got to where she is now. Tears begin to fall from her eyes and many of us become emotional. After Dorothy's last sentence, we reach over and give her a hug. I am affected by her words and deeply touched by the bravery she has to tell us about her past. After we say our goodbyes to her, we are shuttled off to tour the men's quarters. Our guide shows us up a stairway and shouts at the top floor through a door, "Women on the floor! Women on the floor!" We are then led through the corridors and shown the enter­ tainment room and exercise room, which consists mai nly of a row machine. Having little time left, our guide hurries us down the stairs to a huge echoing room lined with many plastic covered pallets. The homeless can sleep on them at night and in the wintertime when it is especially cold, · he explained. Even though the room is enor­ mous and filled with these pallets, I still can imagine the lack of space they must have when the temperature gets to freezing level. At the end of the tour, as we stream out the door of the Drop Inn Center, I notice that I feel different. It is a strange feeling, the sense of having to go back to a place where there is no litter on the ground, no bars on the windows and a no glass bottles. I almost feel like a hypocrite, mingling and helping for a while for the less fortunate and then going home to a place where I have everything a person needs. It's as though I am abandoning all the people I have seen and met who need help more than I do. While boarding the truck, I know I never expected to see anything like this before in my life. My parents would have tried to prevent me from seeing all of this and would have kept me sheltered if they had the chance . But I'm glad I finally know about life outside 'my' world, including the litter, glass bottles and barred wi ndows, because now that I do know .. . I can help. .· . ·. , _. :. Page 12 Prison Slaves from page 8... goods annually. The potential for increasing their profits is staggering, and the potential abuse and corruption concerning the use of the prison slave labor is just as great. Prisoners have no protection from unsafe working conditions, and in one documented case, prisoners were knowingly exposed to deadly toxic waste with abso­ lutely no regard for their health . (See Pris­ oner Legal News, "Worked ~o Death-Ohio's Work Release Program," October 1995) There was never any follow-up by the government to render medical assistance to former prisoners who were exposed to toxic waste. Prisoners are the perfect expendable, transient workers. In the past several years the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correc­ tions (DORC) has been loaning prisoners to "Community Services," and one such project is renovating asbestos without any protective clothing. Prisoners here at OCI are also gutting dormitories in preparation for renovation, and part of their job assign­ ment includes removing .asbestos - again, without any protective clothing. Commu­ nity Service work crews have only one or two supervisors, and no safety inspection to ensure such abuses don't occur. Any pris­ oner who complains is removed from the job site and may be subjected to disciplinary action for failure to perform his job assign­ ment. There are no safeguards to protect prisoners from this sort of tragedy and no independent monitoring agency to ensure their safety. Over a hundred years ago, the exploitation of prison labor was discontin­ ued in Ohio because the same type of corruption and abuse which resulted from marketing prisoners as slaves. Now history is being repeated. In promoting the use of prison labor in 1990, Chief Justice Burger stated, "This isn't for the benefit of the criminal community [prisoners]. This is for the benefit of you and me [status quo]." Prison labor is being regarded as a national economic asset, to the detriment of the U.S. Labor Movement and prisoners. Representafr"es from National CURE (Citizens for the Rehabilitation of Errants) attended the National Prison Industries Forum . In CURE's national newspaper, they briefly mentioned putting together some position papers, and one of the issues will be prison labor. It gives me reason for concern that CURE never mentioned attending this forum and did not pass on any of the materials and reports generated by the forum to the prisoners. It would almost appear as if CURE may be "representing" prisoners without notifying them of what exactly is taking place - and with little or no input from prisoners. To my knowledge, no Ohio prisoners were contacted by CURE requesting infor­ mation specifically on labor issues. Surely CURE wouldn't attempt to represent prison­ ers on the issue without contacting prison­ ers ... or would they? CURE often claims to represent the interests of the friends and families of prisoners, and not the interest of prisoners themselves. It is our labor which the forum discussed; so who was CURE representing? It is time for prisoners across the nation to establish a dialogue among ourselves on prison labor to determine what our position will be. It is our labor, our futur~. and our lives at stake: �STREETVIBES 1 The Tri State s Homeless Grapevine EL SALVADOR REMEMBERS by Patrick Har!f1on in El Salvador today, with few jobs and little hope for positive change; the youth often turn to gangs for support. The two largest gangs (maras) which are at war with each other are the 13th street gang and the Salva trucha ( 18th street} gang. Both of these gangs originated in Los Angeles and came back to El Salvador through deportation of illegal immigrants. The gangs are attractive to street youth chat perhaps didn't under­ stand the civil war in political terms, but rather in terms of the violence they grew up with. Children's parents were sometimes raped and murdered in front of them, bodies often strewn in the street at dawn, and the government bombed poor and working class communities that sided with the guerillas. Citizens of the United States, much like the Salvadoran people, were divided during the war. Under the Reagan administratio~'s "war against communism." Up to two million dollars a day was given to the El Salvadoran military during the worst parts of the war. This provided arms, training, state of the art technical assistance, and advisors from both the armed forces and the C IA. US foreign policy was not affected by reports of Page /3 concerns, to surrender to too many de­ mands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in every­ thing is to succumb to violence . More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his or her work, because it kills the root and inner wisdom which makes work fruitful." - Thomas Merton He handed It to me not long after got back from an extensive stay in Central America. It seems fitting t hat another friend , · Matthew Eisen, saw it two years ago before he left for El Salvador and still refers to it today. The following story is as much about Matthew as it is about El Salvador, Over the Rhine, and life as an activist... El Salvador, a mountainous country of roughly 9 million people is the smallest and most densely populated natio n in Central America. El Salvador (T~e Savior) is · a land of sharp contrasts between heaven and hell. Its small size and large population push the violence of sustained social inequalities and sharp divisions between classes to­ gether in a dangerous way. During the Cold War, the right wing governments of El Matthew grew up in Delhi Townsh ip, Salvador had their genesis in " Las Catorce," right down the street from where his mother, the famous 14 family oligarchy which con­ Eisen worked at the College of Mt. St. Betty trolled over 60 percent of the land holdings Joseph. Matt attended Elder and Oak Hills in the country. The majority of the popula­ high schools, where he first got involved with tion. who are peasants, were forced to the human rights organization "Amnesty work for slave wages on huge plantations Though his interests in human International." of coffee, sugar cane or cotton, or migrate rights have lead him to many places in this to inner city ghettoes to find whatever work will tell you that Over-the-Rhine world, he they could . Attempts at organizing for remains in his heart. Matthew presently works change through peaceful means was with at-risk youth and gang members in El repeatedly met with repression by the Salvador. He works at a center called the landowners, government and military, and XX/ Youth Movement." I in­ "Generation through this civil war erupted. tended to write a feature story about the The civil war in El Salvador lasted 12 speaking tour which Matt and his two friends years, roughly from 1980 to 1992 when the Tara had come to give. Juan Carlos and government and the guerillas (FMLN} down is simply a What I wrote signed peace accords. The war cost Photo by Jimmy Heath conversation we had at two in the 80.000 lives and created hundreds of morning at a friend's apartment on thousands of refugees. Though both Elm Street... sides committed abuses of human ''The spring of 1990 was a time rights, the vase majority of abuses of major transition for me. I got to were committed by the Salvadoran know a woman through Amnesty military. Soldiers were known to gun named Veronica de Negre. She was down entire villages in the moun­ from Chile but she fled to the US tains, and in the cities pull people after the coup in 1973. She had a out of their homes at night never to son named Rodrigo who was born be seen again by there family and while she was in the States, and in friends. he decided to go visit Chile in 1990 Right wing Death Squads w ith order to see his country w ith his own names such as the "White Warriors" eyes. He was taking pictures of would target progressive church some protest in Santiago when the workers, unionists, teachers, critics of police grabbed him, dumped the government and their families gasoline all over him and set him on for torture rape and execution. fire. He died a few days later in the Many public schools in the capital hosp ital. lost almost their entire student body, In 1992 I went to Europe for 6 and each day, mutilated corpses months to discover my roots. As a would show up, on the roadside or white male from the States I feel as in garbage dumps. Left to right: Juan Carlos Hernandez, Tara Mathur, Matthew Elsen though I have no roots, but I need During the war, many thousand to overcome that. All of us in the US Salvadoran refugees fled co the United have history, for good or bad, and we need States. Some received political asylum , human rights violations, "death squads," or to recognize it, we need to honor it. Maybe most did not and were subject at any time even US Church Workers and Human Rights all those thoughts about roots lead me to to be picked up off the streets of Los Ange­ Workers who were put to death at the think about my own city of Cincinnati. Here les or Chicago and sent back by the Immi­ hands of Salvadoran Mil itary. I was studying all these big important gration and Naturalization Service (INS). Contrary to US foreign policy, a grow­ international issues about Human Rights, Upon arrival in the States, many young ing number of US citizens who began to and I wasn't even in tune to what was refugees with no papers found that jobs hear about El Salvador felt called to action happening inside my own country. So in the were hard to come by. In cities such as Los to oppose their own government and help fall of 1993 I moved down to Over-the-Rhine Angeles, many Salvadoran youth adopted the Salvadoran people who were being and became an intern for ReSTOC (Race the gang lifestyle as a means of survival. In persecuted; Church groups, doctors, human Street Tenant Organization Cooperative). recent years, as the US government has rights workers and people from many walks lived there till the summer of 1994 when I been getting tougher on illegal immigra­ of life devoted much time and effort to went out to San Francisco to work with tion, INS officers are now a more frequent spreading the word about El Salvador, Survivors International, an organization that sight in Latin barrios, constantly checking for pressuring congress to vote against aid, works with survivors of torture from all over documents. The result is that along with providing funding for refugee communities, the world. In the fall of that year I was deporting undocumented immigrants, the and risking prison sentences to smuggle again in Over-the- Rhine, then in the spring of US is now exporting gangs. refugees to safe communities in the United 1995 I finished my senior year of college in States. Many Salvadorans today say that their Nicaragua through a program at Xavier country is worse now than it was before the A few years ago a friend of mine gave University. In the summer I was back in war. There is no organized group fighting me this quote and I stuck it up on my Over-the-Rhine, living on Pleasant Street in the armed forces, but the daily murder rate refrigerator... an apartment I was fixing up for ReSTOC. is higher now than it was during the war "There is a pervasive form of contem­ years ( 18 persons murdered each day during porary violence to which the idealist fighting the war compared to 23 today). The peace for peace by nonviolent methods most accords signed with the guerillas have easily succumbs - activism and overwork. shown very little progress and the intellec­ The rush and pressure of modern life are a tual authors behind institutions such as the form , perhaps the most common form, of its "death squads" have yet to be prosecuted. innate violence. To allow oneself to be The situation for today's youth is a hard one carried away by a multitude of conflicting 'El Salvador' next page... �STREETVIBES The Tri State's Hom eless Grapevine 'El Salvador' from page 13... That fall I went off to DC to work for a year as membership coordinator for the Mid-West Regional office ofAmnesty International. I knew that after that year I was going to follow the dream of mine to go back to Central America, but I still didn't know where I was gonna go. After Buddy's murder I came back to Over-the-Rhine in December of 1996, then went to El Salvador with CRISPAZ (Christians for "/think that now, more than ever we should be lending a hand to El Salvador to help them to build peace." peace in El Salvador). I chose to go to El Salvador because I wanted to honor the commitment that so many people in the States had toward the people of El Salvador during the war. I think that now, more than ever w~ should be lending a hand to El Salvador to help them to build peace. Even though there is not a war going on the same conditions that brought about the war exist, and some say that it is even worse now than how it was before the war started. The history of the youth movement I am involved with is this... Back in 1987 there was an earthquake that destroyed a large part of San Salvador. Because the school in my neighborhood was damaged, the government built two little garages where students would go to classes till repairs on the old school could be completed. A few years ago the same youth who now form part of the movement got together and wanted to start something that would be an alternative to the gangs, they wanted to get together and talk and do activities but they didn't have any place to do it in. They went to the school board and asked if they could have one of the small "He was taking pictures of some protest In S~ntlago when the police grabbed him, dumped gasoline all over him and set him on fire." buildings that the government built for the school to have classes in after the earthquake, and the board said they didn't know anything about it and that it was all under the municipality. So they went down to the municipality and nobody down there knew anything about it, so the youth just took it over. Now it's a meeting place, complete with a big mural on the inside that the youth painted. We have guitar classes there. and folk dance classes, all kinds of stuff... And the youth did it, it was their idea and they did it all on their own initiative. We have a public library. the only public library in a community of 260,000 people. It started off when some of the youth at the movement decided to have a party. and instead of charging admission they told everyone to bring a book. We also have a scholarship program that helps youth go back to school. in some cases to finish high school; and in others to go to college. We fund it through donations from delegations. churches. and even people in Over-the-Rhine. There are former gang members from the two riyal gangs. the 13th street gang and the 18th street gang (Mara Salva Trucha). who are looking for something more to do than tag walls. Some of the movement's youth from these two gangs were hired out to paint a mural and they called it the "Meeting ofTwo Worlds". It was about the conquest of the Americas and it had an indigenous poem painted on it. I completely believe that the only way out of the crime, delinquency and violence in El Salvador that exists today is not through English and math classes. The problem was born in the US, first by shipping down guns for war. We created the refugees to come up here, their children pick up gang activities in the US, then we deport them back. Then (we) as good hearted Christians or leftists or whatever, and I include myself in this too, become arrogant enough to think that O.K. we created the problem, we can solve it, so we send gringos like myself down to teach English or bring down comput­ ers. We send down our culture, and youth are walking around in Jordan jerseys with Nikes and • Hillfiger shirts, and we think we can introduce them into this economic -system that we have, but just like the youth in OTR. they can consume but they will never be incorporated. They see everything on TV or in magazines and they get resentmen~. In inner city US or urban Salvador, there is no room for them ... So the whole idea is that classes and cultural exchange can help, but their path out has to be indigenous, from their culture and their language. whether in OTR or in Mejicanos, El Salvador... Their liberation, their path out of violence comes from them, their spirit to respect their roots and culture. One of my favorite quotes was from Steve Biko from South Africa went something like ... "Western culture in the 19th and 20th century gave the world the industrial revolution, but the great gift still has to "You don't have to go all over the world to see poverty. You can be In solidarity with the poor and the oppressed in your own communities." come from Africa, which is to give the world a more human face." I think that you can say the same thing about Latin America. In western culture we rely so much on gadgets and technology, but we are so disconnected from the earth as a spirit. There is noting good about poverty or oppression, but whether in Africa, Latin America or Over-the- Rhine, there still exists community and solidarity from one neighbor to another. That's where-the human face of the earth exists, that's where love exists ... Even my conservative republican brother-in-law who builds decks for rich homes that are heated in the winter and air-conditioned in the summer is saddened because there is no community. People don't know their neighbors ... They have cell phones, cars, and big wooden fences for privacy. Even though we disagree in our politics. there is some commonality. we are both human and we all want friends, family Page 14 and community. You don't have to go all over the world to see poverty. You can be in solidarity with the poor and the oppressed in your own communities. And I would recommend that you not go into these communities with the arrogance of problem solving. but with the attitude of being ruined. We always talk about the activists that come down to El Salvador. or the activists that come down to Over-the-Rhine and get ruined, we remember back to the universities and all those ideas and plans we had, and we got ruined. You need to have the art and the skill of listening and accompaniment. .. And we can come in with computers and pump in money, but these people need to be heard and respected. This is not some­ thing you can fix and forget about. These people have an experience to teach us, and it has to be told and taught." STREETVIBES Sweats & T-Shirts! Only $5 for T's, $10 for Sweats. T~!Rfri Elt~'~sES Homeless Grupc.. 11e 100% White Cotton Shirts and Long Sleeve Sweat Shirts XL Purple logo T-shirts and Sweat Shirts are available at our office at .1506 Elm Street. Please stop by and see us. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority Looking for a place to call home? Call the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority Affordable rent that never exceeds 30°/o of your income .. . Many buildings equipped with security systems ... Units located on buslines and near stores, schools, hospitals, banks Rental units are available in these family and senior communities: Avondale Hopple Street/Fairmount West End Winton Place For more information, call 421-8190 today. �' STREETVI BES 1 The Tri State s Homeless Grapevine Page 15 CONGRADULATIONS CLIFFORD STREETVIBES JONES of The Greater Cinc innati Oral Heal t h Council Announcements Program Coordinator FREEPOLlnCAL PRISONERS of The re are seve ral political priso ner s in O hio's prisons. If you are interest ed to w rite t o t hem, like Jame s Pr yor o r Da n Cahi ll, please c ontact: lNICN' of Coord.inatingCommittee "LITTLE ROCK" REED of The Executive arrl · JESSICA DIANE 'WALLACE Board DENTAL HYGIENISTS' I ASSOC. Band For Hire Band L ook i n& fo r Wo r k Streetvibes (the band). We like to pa rty. R&B. Oldies, Blues/)aJ:z, Reggae. Helpi ng the homeless to help themselves th rough free e nt e rprize. Ca ll 42 1-7803 . Writing to STREETVIBES Send your letters and comments to HVAC Service OWllJHT WIS E HVAC SERVICETtt::HNIOAN n:JR HIRE. 24 HOUR SER\llc:E!ll STREETVIBES provides Classified Ads free to low-income job seek­ ers. Others may place ads fo'r only $1 per line. Call 421-7803 for info . In Memory of "Mac" Who Believed In Human Rights For Everyone & Who Founded Justice Watch...Because 'Everyone' Includes Prisoners and Former Prisoners. Scramble Answers from page 11.•. OF THEM All . .. . Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct I. Streetvibes will be dist ributed for a $ 1 voluntary donation. I agree not to ask for donations more than $ I. I also understand that I will be able to keep 80 cents of each dollar collected. Future issues of Streetvibes will be purchased from the Homeless Coalition for 20 cents. 2. I agree that I will never dist ribute Streetvibes while under the influence of d rugs or alcohol. 3. I agree that I will not ask for donations after 12 midnight. 4. I agree to treat othe rs with respect. I will not use abusive language or force someone to give a donat ion. I will not give a "hard sell" or make so meone feel threatened. 5. I agree that I will not supply copie.s of 01 DB:EMBER 23 1998 of OHIO Each vendor has to sign the following code to be able to sell the paper. ct BREIT ADAM ZW)LINSKI HAS BEEN ELECTED TREASURER THE BEST ONE PRXlAIMThG GCCH Member ON HIS FREEDOM AND PAROLE THANKSFORALLTHESUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY TO FREE HIM MAKE THIS YEAR OUR LORD JESUS GffiISI' tl:e !CONGRATULATIONS! Streetvibes is now accepting Classified Ads for items such as Help Wanted, Items for Sale, Apart­ ments for Rent and other non-personal items. The rate is o nly $1 per line, approximately four words per line. Classified ads are due by the 20th of the month. People below the poverty level will be allowed five free lines for six months to advertise their skills or products to our readers. Otherwise, payment must be received before the ad will run. No refunds will be made. Also, if there is an error, notify us after the first printing. You will be given an extra month of ad time. Mail the ad copy to: Streetvibes 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45210 or fax it to 42 1-7813 aE The Homeless Dental Program Ohio Prisoner's Rights Union P.O. Box 1746 Cincinnati, Ohio 45201-1746 STREETVIBES Classified Ads BY THE GRACE Streetvibes to pe rsons who are not registered distributors. 6. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I am collecting for a not-for-profit charity or that I am collecting for the "homeless" in general. · I will be honest in stating that all the profits from the sale of Streetvibes will go to the individual vendor. 7. I agree that I will not contest territories with other distributors. 8. I understand that Streetvibes strives to be a self supporting paper created by people who are homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this effo rt, I will try to spread the word and write stories if possible. 9. I understand that the failure to comply Y<ith any of the above statements will r esult in me no longer being able to distribute Streetvibes. STREETVIBES LETTERSAND EDITORIALS: c/ o GCCH, 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45210 We reserve the right to edit stories or letters for clarity and content. Streetvlbes Radio Hour 1· On WAIF 88.3 fm The Homeless Coalition has a live radio program which can be heard on WAIF radio on the second Saturday of each month at noon. The show is co-hosted by Mary Burke, Donald Whitehead and other monthly guest hosts. The show mixes talk focusing on the stories in this paper and eclectic musical selections. Here are the next show dates; WAIF 88.3 fm Sat., Jan. 9th, 1999, Noon to I pm Advertise In Streetvlbes I Advertising in Streetvibes is a chance for businesses to help a good cause while promoting themselves to 5,000 concerned people each month. The rates are shown below. ***Business Card Size 2" x 3 I /2" $10 per month ***Two Business Card Size 4" x 3 112" $20 per month A check or money o rder must accompany the ad copy. We reserve the right to deny any ad, especially those which promote alcohol or tobacco products. You will rece ive a full refund should your ad be denied. For larger ads, call the number below. Ads are due by the 20th of each month. If you need assistance in preparing your ad o r have any other questions, call the Home less Coali­ tion at 421-7803. Mail ads with payment to: Streetvibes I 506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45210 I .t �STREETVIBES The Tri State's Homeless Grapevine Page 16 Streetvlbes TV The Streetvibes TV Show is produced at the facilities of Cincinnati Community Video. Some viewers might not see the show appear at the right channel or time during the next couple months as Warner Cable changes programming and channels. Streetvibes TV January Schedule Cha nne l 7 LIVE CALL-IN SHOW. Mond a y. !a nuary 11th. 199 9 a t 7PM . Re broadcast Dates for S how o n Cha n­ ~ nel 10: I Saturday, January 2, 1999, 4 PM Friday, January 8, 1999, 11 AM Friday, January 15, 1999. 11 AM Saturday, January 23, 1999, 4 PM Monday, January 18, 1999, I 0 PM r. Donald Whi tehead, as Santa Claus, leaves t he Coalition office on his way to visit Cincinnati shelters for children. Broadcast schedules are subject to change - con sult your local TV d irectory. If you have any ideas for future STREETVIBES TV shows please contact our office at 421-7803. We always enjoy hearing from our veiwing audience. Ideas should address subjects related to homeless­ ness and poverty in our city. We are always inter­ ested in viewer ideas, so please give us a call... Streetvlbes Wish List STREEV/BES is published monthly on a shoe­ string budget. We depend heavily on the goodwill of many volunteers and donors. If you can help out with some of the items on our wis~ list please give us a call. .. >Adobe Photoshop Software for IBM to save scanning costs >Adobe Illustrator Software for IBM > Adobe Pagemaker Software for STREETVIBES layout >35 MM Film for STREETVIBES photo's >Laser Printer Vendor: 80 cents Where Your >Good used photocopier >Office Supplies >Supplies for Vendors Lounge (coffee , cups , donuts , etc.) >Computer for STREETVIBES layout and wr i-t~A--ga--- Printing and Production: 20 cents n 0 If for some reason you find yourself homeless, contact a Coalition Member Agency for Shelter, Treatment, Housing or Services. If you have any questions, feel free to call the Homeless Coalition at 421-7803. SHELTERS: Women and Children Alice Paul House (abuse) 241-2757 YWCA Transitional Living Prog. 281-5770 557-2873 Bethany House 762-5660· Salvation Army Welcome House 431-8717 SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission Garden Street House Joseph House (veterans) St. Francis- St. Joseph House Mt. Airy Center Volunteers of America 24 1-5525 241-0490 241-2965 38 1-4941 661-4620 381-1954 SHELTER: Both Caracole (AIDS) Chabad House Drop Inn Center (singles) Friars Club Haven House (Hamilton) 761-1480 821-5 100 721-0643 38 1-5432 863-8866 CALL THE STREETVIBES DFTIC E A T 421 • Streetvibes has a minimal overhead cost so that the vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. If anyone selling Streetvibes claims to be collecting for a private charity, please call our office at 421-7803. Thanks for your support. 7 803 IF' Y O U CAN HELP! e Interfaith Hospitality Network Lighthouse Youth Center St. john's Temporary Housing HOUSING CMHA Excel Development Miami Purchase OTR Housing Network ReSTOC Tender Mercies (Mental 111) Tom Geiger House TREATMENT: W o m en 0.0.A.A.T First Step Home TREATMENT: Me n Charlie's 3/4 House Prospect House Starting Over TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline AA. Hotline C.C.A.T. Talbert House Transitions, Inc. VA Domiciliary OTHER SERVICES AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati Appalachian Identity Center 244-7226 961-4080 651-6446 721-4580 632-7149 241-0504 369-0004 381-0954 721-8666 961-4555 241-7343 921-7324 784-1853 921- 16 13 751-3260 820-2947 861-9966 381-6660 684-7956 491-4435 559-501 1 42 1-2437 62 1-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for lndep_endent Living Options 241-2600 591-2246 Churches Active in Northside 961-0600 Cincinnati Health Network 569-1840 Community Action Agency 381-4242 Contact Center Emanuel Community Center 241-2563 241-1064 Freestore/Foodbank 771-4800 Goodwill Industries 621-7149 Hamilton Co.Mental Health Bd. 632-7186 Hamilton Co. TB Control 357-4602 Health Resource Center 352-2902 Homeless Mobile Health Van 221-3679 House of Refuge Mission 241-9400 Legal Aid Society Madisonville Ed. & Assistance Ctr. 271-5501 721-4811 Mary Magdalen House 621-0248 Oral Health Council 621-6364 Our Daily Bread 621-5514 Peaslee Ne ighborhood Center 721-7660 Travelers Aid 721-7900 United Way 559-6656 VA Homeless Program 49 1-3335 Women's Crisis Center � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1999 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Janurary 1999 Vol 3, issue 24 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Homeless Memorial Held at Washington Park Ursuline Academy Volunteerism Pg 2: The Traveler Pg 3: COHHIO* Corps Closing Ceremony Homeless Veteran with PTSD Finds Help Pg 4: Welfare News Pg 5: Broken City Pg 6: Arts & Poetry Pg 7: Nationwide Pg 8: Prisoners News Pg 9: Cleveland News N. Kentucky News Pg 10: Letters & Editorials Pg 11: Streetvibes Etcetera Pg 13: El Salvador Remembers Pg 14: AVOC Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project (curated by Katelyn Lusher) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 1999 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Dan Cahill Ron Carter Denise Crew Brian Davis Dwight Given Iola Green Barry Grossheim Patrick Harmon Henry Hartsock Jimmy Heath Muldoon Greg Payton Aaron Pitchford James W. Pryor Valerie Taylor Stephy Wang Donald White head Lynn Williams Robert Woodman Brett Zwolinski Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <span>This work is licensed under a</span><span> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License</a><span>.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Aaron Pitchford Barry Grossheim Brett Zwolinski Brian Davis Dan Cahill Denise Crew Donald Whitehead Dwight Given Greg Payton Henry Hartsock Iola Green James W. Pryor Jimmy Heath Lynn Williams memorial Muldoon Patrick Harmon prisoner Robert Woodman Ron Carter Stephy Wang the broken city The Traveler Valerie Taylor veterans welfare welfare reform https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/bdbe82d2f9079243eee59c401fa9302b.pdf cc7a9c5f9695fadf564c8e72fd4774f7 PDF Text Text Vendor P. 9 Profile Post Prison Blues P. 9 Parks are for Loitering P. 5 STREETVIBES $1 July 1-14 2009 • Advocating Justice, Building Community • Issue 156 All Right to Be Different Recovery Center empowers clients recovering from mental illness By Larry Gross Contributing Writer Linda Zachary comes from a family of 11 children. She’s the mother of three grown children and a grandmother of five. She lives in East Walnut Hills and was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 19 years old. “I didn’t realize I had a problem,” she says. “I re­ member, when I was little, my mother thought I was talking to myself, but I was hearing voices. I thought the voices were OK. “I did not accept (the di­ agnosis) at first. I’ve been in and out of hospitals while try­ ing to get my degree, having those highs and lows. I didn’t accept my illness until I was in my 40s.” She’s an artist with many of her paintings hanging on the walls at the Recovery Center in Mount Auburn. She started out as a client but now is on staff. “I help out when needed in every sense of the word,” Zachary says. “I teach classes, fix coffee, sweep floors, an­ swer phones – a little bit of everything.” Zachary is open about her illness, especially with her family. “The more I learn about my illness, the more I let them know, because my illness runs in our family,” she says. “My father was schizophrenic, I had a brother who was schizo­ phrenic and I have a nephew who’s schizophrenic. In the black community, you didn’t talk about it. You were just See Different, p. 4 Artwork by clients of the Recovery Center in Mount Auburn adorn the walls. Some of the artwork is for sale. Photo by Andrew Anderson. Human Priorities Ballot initiative would let voters decide By GreGory FLannery editor Should city government support human services – for example, housing assistance for homeless families and treatment for people who have drinking problems? Voters could soon get the chance to decide if the city of Cincinnati should spend 1.5 percent of its general fund on human services. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is working on a charter amendment that would make the funding mandatory. The minimal spending was the city’s policy for more than 20 years. Former Mayor Char­ lie Luken, a Democrat, tried to kill the funding in his pro­ posed 2005-06 budget. That man has helped talking about the need to re­ effort failed but city council draft the language of the char­ store this funding,” Spring has slashed the help it gives ter amendment and plan a peti­ says. “For too long we have human services ever since. been hearing “For sev­ promises of eral years r e s t o r a t i o n . “For too long we have been talking about now, the city Now, especially government the need to restore this funding. For too with the cur­ has not been long we have been hearing promises of rent economic living up to restoration. Now it is the time to act.” problems, it is the prom­ the time to act. Josh Spring ise of 1.5 Soon we will percent,” be launching a says Josh tion drive to let voters decide, campaign to collect enough Spring, executive director of Spring says. signatures to legally force the the Homeless Coalition. “In­ The charter amendment city government to hold a vote. stead between 0.6 percent and 0.7 percent of the general fund won’t be on the November This vote will give the people has been going to these much ballot. Organizers are con­ the opportunity to decide.” The city isn’t saving money needed services. With the sidering a special election in­ most recent budget, this was stead. 2009 is an election year by cutting the funding; it’s approximately $2.6 million for city council, and placing losing money, Spring says. dollars instead of about $3.79 the charter amendment on The spending cuts keep the the same ballot would turn city from leveraging its small million dollars.” Because the city’s charter human-services funding into a investment – 1.5 percent – is its constitution, an amend­ partisan issue – the very situ­ into larger support from other ment would force council to ation it’s supposed to change, sources. Spring says. “These dollars serve as fund the programs. City council keeps cutting matching dollars; they mul­ The Homeless Coalition the funding; a charter amend­ tiply themselves in the form has been working closely on the proposal with Christopher ment is the best way to sup­ of opening opportunities for Smitherman, president of the port human services, he says. larger monetary grants,” he “For too long we have been says. Cincinnati NAACP. Smither­ �2 The Vibe By The Numbers 70 the length, in minutes, of Where Drunk Men Go. (See page 10.) 100 the approximate number of corporate volunteers who “invaded” Washington Park. (See page 5.) 40 the percent of blood-flow increase that lavender causes a man’s “junk.” (See page 8.) 111-22 the number of the law called the “Protecting Ten­ ants at Foreclosure Act.” (See page 14.) 10,000 the cost, in dollars, of a painting for sale at the Recovery Center. (See page 1.) 60 the cost, in dollars, of a speaker from the “Voice of the Homeless” Speaker’s Bureau. (See page 3.) 1977 the year Hudson Brothers Cleaners opened. (See page 12.) 500 the number of daily meals served by Our Daily Bread. (See page 13.) 15 the number of students who didn’t graduate at a high school on Rosebud Sioux Reservation in 2008. (See page 6.) 9 the amount, in dollars, an ex-con has to live on for a week. (See page 9.) Streetwise By GreGory FLannery Justice is a Cheap Sandwich A man uses illegal drugs, gets caught and pays the penalty. He spends the next 13 years living drug-free, stays out of trouble, finds work and becomes a stellar employee. When he applies for a job with the city of Cincinnati, he is one of only 15 out of 68 applicants to pass the civil service exam. Sounds like a good job candidate, right? Wrong. Gene Mays found out that 13 years of sobriety, honest living and hard work count for nothing in the city’s eyes. The civil service commission ruled that a felony conviction bars anyone, no matter how qualified, from working for the city. After losing a lawsuit, Mays took his case before the Ohio First District Court of Appeals, which last month ruled 2-to-1 against him. Appeals Judge Mark Painter, who issued the dissenting opinion, blasted the majority’s decision as “baloney.” Citing the civil service commission’s failure to exercise discretion – which, Painter said, is required by law – he took issue with a magistrate’s finding that the commission has “the absolute right” to bar former felons. That interpretation is absolutely wrong, ac­ cording to Painter. “Commissions do not have rights; people do,” he wrote. The appeals court should have overturned the civil service commission’s ruling be­ cause it was arbitrary and unreasonable, Painter’s opinion said. “When people do turn their life around, we should applaud and help them help them­ selves – not ban them from employment by imposing arbitrary rules,” he wrote. That kind of clarity is why we’re going to miss Painter when he moves to a job at a new United Nations appeals court in September. Some of His Best Friends Are Cavemen Clarity, however, isn’t the word to describe a June 10 column in CityBeat by Joe Wes­ sels. To borrow a phrase from Painter’s ruling, the column’s observations about homeless people are “eyewash.” Wessels opens by saying he’s never been homeless but allows that he could be in serious financial trouble if he misses a paycheck. “Giving up sometimes seems like a great idea,” he writes. “Or getting a simpler job. Or no job and no responsibilities. You know, being homeless.” A blithe, un-thoughtful reverie about poverty can be forgiven. But Wessels doesn’t stop there. He trots out the old canard about homelessness being a freely chosen “lifestyle.” “I don’t like finding excuses for these folks,” Wessels writes. “I’m not into feeling sorry. Living in Over-the-Rhine, I’ve had enough conversations with the ‘chronically homeless’ to know that it’s more acute than chronic. Many like living the way they do.” Many? The column cites no numbers, of course. Wessels’s argument is nothing more than the oft-used excuse given to justify ignorant remarks about racial minorities, ho­ mosexuals and other oppressed groups: “Why, some of my best friends are black/gay/ homeless.” Consider the way Wessels describes one of his sources: “Tom Banks, an Over-theRhine character, made a point to me recently.” Could any characterization be more dis­ missive, more disrespectful? Mr. Banks is “a character,” a bit player in the colorful street theater that Wessels sees when he looks at poverty. Wessels speaks truly when he says he isn’t “into feeling sorry” for homeless people. Last year he used his column to criticize churches for engaging in the untidy practice of giving food to poor people in Washington Park. He’s entitled to his opinion, of course, uninformed though it might be. But he is not entitled to use his tenuous affiliation with Streetvibes to give himself a veneer of exper­ tise. His June 10 column takes note of the fact that Wessels is a member of the Streetvibes advisory board. I’d like to point out that the advisory board hasn’t met in more than a year. I’d also like to point that Wessels is no longer on the advisory board. I wish I could say he was dumped for his neanderthal opinions about homelessness, but the advisory board was dissolved before the column was published. Those Darned Naysayers Mayor Mark Mallory’s rhetoric about the Streetcar That Will Save Cincinnati is no better. Cincinnatians for Progress is a lobby formed to oppose a ballot issue that would – gasp – give voters a chance to vote on the proposed streetcars. Letting voters decide the issue is “dangerous,” according to a June 10 press release announcing a rally for the group. Mallory, who chairs Cincinnatians for Progress, couldn’t come up with anything better than the lame assertion that some people just want to hold Cincinnati back. “Once again, however, the naysayers in our community want to put a stop to that progress and leave our city in the past,” Mallory said. That’s why they oppose the streetcar plan: They hate progress. They probably hate Cincinnati itself. Thanks for clearing it up. STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by people who are or once were homeless, in exchange for a $1 donation, Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Address: 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: 513.421.7803 x 12 Fax: 513.421.7813 Email: streetvibes2@ yahoo.com Website: www. cincihomeless.org Blog: streetvibes. wordpress.com Streetvibes Staff Editor Gregory Flannery Art Director Lynne Ausman Contributing Writers Lew Moores, Margo Pierce, Paul Kopp, Paul Miller, Jeremy Flannery, Michael Henson, Lynne Ausman, Dave Heitfield, Alecia Lott, Larry Gross, Murray Bodo, Stephanie Dunlap, Lea Ottenheimer Photography/Artwork Andrew Anderson, Paul Kopp, Aimie Willhoite, Lynne Ausman, Lea Ottenheimerm, Mikki Schaffner Proofreader Jennifer Blalock The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati through coordination of services, public education, grassroots advocacy and Streetvibes. We are members of: �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Community News Eight Minutes with a 3 Many people work hard to make a difference for the less privileged in the Queen City. “Eight Minutes” is an opportunity to learn who those people are and what motivates them to be a positive influence. ‘Rebel With A Cause’ She’s bent on making a positive impact By MarGo Pierce Contributing Writer This rebel doesn’t have a clear vision for the work she’ll do over the next 15 years, but she knows what she wants to do right now – end homeless­ ness as we know it. And she’s doing it one pound of coffee at a time. Lynne Ausman is admin­ istrative coordinator at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) – the woman with her hand on the purse strings – and that means her immediate thoughts fall to the people in the lobby less than 20 feet from her desk. “I wish we’d have enough coffee, creamer, sugar and lemonade and cups anyone wanted so we wouldn’t run out,” she says. “It’s not a huge expense but unfortunately it’s a small expense and the small ones are the first ones to go. It’s the one we put off when we have bigger expenses like keeping the lights on and keeping the doors opened, the A/C or heat on.” Ausman didn’t start out with homelessness as a target for her advocacy; all she knew was she wanted to pursue a career in the field of human rights. A corporate job that in­ volved cube-dwelling sound­ ed like torture. Inspired by a college professor who “who survived the Rwandan geno­ cide … by swimming across the lake out of Rwanda into the Congo,” she moved back to her hometown of Cincinna­ ti, making a two-year commit­ ment to AmeriCorps*VISTA working for GCCH. “I got into how homeless people cycle through the jus­ tice system and what it does to them on the outside,” she says. “I found that homeless people go through this cycle. They hit the street, they may stay two or three nights in a homeless shelter here and there, but then they’re in jail. Then jail spits them out eight hours later, 10 days later, whenever, back on the street into that exact same situation that put them there in the first place. “They go back to their thing and they end up in jail again. layout. I do as much as I can to keep me con­ nected to the mission.” That means speak­ ing engagements, “ad­ vocacy events” and generally educating people about the prob­ lems faced by people without a permanent address. “We reach between 2,500 and 3,000 com­ munity members a year with our speaking en­ gagements,” Ausman says. “Our targeted populations are high schools and colleges. The reasons for the education programs are two-fold. There’s a lack of knowledge about homelessness, so if we can teach people about homelessness and we can turn someone from the apathy that they feel about homeless­ ness into empathy, then we’ve done something good. “We know that hate crimes committed against homeless peo­ ple are typically com­ Lynne Ausman, administrative coordinator at the Greater Cincinnati mitted by high school Coalition for the Homeless. Photo by Andrew Anderson. boys or people under the age of 25, typically It’s a constant cycle, and I keep her from the reason for men. We specifically target found that it was costing tak- what she does – ending home­ our education programs to ing taxpayers in jail costs – I lessness. didn’t figure in court costs, at“There (are) two things people in those age groups so torney fees, public defenders non-profits have to focus on,” that we can create empathy in them so that they don’t come down town and beat up people If we had proper social safety nets, or commit hate crimes.” they wouldn’t be staying on the There’s a fee for having a speaker from GCCH speaker’s streets and they wouldn’t be using bureau, but the $60 provides a shelters (and) taxpayers wouldn’t be meager stipend for non-staff paying thousands of dollars a year for speakers and might cover the them to sit in jail. This is a community cost of mileage if the price of problem and it needs community gas stays below $4 a gallon. Hardly a revenue generator, solutions.” - Lynne Ausman much as Ausman would like it to be, speakers are integral to - $43,000 a person per year. she says. “You have to focus building awareness. “One of our speakers grew That’s a real disservice. We’re on your mission and you also spending all this money put­ have to focus on how you’re up in a blue-collar home. He ting people in jail, basically going to get the money, the had both his parents. His mom giving three hots and a cot but resources to achieve that mis­ was a substitute teacher, his nothing to help them to get out sion. And sometimes there’s a dad worked for the post of­ fice – a stable home,” Aus­ of where they are, if they want disconnect. to get out of where they are.” “We’re small enough that man says. “He had a college Since 2006 Ausman has that’s just not possible. I have degree and he was homeless. evolved into a multi-tasking to help in other areas. So one When we take him to speak, staffer who refuses to allow way I keep connected is work­ he always strikes a chord, es­ the practical aspects of her job ing with Streetvibes, doing the pecially with college students. They think, ‘This magic piece of paper’s going to keep me safe and secure the rest of my life.’ When he says, ‘I have a college degree just like you will,’ people are (shocked.)” More comfortable talking about the issues surrounding homelessness, Ausman says what most non-profit staffers say – “The job’s not about me or about the people who work here – it’s about the people we serve.” “Homelessness isn’t a prob­ lem of an individual; it’s not a micro-level problem,” she says. “It’s not that one per­ son’s problem. Maybe some decisions that (a) person made led to their homelessness, but if we had proper social safety nets, they wouldn’t be stay­ ing on the streets and they wouldn’t be using shelters (and) taxpayers wouldn’t be paying thousands of dollars a year for them to sit in jail. This is a community problem and it needs community solu­ tions.” Whether she’s writing a grant or brainstorming ideas for expanding Streetvibes sub­ scriptions, Ausman is a wom­ an bucking the stereotype of her generation. “I found a home here. That’s kind of ironic because this is the Homeless Coalition, but I found a population that I enjoy working with,” Ausman says. “I’d never worked with homelessness; I’d never been exposed to it prior to working here. I found something I can build a passion for. “I think it’s possible to end homelessness today. It’s crazy for adult men and adult wom­ en, but especially for a child who had no way of stopping it or contributing to it. Families are the fastest growing seg­ ment of the homeless popula­ tion, and I think that’s deplor­ able.” If you want to help make Lynne’s job a little easier, drop her a note and ask her where to send a check or drop off a box of coffee cups, a few pounds of coffee, paper towels or a few containers of lemon­ ade. Call 513-421-7803, ext. 11 or write lynneausman@ cincihomeless.org. �4 STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Community News All Right to Be Different (Continued from page 1) shunned. You were special. “When growing up, I remember my father coming home from the hospital and remember him losing a lot of weight and taking a lot of medicine. The things my mother would say to a house full of kids, you know: ‘Your father is sick. Be quiet.’ There were teenagers in the house. How do you tell teenagers to be quiet?” “I remember that table full of medicine. Nobody would say anything about it. My mother would say, ‘He’s just sick – leave him alone.’ ” Today Zachary believes there are fewer stigmas associated with mental ill­ ness. She’s happy with her life. “I’ve got the support I need – from my family and from the Recovery Center,” she says. “It’s very peaceful at the Recovery Center. It’s like home. You don’t have to put on airs. There’s peace.” Accepted behavior The Recovery Center is a consumer-driven agency funded by the Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board and the Health Foundation Linda Zachary was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 19. of Greater Cincinnati. It offers peer support, self-help, education and commu­ Photos by Andrew Anderson. nity involvement activities for those recovering from mental illness. At the entry way is a garden with a wide variety of summer flowers, low bushes and plenty of mulch. A homemade sign says, “Please do not sit on the CRI, helping the mentally ill. “I just really liked what they were doing,” Pedoto says, “giving back to indi­ flower garden!” viduals who were suffering from mental illness.” People who arrive before 11:30 a.m. get a free lunch. On this particular He started volunteering at CRI, teaching computer classes. This resulted in Wednesday, the menu is hot dogs and chips. Looking ahead to Friday, the fare is a full-time job. He then returned to college and studied a little better, a taco salad. psychology so his training would better fit the field. Drawings and paintings by some of the clients Sixteen years later, he hasn’t looked back. He enjoys “We serve 30 to 40 clients adorn the hallways at the Recovery Center. Most of empowering those recovering from mental illness and is a day and have over 300 the art is quite good and can be purchased at reason­ proud of the Recovery Center. members that come through able prices – but not the paintings done by Liz. For “We serve 30 to 40 clients a day and have over 300 our door. The goal is to help Tool Box Needed, she’s asking $15,000. Her Cup members that come through our door,” Pedoto says. “The those members go back to of Purple is priced at $10,000. One guesses she‘s goal is to help those members go back to work, school, work, school, maybe become joking. maybe become a volunteer in the community or enhance a volunteer in the community The hallways at the Recovery Center are abuzz their personal growth.” or enhance their personal with students going to and from classes. The ages “The idea of the Recovery Center is that we’ll be a growth.” of the students vary, some in their 20s, some much stepping stone to something else out there in the com­ -Chris Pedoto older. With students recovering from different kinds munity, so what I tell folks is when they come in here, the of mental illness, their behavior varies. goal is to actually get rid of ya – and I don’t mean that Most students seem “normal” – communicating in a bad way. It just means I want them to be successful out there in the com­ with each other and discussing their classes. Other students don’t make eye con­ munity.” tact or converse in any way. A few walk through the halls with their heads down. Part of preparing clients for that success is a variety of classes, including Some have a tendency to talk to themselves. support groups for people suffering from mental illness such as bipolar disorder At the Recovery Center, it’s all accepted behavior. It’s all right to be weird. or schizophrenia. The center also offers classes in physical wellness, computer A younger woman is talking on the phone in the lobby. Her behavior seems fine but suddenly an outburst of animal noises comes from her mouth. This oc­ training, self esteem, weight management, creative writing and job readiness and preparation for the GED test. All classes are free of charge. curs more than a few times. “We try to listen to our members and take feedback from them,” Pedoto says. Program Manager Chris Pedoto approaches the client, who apologizes for the “They help us determine what kind of classes we’re going to put together. We outbursts. Pedoto isn’t critical of her behavior. In a warm, friendly voice, he sug­ gests she move away from the lobby so as not to make guests coming through want to know what’s going to help them to be successful in their recovery.” the front door uncomfortable. He sets the client at ease. ‘Demon possessed’ ‘Get rid of ya’ Pedoto has been with the agency since it opened in 2006. Married since 1995, he has four young children and lives in Mason. He doesn’t mind the long com­ mute. “I enjoy my work,” he says. “I look forward to coming in everyday.” After finishing college with a degree in marketing, he worked one year in business. Several of his friends were working for a local health agency called Chris Pedoto is program manager at the Recovery Center. David Kreate, a peer recovery specialist at the Recovery Center, teaches classes, runs support groups, interacts with the clients and prepares lunch on Wednesdays and Fridays. Like Linda Zachary, he has schizophrenia, diagnosed in 1981when he was 18 year old. “One thing that I believe in that a lot of people disagree with is the idea of forced medication at times,” Kreate says. “I’ve had it forced on me and looking back, I’m glad they did, because I would never have progressed as far as I have without it.” Despite the need for medication, Kreate has quit taking it several times. Ev­ ery time he stopped, he ended up in the hospital. “I was kind of thickheaded,” he says. “It took me awhile to realize that doesn’t work.” There are several reasons that some mentally ill people stop taking their med­ icines, according to Kreate. “There are the side effects – making you really tired or making you gain weight,” he says. “I also think it’s a matter of pride. We want to be able to handle our problems on our own without a pill, without a crutch.” Kreate lives with his wife in Coryville. They have two cats named Larry and Moe and a stuffed cat named Curly. He’s aware of the stigma surrounding mental illness. “I think it’s a lack of understanding first and foremost,” he says. “There are people who think you’re demon-possessed if you hear voices. You know, get into the 21st century here. “There are also people who think if you just get out of bed and get a job, you would be alright. We just need to try harder or we’re just lazy or that a per­ son likes collecting disability and not having a job. That’s not the truth. People who think that See Different, p. 5 �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Community News 5 We’re Supposed to Loiter in the Park Cleaning is nice, but respect is better By Lynne ausMan Staff Writer May 29 was a big day in Over-the-Rhine. Well, that’s what I have been told. That was the day of the Mayor’s Corporate Challenge, when hundreds of corporate executives and staff descended on Over-the-Rhine with grandiose ideas that they would clean up and clear out all that is bad and leave a trail of magic fairy dust in their path to keep things clean and tidy until next year when they do it all again. Because I knew that this event was occurring and that the kick-off was in Washington Park, I decided to take a detour on my normal route to my office and drive by the park. I expected to see cars lining the street and hundreds of groggy-eyed corporate staffers wearing the same T-shirts expressing how great they are because they took a few hours out of their day to clean-up Over-the-Rhine on one spring morning a year. I’m not knocking volunteer work. I volunteer, I love to volunteer and I appreciate all that volunteers do, whether they volunteer once a year or once a week: It’s all still good. What I am knocking, however, is that instead of hundreds of volunteers ready to do their too many people, too many part and clean up, I saw barely police. I spoke with some guys a hundred. From a distance hanging out on the steps of I could pick out a few of the Memorial Hall; they said that groups – the orange shirts, the there was definitely a sense white shirts and the blue shirts that they weren’t welcome. – all with their individual “I don’t know what they are corporate going to clean logos and up,” said one. Why do people have “They have slogans. T h a t such a problem with people come morning in and clean people loitering there were up the trash in in parks? Last I m o r e the park every checked, parks are people morning and FOR loitering. in the they just put park than in some new normal – landscaping. the 100 or so volunteers – but The park is already clean.” I also noticed something was I am so tired of people who amiss. It took me a minute say they care about Overor two, but I finally realized the-Rhine and want it to be what felt different about the a “successful” community park. Usually on a cool spring swooping into the community morning, the park is full of without a care in the world people in the gazebo and about the people who already sitting along the outer walls of live, work and play in Overthe park. That morning there the-Rhine. I think Over-thewere none. Rhine is already a successful Instead of people enjoying community – last I checked the park, there were police Over-the-Rhine residents were officers everywhere I looked mostly families with children – some on horseback, some on – despite the fact that there are foot, some in cars with lights no elementary schools in Overflickering, some on Segways, the-Rhine. Thankfully, the some on bikes. old Rothenberg Elementary I spoke with one man who School is scheduled to be was sitting quietly on a bench renovated and re-opened. in the park. He said that no When I walk down the street one told them to leave, but in some other neighborhoods, most moved along anyway – I might as well be invisible. All Right to Be Different (Continued from page 4) should be given an extended people it serves, but to society vacation and stay home and do in general.” nothing – then they’ll figure out it’s not so ‘Guardian angels’ great.” Kreate Empowerment is a sees a day In the main wonderful thing. coming when hallway at mental ill­ the Recov­ ness will car­ ery Center ry less stigma. is a drawing on a plain white “Cancer used to have a sheet of paper. It looks like it’s stigma attached to it, but not drawn in pencil. The drawing, so much anymore,” he says. simple but elegant, shows a “I think there’s a day com­ guardian angel in the clouds. ing when it will be accepted Melissa Sheridan drew it. to have a mental illness and She lives with her husband you’re not thought of so dif­ and three cats in Northside. ferently than anybody else.” She suffers from major de­ Kreate’s favorite part of his pression, post-traumatic stress job is interacting with other disorder and anxiety. Sheri­ people who have mental ill­ dan’s been a client at the Re­ ness. He thinks the work he covery Center for a little over does at the Recovery Center is a year. important. “I believe in guardian an­ “A good mental health sys­ gels that surround us and pro­ tem is the foundation of a sol­ tects us,” she says. “In con­ id, stable society,” he says. “I sidering that, with my mental feel that mental health servic­ health diagnosis, I also had es are vital – not just for the a physical diagnosis where I almost died. I leaned on my spirituality more so than ever, and it gave me hope to think there were angels protecting me.” Sheridan’s physical prob­ lems started after a plane flight in 2004. “I was diagnosed with chronic vertigo, which is inner-ear dizziness,” she says. “I started getting migraines and dizziness and was afraid to eat, because I was afraid I would get a migraine and was afraid I would vomit, so I de­ veloped anorexia N.O.S. (not otherwise specified) due to another physical illness (ver­ tigo). I was at the point when I came to the Recovery Center. I only weighted 62 pounds. I almost died.” With the help of the Recov­ ery Center and a dietitian, her weight is now up to 95 pounds and she’s no longer diagnosed with anorexia. She tries to eat healthfully, saying “no thank you” to the hot dogs and Mounted officers patrol Washington Park while corporate volunteers gathered for the “Mayor’s Corporate Challenge.” Photo by Lynne Ausman. In Over-the-Rhine I walk down the street and people I have never met say “hello” or “good morning,” not because I look especially friendly, but because I am another person walking down the same street. I always return their kindness with “hello” or “have a good day.” When people from outside Over-the-Rhine want to do good, they immediately go to Over-the-Rhine and look for trash to clean up or community gardens to weed – or homeless people to shoo away or affordable housing to tear down in favor of expensive condos or shelters to suffocate until they have no choice but to move. I get that the event is the “corporate” challenge, but why isn’t it the “community” challenge? Why aren’t the social services in Over-theRhine invited to participate? Why aren’t their clients? Most important, why aren’t the people who live in Overthe-Rhine and use the park invited to help? Which gets me to another issue – why do people have such a problem with people loitering in parks? Last I checked, parks are FOR loitering. As the kick-off ended and the crowd of 100 volunteers begins to disperse and go off to their work sites for the day, the park regulars began to return. The Recovery Center is located at 2340 Auburn Ave. For more information, visit www.recoverycenterhc.org or call 513-241-1411. chips for lunch. Sheridan goes to the Recov­ ery Center three or four days a week – not only to attend classes but also to teach. She is known at the center as the “computer whiz” and teaches computer courses. “I hope to one day work for the Recovery Center,” she says. The Recovery Center is a safe place for people recov­ ering from mental illness. There’s no judgmental behav­ ior in sight, but there are a lot of hugs. Linda Zachary is the master at this. She appreciates everybody at the center and isn’t afraid to show it. Everybody seems to love Chris Pedoto. The worst thing about his job is “a lot of things coming at me at one time,” he says. “There are a lot of re­ sponsibilities.” Even so he always seems to have a smile on his face. Some of the clients exhibit unusual behavior, such as the man who has become known as “the complimenter.” He’s a pleasant person who always has nice things to say about your hair, your shirt, your jacket – whatever. He’s al­ ways looking for “thank you,” which he follows up immedi­ ately with “you’re welcome.” If that’s weird, what ex­ actly is normal? Maybe David Kreate puts it best. “I sometimes take pride when someone calls me ‘weird,’ ” he says. One behavior that doesn’t seem to occur at the Recovery Center is sadness. In general, everybody’s too busy help­ ing others or improving their lives. You get a sense that the employees and clients are a family, a family pull­ ing together, encouraging and cheering each other on. Empowerment is a wonder­ ful thing. �6 National News Poetry Corner Sunday with Julian By Murray Bodo, oFM She consoles me as I meditate before Mass – Julian of Norwich, that is, who says, “We are clothed, wrapped in the goodness of God.” And she consoles me after Mass, when I drive home to the friary and pass two prostitutes who are sitting on folding chairs next to the curb helping each other with make-up. And that evening, too, when I go to Frisch’s for a Big Boy and fries and a boy’s talking to his girl friend in the booth next to mine – talking and talking – and his girl friend’s eyes say she just wants to hold him and quiet him – and he keeps talking and her eyes keep trying to say, Let’s leave. And when I leave, he’s still talking, ”You know what I’m saying?” and she’s still trying to subtly persuade him they should leave and then I’m walking behind a middle-aged man, a son helping his older mother to the car and ahead an older man’s walking with his pregnant teenage wife and she’s smiling as he talks and eats an ice cream cone and I think, the Mass still isn’t over. And as I get into the car, Julian’s in my thoughts again and I say to myself, They’re all clothed in the goodness of God – and I’m about to drive away when a prostitute, tattooed abundantly, comes to my open window and asks, “Do you have a lighter I could buy from you?” and I say, “No, but I can give you some matches” and she says, “I don’t do matches,” and I’m wondering is there a code here I’m not aware of? and she says, “Hey, you’re the guy who didn’t give me a ride earlier, aren’t you? and of course I was and didn’t, fearing what it might look like, forgetting Julian, and she says, “I said to myself, Okay, I like the jerk anyway,” and walks away. And then I drive away and it’s twilight and I’m left with memories of this day and I think, clothed or naked, we are wrapped around in the goodness of God and yes, the Mass begins when it ends, and when I get home, I pick up Julian and she says, “Mother Jesus leads us into his blessed breast through his open side, and there gives us a glimpse of the Godhead and heavenly joy…” Talk about being wrapped in God’s goodness! The Mass begins. Excerpted from Wounded Angels, copyright 2009, Blissfool Books. STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Homeless in High School On and off the reservation, kids are struggling 1 By Lea ottenheiMer Contributing Writer Four years ago I was a dis­ illusioned graduate student at the University of Vermont about to receive a master’s degree in English literature, a degree becoming more and more useless as humani­ ties departments in the na­ tion’s universities continue to shrink. Philosophy and social science programs don’t bring in nearly as much money as engineering or pharmacology; therefore the humanities are Homeless students often cannot finish high school. Photo by Lea Ottenheimer. obviously a worthless study. I ended up joining Teach for that affected me the most dur- sistant principal, Mr. Roberts, America, a division of Ame­ ing my two years teaching split her $100 bail with me ricorps, basically because I high school on Rosebud. and I went down to get her. couldn’t think of anything else Mr. Roberts, who was not a I wanted to do. Homeless students Native American, had begun From August 2006 through the year as the PE teacher but June 2008 I taught 11th and One of my many students, was finally recruited as assis­ 12th grade Katie Black tant principal after we were English at St. Bear, often without one for six months. I had a lot of Francis Indian had nowhere Our original assistant princi­ faith in this School on the to sleep or pal, a member of the Rosebud young woman’s Rosebud Sioux eat, let alone tribe, left two months into the intelligence and Reservation a place to do school year after a falling out spirit. I couldn’t in South Da­ homework. As with the superintendent — a watch her miss kota. Rosebud with many of real cowboy of a man from her chance is just east of her classmates, Nebraska, complete with all when she was Pine Ridge Katie’s mother the conservative values and so close. I went Reservation, was an alco­ prejudices of the last genera­ through her where Dances holic and her tion. Yes, a superintendent of grades with With Wolves father wasn’t an Indian school who really our assistant was filmed. in the picture. didn’t like Indians. How cli­ principal and The film typi­ Her older sis­ ché. knew that, if she fies the ro­ ter developed a When I got to the jail, I passed all her mantic idea meth habit and didn’t bail Katie out right finals, which she mainstream took off to Cal­ away. Instead, I asked to see seemed capable America holds ifornia while her in the visitor area and I of doing, she about Native Katie bounced sounded her out. I wanted to would graduate. Americans: between the know whether she really want­ they were a couches of dif­ ed to graduate, whether she noble people ferent relatives had any dreams or aspirations, conquered by us and now re­ and friends, many of whom whether she would be willing membered fondly, yet with a were also alcoholics. At the to buckle down and not go out small sense of guilt, as a sad end of her senior year, Katie with her friends or drink until but rich part of our cultural ended up in jail two weeks be­ she had reached her goal. She history. fore graduation for an unpaid promised me that she was se­ I emphasize the word “his­ under-age drinking ticket. Be­ rious about graduating, and I tory” because the fact that cause she had no money and bailed her out. these tribes survived and none of her relatives or friends It wasn’t until we got into continue to live in the most was willing or able to bail my old beat up Honda and I oppressive, deplorable condi­ her out, she would have had asked where I was taking her tions receives little attention to stay in jail for at least five that I found out she really in the mainstream media. We days. This would cause her to wasn’t living anywhere. For think it’s enough to pay them miss her final exams at school the past couple weeks she had tribute with Hollywood epics and keep her from graduating. been staying at her friend’s and by naming sports teams It would be the second year apartment in what we in the after them. The reality of the she failed to graduate high city would call the “projects.” modern life of many Native school and, like many of the Katie’s friend, who had never American communities is other young people on her graduated, had a 1 ½-year-old very different from our ro­ reservation, she most likely son and lived off government mantic fiction. While Native would have given up and not aid, much of the money going Americans have experienced gone back to try a third time. to alcohol, drugs and ciga­ their own unique form of dis­ I had a lot of faith in this rettes. When I pointedly asked enfranchisement, many of the young woman’s intelligence her about it, she admitted that problems I observed on the and spirit. I couldn’t watch it was not a living environ­ reservation were similar to her miss her chance when she ment that allowed her to get those of all poverty-stricken was so close. I went through any schoolwork done, and it areas I’ve seen in America, her grades with our assistant was easy for her to miss the both rural and urban, includ­ principal and knew that, if she bus to school, her only means ing substance abuse and passed all her finals, which of transportation, because homelessness. It was adoles­ she seemed capable of doing, cent homelessness, however, she would graduate. The as­ See High School, p. 7 �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 National News Power to the Cardholder 7 ‘Credit Card Bill of Rights’ provides overdue protection for consumers By ariana shahandeh Contributing Writer tic. First, there are new limits on penalties and interest-rate During his visit to a high hikes. In addition to requiring school in New Mexico in a 45-day notice to consumers May, President Obama heard before increasing their intermultiple complaints about est rates, the Credit Card Acharsh and countability, unfair fees ResponsiThe Credit Card and penalties bility and Accountability, charged by Disclosure Responsibility credit-card Act of 2009 and Disclosure companies. will prohibit In response, companies Act of 2009 will he said, prohibit companies from retro“Those days from retroactively actively raisare over.” ing rates on raising rates on Obama existing balexisting balances. was referances. ring to a bill Under the signed into new law, law May 22 that makes exten- consumers will be allowed to sive reforms to the process of set their own credit limits – getting and maintaining plas- subject to approval – and will be protected from unlimited fees for violating them. When the law goes into effect Feb. 22, 2010, it will require that credit card statements be mailed 21 days before payments are due. And while many credit-card payments are now allocated by lenders toward low-interest balances first, next year payments above the minimum must be distributed evenly between balances or used to pay off those with higher interest rates first. One of the biggest restrictions extend beyond the credit card companies and will hit young consumers as well; the bill will prevent people younger than age 21 from being issued credit cards without co-signers who show proof of Homeless in High School Buffalo on the Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Photo by Lea Ottenheimer. there was no alarm clock to make sure she woke up in time. Without much hesitation, or forethought, I offered to house her and take her to school every day until graduation, on condition that she didn’t go out with her friends or drink. She readily agreed. She desperately wanted that feeling of accomplishment that comes when you finally achieve a goal that you have been working toward. Katie graduated high school in June of 2007. All it took was a safe place to sleep, quiet space and the resources to complete her schoolwork. She planned to follow a career in nursing and remain on the reservation working at the hospital there. Katie is just one example of many other students at St. Francis Indian School whom I saw struggling with homelessness. The resources for social services on the reservation are even more limited than in the cities. I was lucky to have been in a position to give Katie a hand up at just the right time, but there were others whom I wasn’t able to help. There were others who continued to struggle to stay awake in class because they had to sleep on their uncle’s couch with people drinking and carrying on around them the night before, others who had been kicked out or forced to run away from their houses and had to find a barn or an abandoned trailer home to sleep in until they could find somewhere else to crash for a while. Unfortunately, our school did not have any dorms for those students who needed a safe place to sleep. The county school over in the next town had dorms but they were overcrowded and had a waiting list. As there weren’t enough resources available, the homeless students continued to struggle in school, often succumbing to the substance abuse all around them. I’m no expert on the matter but from what I observed, the despair that pervades the reservation from generations of forced poverty and oppression expresses itself most prevalently in substance abuse. Yet this type of despair is not only to be found on the reservations. Anywhere that people struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds, one will find that type of despair. Alcohol and drugs make you feel better for the moment; the high helps you forget about your problems for a while. Eventually your use starts creating more problems in your life so you use more to try and feel better; and before you know it, you’re caught in a self-defeating cycle. The crime of being poor At the beginning of this cycle, in my opinion, lies the despair that poverty brings. American ideology screams at us that true happiness is measured in material possessions and social status; and those who have the least are to be viewed as objects of disgust, ridicule and condescending pity. One of the greatest of all the mythological American icons is that of the “self-made man,” the person who drags herself out of poverty into a position of wealth and power. But how many young people never find a hand up? There were 15 other students in Katie’s class that year who didn’t the ability to pay on their be- clandestine amendment allows half. Critics say this will make loaded firearms to be carried it harder for students to be- through wildlife refuges and come cardnational holders and parks. Taken in its entirety, that the foThe bill the bill’s language cus should might not means some people have been quite revunder age 21 may not olutionize on debt education. the credit be allowed to carry a Alternative indus­ credit card, but they suggestions try but it may carry loaded included shows a guns in national mandatory growing parks. personal attitude in finance favor of courses in consumer college. protection by Congress. Along Taken in its entirety, the with the Lilly Ledbetter Act bill’s language means some passed earlier this year, requir­ people under age 21 may not ing equal rights for women, be allowed to carry a credit we’ve seen a congressional card, but they may carry load- effort to protect, rather than ed guns in national parks. A restrict. (continued from page 6) make it to graduation. Some 20 percent of the population people tell me I should feel could be considered middle good that I was able to help class. Those were, of course, one make the fami­ it. I say, lies that American ideology is one out had the screams at us that of 15 anymost sotrue happiness is thing to cial and measured in material feel good political possessions and about? power in social status; and In this the com­ those who have country’s munities the least are to be current as well, viewed as objects of finanyet many disgust, ridicule and cial criof the chilcondescending pity. sis, many dren of people the poorer have lost families and continue to lose their jobs, were allowed to fall through homes are being foreclosed the cracks and forced to fend and the despair that accompa- for themselves. It seems that nies these losses will take a toll poverty is a crime in itself in on those families. How many America and it is the children people have already turned to who are being punished for substance abuse? And how the “sins” of their parents. many adolescents will end up We are turning out a grow­ without a safe place to sleep? ing number of uneducated and Perhaps I am mistaken, disenfranchised adolescents but I’ve always thought that every year. It makes me wonthe United States of America der what kind of society we’ll was supposedly a govern- be left with after a hundred ment formed around the ideal years or so. of providing opportunities to My experience on the resthe formerly disenfranchised: ervation was a depressing public schooling, public li- one, not just because I bore braries, the right to vote and witness to the continuing ophold office and the right to pression of Native Americans, effect political change when but because I also saw familgovernment policies become iar tragedies. We are spend­ outdated or just don’t work. ing trillions of dollars muckThe reality of the situation, ing around in other countries however, both in the cities and while the disenfranchised on the reservations, is that the children in this country are size of your wallet determines left to fend for themselves. If how many and what types of possible, I believe I’m even opportunities are made avail- more disillusioned now than I able to you and your children. was four years ago. God bless Not every family on the reser- America. vation was dirt poor. At least �8 STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Recipe Sexy, Yummy, Veggie Your tour guide into the steamy side of vegetarian cuisine Lavender Lemonade 5 cups cold water 1 ½ cups sugar ¼ cup fresh lavender leaves or 1 tbsp dried lavender flowers 2 ¼ cups lemon juice or 10-14 freshly squeezed lemons, depending on the size 1 lime Fresh lavender flower stems for garnish (optional) By aLecia a. Lott Contributing Writer Cold, refreshing, sweet-tart lemonade is the answer to the Cincinnati’s hellishly humid Julys and Augusts. Lemonade is summer. Lemonade is sun­ shine. Lemonade is…an aph­ rodisiac? Well, no. But add lavender and you’re a step in the right direction. A decadently aromatic herb, lavender is a popular aromatherapy ingredient, and its essence is used in all sorts of household products from soaps to eye masks to toilet cleaner. But people from as far back as ancient Rome have suspected this purple flower’s addictive scent might have more — ahem — fun ef­ fects than just soothing aching backs or curing insomnia. Photo by Andrew Anderson. There’s now scientific data to back up these beliefs. Recent studies by the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago suggest that the scent of lavender (combined with the aroma of pumpkin pie of all things!) can increase blood flow to a man’s, uh, junk by 40 percent. You can’t argue with science. After a sumptuous meal, smooth jazz (or country, hiphop or punk, whatever does it for you) and a frosty glass of lavender lemonade on a steamy summer evening, sexy activities may soon follow. Don’t forget to share a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert! 1. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 ½ cups of the water, 1 cup sugar and the lavender; bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. 2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes; remove from heat, cover and let cool. The longer you let the lavender infuse into the water, the stronger the flavor will be. When the syrupy mixture is cool, strain it into a large pitcher. 3. Add the syrup to the remaining 2 ½ cups cold water and lemon juice, stirring well. Add a couple squeezes of lime juice, to your taste. 4. Add ice cubes just before serving. Pour into chilled glasses and garnish with fresh lavender stems if you have them. Try adding vodka and/or basil or mint next time. Vendors’ Artwork Artwork by Anthony Williams Berta’s Art Corner “Fountain Framed in Neon” Downtown, Cincinnati, Ohio ! ? t a h W y a S _____________________ “Until they become conscious, they will never rebel; and until after they they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.” - George Orwell, 1984 �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Vendor Profile Disability, Theft, Loneliness and Death 9 No easy street for a ‘Streetvibes’ vendor By JereMy FLannery Contributing Writer Advancement of Science for four years, he says. He was employed as a soundman for Life on the streets of Cin- various bands, including Billy cinnati has been traumatic for Squier, and as a part time meStreetvibes vendor Kenneth chanic. Stonitsch. Since being evict“You’re looking at no ed from his house in 2007 he dummy,” Stonitsch says. “I has slept in stairwells, under also worked for the Minute bridges, in parks, in camps Men Temporary Agency for along the Ohio River and in 15 years. Some of those jobs abandoned buildings. were a nightmare, but I was He refuses willing to do to sleep at them as long the Drop Inn “Sometimes you as I was capaCenter after get so miserable, ble. Plus, I was having his a mechanic on but you can’t possessions the side, but I feel sorry for stolen there on lost it because yourself. I got three separate my back is so to continue to occasions, he bad I couldn’t says. He says do it anymore. survive. You has seen four If I could get can’t give up.” dead bodies of back into it, - Kenneth fellow homeI’d try, I really Stonitsch less people would. But it since becomtakes money, ing homeless. and I’m not He was almost added to that making any.” tally through a shotgun, but Stonitsch suffers a cascade the assailant accidentally shot of medical problems and has his own arm off, he says. undergone five surgeries since “I was living in a house with 2007, he says. His spine col21 acres of land,” Stonitsch lapsed in 2005 from epidural says. “But I was evicted in lipomatosis, he has rheuma2007 and the house was torn toid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, is down. Before it was torn deaf in his left ear and suffers down, someone went in there from a loss of equilibrium, he and stole all of my things – says. His swollen ankles promy speakers, sound equip- truding from the tongues of ment, my tools and my high his shoes, shout the need for school diploma was stolen crutches. But showing signs there, too.” of weakness can be dangerous Stonitsch graduated from on the streets, he says. the United Electronics School “You can’t use crutches of Technology in Cuyahoga out there – they’ll beat you Falls, Ohio, in 1975 and still to death,” Stonitsch says. “If carries proof of it. He was they see you are handicapped, a registered member of the they’ll beat you. There’s nothAmerican Association for the ing worse than being trapped Kenneth Stonitsch, a ‘Streetvibes’ vendor, has experienced many difficulties since becoming homeless. Photo by Andrew Anderson. in a disabled body and an able mind – because you’re aware.” Stonitsch has been denied Social Security disability ben­ efits three times, most recently on June 14. “I’m committed this year to find a job that lets me sit down,” he says. “They say there are 14,000 jobs out there that I can do. Just give me one of them.” Stonitsch has lost three “sit-down” jobs because each employer considered him a health risk for the company’s insurance, he says. Now he sells Streetvibes around Findley Market to earn an income. “Cleo Wombles (another vendor) hooked me up in De­ cember of 2007,” Stonitsch says. “I work seven days a week if I can, if I don’t run out of copies. I sell to people in their cars because pedestrians just walk right past me. Sales have been bad and I think it’s because of the failing econo­ my. I sold only six copies all day yesterday. But they roll up in $50,000 cars and they say they don’t have money? Some people say, ‘I’ll get you next time,’ and some of them do. Some people offer me money, but they don’t even take a copy of Streetvibes. I guess they’re just not interested in reading.” Stonitsch is the adopted son of a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, he says. His father died in 1994, he says. His wife died the same year of brain tumors. His mother sends him money, but she is a 14-hour bus ride away from Cincinnati and Stonitsch cannot physically withstand the trip, he says. “I’m at the end of my road, but somehow I keep going,” he says. “It’s a lonely-ass life, being homeless. I cry a lot. I have an idea why this is hap­ pening to me – because I’m disabled. Standing out there selling those papers, it hurts me. It ain’t funny. Sometimes you get so miserable, but you can’t feel sorry for yourself. I got to continue to survive. You can’t give up.” Post Prison Blues For ex-cons, the price of redemption is out of reach By PauL KoPP Contributing Writer In most people’s view, in­ carceration is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. Yet it seems that for those who are released after serving their term, the prob­ lems are just beginning. Just as all felons have unique per­ sonalities and their crimes greatly vary, time in prison can significantly differ from person to person. The postlockup experiences, however, are strangely similar. When someone with a fel­ ony record leaves prison, he is at a severe disadvantage. Not only does he have trouble readjusting to mainstream so­ ciety, but he’s also unable to find work and has to cope with the shock of having been in­ carcerated. Though they come from dif­ ferent backgrounds, it seems virtually all former prison­ ers end up in the same place: struggling to make ends meet and shunned by the public that was supposed to forgive them after they served their sentences. Although released from prison, in a sense felons are serving life terms. Following are accounts of the different paths that led three people to prison and the one road they are all on now. ‘Give me a chance’ “We have $9 to live on this whole week. I have to laugh or I’ll cry. I can cry real easy since I’ve been in prison, and a man shouldn’t cry,” Tony Griffin says with a bitter smile. Like most people with a fel­ ony conviction, Griffin, 49, is finding it hard to get a decent job. His soft intonation when he talks about his life makes obvious the desperation he feels. He is desperate for re­ demption, for another chance that society won’t give him. “I will be 50 years old in a few months, and I can’t get a job,” he says. “I’m only mak- Tony Griffin was convicted of non-payment of child support and spent 18 months in prison. Photo by Paul Kopp. See Prison, p. 11 �10 Theater Review STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 If I Was A Drunkard, Tell You What I’d Do Men sing of drink and God By stePhanie dunLaP Contributing Writer “The problem is … sober lives long but poorly/wears ties/buys insurance/gets ev­ erywhere it plans to.” It’s a measured life, in jux­ taposition to the drunk who “walks on a new planet under a new set of rules.” That planet’s allure is illu­ sory, and the new set of rules doesn’t hold as Hague’s drunk spirals down, clutching at car­ pet shag on the way. If the gods gave us drink to secure their places in heaven, at least they gave us poetry and music to lift the rest of us closer. Poet Richard Hague and poet-musician Michael Hen­ son collaborated to present Where Drunk Men Go, a 70-minute show that played ‘Upside-down for five performances at the craziness’ Coffee Emporium as part of the 7th annual Cincinnati Drinking is no shortcut from Fringe Festival in late May troubles to the divine. “The and early June. only way out is through,” be­ The show was billed as “a comes the theme of the latter poem with music.” Given the part of Hague’s piece. “The transcendence of Henson’s Michael Henson (left) and Richard Hague perform “Where Drunk Men Go.” problem is we’ve got to go musicianship, it could equally Photo by Mikki Schaffner. there.” There’s no going back, have been tagged “music with and “what’s spent is spent.” a poem.” Just when Hague brings the drunk to the gates of hell, those doors open to a Make no mistake: Hague’s long, ambitious poem is very good. There is a fa­ surprising grace as warm light floods the sparse stage. miliar wildness that suffuses his writing, whether it speaks of ecstasy or agony “And in some upside-down craziness, we are all forgiven,” Hague says. or just plain … numbness. Early on he delivers the line, “Beer on an empty Henson breaks into the first major-key, upbeat song of the show (All My stomach … love is possible.” Who at some level doesn’t recognize the yearning Love, All My Kisses) while Hague shadow-dances with glee. toward all-encompassing love, the divine, the maiden/mother/ The entire reading is thick with richly imagined images, crone, the father/son/Holy Ghost? but the show would have had even more impact if Hague Who doesn’t recognize the holy shit what did I do, the dear The show calls out to had memorized his poem, or at least chunks of it. Though his God what have I become? those gods again and recitation was mostly fluid, a few times he lost his place on “No monk more lonely than the lonely drunk,” Hague again. An audience the page and broke the spell. says. member starts Most of Henson’s contributions were musical interludes, However, Hague’s poem can also alienate those who aren’t the performance though sometimes he added quick percussive slaps on his men, drunks or Appalachian. The show would perhaps have by reading aloud guitar to emphasize a line. He was a steady, humble foil to been more appropriately titled Where Drunk Appalachian epigraphs reprinted Hague’s ebb-and-flow energy as poet-performer. Henson’s Men Go. in the program. eyes followed Hague throughout the show, and his face kept Hague speaks of men “not wanting to foul our wives and some knowing look. mothers with all that’s wrong in the world inside us.” Though Henson’s knowing probably came from the same insight one lover drove herself mad drinking Mad Dog wine, most of he brings to his regular column in Streetvibes, “Hammered: Essays on Pov­ the poem’s female characters stand concerned on the side, asking, “’Oh Jesus, erty and Addiction.” Henson is also a chemical dependency counselor at Talbert what did you do to yourself?’’ and “Dear God, where did you go?” The raucous women populating the poem’s dive bars – women named Maureen, Reba, Jenny, House and the Drop Inn Center. Hague is an award-winning figure on the local and national poetry scene who Susan, Carol, Joy – are clearly of a certain demographic. The poem’s men appeal hails from the steel mills and rail yards of Steubenville. In addition to his poetry, to the goddess and find hagmother, but it is harder for a woman to find herself he teaches at Purcell Marian High School. in this piece. The show was ably directed by John Ray, whose simple presentation trusts the The specificity of Hague’s poem is probably necessary, because going this power of this “poem with music” to carry the show. The stage held just a stool deep in 70 minutes means piercing narrowly – but the tunes Henson chose for Henson and stands for his two guitars. broaden the production’s appeal. Though the traditional gospel and bluegrass In one of the most memorable lines of the evening, Hague says, “Life drags us standards are distinctly earthy, and though the twang in Henson’s voice rings of along like someone hit by a car and not killed. We’re all along for the ride, drunk Appalachia, his pure, lonesome keen is nothing short of otherworldly. or sober, wrecked or whole.” Hague’s poem traces an exhaustive map of man’s drunkenness along richly ‘Spiritus contra spiritum’ vivid scenery. Henson’s vehicle takes us to the gods in the carpool lane. The drunken descent that Hague describes from every angle starts with noble intentions. The drinker doesn’t aspire to be a drunk but to reach for something that, like love, still seems possible at first: “reading real books … drinking smart and talking to good guys.” But at some point the drunk runs across what the poem calls the five rules of the universe. Two of those are “Oh shit, never again,” and “I do it for the gods in me.” The show calls out to those gods again and again. An audience member starts the performance by reading aloud epigraphs reprinted in the program. One is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s, “A man is a god in ruins.” A Biblical epigraph is from Matthew 11:19: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they said ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax col­ lectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” However, gods and men were drinking and trading places long before Christ. “After all it was the gods who gave us drink…(to) make their places more secure,” Hague says. Resisting alcohol by invoking the spiritual is a newer twist. In 1961, psychotherapist Carl Jung replied to a letter from Bill Wilson, found­ er of Alcoholics Anonymous. “You see, ‘alcohol’ in Latin is ‘spiritus’ and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison,” Jung said. “The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum” – invoking God to stave off alcohol. Hague’s poem also addresses a sobriety particular to the one-time drunk. Interested in volunteering with Streetvibes? Contact Greg Flannery at 513-421-7803 x 12 or by e-mail at streetvibes2@ yahoo.com �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Local News 11 Post Prison Blues (continued from page 9) ing $8 an hour, and in this economy that won’t even fill the gas tank up in your vehi­ cle.” In 2004 Griffin was con­ victed of non-payment of child support and spent 18 months in Lancaster and London Cor­ rectional Institutions. He still seems to have a positive outlook, though it doesn’t come easy for him and his longtime girlfriend, Becky. He constantly worries about providing for her and says he won’t eat unless she has. Since his release in 2005, he has been unable to find work anywhere except at a car wash. Before and briefly af­ ter he served his sentence he worked as a limousine driver but was laid off due to the economy. A 40-hour week at the car wash brings in a pay­ check of $90, but he’s often sent home early due to rain or few customers. Griffin pays $663 a month in child support, $300 for rent, $100 for two cell phones and whatever else he can on food and gas for his Chevy Blazer. Unable to pay for groceries, he went to apply for food stamps but was told he makes too much money. If he gets a job interview, it goes well until they broach the topic of his record. “I say, ‘Give me a chance.’ They just look at me and say, ‘Sorry, you’ve got a felony.’ After that, the interview is pretty much over,” Griffin says. ‘Stuff I’ve seen’ Billy Williams, 29, origi­ nally from Santa Monica, Calif., was convicted of ag­ gravated robbery in Ohio. He spent most of his 5-year sen­ tence at Lebanon Correctional Institution. “I look at prison as a place where it opened my eyes on life,” he says. His tone is striking at times. He is very open to sharing his stories and thoughts about his experience. Williams says prison was only about surviv­ al, and the mentality he devel­ oped while incarcerated still affects him emotionally and psychologically, “The stuff that I’ve seen, the things that I’ve been through, I take out on my wife, and she doesn’t deserve it,” he says. He talks passionately about the prison system. He says the inmates run the prisons, and the guards and administrators act only as “babysitters.” “It’s either going to make you or break you,” Williams says. “The only thing you can do is keep a clear head and stay focused. If you don’t do that, your first slip-up could be the last time on this earth.” Williams has had difficulty finding work. On the jobs he found, he has experienced discrimination because of his record. While he was working at a Marathon gas station, his manager accused him of steal­ ing a case of soda. The charge was absurd not only because he didn’t do it but because he is also a diabetic, Williams says. “They use my record against me. But if I drink a case of 24oz. Pepsis, I’ll be dead,” he says. Williams keeps looking for work but doesn’t have a job. With government aid, he’s studying business manage­ ment at Southwestern College downtown, hoping to one day own a restaurant. Subhead: ‘Ears on the out­ side’ Tauras Harrison, 30, was convicted of aggravated rob­ bery. He was part of a group of teenagers who committed a series of burglaries. Though he was a minor, he was convicted as an adult. Because someone who was with him had a gun Harrison faced more serious charges. “They said (the burglaries) were planned, which was a Billy Williams was convited of aggravated robbery and spent five years in prison. Photo by Paul Kopp. lie,” he says. He got into a lot of trouble in prison, once trying to es­ cape. Harrison spent most of his eight-year sentence at Chillicothe Correctional In­ stitution. There, because the prison has a medium security level, the environment was less violent, he says. He doesn’t believe he suf­ fered psychologically from his experience. “It wasn’t a horror story,” Harrison says. “The way I did my time, I didn’t really get into the whole prison thing. My ears were still on the out­ side.” While inside, he learned how to better control the an­ ger issues that might have led to his criminal activity, Harri­ son says. He was released in 2004. “For the first month I really didn’t leave my mama’s front yard,” he says. Though he has filled out applications everywhere he can, he has only been able to find work through temporary- Tauras Harrison was convicted of aggravated robbery as a minor but was tried as an adult. He spent eight years in adult prison. Photo by Paul Kopp. employment services. He re­ cently became a father. With no money to buy milk for his child, Harrison says society isn’t giving him legal alterna­ tives. With the help of govern­ ment aid and loans, Harrison is attending Southwestern College, with plans to own an own automotive repair shop or become a certified mechanic. He acknowledges the mis­ takes he made and has clearly made an attempt to understand why he made them. “I could have taken other outlets, but I wasn’t think­ ing about it, or I didn’t know about them at the time,” he says. “I automatically started thinking, ‘I know I can do this to come up with some money.’ There’s a lot of people that are in prison because of that (type of thinking),” he says. �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Guest Column 12 Missing Hudson Brothers Cleaners A neighborhood business that was like an extended family By Murray Bodo, oFM Contributing Writer ers Cleaners, located on Elm Street between Green and Elder, was where stories were It’s Saturday morning on told, hearts were comforted, Pleasant Street, where I’ve loneliness assuaged and those lived for 30 years. I’m sitting who needed to get in from the at a table in Findlay Market cold or heat were welcomed. missing And now Hudson it is gone When there were Brothers like so Cleaners, m a n y neighborhood disputes, which for business­ the three women would 47 years es in the band with us to ensure was the inner city, the rights of the poor in “meeting though the neighborhood. Their place” it’s been of our replaced last big neighborhood neigh­ by Onyx outreach was to make borhood. Te r m i t e the cleaners the Rich and and Pest headquarters for the p o o r , Control, Obama for President inner­ run by Campaign. city and Cooksuburb, ie’s son, all ethnic Leonard backgrounds and religions, Phipps III. straight and gay would take When Curlen, Dorothy and their cleaning or just drop in their two daughters first came to greet and listen to Dorothy from the original cleaners on Hudson, who passed in 2002, Baymiller in the West End, and her two daughters, Duane run by Curlen and his brother and Dorothy, affectionately Charles, there were stores, known as “Cookie.” Curlen now largely abandoned, on Hudson, who founded the both sides of Elm Street cleaners on Elm Street, died in from Green to Elder. There 1977, two years before I came was Lathrop’s Drugstore, to the inner city. the Ibold Cigar store, Shiff’s Like my dad’s New Mexico Shoe Store, a furniture store, a Sporting Goods Store when bakery, a sausage market and I was a boy, Hudson Broth- a store that sold china. Find- lay Market had stalls on both sides of Elder Street between Elm and Vine streets. It was a neighborhood, and the cleaners soon became an integral part of it. From the time I arrived in 1979, I always looked forward to dropping in to see Doro­ thy and her two daughters. I thought of them as the neigh­ borhood newspaper. They seemed to know everything that was going on and acted as a kind of rear guard for our friary that abuts the back door of their building. When none of us friars were at home, the mailman knew to leave pack­ ages with them. When there were neighborhood disputes, the three women would band with us to ensure the rights of the poor in the neighbor­ hood. Their last big neighbor­ hood outreach was to make the cleaners the headquarters for the Obama for President Campaign. There was a steady stream of police and firefighters bringing their uniforms for the cleaning discount estab­ lished by Curlen Hudson, who also gave discounts to meter persons, Greyhound Bus driv­ ers, the Bengals and some of the Reds, like Lee Mays, who frequented the cleaners regu­ larly. And when there was un­ Crossword claimed cleaning, the cleaners donated the clothes to neigh­ borhood churches and welfare agencies. Duane and Cookie are particularly proud of this service to the poor, especially those who needed clothes to wear to job interviews. “We miss you, too,” they said recently, “all of you who were our family – because this was a family and we al­ ways treated our clients like family.” I can vouch for that. I miss Hudson Brothers Cleaners and their whole extended family, people who came from all over the city and suburbs and from Kentucky, as well. And from the looks of disbe­ lief on the faces of those who saw the “Closed” sign for the first time, their “family” misses the owners and workers at the cleaners, too. As one disconcerted woman said recently, “What am I going to do now?” Street Singer Next to Hudson Brothers Cleaners Not wanting to beg for money, he asked how he could earn blessing – meaning the blessing of money. He insisted and asked to sing a favorite hymn. Full throated he began, “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, behold…” and all those walking by looked on as if we were happily mad. He took the money, all the while quoting accurately the Word of God who provides for those who ask for blessing and sing His praise. “They get,” he said, “fried chicken, and if they’re lucky, some clean clothes, too.” – Murray Bodo, OFM Sudoku Across 7. Enormous amount 9. Island off the SE coast of China 12. Truant 13. S American country 14. Conceited (4-9) 15. Sick 16. Norwegian coins 17. Alerted 18. Glass ornament 20. Moist with dew 22. Aspirant (5-2) 25. Female name 27. Burdensome charge 28. List of drugs 30. Evils 31. Laurel wreath 32. Approve officially for travel 33. Excess Down 1. NE Massachusetts city 2. A person’s nature Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 through 9. 3. Foes 4. Backless seat 5. Move stealthily 6. Made 8. Sureties 10. Normal depreciation (4,3,4) 11. Kernels 12. Continent 19. Person who performs unaccompanied 20. Garden plant with showy colored flowers 21. Capital of Poland 23. One removing water from a boat 24. Test 25. Black marketeer (Brit) 26. Parlor game 29. Silica gemstone The fundamental goal of a Sudoku puzzle is to use the provided numbers, or givens, to discover which numbers logically fill in the empty squares. The only rule of Sudoku is that each of the nine rows, each of the nine columns, and each of the nine 3x3 subsections must contain all of the numbers from one to nine, and each number consequently can occur in each row, column and subsection only once. Solutions on Page 15 �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Community News 13 Perspiration and Prayer Christian teens help overhaul Our Daily Bread By PauL MiLLer Contributing Writer their own community. It gives them a broader perspective.” Know Sweat is a program One week every summer, of Christ In Youth centered Our Daily Bread, a food and in Joplin, Mo. Its mission is hospitality ministry on Race to provide community service opportuni­ Street in Over-theties for high “It’s a good way school stu­ Rhine, goes on for the kids to dents. “shut down” learn to take “Cincinna­ to clean, paint the focus off of ti is a desig­ and do main­ nated city for tenance. It’s them and focus No Sweat” a big job that on service for Hayes said. takes lots others.” - Matt “It is a small of helping Hayes way for the hands. How kids to say do they get it ‘thank you’ done? Know for the good work others are Sweat! A group of 20 high school doing in the community.” Two hundred fifty teens students and four adult spon­ sors from a Christian youth from 15 various youth min­ organization, Know Sweat istries around the country traveled from New Carlisle, worked in multiple locations Ohio to Cincinnati the week in the city during the week. of June 15. They cleaned light Cincinnati Christian Universi­ fixtures, painted walls and ty in Western Hills, hosted the doors, waxed floors and per­ students. The kids slept at the formed a variety of other tasks school, ate morning and evening meals and prayed there. at Our Daily Bread. . “It’s a good way for the kids Once the Know Sweat stuto learn to take the focus off dents arrived at Our Daily of them and focus on service Bread in the morning to start for others,” said Matt Hayes, work, there was plenty of youth pastor and group leader. sweat. Along with Our Daily “Volunteer work acts as a cat­ Bread staff, the kids worked alyst when the kids get back to hard to finish an enormous Students from Know Sweat, a Christian youth organization in New Carlisle, Ohio. Photo courtesy of Our Daily Bread. job. “It was good for the kids to walk through the neighbor­ hood,” Hayes said. “The kids appreciate what is done here. They are blessed by being here.” At 10:30 a.m. every morning, work paused for a few minutes as the group gathered for devotional prayer, led by one of the students. For lunch, the group was treated to tradi­ tional Cincinnati fare donated by Skyline Chili and Gold Star Chili. By week’s end, the make­ over was complete and Our Daily Bread was ready to wel­ come back its guests. When asked what these 20 high school students will take away most from their experience, Hayes said, “It doesn’t matter where you are from, we are all equal in God’s eyes.” Our Daily Bread, 1730 Race St. in Over-the-Rhine, is a food and hospitality ministry serving more than 500 midday meals every weekday. To volunteer or make donations, call Joan or Kathy at 513-621-6364. Editorial ‘Streetvibes’ - The Activist Newspaper Advocating justice, building community By GreGory FLannery editor Our vendors – people who are or once were homeless – stand on street corners every This is the last monthly edi- day, in all kinds of weather, oftion of Streetvibes that you fering Streetvibes in exchange will ever read. That’s because, for donations of $1 or more. starting with this edition, Our writers and photograStreetvibes is publishing twice phers contribute their work a month. New editions will without expecting compensaappear on the first tion. In fact, I am and 15th days of the only person each month. paid to write for Streetvibes Newspapers the paper. aims to be across the UnitThe Greater Cincinnati’s ed States and in Cincinnati Coaliactivist Greater Cincinnati tion for the Homenewspaper. are in decline. The less, which pubCincinnati Post lishes Streetvibes, has gone out of has committed its business. The Cincinnati En- limited financial resources to quirer has laid off staff. City- double our publication schedBeat, once Cincinnati’s lead- ule. ing alternative newspaper, has The individuals and orgalaid off staff, cut pages and nizations that fund the Homebacked away from its once less Coalition have continued aggressive editorial focus on to support its work of advosocial and political issues. cating on behalf of homeless Yet Streetvibes is growing. people. Our success is the result of Our readers have bought many people’s efforts. more papers, with the result that we have sold all available copies four times in the past year, in spite of the fact that we have significantly increased our press run. When I became editor of Streetvibes in March 2008, we were selling about 2,700 copies per month. Now we typically sell 5,000 to 6,000 copies per month. Our sales and feedback from readers seem to indicate that Streetvibes is offering what readers want in a newspaper – solid reporting, engaging photography, excellent writing and, most important, a sense of purpose. In May Streetvibes received an award from the International Network of Street Papers for a story about the exploitation of Latino workers in Greater Cincinnati. The article was the work of a community of people committed to working for justice. The workers had the courage to speak out. Activists helped the workers to organize, document their mal- treatment and bring it to the attention of the news media. Writer Margo Pierce interviewed some of the workers. Andrew Anderson captured their images. Andy Freeze, then education coordinator for the Homeless Coalition, designed the story’s layout. Georgine Getty, then executive director of the Homeless Coalition, stood strong when lawyers tried to stop us from running the story. Our vendors got the story into the hands of readers. Perhaps you’ve noticed the new tag line under our masthead on page 1: “Streetvibes – Advocating Justice, Building Community.” That statement applies to the story that won the award, and it summarizes our editorial policy. Streetvibes exists in order to advocate for justice and build community. That’s important work – and it is, I believe, the very reason newspapers exist. At its root, journalism is a form of public ser­ vice, a form of civic activism. Some newspapers have forgotten that. Driven by the desire for ever increasing profits, they have abandoned their mission, pandering to what they believe popular tastes require: a focus on entertainment, less investigative reporting, shorter stories that promote sentimental good feelings while ignoring the historic role of the free press as guardian of the people’s liberty. Streetvibes aims to be Cincinnati’s activist newspaper. Your opinion of what we’re doing is important to us. Let us know what you think and what you’d like us to do in the future. Advocating for justice, building community: This is the essence of a good newspa­ per, and it’s what Streetvibes aims to do twice a month. �National News 14 New Law Protects Tenants STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Foreclosure no longer means instant eviction By Lynne ausMan Staff Writer ensuring compliance. The law was effective as of May 20. It is the responsibility of Imagine living in an apart­ tenants, landlords, public ment for the past 12-months. housing authorities, courts, You pay your rent in full lawyers and community and on time each month. activists to understand It is the responsibility of While it’s hard to make the new law and to ensure the payments and pay tenants, landlords, public that the rights of renters the rest of your bills and are protected. housing authorities, buy necessities (electric, Prior to this act, when courts, lawyers and gas, water, phone, food, a landlord was foreclosed community activists school supplies, cloth­ on, the tenants were im­ to understand the new mediately evicted, with ing, etc.) the rent is the few if any options to save first thing you pay each law and to ensure that month. Your two children the rights of renters are their homes. Because the tenant was not being are in elementary school protected. evicted in the traditional and have good grades; sense, landlords were not they like their school and required to give any no­ their teachers. Today starts like any other apartment. You have no one to tice. In many occasions, rent­ day; you get your children off turn to for help; there are no ers were paying their rent on to school and head to work. laws to protect you or to save time each month. The Protecting Tenants at When you get home that eve­ your home. Finding a new ning, you find your landlord apartment proves to be diffi­ Foreclosure Act provides a at your door telling you that cult. You were barely making small safety net for renters he has just been foreclosed your rent, and now you have who find their landlords in on – and you have to leave. to come up with a security de­ foreclosure. At minimum, it provides renters with a 90-day You have less than 24 hours posit and rent at a new place. to vacate the property or your All of this changed May 20 notice before being evicted as belongings will be put on the with the Protecting Tenants a result of foreclosure. Many curb for trash pickup. at Foreclosure Act of 2009, tenants with a lease will be What do you do? How do which was passed as Title VII able to stay in their homes you find a new place to live of Public Law 111-22. The until the end of the lease. Ten­ and move in less than 24 provisions are “self-execut­ ants living in Section 8 hous­ hours? Where do you go for ing”; no federal agency (such ing are also protected. Any help? What recourse do you as HUD) is responsible for new owner of a foreclosed have? Until recently, the an­ swer was to take what you can and hope a family mem­ ber or a friend will take you in until you can find another home that is currently housing a Section 8 tenant must accept the lease and housing-assis­ tance payment contract. If the new property owner intends to live in the home as a primary residence, Section 8 tenants and renters with leases can be evicted; however, they must be given a 90-day notice. The law expires in 2012. Bottom line is that low-in­ come renters are often trying to make it month by month. Their apartment is what keeps them off the streets and out of shelters. When their landlord is in foreclosure, the tenants are not made aware of the situa­ tion until it is too late and they are forced to move. Where do these families go? Why didn’t the landlord pay the mortgage with the rent they are collect­ ing? The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act is a baby step in the right direction to ensur­ ing that renters are not forced into homelessness due to their landlord’s inability to pay the mortgage. It’s not foolproof and there are likely to be more renters who are evicted with­ out notice. Because the act is self-executing, demanding compliance will be difficult until the word gets out about the act and its provisions. Few news outlets have run the sto­ ry. What’s Happenin’ July/August Events Music: Acoustic Lunch Series. Piatt Park. 11:45am-1:45pm. Tuesdays through the summer. Art: Reigning Cats and Dogs: Paintings by Martha Newfield. YWCA Women’s Art Gallery. Through August 4th. Exhibits: Balloon Glow. Coney Island. July 3rd. 5-10pm. Bittersweet: The History of Sugar in North America. Findlay Market. Through July 5. 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Through July 11. Benefits: IHN Golf Outing. Flagg Springs Golf Course. $75 for individual, $300 for team of four. Benefits Interfaith Hospitality Network. July 24. 9:30am. Contact Betsy Wones to play, 4711100. Jazz in July ‘09. The Phoenix. $25. Benefits CILO. July 24. 5:30-8:30pm. RSVP: 513-241-2600. 20th Annual Bocce Tournament. Sharon Woods Fern Hollow. Bring desert to share. Benefits Our Daily Bread. July 26. 11am5pm. Tractor Jam 2009. Gorman Heritage Farm (10052 Reading in Evendale). $10. Benefits Gorman Heritage Farm. August 1. 2-9:30pm. Know of an event or want your event posted? E-mail streetvibeslayout@gmail.com with event, date, time, and location. �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 Resources 15 Need Help or Want to Help? Our Daily Bread Shelter: Women and Children Central Access Point Cincinnati Union Bethel 300 Lytle Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Bethany House 1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224 Salvation Army 131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Mt. Airy Shelter FreeStore/FoodBank 681-2365 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 762-5660 St. Vincent de Paul 872-9259 4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 3600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227 1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214 241-5525 2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 DIC Live In Program Prospect House 682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205 Starting Over 661-4620 First Step Home 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 961-4080 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 Treatment: Both Drop Inn Center 721-0643 AA Hotline CCAT 217 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Interfaith Hospitality Network Lighthouse Youth Center (Youth) 3330 Jefferson, Cinti, Ohio 45220 471-1100 221-3350 Housing: CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing 114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Tender Mercies 27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Tom Geiger House Dana Transitional Bridge Services Volunteers of America 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 721-8666 961-4555 751-0643 381-1954 Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 621-5300 961-1983 OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center Faces Without Places Stop AIDS 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45202 721-0643 921-1613 Other Resources 961-2256 961-4663 351-0422 381-6672 Advocacy 1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Health Resource Center Homeless Mobile Health Van McMicken Dental Clinic 784-1853 946-4888 281-7422 681-0324 641-4300 Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Hamilton County ADAS Board Recovery Health Access Center Sober Living Talbert House Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center Crossroad Health Center NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach 241-2965 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229 Mental Health Access Point Mercy Franciscan at St. John Joseph House (Veterans) 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Food/Clothing 562-8841 Treatment: Women Anthony House (Youth) 1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237 241-1064 Treatment: Men Shelter: Both 2728 Glendora Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45209 Center for Respite Care 557-2873 Justice Watch 241-0490 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 535-2719 591-2246 St. Francis Soup Kitchen Churches Active in Northside Charlie’s 3/4 House 1419 Elm Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Health 381-SAFE 768-6907 Shelter: Men City Gospel Mission 621-6364 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 721-4700 421-7803 579-8547 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 421-2437 St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry 381-2247 357-4602 352-2902 352-6363 558-8888 981-5800 458-6670 977-4489 Center Independent Living Options Emmanuel Community Center Peaslee Neighborhood Center Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart Goodwill industries Healing Connections Mary Magdalen House People Working Cooperatively The Caring Place United Way Women Helping Women Hamilton/Middletown 621-1868 241-2600 241-2563 621-5514 381-0111 771-4800 751-0600 721-4811 351-7921 631-1114 211 977-5541 863-3184 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary VA Homeless 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 859-491-3335 859-559-5011 859-572-6226 If you like what you read, but don’t live in the Cincinnati area, you can subscribe to Streetvibes. Call us at 513-421-7803 x 12 to learn more about subscribing to Streetvibes. Puzzle Solutions �16 Double Take STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2009 “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” - John Lennon June 10: Cincinnatians for Progress held “Keep Cincinnati Moving Forward” to oppose what it called a “dangerous” proposal to let voters decide on streetcars. Entertainment was provided by Jake Speed and the Freddies. Photos by Andrew Anderson. June 19-21: RiverSpan Sculputure Exhibition and Sale. Clockwise from top left, Bourbon Street by Mark Hopkins, Embrace by Sydney Reichman, Acrobats by Justin Poole. Photos by Andrew Anderson. June 27: Tensions ran high at a Fountain Square rally to support a democratic vote in Iran. Photos by Aimie Willhoite. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2009 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource July 1-14, 2009 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: All Right to Be Different Pg 2: The Vibe Pg 3: Eight Minutes with a ‘Rebel with a Cause’ Pg 4: All Right to Be Different Continued Pg 5: We’re Supposed to Loiter in the Park Pg 6: Homeless in High School Pg 7: Power to the Cardholder Homeless in High School Pg 8: Sex, Yummy, Veggie Pg 9: Disability, Theft, Loneliness and Death Pg 10: If I Was A Drunkard, Tell You What I’d Do Pg 11: Post Prison Blues Pg 12: Missing Hudson Brothers Cleaners Pg 13: Perspiration and Prayer Pg 14: New Law Protects Tenants Pg 15: Resource Guide Pg 16: Double take Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1-14, 2009 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gregory Flannery Lynne Ausman Lew Moores Margo Pierce Paul Kopp Paul Miller Jeremy Flannery Michael Henson Dave Heitfield Alecia Lott Larry Gross Murray Bodo Stephanie Dunlap Lea Ottenheimer Andrew Anderson Paul Kopp Aimie Willhoite Lea Ottenheimerm Mikki Schaffner Jennifer Blalock Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Activist Aimie Willhoite Alecia Lott Andrew Anderson Christians Dave Heitfield disability education Gregory Flannery High School Hudson Brothers Cleaners Jennifer Blalock Jeremy Flannery Larry Gross Law Lea Ottenheimer Lea Ottenheimerm Lew Moores Lynne Ausman Margo Pierce Michael Henson Mikki Schaffner Murray Bodo Park Paul Kopp Paul Miller Prison Recovery Center Stephanie Dunlap Streetvibes Teens tenants Voters https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/c0f949b7e30901e0331e39cb7ebabf19.pdf ea67913714d5f0d3fa890ddf35d8fcf2 PDF Text Text The Comedy of Zach Anner Page 6 World Cup Commentary Page 10 July 1-14, 2010 • Issue 180 • One Dollar ADVOCATING JUSTICE • BUILDING COMMUNITY Hate Wave: Attacks on Homeless Violence is epidemic, and some don’t even want to count By Margo Pierce Contributing Writer I f 27 people had been killed in the United States in one year for being African-American or for being Jewish or for being developmentally disabled, there would be a national uproar. In 2008, 27 people were killed in the United States for being homeless, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Where is the uproar? Homeless people all over North America are being set on fire, beaten, stabbed, shot, strangled, brutalized by police, harassed and raped. Many of these crimes go unreported, and the ones that do come to light might not necessarily be recorded as hate crimes. That means statistics for tracking the violence in order to find ways to address it are inadequate. Understanding this phenomenon begins with the source of the assaults and apathy surrounding them. “People are just being targeted because they are homeless. It’s a safe crime, it’s almost like vandalizing a street sign,” says John Joyce, co-executive director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project (rihap.org/). “The victim doesn’t come and tell the police about it. They’re ashamed of where they’re at in their life right now. “I can’t understand why, but it’s accepted that it’s OK to assault homeless individuals. It’s just bigotry at its best. People are being targeted because they’re homeless. You’re carrying your life on your back, in your backpack; and people see that and for some odd reason people want to assault people who are more vulnerable.” During testimony before the Rhode Island Legislature on a bill to require tracking crimes against the homeless and police training on homelessness, Joyce played the Bum Hunter video to show how attacking homeless people has become a form of entertainment. The bill passed the state house and senate and is expected to be signed into law. “The victims don’t really want to come forward because the way the police departments think and the community thinks: ‘No one’s going to believe me anyway if I do get assaulted.’ If the homeless community here in Rhode Island knows that the police departments will listen to their complaints, they’ll come forward,” Joyce says. The complexities of social attitudes influence all facets of government in the execution of their role as protector of the common good. This is reflected in an opening statement in Homelessness, Victimization and Crime: Knowledge and Actionable Recommendations, presented in 2008 by the Institute for the Prevention of Crime at the University of Ottawa. “In 1998 the mayors of some of the largest cities in Canada declared homelessness a national disaster,” the report says. “Since then, studies conducted in a number of Canadian cities provide evidence that the number of homeless people on the streets is increasing and consequently that the demands on shelters and other services can be expected to rise. … Those without adequate shelter are more likely than A protester holds an anti-hate sign at a rally in Denver. REUTERS/Gary Caskey. the housed to be victims of violence and, for women, victims of sexual assault.” What the report can’t provide is uniform, consistent data on the number of crimes committed against homeless people across Canada. Nor can the U.S. government provide that same data. Beyond victims’ reluctance to report, another problem is the apparent indifference of law enforcement to collecting See ATTACK P. 4 Beggars Must Now Be Choosers City rules: free shelter or free speech By Gregory Flannery Editor C Josh Spring addresses a press conference at the federal courthouse after the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless filed suit against the city of Cincinnati over new panhandling restrictions. At far left is attorney Jennifer Kinsley. Gregory Flannery. incinnati City Council has found a way to cut the number of people staying in homeless shelters: Kick out the beggars. New rules require shelters that receive city funding to enforce “clear and consistent consequences” for clients “known to be panhandling.” Calling the rules a violation of homeless people’s First Amendment rights, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless filed suit June 16 in federal court to block the city from enforcing the rules. The fight over the city’s latest attack on panhandling is part of a larger conflict that has been fought behind the scenes until now. The new rules not only prompted a constitutional challenge but also shed light on tensions between the two organizations most responsible for addressing homelessness in Cincinnati: the Homeless Coalition and the Cincinnati/ Hamilton County Continuum of Care for the Homeless. (Disclosure: Streetvibes is published by the Homeless Coalition.) ‘Forced to censor’ The city’s new rules are vague, which is part of the complaint filed by civil-rights attorney Jennifer Kinsley. The “clear and consistent consequences” are not yet defined. But the clear meaning is panhandlers will be evicted from city-funded shelters, according to Josh Spring, executive director of the Homeless Coalition. Because panhandling is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of free speech, the rules must be struck down in court, Spring says. “This would kick people out from where they sleep at night for doing something that is constitutional,” he says. “We will not stand for this new war on the poor.” Kinsley wants a federal See BEGGARS P. 12 �2 The Vibe By The Numbers 16 The percentage of street papers around the world with national circulation (see page 7). 20 The number of years the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless oversaw minimum standards for emergency shelters (see page 1). 97,000 The difference between the number of families eligible for subsidized housing and the number of subsidized housing units available in Hamilton County (see page 11). 1965 The year photographer Gordon Baer began working for the Cincinnati Post (see page 16). 700 The cost, in dollars, of a 30day supply of medicine for a patient with bipolar disorder (see page 3). 27 The death toll for homeless people killed by hate crimes in the United States in 2008 (see page 1). 58 The percentage of conservatives in Ohio who support the medical use of marijuana (see page 13). 6 The average number of miles a soccer player runs in a World Cup match (see page 10). 8.5 The number of hours per day Antonio Carlino sells a street paper in Germany (see page 11). 10 The age at which Zach Anner ran away from home to meet Cindy Crawford (see page 6). StreetWise By Gregory Flannery Editor Does the New Masthead Make Our Butt Look Fat? Streetvibes introduces some stylistic changes with this edition. Please note our new masthead on page 1, our first-ever logo (next to the page numbers) and new poster on page 9. This month marks one year since we doubled our publication schedule, so we’re in a celebratory mood. For its first 12 years Streetvibes was a monthly publication. Going bi-weekly was a double risk: Would readers buy more papers? Would writers, photographers and artists contribute more content? The answers are yes and yes. The full-year tally isn’t yet available, of course. The actual anniversary isn’t until July 15. But we have averaged a monthly circulation of 6,544 for the first five months of 2010. By comparison, our circulation for the month of January 2009 was 3,415 copies. In other words, we’ve nearly doubled our readership. Content seems to be the key. We often receive phone calls or e-mails from people who say they bought their first copies of Streetvibes as an act of charity or solidarity with our homeless vendors – but they bought their next copy because they wanted to see what was inside. We Don’t Fix Cars A close relative expressed surprise when he heard I work for Streetvibes. He thought it was an automotive magazine, and he knows that I am to mechanical skills what BP is to environmental protection – that is, inept. Most people in Greater Cincinnati have never heard of Streetvibes but we hope that will change. Our new logo and poster are part of a marketing campaign designed by Linda White and Nick Donell, students at Antonelli College. They also designed a brochure, stationery and Web site, all of which we plan to use in the coming months to expand our little street paper’s reach – and, most important, our vendors’ opportunities for earning an income. Their fellow Antonelli student, Veronica Glass, has helped lay out each edition for the past few months. We even have a new multi-media presentation, courtesy of Eamon Queeney, a journalism student at UC. Queeney spent time with our vendors and staff and put together an amazing five-minute mini-documentary that captures the essence of Streetvibes. You can view it at http://www.eamonq.com/data/slideshow/2/publish_to_web/index.html. Students are a big part of Streetvibes. We encourage young writers and new writers to contribute to the paper. In the past year we’ve published articles and photography by students at Northern Kentucky University, the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Miami University and the College of Mount Saint Joseph. We’ve occasionally shared the work of high-school students with our readers. Students get the opportunity to improve their skills while being published and at the same time helping homeless people. But we’ve also had the privilege of publishing the work of professionals – writers, photographers and artists whose careers are long established but who contribute their work because they believe in our mission. They include Jon Hughes, chair of the journalism program at UC; Lew Moores, an acclaimed former reporter for the Cincinnati Post and Cincinnati Enquirer; Margo Pierce, a 2009 Peter Jennings Fellow; David Heitfield, former editor of the Aspen Daily News; Eli Braun, an advocate for prisoners at the Ohio Justice and Policy Center; Anne Skove, who formerly practiced law in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and others. Something Different About a Street Paper Streetvibes is an odd little paper. When I meet with school and community groups, I tell them that we’re unlike any other publication in Cincinnati. That’s true in several ways. In an age when mainstream newspapers are losing circulation and going out of business, Streetvibes has been gaining readers and increasing its print run. I believe this is happening because of – not in spite of – our unusual business model. First, we don’t exist to make a profit. Instead, we exist in order to give homeless and other low-income people a way to earn a living. Streetvibes is primarily a self-employment scheme. Vendors buy the paper for 25 cents a copy and distribute it for a donation of $1 or more, keeping the profit they earn. In 2009 vendors sold more 43,000 copies, earning more than $30,000 – and that doesn’t include the tips that readers often give them. Second, Streetvibes is produced almost entirely by volunteers. The editor is the only paid staffer. The art director, the writers, the photographers, the artists and proofreaders all contribute their work. But grassroots journalism doesn’t mean dirt-cheap journalism. In July 2009 Streetvibes won the “Best Feature Story” Award from the North American Street Newspaper Association, coming on the heels of a similar award from the International Network of Street Papers. We have many hurdles ahead. For now, our vendors are pretty much limited to downtown and Clifton, because Cincinnati’s limited public transportation makes it difficult for them to get to other neighborhoods. We constantly struggle to meet our bills, including postage for subscriptions. City ordinances make it illegal for our vendors to distribute the paper on Fountain Square – an outrage that we hope to challenge in the near future. Can you imagine? In this country that boasts about having freedom of the press, it’s illegal to distribute Streetvibes on Fountain Square. Yes, we face obstacles, but we’re determined to take them on, inspired by the determination of the homeless people who earn an income distributing Streetvibes and encouraged by the generous support of our readers. Thank you for a successful year. STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by people who are or once were homeless, in exchange for a $1 donation, Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Address: 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: 513.421.7803 x 12 Fax: 513.421.7813 Email: streetvibes2@yahoo. com Website: www. cincihomeless.org Blog: streetvibes.wordpress. com Streetvibes Staff Editor Gregory Flannery Art Director Lynne Ausman Graphics/Layout Nick Swartsell Veronica Glass John Peet Casey Salsinger Vendor Coordinator Jeni Jenkins Contributing Writers Michelle Dillingham, Samantha Groark, Margo Pierce, Paul Kopp, Jeremy Flannery, Michael Henson, David Heitfield, Corey Gibson, Jeni Jenkins, Saad Ghosn, Lew Moores, Larry Gross, Eli Braun, Jesse Call, B. Clifton Burke, Michael Fanning Photography/Artwork Aimie Willhoite, Lynne Ausman, Anne Skove, Vinit Murthy, Jon Hughes Proofreaders Lynn Baker Jeremy Flannery The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati through coordination of services, public education, grassroots advocacy and Streetvibes. We are proud members of: �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 3 Column Time to Forget the Bootstraps More than “Suck it up” to deal with being bipolar By Margo Pierce Contributing Writer T he barista greets some customers by name and wishes everyone a good day. Under the “Pick up” sign stands an older woman wearing a jacket, skirt and tennis shoes, staring into space. A man with three children sits at a table sipping coffee while the kids run around; he’s the only customer in casual clothes in this coffee shop on the first floor of a many-storied office building in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Two tables over sits a man in a traditional blue suit with a striped red tie. Which one has been diagnosed as bipolar? It could be any coffee shop in any town. The hiss of steaming milk, the slamming of a refrigerator door, the grinding of beans, “Mocha latte for Bob!” The man in the blue suit begins to talk. I was diagnosed with bipolar in about 2000 and through the next two or three years had a rough time trying to figure things out. It’s really a disorder that causes mood swings. It used to be called ‘manic/depressive disorder,’ in which manic—or mania—is the highs. The other side, depression, is traditional depression where you feel hopeless, sad, paralyzed. You really can’t do anything, which reIt’s a biological disease. ally hurts people in It can happen to anyone. their everyday lives trying to live and tryWhen you think about ing to make things the person sleeping happen. under the bench and It causes erratic then you see the behavior. It’s very person ready for opendebilitating on both heart surgery, they’re sides. You cycle back probably just as sick, and forth between but nobody’s going to make fun of the guy with the mania and the depression. It’s quite the heart problem. So I a big span somethink the biggest thing is awareness, and that’s times. Dan DiMarco something I feel like I looks away, breakcan help with. ing eye contact. Is he looking out the window, maybe at the man with the children? At the request of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI,) the organization for which he’s a volunteer board member, he is sharing his story. I used the term ‘I was missing something’ with my doctors. Looking back, in high school I did everything well, felt good. Into college I started feeling not as productive. Then I got out of school, and in my first few jobs … I wasn’t able to do as much as I had before and that frustrated me, and I wanted to figure out what was wrong. I couldn’t concentrate like I used to. I didn’t pick things up technically the way I used to. In the past I was always picking up things quickly. Socially I was still fine. In fact, that helped, allowed me to hold onto a lot of my jobs I had. Looking back at home, my wife noticed it, but not family and friends. I was always outgoing and fun. …There was a lot of periods of inactivity at home where I wasn’t doing anything. Anytime I was home I was laying on the couch. I couldn’t cut the grass, I couldn’t paint the walls, I couldn’t really do anything because of the depression. Anything I had to do felt like lifting my car over my head. Once I started this ‘I’m missing something’ came probably three to five years of ‘Maybe I ought to go talk to someone. Maybe I have fear of failure. Maybe I have fear of success.’ What to do, who to go see—I had no idea, so that went back and forth. Then I went to church with my family. My 1-year-old and I were walking around in the back of the church and I saw a flyer from a nun who’s a psychologist and I took that and I went to see her. She thought it was depression, which part of it definitely was, so she recommended me to a psychiatrist to get the full analysis. Joni Mitchell chimes in with “California.” Oh it gets so lonely / When you're walking / And the streets are full of strangers / All the news of home you read / More about the war / And the bloody changes / Oh will you take me as l am? / Will you take me as l am? / Will you? When I heard ‘bi-polar,’ it scared the hell out of me because it just sounded scary. Then, when I started on this medication stuff, it finally hit me that I’ve got to take this forever. At the time, late twenties, to think that I’ve got to have a pillbox out on the counter like grandma does for the rest of my life is scary. The medication management took a long time and it was exhausting. You can’t take a blood test, say, ‘OK take four of these and call me in the morning.’ It’s a total guessing game. We experimented with 15 different options over the course of the next two or three years. I was full-speed ahead so it was just like, ‘Let’s figure it out and do what we have to do.’ When I’d go pick up my 30-day supply and it’s $700, I’d just shake my head and start getting concerned, and then a week or two weeks later it changed anyway. I can appreciate it’s got be extremely difficult for people who are in bad situations. With the bi-polar we settled on two drugs that kind of made things OK. It was at that time I felt really good, started a new job, which helped, and then that’s when I joined NAMI. I thought, ‘I feel good, I’m going to try and help.’ So the two medications boxed things in. Then the doctor portrayed it as some of the depression wasn’t being treated and so we tried an additional drug to complement the two I was taking, and that didn’t work. He twists his wedding ring—a gold band— on his finger. Then he takes it off, fiddles with it and puts it back on, eyes down the entire time, before taking it off to roll it between his fingers again. If the doctors are guessing, essentially, educated guessing, figuring out how to fix things, then it’s nearly impossible—and I’ve tried with my wife and several other people— for people to understand what’s going on in my head. With this recent bout of depression that’s still kind of hanging around, I tell my wife that I’m sitting at my desk and I can’t make my phone calls. That’s what I have to do. I have a lot of calls—I can’t make my phone calls. She says, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m just sitting here and my hands are on my desk and it feels like they’re chained to the desk and I just can’t make the calls. Loving and right next to me and supporting me the whole way—and she says, ‘Well just suck it up, pick up the phone. Why can’t you just pick up the phone?’ Dan DiMarco. Denver Voice. Your brain does a lot of amazing things. It’s very powerful, so if turns around on you and tells you not to do something, ya ain’t gonna do it. In the momentary quiet another female singer croons in the background …”Only you guy trying to believe that you changed…” I was in a fundraising walk (for NAMI). … I basically sent the e-mail to 400 people throughout my network, basically saying, ‘This is me, this is what happened. I didn’t choose this, I can appreciate it’s got it’s who I am, so be extremely difficult for please donate.’ I inpeople who are in bad cluded in that the situations. With the bi-polar family members I we settled on two drugs hadn’t told. That that kind of made things was the way to let OK. It was at that time I felt them know. … You really good, started a new would think people job, which helped, and then would push away that’s when I joined NAMI. after something like I thought, ‘I feel good, I’m this, but I was amazgoing to try and help.’ ingly surprised at the level of support from friends and family with the walk… You see people who are super-successful. They lose their job, they get divorced, they lose another job, they become an alcoholic— I see, I’ve been flirting with all of that. You see people like that and think, ‘What a loser, he can’t get his life together.’ Well, he may think the same thing. Some people are too proud to throw their hands up in the air and say, ‘I need help. I don’t know what’s going on.’ I think that keeps a lot of people away. I’m 100 percent sure that if my dad felt the same way when he was 29, I don’t think he would have said anything. So, I think as generations move on there’s more advertising about it, more awareness. So I think you’ll get more and more people entering the system, if you will, and acknowledging that they have something. It’s a biological disease. It can happen to anyone. When you think about the person sleeping under the bench and then you see the person ready for open-heart surgery, they’re probably just as sick, but nobody’s going to make fun of the guy with the heart problem. So I think the biggest thing is awareness, and that’s something I feel like I can help with. People will say, ‘What can I do?’ and first of all, don’t yell at me when I can’t call someone. And secondly, the old good listener trick— that’s real helpful. Follow Streetvibes www.facebook.com/streetvibescincinnati twitter.com/streetvibesnews streetvibes.wordpress.com �4 STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Issues Hate Wave: Attacks on Homeless CONTINUED FROM P.AGE 1 the information. The 2007 Hate Crimes Statistics, the most recent annual report compiled by the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, illustrates this point. More than 13,000 law-enforcement agencies provided data about bias-motivated crime, with 2,025 agencies (15.3 percent) reporting 7,624 incidents. “The remaining 84.7 percent of the participating agencies reported that no hate crimes occurred in their jurisdictions,” the report says. Some states, such as Mississippi – with a deeprooted past in racial violence – reported zero incidents of hate crimes in the entire state. Delving into what makes a hate crime could begin to explain why jurisdictions don’t want to report these crimes. Attacked for who they are A hate crime is an illegal act motivated by hatred toward individuals or property because of an identification as or affiliation with a particular race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religious tradition, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability. (Canadian law also includes language as a prejudicial motivation). Crimes can be against people, including harassment, terroristic threats or assault; or against property, such as trespass, arson or vandalism to the building, the grounds surrounding a structure or personal property inside. The definition of a crime, or illegal activity, motivated by hate seems obvious. But the laws and prosecution of such crimes is the subject of much debate among political leaders, victims’ advocates and activists. The end result – the legal definitions – can be charges carrying stiff or light penalties, depending on where the crimes are committed and the discretion of prosecutors and judges. The Criminal Code of Canada: Hate Provisions (http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/legislation/canadian_law/federal/criminal_code/criminal_code_hate.cfm) requires specific proof of the criminal act and the intention to commit the crime. In the United States, racially motivated hate crimes were defined as early as 1964 in the Civil Rights Act but it wasn’t until 2009 that disabilities and sexual orientation were added to this legislation, when President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The thing that differentiates a hate crime from others is that it is “based on a characteristic or condition of the victim” by a perpetrator who “seeks to not only commit the crime against the particular victims but to send a message about that victim to the larger community,” according to Sherrilyn Ifill, professor of law at the University of Maryland and a faculty member of the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution. Those defining elements are determined by history, she says. “We cannot ignore the reality that hate-crime legislation and our view about the particular condemnation that we have for hate crimes comes out of our very particular history. We didn’t just sit down one day and decide if there should be legislation that covers certain kinds of crimes against certain kinds of victims,” she says. “The genesis of the crimes comes out of a history of violence against particular members of our community, particularly racially based hate crimes. It comes out of a very particular time in the history of U.S. violence, in particular, against African Americans, whether it is individualized violence, whether it is mob violence in the form of lynching, whether it is Klan violence – that’s the history it comes out of. So that’s the genesis of it. “It doesn’t mean that our civil rights laws don’t also cover gender discrimination in the work place, for example. We come to expand those laws out of that history, to add other aspects, to add other pieces of it that strike us in the same way, that go to the core of who, at least, we aspire to be as a society and as a country.” How we protect, or fail to protect, vulnerable populations in our communities is a demarcation of our progress in achieving that image. “This is really, in many ways for me, a very critical issue of democracy and freedom – that is, your ability to walk on the street and not be physically attacked for who you are,” Ifill says. “When we want to talk about freedom and we want to talk about democracy, we tend to think about voting. I think many people take for granted the assumption that you can walk on the street unmolested so long as you’re not committing a crime. There can be no other more corrosive activity to a society that purports to be free and democratic than allowing citizens to be attacked on the street for who they are.” A push to include homelessness as a classification in U.S. hate-crime legislation is getting a nod from states passing their own hate-crimes legislation. Ranging from mandating reporting and police training (Rhode Island) to tougher sentencing for individuals convicted of hate crime (Washington state), these laws are codifying state concern about homeless people. The combination of the recent rise in homelessness as a result of the economic downturn and a rise in the reported cases of violent deaths of homeless people has resulted in greater awareness about the risks to people living outdoors, also known as “rough sleepers.” “The risk of victimization is higher among homeless persons who live on the street as opposed to in shelters … 78 percent of rough sleepers had been victims of crime during their most recent period of sleeping on the street; however, only 21 percent of these incidents were reported to police,” says the report by the University of Ottawa. Over the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in the number of violent acts committed against people experiencing homelessness, but coming up with hard data is difficult when there is no standard for reporting such crime and when there is no mandatory reporting, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. The coalition compiles its own statistics based on FBI crime data, verifying police and media reports and information provided by advocates and support groups. Even though the data is incomplete, it reveals an upward trend that many say justifies the need for more data collection. Canadian law enforcement does not officially compile data on hate crimes against the homeless, either. National newspapers such as the New York Times and USA Today and wire services such as the Associated Press have recently reported on hate crimes against the homeless in Cincinnati, Ohio. ‘Just a bum’ John Johnson needed 18 stitches in his head and his girlfriend was in fear for her life after an April 10 attack at a camp in Cincinnati where they lived. Johnson, 52, says he was sleeping under a highway overpass at about 3 a.m. when four men attacked him. “I was awakened by four young men telling me to exit the property,” he says. “As I was complying with them, they started beating me with pipes and bats upside the head and up and down the left side of my body.” Three of the four attackers have been captured. Charged with felonious assault are Michael Hesson, 24; U.S. Army Private Riley Feller, 24, stationed at Fort Knox, Ky.; and Spec. Travis Condor, 25, stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. A fourth suspect, also stationed at Fort Bragg, has not yet been caught. Johnson was attacked a few weeks after the city of Cincinnati trimmed trees obscuring a small homeless camp near Interstate 75. As a result, the handful of people living there were exposed to almost constant public view during daylight hours. What wasn’t well known was that people at the camp didn’t sleep in the shack that was visible to traffic; they slept under a nearby highway overpass. The attackers allegedly beat Johnson and chased him up a hill, calling him a “bum” and saying, “We don’t want you here” and “Get a job.” The assailants threatened a woman staying with Johnson but didn’t harm her. “This was not some guys out half-drunk, having a good time at my expense,” Johnson says. “These guys were cold and calculated. It was planned.” The fact that the four attackers knew where to find Johnson indicates that the assault was premeditated, according to Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH). This was the fourth violent attack on a homeless person in Cincinnati in less than a year that GCCH knew of, Spring says. • In summer 2009 two real-estate agents who were drunk assaulted a homeless man downtown. One knocked the homeless man’s insulin bottle out of his hand. When police arrived, one of the realestate agents said, “He’s just a bum.” Both men were convicted of misdemeanors. • In December 2009 a homeless man reported that a group of youths sprayed his coat with charcoal lighter fluid and threw a match, setting him on fire. • In January 2010 a new Streetvibes vendor was beaten to the point that he had to be placed in a medically induced coma. “In Cincinnati, hate crimes against homeless people definitely seem to be on the rise,” Spring says. “The National Coalition for the Homeless has 2003 Deaths Non-Lethal Total 9 61 70 2008 27 79 106 10 year total 244 636 880 Total Number of cities where crimes occurred over 10 years: 263 Age range of the accused/convicted: 10 to 75 years Age range of the victims: 4 months to 74 years Gender of victims: Male: 547 Female: 80 (Data provided by the National Coalition for the Homeless) been tracking hate crimes … because they saw a turning point where they were occurring more and people were being targeted as a popular thing to do.” Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2008 is the most recent report by the National Coalition for the Homeless, which describes “an overwhelming trend” in crimes against the homeless perpetrated by young men and boys. Over the past 10 years the majority of attacks against the homeless have been committed by teenage boys and youth as young as 10 years old. In 2008, 43 percent of attacks against homeless people were committed by teens aged 13-19, and 73 percent of the accused/convicted attackers were ages 25 and younger, the report says. “Some of the accused/convicted have been quoted as saying, ‘It was just a vagrant,’ ‘It was fun,” or they did it because they ‘could,’ ” the report says. ‘We really have a problem’ Neil Donovan, executive director of NCH, says “many smart people” have studied the issue of homelessness in the United States and have told him that it’s not possible to end homelessness to the point where we don’t have to worry about it anymore. The necessary public will and resources are lacking. However, he says that’s no excuse for ignoring a very real danger in our communities. “It really is a matter of life and death,” Donovan says. “There are examples of individuals, solely because of their status as un-housed, (who) are at risk of loss of life. When that happens, that rises to a special level of attention, and it’s really our responsibility to protect the health and well being of our un-housed brothers and sisters.” This is one of the reasons NCH is working with the Southern Poverty Law Center to lobby for national legislation to amend the Hate Crimes PreSee ATTACK P. 5 �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 5 Issues Hate Wave: Attacks on Homeless legislation is coming from some unlikely places. Brian Davis, executive director of the Northeast vention Act to include homelessness as a classifi- Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, says the Anti-Defcation reported by law enforcement. A strong and amation League (ADL) opposed adding homelessvocal supporter of this effort is Brian Levin, director ness to the hate-crimes law in Texas, arguing that it of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism would water down the law. at California State University and a former staffer at “In Texas, the legislation came before the Generthe Southern Poverty Law Center. al Assembly, and the Anti-Defamation League op“As a criminologist, there are certain types of posed it. That’s the only time I know of that they’ve data that we rely upon, and homicide data is one of publicly come out in opposition to a hate-crimes them; and what we’re seeing is that more homeless bill, and the bill died,” Davis says. “They don’t want people (are) murdered in apparent hate crimes than to cheapen existing hate-crimes statutes or open all of the other traditional hate-crime victims com- the door to frivolous claims.” bined in any given year. And what I mean is race, Davis says the ADL argued that homeless people religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc.,” Levin can “de-select” themselves from being homeless – says. “If that’s the case, then we that is, opt not to be homeless. really have a problem where the “Their concern is that homelaw should protect them. And we “Victimization on the street is less people can de-select themshould have a federal law reflect psychologically distressing selves from that group by getit, because in many areas the and can lead to depression ting housing,” he says. “Of all the homeless are not treated as vicand low self-esteem, which groups that have current protims – they’re treated as crimi- in turn contributes to apathy tected status that it would seem nals themselves. would not speak up would be the and feelings of futility, “The fact of the matter is, is group that you could de-select making it more difficult to that we have clear and very disyourself from – namely, religion. escape further abuse.” turbing issue of violence against “The other concern is that, as the homeless that is done by we all know from working with folks who are responding to prejudice.” the homeless, it’s not so easy to de-select yourself The criminalization of homelessness (See “Being from being homeless. In many cities, there are seriHomelessness is Against the Law,” edition of March ous barriers to getting housing.” 1) makes activity such as sleeping in a public place This notion that homelessness is a mutable conor even sitting too long in one location a crime, dition is a “red herring,” according to Levin. punishing people without a permanent address “In discrimination jurisprudence, which is the with fines and jail time. antecedent to hate-crimes legislation, mutability “There is a tendency to focus on crimes com- was never a prerequisite,” he says. “Certainly race is mitted by homeless people without also examining the genesis of these kinds of protections. It’s never their heightened vulnerability to victimization – been regarded, nor does the 14th Amendment … rates that are higher than for the housed,” the Uni- say the mutability was not the be-all requirement. versity of Ottawa report says. It’s really a red herring. The perverse reality of homelessness is that be“I think what we need to look at is, ‘Is there a ing victimized by hate crimes makes further victim- problem, a manifestation of prejudice and discrimization likely. Noting that homelessness “disrupts ination due to certain socially identifiable characimportant social bonds and impairs personal net- teristics?’ If that’s the case, then we should address working” for successful interpersonal interaction it.” and efforts to leave the streets, the report explains The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution inthat this means many people are trapped in that cludes the language that “all persons” are included environment. in the clause, “No state shall make or enforce any “Victimization on the street is psychologically law which shall abridge the privileges or immunidistressing and can lead to depression and low ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any self-esteem, which in turn contributes to apathy state deprive any person of life, liberty or property and feelings of futility, making it more difficult to without due process of law; nor deny any person escape further abuse,” the report says. within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the Resistance to adding the homeless to hate-crimes laws.” In 2009 a group of six juveniles attacked a 30-yearHate, Violence, and Death on Main Street old homeless man sleeping next to railroad tracks in Lynn, Mass. The boys, ages 11 to 14, threw bricks, Feb. 14, 2008; Frederick, Maryland: William Sigler, stones, bottles and sticks, inflicting life-threatening 49, was found guilty of a fatal attack on Samuel injuries. Police charged the juveniles with armed Webster Hood Jr., 57, a homeless man living in assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault Frederick. Police were called to respond to an unand battery with a deadly weapon, assault with inconscious Hood with his skull cracked open from tent to maim with a dangerous weapon and a civilthe attack. Authorities report evidence of stranrights violation. gulation and severe trauma to the head and neck Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massafrom repeated assault chusetts Coalition for the Homeless, compared the vulnerability of homeless people to that of groups March 23, 2008; Bartlett, Tenn.: Two homeless men protected by hate-crimes legislation, such as Afriwere the victims of an attack on Easter Sunday. can Americans and homosexuals.“At a time when Brenner Holloman, one of the victims, was unhurt increased numbers of individuals and families but witnessed everything. The attackers, adult without housing is at an all time high… I think that males ages 19-22, used Molotov cocktails, a home- it has escalated this issue right to the top, right next made concoction that consists of a bottle filled to any one of those particular populations that are with gasoline and set on fire. now designated.” The brutality of the attack in Lynn could be kind June 26, 2008; Kansas City, Mo.: Rolando Aaron of tipping point, leading Massachusetts to reconand Paul W. Simmons, both 19, were charged with sider adding homeless people to groups protected first-degree robbery for attacking a 54-year-old by hate-crimes laws – a move they had earlier rehomeless man with a brick and robbing him. The jected. victim, a Vietnam War veteran, told authorities “The biggest tipping point right now is you’ve that he woke up Thursday morning and found got such high populations in Massachusetts who someone searching through his pockets. ….The are extremely vulnerable because they don’t have victim stood and tried to fight them off. The sushousing, and I think this issue right now is affectpects hit him in the head and back with a brick. ing far greater numbers of people,” Frost says. “So I think the combinations of issues sadly like ocFrom Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street curred in Lynn and the combinations of numbers USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against are actually skyrocketing could be a good tipping People Experiencing Homelessness, a 2008 report by point to re-file it.” the National Coalition for the Homeless. CONTINUED FROM P.AGE 4 ‘Shallow motives’ That protection can be provided through legislation and education, according to Levin. “The same types of offenders are committing the same hate crimes against the homeless that we’ve seen with other victim groups, yet it appears, from the limited data that we have, that the homeless are among the most violently victimized of any victim group out there,” he says. “Therefore, we need not only education, but educational initiatives to protect the homeless … training for social services and law enforcement as well as for young people in schools. “The more we can educate young people at critical times in their lives about what prejudice is and that they might actually experience it, the more they’re able to address their feelings when they feel certain prejudices. Moreover, the more that we can say that this is not socially acceptable and institutionalize that, as well as institutionalizing the message that there might very well be punishment as well, I think serves a later good. The word’s already out there that the homeless are potential victims.” Levin says laws can serve as a deterrent because the effectiveness of a deterrent depends on the circumstances of the crime and the offender. “Since most hate crimes – the attacks against the homeless – are done mostly by people with shallow motives, the prospective of punishment actually very well can be a deterrent. … If someone’s out for a thrill and … if there’s a message that’s out there that says, ‘Guess what? You’ll be prosecuted,’ that will deter some of the offenders. It won’t deter all of them, but people with shallow motives for committing crimes and little benefit are among the most deterrable.” The Homelessness, Victimization and Crime report from the University of Ottawa concludes with a number of “actionable recommendations.” These suggestions fall in line with what many homeless advocacy groups across the continent have been recommending: • Housing and supports, which include “providing advocacy and advice for homeless people; invest more resources at all orders of government into strategic tools to measure and reduce homelessness in Canada.” • “Invest in programs to help at-risk youth to stay in school and acquire life skills; improve mental-health services for those with persistent mental illness; and educate the public about homelessness.” • “Provide training for police and other enforcement personnel on best practices for intervention with homeless people; implement comprehensive drug strategies … and repeal legislation that excludes youth with behavior problems from mainstream education.” “This synthesis of the research literature and the recommendations are aimed at policy makers in all orders of government to assist in reducing homelessness, victimization, criminal offending and public disorder,” the report concludes. Donovan of the NCH takes a similar position. “Homelessness shouldn’t be over-thought, overanalyzed and over-solved,” he says. “The reason that we have homelessness is because of a lack of accessible and affordable housing, jobs with a universal living wage and health care for all. The solution is the reverse of that. “Any further explanation, any further complicating factors, really are distractions and frankly avoidance of the problem. What we really need to do is … respect people by staying focused on the issue.” Helping people get off the streets makes for fewer targets, but it won’t address the essential issue, according to Ifill. “I think people want to believe that hate crimes are a thing of the past, and understandably so,” she says. “But the reality is that they’re not, and that only by our attention and only by very vigorous law enforcement response – prosecution by prosecutors of hate crimes, reporting not only by law enforcement official but by citizens who see and know when hate crimes occur – are we going to be able to get our hands around this.” �6 Column STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 A Message to Social Workers Social work is not enough streets and into permanent housing. And it is a positive thing; it’s wonderful for those n this country, we have a major problem of whom we successfully get into housing. poverty complicated by addiction, which is But when I think of the entire spectrum of homecomplicated by poverty. It’s a major, mutually lessness among the addicted population, I feel the reinforcing entanglement. effect of what we do is like And it’s not going away. There spitting in a galvanized buckis nothing in the current diet on a hot day. There’s still rection of addiction policy or a lot of room in that bucket; economics that says anything and after that bubble of spit By Michael Henson will change without major dries, we’ll barely be able to intervention. And there is know it was there. no political will in any direcWhat we do is wonderful tion for major intervention. When Jesus said, “The and life-changing for the individuals we work with, poor ye have always with you,” he could have been but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the need. thinking of American social policy. A thousand programs operating on best practicThe sad and infuriating part of it is that, as educa- es across the country can’t change the fact that the tors, counselors and social workers, we do many of jobs and the homes are not there. the right things – and they do help. But we’re forced Good, evidence-based practice is essential, and if to do them too late and too small. we are educators, social workers, or counselors, we For example, it’s easy to see that investing heav- are ethically bound to operate on good, evidenceily in schools, including academic, enrichment and based practices. prevention programs, keeps kids out of trouble. We But it’s not enough. know what works; research shows what works. But We have to be political. we don’t invest heavily in schools, and so we have to invest later in prisons and treatment facilities, all * * * * * of which are also overloaded and underfunded. To take another example, I work in a program, I used to tell helping professionals that, if all they founded on best practices, which shows every sign did was good teaching or good counseling or good of success for those individuals we help. The con- case management, then they were parasites. I didn’t cept is called Housing First and operates on the no- mean it as harsh as it came out and everybody got tion that, if you provide housing for chronic home- defensive and I never got my point across and it less alcoholics, they have a better chance of getting was all ugly and I’ve stopped using that analogy. sober than if you try to get them sober, then try to But will you let me try one more time? I promise find housing. The people at the top who plan such not to abuse you. What I meant to say through that analogy was things are happy to point to our project as something positive to get homeless alcoholics off the that, if all we do as change agents is what is sanc- I ammered H tioned by our jobs, then we are in danger of using the poor for our own gain. The poor need us in the long run less than we need them. For if there were no more poverty, many of us would need to get real jobs. Or, as William Blake puts it, Pity would be no more If we did not make somebody poor. And mercy no more would be If all were as happy as we. If our livelihoods depend upon continuation of a social problem that could be solved, then we should, in all responsibility, work to solve it. Once it’s solved – and I do believe poverty could be solved if we had the will – we can turn our skills to other needs. I believe it’s important to do a good job on the job with the resources we have. And I know it takes a great deal of energy and commitment just to get through the workday. But good social work or counseling practice alone will not solve the problem. We don’t reach enough people, we don’t reach them soon enough and we don’t reach them often enough. I don’t have a lot of faith that, in a world of Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs (not to mention the spinelessness of their opponents) we can get much traction on a remaking of society in the way we need. Not even the liberals, who are supposed to care about such things as economic justice and social progress, seem to care about the addict in poverty. But we have to speak up. They’ll threaten our funding; they’ll call us poverty pimps; they’ll say we’ve crossed boundaries, but we will have spoken the truth, our truth. Social work is not enough. Michael Henson is author of Ransack, A Small Room with Trouble on My Mind, The Tao of Longing and Crow Call. The Sexiest Palsy A young filmmaker/comedian finds support By Ariana Shahandeh Contributing Writer Z ach Anner, a 26-year-old Texan, entered a contest to win a show on Oprah Winfrey’s new television channel. Anner opened his audition tape expressing his earnest desire to enter the contest, but said he “didn’t know where I’d fit. I have something called cerebral palsy, the sexiest of the palsies, and that sort of limits where my strengths are.” After a skit exploring hilariously failed attempts at cooking, fashion and yoga – “This isn’t yoga. I’m just putting on pants.” – Anner proposed the idea of a travel show for “people who never thought they could travel.” He described how most travel shows are a bit out of touch with how most people travel. His show would not be about how to plan the perfect vacation, but rather how to still have a good time even when things go wrong. Anner spoke with Streetvibes about his idea. What initially sparked the idea of a travel show for “every man”? I think it was going on trips with my dad. My dad took me to Europe twice. Just that experience, having to break down my electric wheelchair and get it on trains and hide money from (pickpockets) in my wheelchair and just having a good time no matter what happened. I used to go on trips with my mom, and we would go to just a random city and go to a hotel and play bingo, just making the best of whatever the situation was. So what do your parents think of all this? They’re very disappointed in me (laughing). No, they’re really, really proud, and we’re all just trying to figure out how to deal with it. It still kind of feels like a dream. Do you want friends from The Wingmen project (a comedic mockumentary about a group of romanti- cally challenged young men who try to set up a dating service, produced by award-winning filmmaker Marshall Rimmer) to be involved in the production of the travel show? Yes, absolutely. They are the guys that I really want to do (the show) with. They’re really, really helpful to me, and they’re good at filming. I can’t imagine doing it without them. They don’t care about the disability at all. And so nothing is sacred; they have no problem just driving off in my chair. It’s a non-issue. What was a moment you remember from your youth that you feel really stuck out to you and you think contributed most to who you are right now? There were a couple moments. I went to London with my dad and my brother for the first time, and things just weren’t going well in London; and one night my dad just said, “OK, well, why don’t we just go to Paris, instead?” So we got on a train and we went to Paris that day, and we just had the greatest time there. There’s an excitement you feel when you’re being spontaneous and you’re being open to an experience. And then when I was really young, about 10 years old, I ran away with my friends from third grade to meet Cindy Crawford. We ran away to New York City – well, we got about six blocks. But my brother packed us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and I stole 50 bucks from my mom and we were going to go to New York City and meet Cindy Crawford. What is something that’s surprised you most during all this success and support of your idea? My eyes were opened through this experience that there were a lot more people with disabilities that shared my sense of humor. That’s what I’ve always wanted, to find a community of people with disabilities that felt the same way that I did. Because a lot of people in this disability community didn’t necessarily get my humor or think that it was positive. To get the sense that there are people out Zach Anner. Zach Anner. there that just want to be funny and have a good time and let their personality shine beyond their disabilities has been overwhelming. I didn’t have an idea of the scope of that until this whole thing happened. How do you want to be remembered? Wow, I’m just trying not to be forgotten right now. I mean I don’t think it’s important if I’m remembered or not. I just hope that if I make any sort of imprint, it’s so that I can give anyone who would automatically be dismissed by most people a fair shot. I don’t think it’s necessarily about me being remembered; it’s about opening doors for others to go through. If someone has a disability or a disadvantage, that they have a chance to follow their dreams and not just be automatically dismissed by others. Does that make sense? I don’t really feel like I’m that important. I have no illusions about what’s going on here. It’s really nice, but I feel like, if I’m going to give back one thing it’s that anybody can do this. �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 7 International News A Whole World of Street Papers Survey assesses growing movement S treetvibes is a member of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), a professional organization devoted to fostering the development of this unique social enterprise around the world. Although the 108 papers that make up INSP greatly vary in editorial policy, size and distribution, their common goal is to provide self-employment to homeless and other low-income people, who purchase street papers and sell them at a profit. INSP recently surveyed its members. Ninety-five papers participated. Following are the results. Geographical area covered by paper: o o National – 16% Selected cities/regions: 83% Circulation frequency: o o o o o o o Weekly 7 papers, 7% Bi-weekly 15 papers, 15% Monthly 39 papers, 41% Every 2 months 21 papers, 22% Quarterly 7 papers, 7% Other 8 papers, 8% Overall average circulation: 1, 422, 600 Vendors On average, how many vendors do you work with per edition? o 1-20 24 papers, 25% o 21-50 26 papers, 27% o 51-100 18 papers, 19% o 101-200 18 papers, 19% o 201-500 14 papers, 15% o 500+ 8 papers, 8% Who are your main vendor group? o Homeless 73 papers, 76% o Street homeless 53 papers 55% o Ex-homeless 64 papers, 67% o Slum dwellers 26 papers, 27% o Refugees/Immigrants - 23 papers 24% o Unemployed 66 papers, 69% o Drug/Alcohol users 56 papers, 58% o o o o o Elderly (over 60) Youth (under 24) Women Mentally/physically disabled Other 38 papers, 40% 24 papers, 25% 44 papers, 46% 43 papers, 45% 11 papers, 11% Social and Economic Situation What do you consider to be the main social and economic problems that you face in the area (town, city, region, country) where you work? o Health: Drug/alcohol abuse, HIV, domestic violence, lack of health care o Immigration: Refugees, asylum seekers, racism, xenophobic tendencies o Homelessness: Shortage of homeless shelters, mentally ill people o Social: Gap between rich and poor; tidying up of public areas – people pushed to the edge of society; social exclusion; discrimination/intolerance; lack of basic services, water, electricity; spending cuts; lack of acknowledgement that poverty exists; no industry – not enough jobs for unskilled workers; political attitude; inadequate government services; a need to change society’s misconceptions about poverty and homelessness, gentrification o Police: Criminalization of begging/homelessness/vagrancy, fines, jail sentences; police violence towards homeless, harassment. o Poverty: Increasing debt; economic crisis, businesses closed, bankruptcy; high cost of living i.e. rent, food, bills; low minimum wages; low unemployment benefit; lack of affordable housing; cost of public transport too high; lack of funding for additional housing projects; veterans; eviction o Crime: Prostitution, crime rate. o Jobs: Lack of education; low -killed workers, no jobs, unemployment o Other: Agriculture failing, poor environmental conditions Impact of your work In what ways has your whole organization had an impact on the eradication of poverty in 2009? o Policy change 24 papers, 25% o o o o o o Readership engaged Vendors moved on Earned income Campaigns Press coverage Events 75 papers, 78% 68 papers, 71% 51 papers, 53% 38 papers, 40% 63 papers, 66% 46 papers, 48% Impact of your street paper project Please estimate the total number of vendors who have benefited from your street-paper project in 2009? o 1-50 34 papers, 35% o 51-100 10 papers, 10% o 101-200 18 papers, 19% o 201-300 9 papers, 9% o 301-500 15 papers, 16% o 500+ 12 papers, 13% How have these vendors benefited from your street paper project in 2009? (Please tick ALL that apply) Improved wellbeing 80 papers, 84% Earned an income 82 papers, 86% Training/education 49 papers, 51% Increased confidence 84 papers, 88% Moved on 68 papers, 71% Rehabilitation 37 papers, 38% Cultural/arts activities 52 papers, 54% Sports activities 31 papers, 32% Impact of any additional projects Does your organisation run any additional projects? o Housing support 23 papers, 24% o Drop in centre 27 papers, 28% o Health support 26 papers, 27% o Cultural/arts activities 40 papers, 42% o Drug/alcohol rehabilitation 20 papers, 21% o Sports 29 papers, 30% o Campaigning 29 papers, 30% o Social enterprises 34 papers, 35% o Social-work provision 29 papers, 30% Please estimate how many people benefited from your additional projects in 2009. 113,663 Participants at the International Network of Street Papers Conference in Melbourne, Australia. INSP. �8 STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Recipe “Feed Me, Seymour, Feed Me All Night Long…” Easy-To-Please Veggie Fried Rice Serving Size: 4-5 bellies Veggie fried rice. Jeni Jenkins. By Jeni Jenkins Staff Writer W hen I was growing up, we rarely ate out; but when we did, we went for Chinese. I can remember my mother’s giddiness at the mention of “take-out” and even more her excitement when it was decided that we would upgrade to the Chinese buffet. What joy! Alas, her joy was not shared amongst us little ones during the wee years. For us, getting Chinese meant watching our parents devour strange exotic dishes out of white boxes or standing in line with our empty white porcelain, wrinkling our noses at the funny smelling vats of “Ewww” what is that? What snobs we were. Things have changed and now I can hardly restrain my giddiness at the mention of Chinese food. I’m American and Americans love Chinese food. Well, not really. We love our idealized version of Chinese food. Truth be told, most Americans, unless they have traveled to China (which I haven’t), probably aren’t familiar with traditional Chinese cuisine (which I am not,) as most Chinese-American restaurants have adapted to cater to Western taste buds (like mine). Of all the dishes I have tried over the years, fried rice is still one of my faves – I even liked it as a child – although it can be difficult to find a vegetarian or vegan version at a restaurant. Fried rice is arguably one of the most popular Chinese-American dishes, aside from the infamous “Sweet and Sour Chicken” and “General Tzo’s Chicken,” both American adaptations. This recipe is a simple, Americanized version that is full of veggie goodness and will easily please your snobbiest critic. even my kids love it, and they are total food snobs. 2 cups water 1 cup jasmine rice 2 tablespoons oil – preferably sesame, but olive or vegetable will suffice 1 sliced zucchini 1 or 2 bell peppers (I prefer red and green) 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 chopped red onion 2 cups frozen peas ¼ cup chopped green onions 1/3 cup sesame seeds Crushed red pepper ¼ cup soy sauce Other spices to taste 4 uncooked eggs or egg substitute scrambled in a bowl (optional for vegans) • Combine water and rice in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes. • While rice is cooking, heat oil in a wok or large skillet on medium-high. Toss zucchini, red onion, peppers and garlic in oil over medium-high for approximately 2 minutes. • Add the frozen peas and stir-fry an additional 2 minutes. • Add green onions, sesame seeds, crushed red pepper and soy sauce and stir-fry together for 1 minute. • Push veggies to the side of the pan, leaving enough room to pour in the uncooked eggs. If needed, heat 1 tsp oil first. For approximately 1 minute fry the eggs on medium heat until fluffy, using a spatula, constantly chopping and moving the egg around so as not to burn the egg. • Remove from heat, stir the cooked eggs with the fried veggies. • Carefully stir in the hot jasmine rice. • Voila, FEED! Artwork By Anthony Williams y a S ! ? t a h W “Be as generous as possible to beggars.” -- Pabongka Rinpoche Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand __________ �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 9 �10 Sports STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Drinking from the World Cup Fans of the USA soccer team celebrate ahead of a 2010 World Cup match against Slovenia in Johannesburg. REUTERS/Brian Snyder. Is it un-American to enjoy soccer? By B. Clifton Burke Contributing Writer A s the pinnacle of sports unfolds in another hemisphere, and the majority of human beings on Earth tune in to follow along, the United States has once more displayed its resistance to a game that we call soccer, but everyone else calls football. Yet for the first time I have noticed that, when I admit to someone else that I enjoy soccer and the World Cup, it feels like I am admitting to them that I am slightly less American as a result. Why must we feel challenged by the international interest of the sport? Why is watching soccer a hippie or liberal thing to do? The first question is this: Is soccer really ignored in the United States? The answer is a bit complicated because millions of people play it in school, but no one wants to watch it or read about it. One measure that I hold to be true is that ESPN, the very network that airs every match, shows very little World Cup footage in its nightly highlight show; and when they do, it’s buried behind baseball, golf, NASCAR, NBA (even though the season just ended) and more baseball. ESPN will only make decisions that make it more money; and if the interest for World Cup footage were greater, it would be moved up in the show. I can't adequately explain why the United States has turned its back on soccer. Perhaps it’s the lack of scoring that turns Americans off. We’re about succeeding at all costs, and points means success, so therefore, we wanna see more points. Or maybe it’s because soccer isn't an American sport. While baseball, basketball and recently football have seen their rosters become increasingly international, they are all very much considered inherently American. Soccer, then, is the opposite of that – and something opposite of inherently American offends our inner patriot. Perhaps it’s a bit of social conditioning that steers us clear of following futbol. Or maybe it’s just one too many sports to follow. The English Premier League – widely considered the top soccer league in the world – takes place during the NFL season and can be both expensive and hard to find on cable television in the States. Speaking of television again, it can’t help that the matches are aired live beginning at 7 a.m. and ending around 4 p.m.; most of us work then, or at least pretend to, so what can you do? Regardless of the reason, a stigma about soccer remains in the American psyche and it is robbing the good people of some terrific athletic competition. Not only are the games – or, that is, matches – highly entertaining; the culture of the game is excellent, too. The first thing to think about is that it takes place in South Africa, where it is currently winter. Because of the extreme time and temperature difference, to me, it feels like watching soccer being played on another planet. Then there is, of course, the vuvuzallas. For those of you unfamiliar, a vuvuzalla is a small plastic horn used by soccer fans in South Africa. They make a noise that is an imitation to what a Viking horn should sound like. When played with thousands of others, it sounds like a swarm of something big and winged. Many Americans can’t stand the sound – television manufacturers have posted to their Web sites ways to audibly tune out the sound on their sets – but I don’t feel it distracts one bit from viewing the game. Since it is a constant cacophony, one adjusts and tunes it out on his own. Plus, it’s part of another culture. Who are we to demand something as harmless as horns are banned from the stadiums? Another enjoyable side dish to the World Cup is the British commentators. I get such a kick out of hearing their slang and descriptions about the game. When New Zealand finished with a draw to Italy, the players were described as “going absolutely potty.” Typically, the play-by-play announcer has the smooth British accent, but the analyst often has more of a Scottish rogue, and it’s those guys who are at times hard to understand. Nonetheless, it simply would not be the same to hear a standard American accent list off all those exotic names. Which brings me to my last favorite cultural aspect of the game: the players. Not only do they have spectacular names like Tshabalala, Boudebouz, Zigic and Kaka, names fit for any Star Wars universe; they also have every range of skin color and hair style, yet all look singularly soccer-like no matter what their appearance (except the Australian team; they look like dentists). Still, don’t let the long hair fool you; these guys are tough. Not only do they run an average of six miles a match, they also get kicked, head butted and aggressively booty-bumped into the ground on a very regular basis. Plus, they are minimally protected by padding – shin guards and a cup is all you get; good luck. Yet when they’re on their feet and with the ball, poetry unfolds. Their ability to control a round object so completely with their feet is astounding. Doing it while evading defenders and a goal tender is truly remarkable. This is why goals come so infrequently and are such a premium: They are hard to do. When a player makes a goal, he often appears more relieved than pleased; when they miss, they look like their house just burned down. The pressure for the players – especially the favored ones – is immense. Their countries are counting on them and are often unforgiving to the smallest failures. For some places, their team has to win and do it in entertaining fashion in order to feel good about things. But on the same token, heroes are celebrated for life. There are very few events that bring the world together like the World Cup. In global popularity, it is an unmatched spectacle of sport. If the United States ever developed a similar passion toward the game, perhaps it’s team would be more of a force. But for now, they are lukewarm like their nation’s interest in the game. Call 513-421-7803 x11 to learn about Streetvibes subscriptions �Housing Issues STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 11 Safe, Affordable and Unavailable The crisis of affordable housing By Michelle Dillingham Contributing Writer A ffordable Housing Advocates (AHA) recently hosted its annual meeting, which included a presentation of the report, “State of Affordable Housing in Hamilton County: The Crisis,” followed by some very moving speakers from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Speakers Bureau, who spoke candidly to the 40 or so housing advocates about their experience of being homeless. A group of AHA members and volunteers convened earlier this year to conceptualize what a report on the state of affordable housing would look like. They used Louisville’s “State of Metropolitan Housing Report” as a model. Louisville annually publishes a report on affordable housing and does a nice job. Some of Louisville’s reporting in previous years has been on “Targeting of CDBG Funds” and “Production and Rehabilitation of Affordable Rental Housing.” AHA’s report was written by a group of people who had expertise in various areas of affordable housing. The data for the report was pulled from various sources, including the last U.S. Census. Soon the data from the 2010 Census will be available, and it will be interesting to compare any changes. AHA’s report has seven sections: Affordability, Foreclosures, Homelessness, Affordability and Transportation, Residential Segregation, Substandard Housing and Accessible Housing. AHA recognized the need for a baseline assessment of where our community is in terms of affordable housing. One of the frustrating things as an advocate is to read misinformation in the press or hear false statements by elected officials or other leaders related to affordable housing. For example, we often hear from city leaders, “We have more than enough affordable housing in Cincinnati.” Yet in reality the demand for affordable housing far outweighs the supply. In Hamilton County, there are approximately 24,000 units of housing with rental subsidies, yet there are approximately 121,000 families who qualify for the assistance because of their low income. The waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) has been closed since 2007; and when it was last open for two days, over 14,000 families sought applications. The young woman from the speakers bureau told how she had gone to Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority a few days earlier and was told it would be six to eight months before a unit would be avail- able. One of the more intriguing pieces of information in the report is that between 1994 and 2009 Hamilton County has lost over 2,000 units of project-based subsidized housing. AHA’s report offers quantitative evidence that we do not have enough affordable housing. AHA sub-titled this report, “The Crisis,” to reflect the reality that the housing situation we face is unstable and has undergone abrupt changes given recent changes in our economy. The report demonstrates that the availability of safe, accessible, affordable housing in Hamilton County is not meeting the needs of our community. What is particularly exciting is that advocates now have a document against which to measure progress toward (or regression from) our goal to have more safe, accessible, affordable housing. AHA believes strongly in public education about the reality of affordable housing, and defining the problem is the first step. You can find a link to the report on AHA’s website at http://www.ahacincy.org/. Worldwide Vendor Spotlight Up From Below By Ilse Weiss Contributing Writer N uremberg, Germany – Antonio Carlino has laid cable and drilled deep – a tough, dirty but respectable job. Since last autumn he’s sold Strassenkreuzer, a clean job. Nevertheless, Carlino was shy at first because it’s hard to reveal himself as poor but very creditable. He’s now 54 years old, “too old,” he says, and smiles. Well, he wouldn’t consider himself too old for anything. He’s talking about the employment office, potential employers. They’ve considered him to be too old for ages. As a result, Carlino doesn’t get any more work, not even a temporary job. At least this way, Carlino doesn’t get broken, tired or worn out. His hands are hard and calloused, but as soon as he smiles, his brown eyes twinkle. If good-natured meant that someone would be of great courage, then Carlino is very good-natured. He was already, when he arrived from Sicily in Nuremberg with his now deceased parents in 1970. “I was always in the building trade,” he says, declaring at the same time that he always wanted to earn his own money. But he remained semi-skilled, and his command of German was poor, so he was among those easiest to replace when things weren’t going so well on the building site. For 30 years everything went quite well. Carlino knows Nuremberg, especially from below. Public works, laying cable – he felt comfortable doing that. Then he lost his job again. He looked for another job for one and a half years, and time was running out for him. He finally joined a scheme working as a kitchen porter in the warm shelter; that’s all there was. Through the warm shelter, Carlino came into contact with the Strassenkreuzer sales department and sellers. Last September he submitted his unemployment-benefit supporting documents to be able to register as a seller. Then he got the first issues for 70 cents each and stood on the street. “The first time you have to get over it,” Carlino says. “But the people there were so nice, and then it got easier.” Especially an old lady with a bicycle. He remembers the time she praised him for his courage. This builds up. “Why should I hide?” he asks. “When you get nothing, you have to go out in life.” He’s doing just that. In the middle of the city center, near the ship of fools, Mr. Carlino often sells starting at 8:30 a.m. until around 5 p.m., depending on how business goes. In the big Italian ice cream parlors he can use the toilet; one of the waiters will then watch out for his newspapers. It might be that the countrymen have a heart for Carlino. And the customers, too. Carlino sells so consistently that he would soon like to be an established seller. Then he wouldn’t have to depend entirely on state benefits, at least. “I want to go my own way in peace,” Antonio Carlino is a street-paper vendor in Germany. he says. Gerd Grimm. To turn an honest penny is to have an outlook. Originally published in Strassenkreuzer. © www. “Fifty-four isn’t old age – for employers, it is. But streetnewsservice.org not for me. What the heck.” �12 STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Local News Beggars Must Now Be Choosers CONTINUED FROM P.AGE 1 judge to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions to block the new rules. She represents the Homeless Coalition, Grace Place Catholic Worker House and Paul Eggleston Sr., who sometimes stays at the Drop Inn Center and sometimes panhandles. “Mr. Eggleston suffers from numerous physical and mental disabilities and receives social security assistance each month,” the complaint says. “This income, however, is insufficient to meet his mounting medical bills and also to cover food, clothing and basic necessities. As a result, Mr. Eggleston on occasion engages in non-aggressive solicitation to supplement his subsistence earnings. Mr. Eggleston fears that if (the new rules) take effect, he will be forced to either forfeit his First Amendment right to solicit alms or to live on the streets. Mr. Eggleston intends to continue soliciting alms as necessary to support himself and will therefore be excluded from the Drop Inn Center Shelterhouse and other homeless shelters in Cincinnati as a result.” The rules “are unconstitutional on their face,” Kinsley’s complaint says. She cites alleged violations such as “impermissible content-based restriction on protected expression,” prior restraint on speech, vague and overbroad restrictions and “improperly burden(ing) the right of free association.” People such as Eggleston aren’t the only ones forced to make a choice under the new rules. So are organizations like Grace Place, which provides temporary housing to women and children who are in transition from homelessness. The new rules would force Grace Place to choose between respecting people’s rights and providing them shelter, according to Kinsley. “It will either be forced to censor, silence and punish the free-speech rights of its clients or to risk funding,” the complaint says. “Grace Place does not intend to comply with the anti-panhandling provision and therefore risks losing its certification as a result. In addition, if Grace Place elects not to enact an anti-panhandling policy in response to the city’s motions, it will be forever foreclosed from seeking government funding should it desire to do so in the future.” Going along It is telling that Grace Place is the only shelter in the Homeless Coalition that joined the lawsuit as an individual plaintiff. The explanation lies in the fact that Grace Place doesn’t accept city funding – or more, to the point, funding channeled through the Continuum of Care. City council didn’t pass an ordinance requiring the anti-panhandling policy at shelters. It passed a motion directing that the rule be made part of the city’s minimum standards for shelters. But first it took responsibility for monitoring the standards away from the Homeless Coalition – and gave it to the Continuum of Care. Kinsley’s lawsuit challenges that move, too. The Continuum of Care is in charge of managing – and disbursing – city and federal funding for programs serving homeless people. By joining the lawsuit, a shelter would be declaring it doesn’t want the Continuum of Care – the agency with the money – placed in charge of monitoring it. While some management at other agencies say off the record that they don’t want the changes in minimum standards, none are saying so publicly. Doing so could risk their relationships with the people who decide on funding. Relationships between the three players – the city, the Continuum of Care and the Homeless Coalition – are at the heart of the conflict. In a May 28 e-mail to various agencies serving homeless people, Kevin Finn, director of the Continuum of Care, said council’s decision to change the system arose from its relationship with the Homeless Coalition. “I have no insight into or knowledge of the relationship between the city and the Homeless Coalition,” Finn wrote. “I can only guess about the status of this relationship from what I read in the pages of Streetvibes, and I would never purport to speak to the status of that relationship. However, I believe the status of that relationship is a factor in this issue.” Spring had pleaded with the Continuum of Care to oppose changing the minimum standards – a process created and monitored by the Homeless Coalition for 20 years. In an e-mail to Finn, Spring appealed for his support. “Kevin, I am not asking you to stand up and yell, ‘Hell no, we won’t allow this change!’ I am simply asking you to stand up and tell the truth to council and our agencies,” Spring wrote. “I am just asking you to say the coalition has done this for 20 years. … There is no need to change this. The coalition should continue to monitor the minimum standards.” Instead Finn gave a tepid acknowledgment that there was no need for the change. But, he said, the Continuum of Care would go along with it. “I do not believe that this change must be made,” Finn wrote. “On the other hand, if passing minimum standards is a condition of receiving funding from or through the city, as the above named funds do, then it also makes sense to have the entity which oversees the funding oversee the minimum standards monitoring. Therefore, if the city does decide, after dialogue with the coalition, to end their current shelter monitoring relationship, and then designates the (Continuum of Care) to take over the monitoring of emergency shelter standards, we will.” “He told me’ The city never engaged in a “dialogue with the coalition,” Spring says. Moreover, the Continuum of Care was more than a passive observer in council’s actions, he says. Finn actually wrote the panhandling rules enacted by council, according to Spring. “I know Kevin wrote the panhandling rules,” Spring says. “He told me he wrote it.” Finn and a Streetvibes writer exchanged phone messages but didn’t connect in time for an interview. While the two agencies have sometimes disagreed in the past, they have collaborated until now on items such as minimum standards and the homeless counts required for federal funding. But their differences are now coming to the fore. Publicly distributed e-mails between Finn and Spring contain increasingly sharp remarks on a variety of topics. Spring cautioned against “the Continuum of Care or any other organization creating pressure based on misinformation.” Within an hour Finn replied, “For the record, I would encourage the Homeless Coalition, or any other entity, to seek clarification on such issues before trashing anyone publicly – not after.” Three days later Finn warned against escalation: “It is important for those of us who are fighting to assist homeless people not to get distracted and off target and begin wasting our energy fighting each other.” It might be too late. The Homeless Coalition is a membership organization. One of the chief benefits of membership is participating in the minimum-standards process. Taking that role away from the Homeless Coalition is an economic threat to the coalition’s existence, according to Kinsley’s complaint. “If (the council motions) take effect, the coalition will no longer be vested with the responsibility of providing the minimum-standards certification program, and as a result will likely lose members and funding,” the complaint says. Streetvibes vendors keep 75% of sales. Consider helping Streetvibes with our publication costs by making a tax-deductible donation or by purchasing a subscription. Streetvibes is the activist newspaper, advocating justice, building community. Your gift is tax-deductible and will go to producing the paper every two weeks. Started in 1997, Streetvibes is distributed by homeless and formerly homeless vendors who purchase the paper for 25 cents and sell it for $1, keeping the 75 cent profit. Make checks payable to “Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless” I want to support Streetvibes and the vendors. $25 Please return your contribution to: GCCH 117 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Name: Address: E-mail: $50 $100 $150 Other $ _______ �STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Guest Column 13 The New Marijuana Majority Support for reform of prohibition is growing By Corey Gibson Contributing Writer S eventy-three percent of Ohioans support the use of medical marijuana, according to a poll conducted as part of a study by the University of Cincinnati Institute for Policy Research. A surprising 58 percent of conservatives and 64 percent of people over the age of 65 also support the use of medical marijuana. Yet some people are still struggling with Ohio’s marijuana laws. The study cites one man, Randy Brush, who was sentenced to three years in prison after four marijuana plants were found in his backyard. Brush had no prior criminal history. Another case cited in the study is that of Addie Cyrus. Cyrus, who has no criminal record and the full support of her doctors to smoke marijuana to help with medical problems, was arrested in 2009 after the Knox County Sheriff’s Office seized 813 grams from her home. The fact that she is smoking marijuana with her doctor’s knowledge is not going to be admissible in court. While California considers legalizing marijuana, Cincinnati has made it a jailable offense. This is where the National Organization REUTERS/Alexandria Sage. for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) steps in. NORML sup- na and marijuana reform, according to Ryan. driving under the influence if he has any mariports the right of adults He poses a question to anyone he meets who juana metabolites in his body. to use marijuana re- opposes his positive views of the use of mariWith such strict “The current law in Ohio (is), if you have marijuana laws in the sponsibily, whether for juana: “What is your ethical or moral justifica- some sort of marijuana offense, that you could medical, personal or in- tion for putting someone away, taking away lose your driving license,” Ryan says. “You city of Cincinnati, a dustrial purposes. It has their freedom, for consuming or possessing political candidate’s also provided a voice for something like marijuana?” Marijuana Math stating he or she Americans who oppose In a recent local political forum that Ryan supports the use of • Approximate amount spent annually in the the prohibition of mari- attended, Fox News commentator Phil Heimmedical marijuana U.S. on the war on drugs: $40 billion juana and want to end lich asked candidates if they would support is rather surprising. • Percent of Americans who favor full legalizathe legal struggles that the use of medical marijuana. Under a city tion of marijuana: 44 percent “Every single candidate said yes to medical ordinance, possession often accompany smok• Number of states that allow the medical use of of a small amount of ing marijuana. NORML marijuana, and one of them said yes to full lemarijuana: 14 advocates for respon- galization,” Ryan says. “I was stunned.” pot – less than 100 • Number of people arrested for a marijuana law With such strict marijuana laws in the city grams – can result in sible marijuana smokers violation in 2008: 847,864 an immediate arrest, who want the drug legal- of Cincinnati, a political candidate’s stating he • Number of people arrested for a marijuana law or she supports the use of medical marijuana leading to 30 days in ized in the near future. violation since 1965: over 20 million. The number one pri- is rather surprising. Under a city ordinance, jail and a $250 fine Source: Miami Valley Chapter, NORML ority of the Miami Valley possession of a small amount of pot – less chapter of NORML? than 100 grams – can result in an immediate “Get people aware and engaged in changing arrest, leading to 30 days in jail and a $250 politicians’ minds,” says Robert Ryan, state fine (see “Cincinnati’s Marijuana Law Fiasco,” chapter coordinator for Ohio NORML. issue of May 15). Another controversial pro- could be sitting at home, not even in your car, The hardest job for NORML is getting peo- posal, which might be enacted nationwide, get a marijuana charge and you could lose ple to feel comfortable talking about marijua- would mean a person could be arrested for your license. Does it make sense economically. Your license is taken away. How can you get to your job? You’re going to end up losing your job and going on unemployment and making the situation worse.” The Miami Valley chapter of NORML, which just formed this year, is working to change these laws and make politicians realize that marijuana prohibition is not control. “We have been in contact with several lawyers and seeing if the cities have the ability to lessen the (paraphernalia) offense,” Ryan says. Drug-paraphernalia charges are even more misguided than drug charges, Ryan says. Paraphernalia can be anything from a straw to a spoon to a pipe to nearly anything else drugs can be smoked out of; and those charges can carry larger offenses than the drug charges themselves. With most people uncomfortable talking about legalization, Ryan has a tough job ahead. In a one-minute advertisement entitled, “Legalization: Yes We Can,” seen on the NORML website and local TV channels, people of different professions, ages and cultures call for the repeal of prohibition. “These are normal people that say marijuana prohibition doesn’t work,” Ryan says. “Let’s legalize it, tax it and control it.” For more information about NORML, visit miamivalleynorml.org and OARO.org. �14 STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Art and Poetry A Jump Into Blackish Water, Wavy with Moonlight By Spencer Ledyard I was in a tree, blank on the bank of the Mississippi, Looking out and falling asleep, no town for miles, No lights but moonlights, up and down in rapids, Little rising rolls of water over rocks in the riverbed. A raft come by, logs tied together with hemp line, Logs from a tree like the one I was in but heavy With river water. There was so much river in them, And a boy on the raft with so much river in him. He tied himself to the raft with extra hemp line. He stripped as bare as nature would allow him. There was no town for miles, nothing to hold him Back but any fear he might have made for himself. He jumped. The blackish water waved around. The only sound for miles was The sound he made himself. Ode for Ms. Johnny Mae By Willa D. Jones I heard that Ms. Johnny Mae had passed away Gone to glory to she took her leave just yesterday I never knew her well enough to sit and chat On a good day I would see her in the front where she sat I know as long as I remember her face and her smile Sitting on the front porch with grace and so much style I will remember the kindness she shared with everyone Her kindness can be rewarded now that her life is done As long as we keep her in our minds and in our hearts She will forever be in our memory never to part So may God bless and keep you close Ms. Johnny Mae Forever in eternity for your peace and for your soul We all pray By Anne Skove Become a Fan of Streetvibes on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/streetvibescincinnati Letters to the Editor Blindly Following To the Editor: Yes, Obama’s at fault for the slowness of the BP oil spill cleanup. What’d he do wrong? He listened to an oil company. He believed what they said and accepted their assurances. And here come the Republicans ready to set things right. The Republicans would never blindly follow the dictates of an oil company, would they? Or just swallow their assurances at face value? Of course not. So America can sleep better now, knowing that a political party that’s not afraid to take on Big Oil is waiting in the wings to save the day. Martin Stiller Cincinnati Have something on your mind? Want to comment on an article or vendor? Let us know: 117 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvibes2@yahoo.com If you like what you read, but don’t live in the Cincinnati area, you can subscribe to Streetvibes. Call us at 513-421-7803 x 12 to learn more about subscribing to Streetvibes. �15 Resources STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Need Help or Want to Help? Shelter: Women and Children Central Access Point Cincinnati Union Bethel St. Francis Soup Kitchen Churches Active in Northside 381-SAFE 768-6907 FreeStore/FoodBank 557-2873 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 300 Lytle Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Bethany House Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 241-1064 4600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 St. Vincent de Paul 6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224 762-5660 131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214 Salvation Army 535-2719 591-2246 872-9259 Shelter: Men 562-8841 1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214 Treatment: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 241-5525 Prospect House Justice Watch 241-0490 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Starting Over 1419 Elm Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Interfaith Hospitality Network Lighthouse Youth Center (Youth) 471-1100 221-3350 3330 Jefferson, Cinti, Ohio 45220 Housing: CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Tom Geiger House Dana Transitional Bridge Services Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 1308 Race St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Food/Clothing Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 621-5300 961-1983 OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206 Our Daily Bread 1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 621-6364 621-5514 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 961-4663 Treatment: Both 381-0111 AA Hotline CCAT 351-0422 381-6672 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 241-2965 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Hamilton County ADAS Board Recovery Health Access Center Sober Living Talbert House Hamilton/Middletown 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 Northern Kentucky 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 579-8547 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 421-2437 Health Center for Respite Care 3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229 771-4800 751-0600 721-4811 St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry Brighton Center 351-7921 631-1114 211 977-5541 421-5211 863-3184 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 859-491-8303 799 Ann St. Newport, KY Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center Faces Without Places Stop AIDS People Working Cooperatively The Caring Place United Way Women Helping Women Off The Streets 946-4888 281-7422 681-0324 641-4300 Advocacy Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center Goodwill industries Healing Connections Mary Magdalen House 1223 Main St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 961-4555 751-0643 381-1954 421-5211 241-2600 241-2563 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Joseph House (Veterans) 217 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 458-6670 977-4489 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 761-1480 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach 961-2256 2728 Glendora Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45209 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 558-8888 981-5800 Center Independent Living Options Emmanuel Community Center Treatment: Women 961-4080 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Mental Health Access Point Mercy Franciscan at St. John 214 E. 14th St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 First Step Home Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 352-2902 352-6363 921-1613 661-4620 Shelter: Both Health Resource Center Homeless Mobile Health Van McMicken Dental Clinic Other Resources 682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Mt. Airy Shelter 381-2247 5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 784-1853 2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 City Gospel Mission Crossroad Health Center ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 621-1868 Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary VA Homeless 859-491-3335 859-559-5011 859-572-6226 �16 Artists as Activists STREETVIBES July 1 - 14, 2010 Photos in Service of Justice Gordon Baer’s enduring effect M ississippi 1, Mississippi 2, Mississippi 3: These are the words that introduced Gordon Baer to photography. Baer was 8 years old when on a Saturday morning, accompanying his father to a meeting at the high school where he served as football coach, he heard these words coming from a room in the basement. He found out they were being pronounced by Brother Josephus teaching a student camera club, using the words to time the exposure of his photographs. Brother Josephus would then take a piece of white paper, put it in a waterlike liquid, and an image will progressively appear. Baer was mesmerized. Baer, a photojournalist, was born in Louisville, Ky. As a child he had an old box camera he used for assignments at the YMCA activity club he belonged to and for the yearbook in his Junior high school. Very early on he was also developing and exhibiting his own photographs. Baer attended the University of Kentucky at Lexington, initially studying chemistry, then the University of Louisville, focusing on fine arts and photography. At both places he documented life on campus functioning as the student newspaper’s photographer. In the beginning, his desire through photography was to organize and control people, telling them what to do; he soon realized, A rtists ctivists as By Saad Ghosn Contributing Writer however, that the control he was seeking would be more powerfully achieved by controlling viewers’ emotions by the images he would create. His photos became full of feelings, focusing on social issues and ills, the human always at their center. While a student at the University of Louisville, Baer interned as a photojournalist at the Louisville Courier. He met Shirley Williams, a writer, who took him to visit her family in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky. There he witnessed the battering and destruction of the rugged landscape by careless companies that had acquired the rights to mine the coal-rich area. The landowners had been lured to sign deeds allowing the underground exploitation of their land, not informed that new extraction technologies would make it unstable, causing mountaintops to run down the valley. They were angry, rebelling at the rape of their land and the pollution of their streams, and wanted to make their plight to the governor. Baer’s photographs spoke for them. Not only were his 25 prints of the ravages he saw exhibited in the State Capi- Gordon Baer says individuals come first. Saad Ghosn. tol; they were also flown to Washington, D.C., shared with Congress and the National Governors’ Conference. The photos had not ended for many of them, that it had helped accelerate passage of legislation con- installed itself in their living rooms, dreams, relationships. Baer reflected with eloquence trolling strip mining. Baer also actively participated in the civil and moving images their situation and daily rights movement, attending marches, dem- turmoil. His photographs, exhibited in Washonstrations and protests, documenting them ington, D.C., part of the Vietnam Memorial and spreading their images. He had met Rev. Dedication Display, earned him the prestiMartin Luther King Jr., who regularly visited gious Nikon World Understanding Award, Louisville, where his brother led a parish. “given to the photographer whose work best Baer followed King to Washington, D.C., and serves the common purposes of man.” When visiting Louisiana, Mo., for a workcaptured in his photos the freedom march of 1963. shop, Baer focused his photography on a In 1965 Baer joined the Cincinnati Post as group of workers enrolled by corporations to a photojournalist. This took him to various farm Stark Apple Orchards. He documented assignments, some mundane, oth- their exploitation and poor treatment, worse ers more socially concerned. One than that of previous prisoners of what used assignment was to photograph a to be a German prisoner-of-war camp. family with an autistic child. Parents In 2000 he did a moving series of phowith such children were blaming tographs related to his dying aunt Beck, a themselves for their kids’ condition, reflection on the frailty of the aged human Bruno Bettelheim, the renowned being, on mortality, also on the potential nechild psychiatrist, having theorized glect of the elderly in impersonal and underthe disorder was linked to cold, un- staffed nursing homes. Two years ago Baer was the moving force caring parents. Aware of the oftenunjustified sense of guilt this theory behind Shattered Myths, a show involving was generating, Baer instead showed many local artists, including himself, dealin his photos the humane family en- ing with the Iraq war and its deleterious efvironments of the affected children, fects on human beings, military and civildepicting affectionate, loving, yet ians alike. In his works, Baer always advocates for powerless parents. During the Vietnam War, while the poor, the exploited, the abused – for the based in Korea with the U.S. Air human in general. He also speaks loudly Force, Baer used his photographs to his opposition to violence of any sort. As he call attention to American soldiers originally wanted, he was able to develop often misbehaving, insensitive to a strong photographic arm with which to and disrespectful of the local cul- touch the viewer, involve and implicate him ture. He documented the abusive into his images. Baer’s camera has always treatment and shattered lives of the served as his strong voice. “I was able to use the power of the phomany “comfort” women the war tographic print to successfully transmit my conditions had favored. In the late ’70s Baer captured the messages, make people feel things I feel myenduring effects of war on returning self,” he says. “I am at a crossroads right now, Vietnam veterans. He attended group not sure how to go. I want to start writing therapy sessions of vets suffering and put my wisdom in words. But whatever from post-traumatic stress disorder, I do, I know that I will always focus on the visited their homes, participating in individual’s rights, on peace in this world.” their family lives, experienced firsthand their persistent nightmares. He quickly found out that the war It Takes Time for Psychic Wounds to Heal. Gordon Baer. Artists as Activists is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati artists who use art as a vehicle for change. Saad Ghosn is the founder of SOS Art. Ghosn can be contacted at saad.ghosn@uc.edu. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2010 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource July 1-14, 2010 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Hate Wave: Attacks on Homeless Beggars Must Now Be Choosers Pg 2: Street Wise Pg 3: Time to Forget the Bootstraps Pg 4: Hate Wave: Attacks on Homeless Continued Pg 5: Hate Wave: Attacks on Homeless Continued Pg 6: A Message to Social Workers Pg 7: A Whole World of Street Papers Pg 8: “Feed Me, Seymour, Feed Me All Night Long…” Pg 9: The Voice of the Street Pg 10: Drinking from the World Cup Pg 11: Safe, Affordable and Unavailable Pg 12: Beggars Must Now Be Choosers Continued Pg 13: The New Marijuana Majority Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Resources Pg 16: Photos in Service of Justice Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1-14, 2010 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gregory Flannery Lynne Ausman Nick Swartsell Veronica Glass John Peet Casey Salsinger Jeni Jenkins Michelle Dillingham Samantha Groark Margo Pierce Paul Kopp Jeremy Flannery Michael Henson David Heitfield Corey Gibson Jeni Jenkins Saad Ghosn Lew Moores Larry Gross Eli Braun Jesse Call B. Clifton Burke Michael Fanning Aimie Willhoite Anne Skove Vinit Murthy Jon Hughes Lynn Baker Jeremy Flannery Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF affordable housing Aimie Willhoite Anne Skove B. Clifton Burke Casey Salsinger Comedian Corey Gibson David Heitfield Eli Braun Filmmaker Gordon Baer Gregory Flannery Hate Crimes Jeni Jenkins Jeremy Flannery Jesse Call John Peet Jon Hughes Larry Gross Lew Moores Lynn Baker Lynne Ausman Margo Pierce Marijuana mental illness Michael Fanning Michael Henson Michelle Dillingham Nick Swartsell Paul Kopp reform Saad Ghosn Samantha Groark Social Work Veronica Glass Vinit Murthy Violence World Cup https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/80cf7bf6366a127d30ba02395be714dd.pdf 5bf317b4d6f0b2e5c95b5d03d1053a4a PDF Text Text J u ly 1st - J u ly 14th 2016 | Vol. 20 Issue 14 (No. 333) advocating justice | Building community Photo Essay: Cincinnati's Gay Pride Parade | 8-9 This issue sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter INSIDE THIS ISSUE Did Hiroshima Prevent WWIII? | 7 Breaking the Issue Attention Cycle: Bringing in the Coalition | 5 Reclaim Your Queer! | 3 A Little Free Library in OTR | 4 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From the Director: It Takes Two People to Decide Who Plans the Development of City Property July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 JOSH SPRING Executive Director H ow many people does it take to determine who plans the development of city-owned property? If you guessed five, that is a good guess because City Council has nine elected members and five is the minimum majority vote of those nine officials. But you’d be wrong. The answer is actually two; the head of the Community and Economic Development department and the City Manager - both unelected positions. If this seems like a problem, consider this, the City employs something called a preferred developer agreement. These contracts give the exclusive right to plan and institute the development of any piece of cityowned property to a private organization. While in place the city stops maintaining the property while the private organization creates a development plan. There is no public notice given prior to the signing of one of these contracts. There is no request for proposals issued. There is no bidding to see what organization would best benefit the city or the neighborhood. There is no required neighborhood conversation or decision. Throughout the year in which such an agreement is in place the city cannot offer development opportunities on the land to any other entity without first dissolving the agreement. If the company in contract with the city fails to put together a viable plan by the end of that year, the same two un-elected people can simply resign the agreement for another year regardless of why the company could not put together a viable plan - again with no required input from the public or City Council. City Council only gets a say if the private company puts together a plan that is endorsed by the head of Community and Economic Development and the City Manager. City Council is then asked to vote to transfer the property from the city into the ownership of the private company. Again prior to this potential vote on selling the city-owned property, there has been no required public discussion, there has been no required bidding, there has been no required discussion regarding racial or economic inclusion in the development itself or the construction of the development. I assume for most people reading this, this all seems quite problematic to say the least. Well it gets worse. In a handful of cases these agreements have been voted on by Council, in a publically unknown number The Role of The News Media in a Democracy BILL WOODS Contributing Writer S cholars of U.S. politics and government have often emphasized the importance of a free press in a representative democracy. They stress that skilled journalists play a key role as the communications link between elected officials, candidates for office and the general public. A recent article by syndicated columnist E. J. Dionne on Donald Trump and the media prompted me to consider the current relationship between journalists and the political process. How has this relationship changed over time, and how have the changes impacted the health of both politics and the news media? Considerable evidence indicates that professional journalism and politics today have both reached unhealthy stages. Print journalism has experienced a steady decline, and most cities consider themselves lucky to have one daily newspaper. The emergence of weekly and biweekly newspapers such as CityBeat and Streetvibes strive to fill the news gap caused by the loss of so many dailies. From the 1950s onward, television became a major vehicle for delivering the news. For years, the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news hours competed with Time Magazine, News Week and U.S. News and World Report as sources people relied on for national and international news. For a period of time, people of all political persuasions read and heard basically the same set of facts about the country and the world. Even if they could not resolve their different political views, they could at least accept the same set of factual information. Next came the rise of Cable TV. This opened up a new array of specialized news sources to compete with the three networks. Suddenly, viewers could opt for news programs that matched their political opinions such as Fox News and then MSNBC. Many people are no longer sharing the same set of facts. Finally, the internet has brought about a whole new and confusing dimension in terms of how people receive information. With the click of a few keys, someone can connect to a vast number of data bases, news, and political opinion links. Although thousands of these internet sources provide fact-based and enlightening information, an equal number of them offer opinions often based on skewed or false information. Now a person with a particular political opinion need never come in contact with facts or reasonable editorials of instances, they have not been. This leads to the question of why would Council vote in a few instances, but not in others. The answer is: there is no public answer. Researching the topic in the city’s charter, municipal code, rules of council and the online archive of city documents does not reveal any information of when or if the power to create these agreements was ever discussed or enacted. Such a search reveals no laws or policies pertaining to these agreements nor any actual indication of a particular process that must be followed. In fact, every bit of the “process” explained above is based simply on the few agreements that have been at least somewhat forced into the public eye. So what do you think should be done considering the fact that currently in our city two unelected officials can grant the exclusive rights to plan the development of city-owned property without any public notice or discussion, without any vote of City Council and without any named requirements for inclusion or return on investment for the city; and there is no readily available evidence that there was ever a policy created to allow for this or guide the process? -----------------------that might moderate, change or challenge his or her views. Another negative trend has been the commercialization of the news media. In recent decades, news venues, especially TV news productions, have been influenced by the goal of higher viewer ratings. More and more the news has become synonymous with entertainment. This fact means that a colorful politician’s rants or sexual scandals will usually get more coverage than a complicated social or economic issue. If the news is entertainment, the producer doesn’t want to bore the audience with a lot of tedious facts and complexity. At the same time these changes have evolved in terms of presenting the news, politicians and political groups have also transformed the ways they communicate with people. As late as the 1970s, elected officials often relied on speech writers and aides who specialized in dealing with the press to assist them in presenting their positions and views to the news media. The goal was to get free press coverage for the candidate or official, but the press releases and briefings also needed to possess some serious issue content in order to justify the attention of newspaper and TV journalists. In this process, politicians knew that good reporters would not just print the contents of a press release, but they would often check facts and add other perspectives to their final stories. These informal, symbiotic relationships between journalists and public officials created a steady diet of (Continued on page 7) THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Leslie Moorhead Director of Education: Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Peter Kobak Reception: Derrick Hudson, Iolanda Barton, Patricia J. Brown, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Johnathan Diskin, Thomas A. Dutton, James C. Fraser, Key Beck, Camri Nelson, Justin jeffre, Jim Debrosse, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Steve Sunderland, Peter Kobak, Ricardo Taylor, Willa Denise Jones, Kim Green Photography/Artwork: Cynthia Zulla, Angela Ginty, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Lukasz Katlewa, Bill Woods, Aimee Willhoite Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �LOCAL Is it too late for Over-theRhine to be a Mixed-Income Neighborhood? 3 No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 perts agree work. These can include: • • • • • JONATHAN DISKIN THOMAS A. DUTTON JAMES C. FRASER Contributing Writers T he dramatic transformation of lower Over-the-Rhine is widely hailed as an "urban renaissance." But for whom, precisely? As Xavier’s Community Building Institute’s recent housing study shows, the renaissance comes at a loss of roughly 75 percent of housing affordable to the very poor. That’s alarming. Mayor John Cranley, who once opposed allowing public funds for new low-income housing in OTR, recently proposed new spending for affordable housing, declaring in a June 1 CityBeat article that new development “should not come at the expense of the people who have lived here a long time.” While we are heartened the city recognizes that OTR has reached – or passed – a tipping point, clearly we need a greater focus on housing affordability if we are to have, in the mayor’s words, “a healthy community that is mixed income.” If the model of development below Liberty Street is reproduced throughout all of OTR, the neighborhood will be an enclave for more professional, whiter, and wealthier residents; an end game that pushes the poor from valuable areas to those with little commercial value or amenities, reproducing the very isolation that was so denounced by OTR development boosters, including the mayor. If mixed-income development is to be worthy of its name, it must secure the tenure of people who live below the reach of the market. Letting the market run is no option as housing markets segregate by income. Two basic points must be at the forefront of policy deliberation to insure that more of the poor are not displaced. First, demonstrate the same level of commitment to secure poor households as the city did with market-rate development. Small intermittent gestures will not suffice because the market is roaring in OTR and rents and property values are rising rapidly. We need to employ now all the tools that nationwide ex- Reclaim Your Queer! KEY BECK Contributing Writer S o, I am finally home after an exciting and rejuvenating weekend with friends, lovedones, and new (Bonna) family. It was a great experience for me because I needed a recharge. I truly feel like Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, a yearly summer concert in Tennessee, is home for four sweltering, hot days of my life. It is a home, a safe haven, and a getaway for many of us queers (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender if you wanna play the “respectability politics”). At Bonnaroo, we are free to hold hands, kiss, caress and just live without fear, anxiety or victimization. That is the type of place Bonnaroo has come to be. For many queers (both young and old), gay bars and clubs are the same type of safe haven and place of community. This was not the case for the many people who went out to Pulse Nightclub in Orlando this June. I would be remiss not to mention that this particular night was Latin night, predominantly attended by Black, Hispanic and Latinx Americans. So this was not only a homophobic attack, but a racially-motivated one to boot. As a queer, person of color who is slightly gender non-conforming… it is rough living in society where such ignorance and hate is rampant. Hate for choosing your gender expression, hate for your black body and hate for your very existence. Your body is instantly political. If I wear baggy clothes and hoodie, people label me a thug, clutch their purses, grab their girlfriends and cross the street. If I wear short, pink shorts and a cut-off, people call me gay or a girl, whistle at me or even physically block my path. I am constantly judged by the things I wear, the length of my hair, the way I talk and move through the world. There is not a day that passes where I am not harassed, aggressed or cat-called. Sometimes, they don’t incite violence, other times they do. I have learned that words are a lot easier to dodge than bottles. And, sometimes a stranger is an ally, and other times they are an instigator. This routine has become so emotionally, physically, and psychologically exhausting that I have to get away annually to The Farm in Tennessee. There, I don’t have to constantly be aware of my surroundings or worry that someone may try to spit on me while running past them. We need to get to a place in society where queer and trans people (of color) don’t have to leave their city to find solidarity, inclusion and acceptance. Your city should be your home, not your prison. While I am happy to return to Cincinnati, I am sad to come home to the news of tragedy, hate, and oppression. I am sad that we have to have conversations with our queer and LGBT youth about gun violence, homophobia and racial terrorism. I am sad that I have to explain the mass shooting in Orlando as a hate crime to the parents of LGBT youth who are new to the community. Although the news media fails to do so, we must label this shooting as an act of self-hate, discrimination, prejudice and homophobia. This heinous Inclusionary zoning Limited-equity cooperatives Community land trusts Shared equity models Anti-Displacement and Housing Retention Ordinances (which ironically Cincinnati once had) These policies are hardly radical; many U.S. cities use at least one. But none of these exist in Cincinnati, perhaps due to a lack of real interest in housing affordability in OTR. Inclusivity will not materialize unless concerted action is taken – and soon. Second, fund affordable housing through a "shared equity" model. Make no mistake, OTR’s raging market has been fostered with a huge infusion of public money, from beautification to park renovations to commercial building renovation. Our analysis, based on 3CDC’s public disclosures about its financing sources, shows that new units of housing, including condos and apartments, benefited from an average of about $200,000 worth of public and philanthropic money. Given this public/private arrangement, we can ask those who are reaping private gains from these public expenditures to cover some of the costs of more inclusive housing. The mayor’s call to extend the mechanism created to capture some of this new property value for the streetcar, the Voluntary Tax Incentive Contribution Agreement (VTICA), is a good start in this direction. This mechanism asks developers to contribute some portion of the property taxes that the city agrees to abate for 15 years, to a fund dedicated to some clear purpose. A portion of this money could fund low-income housing and support businesses that serve residents of modest means. Developers are getting sweet deals as the value of their property increases while hundreds of millions in public monies is pumped into OTR. We propose extending this principle of "value recapture" such that those who have invested in OTR property would pay a small tax to support inclusion if they sell and reap a huge capital gain. In a May 26 Enquirer article, Cranley says, “We have room to grow a city with everyone. That is when it really becomes a city." Effort is needed now to ensure housing affordability in OTR and elsewhere. Anything less will simply relocate the very concentrated poverty that he and others claim to address. Jonathan Diskin is a professor of economics at Earlham College. Thomas A. Dutton is director of the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-theRhine. James C. Fraser is an associate professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University. [This op-ed first appeared in the Enquirer under the title Protect Affordable Housing in OTR.] ------------------------ act was facilitated by America’s willhomeless from using their facilities. Spikes on perimeter walls and bars ingness to other queer people, esin park benches are physical signs of pecially queer and gender non-conexclusion and we shouldn’t be movforming people of color, such as the ing in that direction. We need to hold Public Library of Cincinnati denying our political leaders accountable for insurance claims for gender confirsupporting oppressive laws and polimation surgery. According to the cies that target LGBT people and Human Rights Campaign and other other marginalized communities. sources, nearly 1 in 12 people who Finally, we need to support our comidentify as transgender will experipatriot groups such as Black Lives ence lethal violence towards them Matter, Radical Feminists, and Palbased on their gender presentation. estinian Liberation groups. This is ridiculous and can be preIf you don’t feel you are ready to vented by the incorporation of laws, fully support equity, start with babyrights, and protections of LGBT, steps. Hug your neighbor. Volunteer queer and trans-identified people. at a GLSEN event. Go out and meet It takes work and emotional lathe LGBT community. We need to bor to live life when the body is poprotect each other from violence and litical. Racism, sexism, transphobia, hurt the best we can. We need to valhomophobia, islamophobia, patriarue each other for our differences and chy and other systems of oppression learn to welcome the unknown and all exist to tear us apart. We shouldn’t not fear it. Only when we pull back forget how leaders such as Marsha P. the curtain of ignorance do we learn Johnson, Miss Major Griffon-Gracy, the truth. So let’s lead with empathy and Sylvia Rivera lead the communiand love instead of hate and misunty to fight against the systematic and derstanding. institutionalized violence against -----------------------queer people at Stonewall. This is our time to come together and support those who need it. So, what are some strategies we can implement to support our LGBT community? First, we can support the LGBT youth who are experiencing homelessness. Helping them as youth can potentially deter other negative consequences they may experience as adults. Insist that community organizations, including the social services, community agencies and police undergo competency training to learn how to deal with marginalized groups such as people of color and LGBT individuals. Question our park boards why they insist on installing obstructive objects to deter people experiencing Cincinnati's Pride Parade Photo: Cynthia Zulla THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL Meet Up with Wendell Young CAMRI NELSON Contributing Writer F rom fighting off criminals to implementing new initiatives in Cincinnati, Wendell Young has dedicated 40 years of his life to improving his home town. Growing up in Cincinnati, Young never imagined himself working in law enforcement. It wasn’t until he graduated from high school that he decided to enlist in the Airforce as a Security Force Specialist. His duties consisted of protecting the Airmen, directing traffic, and responding to emergencies, which was something he really enjoyed doing. He enjoyed the experience so much that after he was discharged in 67’, he returned home to Cincinnati and accepted a position with CPD. Although Young was fortunate enough to be an officer in Cincinnati, a place where he was well known, he still encountered many obstacles. “The biggest challenge was just being an African American officer at the time when there were riots around the country and in Cincinnati”. Black officers were widely criticized and viewed as ‘Uncle Toms’ and traitors, said Young. In order to ultimately gain the trust of the African American community, Young and other African American officers formed the Sentinel Police Association, an organization that addresses police corruption, police brutality, and racial discrimination. Although the association did help build the relationship between the officers and the community, some of officers within the department disapproved. “They didn’t agree that women needed to be hired and they did not agree that promotional opportunities and assignments needed to be spread more evenly throughout the population of the police department. He never once let the opinions of those who opposed of his decisions stop him from advocating for equal rights. After retiring from CPD, he accepted a position as an Equal Opportunity Officer and worked with employees and managers to ensure that individuals were given the same opportunity for employment and equal pay. Working as an EOO, Young claims it was a very rewarding experience. Another one of Young’s rewarding experiences was teaching at Aiken High School. In August of 2007 he taught courses called, Government and Public Administration and Law and Public Safety to a group of at-risk youth. One of his biggest challenges was teaching the children because the retention rate was low. However, he realized that for those who did make it throughout the entire school year, were more mature and improved their attitudes by the end. “I learned that young people who are given an opportunity for the most part, regardless of where they come from, respond well to people who believe in them, work with them, and Is Music Hall safe? Protestors say noncertified welders erecting new ceiling JIM DEBROSSE Contributing Writer [This article was first published at https://c4ad.wordpress.com/] A nother major Cincinnati construction job — the $129-million renovation of Music Hall that began this month — is facing accusations that contractors are trimming costs by using non-certified welders and risking the safety of the project. About eight protestors organized by the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, a nonprofit pro-labor group, have been displaying informational banners and signs this week along Elm Street in front of the Over-theRhine renovation site. The protesters say about a dozen welders on the project – hired by Merit Erectors and its sister company Avenue Fabricating Inc., both local steel construction firms – have the same fake welding certificates that Merit submitted last fall for the $86-million Nippert Stadium renovation at the University of Cincinnati. Mitch Oberding, an ironworker with 20 years of welding experience and one of the CIWC protesters, said CIWC obtained and examined copies of Merit’s welding certificates for the UC project. “They aren’t worth the paper they’re written on,” Oberding said. “There were dead guys on there and guys who didn’t work (at Merit Erectors) anymore.” Oberding said the welding inspector who allegedly signed the 2015 certificates has been retired since 2007. Jeff Jones, the welding inspector whose name appears on 14 of Merit’s welding certificates, told Fox19 last fall that his name had been falsified on all 14 documents. A welding certificate is proof that A Little Free Library in OTR JUSTIN JEFFRE A Editor Little Free Library has been installed in the park at the corner of 13th and Republic. On Thursday, June 23 there was a grand opening. “Over the 2-hour event, we had about 75 people of all ages stop by. We gave away 200 popsicles and a lot of books. We also had a table where kids could decorate their own bookmarks. A caricature artist (Caricatures by Duff – www. duffo.com) was busy the entire time drawing pictures of kids who stopped by the library,” said Angela Ginty. Ginty is a Communications and Development Officer with the Cin- “Breakdown Stereotypes” a welder has been properly trained and can produce a weld that has passed a professional inspection for safety and durability. Oberding said plans for the Music Hall renovation call for replacing massive wooden trusses built into the ceiling in the 1800s with modern steel trusses that will be cut and welded in place for support. The general contractor on the Music Hall project, Messer Construction, “doesn’t have any idea what they’re getting into,” Oberding said. “We’re talking about the structural integrity of the building.” Last September, Merit Erectors and Avenue Fabricating faced similar accusations on the Nippert Stadium renovation at the University of Cincinnati after Fox19 reported that the welding certificates on the project had been falsified. cinnati Development Fund which sponsored the Library. The park is owned by Over-the-Rhine Community Housing and they’ve granted permission to keep it there. “Since the library opened, it’s become a popular spot for kids and adults. People have stopped by every day and taken a book or two. We’ve also had several books donated, and we’re very grateful for those,” said Ginty. According to Ginty many neighbors are acting as “stewards” of the library – keeping it clean and stocked Feb.12- 25 , 2015 | No. 297 give them a chance,” said Young. Even though Young has had a great experience while working for CPD and Aiken, his position now as a Community Council Member is something he says he has always wanted to do. He is very passionate about his job because he is in a position to give input about what’s going on in Cincinnati, a town that he grew up in. “I just feel like I’ve given a lot to the city, the city has been very good to me, and now I have this opportunity every single day when I come to work to do something that will impact the people I care about,” he said. As a City Council Member he has helped create the yellow taxi cab reform, supported developments in the cities such as the Banks, help with the development of Washington Park, helped fund money for Streetcars, and has helped to improve infant mortality rates. He is currently working on the budget, making sure that the African American Chamber is properly funded, and that city employees are receiving a decent wage. ------------------------ Messer used Merit Erectors on the $112-million University of Kentucky science center in October of last year with the same faked welding credentials, Fox19 reported. Messer is “using the exact same company again” at Music Hall, Oberding said. “That was purposely done to show how easy it is to cheat” when turning in welding certificates. Adam Kinman, a former welder for Merit Erectors who said he quit last summer because of a pay and benefits dispute, said he recognized at least eight Merit welders working on the Music Hall site last week. Messer Construction and the overall developer of the Music Hall project, 3CDC, did not return phone calls or emails asking for comment. Merit Erector owner Chris Koenig has repeatedly refused opportunities to comment on the company’s practices. (You can email Jim DeBrosse at jdebrosse.c4ad@gmail.com) ------------------------ with books. “We invite everyone to be a steward of the library because it’s a community resource for and by the residents of Over-the-Rhine. Tender Mercies residents help take care of the books, and Future Leaders OTR have expressed an interest in getting involved as,” she said. Like all Little Free Libraries, the OTR library runs on book donations. If anyone has books to donate, they can leave them in the library struc- (Continued on page 5) “Eradicate Misinformation” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community. To schedule a speaker, contact Mark Mussman at (513) 421.7803 x14 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL Breaking the Issue Attention Cycle: Bringing in the Coalition 5 No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer B y the time you finish this article, you will be thinking about something else. In a week from now, you probably won’t be thinking about Pulse Night Club, a baby-eating alligator, or gun reform efforts. You will be thinking about some other tragedy, or trying to fill your life with frivolous entertainment news – is Taylor Swift really single again? This is called the “issue attention cycle” and it plays out through national and local media. How do we stay focused on bringing justice to our community? One thing is for certain, being a part of the Homeless Coalition helps keep you abreast of the issues that are facing our community today. From the attack on Medicaid Ohio (grossly named Healthy Ohio), to the push for unregulated and unproven charter schools inside Cincinnati Public Schools, to MARC ID progress, to #KeepOurCourts, the Homeless Coalition works to keep our member organizations informed on the issues that matter most to our entire community. There are several ways to keep up on the issues – join our listserv, follow us on Facebook (both the Home- less Coalition and Streetvibes), come to our monthly membership meeting, join Affordable Housing Advocates (who also meet monthly), or get involved with our many community-focused groups such as Peaslee Neighborhood Center, St. Francis Seraph, or Tender Mercies. Follow City Council meetings online by downloading the weekly agenda or watching in person or on CityCable. Reading Streetvibes is obviously another way to keep up on current issues and events. You can read the entire Enquirer in 10 minutes, CityBeat in 15, but Streetvibes may take you an hour to read. This is because some of the best writers cover the most important issues – whether they are in style or not. You may hear things in this paper that make you uncomfortable, but this is the only way you will learn new things. Let me predict what will happen this week in the news. Another white male police officer will be exonerated or acquitted for killing an unarmed person of color. Another person who is transgender will be killed and the killer will be let off using “gay panic” as a defense. Another kid will be mauled by a wild animal kept in cap- Homeless Coalition table at Juneteenth Photo: Mark Mussman tivity. Mayor John Cranley will use the rebellion in 2001 as justification to reward his developer fan base. And you will continue to struggle to pay your ever-increasing bills and make sacrifices so you can buy dinner and your medications. With all this going on, how could you possibly focus on issues that affect our community? How can you start to grasp the legacy of racism in our city? Cincinnati’s substandard schools, housing, medical facilities, and work conditions have been exclusively reserved for African-Americans, Appalachians, and migrants. More than 10 years of life expectancy separates black and white residents in Cincinnati. Living in Cincinnati is literally a death-sentence for so many – and this doesn’t even begin to include the disproportionate violence that is enacted upon people of color in the city. For people of color the most pressing issues affect every moment of their lives. In addition, the microaggressions that pervade our city range from seemingly pleasant (“Oh, you speak so eloquently”) to more egregious (“You’re pretty hot for a black girl”) to outright vapid (“That guy is so ghetto”). I find it interesting how surprised people of color are when I treat them like human beings. Many times people are taken aback that I am making eye contact, listening to someone’s story, and responding with compassion. This is so rare in our community – across all races. While it’s important to make sure you’re not stepping on anything, you’d think people’s eyes are glued to the ground, hoping to find a $100 bill laying in the gutter. Nobody makes eye contact, nobody says “hello” on the street. This is the type of issue I would like to see confronted because we can’t have a compassionate city if we don’t see each other. So let’s do our best to pay attention to how we can be compassionate and enact system change. We often forget the simple things that we learned when we were kids – how to listen, how to share, how to recognize right from wrong. If we are caught up in just amassing more power and wealth, we are cutting ourselves off from those who need us most. If you want to walk around Over-the-Rhine with me to get a different perspective, or hear the story of someone who has experienced homelessness, or learn what it’s like distributing Streetvibes, or have us table your event, please contact me or sign up on our website for an Education Event. We must keep our community’s struggles in the issue attention cycle. Mayerson Summer program students Photo: Mark Mussman JUSTIN JEFFRE (Continued from page 4) ture (if there’s room) or drop them off at Cincinnati Development Fund’s office (right around the corner at 1224 Race Street) any day during office hours (8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.). The primary focus is books for children and young adults, but a full range of books will be available for readers of every age and interest. According to Ginty this library is a tribute to Catherine Stehlin, a longtime resident and champion of OTR who lost her battle with Cystic Fibrosis earlier this year. A family garden has also been installed in the corner of the park (Catherine’s corner). ------------------------ ------------------------ Girl using the new little free library Photo: Angela Ginty THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �6 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 �LOCAL No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 Did Hiroshima Prevent WWIII? MICHAEL EARL PATTON Contributing Writer My two articles on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima prompted an actual letter to the editor. Not an e-mail, but a letter through the U.S. Postal Service. It’s very short, but I thought I would reprint it below and respond to its main point. The letter, in full, is below: “Even Oliver Stone was not aware at a conference on JFK that the important result of the nuke bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the photos prevented WWIII.” Dan Griffith Covington, KY I had written my last couple articles on the subject of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of President Obama’s recent visit to Hiroshima, the first by a sitting U.S. president. He did not apologize for the bombings, but I wanted to explore the topic more than its usual brief treatments in the media. I pointed out that Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom (Britain), and the U.S. had all engaged in massive bombing campaigns against the civilian populations of cities. Such non-discriminate bombings are a violation of the 1907 Hague Convention, which had been signed by all of those countries. It is noteworthy that at the German war crimes trials at Nuremburg, the Nazis were not charged with violating that aspect of the convention, and neither were the Japanese at their trials. The conventional explanation is that aerial bombardment was not explicitly prohibited, but the treaty is pretty clear as it is. Article 22 states that the right of belligerents to cause injury is not unlimited, and Article 27 states that in sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes. Note that Article 27 covers “bombardments,” not “all bombardments except aerial bombardments.” Carpet bombing with incendiaries, let alone nuclear bombings, meant that no steps were taken, and could not have been taken, to protect these buildings. Other articles from the Hague Convention may also apply. I’m sure there were no such charges against the Germans and the Japanese about their aerial bombardments because that would have exposed the Allies to similar charges. The irony is that such massive bombardments probably did not significantly diminish war-fighting BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) news stories that kept readers and viewers (citizens) well informed. Since the 1970s, raising money for campaigns has become the central focus of both politicians and political groups, and advertising professionals have replaced press aides as the key people that public officials turn to for 7 capabilities. Any actual effect was more than made up by the increased motivation by those who had their homes destroyed to work even harder. Certainly – and there is no doubt about this – that is the effect that the German “Blitz” had on the people of Britain. As for Allied attacks on German cities, German war production increased every month right until almost the end of the war when the transportation system started to fail from the bombings of strategic bridges and railyards, along with the bombing of key installations such as ball bearing factories. Japanese war production was constricted by the Allied sinking of their supply ships from the mainland. Towards the end, the Japanese didn’t even have enough fuel for their warships. It is noteworthy also that the Soviet Union, in their massive counter-offensive from Moscow to the Elbe River in Germany, did not practice carpet bombing of cities as far as I could determine. The bombing of Dresden in eastern Germany in 1945, to which the Soviets were advancing, was done by British and American bombers, not Soviet. The Soviets had not requested that the city be bombed. Back to the letter. The main point seems to be that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in some way prevented World War III. The letter also states Oliver Stone did not know this, but does not say that he agreed with that statement. Indeed, in his book with Peter Kuznick, The Untold History of the United States, the two argue strongly that our dropping of the bombs motivated the Soviet Union to quickly develop their own atomic weapons. And from the relatively crude atomic weapons of the 1940’s, both the United States and the Soviet Union quickly developed the much more powerful hydrogen bomb. Today the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, Russia, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel all have atomic weapons. A few other countries could probably develop them if they so choose, or perhaps already have access to them through an ally. If by World War III the author meant a war with widespread use of nuclear John Hersey's 1946 article in "The New Yorker" magazine, which was reprinted in this book that same year, told the real life experiences of 6 survivors of the atomic blast at Hiroshima. This was the first time most Americans had a chance to find out about many of the bomb's devastating effects, which were much more intense than the weapons used against cities before. Photo: Michael Earl Patton communications expertise. This evolution of an ad-based communications system for politicians has come at the same time the news media became less print oriented, more entertainment based, and also more diverse and confusing in terms of venues. The old links between journalists, politicians, and citizens that scholars find important for democracy are either broken or badly in need of repair. No simple answers seem to exist in terms of reforming politics or the news media. As citizens who desire a healthy democracy protected by a healthy free press, we must support good and effective journalism at the community, state and national levels. We need to insure that daily newspapers do not disappear, and that weekly and biweekly publications like CityBeat and Streetvibes thrive. NPR and Public Television need support as well as icons like The New York Times and The Wash- THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED weapons, then it is self-evident that there has not been such a war, so far. It is another matter to show that the singular use of the atomic bombs by the United States has prevented a widespread nuclear war. It is likely that the actual use of the atomic bomb spurred other countries to develop their own. If nine countries having atomic weapons somehow contributes to peace, well, that is a claim that is not self-evident. The question then becomes, does adding more countries to the above list improve world security? There have been serious proposals for Japan to obtain such weapons, for instance, due to both China and North Korea having them. Would that help? My opinion is no, but not one world leader has asked me. And don’t even begin to talk about Iran. There have also been an unknown number of close calls where the world came close to nuclear war. The best known was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union started placing nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 during the Kennedy administration. Computer “glitches” and human errors led to false alarms in 1979 and 1983 that a nuclear attack was underway. Fortunately, the errors were recognized in time or else I would not be writing this. The first incident was due to American mistakes, the second was due to a malfunctioning Soviet system. It is hard to credit that the use of nuclear weapons during World War II had in any way been a benefit here, helping to resolve these crises. If by World War III the writer meant any large-scale conflict, that is a more contestable claim. Since World War II there have been the Chinese Civil War, Korean War, Vietnam War, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War (the first one, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait), U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. invasion of Iraq (the second Gulf War), Libyan Civil War, Ukraine, Syrian Civil War, and many other conflicts. The number of refugees from war today is comparable to those of World War II. The total number of people killed seems to be less – so far. There is one final point I want to make. The historical pattern had been that following a major war, the horrors of that war were burned into the memories of the parties involved at least for a generation. For example, following the U.S. Civil War (or the “War Between the States” for our Southern readers), the U.S. did not engage in another foreign war until the Spanish-American War a generation later. Europe, following World War II, has seen peace. But not the United States. Something is different this time. I do not know what, but one thing it is clearly not: the result of our dropping the atomic bombs on Japan was not peace for the United States for a generation. -----------------------ington Post. Meanwhile, the worlds of the internet and Social Media must be utilized creatively by a new generation of journalists in order to create the free press of the future. [Editor’s note: I highly recommend noncommercial media outlets like democracynow.org. Thank you for supporting Streetvibes.] ------------------------ �8 PHOTO ESSAY Photo Essay: Cincinnati's Gay Pride Parade CYNTHIA ZULLA Photographer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 �No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 PHOTO ESSAY THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 �10 LOCAL July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition would like to thank 4EG, The Lackman and Lachey’s Bar for sponsoring the 2015 Streetvibes Music Fest at the Woodward Theater! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 Breaking The Trance STEVE SUNDERLAND C Contributing Writer ancer care requires startling changes in understanding the place of the patient as a partner in care. Currently, there is a trance from the physician to the patient and his/her family, a steady expectation that the patient has little to do other than follow instructions. Patients seeking to exercise their voices to seek answers to questions, often very hard questions, are too often met with a doubling down of the trance. Patients are paralyzed as much by the physician's behavior as they are by the fears about the cancer. What can happen if the trance is broken is amazing for both the patient and the doctor, and maybe for the ways in which the patient's lives their lives with a disease and its uncertainties. We can find new ways to educate for compassion that will replace the trance; we can practice empowerment with the patients and 11 encourage a vulnerable but authentic discussion of alternatives. In Cincinnati for the past two years the Peace Village Cancer Project has worked with agencies that serve the poor and minorities to create a Cancer Justice Network. Our belief is that a new kind of relationship is essential in cancer care. Using a navigator, a person educated to be resourceful and compassionate, the patient can have an ally to face the obstacles in both their personal life and the difficulties in working with the health care system. Most importantly, it may be the critical factor in saving lives. Our navigator program is focused on bringing patients to early screening for cancer and then, if necessary, rapid treatments. Helping people to understand the basics of cancer, the warning signs, and the necessary steps to screening, requires a caring communication, a trusted relationship, and action that releases the patient from the trance of low expectations for survival. Based on a pioneering program created by Harold Freeman, MD, a former president of the American Cancer Society, a surgeon, and an African American, in New York City, we expect navigators to be placed or hosted by community agencies where cancer education has been limited and where cancer mortality is greatest. The navigator, along with a physician, will respond to questions about cancer while the navigator will be available to help a person overcome any obstacles to getting screened. In the Fall we plan on having cancer education at Churches Active in Northside, Christ Church Cathedral, Madisonville Education and Assistance Center, Southern Baptist Church, the FreeStore Food Bank, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Francis Seraph, Center for Independent Living, Santa Maria Center, Peaslee Center, and Caracole. Breaking the trance opens new possibilities for the patient: they are now partners in being educated and in taking action to have their cancer, if they have cancer, reviewed and acted upon. The navigator stays with the person as long as they would like them to be a part of the treatment process. The navigator emphasizes following a "road map" to success through screening and treatment. The navigator is an educator, a guide through barriers, an ally, and even a friend. The navigator-person team is the new cancer health education model for prevention and treatment. Over time we expect that once the trance is broken throughout the city, the person with cancer, irrespective of their zip code, regardless of their color or economic ability, will be a survivor that can educate the community to a new kind of partnership. [You can reach Steve via email Steve.c.sunderland@icloud.com] ------------------------ Poland’s Constitutional Problem is About to Become a Human Rights Problem PETER KOBAK P Contributing Writer oland is going through what domestic and international observers alike are calling a constitutional crisis. For the first time since democracy returned to the country in 1989, a single party holds the majority of seats in parliament, and with their concentrated power, is carrying out a series of wideranging and controversial reforms. The criticisms levied on the government by international organizations suggest human rights protections are being destroyed by the country’s new administration. The situation has its origins around the parliamentary elections at the end of 2015 in which The Law and Justice Party (PiS) swept the majority of Poland’s 560 parliamentary seats. Before the 2015 election, the ruling liberal-centrist administration saw their popularity declining and foresaw an imminent defeat. Hastily, the party filled three vacant appointments in the country’s Constitutional Tribunal- the Polish equivalent of the US Supreme Court- made up of fifteen judges. Then, two more judges were added to the Tribunal in an attempt to fill seats whose terms had not yet expired. Following its victory, PiS immediately rejected all of the outgoing party’s appointments and swore in its own judges. Amidst the confusing mix of old and new judges, PiS has taken on an aggressive campaign to implement changes to the country’s highest court. In December, the newly PiS-controlled parliament passed legislation dubbed the “Repair Bill” that altered the Tribunal’s procedures and enlarged the powers of the executive branch vis-àvis the Tribunal. The bill increased the number of judges that needed to be present for a Tribunal decision (from nine to thirteen); required decisions to be reached by a two-thirds majority (previously only a simple majority was required); required the Tribunal to hear cases in the order that they were submitted (rather than by the priority or importance of the case in question); shortened the terms of the president and vice-president of the Tribunal; and allowed the executive branch to bring forth disciplinary proceedings against a judge, among other changes. Soon after the bill breezed through the parliament, the Constitutional Tribunal made a ruling declaring the entire document unconstitutional. In response, the PiS administration, led by its new Prime Minister Beata Szydło, proclaimed it would not publish the Tribunal’s ruling- a necessary step for the decision to become binding under Polish law. European organizations are especially concerned with the crisis that’s occurring in their backyard- with a country that has been a success story of European integration. The Council of Europe and the European Union have both either issued statements or begun an investigation into PiS’ recent actions. This past March, an independent body of the Council of Europe known as the Venice Commission conducted a series of visits to Poland and offered a damning opinion of the Polish situation. It concluded that the Repair Bill would endanger “not only the rule of law, but also the functioning of the democratic system,” which in turn would undermine the country’s ability to safeguard human rights. The European Union has also issued a condemnation of the country’s reforms. This assessment could lead to what some call the “nuclear option”: the suspension of Poland’s voting privileges in the organization. A non-binding resolution passed by the European Parliament, the EU’s legislative body, emphasized its concern for rule of law, democracy, and human rights in Poland, and encouraged proceedings that could lead to sanctions on Poland. The gravity of Poland’s consti- A demonstration takes place in Poland over new changes in the Constitutional Tribunal. Photo Credit : LukaszKatlewa tutional crisis is concentrated in the relationship between rule of law and human rights. Rule of law is predicated upon judicial review, meaning the protection of rights in the court system. The current Polish Constitution is arguably the most important human rights document for the country. It- along with numerous international treaties- enshrines the many human rights that all branches of the Polish government are bound to “respect, protect, and fulfill,” a responsibility states share as a cornerstone of international human rights law. If the Constitutional Tribunal is unable to come to a decision on a matter relating to the human rights listed in the Constitution because it is paralyzed by PiS’ legislative amendments, those rights are left unprotected. Soon after passing the Repair Bill, PiS also passed the “Act on Public Media” that crippled the ability of public Polish media to remain independent by allowing the government’s executive branch to directly appoint public media directors. Leading Polish human rights NGOs, decried the Act, saying it will “stifle critical voices at a time when it is essential that public broadcasters can speak out.” The net result of the Act on Public Media is not unlike the Repair Bill, insofar as it concentrates more power in Poland’s executive branch, giving PiS a tighter grip on the narrative in which it carries out its reforms. The series of actions taken by PiS since coming to power have destroyed one bulwark of human rights after another. And the march of PiS has gone on. The administration merged the once-separate offices of the Minister THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED of Justice and the Prosecutor General, whose previously separate positions allowed the country’s top prosecuting attorney more autonomy. The government also expanded the surveillance capabilities of the police in a move that grants them power to request data on an individual from digital service providers in Poland, without approval from a court. When the Roman Catholic Church- a Polish political heavyweight- began a campaign for a complete ban on abortions, Prime Minister Szydło and President Duda- both members of PiS- offered their support to the cause. The proposed ban would be the most restrictive law on abortion in the EU and has brought hundreds of thousands of opponents onto the streets of Poland in protest. Would the law pass, Poland may find itself before the European Court of Human Rights defending their decisions regarding reproductive rights for the umpteenth time. Most recently, the PiS administration scrapped a governmental council that was tasked with research and policies aimed at preventing racist and xenophobic discrimination in the country, largely inexplicable given the recent growth of racism and xenophobia in Poland. Soon after the parliamentary elections, a Polish parliamentarian gave a short speech in front of his new colleagues. In it, he unapologetically declared that the “good of the nation is above the law.” The parliamentary chamber, whose seats were largely filled with newly minted PiS politicians, responded with a standing ovation. ------------------------ �12 STREET VOICE July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 Street Life: The Edge RICARDO TAYLOR Contributing Writer & Streetvibes Distributor ‘Living and dying are the same: it just depends on the opportunity.’ A h! How often does one feel as if they are not living, or that death may be a better choice? The essence of life: or program, if you will, presents that dilemma, or at least some idea of such. Life can be, and does have points, where it doesn’t seem worthwhile at times, and the capacity to reason questions whether or not it’s worthwhile to continue? So, the thin line between life and death becomes marred to the extent that one doesn’t know if they are alive or dead! Now, you don’t have to give any rebuttal to the metaphor; it’s not about having thoughts of suicide, but the frustrations of one’s existence. This gives conceptualizing for many people of the street, as often as not their lives border on a sense of insanity. It’s not so much that they don’t savor life, or that they don’t give a Streetvibes distributor Ricardo Taylor Photo: Aimee Willhoite ‘hoot’, but they often find them- (Continued on page 13) Now Hiring Caracole Caracole.org - Social Work Supervisor - Case Manager - Resident Assistant Cincinnati Union Bethel cinunionbethel.org - Special Needs Assistance - Family Service Worker - Teachers - Assistant Teachers - Cook - Dietary Supervisor - Patient Aide - Assistant V.O. Nursing - Nurse Manager - Staff Nurses - Controller Lighthouse Youth Services lighthouse.org - Multiple openings - Assistance Managers Tender Mercies tendermerciesinc.org - Chief Operating Officer Project Connect cps-k12.org United Way of Greater Hamilton County Cincinnati - Teachers Community uwgc.org Development - Vice President, Marketing hamiltoncountyohio. Shelter House Senior Associate, Nongov shelterhousecinti.org -Workplace Strategy - Multiple Openings Legal Aid Society of Center for Chemical Greater Cincinnati Addictions Treatment lascinti.org catsober.org - Fellowship Sponsorship - Cook - Equal Justice Works - CDCA Out Patient - Legal Assistant Medication Assisted Treatment Counselor - Human resources manager - Resident Aid - Case Manager St. Vincent De Paul svdpcincinnati.org - Cashiers - Stock Clerks - Warehousemen - Sales - Director, Individual Donor Engagement - Grant writer - Success By 6 Associate Imani Family Center imanifamilycenter.org - Photographer - Filmmaker Applied Information Resources AIR, Inc. enables people, organizations and governments to make well-informed decisions regarding policies, human services, and organizational change in response to changing needs and resources. 830 Main St #900, Cincinnati, OH 45202 513-381-4994 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 RICARDO TAYLOR (Continued from page 12) selves in the dilemma of a supposed survival! Thus unhealthy lifestyles become a necessity for fitting in, or for, STREET VOICE creating that place of comfort, which brings about ease/escape. The reality is ‘I must survive at any cost.’ When living in despair, hopes are rare. Life is lived by the moment; no future, no past, every thought, every Crying Rain Looking out the window The rain is falling hard, and fast 13 act is predicated on the now. Too, often the reality becomes flawed, and the individual gets lost in supposed needs. We get lost in the idea of doing what we “gotta do” when the truth is we ‘need to do what we need to do’! A simple line, with even simpler choices; we find ourselves standing on the edge. Needing to maintain a perceived status we neglect the true necessities of a long and healthy life. Life’s major maintenance schemes become secondary. ‘I don’t have time to sit in the doctors’ office; I don’t have time to worry about safety concerns, I need to take the chance! ‘It’s now or never’, ‘I gotta have what I gotta have!’ Always on the edge, treading forward without direction or concern for any, as long as you can teeter without slipping into an abyss you believe you are heading in the right direction, that path which will lead you forward in your struggles. For many it’s the plight of life, that for which they exist, their very essence is right on the edge! ------------------------ There are intervals of thunder Slashing ever so often INTOXICATION And then it suddenly stops Until the next thunder slash appears Intoxication is being drunk if only for a little while It lets you know that God is, near Intoxication can become a bad habit with a crooked smile So take heed Being high and drunk all alone really makes no sense Listen to his might Because thunder and rain, Will, be coming KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer Being homeless, a panhandler and a drunk can be a bad defense The fear of not knowing what your next move can possibly be Can be intoxicating without a drink, please believe me The fear of failure constantly day in and day out Can be an eye opener to a drunk to make a change, no doubt Once you realize that there is another way to live everyday To work, maintain your money and eventually find a place to stay Things start to fall in order for you surely but slowly As you start to make a change in your life ever so boldly Intoxicating thoughts will no longer be able to hold you back Understanding that with the help of God you can get your life on track So don’t stay intoxicated by the fears of the world today Go to church, read the bible and get on your knees and pray! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer FAT CATS RULE Most pundits are more than willing to bet, 2016 will be the most costly campaign yet. Citizens United has opened up a floodgate, And Fat Cats dole out dollars at a record rate. Sheldon Adelson and those brothers Koch Dispense their millions - and that's no joke! Hillary claims that she will need one-billion, And Congressional races may cost a zillion. And what about billionaire Donald Trump? How much moola does he plan to dump? BILL WOODS Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 102 Across 1. At that time 5. Slide without control 9. Singing voice 13. An actor's portrayal 14. Internal 16. Prevaricator 17. Translucent mineral 18. Female relative 19. Edible flatfish 20. Taut or rigid 22. Brass instrument 24. Peculiar 26. Group of three singers 27. Amiable 30. Male feline 35. Mongrel 36. Delicacy 39. Flashlight 40. Charter 42. Religious doctrine 44. Whittle 45. Embellish 47. Commence 49. Liveliness 50. Panic 52. Sent via the postal service 54. Bird shelter 57. An argument in favor of 58. Selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas 62. Bird of prey 66. Certain 67. Excluded from use or mention 69. Stomped heavily 70. Region 71. Edible bulb 72. Female red deer 73. Garment 74. A meeting arranged in advance 75. Jittery Down 1. A slow pace of running 2. Be optimistic 3. Zeal 4. Wrestling hold, can be half or full 5. Transgression 6. Create with needles and wool 7. Torpid 8. Interior layout and furnishings 9. In addition 10. Large predatory feline 11. Story 12. Metal-bearing mineral 15. Send money in payment 21. Redact 23. Item of footwear 25. Move with sudden speed 27. Usher 28. Mistake 29. Fermentation sediment of an alcoholic beverage 31. Swab 32. Have a great desire for 33. Strong and sharp 34. Those people 35. Informal conversation 37. Colony insect 38. Squad 41. Wander from a direct course 43. Snare 46. Not any 48. Become fatigued 51. Right-hand page 53. Abhor 55. Support or foundation 56. Shinbone 58. Monetary unit 59. Ship's company 60. Containing little excess 61. Water hen 63. Power system 64. Yearn 65. Miniature whirlpool 66. Droop 68. Single person or thing SODOKU PUZZLE NO 232 - MEDIUM PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 332 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 101 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 231 - MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 333 | Ju ly 1 - J u ly 1 4 , 2 0 1 6 Shelter: Women and Children Central Access Point Bethany House 381-SAFE 557-2873 1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road, Cinti, OH 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224 Mercy Franciscan at St. John 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Salvation Army 131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter Shelter: Men City Gospel Mission 1805 Dalton Avenue, Cinti, OH 45214 Shelterhouse St. Francis Soup Kitchen Churches Active in Northside 981-5800 4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 762-5660 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 4600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 St. Vincent de Paul 241-5525 2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205 Lighthouse on Highland (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave Cincinnati, OH 45219 569-9500 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 First Step Home 114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 2401-, 2411 Reading Rd, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 2401 Reading Road, Cinti, Ohio 45202 VA VA Homeless Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry Mercy Franciscan at St. John 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline CCAT 351-0422 381-6672 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 221-HELP 721-8666 977-6800 859-572-6226 421-0065 Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center Faces Without Places Stop AIDS Center for Respite Care Goodwill industries Healing Connections Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Mary Magdalen House People Working Cooperatively The Caring Place Talbert House United Way Women Helping Women Off The Streets St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 421-2437 621-1868 Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229 $100 for 26 issues $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 381-0111 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 721-4700 421-7803 621-5514 215 E. 14th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Northern Kentucky Health 621-5300 981-5800 1308 Race St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Advocacy 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 241-2600 241-2563 Peaslee Neighborhood Center Hamilton/Middletown 1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 768-6907 Center Independent Living Options Emmanuel Community Center Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center 961-4555 381-1954 421-5211 351-3500 977-4489 Other Resources 1223 Main St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave Cincinnati, OH 45220 961-4080 Talbert House Tender Mercies 961-2256 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women 1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237 CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing 562-8841 784-1853 Starting Over 381-2247 5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 661-4620 Crossroad Health Center NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 2825 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219 271-5501 1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214 721-0643 961-0600 Cincinnati Health Network Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 352-6364 McMicken Dental Clinic 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti 352-6363 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Mercy Franciscan at St. John 981-5800 621-6364 241-1064 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 872-9259 961-1983 535-2719 591-2246 FreeStore/FoodBank Shelter: Both Housing: OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206 1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Parkway Center 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry Our Daily Bread 411 Gest St. Cinti, Ohio 45203 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 15 for 26 issues and a $50 donation 771-4800 751-0600 579-8547 721-4811 351-7921 631-1114 751-7747 211 977-5541 421-5211 981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 859-491-3335 859-572-6202 �16 S July 1 - July 14, 2016 | No. 333 treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2016 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource July 1-July 14, 2016 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director The Role of the News Media in a Democracy Pg 3: Is It too Late for Over-the-Rhine to be a Mixed-Income Neighborhood? Reclaim Your Queer! Pg 4: Meet Up with Wendell Young Is Music Hall Safe? Pg 5: Breaking the Issue Attention Cycle Pg 6: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 7: Did Hiroshima Prevent WWIII? Pg 8: Photo Essay Pg 9: Photo Essay Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Breaking the Trance Poland’s Constitutional Problem is About to Become a Human Rights Problem Pg 12: Street Life Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1-July 14, 2016 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Johnathan Diskin Thomas A. Dutton James C. Fraser Key Beck Camri Nelson Justin jeffre Jim Debrosse Dr. Mark Mussman Michael Earl Patton Steve Sunderland Peter Kobak Ricardo Taylor Willa Denise Jones Kim Green Cynthia Zulla Angela Ginty Lukasz Katlewa Aimee Willhoite Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Aimee Willhoite Angela Ginty Bill Woods Camri Nelson Cincinnati Cynthia Zulla Democracy Dr. Mark Mussman Gay Pride GCHC Hiroshima Human Rights James C. Fraser Jim Debrosse Johnathan Diskin Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Key Beck Kim Green LGBTQ+ Lukasz Katlewa Michael Earl Patton Music Hall Over-the-Rhine Peter Kobak Photography Poland Ricardo Taylor Steve Sunderland Street Life Thomas A. Dutton Wendell Young Willa Denise Jones WWIII