27 10 291 https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/f717316b1f90d7d0c6dadee81def3f48.pdf 747d65500d11930206d7f6d7c232b00c PDF Text Text S e p t e m b e r 1 9 t h - O c t o b e r 3 r d 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 1 8 ( N o . 4 1 5 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. ispanic H Heritage Month Special Edition This Issue is sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N o v 219 - N v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 416 393 Sept - oOct 3, 22019 From The Editor: Spotlighting The Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief The Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center (CIWC) an organization located at Peaslee Neighborhood Center and has been up and running since 2005. Their goal is to, according to their website, “give low-income workers from all walks of life the opportunity to creatively challenge the power 
relationships with their employers and improve their 
working terms and conditions.” They strive to build community and give them the “tools and support they need to transform their workplaces.” With a staff on only three people, this organization is still seen as an important part of the Cincinnati community. One of their major projects at the moment and in the past years is educating workers through Safety Now For All. In the United States, workplace injuries are going down in the general population, but within the Latinx community injuries are actually going up. Many companies provide job safety courses, but rarely are there any available in Spanish. Safety Now For All works to provide those valuable resources for Spanish speaking workers. Right now, centerpiece is construction. High paying construction jobs are not accessible for Spanish speakers because of the ten-hour OSHA training that is needed. If the worker gets a translator, that training 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com requirement goes up to 20 hours because of the assumption that it takes twice the time to get the same training done with a translator in the middle. That is obviously ridiculous and the CIWC agrees. Part of their mission is to provide a 10-hour OSHA training once a month in Spanish, the key to unlocking higher paying jobs. Workers union leaders can easily find out when that training is, and send their union to this resource. Individuals who are not a part of a union can also join in on the sessions. Another way the CIWC is involved in the Latinx community is through Unidos Ganamos. President Trump in reality is deporting fewer people than Obama, but still is creating a higher level of fear and hate within the Latinx population along with other minorities. Something that the CIWC believes is helpful in alleviating some of that fear is the ability to prepare. Similar to having a home evacuation plan in case of a fire might give you peace of mind, the CIWC wants to help those in fear of deportation regain the sense of control in their lives. Their hope is that other organizations that have community members that are vulnerable to the threat of deportation will come to the CIWC’s sessions. They want to create a culture of commitment within those organizations and communities that says, “One of our community members won’t get deported without a fight.” However, the CIWC made it clear that they will not force this sort of campaign on anyone. If a campaign is necessary to keep you with your family that is what the center will help you do, but if you don’t want to be in the center of any sort of battle the center will support you through that as well. That is a common theme that can be seen throughout all the projects the CIWC has. They want to provide resources to vulnerable and underrepresented communities, not be saviors. They don’t want people to sit and wait for superman, because he isn’t coming. The CIWC does not only provide communities with tools that they are often systemically and institutionally denied, but they also want to provide empowerment by cultivating a movement to fight your own fights in solidarity with others. One of the main ways to do so is by providing vital education, whether it be The CIWC from left to right: Magda Orlander, Brennan Grayson, Manuel Perez in English or in Spanish. 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. S THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Tony Inglis, Sarah Hansell, Erick Stoll, Carmen Arroyo, Dr. Mark Mussman, Robert T. Walker, Emilio Godoy, Bobby Morris, Kim Green ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 39 3 |- N ov 23, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Sept 19 Oct 2019 | No. 416 3 HOMELESSNESS Introducing Peatón - Peru’s first street paper Tony Inglis Peatón L ast weekend (Friday 5 July) marked the first time a street paper was sold on the streets of Peru. Peatón [or “pedestrian” – that is, someone who walks on the street – which is subtitled with “deambulando y creando”, meaning “wandering and creating”] is a brand new publication which seeks to empower homeless and unemployed individuals in Peru to earn an income. Bought by vendors for 1.95 nuevos soles [around 50p] and sold to readers for 4 nuevos soles [about £1], Peatón is a bimonthly street paper, and can be found in the north-western Peruvian city of Piura, the hometown of its founder, Jorge Ledesma. Ledesma tells INSP that, even though he was initially unaware of the street paper movement, he fell in love with the idea once he came across it. “It started last year when I had to quit my job and started taking photographs, which I found therapeutic,” says Ledesma. “I was an amateur photographer, but I decided I wanted to study the art more seriously. One day, I went out with a class to walk the streets of downtown Lima [Peru’s capital]. We stumbled upon the reality of homeless people living on the streets around the city. Others in the group were taking pictures and even posting them to social media. I was very frustrated with this. It seemed like a breach of their privacy and wrong to just take photos simply for likes.” Ledesma explains that, soon after, he was scrolling through his Twitter timeline and came across the story of a young Argentinian girl who was in a desperate situation, due to a lack of housing and work, and was looking for help. “It was [Argentinian street paper] Hecho en Bs. As. that gave her a quick response to her problem,” explains Ledesma. “I was immediately interested in investigating more about the work of street papers. I had been thinking about creating a magazine for my pictures, though not necessarily a street paper. When I saw this, I fell in love with the [street paper] project – it was love at first sight.” Now, that initial spark has become a reality. Working with a friend and colleague, Mahira Vásquez, Ledesma has been talking with those living on the streets of Piura since March about becoming vendors. Sales of the street paper kicked off at the weekend with its first two vendors: Olga and Eremia. Each was initially given five free copies to sell. “Olga has been living on the streets for 20 years,” says Ledesma. “She has no parents or family, and is well known in the city. Selling Peatón was the first time that she had been able to earn money without begging.” Peatón was set up in Piura mainly out of convenience for Ledesma, who is devoting all his time and energy to creating the publication and recruiting vendors. But his vision for the magazine is wider. “We decided that those who will benefit from Peatón won’t just be those experiencing homelessness, but also those struggling to find a job. We are lucky in Piura that there isn’t as much of a problem with homelessness as in other Peruvian cities, like Lima. I hope that the project will eventually be replicated there.” Content-wise, Peatón is an incredibly visual street paper, including vivid art and photographs about the local surroundings. Ledesma pays tribute to Mexico’s Mi Valedor, which he says is the “street paper that most influences us in our style and resources”. Ledesma is working with communications students at the local university to create articles, stories, poetry and other content for future editions of the magazine. Ledesma also paid special tribute to Fernando Vidal, editor-in-chief of Uruguayan street paper Factor S, who, suddenly and unexpectedly, passed away in April. Fernando had been intimately involved in assisting Ledesma with getting Peatón started, which is testament to his kindness, and his passion for street papers and their continued existence and sustainability in Latin America. “I want to emphasise the help we had from Fernando. Across all the months leading up to the release of the magazine, he helped us a lot – more than a lot – to make this project a reality,” says Ledesma. Thanks to Fernando, Peatón was invited to a meeting of organisations in Latin America working to end homelessness, held in Santiago, Chile. The first issue of Peatón THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED This also opened Ledesma’s eyes to the issue of homelessness in Peru, and how little available information there is about it. “When we went to Santiago, we did in-depth research on homelessness in Peru. We couldn’t find any concrete numbers – it was very frustrating. “We found that there are some programmes that provide assistance to homeless people, but I think the government knows this is not enough. Corruption in Latin American countries is very big, and the street situation is not really on the agenda. I don’t want to criticise welfare support, but it’s not the solution. There are no government models in Peru that give people the chance to earn an income.” Now a member of INSP, Peatón is able to benefit from the network’s shared knowledge and resources and INSP’s array of member services which, Ledesma says, have already been vital. “It is a blessing to be a part of the network,” he says. “It’s an honour to be involved in this international movement, and without INSP’s resources, we wouldn’t have been able to make the paper.” After a tough year for Ledesma personally, he is feeling rejuvenated by Peatón, which he has thrown his whole weight behind making a success, and hopes that it will, in turn, help others too. “After a difficult time, creating the street paper has become my life project. What it does for others [by providing an income] will just be a way for me to give back. Peatón, literally, saved my life.” Courtesy of INSP.ngo �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED NSept o v 2 19 - N-oOct v 19,3, 2 2019 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 416 �NSept o. 3919 3 | -NOct ov 2 3, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 | No. 416 5 U.S NEWS Mental health is not just “a white person thing” Sarah Hansell Street Roots D ior Vargas is a Latina feminist mental health activist whose work has appeared in publications such as Forbes, Newsweek and The Guardian, and whose many awards include her being named the White House Champion of Change for Disability Advocacy Across Generations. But in 2014, before any of this, she was searching for a way to be more active in mental health advocacy, which was something that she related to deeply as a result of being the survivor of multiple suicide attempts made while she was a child and young adult. Vargas began doing online research on mental health and she found image after image of white people, especially white women, looking sad and overwhelmed. “I thought, I live with mental illness, but I’m not like that all the time, and I don’t want people to think that’s how I feel all the time,” Vargas says. “It is a reality for a lot of people, but again, there weren’t people from my community that I saw in those images and articles.” Vargas wanted to create a space that showed a different reality; one that showed that mental illnesses were not just a “white person thing”, as she had been raised to believe. And with that, the People of Color and Mental Illness Photo Project was born. The first photo featured in the project’s work is one of Vargas holding a piece of cardboard that reads: “My name is Dior Vargas and I have major depressive disorder.” From there, the photos flooded in – of people of color holding pieces of paper proclaiming their name and mental illness. Vargas visited Portland in September, where she joined 10 other women speaking at Grit and Grace Multicultural Women’s Health Conference. The Sept. 28 event, put on by ASHA International, looked at mental health issues through a genderspecific lens and sought to “inspire, educate and empower women to take charge of their mental health and cultivate resilience and well-being”, according to the organization’s website. At the event, the women shared their personal experiences, as well as discussing studies on mental health topics such as living with bipolar disorder, the impact of displacement on mental health, and the role of hormones in mental health. Street Roots: How do you think your photo project helps subvert stigma about mental health in communities of color? Dior Vargas: I think it’s helpful because it gave people an opportunity to really think about their experience with mental illness, to see other people that looked like them, and find a point of relation. For example, if someone wrote on their sign, “I have seen therapists and they weren’t understanding of my identity or my culture and it made it hard to go back, and it didn’t make my experience fulfilling,” to be able to see that and say, “Oh my God, I went through the same thing.” It made people feel like they weren’t alone, both the people who were in the project and also people who just happened to see the project, who used the link to discuss these issues online and also to discuss the issues with friends and, I think even more importantly, their family members. I think it was something that wasn’t really discussed, especially given the idea that mental illness was seen as a white person thing. So being able to show that link to their family members and say, “Hey, we may think that it’s a white person thing, but there are so many people via this link that can say otherwise.” So it’s a way for them to start the conversation, to start thinking differently about this topic and, finally, to kind of find their voice and create their own narrative when it comes to this experience. There’s some pretty alarming statistics out there in terms of mental health and communities of color, such as Latina teens having a high rate of suicide attempts in the United States. Why do you think that rate is so high? I think there are many things at play when it comes to that. I think being a Latina – where you are kind of experiencing a border culture, where you grew up in a family that might be very traditional, very set in their cultural norms, and very communityand family-oriented – and then you’re living in, let’s say, the United States, or for me, New York, it can be challenging. The United States can be very individualistic: there is this idea that you have to take care of yourself and you pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. There are all these ideas when it comes to the United States that are, I think, at odds with communities of color and their cultures. Especially for the Latino community, where everything is about family and family comes first, and there’s not much room for independence. Basically, everything you do is through the context of your family. So, to be at odds with both of those cultures and wanting to be your own person and be independent – but also feeling like being independent is at the cost of you being a good family member or being a good daughter – can be really hard. There’s also just the idea that if you’re a woman in the Latino community, there are these really strict guidelines: there are these cultural ideas and cultural norms that are placed upon you. You have to be ladylike, or you have to look a certain way, or you have to behave a certain way. There are a lot of things when it comes to appearances. If you’re not portraying yourself in the best light, it reflects on your family and your upbringing. Having all those things at play – especially when it comes to mothers and daughters – can be a very complicated relationship. It’s often the experience of women in Latina families that they may not be able to be their true selves. That really has an impact on family relationships. All of those things really impact on one’s experience and just wanting to kind of escape from that – just feeling so overwhelmed and depressed and sad and not seeing an out – I think that’s what can lead to attempted suicide. We know that lack of insurance and language issues are barriers that prevent communities of color from accessing mental health services. What other barriers do you see, or have you yourself experienced, when it comes to accessing services or support for mental health for members of communities of color? It’s one thing to not have access to insurance to get the care you need. But then there are some individuals who do have access, in that they’re able to make an appointment, but what happens during that appointment? I mentioned an example about going to a therapist and not getting adequate care in the sense that, for the whole session, you end up talking about your culture as a way to educate the therapist so they can treat you, when really that’s something a therapist should be doing on their own. I think also racism can be a huge part of it… specifically for AfricanAmericans. Because of racism, health professionals are more likely to more severely diagnose them because of their idea of, let’s say, African-American men being violent. Racial bias can really affect how professionals treat their patients. Also, there’s societal stigma, and community and family stigma. [When it comes to] the idea of seeking help, a lot of times people see it as a sign of weakness: if you can’t take care of your THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Photo by Norman Jean Roy own issue, then you need help, and people see therapy as complaining to someone. There are a lot of ideas that are behind therapy where they think if you can’t solve your own problems, you’re weak and you should keep those issues at home and not talk to a complete stranger. And then things like immigration status come into play. A lot of people are undocumented. They’re afraid if they do seek the help that they really need, they’ll be deported. There are so many things at play that prevent people from getting the help they need before they even go to the doctor’s office. There are also some pretty alarming statistics for women in general, such as women being much more likely than men to experience depression. What comes to mind as to what can be done differently to protect and support young women, especially young women of color? [I’m thinking about] domestic violence and how that has an impact on a woman’s health. I’m also thinking about societal norms and how women are supposed to behave and how they might feel trapped [in terms of the fact that] they are in this very narrow “box” of how they should be. In terms of how to address that, there needs to be better support of women. There needs to be a change in the way people think about women and mental health. A lot of times people will dismiss women and say that they’re crazy or they’re dramatic. Basically, such women just feel shut down. If they’re automatically pigeonholed into this idea that they are emotional and that their emotions take over things in a negative way, it’s hard for them to feel like their needs are being respected or taken seriously. I think there need to be multiple forms of support in order for women to be able to express those feelings. Courtesy of Street Roots / INSP.ngo �LOCAL 6 NSept o v 2 19 - N -o vOct 19,3, 20 18 | |NNo. o . 393 2019 416 A Warning To Political Activists - A Need To Pay Attention To A News Media Both Under Attack And In Decline Bill Woods Contributing Writer Citizens who are concerned about the democratic process in this country need to be worried about the ways people now receive their information about government and politics. Furthermore, they also should be concerned about President Trump's attacks on the news media and his efforts to portray as fraudulent any reporting that is critical of him or his Administration. Founding Fathers such as Thomas Jefferson wrote about the importance of a free press as an institution necessary to keep government accountable to citizens. On the contrary, Trump has labeled the news media as "public enemy number one," and he constantly calls "fake news" any article or on-air report that presents a factual case that fails to portray his Administration in a favorable light. This almost daily effort by the Administration to discredit professional journalists and the news media in general comes at a time of transition and decline for traditional sources of news. In the last fifty years, the number of daily newspapers keeping us informed has shrunk dramatically, and many that still exist have reduced their size and content. Furthermore, national news magazines such as Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and Time have folded or ceased publishing on a weekly basis. At one point, this decline of print journalism could be blamed on television, but today, fewer and fewer people watch nightly TV-news. For a number of years, however, the news hour, 6:00 to 7:00P.M, was a major source of information about national and world events for a majority of Americans. People with different views and political persuasions shared the same news as it was translated by NBC, CBS and ABC. Americans heard and generally accepted the same set of facts even if they differed about how these facts should be addressed by governments or other institutions. This common sharing of facts and trust for the broadcasters and writers of these facts was hugely beneficial in a large nation made up of diverse people and views. This is a factor that is largely missing from U.S. society today. The trend in recent times is to treat especially television news as entertainment. A second trend is to market programs that feature government and political coverage to viewers or listeners with a particular bias rather than to the general public. Thus the emergence of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and MSNBC. These outlets package the news to cater to liberal, conservative, and right wing audiences. Straight factual reporting makes way for packaging facts to fit a particular point of view. Part of this trend is conservative talk radio. These stations, which are proliferating across the country, use the format of a local call in program where listeners offer their views. These programs are usually emceed by a "no nonsense" white male who mocks "political correctness" while showing distaste for most domestic spending by government. These stations offer a pro-white, antiintellectual, grassroots conservatism on a daily basis. In the long run, the explosion of social media has probably done the greatest damage to the retention of a healthy news media that is trusted and used by a large general audience. From Face Book, Twitter Accounts, and a host of specialized Web sites, people pass along their opinions and biases without ever having their facts checked or confronting a well argued opposite opinion. Recent studies have documented how racism, white nationalism, and violent rhetoric have flourished on various sites. At best, social media as used by average people does not encourage fact-based renderings of what is happening in the nation or the world. This article has not painted a very healthy picture of the news media in the U.S. What positive examples still exist? National Public Radio (NPR) provides in-depth, unbiased, and diverse national and world news every day (as does Public Television). People who read The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, or U.S.A. Today on a regular basis obtain a solid groundwork to know what is going on in government and politics. In most large cities, residents have at least one daily newspaper, but these publications range widely in terms of quality. Usually these existing newspapers also have online versions. In addition, weekly and bi-weekly publications such as City Beat, The Business Courier, and StreetVibes have emerged in many cities. These new ventures provide their limited readerships with more information about certain issues that are not covered regularly or in any depth by daily papers like The Cincinnati Enquirer or local TV-news. For instance, StreetVibes, keeps readers informed about homelessness, affordable housing, and other social and political justice issues. This article seeks not to depress readers, but to offer an overview of what political reformers are up against at a time when many people are not on the same wavelength in terms of the news they receive. Every effort must be made to preserve those reliable and credible news sources that still exist. Publications, programs, and individual journalists working to provide unbiased, fact based, in-depth news must be supported and protected from attacks to discredit them. Further, creative minds need to tackle the challenge of how to create a 21st Century equivalent of news resources that will bring us together on critical issues such as climate change that can only be addressed by "we the people." Criminalization of Existence Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer Last night, as I was preparing dinner, I heard police sirens outside of my window. My neighbors were celebrating a birthday behind their building, away from the street — dancing, playing cards, socializing, and watching the children play. It was a joyous occasion, with Stevie Wonder’s birthday tribute to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr playing over the speaker. The police cruiser’s lights create a sort of disco atmosphere along Republic Street, and the party turned the music down briefly. Shouts of “Fuck the police” start to fill the air, and the music goes back on. The police officer tries to reason with them, “Could you please turn the music down?” and the party continues. Moments later, a neighbor from another building goes to throw their trash away, less than three feet from the police cruiser, my muscles tense up. What if they decide to take it out on this random neighbor? The police cruiser moves a couple of times during these few tense moments, and eventually heads down Republic while the party continues. Did someone complain about the music, or did the police, who have a constant presence on Republic Street, take it upon themselves to try to break up the party? At 8pm? On a Sunday? All of the sudden, a simple party becomes criminalized and the relations between the police and the citizens become strained. Eventually, the police come back and enter private property to force them to end the party. The criminalization of existence has been a common thread in American history. Obvious examples include the institution of slavery followed by Black Codes, Jim Crow, and Mass Incarceration. Anti-sodomy laws that were unlawfully only applied to people in certain relationships, and the criminalization of the Islamic Faith that is seen at airports and traffic stops across the country, are other ways in which someone’s identity has been criminalized in this country. We also see this with homelessness — whereas people who are only trying to survive, are thrown into jail, even just briefly, to create a criminal record. And with the 13th Amendment’s loophole on slavery, we continue to enslave people in our prisons, even making your license plate for 21 cents an hour. We currently have a unique THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED criminalization occurring across our country as people of Hispanic and Latino backgrounds are being criminalized and even stripped of their citizenship. Changes in the way the government is structured, stemming from the beginning of the War on Terror, have made it easier for the government to criminalize the existence of people who contribute massively to our country, while leaving them unsure of their future status here. Just like in gentrification, where the two types, direct and indirect, destabilize a community, we have a destabilization of the Hispanic and Latino communities. People are being directly deported, having their citizen called into question, and even recently starting to revoke birth certificates of people born near the border of Mexico, before deporting them to a country �NSept o. 39 19 3 |N ov 2 -3, N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 - Oct | No. 416 they never knew. People are also being indirectly terrorized, wondering what the future looks like, and if the future in this country is even plausible, as the social network is broken down. Indirect gentrification erodes the social connections that someone has in their community - all of the things that make it their community are gone, so why stay here? When your family and friends have been deported, when the industries are forced to go underground, and the threat of ICE looms over you every day, why would you try to stay in this place, whether you are a citizen or not? The massive loss this represents to all Americans in the States may never be quantified in monetary terms, but the loss it represents for our culture is shocking. It is said that people from Mexico did not cross the border, but the border LOCAL crossed them. When the US stole the land from Mexico, people had been living there for thousands of years. We imposed new cultures and ideals upon the people living there without their consent. It was done by force. And today, we continue to use force through ICE and the police to impose certain values, certain middle class white values, upon the many cultures that exist in the country. The problem is, no matter how hard you push your white middle class values on people in non-white communities, they will never become white. White supremacy, even as fallacious as it is, ensures a certain type of inequity that cannot be reduced in a capitalistic world where certain needed labor is undervalued, and labor that serves only the wealthy is privileged. A permanent economic underclass is ensured by a police state. Now, ICE is claiming that they don’t need warrants to enter people’s homes, and that they are authorized to violate certain civil rights. Isn’t it ironic that an organization, ICE, that was created less than 20 years ago, is able to shirk civil rights laws and act like a terrorist organization themselves. In the War on Terror, ICE has become the chief mechanism of creating terror in the United States. Anywhere that is near any border, ICE has stepped up its raids and reign of terror. Even as close as Columbus, Ohio, ICE is operating random searches. Even as close as Butler County and Burlington Kentucky, ICE has detention facilities which coordinate with local agencies, such as the Hamilton County Sheriff. There is another ICE office in Blue Ash, just minutes from Cincinnati. Now matter what you feel about 7 immigration, the very thing on which America was built, you have to question if the creation of Homeland Security and ICE (as it functions today) has been an appropriate response to the events of September 11, 2001. Have the massive deportations under the Obama administration, the family separation under the Trump administration, the stripping of citizenship for only nonwhite citizens, made you and your family safer? Even more pressing, has it decreased or increased the liklihood of terrorism, the main enemy in the so-called War on Terror? As with most criminalization, it does nothing but create barriers for people who are otherwise trying to live an honest life in a totally dishonest system. América: A Film Erick Stoll Contributing Writer F rom the raising of children, to caring for elders and people with disabilities, so called “care work”, whether paid or unpaid, isn’t just a vital, under-appreciated part of our economy—it is the backbone of society. Indeed, without people to watch and nurture children, or to care for us when we are sick, how could millions of workers go to work each day? And, beyond work and the economy, what would our quality of life be without the care we receive—and give? I had given very little thought to these questions when I began to work on América, a feature-length documentary that will show locally in October as part of the Over-TheRhine International Film Festival. The film, which I co-directed with fellow Ohioian Chase Whiteside, follows three brothers in Colima, Mexico as they unite to care for their 93 year-old grandmother América after their father was thrown in jail under accusations of neglecting her. For three years I witnessed joy and struggle as Diego, Bruno, and Rodrigo worked together to provide for América’s needs in the absence of meaningful state support. This was further exacerbated by their dad’s incarceration. In both United States and Mexico, poor families are criminalized for lacking the resources to care for their loved ones. Like many families in similar situations, questions of money, division of labor, and obligation weighed heavily on the brothers. Does caring for América count as work, or is real work only that which is paid? Are the brothers obliged to care for América, or should they have other options? Does América receive the care she deserves in the absence of professional support and an adequate pension? Nearly everyone will both give and receive care throughout their lives. But few will be celebrated in a documentary film for their efforts. Though the brothers deserve enormous credit for the energy and tenderness they brought to América, there are countless millions whose work as caregivers goes unseen and undervalued. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine work more essential to human life than caregiving, and yet this labor is commonly unpaid or underpaid. It is also work typically performed by women, especially immigrant women and women of color, who are sometimes imagined to be “natural” caregivers. We reject this sexist, racist premise! The in the form of health insurance and paid family leave or with robust public investments in education and welfare. In the 1970s, socialist feminists attacked this dynamic head on with the Wages For Housework campaign, demanding compensation for the domestic work that makes it possible for workers to go to work clothed and fed day after day. On one level they were demanding that their work be valued, but more profoundly they were attacking the very foundations of wage labor. Today, stretched by hyperexploitation in the work place and cuts to public services, families and communities face a crisis of care. The fall of real wages in recent decades has made it difficult to support a family and we stand with the movements of care workers, mothers, elderly people and people with disabilities fighting for universal and comprehensive care coverage that decommodifies care, expands options for people needing care and their families, and provides a living wage and basic protections for care workers. América is the story of three brothers who come together to care for their grandmother. Though in its domestic intimacy it may seem far removed from the politics of care, it was a yawning lack of social support which brought them together in the first place, and which also birthed the stressors that tore them apart. As viewers watch Diego and his brothers struggle to give the best care possible to América, we A still image from the film América brothers in our film demonstrate that anyone – even twenty-something circus artists – can find value and dignity in care work. Whether society reflects the importance of care work is another question. Despite relying on caregivers to raise the next generation of workers and keep current workers healthy, big business has always been reluctant to pay for their contribution, whether on a single income, forcing traditional caregivers to seek work outside the home. Family and friends who can step in sacrifice their own wellbeing to do so, and paid caregivers toil for low wages without basic workplace protections. High quality care is available only to those who can afford to pay for it, and most of us are left with few options. We believe everyone is entitled to high quality care, regardless of income, THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED hope they will be inspired to imagine a society that regards caregiving as the essential life-giving work that it is. América will show at the Contemporary Art Center on October 3rd and 6th, as part of the OTR International Film Festival, and broadcast nationwide on PBS on October 7th. For more information, visit www.americadocumentary.com �FEATURED 8 NSept o v 2 19 - N-oOct v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 3,22019 No. 416 12 Years Behind a Stove—An Undocumented Immigrant in New York City Photo by Daniel Lozano ValdÈs on Unsplash Carmen Arroyo Inter Press Service One chilly afternoon in November 2005, Hilarino came by Pedro’s house in Oaxaca, Mexico, driving a shiny red car. “Pedro!” he shouted, “We are leaving in March. There is a route North to the U.S. that passes along the sea.” Pedro was thrilled. “I saw him with that car and I thought ‘there’s money up there. At least a lot of jobs.’” Pedro shook Hilarino’s hand, went back inside and told his wife Camila he was leaving the country. He was headed to the United States of America. Twelve years after he initially crossed the border as a mojado, a wetback, Pedro cooks at a deli in Upper Manhattan. He is one of the 775,000 undocumented immigrants estimated to be living in the state of New York in 2018. Like most migrants, he left his family behind and came to the U.S. dreaming of success. But mostly, he dreamt of happiness. And like many of them, he is still looking for it. Today, Pedro throws food on the grill like a pitcher in the final round of a baseball game—same speed, same accuracy. He also prepares sandwiches, spreads cream cheese on bagels, and sometimes cooks burgers and steaks. He always adds some spices to his cooking: chili powder, cumin, and garlic. From Monday to Saturday, he stands behind the stove for 8 hours, and talks to his colleagues about their families and their weekends. They’re almost all Mexican and crossed the border by foot. Samuel, Pedro’s closest friend at the deli, crossed in 1999, when he was 15 years old. Now he is married and has three kids. His other friends at the deli, Jose, Lupe and Juana, had a similar fate. They live with their families in the U.S. During his shift, Pedro’s dark, straight hair is covered under a white cloth that resembles a chef ’s hat. When you ask for a turkey sandwich after 10pm, Pedro peers over the counter, overcoming his 5-foot 2-inch height, curious to see who’s buying. I met them—Samuel, Juana, Jose, Lupe and Pedro—when I moved to New York in 2017. They love Spanishspeakers that go to the deli. Being from Spain, I fit right in. “How’s school?” asks Lupe when I tell her I attend Columbia University. “What do you study? Be careful!” Pedro fears Donald Trump, “he’s not good for immigrants, he’s just rich.” He loves Mexico’s presidentelect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), “he has great ideas, he’s really going to make a difference.” Pedro supported Hillary in 2016. “She said she would help us out.” “Are you a Democrat?” I ask him. He looks at Samuel, they laugh, and reply simultaneously: “You could say so.” Up until the time Pedro was 23 years old, he had lived in Oaxaca all of his life. He worked for four years as a police officer in his hometown. His job paid enough to provide for Camila and their three-year old daughter, but not enough to own land, launch a business, or do anything aside from surviving. Pedro was tired. His job was dangerous and boring. “If I’d stayed, I doubt I’d be alive.” He never knew when the narcos [drug dealers] would bribe the officers or would kill them out of spite. “I was going crazy,” he explains over coffee. In September 2005, his childhood friend who lived in California, Hilarino, phoned him. “I’m coming back for you, Pedro.” “I was so excited, híjole. You can’t imagine,” sighs Pedro. That same night, he told his pregnant wife he was leaving. Camila shook her head. “You are lying.” Pedro remained silent, finished his frijoles, kissed his wife good night, and went to sleep. Hilarino returned to Mexico in November 2005 when Pedro’s wife had just given birth to a second girl. Hilarino showed up at Pedro’s house in a new car and agreed to take a safe passage through the Gulf of California into Arizona. Pedro told Camila he was definitely leaving. She stared at him in silence, blaming him for the lonely years to come. But she didn’t quite believe him. “You have a job here,” barked Camila. “If you want to go, go. But you have a job here. Your family is here.” Pedro couldn’t hear her. At that time, happiness lay on the other side of the border. On the 28 February, 2006, Hilarino called Pedro. There was a way into the U.S. on 3 March. Pedro hung up, quit his job, and filled a small bag with dried tortillas and canned kidney beans. On the morning of the third, he woke up and left. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Camila begged him to stay. She cried, pointed at their daughters, and let her tears wet the tablecloth. But nothing could move Pedro. He was not going to let his feelings dictate his actions. “I hardened my heart. I already knew what I wanted,” he tells me in a confident voice, while he stirs his coffee. To this day, Camila mentions every time they fight, “you never cried for me when you left.” Pedro shrugs, and the abundance of his wrinkles becomes more apparent. Hilarino left his car with his parents in Oaxaca, and he joined Pedro and another 12 hopeful Mexicans—10 men, 2 women—on a bus ride from Oaxaca to the Arizona border. Leading them was a “coyote,” a smuggler who helps Mexicans get into the U.S. Since President Trump took office, coyotes have increased their rates. They now charge eye-popping fees—ranging from 8,000 to 12,000 dollars—to those looking to cross the border. Twelve years ago, Pedro paid only 1,300 dollars. After two days on the bus, they arrived at the frontier—1,800 miles away from home. They bought 4 gallons of water, Coke and Red Bulls in preparation for the driest journey of their lives. In a matter of hours, they became mojados—undocumented and unwanted. They had been loved, but now they felt tossed aside. They left their families behind and looked toward the future, towards happiness. The journey lasted four days. They walked at night and slept in the mornings to avoid the heat. “The first night I was so scared…Wow. Una caminada recia [A tough walk],” says Pedro, to attest to the length of the journey. “We hiked from 6pm to 5am. I didn’t even know where I was. Once you are inside the desert, you can deal with anything.” That first day was a nightmare. Pedro napped next to Hilarino. You don’t hear much in the desert, so his snores filled their moments of rest. Suddenly, one of the 14 migrants came running toward them carrying his shoes in his right hand. “La Migra, la Migra!” he shouted warning his colleagues of the Border Patrol Agents. “Oh my God, I was so scared,” Pedro recalls. They all started running, but the coyote called them back and calmed them down. “They won’t come here. Let’s just walk fast.” Pedro bursts into laughter, covering his mouth with his hands. “They didn’t get me. They didn’t get me! Thank God!!” Pedro mentions God once every five sentences. After a few seconds of doubt, he admits he is Catholic, but that he doesn’t go to Mass very often, nor do his friends Samuel or Jose. All of a sudden, he realises something: “She’s �N o. 3919 3 |-NOct ov 2 3, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Sept 2019 | No. 416 from Spain, don’t you see? Where do you think religion came from? From Spain!” Samuel nods convinced, and Pedro looks back at me with a satisfied smile. “The Argentinian Pope is a good person,” he adds. On the third day in the desert, they had run out of water. Pedro and Hilarino licked the remains of their empty water bottles, hoping for one more drop. One of the 14 fainted, so they carried him until they arrived in Phoenix, Arizona. They had walked 380 kilometres, more than 80 hours, eating only corn tortillas and kidney beans from a can. The coyote had arranged for a van to drive them out of Phoenix to Los Angeles, California. “He was a very good man. I’ve heard other stories. Kidnappings, killings. But this coyote did everything he promised he would do. He got the 14 of us to Los Angeles.” Nevertheless, insists Pedro, that was 2006. Now the story has changed. “The border is too dangerous. The narcos are everywhere. If you cross their territory, you become theirs.” The narcos are not the only problem for Hispanic immigrants in 2018. After President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act in October 2006, the government built 1,120 kilometres of fencing from San Diego to New Mexico, making it harder for immigrants to cross by foot. Now, with President Trump, the number of arrests by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has surged. Immigrants detained at the border are criminally prosecuted, and funding for Border Patrol Agents has increased. Pedro considers himself lucky to have come to the U.S. in early 2006, instead of today, with these increased challenges. Once in California, Hilarino and Pedro obtained fake IDs and looked for jobs. For the next six months, Pedro harvested pears, peaches, and kiwis alongside other Hispanics. Their salaries were 420 dollars per week. Pedro sent part of his earnings to Camila. But he hated the job. “It was too hard,” he remembers, rubbing his dry hands against each other. He also missed his family. “For the first three years, I could barely speak with them over the phone. I couldn’t see them.” Now, with Facebook, Facetime, and WhatsApp, they talk frequently. “The first time I saw them I cried so much. It was incredible,” he smiles again. But then he mumbles, “It’s still so hard. So hard, so hard.” Silvino, one of his colleagues at the plantation, suggested they go to Montgomery, Alabama, where he had been working earlier in the year. The job was in construction and the pay was higher, 600 dollars per week. Pedro quickly agreed and bid Hilarino farewell. Pedro paid 200 dollars to get to Montgomery, moved in with Silvino, and phoned Camila, as he did every time he traveled. The following day Pedro was working in construction, where he stayed for the next three months. By the end of November, winter took over Alabama and construction FEATURED work stopped. “There were no jobs, nothing I could do.” Pedro wanted to move again, when his wife called him. “My kids… They were sick. They had pneumonia.” He told Camila to use the savings he had left in Mexico for the doctor. Then he looked for someone to take him to New York, where he had a friend living on 125th Street. Silvino, as Camila and Hilarino before him, didn’t want Pedro to leave. But his pleas and promises of employment didn’t make a dent in Pedro’s resolution. He chased his future to New York. This time, he paid 400 dollars for a 17-hour ride. When he arrived to the city, it was snowing. “‘What is this?’ I asked. I had never seen snow before. I didn’t know what to do!” He laughs, making his almond-shaped eyes disappear. “I was in the Big Apple.” In New York, with its millions of inhabitants rushing to a job, a date, or a doctor’s appointment, he felt more at home than he had for the last nine months. The couple he knew at 125th Street fostered him in their home while he roamed the streets looking for a job. It was so cold that he didn’t look up to the skyscrapers, he just looked down as he trudged through the ice and snow. The next day, Jose, a Mexican friend of the couple, came over. “You don’t have a job, compadre? Let me talk to el patrón, he’ll have a job for you.” Pedro hadn’t picked up much English on his two previous jobs— everyone was Hispanic in the farming and construction industries. “What can you do?” asked Jose. “Anything,” replied Pedro. Jose called his boss, and Pedro started working at the deli that very night. After his three previous months in Alabama construction, he actually was ready for anything. For a month and a half, he worked as the handyman and delivery boy of the deli. For once, he finally felt happy: he enjoyed his friends, his children were healthy, and he liked New York. But the rhythm was too fast. “Here, everyone rushes. They work, work, work, every single day of the year. They are busy all the time. Over there, you have more time for family, for tradition.” He stops for a moment and adds: “Although I love turkey day.” “Thanksgiving?” I ask. “Yes, turkey day!!” he laughs. After a couple of months, he started looking for a new job. “It didn’t pay enough.” The deli’s kitchen needed a cook, so one of the Mexicans who worked behind the stove taught Pedro how to grill. “This is easy, Pedro. Try one hour per day, before your shift, you’ll become a cook.” Working at the kitchen was much better: He could learn English, and the salary was higher. Samuel, who works at the counter, advocated for Pedro in front of his boss. “I had never cooked before. In Mexico, my wife cooked, and I worked. I came home to a warm meal every day, as is tradition.” So when he got the job, he phoned Camila. “Don’t be sad,” she said. “We are doing well. Échale ganas.” Pedro did as she said and worked hard every day, and kept sending money back to his family. Two years in, Samuel ran to the deli: “Good news for you, Pedro. El patrón will pay you more starting next week.” That week Samuel counted Pedro’s cash with him. “He is such a noble man,” smiles Pedro. “He was so happy for me.” Samuel also speaks highly of Pedro. “He is always laughing, and he talks so much,” Samuel points at him, while Pedro chats with Jose. Now, Pedro shares a room in Upper Manhattan with an Ecuadorian immigrant. He pays 300 dollars in rent, and sends almost 2,000 dollars to his family every month through Western Union. Most of it goes to Camila and his two daughters. “A couple of years ago, Camila phoned me and said, ‘We are going to buy some land.’” Pedro leans over and assures me, Photo by Jesse Echevarria on Unsplash THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 “That wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t come here. They have everything now.” Still Camila wants him back home, and Pedro has the same desire. He misses his family. When he wakes up at 12pm, he calls his daughters, who are now 13 and 15 years old. The smallest one used to sing songs to him on the phone as a child. “I talked to her and she sang back. She only sang,” he tells me cheerfully. After a 30-minute chat with them, he gets changed for his 4pm shift at the deli. He also sends them presents from time to time: socks, shoes, and clothes. On Sundays, he listens to rancheras (he hates reggaeton), goes for strolls downtown, and has beers with his Mexican friends. Sometimes he joins Samuel’s family when they go for a picnic on Governor’s Island. Every couple of days he reads El Diario de Nueva York, for immigration news. He also glances over El Diario de Mexico, to feel assured that the demise of Mexico’s largest political party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), has actually happened, and AMLO is in control. Samuel, Jose, Lupe, Juana and the other Mexicans who work at the deli feel the same way. “Most of my friends want to go back home too. One just left. He had a girlfriend there,” laughs Pedro. When he returns to Mexico, he will start his own business, maybe a restaurant. But he knows that the moment he sets foot on that plane back to his homeland, he will never return. “I’ve been saying this for three years. Someday I will go. But not now.” Pedro smiles again, and he realigns his chef ’s hat, while he throws strips of beef onto the grill. He looks back at Samuel and repeats: “Someday.” All names have been changed to preserve the identity of those featured. Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo �10 GLOBAL NSept o v 2 19 - N-oOct v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 3,22019 No. 416 In Brazil’s rainforests, the worst fires are likely still to come Robert T. Walker The Conversation T he number of fires this year in the Amazon is the highest since 2010, reaching more than 90,000 active fires. Farmers and ranchers routinely use fires to clear the forest. But this year’s number reflects a worrisome uptick in the rate of deforestation, which had started to drop around 2005 before rebounding earlier this decade. Many people blame the Brazilian government and its pro-agriculture policies for the current crisis. But as an environmental researcher who has worked in the Amazon for the past 25 years, I can say the seeds were planted before the election of President Jair Bolsonaro in 2018. And the prospects of slowing deforestation remain dim, an issue that matters to people around the world. That’s in part because the current administration has only aggravated the situation with its anti-environmental agenda. Unless the Brazilian people succeed in making Bolsonaro retreat from his stated goal of developing the Amazon, deforestation will surge again. Adding fuel to the fire is the quickening pace of the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA), a multi-nation plan to build road, dams and rail lines across the Amazon. Conflicting objectives Brazil managed to significantly reduce deforestation rates at the turn of the millennium with effective environmental policy and voluntary efforts by the private sector. Deforestation, which started in the 1970s, began climbing again in 2015 due to political turmoil and an economic recession that paved the way to policy reversals. The Amazonian deforestation rate dropped from about 10,700 square miles in 2004 to 1,765 square miles in 2012, and remained low until its resurgence a few years ago. This was because of effective environmental policy, which in Brazil is mostly based on protected areas, such as national parks, and a forestry code limiting the amount of land that can be cleared on individual properties. Over the years, the Brazilian government has developed a system of protected areas for ecological protection and indigenous reserves. In 2002 it expanded their coverage to about 43 per cent of the entire Amazon. It also created protected areas in zones of land conflict as a means to tamp down rampant fire and deforestation. Adding to this, enforcement of the forestry code was enhanced by the development of a satellite monitoring system that enabled Brazil’s environmental protection agency to identify law-breaking property owners from space. In addition to government, the private sector helped lower the rate of deforestation. Soybean farmers stopped planting new fields in the forest, and retailers demanded that the goods they sold come from lands already cleared so they could certify them as “green,” especially beef. Unfortunately, these efforts began to unravel almost as soon as they proved themselves effective. The background reason is that many people have long viewed the Amazon as a vast store of valuable resources to be used for the economic development of a poor region. The agenda of IIRSA – an extensive infrastructure building project launched in 2000 to link the region’s economies and remote areas – expresses this view, common to all nations that share the Amazon Basin. These include, in addition to Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. It should come as no surprise that their individual orientations to the region all reflect a contradiction between economic development on the one hand and conservation on the other. In Brazil, the government not only creates protected areas, it downsizes them in order to prepare for infrastructure projects. Former President Dilma Rousseff even downsized Amazon National Park in 2012, the first in the Amazon, to make An aerial view shows an area of the Amazon rainforest affected by fire near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED way for the Tapajós Hydroelectric Complex, a key component of the IIRSA plan. The government does not act in a vacuum, and in Brazil a powerful congressional bloc, the rural/ mining caucus known as the Ruralistas, works tirelessly at undermining environmental policy. This has led to revisions in the forestry code, in 2012, that favour agriculture, not the environment, by exempting those who illegally deforested before 2008 from having to reforest in accordance with the law. Continuing Ruralista political action made it easier in 2017 for land grabbers to obtain title to illegally seized lands. Fears of a tipping point President Bolsonaro has inherited a set of weakened environmental policies and all indications are that he will continue to weaken them. At the same time, he has acted on his promise to open the Amazon to development by announcing plans to build a bridge across the Amazon River and to extend a paved road all the way to the border with Suriname. The IIRSA agenda appears to be accelerating, and as people flock to the region to take advantage of the jobs it creates, the fires can only get worse. Since the opening of the Amazon to development in the 1970s, fires have been deliberately set on a yearly basis to make way for fields and pastures and to fertilize soils. The Amazon maintains a moist climate, which limits their extent. Thus, super fires have never raged over hundreds of square miles as happens with wildfires in the U.S. But this could change due to the cumulative effect of the repeated use of fire. Research shows that every year when the forest burns, the destructive effect spreads beyond the flames to kill trees and desiccate the landscape. This can make the forest ever more vulnerable to fire through the buildup of flammable materials and the coalescence of fire-scarred ecosystems across broad swaths of the entire basin. If Brazil does not retreat from the course it is on, scientists warn there will come a time in the near future when Amazonian fires burn without control and push the forest to a point of no return, what some have called a “tipping point” that will permanently change the underlying ecosystem. Without a restoration of environmental policy in Brazil, the worst fires are yet to come. Robert T. Walker is a professor of Latin American studies and geography at the University of Florida Courtesy of The Conversation / INSP.ngo �N o. 3919 3 |-NOct ov 2 3, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Sept 2019 | No. 416 GLOBAL 11 Mexican Women Use Sunlight Instead of Firewood or Gas to Cook Meals Emilio Godoy Inter Press Service Reyna Díaz cooks beans, chicken, pork and desserts in her solar cooker, which she sets up in the open courtyard of her home in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of this town in south western Mexico. “My family likes the way it cooks things. I use it almost every day, it has been a big help to me,” Díaz said as she mixed the ingredients for cochinita pibil, a traditional pork dish marinated with spices and achiote, a natural colouring. She then placed the pot on the aluminium sheets of the cooker, which reflect the sunlight that heats the receptacle. Before receiving the solar cooker in March, Díaz, who sells atole, a traditional hot Mexican drink based on corn or wheat dough, and is raising her son and daughter on her own, did not believe it was possible to cook with the sun’s rays. “I didn’t know it could be done, I wondered if the food would actually be cooked. It’s a wonderful thing,” said this resident of the poor neighbourhood of Vicente Guerrero, in Villa de Zaachila, a municipality of 43,000 people in the state of Oaxaca, some 475 kilometres south of Mexico City. One thing the inhabitants of Vicente Guerrero have in common is poverty. But although they live in modest houses that in some cases are tin shacks lining unpaved streets and have no sewage system, they do have electricity and drinking water. The women alternate their informal sector jobs with the care of their families. Diaz used to cook with firewood and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which she now uses less so it lasts longer. “I’ve saved a lot,” she said. Women in this neighborhood were taught how to use the solar cookers and then became promoters, organising demonstrations in their homes to exchange recipes, taste their dishes and spread the word about the benefits and positive changes that the innovative stoves have brought. The solar cookers are low-tech devices that use reflective panels to focus sunlight on a pot in the middle. Their advantages include being an alternative for rural cooking, because they make it possible to cook without electricity or solid or fossil fuels, pasteurising water to make it drinkable, reducing logging and pollution, helping people avoid breathing smoke from woodstoves, and using renewable energy. The drawbacks are that they do not work on rainy or cloudy days, it takes a long time to cook the food, compared to traditional stoves, and they have to be used outdoors. In Mexico, a country of 130 million people, some 19 million use solid fuels for cooking, which caused some 15,000 premature deaths in 2016 from the ingestion of harmful particles, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi). The main fuel consumed by 79 per cent of these households is LPG, followed by wood or charcoal (11 per cent) and natural gas (seven per cent). In Oaxaca, gas and firewood each account for 49 per cent of household consumption. Of the state’s more than four million inhabitants, 70 per cent were living in poverty in 2016 and nearly 27 per cent in extreme poverty, according to Inegi. 26 per cent lived in substandard, crowded housing and 62 per cent lacked access to basic services. Oaxaca is also one of the three Mexican states with the highest levels of energy poverty, which means households that spend more than 10 per cent of their income on energy. Solar cookers can help combat the deprivation. They first began to be distributed in Oaxaca in 2004. In 2008, activists created the initiative “Solar energy for mobile food stalls in Mexico”, sponsored by three Swiss institutions: the city of Geneva, the SolarSpar cooperative and the non-governmental organisation GloboSol. Cocina Solar Mexico, a collective dedicated to the use of solar energy for cooking, was founded in 2009. With the support of the non-governmental Solar Household Energy (SHE), based in Washington, an economical, lightweight prototype was built. In 2016, SHE launched a pilot project in indigenous communities to assess how widely it would be accepted. “I learned while working with the local women. It was hard, like breaking stones; people knew nothing about it. Now people are more open, because there is more information about the potential of solar energy. In rural areas, people understand it more,” said Lorena Harp, head of the initiative. The four-litre pot, which has a useful life of five to 10 years, costs about $25, of which SHE provides half. The group has distributed about 200 solar cookers in 10 communities. Harp said it is a gender issue, because “women are empowered, they have gained respect in their families.” Despite its potential, Oaxaca does not take advantage of its high levels of solar radiation. Last June, it was listed among the 10 Mexican states Reyna Díaz checks the marinated pork she is cooking in a solar cooker at her home in a poor neighbourhood of Vicente Guerrero, Villa de Zaachila municipality, in the southwestern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Credit: Emilio Godoy/IPS with the lowest levels of distributed (decentralised) generation, less than 500 kilowatts, connected to the national power grid, according to the government’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). In the first half of the year, Oaxaca had an installed photovoltaic capacity of 6.69 megawatts with 747 interconnection contracts, in a country where distributed generation only involves solar energy. This Latin American country registered 17,767 contracts for almost 125 megawatts (MW), almost the same volume as in the same period in 2018 -when they totalled 35,661 for 233.56 MW, although there were more permits. Since 2007, CRE has registered 112,660 contracts for 817.85 MW of solar power. Luís Calderón, president of the Oaxaca Energy Cluster, says things have evolved quickly. But “there is a lack of precise, reliable information and certainty about the savings achieved with distributed generation, which is generated for selfconsumption while the surplus is fed into the grid. In addition, there is no policy in the state,” said Calderón, also a member of the National Solar Energy Association. In 2018, Mexico registered a total installed capacity of 70,000 MW, three per cent more than the previous year. Gas-fired combined cycle plants contributed 36 per cent, conventional thermal 17 per cent, hydroelectric 18 per cent, coal almost eight per cent, wind just under seven per cent, and solar only 2.6 per cent. But the government of left-wing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in December, is driving the exploitation of fossil fuels and standing in the way of the growth of renewable energies. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED It plans to modify the Business Ecocredit initiative, led by the government’s Electric Energy Saving Trust for micro, small and medium enterprises for the acquisition of efficient appliances. The measures include eliminating the 14 per cent subsidy and a limit of some 20,000 dollars in financing, but the government has yet to define its future. In addition, the Oaxaca government’s plan to create two cooperatives for energy for agricultural irrigation does not yet have the 1.75 million dollars needed for two 500-kilowatt solar plants in the municipality of San Pablo Huixtepec to serve 1,200 farmers in 35 irrigation units. The local women don’t plan to stop using the solar cookers, in a neighbourhood ideal for deploying solar panels and water heaters. “We’re going to keep using it, we’ve seen that it works. We’re going to promote this,” Díaz said, while checking that her stew wasn’t burning. The SHE assessment found that the solar cookers were widely accepted and have had a positive impact, as nearly half of the local women who use them have reduced by more than 50 per cent their use of stoves that cause pollution. Some use the pots up to six times a week, and they have proven to be high quality, durable and affordable. Users also report that the solar cookers have saved them time. Harp said more partners and government support were needed. “There’s still a long way to go, there are many shortfalls. Something is missing to generate truly widespread use, perhaps a comprehensive policy,” she said. Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo �12 STREETVOICE N o v 219 - N o v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 416 393 Sept - Oct 3, 22019 The Border Immigrants 2019 ANNUAL DINNER From Mexico Seeking New Life There they run Thursday, December 12 5:30pm There they hide traveling days traveling nights hoping for a better life Newport Syndicate 1, E 5th Street, Newport, KY 41071 Climbing over walls to get free trying to stay out of sight The Border CHANGING THE SCORE Is the CHANGING THE SCORE gateway Tickets: $75 Non-members, $55 Members Tickets and tables, avaiable online at to be free starting a new life www.CinciHomeless.org maybe it will be or mail a check to 117 E 12th St, Cincinnati, OH The immigrants 45202 Will Become legal Sponsor a Distributor for $75 And Contact: Mona Jenkins 513-412-7,03 ext.11 free Stay Kim Green ContributingWriter Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �STREETVOICE No. 39 ov 23, - 2019 N o v 19, 2 0416 18 Sept 193 -| N Oct | No. Home At Last Before I started this, I wanted to know what Dreams were. I found out that Dreams are Images, Ideas, Emotions, and Sensations. Involuntary and usually during sleep. I am not speaking of sleeping dreams my interest is in the Ideas of conscious Dreams. You know those hopes one has for the future. (side note: The God of Dreams is Morpheus) Who Knew? So, my Dream for the future is, as if this wasn’t obvious, to write a book. Along with a book I want to remain Happy in my own skin. That is something I can honestly say today I am. No longer do I beat myself up for mistakes I’ve made in the past or in the present. I have things I regret and wish I could take back, but I can’t. I can only learn from those mistakes and work not to make them again. The word Hope seems relevant to my Dreams. Hope is a desire for something to happen. I have Hope that my writing gets good enough so one day I will be on the Best Sellers List. I see myself inspiring other people like myself who are looking for that one thing that they can call their own. For me I have found it through writing. I said many times that when I am writing I’m at my happiest and when I brainstorm before I write it’s exhilarating. The thoughts, the words the images I having my mind gets my heart racing. I don’t know why but I Love it. If you could see me at this moment you would see me smiling and eager to put the next word or sentence on paper. The mere idea of what I write can bring joy or any emotion to a person is inspiring. I wanted this to be a Happy Article. It is! I have Hopes, Dreams, Joy, and Happiness. I wish to express. Another Dream I have for my Future. Is a true Friendship. Having true Friends 13 is a Dream that has become a reality. Just today I have had the opportunity to speak with people who Love and Support what I am doing. True Friends! Having destroyed most of my past Friendships in one way or another, I have found that True Friends never leave your side. NO MATTER WHAT! My closet friend, my confidant, I have known for 20 years. She calls me on my BS and never wavers in her support for me. THE PRESIDENT TAKES ON THE WEATHER CHANNEL You don't have to be phenomenally bright To figure out the President has to be right. The weather brought on his latest outburst. He warned Alabama to prepare for the worst. When meteorologists declared him off base, He said these experts were just a disgrace. When weathermen continued to disagree, He got a doctored up map to show on TV. God knows I have pushed it to the limit many times. Yet she’s there to help me get through BILL WOODS Contributing Writer whatever I am going through Unconditionally. Now that’s a Friend. I have become more honest with my Friends. It leads to a better Relationship for all of us and leaves no room for Drama. I find myself thinking of how I can help them have a better Day. It’s not about me anymore. It’s about helping others and for me it’s doing the next right thing. I can no longer live and breathe selfishly. I must do my part to help the next person. I Challenge everyone to take a moment out of their busy daily life and think of another person. As you think of that person ask yourself, how can I help them? You will be surprised at how rewarding it will make you feel. For me it’s “Inspiring”. It’s what “DREAMS FOR MY FUTURE” are made of. Bobby Morris Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 108 Across Down 1. Stalk 1. Male red deer 5. Possessed 2. Long hollow cylinder 8. Scorch 3. Panache 12. Bulbous plant 4. Stingy hoarder 14. Female animal 5. Part of a shoe 15. Desire 6. Veneration 16. Humiliate 7. Style of glazed 17. Snakelike fish earthenware 18. Building offering lodging 8. Black bird and meals 9. Detest 19. High ranking officer 10. Report or maintain 21. Ornate manner of speaking 11. Depend 23. Relieve from 13. Danger 24. Rapid active commotion 15. Part of a song 25. Mediterranean fruit tree 20. Worship 28. Deposit of valuable ore 22. Illuminated 30. Disorderly fighting 24. Sultry 35. Part of the eye 25. Number one 37. Let for money 26. Very angry 39. Beauty shop 27. Presumption 40. Rant 29. Depression in a surface 41. Come after 31. Grains of rock or coral 43. Small semi-aquatic 32. Slumber salamander 33. Further down 44. Warhorse 34. Way in 46. Change direction 36. Outstanding tournament 47. Cervid player 48. Bid 38. Divot 50. A great distance 42. Represent as if in 52. Inquire in a meddlesome a play way 45. Ten years 53. A small compartment 49. Color 55. Crib 51. Cook by dry heat 57. Bluster in an oven 61. Steadfast 54. Venue 65. Speedy 56. Private instructor 66. Actor's prompt 57. Boast 68. Took without consent 58. Complain bitterly 69. Part of a church 59. Part of a church 70. Employ 60. Despicable 71. Sum 61. Ooze 72. Mirth 62. Short letter 73. Deplete 63. Group related by 74. Rip blood or marriage N o v 219 - N-oOct v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Sept 3,22019 No. 416 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 3- EASY 64. Contained 67. Country, initially PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #107 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 2- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 3 |-NOct ov 2 3, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Sept 19 2019 | No. 416 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 NSept o v 2 19 - N-oOct v 19,3,22019 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 416 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 September 19-October 3, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: Spotlighting the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center Pg 3: Introducing Peatón Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Mental Health is not Just “A White Person Thing” Pg 6: Criminalization of Existence Pg 7: América: A Film Pg 8: 12 Years Behind a Stove Pg 9: 12 Years Behind a Stove Continued Pg 10: In Brazil’s Rainforests, the Worst Fires are Likely Still to Come Pg 11: Mexican Women Use Sunlight Instead of Firewood or Gas to Cook Meals 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 September 19-October 3, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Tony Inglis Sarah Hansell Erick Stoll Carmen Arroyo Dr. Mark Mussman Robert T. Walker Emilio Godoy Bobby Morris Kim Green INSP.com Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Activists Bill Woods Bobby Morris Brazil Carmen Arroyo Cincinnati Dr. Mark Mussman Emilio Godoy Erick Stoll Gabriela Godinez Immigrants INSP.com Kim Green Media mental health Mexico New York City Peatón Political Activists Rainforests Robert T. Walker Sarah Hansell Tony Inglis https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/54799ce529387f868688b5e1d5b142cb.pdf 3ab1e2987a8e89bb747d662c53dfaf6a PDF Text Text O c t o b e r 3 r d - O c t o b e r 1 7 t h 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 0 ( N o . 4 1 7 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. Special Edition This Issue is sponsored by Cecilia and Tom Kloecker Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION NOct ov 2 o v 19, 2 0 18 || No. N o . 417 393 3 -- NOct 17, 2019 From The Editor: Affordable Housing NOW Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief R ecently I went on a food tour with my family. We thought that it was going to be a nice escape from all the terrible news we hear and read at every turn, but instead it only highlighted the fact that so many citizens are unaware of the hurt Cincinnati is going through. While we were trying to have a break from reality, our food tour guide made the point to praise 3CDC for “cleaning up” Washington Park and other areas that were “abandoned.” What she didn’t mention was the fact that those weren’t simply vacant buildings, but actually buildings left by people who were deliberately pushed out. What she ignored was that Washington Park wasn’t a murderous drug infested park, and that now the people in the park selling the drug alcohol are the very people she praises. My mother was furious and tried her best to calm down, though the smoke coming from her ears wasn’t preventable. This experience showed me that there is no real way to take a break and escape the reality of our world and more specifically Cincinnati. Some people are malicious in their spread misinformation, and others are simply ignorant and spew such ignorance without negative intent. Either way, we are accountable for the information that we give others and need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. S 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 According to the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, “Hamilton County is short more than 40,000 affordable homes, 28,000 of which are needed within Cincinnati.” Shelters are constantly over capacity and still don’t have enough beds for every person experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati. Josh Spring, the director of the Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, wrote in a recent press release, “Black households are living under the constant threat of being displaced from their homes. Hundreds of people have died because of homelessness, yet we continue to pump funds and tax abatements into the development of luxury housing. We know the solution is to publicly fund the creation of new affordable housing and the preservation of existing affordable housing and to end displacement and unjust evictions. Our People, agencies and faith partners will wait no longer. We will be marching and speaking in mass to demand HOUSING NOW!” On October 2nd, people of all walks of life came together in Laurel Park to begin a march to city hall. There was an empowering ambiance at this initial gathering. Some students and community members were gathered on one patch of grass making signs for the march, while other folks stood around eating and chatting. It was a wonderful show of community. As to be expected, there was one moment where two police cars and four police officers on bicycles circled around us in the name of “surveillance”. This did not deflate the energy that was being cultivated through such strong presence of community. At least 31 organizations participated in the march and about 150 people gathered initially at the park. The count only got higher as the march began. Once the march commenced, the energy only got more intense, showed by the chanting and singing of the people as everyone walked on. People were obviously fed up with the leadership of the City of Cincinnati ignoring its people in favor of monetary gain through the guise of development. In part of Josh’s speech in front of City hall he pointed out that the city council members weren’t even there to hear our complaints, even though they were meant to be meeting that day at that time. They are well aware of what is happening around them, and chose to not be there and to ignore the problem. However, this demonstration and protest shows that the community is not having any of it. They all showed up to demand affordable housing now, and we will all keep fighting until it is done. 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 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org www.cincistreetvibe.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Matt Howell, Jared Brey, Zoe Tabary, Rina Chandran, Dr. Mark Mussman, Depthstroke the Cypher, Kim Green ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �N o. 39 | Nov17, 2 - 2019 N o v 19, 2 0417 18 Oct 3 3- Oct | No. 3 HOMELESSNESS How benefits rules and family breakdown fuel youth homelessness Matt Howell I The Conversation n 2017/18 alone, 103,000 people aged 16 to 24 presented themselves as homeless to their local authority in the UK. But while preventative measures are being implemented to reduce this, a combination of factors that cause youth homelessness is still not being properly addressed: the relationship between poverty and family relationship breakdown – and the role of benefits. Much of the conversation around preventing youth homelessness doesn’t recognise family conflict being directly related to structural issues such as poverty. It fails to acknowledge that withdrawal of financial support can result in families breaking up and young people becoming homeless. Nor does it recognise that for some young people, due to the way the system works, presenting themselves as homeless may be an almost attractive option. There are an estimated 14.2 million people in the UK in families that are experiencing poverty. Studies have found that conflict and relationship breakdown are more common among lower income families. Other research has confirmed that the majority of young people become homeless as a result of family conflict and relationship breakdown. Further investigation by English charity Homeless Link has revealed that 49 per cent of young people become homeless due to family breakdown. Homelessness charity Shelter has recognised poverty as being a direct cause of family disputes. The charity argues that financial difficulties make it harder to resolve arguments. This can result in the type of family breakdown that causes homelessness. Other charities have meanwhile recognised that structural factors such as benefit reductions are increasing youth homelessness numbers among lowincome families. Financial support The problem is that young people are unable to claim most benefits before the age of 18 – and parents can only claim government financial support for them if they engage in some form of education or training, such as apprenticeships. This means that household income can dramatically reduce if a 16-year-old is not in education, employment or training. Parents can potentially stop receiving Child Benefits, Child Support/ Maintenance or Child Tax Credits. A reduction in Child Benefit alone can leave a family £82.80 per month poorer. When young people turn 16, they are legally classed as children, but their parents are no longer legally responsible for their housing. So if they get evicted from the family home and present themselves as homeless, the local authority has a duty to immediately house them in suitable accommodation. Young people at the ages of 16 and 17 are recognised as being “in need” when they become homeless, so they qualify for the same benefit entitlement as someone over the age of 18. They can claim Housing Benefit and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), or Universal Credit, to financially support them while they reside in emergency accommodation. Due to these rules, families living in poverty – who have no other option – may see this method of presenting homelessness as a way to take the financial pressure off. This is anything but an easy ride, however. Stuck in poverty When they become homeless, 16 and 17-year-olds are typically offered places in accommodation which gives them extra practical and emotional support. This varies according to what each person needs but can cover anything from daily living skills to advice on accessing education and employment, or mental health help. The aim is to help them build the skills they need to live independently. But this type of accommodation costs around £400 per week. Due to this high cost, young people are limited in employment opportunities. If they earn over a certain amount (which varies according to hours worked, wages and age, among other factors), they will become liable to pay a percentage of the rent which would otherwise be covered by their housing benefit. This usually leaves them in a situation where they are better off claiming JSA rather than working. Indeed, Barnados has reported that some hostel staff have reluctantly discouraged young people from full-time jobs while living there as a result of this dilemma. Photo by Dimi Katsavaris on Unsplash THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED In addition, financial incentives for education and training, such as Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), are undermined when young homeless people can claim more money through Job Seekers Allowance. Arguably, young people who live in supported accommodation are in a situation where they may consider it a better option not to engage in education, training, or employment. This can be detrimental to their longterm life chances. These, and the other multiple disadvantages they face, can exclude young people from the labour market, resulting in them becoming reliant on benefits for prolonged periods of time. If parents are unable to obtain the necessary financial support for their children, they may very well consider homelessness to be a viable solution to their problem. Combined with the limited options that young people have in terms of housing generally, obtaining accommodation through homeless services might be seen as an appealing alternative. But in the long term it is far more expensive for the country, more damaging to young people’s future prospects – and potentially their physical and mental health – than if the country simply provided financial support to families, preventing homelessness and keeping them together. Matt Howell is a PhD student at Cardiff University. Courtesy of The Conversation / INSP.ngo �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED NOct ov 23 - -NOct o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 17,22019 No. 417 �NOct o. 3933-|Oct Nov 2 - N o v 19, 2 0 18 17, 2019 | No. 417 5 U.S NEWS When Anti-Displacement Means Segregation Jared Brey Next City C oncerned with the rapid gentrification of many of their neighborhoods, and the potential displacement of low-income residents that may accompany it, cities across the United States have been looking at ways to help long-term residents remain in place while housing markets change around them. “Development without displacement” has become a rallying cry for advocates from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Cities like Austin and San Antonio have begun to create their own anti-displacement strategies, while the Association for Neighbhorhood & Housing Development has published a policy toolkit to help cities protect residents from being pushed out. But at what point does an effort to keep existing residents in their neighborhoods look too much like an attempt to keep outsiders out? This summer, after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed an executive order directing city departments to find ways to increase housing affordability and prevent displacement, the Seattle City Council approved a new set of housing funding policies. Among them is a practice called Community Preference, which, in Seattle’s case, will give affordable-housing developers the option to set aside a portion of units in new buildings for people who are already living in the surrounding neighborhood. “We know that there have been people who have been residents of Seattle for a long time, and as the city has grown and as there is increasing prosperity, there is also an interest in allowing people who were a part of the fabric of communities to be able to stay in those communities,” says Emily Alvarado, acting director for Seattle’s Office of Housing. “Displacement is happening, and it is harmful to people when they are unable to stay in their communities.” The policy in Seattle will be implemented on a case-by-case basis. Any time a developer is using city subsidy to build affordable housing in a neighborhood that has been identified as a high risk for displacement, the developer is required to “affirmatively market” the units to people who are already living in the neighborhood, and has an option to hold some of the units aside for a lottery open to applicants from the surrounding area. For each project, the developer may submit a plan for a local-preference lottery to the Office of Housing for approval. Alvarado says the Office is Seattle (Photo by Chris Connelly / CC BY 2.0) [Licensing link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/] also expecting to issue community preference guidelines later this year. The city has tried to learn from similar policies in New York, San Francisco, and Portland, Alvarado says, because in some cases, “community preference” policies can run afoul of fair-housing laws. San Francisco, for example, became involved in a dispute with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development over a policy giving neighborhood residents a first shot at some new affordable housing, because HUD said it could entrench racial segregation patterns in the city. And New York City is currently involved in a lawsuit related to its own community preference policy, which has been in place for decades and which sets aside half the units in affordable housing lotteries for neighborhood applicants. In July, the city was forced to release a study that suggested its policy locks segregation in place. For Craig Gurian, the executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center and lawyer representing three women who are suing New York over the affordable housing lotteries, community preference policies are so clearly segregationist that even the name is deceitful. The Trump administration could label its immigration policies as “community preference,” Gurian says, but the effect — keeping immigrants out of the country — would still be the same. “These policies are outsiderrestriction policies,” Gurian says. Gurian cited statistics suggesting that some 85 percent of applicants for New York City’s affordable-housing lotteries applied for housing multiple times, and most frequently outside of their own neighborhoods. It’s offensive, he says, for the city to suggest that what low-income residents want more than a range of housing opportunities is to stay in the racially segregated neighborhoods where they live. “It is absolutely a worthwhile goal to make sure that everybody has a genuine chance to exercise the choice to stay in the apartment or house they are currently living in or to move,” Gurian says. “The way you do that is you have actual, concrete, vigorous, aggressive anti-displacement and anti-harassment policies and pro-tenants and pro-rentregulation policies. You do not do that by locking in segregated housing patterns.” In 2015, Robert Schwemm, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, wrote an essay for The NYU Furman Center suggesting that community preference policies were often an “unnecessary barrier to minorities’ housing rights.” Even when local-preference rules weren’t explicitly being used to keep people of color out of white neighborhoods, they could be subject to challenge under the “disparate impact” doctrine of federal fair housing law, Schwemm wrote. New York’s policy is still problematic, Schwemm tells Next City. But providing opportunities for people to remain in gentrifying neighborhoods is a good goal, he says, and there may be ways to create community preference policies that don’t reinforce racial segregation. “Cities that I tend to think THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED of as progressive cities are trying alternatives,” Schwemm says. “And I think that should be encouraged.” Seattle is trying to overcome its history of racial segregation in housing, Alvarado says. And one of the ways it’s hoping to avoid the potential pitfalls of community preference policies is to only allow it to be implemented in neighborhoods that are already racially diverse. She says that the city learned from San Francisco’s dispute with HUD that it would need to draw the boundaries for local preference in such a way that it would avoid entrenching segregation. The Office of Housing will be able to help shape every use of the community preference policy, she says, and it plans to monitor its use over time to make sure it isn’t making segregation worse. “I think that policies can be designed in ways that they have unintended consequences,” Alvarado says. “Our goal is to make sure that a portion of rental units in affordablehousing developments are set aside with a preference for applicants who have local ties. It is not intended to undermine our prevailing priority for affordable housing, which is to provide housing choices in as many neighborhoods as possible.” This article was originally published by Next City, a non-profit news organisation whose journalism amplifies solutions and helps spread them from one city to the next city. Support its work at www.nextcity.org. �HOMELESSNESS 6 No v 23 - -NOct o v 19, 0 18 | |N o . 393 Oct 17,22019 No. 417 A Coalition of Tenant Groups Is Pushing Congress for New Housing Rights Jared Brey Next City T he Center for Popular Democracy and a network of grassroots activists from around the country spent time Washington, D.C. welcoming Congress back to the capitol with a series of protests, campaign launches, and direct actions. The Brooklyn-based nonprofit, which has affiliate groups in 34 states plus Washington and Puerto Rico, launched a new housing campaign called ‘A Home to Thrive’. They marked the occasion by handing “eviction notices” to representatives who are known for taking lots of money from the real estate industry while their constituents suffer from unstable housing conditions. “It was really a call to action to Congress to protect their constituents, to protect families and neighborhoods, and to give people the ability to stay in their homes and fight displacement,” says Dianne Enriquez, the co-director of community dignity campaigns for CPD. Alongside the protests, the group also released a policy platform meant to secure federal support for advocacy efforts that are already underway in various cities. The campaign is aimed at protecting tenants, improving the quality of the housing stock, “reining in corporate landlords,” empowering public housing residents, and promoting fair housing. Specifically, in terms of tenant protections, the campaign calls for Congress to support a range of demands that tenant organizers have been making at the local level. They include a national cap on rent increases, protection against evictions without just cause, bans on source-of-income discrimination, and a fund to provide access to counsel for people facing evictions. The platform also asks for the federal government to invest in community land trusts, intervene in cases of exclusionary local zoning, and repeal policies that restrict housing access for undocumented immigrants. It calls for participatory budgeting for public-housing residents and nationwide lead abatement. And it calls for requirements for large landlords with properties in multiple states to disclose their standard lease agreements, median rents, code violations, and tenant turnover, along with other rules meant to reduce the power of large multifamily property owners. In some ways, the campaign overlaps with the broad goals of the Homes Guarantee plan that was released by People’s Action, another network of tenant organizers, earlier this month. People’s Action and the Center for Popular Democracy have “similar genetic makeup,” Enriquez says. But the “Home to Thrive” campaign is meant to support the housing goals that are already the target of local campaigns by CPD’s affiliate groups, she says. “We’re not trying to get in front of the movement. We’re really trying to help set the stage and pave the road for where the movement is going,” Enriquez says. Also like People’s Action, the organizers pushing the campaign are fighting gentrification and displacement in their own cities and their own lives. Donna Price, one of the organizers who traveled to D.C. for the protest last week, says she got involved with Detroit Action when they met with a group of people at a homeless shelter where she was living. She’s still trying to find stable housing, she says. “It’s hard because the rent is so high here, and to find subsidized housing where the rent goes by your income, they’re all full basically. So it’s a real problem,” Price says. Price flew to D.C. with six other members of Detroit Action. The Center for Popular Democracy also has partnerships with other prominent advocacy groups, like Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change, Manufactured Housing Action, Organize Florida, and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. “We’re trying to get the senators and everybody to understand that they’re letting these billionaires come into our town, buy up the property and build new property, and it changes the standard of living and the rent because they’re high-end apartments, and that just pushes the lower class out and the homeless out,” Price says. “We have a human right to live comfortably like anybody else, so that’s why I fight the way I do.” As Ely Frankly, a volunteer with Arkansas Community Organizations in Little Rock, says, “We want to press this [in D.C.] because it’s really more of a federal issue to make sure that every American citizen has access to habitable living.” Both the “Homes Guarantee” campaign and the “Home to Thrive” campaign are working with the most progressive members of Congress on potential legislation to implement some of their demands. The Center for Popular Democracy sent out a press release after launching its campaign last week with supportive quotes from members of “The Squad,” including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashia Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. Enriquez says it’s too early to say what kind of legislation those members might introduce, though. The Center for Popular Democracy has also tried to push all the presidential candidates to include strong affordable-housing plans in their policy platforms. “We have had really promising conversations, particularly with the members of the squad,” says Enriquez. “They’re very ready to take bold action and recognize that housing is an important issue and a core element of a stable and just society. There’s a lot of momentum … They’re very willing and coordinated to become champions for communities and grassroots movements. I think we have some promising work ahead of us.” This article was originally published by Next City, a non-profit news organisation whose journalism amplifies solutions and helps spread them from one city to the next city. Support its work at www.nextcity.org. NCH Responds To Fallacious White House Report On Homelessness: Calls For Significant New Investments To End Homelessness Now! National Coalition for the Homeless I n what appears to be an escalation on the White House’s war on the homeless, rather than a righteous war on homelessness, the White House Council of Economic Advisers released an unsigned report this week on “The State of Homelessness in America” that is on its face absurd, and uses faulty logic, statistics and policy prescriptions to give cover to the President’s recently stated desire to crack down on the homeless by criminalizing and warehousing people experiencing homelessness – not to help end their misery, but to alleviate the impact of street homelessness on real estate investors and businesses. The report claims that homelessness is caused by 1) the higher costs of housing due to overregulation of housing markets, 2) permissive policies increasing the “tolerability of sleeping on the streets”, 3) the supply of homeless shelters, and 4) the ineffectiveness of previous federal policies in reducing homelessness. Finally, in heralds the Trump Administration’s actions to reduce Homelessness without offering any evidence to support the impact of such actions on the reductions of homelessness. “This report seemingly attempts to give cover to the President’s recent attacks on cities experiencing the crisis of increased homelessness without taking responsibility for the Administration’s own actions which undercut state and local efforts to end homelessness through a combination of housing and health care”, said John Parvensky, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “The report purports to be an THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED economic analysis of homeless, but instead uses misleading statistics, faulty analysis and spurious conclusions to blame homelessness on those experiencing it, rather than on failure of the housing market and government policy to provide real solutions at the scale necessary to truly end homelessness.” The report’s simplistic analysis of the effect of regulations on the cost of housing ends with the startling conclusion that a “1 percent reduction rental home prices reduces the rate of homelessness by 1%.” While the regulatory environment may have a �NOct o. 393 3 -| Oct Nov 217, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 | No. 417 marginal impact of the cost of building housing, the actual cost of rental housing is dictated by the laws of supply and demand (something you would think a council of economic advisors would understand). The cities with the highest rates of homelessness also have the greatest shortage of affordable housing with rents low enough for those experiencing homelessness to afford. When there is a shortage of housing units, owners will set the rents as high as the market will allow, which puts the cost far above what people experiencing homelessness can afford. The report itself acknowledges that the mean incomes of people experiencing homelessness is about one-half of the poverty level – which equates to $6,445 for a single individual and $12,375 for a family of four. Yet the 2019 fair market rent in Los Angeles is $1,158 for an efficiency apartment and $2,401 for a three bedroom apartment. Thus, the average homeless persons in Los Angeles would need spend twice their income to rent an average apartment. A 1% reduction in rent prices would have no impact on reducing homelessness. Even a 50% reduction in rent due to deregulation (which even the report’s authors don’t suggest is possible) would mean that the average homeless person would still need to spend all of their income for an apartment. The solution to high rents is not deregulation, but increased governmental subsidies to bring those rents within the reach of all Americans. HOMELESSNESS The report’s contention that tolerating people living on the streets increases homelessness is equally absurd. Talk to any person living on the streets of Skid Row or in any city and you will discover that it is the lack of available, accessible and affordable alternatives that drive people to find refuge on the streets, not tolerance of such refuge. Alternatively, criminalizing homelessness through camping bans, sweeps, and other means does not reduce homelessness – it only moves people from one place to another and makes it more difficult for outreach workers to engage and connect these people to the limited housing options that may be available to them. Similarly, the report’s claim that the supply of shelter increases homelessness is laughable. Building shelters, which are in already in short supply in most communities, no more increases homelessness than building hospitals increases those who are sick. While building quality shelter may be one effective strategy of reducing street homelessness by providing realistic alternatives to those sleeping on the streets, few people would choose shelter over safe and affordable housing. Fourth, the report’s critique of previous federal policies does raise serious questions about whether HUD’s contention that homelessness is actually declining in most communities is accurate due to methodological problems and changes in definitions. However, it’s contention that evidencebased practices of “housing first” and permanent supportive housing are ineffective in reducing homeless is flawed. Those interventions are designed to end the homelessness of those who have access to such housing, and numerous studies have documented that these approaches do in fact end homeless for 90% of those housed through these approaches. The problem isn’t the policy intervention. The problem is that the Federal government has never funded these interventions to the level needed to dramatically reduce homelessness nationwide. The growth of mass homelessness in our cities did not occur overnight. It is the result of nearly four decades of federal budget cuts to affordable and public housing programs under both Republican and Democratic administrations beginning in the 1980s. Indeed, the Administration’s recent budget proposals have called for reductions in funding for strategies that work, not increasing funding to the level needed to truly end homelessness. This year, HUD provided only $415 million in homeless assistance grants to California, a paltry sum compared to the number of people experiencing homelessness in that state. Furthermore, only 4.5% of this funding was available to fund new projects to house those currently on the streets or in shelters – the remaining funding was needed just to keep those individuals previously housed through federal support from losing their housing. 7 Meanwhile, California has recently committed $1 billion of new state funding, and Los Angeles voters approved two $2 billion bonds to address homelessness. If the Trump administration was serious about ending homelessness in California and across our nation, it would call for a massive new investment of funding for homeless assistance and affordable housing – not increased efforts to criminalize homelessness or warehouse those currently on the streets. We need to demand that the President and Congress significantly increase its funding for homeless assistance programs — to not only continue to house those previously housed who need continued assistance to remain housed, but also to provide new housing those currently living on the streets. Incremental increases are not sufficient. They must also restore affordable housing funding across the board to the levels necessary so that those experiencing homelessness are not continually competing for limited housing with those living at risk of homelessness, on fixed incomes, or working at minimum wage jobs. We know how to end homelessness through a combination of affordable housing, health care, and social supports. Criminalization and warehousing of the homeless are not the answers. Judge Rules To Approve Homeless Sweeps Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Jonathan WRAP A fter 3 years of litigation we finally have codified in law the most basic of property rights for people living without housing in Denver. We have raised our voices in a movement of the poor and homeless to be seen and heard. This battle was won…the war is ongoing… Yesterday, federal Judge Martinez ruled to approve the settlement agreement. The procedures put in law by this settlement to protect people’s constitutional right to property and due process will not fully stop the city from sweeping people. In order to fully stop this the Survival Ban must be repealed. The lawsuit settlement does, however, stop the city from the following: -They cannot take or threaten to take people’s property without written notice attached to one’s property 48hours in advance -They cannot take or threaten to take people’s property at a large encampment without written notice 7 days in advance -They cannot trash any property that is defined as property in the settlement, but rather they must store it for 60 days No more city sweeps crew rampaging through the city taking people’s wheelchair, tents, backpacks, laptops, with no notice. Just in the past 3 month we have seen all of these things taken by the city with no notice in violation of the settlement. From this point forward if they do that, we take them right back to court for violation of the settlement. We have rights and we THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED will enforce them. So much goes out to attorneys Jason Flores Williams and Andrew McNulty for their stedfast, heartfelt work on this case. These battles are won with lawyers like these. Onward toward rights, dignity, and housing… �FEATURED 8 NOct o v 23- -N o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Oct 17,22019 No. 417 I Didn't Even Know Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer H omelessness may seem like a complicated issue, and for the most part it can be. While experiencing homelessness, daily tasks such as showering, eating, and working can be daunting tasks. The isolation, loneliness, and depression that comes with homelessness leads to greater likelihood of drug abuse, risky sexual activity, mental stress and illness, as well as, suicide. The experience of homelessness will likely follow you for the rest of your life, lowering your life expectancy. In Cincinnati last year, more than 150 people died from homelessness, with an average age of 51. These are only the people we were able to account for, as with all statistics around homelessness, the numbers are always lower than reality. Have you considered where you’d register to vote, if you’re experiencing homelessness? Ohio law says that your home is any place you intend to return to. People can use park benches as their address, but they won’t get their mail delivered to a park bench, so they will not be able to participate in the voting process (as there are required documents that need to be mailed). Being able to get mail on a regular basis is a luxury that many people, in all types of homelessness, are not able to enjoy. In Hamilton County, more than 25,000 people will experience homelessness this year. Less than half of those people will come in contact with the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) that reports back to the federal government on the severity and need surrounding homelessness. National data has shown that less than 25% of people who are eligible for housing support actually receive it. And with a deficit of more than 40,000 units of affordable housing, Hamilton County is in a housing crisis. More than 10% of Cincinnati Public School students will experience homelessness this year, meaning they have no stable housing, or they will lose their housing at some point during the school year. The homelessness crisis is real, and it affects everyone, regardless of your housing status or income level. When people learn the types of homelessness, they often remark that they didn’t realize that they had experienced, or are currently experiencing homelessness. It is often jarring to realize that the support that you thought you had actually kept you on the edge of homelessness, or that your idea of what a “home” is has to be reevaluated. From couch-surfing to sleeping rough, homelessness has a negative effect on the individual and community. Couchsurfing is often seen as a right of passage after major events, like graduation, or even just during summer break from school. But more often, adults who are not in school, are spending time on their friends’ and families’ couches. Trying to help out where they can by cleaning out the garage, babysitting, taking care of the yard, or helping to pay a portion of the energy bill. This type of homelessness is difficult to get out of because people end up spending a lot of their time and energy trying to please friends and family, so getting on their own two feet becomes impossible with the lack of time to spend on seeking out independence. Even if someone is sleeping on a bed, they are couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is not considered homelessness in some models, and is often overlooked like doubling up. Doubling up is when two families are living together out of economic necessity. Once again, this could be living with friends or family, and is very similar to couchsurfing. Only one family has their name on the lease and is legally allowed to occupy the home. Many times family members double up so much that they think it is a normal way of life, not realizing that it is a form of homelessness. Because there THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED is no place in the United States that a minimum-wage worker can afford a two bedroom apartment, many times the working poor are doubled up, even while working full time. The wages don’t allow for families to become independent while leave families vulnerable to eviction or abuse. Sometimes, after exhausting couchsurfing opportunities, people find themselves sleeping in their cars. Afterall, homelessness is an economic issue, not a moral one. If it was a moral issue, we would not let it happen, but because it is an economic issue we are able to continually justify homelessness. There is an entire reddit devoted to car- �NOct o. 39 Nov 17, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 33- |Oct 2019 | No. 417 habitation and how to modify your vehicle so that it is more comfortable to live in. Readers exchange tips on how to find safer parking spots, prepare food in your car, and create the most comfortable sleeping situation. Imagine keeping all of your possessions in your car and sleeping in it every day. Where will you shower? How will you get a hot meal? This car might be the last thing someone owns, and they may be about to lose it to repossession or citations. Last year, Cincinnati saw a standoff regarding the street encampments. Ultimately, the City and County colluded to make it illegal to experience homelessness on private of public land in the entire county. While this puts more than 25,000 vulnerable people into an even more stressful and dangerous situation, it does nothing to end homelessness. The Homeless Ban has forced people further into the shadows, putting them at considerable FEATURED risk. People who sleep on the street have a right to under the First, Fourth, and Eighth Amendments to the United States Constitution to do so. While this is being settled in federal court, understanding that it is not desirable to live outside, even with a tent, but it is difficult, dangerous, and leads to poor health outcomes, can help us come up with create and humane ways to reduce homelessness. If you are living in a motel, that is a type of homelessness. Motels are only designed for brief stays, and living in one room with a small refrigerator and a contraband hotplate, while it may seem better than living in a tent, will result in lowered health outcomes as well. Eating fried, cheap food, sleeping many people in one bed, having nowhere to decompress, paying most of your income on just a room, will lead to long-lasting physical, emotional, and psychological harm. Families need stability and the ability to be a part of a specific community, which cannot be done while living in a motel. Homeless at home is another type of homelessness that affects countless people in our region. The number of people who experience this type of homelessness isn’t included in the 25,000 people who will experience homelessness this year in Hamilton County but it also has a very negative effect on our community. Many youth especially experience this type of homelessness where they have a roof over their head, but there is no food on the table or parental guidance. Children are often receiving their only meals at school or going to a neighbor’s house for something to eat. If you’re paying more than 30% of your income towards your housing, you may just be a paycheck away from losing it all. Most Americans don’t have at least $1000 in savings, leaving us closer to homelessness than ever. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 Even if you are getting in a relationship for a place to stay, this is still a form of homelessness until you have a lease in your name. People who are vulnerable to homelessness include people who have experienced homelessness throughout their lives. The wealth gap created by race-based policies that lead to white generational wealth has given us a system where Black people are way more likely to experience homelessness. Unless we have a restructuring of wealth with an eye on race in this country, homelessness will continue to rise, creating with it new types of homelessness that fall beneath the radar and certainly don’t make it into any governmental count. Educate your friends and families on homelessness so that they can work harder to create a more stable and equitable community. �10 GLOBAL HOMELESSNESS NOct o v 23- -N o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Oct 17,22019 No. 417 Charities forced to step in as Hong Kong's poor struggle for homes Rina Chandran Reuters L uk Chin Tak spends much of his life in the tiny, windowless room he shares with his wife in Hong Kong, where the waiting time for public housing has just hit a near two-decade high. The couple share a sub-divided flat with six others, just some of the more than 200,000 people in Hong Kong who live in apartments partitioned into units barely big enough for a bed, sharing toilets, showers, and a small kitchen space. "I cannot even open the door fully. There is no air, no light," said Luk, 70, who watches soaps on a small television while his wife works part-time. "I have waited more than four years for a public housing rental flat, and I am not sure when I will get one," he said. Faced with some of the world's highest property prices and a wait of more than five years for public housing, Luk and thousands like him are turning to non-profit organisations and social enterprises for help. The Society for Community Organization (SoCo), a non-profit that has upgraded and let about 100 units at subsidised rates as part of a government plan to have social enterprises and non-profits create more transitional housing. They offer housing, usually in older and idle units begged from developers and owners, for those waiting for government homes. "Ours is a limited solution, as it is only temporary housing for two to three years till they get public housing," said Chick Kui Wai, community organiser at SoCo, which has Luk on its waiting list. "The need is so great, and we can only help a few, and we can't even promise they can live there till they get public housing. But it is still something," said Chick. It is a desperate move in Hong Kong, ranked the world's least affordable housing market for nine consecutive years by U.S. research firm Demographia. Ineffective policy measures, powerful developers and a shortage of land have led to a big shortfall in housing, according to property experts, and about 45 per cent of the territory's more than seven million people rely on social housing. The frustration over housing in one of the world's wealthiest cities is seen in what began as a protest against a bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial and has evolved into demands for greater democracy. A viral image of graffiti near one protest site reads: "7K for a house like a cell and you really think we out here scared of jail," referring to the HK$7,000 ($893) in monthly rent for a room in a shared apartment. Not fair Hong Kong's Housing Authority was established in 1973 to provide low-cost rental housing and subsidised home ownership. It operates through a system of quotas and points that prioritises families and older couples. The system is unfair because it assumes young people can get jobs and afford private housing, but many cannot, said Chick. "Many people even work part-time or in low-paying jobs to qualify for public housing, which forces them to live at a lower standard for years," he said. The government has announced a plan to develop artificial islands to boost land supply to house about 1.1 million people. Authorities also negotiate with developers to free up space that nonprofits and social enterprises can use as transitional housing. There are about 540 such homes now. But Ho Chun Kit, who works for a network of non-profits and social enterprises, said authorities had been slow to add transitional housing, believing people would stay. "But it is important, particularly for single mothers and young low-income families who are not prioritised by the government," said Ho, project director of the Community Housing Movement Photo by Banter Snaps on Unsplash THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS). "Having a nicer place to stay in increases their confidence and resilience," he said. Very pessimistic The Community Housing Movement has created 250 transitional units for 300 households, and is also converting an old school into housing. LightBe, a social enterprise, has renovated 120 older and idle units including an old textile factory - for about 250 households. Another 100 units are being added. The government earmarked HK$36 million in this year's budget to create 500 units of modular transitional housing. A task force will support more than 10 social-enterprise projects with HK$2 billion to fund 5,000-6,000 transitional units, including micro-homes being built inside concrete pipes once used for water, according to the Housing Authority. But these still fall far short of what is needed, Ho said. "We are very pessimistic - housing supply cannot be significantly increased, and there will still be a shortfall of 50,000 units in 10 years despite these measures," he said. The government's focus on transitional housing will not help fix the issue, said Chiu Kam-kuen, chief executive of real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield in Greater China. "The government should put more effort into building more rental flats rather than creating more transitional housing to solve the housing problem," he said. While it is critical to provide support for transitional housing, the government should prioritise developing more public rental housing or subsidised flats, including by rezoning vacant school premises and industrial buildings, he said. Jojo Liu, 60, spent years living in inferior housing and now lives in a transitional flat she lives in now while she waits for public housing. The airy two-bedroom flat in Kowloon she shares with a family of three was renovated by CHM is a big improvement. She volunteers in the building's community centre, which organises activities and provides welfare services to residents. "I have been waiting for public housing for nearly five years," she said. "I am lucky to have this while I wait." Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo �NOct o. 39 Nov 17, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 33- |Oct 2019 | No. 417 GLOBAL HOMELESSNESS 11 All aboard: The double-decker buses housing London's homeless Zoe Tabary Reuters A n inviting massage table, a snug chair, a sunlit field of grass – this is not a holiday resort but one of London's famous double-decker buses, which this summer will house up to 40 homeless people. A fleet of four decommissioned buses has been converted by Britishbased social enterprise Buses4Homeless into a shelter for homeless people, with spaces for sleeping, dining, cooking, job training and relaxing. "The most crucial thing for anyone is shelter, having a place to stay," said Buses4Homeless founder Dan Atkins, from the buses' temporary site in Croydon, south London. "And that's what's sorely missing in London as the number of beds in night shelters gets slashed and housing remains unaffordable for too many," he added. Homelessness has been rising in England for nearly a decade amid rising private rents, a freeze on welfare benefits and a shortage of social housing. Rough sleeping in London rose by 18 per cent over the last year, hitting a decade high of 8,855 people, a database funded by the mayor of London showed in June, the majority of whom were new to bedding down in parks or doorways. Atkins, who devised the initiative after seeing a friend sleeping in a coach luggage compartment, said he wanted to "understand how and why people become homeless, and help reintegrate them into society". The buses – which were donated by transport company Stagecoach – will provide a three-month programme during which passengers can learn to cook, receive basic business training or enjoy a yoga class. Alternative shelter Slouched on a wooden bench on the grass-covered top of the fleet's "wellbeing bus", a man in his fifties animatedly types on his mobile phone. James, homeless since threats from a drug-dealing neighbour forced him to Interior areas for shelter, learning and eating The exterior of the donated buses leave his Brixton flat last October, has been sleeping on one of the buses after meeting Atkins – although the shelter has not officially opened yet. "It was either leave (my home) or end up dead ... but the housing association never found me another flat," said James, whose name has been changed to protect his identity. He finds the bus safer and more comfortable than regular night shelters, "where not every bed has its own power socket, so when you go looking for a spot to charge your phone your stuff can get stolen". Each "sleeping bus" can house up to 20 people in pods, which are equipped with storage space, a power socket and blinds for privacy. Atkins said he expected the buses would mostly accommodate men, who made up the majority of the homeless population, but that he would like to create more spaces where women could feel safe. ‘Real stories’ James, who has always worked as Interior areas for shelter, learning and eating THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED a community volunteer, said he hoped the revamped buses would show the "real stories of homeless people". "If you watch the news today, every homeless person is either on spice (a drug) or a beggar," said James, a former rough sleeping coordinator for Westminster City Council, flicking his dreadlock ponytail over his shoulder. "But my situation proves that you can be working with homeless people one minute and be on the streets the next." On the fleet's "learning bus", passengers can sign up to anything from Microsoft Office skills courses to presentation workshops. Jonathan Pfahl, head of training and mentoring firm Rockstar Group, which will be running the courses, said they aim to make homeless people more employable and link them to job opportunities. "And the genius thing with a bus is that we can take it wherever it's needed ... so park it in front of a job centre, for example." A spokesman for London Mayor Sadiq Khan would not comment on the bus initiative, but said that "record numbers of people continue to be forced onto the streets". "It will not be possible to truly end homelessness without welfare cuts being reversed, sustained investment in health services, and a step change of investment in new social housing," he said in emailed comments. If the bus shelter project proves successful, Atkins would like to convert some of the vehicles into two to threebedroom flats for homeless people. "There's a plethora of buses that will end up in the scrapyard as they don't meet the requirements of London's ultra-low emission zone ... so why not upcycle as many as we can?" Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo �12 STREETVOICE N ov 2 N o v 17, 19, 2019 2 0 18 ||No. N o .417 393 Oct 3 -- Oct Lifted 2019 ANNUAL DINNER The year being almost gone, I find myself remembering yesterday and looking way back Thinking of my accomplishment, my failures, not to Thursday, December 12 5:30pm Newport Syndicate 1, E 5th Street, Newport, KY 41071 CHANGING THE SCORE Tickets and tables, avaiable online at www.CinciHomeless.org or mail a check to 117 E 12th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Being older today trying to remember where I was, now that memory can make anybody dizzy The Good, the Bad and the Ugly become a DEATH, DEFYING ACT! Please Believe Me!! To have shot dope, to have snorted dope and just today understand what it is to be homeless Sponsor a Distributor for $75 Contact: Mona Jenkins 513-412-7,03 ext.11 To have sold dope, drank with the best, went to jail for dope. Looking back, I was so boneless!!! Today I am looking back, trying to remember what happen Homelessness is a place that, has a lot of drought Homelessness is cold with wet nights Homelessness is a cardboard box that a person calls their home To receive a blanket or a kind word means a lot to a person, Sleeping on the curb If you open your eyes tell me what you see That homeless person on the street one day could be you or me! ContributingWriter Streetvibes Distributor that I was too busy they are no longer movies on a T.V. Tickets: $75 Non-members, $55 Members Kim Green Days, months, years go by so fast especially when I believed The Good, the Bad, don't forget the UGLY, come to life and CHANGING THE SCORE Homelessness mention what I need to keep my life on track and why. Who was in Control? Again, today looking back, remembering I couldn’t but today I don't have parole Right now, today I praise God for so many blessing. Those I see and those I don't! I PRAY GOD LIFTS ME AND SAVES MY SOUL! Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �STREETVOICE No. 39 | Nov17, 2 - 2019 N o v 19, 2 0417 18 Oct 3 -3 Oct | No. The Challenge of Simplicity stable Foundation needed when Writing letters like a journal love is able entry. To protect and provide Exhaling negativity as good vibes enter me The shelter needed to As the pen fills the lined pages coincidence with my tears, Each letter that I write With progression. contains my truth behind the fears. Atrophy is a sign of Rebuilding me… depression. Fulling a destiny That I there… Written before my lungs greeted air… Anger is another. I write to feed My insatiable need To know that I am still relevant. These days, modern times make evident That those “feelings” are not valid. Cartoons facial expressions Express the point of view in this section. Short sentences are now long winded The realness of love has been suspended Due to conflict of interest. The interest is not your own So hand write my feelings. I do not condone Cookie cutter exposure with cave paintings That litter social media walls seeking validity With incoherent expressions Like binge drinkers during bar sessions. So, I write my wrongs To right my wrongs… Allowing my pen’s expressions like love songs That sing truth for hearts to identify. Writings address My stress Dormant heart remains unspoken Yet tears from pens whispered, " I am broken". Panhandling for a reaction That would house satisfaction However, emojis are not the 13 HOW FAR ABOVE THE LAW CAN HE GET? Trump's new low may now have been reached. The House is declaring he should be impeached. But the President claims his boast is quite true, That he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. Gone are the days when my mother Was my anchor. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Now I am drowning. A whirlpool of emotions sounding Airway passages Staring in the mouth of madness, My pen allows me To breathe When I write... Do you suppose Trump wanted to buy Greenland, because he thought it was a tropical island suitable for several of his hotels? So tonight, I will resuscitate Hymns that can relate To my circumstance... To genetically enhance Positivity Through possibility. My only way to cope Is not too lose hope And write for the best... Yours truly. Depthstroke the Cypher Contributing Writer Poll Question By Bill Woods THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 108 Across Down 1. Stalk 1. Male red deer 5. Possessed 2. Long hollow cylinder 8. Scorch 3. Panache 12. Bulbous plant 4. Stingy hoarder 14. Female animal 5. Part of a shoe 15. Desire 6. Veneration 16. Humiliate 7. Style of glazed 17. Snakelike fish earthenware 18. Building offering lodging 8. Black bird and meals 9. Detest 19. High ranking officer 10. Report or maintain 21. Ornate manner of speaking 11. Depend 23. Relieve from 13. Danger 24. Rapid active commotion 15. Part of a song 25. Mediterranean fruit tree 20. Worship 28. Deposit of valuable ore 22. Illuminated 30. Disorderly fighting 24. Sultry 35. Part of the eye 25. Number one 37. Let for money 26. Very angry 39. Beauty shop 27. Presumption 40. Rant 29. Depression in a surface 41. Come after 31. Grains of rock or coral 43. Small semi-aquatic 32. Slumber salamander 33. Further down 44. Warhorse 34. Way in 46. Change direction 36. Outstanding tournament 47. Cervid player 48. Bid 38. Divot 50. A great distance 42. Represent as if in 52. Inquire in a meddlesome a play way 45. Ten years 53. A small compartment 49. Color 55. Crib 51. Cook by dry heat 57. Bluster in an oven 61. Steadfast 54. Venue 65. Speedy 56. Private instructor 66. Actor's prompt 57. Boast 68. Took without consent 58. Complain bitterly 69. Part of a church 59. Part of a church 70. Employ 60. Despicable 71. Sum 61. Ooze 72. Mirth 62. Short letter 73. Deplete 63. Group related by 74. Rip blood or marriage NOct o v 23--N o v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 417 393 Oct 17, 22019 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 3- EASY 64. Contained 67. Country, initially PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #107 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 2- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 Nov17, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 417 18 Oct 33- |Oct 2019 | No. 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 NOct o v 2 3- -NOct o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 17,22019 No. 417 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 October 3-October 17, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: Affordable Housing Now Pg 3: How Benefits Rules and Family Breakdown Fuel Youth Homelessness Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: When Anti-Displacement Means Segregation Pg 6: A Coalition of Tenant Groups is Pushing Congress for New Housing Rights NCH Responds to Fallacious White House Report on Homelessness Pg 7: NCH Responds to Fallacious White House Report on Homelessness Continued Pg 8: I Didn’t Even Know Pg 9: I Didn’t Even Know Continued Pg 10: Charities Forced to Step in as Hong Kong’s Poor Struggle for Homes Pg 11: All Aboard 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 October 3-October 17, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Tony Inglis Sarah Hansell Erick Stoll Carmen Arroyo Dr. Mark Mussman Robert T. Walker Emilio Godoy Bobby Morris Kim Green INSP.com Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Activists Bill Woods Bobby Morris Brazil Carmen Arroyo Cincinnati Dr. Mark Mussman Emilio Godoy Erick Stoll Gabriela Godinez Immigrants INSP.com Kim Green Media mental health Mexico New York City Peatón Political Activists Rainforests Robert T. Walker Sarah Hansell Tony Inglis https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/0dd396e2dcc8ab577960935b7500879d.pdf b1b6beb70ab30dea294ef1942e1de7a0 PDF Text Text O c t o b e r 1 7 t h - O c t o b e r 3 1 s t 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 1 ( N o . 4 1 8 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. I Didn't Even Know Article on Page 8 This Issue is sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N o v 17 2 - -NOct o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Oct 31,22019 No. 418 From The Editor: Activism: A Critique Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief A ctivism is a confusing topic. Many people believe activism looks like taking to the streets and shouting, chanting, maybe even some violence. While civil disobedience in this manner is part of activism, it is often considered the bulk of the topic. Even while talking about marching, there is a lot of background work that has to be done before the march is even announced. A group of people can’t just show up at an area. They have to know about it, and know about what the mission of the gathering really is all about. This is where graphic designers and public relations writers can become activists. All of that is under the category of activism but it is often forgotten since it isn’t what is shown in mainstream media. Part of the background work that goes into mass and grass roots movements is research. Whether it is simply doing Google searches or going into the depths of city records, this research is useful to activists because it can cut down work if there is some sort of historical blueprints, and/or this research can be used to back up the mission statements of the groups. What if you are a lone activist? What if a group isn’t around you because of the culture of your geographical area? Organizing a group of people is hard work, and cannot be done by only one person. Yet, this perception makes activism seem inaccessible to people who don’t want to be in the chaos, or cannot be in the chaos whether it be because of a mental or physical hurdle. Individual activism is still useful, though it is only a part of the larger movement. You don’t need multiple people to write an opinion essay, create a painting, or other artwork, but at the end of the day you are still contributing to a larger conversation that is built up by multiple people. So in reality, there is 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com Photo By Blake Burrell never an activist that is truly alone. However, this is often not viewed as activism or worthy of admirable and useful work. This is where a false hierarchy can come into play, but I say try your best to not fall into that rhetoric. If what you are creating is powerful to you and those you wish to share your work with, then that might as well be good enough. There is no sense in pushing ourselves as activists to the point of burning out, just to show that we are “real” activists. Inserting certain ideas into a conversation, whether in person or not, is important and powerful work. Creating and submitting a piece of art that attempts to join the conversation of any activism-oriented topic is not more or less valuable than marching in the streets. Furthermore, marching in the streets is just half the battle. That is still legitimate work that is being done at marches and demonstrations, but there has to be follow-through. This is where another piece of activism comes into play: policy. Writing and advocating for policy is not easy work, nor is it glamorous. Many people don’t get the thanks they deserve. They do the work not for the notoriety, but because it is necessary. When we think of policy we often think of politicians, and then we get disillusioned. But you don’t have to be a politician to write/work on policy. Get involved with a grassroots organization working on such efforts, and you’ll learn that you have so much more power as a resident of the United States than you are often lead to believe. We, as people who identify with the activist community in some way, have to do a better job at communicating with one another. Finding allies and other organizations that intersect with our own missions is important. We can then work together and collaborate on larger movements, and amplify the work of activists not traditionally scene in the media. If something calls out to you, and it makes you think that it can create a difference, then do it. Sure, it’s always smarter to ask around about where to get started in your line of activism (mostly because there is no sense in re-inventing the wheel) but there is also a time to just go off on your own and create. Re-joining the conversation with new creations should not be a scary thing and too often do I hear people say “I don’t even know where to start.” Well, you can start right here. Any ideas that push for a better world are welcome in Streetvibes. Submit your articles, essays, and opinion pieces to streetvibes@cincihomeless.org. If you have an organization or an activist and are willing to help people find their way, please contact me at streetvibes@cincihomeless.org 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 EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Teresa Kramarz, Joanne Zuhl, Rajendra Jadhav, Dr. Mark Mussman, Martha Stephens, Alex McIntosh, Katelyn Lusher, Willa D. Jones, Kim Green ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, Blake Burrell ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 39 Nov 31, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 173-|Oct 2019 | No. 418 3 HOMELESSNESS When Anti-Displacement Means Segregation Joanne Zuhl Street Roots C ongressman Earl Blumenauer doesn’t consider himself naïve. He’s been in politics most of his life: from the Portland City Council to serving Oregon’s third congressional district for more than two decades in Washington, D.C. But this summer he experienced an awakening of sorts—spurred on by this year’s 400th anniversary of U.S. slavery—about how much our national housing crisis is rooted in systemic racism. “It’s taken me recent months to come to grips with the scale of government-sanctioned segregation— closing people out of programs— how pernicious it has been and its compounding effect,” Blumenauer says, during an interview at Street Roots’ office. “It’s a scandal… When you look at the big picture in terms of what happened to African-American veterans, what happened with New Deal projects, and, more recently, with redlining and sundown laws— these are all government-sanctioned discrimination against significant portions of the population.” His research on the issue, and his proposals for solving the nation’s housing crisis, comprise a new report by his office titled “Locked Out: Reversing Federal Housing Failures and Unlocking Opportunity.” Blumenauer was in Portland to talk about the report and his plan for how the federal government can address public housing shortages, homelessness, skyrocketing rental prices, homeownership inequity and discrimination. Shelter and housing, he told Street Roots, are a fundamental human right, along the lines of nutrition and health care, and they are worthy of federal support, rather than neglect. However, what federal support there has been has historically and deliberately favored white homeowners and discriminated against communities of color. “We spend lots of money on housing,” Blumenauer explains. “We spend billions every year. But it just tends to be concentrated on those who need help the least, and we shortchange those who need help the most. It’s long overdue that we acknowledge it.” Blumenauer’s report is part policy map and part history lesson. It looks back to the roots of the nation’s housing programs, from the theft of Native American lands to the subsidized housing built cheaply for white settlers by enslaved Africans. Owning property quickly became the chief source of wealth in the new country, and for centuries it was reserved almost exclusively for white people. Even after the turn of the century, with African-American workers providing labor during World War I, housing was substandard. Discrimination existed legally when it came to securing home loans or benefits from the Veterans Administration, the report notes. And local governments freely mandated segregated housing developments. The GI Bill, with its guaranteed housing loans, was a vehicle of wealth for white veterans buying new homes in the suburbs. But banks wouldn’t loan to black veterans for homes in black neighborhoods, and housing convenents and racism kept them out of white communities. The federal government was investing signficantly in housing during this time. In 1934, Congress passed the Housing Act, creating the Federal Housing Administration and providing loans for housing and home improvements. “These loans helped subsidize neighborhoods built entirely for whites, with explicit requirements that none of the homes be sold to African Americans,” according to the report. Subsequent programs in the ’40s and ’50s continued to push housing development in white communities and deny access to African Americans. “African Americans would continue to be denied access to federal programs, as well as the right to buy homes in white neighborhoods, even if they could afford it,” the report states. “If they were able to buy a home in a white neighborhood, they faced fierce opposition and sometimes violence.” In 1969—only 50 years ago— Congress passed the Fair Housing Act. It prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental or financing of housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or ability. It called for the federal housing administration to prevent segregation and discrimination based on race and to ensure housing was available to all. “Many developers and public housing authorities blatantly ignored the law and continued to discriminate for decades,” the report notes. Blumenauer doesn’t buy the argument that the solution should be left to a free market and not the government. “The private sector has had dramatic assistance from the government,” Blumenauer says. “What’s happened with exclusionary zoning programs, what’s happened with the loan programs, what’s happened with the tax system. There’s no free market for housing in this country. You’ll look in vain. And we need to acknowledge that.” As a result of being robbed of wealth-building tools for generations, progress was slow-moving under the Fair Housing Act. But homeownership rates did improve among black households, approaching 50 per cent at one point. But that progress has receded. In 2018, the black homeownership rate nationally was just 43 per cent—nearly 30 percentage points below white ownership. In his report, Blumenauer provides 22 ideas by which to correct the nation’s housing crisis. Chief among them is ramping up investments in housing for extremely low-income renters, which necessitates the availability of public housing. That means repealing the Faircloth Amendment. As of October 1999, the Faircloth Amendment prohibits public housing authorities from constructing new public housing if it would create a net increase in public housing. Over the intervening 20 years, public housing stock has declined— with an estimated $35 billion shortfall in investment for maintenance and construction and a wait list totalling 1.6 million people nationally, according to Blumenauer. “One of the things that drives me crazy is the fact that we’re prohibited from investing in public housing,” the congressman says. “The only way we can help people with extremely lowincomes is via federal investment. The private sector cannot support them, won’t support them and can’t afford to support them—and doesn’t want to.” One way to finance that investment is to change the mortgage interest deduction, a $30 billion national subsidy that is given to homeowners and tiered to benefit the wealthiest Americans most. It is even offered on second homes. Blumenauer wants to end the deduction on second homes and restructure the deduction into a tax credit capped at 15 per cent of interest paid, which would apply to all taxpayers and not just the small fraction who itemize their tax returns. He would also create a renter’s tax credit so low-income renters wouldn’t have to pay more than 30 per cent of their income toward rent—the THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED percentage the federal government considers affordable. According to the report, more than half of all renters pay more than 30 per cent on rent. In Multnomah County, approximately 1 out of every 4 renters is paying more than 50 per cent of their household income on rent. For renters with extremely low incomes, 3 out of 4 are paying above 50 per cent. Blumenauer is also calling on the federal government to enforce the antidiscrimination laws already on the books and to establish targeted loan programs for populations that have been discriminated against for generations. Blumenauer proposes a new Restorative Justice Home Loan Guarantee Program to support homeownership for firsttime homebuyers living in formerly redlined or segregated areas. He would also reinstate the first-time homebuyer credit, which was in place between 2008 and 2011. Other initiatives include doubling homeless assistance funding, increasing funding for eviction prevention, providing federal incentives for statewide caps on rent increases and expanding Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers to cover everyone who is eligible. Currently, only about 1 in every 4 applicants receives a voucher. According to the report, there are 2.8 million families waiting for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. Blumenauer returned to Washington after the August recess with plans to shop his proposals among lawmakers for policy action, and he hopes the context of our current housing crisis will help drive change. “I do not underestimate the power of knowledge and understanding,” he says. “The more people understand how we got to where we are now, and how we disadvantaged certain populations, particulary African Americans and Native Americans, we can help flip the script a bit. I hope to have people understand that we have an obligation to help people who have been suffering from these policies for generations [and] to understand that we’re paying a tremendous price right now for that failure.” Courtesy of Street Roots / INSP.ngo �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED NOct o v 217 - N v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 - oOct 31,2 02019 418 �N o. 39 ov 231, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 173 -| N Oct | No. 418 5 U.S NEWS Reasserting Proper Relationships Of Accountability In The Age Of Greta Teresa Kramarz The Conversation S he sits small on the large stage her face contorted trying to contain emotion as she labours to push her words out; on the brink of crying. She tells those listening: “This is all wrong; I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean.” And this is what we see and hear as we watch Greta Thunberg, the 16-yearold girl who just one year ago started a global climate movement, speaking to world leaders meeting in New York for the United Nations Climate Summit. The adults on stage watch her, the audience watches, the young people outside the UN holding signs watch, and that moment on stage in which she holds so many of us at the edge of our seat is played over and over in an endless chain of social media tweets and likes. We all watch with some mixture of fascination, awe, inspiration and curiosity. Yet there is a line past which Thunberg’s activism can become spectacle. The young person, who in her own words has felt the loss of her childhood because of empty promises from state leaders who were supposed to be the keepers of a healthy planet for her generation, becomes a human sacrifice that none of us should accept. Unacceptable sacrifice Her suffering - for our collective benefit - becomes part of what we used to deem an unacceptable sacrifice, and in this time of desperate politics, adults allow it to continue. It is time that Thunberg, who sparked millions of people to action, got some rest. It is time for proper accountability relationships to be redrawn between citizens and their political representatives, consumers and producers, civil society organizations and their members, children and adults. This article is directed at the adults left in the room. After all, when our states raise taxes or run deficits, wage war abroad or build infrastructure at home, freeze wages or create training programs, legislate clean water or relax industrial waste pollution, we don’t rely on our children to scream loud enough for our governments to create the change we need. We have accountability mechanisms in place. We agree on shared purposes, establish who is going to be held to account, to whom and for what. Then we regulate processes, standards and sanctions. In our regular lives, we read to become better informed and ask political candidates hard questions during election campaigns. We join organizations, discuss the issues with our neighbours on our street and create or sign petitions. Once these political demands have been articulated, we hold public leaders and private companies to their promises by naming, shaming or leaving them. We vote with our ballots and with our wallets as consumers to orient social action. We try to buy goods produced responsibly and shun those suspect of being socially or environmentally damaging. We take legal action when required. We cajole each other to keep defending agreed goals in our workplace and our neighbourhoods. Collective actions Our best social achievements are the products of relentlessly negotiating goals and then enforcing them until we accomplish peace, a liveable wage or a safe place to live and thrive. Though many of these hard-fought battles have been preceded by untold human suffering and environmental disasters. Just as we have mechanisms to create rules and assign responsibility for public, private and voluntary action in our diverse societies, we also have established modes of sanctioning rule-breakers who individually, and for private benefit, undermine our collective public goods. These accountability mechanisms of our everyday lives need to reassert themselves in the most comprehensive way possible as we face an existential threat to our planet. This week has been about a collective will to prioritize our quality of life over “endless economic growth,” in Thunberg’s own words, and in some cases setting up specific accountability metrics. Performing accountability City mayors, including Toronto’s John Tory, have declared climate emergencies, joining 800 other cities around the world who have done this so far. Companies are supporting the climate strikes by closing stores, temporarily ceasing operations and launching their own digital strikes in which their websites go dark. Giants like Amazon are pledging to drastically reduce their carbon emissions ahead of their own targets. Pension funds and insurers are committing to carbon neutral portfolios by 2050. Some academic institutions, like the University of California, are also divesting from fossil fuel holdings their billions of dollars in pension funds and endowments. Some media outlets are changing the language they use when reporting on climate, introducing into their style guides wording like “climate crisis” instead of “climate change.” Some professors are cancelling their regular classes and holding teachins, open and participatory fora for lecturing and debating large social issues that are reminiscent of ones that helped galvanize student protests against the war in Vietnam. Children, who are so much at the core of this fight, have resorted to domestic courts and complaint mechanisms in international conventions. Most recently they have filed a complaint to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, against the five largest emitting states that are signatories of the convention. They accuse states of violating their rights by subjecting them to the devastating effects of climate change. To reassert proper relationships of accountability, the next steps must include ensuring compliance and effecting sanctions wherever failures to deliver results start to emerge. After all, we cannot set standards if we as citizens, consumers and members of civil society are not equally committed to enforcing them. Just as we sanction those who undermine our political resolve for peace, equity or human security we have to sanction with all the accountability mechanisms we already have at our disposal those who undermine carbon emission standards and maximum carbon budgets. Adults must reassert and enforce the collective will – not marvel at a young person’s self-control on a global stage to get that work done. Teresa Kramarz is associate professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and co-director at the Environmental Governance Lab of the University of Toronto. Courtesy of The Conversation / INSP.ngo Climate change teen activist Greta Thunberg joins a climate strike march in Montreal, Quebec, Canada September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Andrej Ivanov THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL 6 NOct o v 217 - N v 19, 18 | N o . 393 - oOct 31,2 02019 | No. 418 Climate Strike Alex McIntosh ContributingWriter A s a college freshman, at once indecisive and overly-enthusiastic, my most feared question was, “What are you studying?” Pair this with the vulnerable position of being in a dentist’s chair, and picture me fumbling over my words—and the fingers in my mouth—trying to explain my Outdoor Education major and that I wanted to teach kids about the environment by taking them backpacking and canoeing. I hadn’t even gotten to the rock climbing skills when my well-meaning, extremely conservative dentist looked me in the eyes over his mask and said, “Oh, you’re one of those environmental liberals.” I started to protest, to explain that I wasn’t even talking about politics, just a basic appreciation of nature, but quickly resigned, sinking back into the chair while he poked at my gums and lectured me about the dangers of the welfare state. I had yet to learn the power of political connotations, or the fact that something as broad as “the environment” could be owned by one side of the political aisle, or the fervor of those who opposed my so-called liberal agenda. Flash forward eight years to find me—a more decisive but still enthusiastic version of me—in front of Cincinnati’s City Hall on September 20th of this year. Hundreds of voices rise together, joined in the words of a call-and-response song led by a local high school student: “I hear the voice of my great granddaughter saying ‘climate justice now.’” The protest, organized by Ohio Climate Strike and the Young Activists Coalition in conjunction with similar events around Ohio and the world, is a demand for political action in response to the problem of climate change. Of course, for politicians and voters to respond to a problem, they must first be convinced that there is a problem. In this era of fake news and flat earthers—two of this decade’s most popular anti-consensus trends— it’s no wonder that something as scientifically evident as climate change might be up for debate. The tiniest bit of research— via sources as trustworthy as NASA, The World Wildlife Fund, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations, National Geographic, and every major news source (including Fox News)— reveals that the Earth’s temperature is rising at an unprecedented rate, and that the vast majority of climate scientists (97% according to NASA.com) agree that human activities are the likely cause. Rather than speculating on the financial and political causes for many politicians’ refusal to make climate concerns a priority, the Climate Strike’s anthem was a song of unity, of our belonging to the Earth and to each other, as well as to those who will come after us. As polarized and divisive as our current political situation remains, the environment stands to serve as a unifying factor. Might the ground we walk on— and the air we breathe, and the water we drink— become neutral ground? As a lover of the outdoors, who is by no means an expert in climate science, I’m constantly amazed at the power of nature to rekindle our humanity. Being outside— and away from the demands of modern technological society—allows me to rest in a completely unique way. Even sitting in a neighborhood park provides the mental and spiritual space for me to breathe more easily, listening to birds chirping and watching the sunlight dance between tree limbs to play on the sidewalk. Science shows again and again that being in nature is good for our mental well-being, and even those who distrust science can’t deny that we rely daily on the natural world. It saddens me deeply that the environment has been manipulated into a political tool that divides, rather than a blessing that unites. Big Media Vs. Street Papers: Sparking Conversation Martha Stephens I ContributingWriter read almost every issue of Streetvibes. It tells truths you can’t find in any other paper. I always like the column on the first page of the paper by editor Gabriela Godinez. Godinez doesn’t hesitate to tell it like it is -- on many difficult subjects. I have admired her take on our mounting gun violence, for instance, and the need to ban assault weapons; and I agree with her entirely about Title X, the federal program for family planning, and her insistence that a woman must have the right to make decisions about her own body. I always read Dr. Mark Mussman. His knowledge of the city is phenomenal, and I learn from him about the struggles people are facing in all corners of the town -- and what we need to do about it. I like the poems and stories of our homeless friends, and I enjoy the many articles from other street-papers in the U. S. and around the world. I wish, though, we had more local writers pitching in with their personal stories and insights. As I see it, we need more dialogue in the paper, so I’d like to reply to a Streetvibes article in a recent issue by Bill Woods. News media is “Both Under Attack and in Decline,” he writes in the Oct. 3 edition. Mr. Woods contributes a lot of fine thoughtful writing to Streetvibes, and he is very good at explaining what caring people need to do to organize ourselves to create a town where no one lives in fear and grave distress. On big media, though, I have a somewhat different take from Mr. Bill. He writes on how he regrets that corporate news (the large papers and t. v. news) is losing out - to social media, perhaps? Yet as I see it, the corporate media has never been a true friend of ours. Only this past year have they been willing even to mention climate change. What was happening to our sick little planet was basically a secret from their readers all those years! The business cartels that put out the papers did not like the whole subject until quite recently, when they felt they had to get on board. Big media can be good at human-interest stories of all kinds, but we are suffering horribly now from this absence of climate news over the years. Do we love and admire the New York Times? Do we love NPR? Think of them as progressive? Don’t we recall how they helped get us into the terrible war in Iraq; their total support for those killing fields? I recall only too well when the NYT wrote that Hussein was a Hitler and had to be gotten rid of, no matter what. Once the invasion began, NPR (though it’s a better program today, under Trump) would not let us hear a single voice opposing that war. Many of us in Cincinnati marched against the invasion of Iraq in 2003. We felt there was no point in that war. The Iraq Body Count -- of civilians killed in the conflict -- is still rising every day. (We can take a look at this count on line. As I write, it’s up to almost 200,000 deaths.) In short, the American Empire has torn up much of the world through its wars and installing its bases around the world. Jim Luken can tell this story much better than I can, and I hope we’ll still hear from him from time to time. Jim was once a war correspondent, and he wrote about war for many years for Streetvibes, even after he moved away from Cincinnati. One could go on and on -- as to what we learn from Big Media and what we don’t learn. We may be fortunate that today we have Democracy Now and a good many other progressive and truthtelling organs for news. Facebook, for THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED all its drawbacks, does allow us to learn from each other. My Facebook friends post all kinds of eye-opening reports from sources I wouldn’t otherwise know about. And again, we have our street-papers to help us understand what’s happening to common people in the U.S. and around the world. It may be that we are not worse off for less corporate news, but better off - or so it seems to me, when it comes to the grave decisions we have to make in the U. S. today. Maybe those of us reading and writing for this paper should have a thorough dialogue on such subjects, and perhaps others will pitch in right here on Streetvibes. In short, let’s talk to each other through letters and counter-articles. That’s what keeps a newspaper alive! Martha Stephens is a writer and retired teacher. Her book about the victims of a research project in the U.C. College of Medicine is titled The Treatment: the story of those who died in the Cincinnati radiation tests (Duke University Press 2002); and her most recent work is a memoir titled Me and the Grandmas of Baghdad (in libraries and on Amazon). She can be reached at stephem@ucmail.uc.edu. �NOct o. 39 3 |- N ov 231, - N2019 o v 19,| No. 2 0 18418 17 Oct LOCAL 7 History Repeats Itself Katelyn Lusher ContributingWriter A few months ago, you may have read that I am creating a digital archive for Streetvibes. Since I started archiving the back issues (dating as far back as 1997), I have discovered so many great and fascinating things about the Cincinnati community. I have seen how people will come together in a moment of crisis to stand up for what is right, just like we did last week for the Housing Now! March. I have read about the rise of activists who didn’t know that they would become activists until they were called to stand up. I have seen people lifted up and given a platform to share their story when everyone else turned a deaf ear. I have seen so, so many strong relationships forged within the pages of Streetvibes. The people who were involved in the paper early on still tell stories about each other and refer me to others who can help me build the archive. It’s truly amazing how deep these roots go in the activist community. But on the darker side, I see the same tragic things repeated far too often. One reason why community advocates become so close and know each other for so long is because they are continuously fighting the same hard, uphill battle against oppression and greed. Time and time again, I see stories reporting the mistreatment of people experiencing homelessness, the displacement of an entire neighborhood, or the complete lack of affordable housing in the city. The story repeats itself and the same people are always on the front lines fighting back against big businesses and government entities who are very selective about who they consider “worthy” of a decent place to live. As Bonnie Neumeier said in her speech at City Hall last week, she attended the first Housing Now! March back in 1989. Thirty years later, we are still marching for the same reason. Similar protests for better affordable housing options are littered throughout Streetvibes’ timeline. In November 2009, the front page headline reads, “Metropole Tenants Tell 3CDC: Hell No, We Won’t Go.” In July 2004, citizens mobilized to protest “the war on the poor” in Washington Park in honor of the late Rev. Maurice McCrackin. The previous year, in August 2003, people fought against the city sweeping away a tent city by the Bailey Bridge (not unlike a similar eviction that happened in August 2018). People organized to protest the city bulldozing public housing projects for redevelopment in June 1999. The list goes on and on, and it’s appalling that this is still a fight that needs to be fought not just in Cincinnati, but all across the country. This is the kind of history that people conveniently forget. The struggles of others do not stop just because it isn’t reported or is given minimal coverage in mainstream media. In many ways, Streetvibes purposely runs counter to what we expect to read when we pick up something that looks like a newspaper. What I’ve come to understand about Streetvibes is that it’s not just a run of the mill newspaper (which many of you who already know if you’ve followed Streetvibes for a while) and it’s not supposed to be. What Streetvibes represents, in my mind, is a common place. It is a place to discover what other activists and community advocates are doing in Cincinnati, in the U.S., and around the world to improve the lives of people. It is also a place to share a story, voice an opinion, or talk back to injustice. It is a place where people can see themselves represented. With that being said, I am happy to announce that I am now at the point where I can show everyone the website’s progress and start gathering community feedback and contributions. If you go to svarchive.omeka.net, you will see what I have added to the archive so far. At the moment, I have only added the 1997 and some of the 1998 issues, but it will gradually expand to catch up to the present. All of the issues can be downloaded as PDFs and they are all searchable. In the future, I plan to add profiles of people who frequently appear in Streetvibes and add interview audio and video with them. However, I am also welcoming contributions from any community members who are currently or were formerly involved with Streetvibes in some form. If you click on “Contribute an Item” in the left sidebar of the website, you can pick your content choice (story, image, or profile) and contribute your voice and memories to the archive. If you have any questions or suggestions for the archive, please fill out the contact form on the website or come by the Homeless Coalition on Thursdays at 3:30 and I will be glad to talk to you! Streetvibes exists because of community and the archive should reflect its roots. The China Puzzle - How Big Money Can Buy And Protect Legislation Bill Woods ContributingWriter H ave you received a scary postcard in the mail? It warns not to give your phone number, email address, home address, or other personal information to a particular petition gatherer, because it will end up in the hands of the Chinese Government. Besides making you personally vulnerable to wily Chinese bureaucrats, signing this petition will aid China's plan to invade Ohio's Energy Grid while taking away thousands of jobs! A plethora of TV ads with the same message also blanket the air waves on a regular basis. What is going on here? Is China really about to take over Ohio's energy resources? The answer to these questions is a resounding no! What we are experiencing is another round of "dark money" attempting to protect a terrible state law enacted last summer and purchased by the same "dark money." Here is the story in brief. First Energy, a corporation located in Akron, Ohio, is the primary villain in this tale. As the operator of two failing nuclear power plants in Ohio, First Energy tried but failed to persuade the Ohio General Assembly to enact legislation that would subsidize its nuclear facilities. Even a Republican dominated Legislature that is inclined to assist business saw this as a losing proposition. After this initial defeat, First Energy and its allies decided on a plan based on campaign contributions to elect House and Senate members that would do their bidding. First of all, the plan called for supporting a new Speaker of the House who would be amenable to their bailout legislation. Rep. Larry Householder, a co-sponsor of the unsuccessful bailout bill, became their choice, and he received during the 2018 election year $67,416 in campaign donations from First Energy and the other energy corporations supporting such state assistance. Next, First Energy supported candidates in eighteen House Districts who ran in the 2018 Republican primary against incumbents who had voted against the bailout. With significant donations from First Energy, fifteen of these challengers won, and twelve of them were elected in the fall general election. These candidates received a large percentage of the approximately one million dollars spent by First Energy's PAC during the 2018 election cycle. Meanwhile, three other PACs representing coal-fired power plants spent another $700,000 in this campaign to line up enough members of the Ohio House and Senate to support a bailout. The plan worked. First, Larry Householder was chosen by the new House as its Speaker when it convened in 2019. Then, work began in earnest to craft new legislation that would effectively bailout both the nuclear and coal corporations in Ohio. While this Bill was being drafted, several million dollars worth of TV and radio ads touting this approach ran on stations throughout the state. What emerged and was passed by both the House and Senate in July was a law that would provide a bailout of $1.1-billion to First Energy and the coal plants over a period of seven years. Known as House Bill 6, it was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine on July 23rd. It should also be noted that DeWine received a $25,000 campaign contribution from the First Energy PAC in 2018. Almost immediately, a group called Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, began a statewide petition drive to repeal House Bill 6 by the initiative process. It currently works to get 265,774 valid Ohio Voter signatures by October 21st in order to THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED stop the bailout from beginning before a 2020 referendum vote. However, once signature gathering began, a new limited liability corporation named Ohioans For Energy Security began a $3.4-million ad and mail campaign attacking this petition drive. This brings the story to the present moment and the ads on TV and the post cards designed to scare us about the threat of China taking over Ohio's Energy Grid while misusing our personal information. Although research by journalists and good government groups can find nothing valid about these claims of potential Chinese misdeeds, one possible link has been put forward. Apparently, one energy company that may be supporting the repeal got some financing from a Chinese bank for a natural gas plant in Ohio. This is speculation and not necessarily true, and it hardly ranks as a Chinese takeover. It does show, however, that Ohio election laws cannot currently stop well-financed false information campaigns. A follow up article will focus on what reform groups such as the League of Women Voters and Common Cause propose to do about this dilemma and the crisis of "Big Money" in general. �FEATURED 8 N ov 2 o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Oct 17- -NOct 31,22019 418 I Didn't Even Know Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer “S hould we still go out to bars and restaurants in Over-the-Rhine?” asks a participant on a recent Alternative Break trip with us at the Homeless Coalition. Our Alternative Break (AB) program is one of the most robust and educational programs in the country. Over-the-Rhine provides us with diametrically opposed perspectives on the simple question: “Who belongs here?” On the surface, participants see an amusement park with pedalwagons, scooters, outdoor drinking, ax-throwing, arcades, sports, arts, music, and did I mention drinking? But as we get deeper into the complexities, they begin to question what impact they themselves are having on the neighborhood of Overthe-Rhine. My experience in advertising has taught me that first impressions last forever, and that consistency must persist throughout a relationship to be successful. I have long said that “Over-the-Rhine is a neighborhood: OTR is a brand” as a way to distinguish between the many perspectives on this area. While the neighborhood has been abbreviated as “OTR” for many years, delineating between the two is an important first step in seeing the divide between those who claim ownership in the neighborhood and those who yield to a common voice. Our Alternative Breaks have a different effect on local participants. People who have never been to Cincinnati, who have never heard of Over-the-Rhine, look at the situation with an almost unemotional gaze, as if they are taking it in, comparing it to their own experience, and tucking it away as a memory in a scrapbook. I have been contacted by many former participants who said they have been able to apply what they experienced in Cincinnati to their own communities. Local participants tend to have more difficulty understanding the power dynamics in the neighborhood. Often they have a common historical knowledge of Over-the-Rhine: “It was bad, but now it’s not.” But reconciling their own, often entertainment-based experiences, becomes more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, our AB program is intense and often demanding, but when students become AB Participants at the Catholic Worker House so emotional that they are in tears in the room with strangers, I realize there is something else going on in their lives. During a trip last year, one of our community speakers simply opened up the discussion with “What is gentrification?” One of the participants broke down in tears, because they were having a difficult time reconciling their own experiences and, in essence, their own identity. They explained that they often go to bars in “OTR” and that they feel guilty for contributing to the displacement of residents, businesses, social service agencies, in the name of profit. The student was definitely on to something — and this was just the first day! The question of who belongs in the neighborhood is examined because gentrification is displacement, and displacement has consequences. For example, when people are displaced from a park, whether it Washington, Zeigler, or Findlay, once the parks have been privatized, should people who enjoy the park before feel comfortable and able to use the park after the investment is made? And if they do feel comfortable enough to use the park, should their enjoyment be impacted by knowledge (and experience) of AB Participants develop strategies to deal with food insecurity THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 Nov 231, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 173 -| Oct | No. 418 Climate change teen activist Greta Thunberg joins a climate strike march in Montreal, Quebec, Canada September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Andrej Ivanov exclusion? Shouldn’t all people in the neighborhood be able to use something that is available to all of the people in the neighborhood without judgement of fear? How can this even be measured? When your neighborhood changes right in front of your eyes, and indirect gentrification has removed your schools, your neighbors, your play spaces, your stores, your laundromat, your hardware store, your post office, your family and friends, but you still must survive, you will likely still participate in your community, but in a different way, with a different lens. Life becomes complicated and burdensome. Being able to flow freely through the neighborhood becomes impossible. Another example of this is the removal of the Kroger grocery store from the neighborhood last month. Many of our neighbors depended on that store to have basic staples and we have spent a lot of time with our neighbors shopping — even in that small, over-priced store. Once the new downtown Kroger opened, creating a 9 FEATURED food desert for many in northern Overthe-Rhine and the West End, should people who shopped at the old Kroger feel different about shopping at the new “fancy” Kroger downtown? Will they feel included or excluded by the security and staff at the new store? What choices do they have when the corner stores that sold cleaning supplies and other items not found at Findlay Market have been closed down? When you are simply trying to survive, not only is closing a neighborhood grocery story difficult on the community, especially the most vulnerable, the elderly, people with disabilities, people who have to walk up many flights of stairs and cannot carry all their groceries at once, but it also forces our community connections to be altered. These are the social fabric changes that people facing displacement must deal with every day. The effect of indirect gentrification is the same as direct gentrification — displacement. Eventually, the bottom falls out, and you are forced from the neighborhood. The zip code that covers AB with Streetvibes Distributor Lee McCoyCanada September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Andrej Ivanov AB at the Coalition with Mona Over-the-Rhine, Downtown, and Mt. Adams has been found to be the most expensive rental market in the entire state, which is partially why the question of “who belongs?” persists. Clearly, there are power dynamics in the neighborhood that are tipped in favor of those who have more resources, coming from generational wealth, and who enjoy privilege due to their color of their skin. Many times AB participants are resistant to the message that racism even exists, and they exert their fragility by becoming quiet, afraid to speak up. They want to believe that their are only two sides, and that things can be painted as either “good” or “bad” unless the “bad” somehow includes them or the decisions that they make. Some participants break free by critically thinking and they start to unlearn racism through the experiences they have on the trip. In either case, the memories they make in Over-the-Rhine will be carried with them throughout their lives. Whether or not they are able to answer the questions they pose about their own actions and choices is not something that I would ever be able to measure. If they go out in Over-theRhine in the same manner as before the trip doesn’t mean that the trip failed. Their AB experience should enable them to see how they can be supportive in their own communities. Hearing from community leaders and residents, people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, gives them the opportunity to take those voices with them to answer the most pressing questions about homelessness, poverty, hunger, displacement, housing, and gentrification. It should also give them the tools to organize and become advocates for affordable housing, People who Have Died from Homelessness List THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �10 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED N ov 2 o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Oct 17- -NOct 31,22019 418 �N o. 39 Nov 231, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 173 -| Oct | No. 418 11 GLOBAL The Indian children who take a train to collect water Rajendra Jadhav Reuters A s their classmates set off to play after school each day, nine-year-old Sakshi Garud and her neighbour Siddharth Dhage, 10, are among a small group of children who take a 14 kilometre (9 miles) return train journey from their village in India to fetch water. Their families are some of the poorest in the hamlet of Mukundwadi, in the western state of Maharashtra, a village that has suffered back-to-back droughts. India's monsoons have brought abundant rain and even floods in many parts of the country, but rainfall in the region around Mukundwadi has been 14 per cent below average this year and aquifers and borewells are dry. "I don't like to spend time bringing water, but I don't have a choice," Dhage said. "This is my daily routine," said Garud. Their cramped shanty homes are just 200 metres (220 yards) from the train station. "After coming from school, I don't get time to play. I need to get water first." They are not alone. Millions of Indians do not have secure water supplies, according to the UK-based charity, WaterAid. It says 12 per cent of Indians, or about 163 million people, do not have access to clean water near their homes - the biggest proportion of any country. Recognising the issue, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to spend more than 3.5 trillion rupees ($49 billion) to bring piped water to every Indian household by 2024. More than 100 families in Garud and Dhage's neighbourhood do not have access to piped water and many depend on private water suppliers, who charge up to 3,000 rupees ($42) for a 5,000-litre tanker during summer months. But private water supply is something Garud and Dhage's parents say they cannot afford. Siddharth Dhage, 10, waits to board a train with empty water containers, at Mukundwadi railway station, Aurangabad, India, "Nowadays, I don't get enough money to buy groceries. I can't buy water from private suppliers," said Dhage's father, Rahul, a construction worker. "I am not getting work every day." Garud and Dhage and other children from Mukundwadi take the train daily to fetch water from the nearby city of Aurangabad. The train is often overcrowded, so a group of small children jostling to get on board with pitchers to fill with water is not always welcome. "Some people help me, sometimes they complain to railway officials for putting pitchers near the door. If we don't put them near the door, we cannot take them out quickly when the train stops," Dhage said. Garud's grandmother Sitabai Kamble and an elderly neighbour help occasionally by pushing them on board in the face of irritable passengers. "Sometimes they kick the pitchers away, they grumble," Kamble said. When the train pulls into Aurangabad thirty minutes later, they scramble to fill the pitchers at nearby water pipes. Garud can't reach the tap, so she relies on her taller sister, Aaysha, 14, and grandmother. Others from Aurangabad, like Anjali Gaikwad, 14, and her sisters, also board the train every few days to collect water and wash clothes. Their neighbour Prakash Nagre often tags along with soap and shampoo. "There's no water to bathe at home," he says. When the train pulls into Mukundwadi, they have just under a minute to disembark. At times, Dhage's mother, Jyoti, is waiting at the station to help. "I'm careful, but sometimes pitchers fall off the door in the melee and our work is wasted," she said, holding her infant in one arm and a pitcher in the other. "I can't leave my daughter at home alone so I have to take her along." Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo Prakash Nagre washes himself at Aurangabad railway station, Aurangabad India, Siddharth's mother Jyoti Dhage holds her four month old daughter Akansha as she watches her neighbour Gaurav Ganesh, 13, as he helps fill the containers with water at Aurangabad railway station, India, THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �12 STREETVOICE N o v 17 2 --N o v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 418 393 Oct Oct 31, 22019 The Ghost The Ghost Behind me Firing Red Hot Heat at me Lying to me Worrying me Grabbing out At me Dripping Sour Honey On me Expanding Out At me Looking For me It wants to Destroy me Having no mercy For me It wants me to deceive for thee Standing, on the other Side of me It wants to Destroy me The Ghost Kim Green Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov31, 2 - 2019 N o v 19, 2 0 418 18 Oct 173- |Oct | No. Starting Over 13 STREETVOICE After being homeless and living on the street for five years After the loss of all i had i owe a lot of my recovery to my HOW FAR ABOVE THE LAW CAN HE GET? peers After the talbert house, bethany house and the drop inn center I found the off the street program only then did my life Trump's new low may now have been reached. The House is declaring he should be impeached. remove the bender They taught me how to communicate and speak without doubt, fear or shame They gave me all the insight needed and if i failed only i But the President claims his boast is quite true, That he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. would be the blame I felt reborn and started singing aint no stopping me now an i stop looking back BILL WOODS I found a place of my own where i could be alone and get Contributing Writer my life back on track Next i found cincinnati homeless coalition who liked and appreciated my poetry Let me know that i was not homeless alone and for them caring i have loyalty They introduce me to the street vibe paper for the cincinnati homeless coalition Saying my being homeless my poetry needed to be shared sounds like a mission Finally i found myself on findlay market where my life found a new direction The day the coalition told me that findlay market agreed to give me a section So many new friends, mr. Pottery man, mr. Popcorn man an the seasoning lady Talking about how we all must pay bills, save money and be happy now not maybe I've learned starting over is the will within yourself where there is power With the belief and faith that you have in yourself you will change hour by hour Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 108 Across Down 1. Stalk 1. Male red deer 5. Possessed 2. Long hollow cylinder 8. Scorch 3. Panache 12. Bulbous plant 4. Stingy hoarder 14. Female animal 5. Part of a shoe 15. Desire 6. Veneration 16. Humiliate 7. Style of glazed 17. Snakelike fish earthenware 18. Building offering lodging 8. Black bird and meals 9. Detest 19. High ranking officer 10. Report or maintain 21. Ornate manner of speaking 11. Depend 23. Relieve from 13. Danger 24. Rapid active commotion 15. Part of a song 25. Mediterranean fruit tree 20. Worship 28. Deposit of valuable ore 22. Illuminated 30. Disorderly fighting 24. Sultry 35. Part of the eye 25. Number one 37. Let for money 26. Very angry 39. Beauty shop 27. Presumption 40. Rant 29. Depression in a surface 41. Come after 31. Grains of rock or coral 43. Small semi-aquatic 32. Slumber salamander 33. Further down 44. Warhorse 34. Way in 46. Change direction 36. Outstanding tournament 47. Cervid player 48. Bid 38. Divot 50. A great distance 42. Represent as if in 52. Inquire in a meddlesome a play way 45. Ten years 53. A small compartment 49. Color 55. Crib 51. Cook by dry heat 57. Bluster in an oven 61. Steadfast 54. Venue 65. Speedy 56. Private instructor 66. Actor's prompt 57. Boast 68. Took without consent 58. Complain bitterly 69. Part of a church 59. Part of a church 70. Employ 60. Despicable 71. Sum 61. Ooze 72. Mirth 62. Short letter 73. Deplete 63. Group related by 74. Rip blood or marriage N ov 2 o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Oct 17- -NOct 31,22019 No. 418 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 3- EASY 64. Contained 67. Country, initially PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #107 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 2- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 2 - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 173-| Oct 31, | No. 418 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 NOct o v 217 - N o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 - Oct 31,2 02019 418 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 October 17-October 31, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: Activism Pg 3: When Anti-Displacement Means Segregation Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Reasserting Proper Relationships of Accountability in the Age of Greta Pg 6: Climate Strike Big Media vs. Street Papers Pg 7: History Repeats Itself Pg 8: I Didn’t Even Know Pg 9: I Didn’t Even Know Continued Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: The Indian Children Who Take a Train to Collect Water 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 October 17-October 31, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Teresa Kramarz Joanne Zuhl Rajendra Jadhav Dr. Mark Mussman Martha Stephens Alex McIntosh Katelyn Lusher Willa D. Jones Kim Green INSP.com Blake Burrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Activism Alex McIntosh Bill Woods Blake Burrell China Climate Change Dr. Mark Mussman Gabriela Godinez India INSP.com Joanne Zuhl Katelyn Lusher Kim Green Martha Stephens Media Rajendra Jadhav Segregation street papers Strike Teresa Kramarz Willa D. Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/a70170681ffae36bc1941005492bdcee.pdf 36c0289a98bd932cb051af357d704902 PDF Text Text O c t o b e r 3 1 s t - N o v e m b e r 1 4 t h 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 2 ( N o . 4 1 9 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. An Altered State of Homelessness Article on Page 8 This Issue is sponsored by Cecilia and Tom Kloecker Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N o v 31 2 - -NNov o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Oct 14,22019 No. 419 From The Director: Dear Mayor Joseph Meyer City of Covington, Kentucky Attempting to Legislate Separation of People Without Homes From People With Homes. Josh Spring Executive Director This comes in response to the proposed ordinance that would limit the operation and location of “emergency shelters” and “cold shelters” in the City of Covington. The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition is an alliance of approximately sixty organizations in Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky working to alleviate and end homelessness and the thousands of people experiencing homelessness and housing instability in our area. We find Covington’s proposed ordinance deeply troubling for several reasons. Numerous studies and reports show that, throughout the United States, the primary cause of homelessness is a critical shortage of housing affordable to people with low incomes. In fact, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased exponentially beginning in the 1980s when the federal government cut spending on affordable housing while maintaining and even increasing subsidies for housing affordable only to people with higher incomes. These policies continue, so that from 2017 to 2021 federal spending subsidizing homeownership for people with higher incomes is expected to be 471.69 percent higher than spending subsidizing housing for people with low incomes. Similarly, local governments have increasingly decided to devote local dollars and tax incentives to development of homes for people with higher incomes at the expense of housing affordable to people with low incomes. These decisions have resulted in the closure and decreased production of affordable housing in cities across our region and country. The consequence of these national and local policies is an affordable housing shortage at crisis levels with a corresponding increase in the number of people thrust into homelessness and suffering the trauma that comes with it. In order to reduce and eventually S end homelessness, local governments must invest in the development and preservation of housing affordable to people with low incomes and not allow public funds and incentives to support developments that close affordable housing and or fail to include any affordable housing. The most troubling and most problematic element of the proposed ordinance is that it treats people experiencing homelessness, and the shelters, working to keep people alive while searching for housing, as the cause of homelessness and as a threat to the rest of the public, from whom they must be kept separate and out of view. The ordinance not only characterizes your neighbors as dangerous for being without a home, but it also ignores decades of research, study, and professional experience. Exclusion ordinances like this one are not new. Legislatures have attempted to separate people at least since 1896, and such legislation does nothing but harm the affected communities. Specifically, with respect to homelessness, such ordinances serve only to further marginalize people and organizations providing basic services, to decrease the opportunity for viable solutions, and to cause an increase in crimes targeted against people experiencing homelessness while simultaneously wasting tax- payer dollars by shifting the focus away from what works. Across the country, such laws criminalizing people experiencing homelessness and direct service providers working with people without homes have been challenged in public forums and in federal courts. In September 2015, the Department of Housing and Urban Development began requiring local continuums of care, to explain whether or not their local municipalities are criminalizing people without homes and what is being done to stop it. In December 2015, the Department of Justice issued a statement saying that local municipalities should stop criminalizing people without homes. Increasingly, federal courts are siding with the fundamental right to live with dignity and not be marginalized or criminalized by exclusion ordinances such as this one. In just the past two years, several different federal courts have ruled against exclusion ordinances criminalizing people experiencing homelessness, to the point where some other municipalities are considering repealing them altogether. Under Covington’s proposed ordinance, emergency shelters would not be allowed “to be located within 1000 feet if a [sic] public or private schools, universities, colleges, student housing, senior housing, child care facilities, public parks, businesses licensed for on- or off-site sales of alcoholic beverages or parole/ probationer home or halfway house.” This would make it nearly impossible for a shelter to lawfully locate within the City, which appears to be the purpose of the ordinance. Excluding shelters while homelessness still exists and is getting worse is like excluding or closing veterans’ hospitals while wars continue. Furthermore, this location restriction assumes that people without homes will somehow harm the various places listed, and that being without a home makes you dangerous to people with a home. The restriction ignores the fact that people who need shelter have children who go to school or child-care facilities, that they attend college, that they have friends and family who live in student or senior housing, and it assumes they have no right to readily access public parks. That a shelter could not lawfully locate within 1,000 feet of a business that sells alcoholic beverages embodies a common stereotype, in that it assumes most people experiencing homelessness are struggling with addiction, which is not true. The restriction also assumes that if people are struggling with addiction, their proximity to the sale of alcohol will somehow affect the nature of their addiction, which is an unfounded assumption with no basis in fact or reality. To read the full letter please visit cincihomeless.org 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 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Andy Pope, Kristina Cooke, Dr. Mark Mussman, LoA Beinit, Haley Edmonson, Hannah Westwater, Alexandra Gehrhardt, James Brown, Willa D. Jones, ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, Blake Burrell ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 39 Nov 2 - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 313- |Nov 14, 2019 | No. 419 HOMELESSNESS 3 Paralyzed: The Demons That Prey On The Homeless Andy Pope Street Spirit W hen one is homeless, one is by definition exposed to all kinds of elements that escape the confines of one who lives indoors. Weather is only one such element. There are also predatorial elements—people who invade the space of someone who has no physical barrier to separate them from intruders of the night. There is also another kind of predator sometimes encountered in the darkness. This is the supernatural predator, often colloquially referred to as a “demon”—an entity that invades one’s dream states, or states of halfsleep. Homeless friends of mine reported being “hassled” or “attacked” by malevolent entities that seemed to hover over various outdoor spots where we tried to sleep. I sometimes sensed these invasions as well. Typically, I would become paralyzed, and suddenly feel as though an invisible hostile creature was grabbing me and rubbing or scratching me with things that felt like paws or claws. Sometimes I would feel as though I were being pounded upon. I would hear abusive voices as this happened: “Andy, you scum bag!! You are a total piece of shit!!!” Whether these were truly alien invaders from outer space, or merely the subconscious reflection of my own low self-esteem, I cannot say. I've learned that the half-sleep state in which these attacks occur has a name: sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a condition where one is awake to one’s surroundings but lacks motor control. In other words, you’re not awake enough to move your body, but awake enough to know what’s going on. It often strikes during times when the usual patterns of sleep have been disrupted. In my experience, very few things have disrupted my normal sleep patterns as much as the overall conditions of homelessness. As a person who has had sleep paralysis since the age of 14, I am among the eight per cent of the population for whom this condition is commonplace. When I was homeless, I noticed that these intrusions would be different depending on when and where they occurred. For example, intrusions in Ohlone Park were different from those that took place on the steps of St. Joseph the Worker church or outside of the Rubicon building. I always sensed that I was being assaulted by some kind of invisible entity, but the nature of the entity would differ according to where it was that I was trying (unsuccessfully) to sleep. If I were to take a daytime nap on Bart, however, I noticed that I was free of these mysterious assailants. However, when the train would stop, sometimes they would attack. This gave rise to the theory that they lived in a reality that intersected the normal Earth-based reality at certain spots, but that they were unable to traverse the surface of the Earth—at least not at speeds corresponding to those of rapid transit. This theory is reminiscent of the concept of the “tesseract” expounded in the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine d’Engels. Another theory had to do with the veracity of these demon-riddled reports. How plausible were they really? How credible were those who reported them? And most of all, who was most likely to believe them? I could not help but notice that those who were impoverished, homeless, on disability, working poor, or low-wage blue collar or assembly line workers were the quickest to embrace and believe my reports of sleep paralysis. Often, people in the lower socio-economic brackets would share their own similar experiences of encounters with “demons.” But people in the scientific community, upper level academics, white collar workers, and corporate business people seemed often to scoff at our accounts, writing them off the same way they wrote off all of our statements. To be sure, this is another type of paralysis, one that is relentless, and occurs in broad daylight. Whatever the cause or effect of these widespread stories, one thing seemed most disturbingly clear. There were legions of demons haunting the realm of the disadvantaged, the underprivileged, the unprotected, and the abandoned. Whether they meet us in dream states or in harsh reality, there are far more homeless demons than meet the eye. Andy Pope is a freelance writer who live in the Pacific Northwest, and the author of Eden in Babylon, a musical about youth homelessness in urban America. *** We are the haunted, not the horrors (By Stefani Echeverría-Fenn) Science has now proven that trauma can be passed down intergenerationally; that rats whose mothers were exposed to stressors like water can epigenetically inherit a special fear of water. Before we had this science, nearly every culture on Earth had ghost stories. Nearly every culture on Earth intuitively understood that unresolved traumas will continue to haunt and walk among us for as long as we refuse to reckon with them. That painful histories must be acknowledged, not simply buried, or we will wake up in the middle of the night terrified and haunted. I started #37MLK—an autonomous encampment in Oakland—because I am haunted in the daylight too. I escaped long-term homelessness by the skin of my teeth ten years ago. In 2010, my Oakland neighborhood (Ghost Town) was still cheap enough to rent a one bedroom for $800, no credit check required. I still live in that place, haunted by the fact that if I were only 10 years younger, I'd still be homeless. Post-gentrification, identical units to mine now start at $2500; an unthinkable sum for folks transitioning out of being unhoused. The spectre of my slum landlord hovers, trying to push all of us long term tenants out so he can raise the rent. More than anything though, I am haunted not by ghosts but by the memories of what it felt like to be a THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED ghost myself. All those years as a homeless disowned queer youth, I felt myself a phantom-- completely invisible to the housed as they hurried by me on the sidewalk. Never truly seen as human, only a threat going bump in the night whenever I dared cry out that something was terribly wrong. After I was housed, after I began a new life as a fancy Berkeley PhD student, I was expected to just forget about it all. Forget about the street communities that sustained me when no one else would. Ghosts do not forget though, that's how they come to be. Ghosts refuse to leave homes quietly for the convenience of new owners. We at #37MLK are the ghosts that rich landlords will never be able to exorcise. Who refuse to be shipped out of our communities and our block, but stay here haunting the powerful; our very presence refusing to let them forget their own histories of violence. It is white violence that first called Black people spooks, and the legacy of white supremacy continues to haunt this block. We obtain the old records of racist real estate redlining on this block. We stay around the very buildings unscrupulous landlords evicted us from. We offer this land back to the living Ohlone people whose ancestral spirits still walk this land, their burial shellmounds harmed terribly by the nearby Emeryville malls. We are the communities haunted by these histories that polite society would have us forget, and if we are ghosts we are holy. Stefani Echeverría-Fenn is a founder of #37MLK and The Sportula: Microgrants for Classics Students. She is a PhD student and adjunct lecturer of Latin and Ancient Greek at UC Berkeley and The Jesuit School of Theology. Courtesy of Street Spirit / INSP.ngo �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED NOct ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 31- N - Nov 14,2 02019 419 �N o. 39 Nov 214, - N2019 o v 19,| No. 2 0 18 Oct 313 -| Nov 419 5 U.S NEWS Migrant Mother Misses Home But Prays Not To Be Sent Back I Kristina Cooke Reuters rma Rivera is praying. As on every Sunday, the 33-year-old Honduran mother bows her head at a neighbourhood church. She has dressed her children, Jesus, 5, and Suany, 8, in their best clothes and implored them to sit quietly beside her. She prays that her husband, Jose, who was murdered back home, is “in a good place.” She prays to be strong for her kids in this new country, to live long enough to see them grow up. She prays for the family members she left behind. Rivera views her new life with conflicting emotions. For their first year in the United States, she and the children were guests in a relative’s house, and she constantly worried they were outstaying their welcome. Recently, she and her sister, who arrived from Honduras a few months ago, rented a small apartment together. Rivera, Suany and Jesus share an inflatable mattress in a bedroom with Rivera's teenage niece. “We don’t have a lot, but we are happy,” she said. After walking thousands of miles north through Guatemala and Mexico, where in the spring they sought protection in a caravan, the three asked for U.S. asylum in May 2018 at the port of entry near San Diego, California. They spent three weeks in U.S. custody, then convinced an immigration official they had a “credible fear” of returning home. They were released pending court hearings to decide their fate - a process that could take years. As grateful as she is to be in America, Rivera is homesick. She breaks into tears as she lists the relatives and close friends she misses. “But because of what happened, I don’t want to go back,” she said. According to an asylum officer’s notes, Rivera told the officer in May 2018 that her husband, a farmer, was murdered by field workers after he threatened to report them to authorities for stealing valuable palm fruit from the land he tilled. In the fertile Bajo Aguan region where the family lived, a violent Irma Rivera, an asylum-seeker from Honduras, prepares children Jesus and Suany for church at their home in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.- REUTERS/Loren Elliott Irma Rivera, an asylum-seeker from Honduras, spends time with her children Jesus and Suany upon getting home from work in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.- REUTERS/Loren Elliott conflict is raging over land rights. The area has been flagged by Human Rights Watch as an epicentre of murders “with impunity." After the murder, “everything fell apart for me,” Rivera said. The same group that killed her husband – never apprehended by police - threatened the rest of the family, forcing her to sell their house and flee with the children. Since then, she has heard, her village has only become more dangerous, and even more families are making their way north. Rivera arrived in the United States with straightforward expectations. “I thought the children would go to school, and I’d work, and I’d get settled,” she said. “But it’s been very difficult here.” She is still grieving for her husband. Every time something new happens, she said, “I want to tell him about it.” She is not yet able to work legally, and has struggled to make rent and pay lawyers' fees. She relies in part on the generosity of family and friends. Recently an American woman asked her a question in English and she was embarrassed because she couldn't understand, let alone reply. Her kids miss Honduras, too - the many children in their extended family, not to mention their dog, Rocky. But they are adapting, faster than she is. Suany, who attends a bilingual school, speaks both English and Spanish with her new friends. Jesus has learned a few words and phrases, among them: “What is your name? What are you doing?” And: “Car!” Rivera watched the news in August about the white supremacist in El Paso who targeted immigrants and Latinos in a mass shooting. “It’s racism,” she said - something she worries about but says she has never experienced in this country. She prays she and the children will be able to stay here. Recently, Rivera said she heard of a woman denied asylum and given 30 days to leave the country. “To know that could happen…” She doesn't finish the thought. Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo Irma Rivera, an asylum-seeker from Honduras, attends a church service with her family in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. Irma's husband, Jose, was murdered back home. Still grieving for her husband, she has struggled to adjust to American life. - REUTERS/Loren Elliott THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL 6 NOct o v 231 - N v 19, 2 02019 18 | N o . 393 - oNov 14, | No. 419 Hope On The Streets LoA Beinit ContributingWriter A vision in red has come to Cincinnati and some on the streets who have seen this have become quite unsettled. A human dressed in crimson red from head to toe with a painted white face is walking through areas very slowly. Children run away in terror. Grown men move closer to their friends, actually pushing them closer to this foreboding beacon, trying to save themselves. The powerful and prayerful performance is a micro portion of a worldwide movement. This moving human being is a Red Rebel of the Extinction Rebellion. What is the significance of the Red Rebel? The Red Rebel is the attraction to get people to think of the scariest thing facing society: our future. Stories of mammals, reptiles and birds all dying are only stories, for most people have long been divided away from nature in their everyday life. The seasons are failing but our thoughts are too quick to lose recognition of this as we move from one temperature controlled environment to another. Our planet is being plundered causing these extinction events, yet do we feel we have a choice outside of consumer purchasing? The Red Rebel is the recognition that we are one blood no matter how hairy or scaly our skin condition. This revolution of unity is even for the trees for it has been proven their destruction is all based on profiteering by banks and corporations. Human life is destroyed as we are used as commodities to keep profitable the medical/ pharmaceutical system. Our children are stolen as another commodity by the federal government. The Red Rebels are the collective pain and prayers of all beings. They are the embodiment of quiet, prayerful, flame of rage. How dare the false power and principle of money destroy what eons of time has made in diverse life forms. The Extinction Rebellion is the grown up response to Greta Thunberg's action of bringing children around the world to use their Fridays to school their individual governments about the average humans desire for more say in creating a healthier, livable world. In the autumn of 2018 in the United Kingdom Extinction Rebellion began. This year it grows through over 600 cities. It is Occupy Wall Street armored up with love. We use non-violent disruption to stop the business as usual destruction of every creatures’ home. It was very amazing to see the swarming to close down streets for 5 minutes at a time to share with the drivers the impact of changing “business as usual”. On September 25 2019, San Francisco participated in a major action essentially shutting down Wall Street West; 6 bank headquarters’, the consulates of Canada and Brazil along with the senator’s office. At 7: 30 in the morning twenty circular murals were laid out covering the road of two city blocks. When I walked past a bank it was a uniformed officer telling the customer the bank was closed for the day, in recognition of the profiteering off environmental damages. I saw no police brutality, nor was it known that anyone was arrested, (as activists were prepared to be), but a community in celebration for a day of smog-less streets. There were indigenous prayers, music, dancing, clowning around and free food. This is something we could do here and now. In fact, these streets flooding with humanity is already happening as seen through the BLINK activity where lights, parades and community shut down many streets. I even had a police officer say it would be a nicer way to be, walking within community at a pace where we could all promote peace. Disruptive non-violence can be such a pleasant thing. Building community is natural choice, as seen in nature where a plant, a creature, and micro-beings fill the niches to create a symbiotic balanced unity. Sometimes there is an encroacher that needs to be set in a boundary as we see in the Extinction Rebellion revelry against destructive corporate greed. There is another boundary that is nigh to expand, the interest increase of 40 acres and a mule in this 400th year of slavery recognition. The JubileeCincinnati.org movement is tackling the business as usual by examining why our tax dollars are buying up land through the Port Authority keeping us complicit in our own gentrification when we ourselves should be custodians of our land. We ourselves have the rite to our food and animals; it is an abomination to deny it for the sake of someone’s profit. Our water and air, our education and employment and finances These are the gifts of our creator, not some corporate livelihood. This is our world, we have every rite to live the way we do without being cemented over for others progress because they wrote laws that consume the life out of us. It will require an open mind to reexamine what we are doing and why. Plus, how do we want our actions to affect the myriads of creatures in the world around us? Are we capable of being worthy of royal life? Are there enough willing to live awake and live in a more community healing way? Will 3.5 percent of our population be willing to change their ways to counter the “enormous catastrophic breakdown"(Rabbi Jeffrey Newman) of our earth unraveling? Are people working cooperatively? New Evidence of Cincinnati's Housing Crisis Bill Woods ContributingWriter "W hile the region has experienced successes, we are leaving lots of our neighbors behind, and this will not change without significant, intentional, sustained effort - an effort that will mean we have to change how we allocate resources, and address long term socioeconomic issues." This quote comes from "Fair Housing Assessment," a just released report completed by Xavier University's Community Building Institute for the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The report, authored by Liz Blume, the Director of CBI, assesses the region's housing market and the ability of different groups to find adequate, affordable housing. Such assessments are required every five years from cities and urban regions that receive funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). How is Greater Cincinnati's housing market doing in terms of providing adequate and affordable housing for all its population groups? The opening quote indicates that although the City and County have rebounded from the Great Recession of 2008, a large percentage of AfricanAmerican residents and other lowincome individuals and families have not fared well. In fact, this report reinforces the recent LISC-study that THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED found that Cincinnati and Hamilton County possessed a shortage of 40,000 affordable housing units. The report highlights some facts that showcase the affordable housing crisis. The area's homeless population in 2017 totaled 7,197. Meanwhile, 8,465 households experienced evictions from 2014 - 2016. Of the 54,200 residents living in the most depressed, disinvested neighborhoods, 75-percent were Black, and these neighborhoods housed 7,122 families with children. �N o. 39 ov 2 14, - N 2019 o v 19,| 2 0 18419 Oct 313 -| NNov No. One of the focuses of these regular assessments is the extent of racial segregation in urban regions. Have federal laws prohibiting racial segregation in terms of renting and selling housing had an impact on where people live in a city and a region? The report notes, that over the years, Greater Cincinnati has been one of the most segregated urban regions in the country. The current assessment finds that although this region had improved statistically in recent decades, the last ten years brought increased segregation that erased these improvements. The new report also found overt discrimination impacting the housing opportunities of people with disabilities, young people, and families with children. The report declares that housing discrimination and housing affordability are separate issues, but they are nevertheless "tightly intertwined." It acknowledges that the major affordable housing shortage "exacerbates" problems confronting LOCAL African-Americans and other groups protected by ant-discrimination laws in their search to find adequate housing. With fewer affordable housing units being built or rehabbed, existing zoning codes and rising rents dovetail to make the search for housing almost impossible for these individuals and families. The assessment includes maps that detail the housing patterns existing in Greater Cincinnati. It also reviews factors over time that has inevitably led to the current affordable housing crisis. The emphasis on promoting growth and commercial development in neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine has led to displacement and a loss of once available affordable units. At the same time, wage inequity has made rising rents a mounting obstacle for the working poor. Meanwhile, the current public transit system fails to connect city residents to better paying jobs available in the metro area, while high priced housing and restrictive zoning make it impossible for the development of more mixed income housing in the suburbs. Probably the biggest factor of all is the steady cutting of public dollars for various housing assistance programs (especially federal funding) since the 1980s. What is to be done? The report provides a series of recommendations focused on increasing resources and improving systems. In terms of resources, the top recommendation is to establish affordable housing trust funds at the city and county levels (City Council established such an entity this year.). Increased support for community and regional organizations that create and assist affordable housing is also endorsed, while the report also backs further support for agencies that protect vulnerable households. A final recommendation calls for community and economic investments in north central Hamilton County. In terms of system improvements, the assessment calls for expanded public transportation. It sees a need for the creation of more lending practices 7 that assist African-Americans and other protected class households, and also changes in zoning codes that "open new areas for protected class households. It calls for better housing code enforcement, and the ability and commitment of local governments and agencies to better respond to individual and family housing crises. The release of this report comes at an opportune moment. LISC (the Local Initiatives Support Corporation) is working on a housing plan for the region, and groups such as the Homeless Coalition and Advocates for Affordable Housing are gearing up for a ballot initiative to provide adequate funding for the City's Housing Trust Fund. "Fair Housing Assessment" by Xavier's Community Building Institute adds yet another credible document calling for serious and immediate action to address Greater Cincinnati's affordable housing crisis. (The full report is available on line: http:/ bit.ly/ fairhousing2019) Rothenberg: More Than Just Their Test Scores Haley Edmonson ContributingWriter S itting down for the girls writing circle that I help lead every Monday up at Rothenberg, the energy is soaring as my kids greet me and find their name tags. Fighting over who gets to sit next to me and talking about the drama from their day at school, they bring a big smile to my face as they always find something to compliment me on. The whole goal of the circle is to give the fourth to sixth grade girls in the after school program at Rothenberg a safe space to talk about challenges but also to lift up one another. I always leave surprised with their maturity and kindness for their age as somehow they always find a way to make me feel safe and lift me up as well. But my positive outlook is not one commonly upheld within the community nor would the state of Ohio or Department of Education would reciprocate. Rothenberg has recently received yet another “F” on the state’s education report card, deemed solely on state test scores. Printed boldly on the Ohio Department of Education’s website are the words “Great things are happening in Ohio schools!” yet the blaring red letter grade on the school overview’s page makes that statement hard to believe. The report card has now set the tone for the school year and Principal Alena Smith’s first year as the head of the school. The fact is, Rothenberg’s demographics already set their students and school as a whole to fail in the eyes of the Department of Education. Ninety-nine percent of students at Rothenberg are in low-income households and ninety-five percent are African-American. Our current system fails them through inequitable funding. Since the property taxes determine the funding available to public schools, low-income neighborhoods will receive significantly lower amounts of funding than their high-income counterparts causing a large disparity between educational systems. Even as the demographics of the community of Over-the-Rhine has changed, the school’s have not despite some of the higher property taxes. Schools have also seen millions of dollars taken out of education, as the bounty of tax abatements for development directly affects their funding. Privileged families take their children outside of the city for education and take their sum of tax money with them to their new respective schools. They would say they don’t have their kids go to Rothenberg because it’s a “failing” school. Yet anyone working within the walls of Rothenberg would tell you that they are a community, providing services far beyond other schools in the district to ensure the success of not only their students, but their entire families. Ms. Dorothy is a long time community member that has worked within the schools’ walls for years and has had all of her children and now grandchildren attend. She is satisfied with the results that Rothenberg is producing despite the adversity they are facing and is proud of who her kids have become with the help of this schools’ education. One of her kids is in fact now a teacher there themselves. Ms. Dorothy volunteers and runs the Parent Resource Center there, providing support in every realm possible from housing, to food, to a comforting hug. This resource center, is not only valuable supplying resources to the deficits within the school, but is also entirely unique to Rothenberg. No other school in Cincinnati Public Schools assesses and assists the student’s needs outside of the classroom that affects their education. No other school has a strong parent base looking out for the interest of all of the students, not just their own. So is it fair to label our schools like Rothenberg and the students that learn within its walls “failing?” It’s important to acknowledge that this grade based exclusively off of test scores isn’t necessarily fair nor shows the other positive things happening. It doesn’t convey the compassion of the teachers and staff for their students and families. It doesn’t communicate the other real-world lessons they have learned from a young age regarding personal hardships and community adversities. Rothenberg offering the services and caring community to allow students to achieve their greatest heights, in of itself is spectacular. What’s happening in Rothenberg is a story happening in many schools and contributing to the idea that public schools just don’t suffice anymore. The failing school rhetoric radiating in our nation has contributed to the rise of charters, magnets, and private schools, pulling sums of money out of the public education system. In turn this has made education for low-income students less attainable as now some neighborhood schools like St. Francis Seraph School, are no longer free. Rothenberg is now the only neighborhood public elementary school as development and the Department of Education has shut the remainder down despite some of their outstanding marks. What is now the Peaslee THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Neighborhood Center, used to be a neighborhood elementary school, and was considered one of the best schools in Cincinnati despite the bad connotation the city had of the community surrounding it. Talking to a student teacher within St. Francis Seraph now, she mentions that her students are fearful that something will happen and they will no longer be able to attend the private school, meaning they would have to go to the “failing” Rothenberg. Our students believing the notion that our public schools aren’t good enough and should have to pay to receive a “better” education, shows the dangerous effects of the failing school rhetoric. While test scores can make important assessments, they don’t assess everything that our schools have to offer and other learning equally imperative to our students and society. The state doesn’t see my girl’s explaining to me the importance of loving yourself and standing up for what’s right. The state doesn’t see one of my girl’s whispering to another, “I think you are beautiful” after questioning her beauty. The state doesn’t see one of my girl’s struggling to stay awake and participate in a circle she loves because she didn’t sleep last night for one of the various struggles that cause a lot of our kids are unable to come to school with a good night’s rest. Their test scores might not be where they should be, but the resilience and the kindness exuding from these students that can’t be measured makes them more successful than other kids in “A” rated schools. The Ohio Department of Education might say Rothenberg is failing, but the City of Cincinnati and the Department of Education is failing Rothenberg. �FEATURED 8 N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Oct 31- -NNov 14,2 02019 419 An Altered State of Homelessness Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer R ecently, the Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the Executive Office of the President, released a document entitled The State of Homelessness in America. The document attempts to provide information about the problem of homelessness, as well as, the solutions to reducing homelessness. We have seen many reports on homelessness and poverty throughout the years, but I felt compelled to address this one because it has the potential to cause severe harm throughout the country. The document begins by stating the causes of homelessness in America. We know that the lack of affordable housing, the lack of livable wages, and the lack of housing protections all contribute greatly to homelessness. Each of these aspects are connected, as if someone has a larger income, they would be able to afford more for housing. The document does say, in the Executive Summary, that incomes do contribute to the inability to afford housing; however, none of the remedies address this cause, and it is not explored in detail in the study. The causes that are given are largely based on stereotypes and aren’t consistent with a nuanced understanding of the issues surrounding poverty. In this document, good weather becomes a catalyst for homelessness. The idea that people are choosing to live outside is a dangerous fallacy. People do not wish to live outside where they are more likely to experience adverse health outcomes, harassment, and violent crime. To blame the weather on homelessness is like blaming the moon for nighttime. It is far-fetched and disconnected from reality. There was no discussion on how to address the good weather aspect of homelessness either, although we do know that climate change will continue to increase homelessness, and as the earth warms, inhabitable areas of the planet will continue to increase. The study also blames high quality, hygienic, shelters for homelessness. The belief that people are leaving their safe and affordable homes to live in shelters is faulty at best, dangerous at worst. Some areas have a Right to Shelter law, which means that people who show up, shelter must be provided in a reasonable manner. The document says that these laws raise the quality of the shelters which makes them more desirable; thus, attracting people from their homes into shelters. On top of good weather and high quality shelters, according to the document, people are experiencing homelessness because it is too desirable to live on the street. The document says that people are leaving their safe and affordable homes to live in the street because municipalities have become too soft on people seeking shelter on the street. In cities, like Cincinnati, we have criminalized homelessness THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED through our anti-solicitation laws, our encampment laws, and now Hamilton County’s anti-homelessness laws. The last law, the county-wide law, allows the police to arrest anyone, on private or public land, who they suspect is experiencing homelessness. This law has not decreased homelessness, but it has made it more dangerous for people who are experiencing homelessness, especially for Black people who are more likely to be brutalized by the police, jailed unlawfully, and suffer long-term economic issues related to the criminalization of homelessness. The document goes to further �No. 39 Nov 214, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 313-| Nov | No. 419 stigmatize homelessness by relying on an out-of-date stereotype that mental illness causes homelessness. While some people may experience homelessness due to mental illness, it is because they aren’t able to access the proper support to remain housed. We also know that the trauma related to the experience of homelessness stays with an individual for their entire life. The trauma of not knowing where you’ll sleep, and what you may have to give up of yourself to rest, can begin to affect your brain functioning within hours of experiencing homelessness. Other typical tasks, such as eating and bathing, become an emotional and physical challenge, further increasing trauma. Not to mention interactions with institutions who are meant to help, but instead deny you aid, that exacerbate suffering. Scapegoating drug users as the cause of homelessness, as this document does, is also a fallacy. The causes of drug addiction are depression, isolation, and loneliness. A person who experiences FEATURED homelessness will experience each of those risk factors, which may contribute to drug use. Drug use itself, however, is rarely a cause of homelessness. Blaming drug abuse and mental illness is a way to detract from the actual causes of homelessness by making it seem like a person has made the wrong choices, or they themselves are immoral. Addressing these issues is practical, but it is only addressing a symptom of a larger issue. The document goes on to obfuscate the issue by presenting economic models that may have been ripped out of an introductory economics textbook. The discussion on the graphs amounted to the idea that housing costs too much to produce, so therefore, if we reduce the cost of production, then the rents will drop. This became the tactic to end homelessness: deregulation. The document presents deregulation as the main solution to ending homelessness. They believe that removing building codes, permits, environmental, housing, and wetland protections, combined with reducing energy efficiency and labor requirements, that the cost of housing would decrease so much, that in a city like San Francisco, rent would drop 55%, leading to a drop in homelessness by 54%. The quality of housing is not considered in this model. Safety is not considered in a model that removes building codes and other protections. In fact, this plan may actually increase homelessness by permitting building in floodplains, reducing labor standards, and reducing the need for inspections and building trades, among other issues. While it’s hard to stomach the narrative that is created in this document, it is worth taking some time to digest. The final parts of the document make the claim that homelessness is increasing, and any count is not going to be accurate. This was, in my opinion, the only accurate part of the document, but it was only done to say that the Obama Administration failed when it comes to homelessness — it was a jab at THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 President Obama. Overall, the document relies heavily on stereotypes, in terms of the causes of homelessness, and it only relies on boot-strap approaches to ending homelessness. The major solutions that they propose are dangerous and will increase homelessness. The document says that the police should be supported in their brutality against people experiencing homelessness. The document says that building codes and other community safety considerations (environmental, for instance) are too costly and should be removed. It says that rent control also increases homelessness, but does not address or illustrate how it is a cause of homelessness. Like much of the document, it is based upon beliefs, so that it can put the solution on the individual (who needs drug rehab and mental services) rather than on an economic system that ensures income and wealth inequality. �10 GLOBAL N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Oct 31- -NNov 14,2 02019 419 “People Are Getting Desperate”: The No-Deal Brexit Crisis Facing Foodbanks Hannah Westwater The Big Issue UK A no-deal Brexit could leave thousands of already vulnerable people without access to food, a global human rights organisation has warned. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the government is not taking action to ensure that people don’t bear the brunt of soaring food prices and supply shortages in the case of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal – which will happen if a withdrawal agreement isn’t reached before October 31. HRW Western Europe researcher Kartik Raj said the UK government “knows full well” that food provision will suffer after a no-deal Brexit, adding: “Instead of preparing to help families and let them know what’s on offer, it’s turning its back on them.” Last month the government published its predicted effects of leaving the EU without a trade deal after being pressured by parliament. The Operation Yellowhammer document showed that the UK’s food system is expected to be disrupted on every level, with low income and marginalised people hit the hardest. (The paper was dated ten days after Boris Johnson began his term as Prime Minister – he has since insisted that contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit have “massively accelerated” since he moved into Number 10.) The benefits freeze, poor housing provision and damaging policies like Universal Credit have resulted in soaring numbers forced to rely on foodbanks in recent years. The Trussell Trust, which accounts for 1,200 of the 2,000 foodbanks in the UK, said earlier this year that demand for food parcels had increased by 73 per cent in five years. Frontline staff and food poverty experts are troubled by the likelihood that a no-deal Brexit will herald disaster for people already struggling to get enough to eat. “The issue is that they’re so busy and up against it already. Demand is increasing all the time,” said Sabine Goodwin, coordinator of the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN). “But if food prices go up even a little bit it will have a huge impact. Foodbanks are thinking about it and worrying about it but there’s so much to do in the here and now. And it seems that there isn’t enough information out there for them to know how to prepare or protect themselves, even if they could.” The IFAN wants the government to invest in local welfare provision and boost hardship funds so that people who need the means to buy food are helped with cash that will allow them to “go to shops and buy food like everybody else” rather than “propping up an already broken system of foodbanking”. “Wages need to be upped across the board, zero-hour contracts shouldn’t be in use, affordable housing needs to really be affordable, and be available,” Goodwin added. “This no-deal Brexit scenario or the possibility of should really act as a wake up call to us all. This situation is already an emergency and action is needed now. Not tomorrow, now. People are becoming desperate.” Single parent families led by women, people who receive benefits and pensioners plus refugees and asylum seekers are likely to be disproportionately affected by a breakdown in the food system postBrexit because large numbers of them already rely heavily on foodbanks. Rajesh Makwana is the director of Sufra NW London, a charity that provides food aid to the community in Brent. Demand has nearly tripled in the past three years, he explained, and the organisation has to buy in supplementary food because donations aren’t enough to feed everyone who needs help. They’re expecting to have to fundraise for and spend extra money. “If the impact of Brexit is going to be on the cost of food then that has huge implications,” he said. “We make sure that everyone gets enough food to last five-to-seven days in their parcels. If that’s a family of four, that’s the equivalent of a trolley full. “So an increase in the price of food will have two effects. Firstly, it will push our food budgets up dramatically. Secondly, more people are likely to need to use the foodbank because their weekly bill will increase. Many of them are living off such a small amount that a tiny increase in cost could totally change their ability to access food.” Food aid workers all seem to agree that any preparation must be strictly hypothetical because they have been given too little information to know how they can Brexit-proof their foodbanks’ operation. “We’re just nervous,” Makwana adds. “We were already nervous because of Universal Credit, which could be rolled out here at any point. This adds another layer to that. But small community charities don’t have time to do proper analysis of this. There are no resources to let them calculate the risks, and the government isn’t telling us anything. “You just have to expect the worst and plan for it. But that’s difficult to do because we’re already dealing with the worst. It’s already a broken system.” Independent foodbanks, of which there are around 800, are likely to be the worst hit due to tight budgets. The timing of a potential no-deal Brexit could hit them hard, too. With the UK set to leave the EU at the end of this month, workers are concerned about how Christmas donations could suffer – an influx of food which they rely on to keep low-income households fed well into the next year. Robin Burgess, CEO of HOPE Centre in Northampton which tackles homelessness and delivers cooking lessons as well as food aid, said: “Virtually every foodbank is affected by the two basic principles – that food donations are at their highest around THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED harvest and Christmas. “If no-deal does hit, there is a massive risk that donations will be down. And if you don’t do well on those two pulses of food that means you run out sooner into next year. As it is, most providers are scraping the bottom of the barrel by August.” Charity Fareshare redistributes surplus food around charities and community organisations. They warned that if all the organisations helping vulnerable people across the UK access food had to buy that food instead, it would cost them a collective £5m – per month. There are also concerns that a no-deal Brexit could impact schools, hospitals and social care providers which all rely on a supply of nutritious food. Aid workers are demanding a two-pronged approach – a focus on preventing poverty for future generations and help lift families out of it in the short-term, including removing the no-deal Brexit cliff edge – to solve the problem. A government spokesperson said: “The reasons for people using food banks are complex and they cannot be attributed to a single cause. But we are committed to tackling poverty and ensuring that vulnerable people get the support they need, which is why we continue to spend £95 billion a year on working-age benefits. “We have a highly resilient food supply chain in the UK and this will not change if we leave the EU without a deal.” Courtesy of INSP.ngo / The Big Issue UK bigissue.com @BigIssue �No. 39 Nov 214, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 313-| Nov | No. 419 11 GLOBAL Dortmund’s Threat Of Terror From The Right Alexandra Gehrhardt bodo S ince the death of Walter Lübcke, a local government official on central Germany, the discussion around banning neo-Nazi organisations in the country has gained much more traction, especially regarding the neo-Nazi terrorist group known as Combat 18, who have ties to the suspected perpetrator of Lübcke’s murder. “It’s absurd that Combat 18 has never been banned,” says sociologist Hendrik Puls, who bodo spoke to about right-wing networking and its journey to Dortmund. The death of the head of the Kassel city government, Walter Lübcke, a racist attack in Wächtersbach, rightwing death threats and death lists are we experiencing an explosion of right-wing rhetoric and terror? There’s an increase in the number of extreme right-wing threats, serious violent disorder and investigations into neo-Nazi groups or individuals accused of creating criminal or terrorist organisations or orchestrating dangerous criminal acts. That is quite an explosive sentiment. The parallel development is striking. In the past few years, Germany has set in motion a discourse about immigration, migration, and seeking asylum and something has been created that I would characterise as a right-wing social movement. At the same time, there’s a new parliamentary player, in the form of the AfD [Alternative for Germany, a far-right political party], which has pushed this cheap propaganda. Is it a new phenomenon? No. We’ve seen huge acts of violence from the right again and again for decades. In the 70s and 80s, organised neo-Nazi groups already existed. These groups prepared themselves for an armed battle and carried out bombings and murders. Walter Lübcke’s suspected murderer is a well-known neo-Nazi. He was sentenced for participating in another attack at the Dortmund DGB [trade union activists] Demo in 2009. There are speculations about Combat 18 links. But what is Combat 18? Combat 18 was founded in the 1990s as a type of club or gang in England. Over the course of the 90s, the group took control of the Blood & Honour network. This large neo-Nazi organisation was active in the right-wing rock business and always understood itself to be a political organisation that discussed and disseminated the concept of an armed struggle. Over time it developed into an international network that mainly appeared under the name Blood & Honour or Combat 18. Since the start of the 2000s, the network has incorporated neo-Nazis from Dortmund. The Dortmund band Oidoxie has staged itself like no other as a Combat 18 band. They have advertised their affiliation with the organisation in their songs and become a propagandist of right-wing terror. There's a series of very explicit lyrics and demands that are associated with the so-called “leaderless resistance”, a concept that the National Socialist Underground (NSU) also oriented itself with. Do they only make music? Blood & Honour and Combat 18 have two main activities: Firstly, organising concerts. Secondly, Combat 18 has always been linked to the promotion of an armed struggle and right-wing terror in England as well as in Germany. In conspiratorial books, right-wing terror concepts were presented, and advice was given on how to create cells. Thus, Combat 18 became a label for an armed struggle. Since 2000, Oidoxie has had traceable contact with leaders in England, Scandinavia, and Belgium. The band was seen by them as legitimate representatives of the German network. Combat 18 has never been banned. Which is absurd because the German Federal Ministry banned Blood & Honour in 2000. Combat 18 wasn’t included in that ban, although its self-designation was always that of an armed uprising. This meant that only a part of the neo-Nazi organisation was affected by the ban. Dortmund’s neoNazis don’t count. Which paths lead to Dortmund? For years, safety authorities had said that Combat 18 had no structures. Now the Office for the Protection of the Constitution says that, since 2013, there is such a structure which includes people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Dortmund. In the run-up to the re-evaluation, there were disputes in the committees of enquiry. Whilst on the other hand, anti-fascist groups, including EXIF research, published extensive material that disclosed the structures of Combat 18. One person who appears prominently is Dortmund neo-Nazi Robin Sch. He’s most likely the person who recently appeared in a video message as a spokesman for Combat 18 in Germany. Sch was already on his way into the environment of Oidoxie, which operates as a kind of comradeship-stewards-force called ‘Oidoxie Streetfighting Crew’ and was involved in a Dortmund neo-Nazi drug dealing ring. Now, he’s put himself in the position of figurehead of Combat 18. Combat 18 leadership figures also met at a large demonstration in 2016. It was clear at this demonstration that the people who were already part of Combat 18 in the 2000s also stayed in contact. Robin Sch and members of Oidoxie were also there. It was interesting that, for the first time in years, the Englishman Will Browning was there - one of the founders of Combat 18 was back in Germany among their ranks. Thus, this unified front was made public. They also dealt with the work of security authorities at the North Rhine-Westphalia NSU investigation committee. How should we steel ourselves against right-wing networks? There’s a danger that the state cannot prepare you for acts of violence. It would also be false to claim that every attack can be stopped. In addition, a massive restriction of basic rights, a completely policed state, would be necessary. 100 per cent safety cannot be certain. In the discussion of right-wing terrorism after the NSU, the accusation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED that the authorities of the Protection of the Constitution had lacked analytical capability and knowledge was often raised. I think that that was not the case at all. There was a huge amount of information about how violent the neo-Nazis were, information about the concepts, plans, and weapons were circulating in the neo-Nazi scene because the neo-Nazi scene had infiltrated the leadership of undercover informants. The Protection of the Constitution authorities have lingered over safety. They have intervened in a series of possible bans with the argument that underground structures are uncontrollable. In the long run, that decision has solidified the scene, rather than hindered the violence. In the meantime, calls to ban Combat 18 are getting louder. How sensible would a ban be? Bans always have a symbolic effect as well. It already had the purpose of sending out a signal. The tragic thing is that the practical results of the ban are questionable when dealing with a structured neo-Nazi network that was founded over 20 years ago. Has it shaken the foundations of the scene? Impeded its activities? I don’t think so. Hendrik Puls researches neoNazism and right-wing terror. He was a member of the Green Party in the NSU Investigation in the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament and holds a doctoral degree in the Junior Researcher Group ‘Right-Wing Violent Delinquency and Practice of Law Enforcement’ (www.nfg-rexdel. de), sponsored by the Hans Böckler Foundation at Ruhr University in Bochum. Translated from German by Catherine Castling Courtesy of bodo / INSP.ngo �12 STREETVOICE N o v 31 2 -- N o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Oct Nov 14,22019 No. 419 Appreciation Appreciation is a word that can be reckoned with Appreciation is something we often times consider a myth Appreciation is something I give to God each for my living above ground And for his blessing of putting people in my life so stable and sound To understand just what it is that I as a person need to honestly appreciate And to know that my mission of appreciation will not be a simple piece of cake Through being jailed and being homeless not to mention in the world all by myself I’ve learned to appreciate the hand that God to me has gracefully dealt I’ve learn to never forget the past and look forward to each day even though not promised I’ve learned to forgive but not forget and stop being a doubting Thomas I recognize and therefore appreciate the changes my life have ultimately taken I’ve learned to appreciate my faults for without them there would be no lesson I’ve learn to recognize my short comings and now I appreciate God’s Almighty Blessings Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �STREETVOICE No. 31 39 3- Nov | Nov 14, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 2019 | No. 419 Good Day Bad Day 13 The Administration's Race To Weaken Environmental Laws Mother Goose I woke up this morning Got a smell of coffee You don’t have to be homeless to sell Streetvibes You got a job but Streetvibes pays for the gas to get to work I don’t mess with Duracell batteries I mess with Energizer batteries The bunny is back Trump's Administration is on a recent streak, In its goal to make environmental laws weak. First it weakened the Endangered Species Act, Ignoring reputable studies and scientific fact. It next decided that it would take down a peg A long standing and effective clean water reg. Last but not least comes its mean legal snare To force California to have more polluted air. It’s so sad what’s going on in this world today We losing people or they’re getting locked up BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Some people panhandle instead of selling papers and I tell them to sell Streetvibes You have to motivate them somehow instead of asking for handouts It’s so hard because I’ve been selling papers for over 10 years But I get tired of people giving me funny looks They ask me why I’m sitting out here I’m still by where the Kroger used to be I still see the same people Corporate people too and they treat me alright I have my good days and bad days I’m mad the café in Kroger closed I don’t get breakfast like I used to Because the kids eat their breakfast there but they can’t do it anymore James Brown Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 109 Across 1. Passport endorsement 5. Take notice of 9. Bitter quarrel 13. Golf club 14. Notion 15. Pointer 17. Young male horse 18. Grime 19. Tenet 20. Heavy block where hot metals are shaped 22. Prejudice 24. Notable achievement 25. Cereal grass seed 26. Not in use 28. Pastry item 30. Color 31. Animal coat 32. Travel a route regularly 35. Modernize 38. Charter 39. Regret 40. Narrow secluded valley 41. Part of a journey 42. Scintilla 43. On the sheltered side 44. Something intended to deceive 46. Small storeroom for food 48. High-pitched bark 49. Peculiar 50. Pack of cards 51. Append 52. Conceited 53. Small fruit seed 56. Endure 59. Slender 61. Evade 63. Theatrical performer 65. In addition 67. Region 68. Musical instrument 69. Without speed 70. Approach 71. Sketched 72. Rational 73. Small wooded hollow PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #108 Down 1. Clergyman 2. Satire 3. Figure out 4. Not in favor of 5. Concealed 6. Comestible 7. Spooky 8. Information 9. Craze 10. Wear away 11. Exhort 12. Concave shape 16. Batch 21. Rhythmicity 23. Incite or stimulate 27. Scheduled to arrive 29. Anger 30. Prohibit 31. Mediterranean fruit 32. Poke 33. Stringed instrument 34. Period of time 35. Horrible 36. Supplication 37. Unfathomable 38. Jinx 41. Boy or man 42. Irritate 44. Brick carrier 45. Betting ratio 46. Hawaiian garland 47. Skin condition 50. Sweet dark purple plum 51. Make amends 52. Country house in ancient Rome 53. Food processed in a blender 54. Paragon 55. Sometimes found in an oyster 56. Circuit 57. Turns litmus paper red 58. Celestial body 60. Young girl 62. Bring ashore 64. Angry dispute 66. Be indebted to N o v 31 2 - -NNov o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Oct 14,22019 419 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 4- EASY SODOKU PUZZLE NO 3- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 214, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Oct 313-|Nov | No. 419 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 ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Oct 31- -NNov 14,2 02019 419 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 October 31-November 14, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: Dear Mayor Joseph Meyer Pg 3: Paralyzed Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Migrant Mother Misses Home but Prays Not to be Sent Back Pg 6: Hope on the Streets New Evidence of Cincinnati’s Housing Crisis Pg 7: Rothenberg Pg 8: An Altered State of Homelessness Pg 9: An Altered State of Homelessness Pg 10: “People Are Getting Desperate” Pg 11: Dortmund’s Threat of Terror from the Right 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 October 31-November 14, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Andy Pope Kristina Cooke Dr. Mark Mussman LoA Beinit Haley Edmonson Hannah Westwater Alexandra Gehrhardt James Brown Willa D. Jones INSP.com Blake Burrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alexandra Gehrhardt Andy Pope Bill Woods Blake Burrell Brexit Cincinnati Dortmund Dr. Mark Mussman Gabriela Godinez Haley Edmonson Hannah Westwater INSP.com James Brown Joseph Meyer Kristina Cooke LoA Beinit Migrants Willa D. Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/277d1b13a94495fe4a225cd38f022a01.pdf e411215f53fa2d061dc58fa98dc5ff37 PDF Text Text N o v e m b e r 1 4 t h - N o v e m b e r 2 8 t h 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 3 ( N o . 4 2 0 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. It's a Wrap Gentrification Article on Page 8 This Issue is sponsored by Cecilia and Tom Kloecker Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N o v 14 2 - -NNov o v 19, 0 18 | |N o . 393 Nov 28,22019 No. 420 From The Editor: From Hamilton to Trump: Impeachment Process Begins Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief T he highly anticipated first impeachment hearing took place November 13th, 2019. The events that came to fruition showed that as the impeachment process and investigations continue, it will continue to be a highly divisive and partisan time. The facts that we are working with is that Trump made a phone call where the average citizen would hear and understand the President was holding aid from Ukraine in exchange for assistance in investigating the son of a potential political opponent. Many people did see it this way. Joey Jackson, a legal analyst for CNN, wrote “America’s strategic interests were being diminished, confidence in our commitment to Ukraine was being shaken and undermined, soldiers were dying, but no aid was flowing.” Bill Taylor, a US diplomat in Ukraine, brought to light a different conversation where, according to CNN, “Trump again voiced his desire to push the Ukrainians to publicly announce investigations.” However, it seems that this and other evidence is irrelevant to the Republican Party. CNN also reported that California Representative Devin Nunes stated, “Democratic operatives had colluded with Ukraine to meddle in the 2016 election and defeat Trump.” He did so even with “several key witnesses already testifying that this is not true.” Why are we having conversations like this? Why is it not a bi-partisan outrage when the president of the United States is caught or exposed using the power given by the people for personal gain? In the 70’s, Nixon’s Watergate scandal found condemnation from both sides of the aisle. Even when Nixon claimed it was a “witch-hunt” and that the media was misreporting and spreading lies, the American people believed the facts as they came out. This ultimately made Nixon give up and he resigned. Comparing Trump to Nixon is more complicated than just talking about their abuse of power and cover-ups. Vox News reminds us in a segment that there were only three major news stations. The American public created their own opinions and divided into two parties, but they were developing those opinions based off of the same information. Now, we have major conservative medias that create their own “facts” and figures in hopes of spinning a new narrative. Politico published an article saying, “most voters say there is little to no chance they will change their minds about the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s conduct, even as public hearings are set to kick off on Wednesday, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.” Benjamin Franklin thought that impeachment was the way to go once an elected official had “rendered himself obnoxious.” We’re way past that Ben. Alexander Hamilton said that the impeachment process should begin when offences occur which “proceed from the conduct of public men, or in other words, from the abuse or violate of some public trust.” Most importantly he mentions “they are of a nature which may be peculiar propriety be dominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.” If we looked at offenses deemed impeachable as exclusively political offences, Hamilton worried that impeachment would be tested by the “comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt.” That is exactly what is happening now. He envisioned an impartial senate, which does not exist today. We don’t live in a time where all Americans can agree on the facts, let alone let our opinions be swayed. This goes for the senate as well. For the president of the United States to be impeached, he has to lose the majority support of his own party. Bill Clinton didn’t lose this support; therefore he finished his term in office. Nixon did lose the support of his party; he opted to resign and remove himself from office rather than wait for a vote. If the impeachment does come to a vote, and everyone votes along party lines, Trump will be fine since republicans are the dominate power in the Senate. However the impeachment process had to begin anyway. An official inquiry had to be made, based on what the whistle-blower brought to light simply because it was the right thing to do. This is a very painful thing for a country to go through, but if there was evidence that the president might be using his power for his own gain and it was ignored, a precedent would be set for complacency in unchecked presidencies. 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 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Graham Bowpitt, Alex Dobuzinskis, Dr. Mark Mussman, Magali Druscovich, Willa Denise Jones, June Alexander, Kim Greene, Kiara Clark ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, Blake Burrell ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 39 Nov 228, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 143-|Nov | No. 420 3 HOMELESSNESS Homelessness: More Than A Third Of People Leaving Prison Say They Have Nowhere To Go Graham Bowpitt I The Conversation magine for a moment you’re being released from prison after a 12-month sentence for theft. You’re clean, off drugs, it’s been tough, but you’re looking forward to starting a new life. You leave prison and head to the nearest probation service to find out where you’re going to live. Only to find out there’s nowhere for you to go. And you’ll be spending your first night out of a cell on the streets – with only your clothes from prison to keep you warm. In 2018, 320,000 people were recorded as homeless in Britain, according to analysis from housing charity Shelter. This is a rise of 13,000, or 4 per cent, on figures from 2017 – and is equivalent to 36 new people becoming homeless every day. This means one in every 200 people in Britain is homeless – sleeping on the streets or stuck in temporary accommodation, including hostels and B&Bs. Compounding this figure, is the number of people released from prison who go straight from a cell to sleeping rough. In a survey published by the Ministry of Justice in 2012, 15 per cent of prisoners reported being homeless when they were sentenced – with 9 per cent sleeping rough. And at the point of release, 37 per cent of former prisoners reported having nowhere to live. This figure is particularly worrying given that two-thirds of prisoners who identify as homeless will reoffend within a year of release. There are several reasons why so many people are homeless upon release from prison – but most of them are to do with a system that is failing some of the most vulnerable people. Many lose their accommodation due to rent arrears – because terminating a tenancy is often not top priority when you’ve just been sent to prison. This can then make it difficult for former prisoners to get access to housing upon their release as they’re deemed intentionally homeless as a result of rent arrears. And as the figures above show, many may be homeless or in temporary accommodation already. Released without accommodation Our recent research was undertaken as part of a national programme to transform the lives of adults with complex needs –- including homelessness, mental ill-health, substance misuse and offending –- and explored how people’s progress had been impeded by a prison sentence. Respondents reported that prison exacerbated their complex needs. It exposed them to bullying, violence, abuse, self-harm and suicide. They also said that it revived memories of trauma, reinforced drug problems and worsened their mental health. Many also described chaotic discharge arrangements – and often had no place to go after leaving prison. In many cases respondents only heard of their planned release on the day of discharge, giving no chance for them to find accommodation. Several described being released to “no fixed abode” and how they ended up sleeping rough. The former prisoners we spoke to also explained how they didn’t realise that being a resident in a local prison didn’t earn them a “local connection” under homelessness legislation. This means that they were not considered to be entitled to help from the local authority for that area. And in many cases it only gave them a travel warrant back to the place – and the criminal networks – they were wanting to escape. One respondent described how the only way to avoid sleeping rough was to fund his B&B accommodation by reverting to the very drug dealing that had earned him a prison sentence in the first place. Proper help needed There is hope though that the Homelessness Reduction Act that came into place in 2018 might help to tackle the situation. This legislation obliges local authorities to provide help in finding accommodation for all homeless people whether they have a local connection or not. It also requires public bodies like prisons to warn local authorities when they are about to make someone homeless. The hope is that this will allow time for suitable accommodation to be found for people to avoid them having to sleep on the streets. Our own research has also shown that for former prisoners, having a support worker can make a key difference to the likelihood of successful rehabilitation. This should be someone who works with prisoners before they are released to arrange housing and other services. And can meet them when they leave prison and escort them to prearranged accommodation and appointments if necessary. Basically, this is about having someone there, who is able to help former prisoners to reintegrate and prevent their return to criminal lifestyles. And given that two-thirds of short-term prisoners reoffend within a year of getting out, it seems that such measures to end, what prison reform charity The Howard League calls the “merry-go-round” – where people are “swept into prison and then dumped back on to the streets” – cannot come quickly enough. Graham Bowpitt specialises in social policy at Nottingham trent University Courtesy of The Conversation / INSP.ngo A person sleeping on the streets in central London, Britain, December 20, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED N o v 214 - N v 19, 2 02019 18 | N o . 393 Nov - oNov 28, | No. 420 �No. 39 ov 228, - N 2019 o v 19,| 2 0 18420 Nov 143 -| N Nov No. 5 U.S NEWS Living on the edge in the homeless encampments of Los Angeles Alex Dobuzinskis Reuters A fter years on the street, Kimberly Decoursey spends her nights at a Los Angeles temporary housing site called the Hollywood Studio Club. But by day, she can still be found at a highway off-ramp with her homeless fiancé and a less rule-bound street community. Decoursey, 37, who grew up in foster homes, considers the friends who have shared her struggles on the streets of Los Angeles to be her family. She wants them to enjoy what she has now: a bed, regular meals and a shower. "A lot of them would give their right arm to be inside," Decoursey said of her comrades inhabiting grimy tents pitched on dirt patches in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Yet only a fraction of the estimated 36,000 homeless in Los Angeles have been housed three years after voters in November 2016 approved a ballot measure that raised $1.2 billion to build housing for street denizens and poor people. The sheer cost of building permanent homes with social services in one of the priciest real estate markets in the United States is one of the biggest obstacles. There is also opposition from homeowner groups to building such homes in their neighbourhoods. Some homeless people have their own apprehensions about living among strangers and having to follow rules in shelters. The first project funded by the ballot measure to provide permanent homes with on-site social services is scheduled to open only by the end of the year, officials said. The problem is growing. Homelessness spiked by 16 per cent in January 2019 compared with the previous year, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority said. Homeless people have set up tents on sidewalks and in neglected corners of nearly every section of the nation's second-largest city, from wealthy BelAir to working-class San Pedro. Republican President Donald Trump on a visit to California in September said people living on the streets have ruined the "prestige" of Los Angeles and San Francisco and suggested the possibility of federal intervention. That same month, the Democratic-run Los Angeles government petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to ask for legal power to forcibly sweep homeless encampments off the streets. Soft costs A man walks on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California, October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson It costs $531,000 per unit to build permanent homes for the homeless under Proposition HHH, the $1.2 billion bond measure approved by voters three years ago, the Los Angeles Controller's Office said in a report released in October. High real estate prices - the median value of a home in greater Los Angeles is currently around $650,000 - were only partly to blame, Controller Ron Galperin said in a telephone interview. The biggest financial drains were "soft costs" such as architectural design fees, permitting and inspections. "These days, to get almost anything built in Los Angeles you need a small army of lawyers and lobbyists," Galperin said. The city's plan to put homeless centres across the metropolitan area sparked a backlash from some residents concerned it could depress real estate values. In the wealthy, beachside neighbourhood of Venice, where the median home price approaches $2 million, some residents have gone to court to oppose a homeless centre. On-site facilities to assist the homeless - medical clinics and office space for case managers and social workers - are another cost-driver, city officials say. Those services average $7,000 per unit per year, to be borne by Los Angeles County government. People coming off the streets have a lot of needs, homeless advocates say. Like Decoursey, 15 per cent of homeless adults were once in foster care, according to the Homeless Services Authority. A report released this month by the California Policy Lab in Los Angeles, which crunched survey data from 64,000 single adult homeless people across the country, found half of them reported suffering from some combination of physical, mental and substance abuse conditions. In Los Angeles County, the mortality rate among homeless people has increased for the last five years, with more than 1,000 dying in 2018 from such causes as heart disease and overdosing on drugs, according to the county Department of Public Health. While shelters have traditionally forbidden drug and alcohol use, officials have begun dropping sobriety requirements for supportive housing, under a model called "housing first" that has been used in Canada and other parts of the United States. Los Angeles had already built some permanent housing units with support services even before the infusion of $1.2 billion from Proposition HHH. They fill up quickly and generate long waiting lists, city officials said. No pets allowed Kenny Miles Bard, 61, who was living in his sedan parked on a hilly street in Hollywood, said he did not like the rules or his companions at a shelter he once tried. "Out here you're more in control of your own destiny, so to speak, and if there are people you don't want to be around, you don't have to be around them," he said. "You go somewhere else." Such reluctance to stay at a shelter THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED is shared by a portion of the homeless population, said Benjamin Henwood, an associate professor of social work at the University of Southern California. "If the choice is to go into a shelter, they might say 'no thank you' because a shelter can be a place where you can get robbed or assaulted or woken up at certain times or have to go to bed at certain times," he said. "If you actually offer them a private space of their own, the majority of people will take you up on that offer." One in seven homeless people in Los Angeles, however, has a pet and may be reluctant to part with it, Henwood said. One non-profit in Los Angeles, People Assisting the Homeless, is making the shelters it operates more welcoming by allowing pets for emotional support and stepping up security so residents' possessions are not stolen, said its associate director, Jesus Torres. At the Hollywood tent encampment, Decoursey, who said she previously battled a cocaine addiction and has been homeless on and off for much of her adult life, mentioned a "street dad" and other transients she considers brothers, sisters, nephews and cousins. "The circumstances out here are dangerous," Decoursey said as she scanned her long time encampment. "The sooner we all can be housed, the better." Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo �LOCAL 6 NNov o v 214 - N v 19, 2 02019 18 | N o . 393 - oNov 28, | No. 420 The Horrors Of Dark Money In Politics A Halloween Forum Raises The Alarm For Reform Bill Woods ContributingWriter A dvertised as "The Horrors of Dark Money in Politics and Government," the Community Issues Forum held a Halloween Day Forum focusing on how "big money" is negatively impacting the political process in this country. Billed as a Halloween party featuring scary politics, it offered reformers an opportunity to have fun with this theme while also seriously discussing the need to take on a problem that is currently warping our democracy. Catherine Turcer, Executive Director of Common Cause/Ohio was the principal speaker, and the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and Common Cause were additional sponsors of this event. Catherine Turcer began her talk with a wave of her witch's hat and some humorous remarks about the horrors of dark money, but she quickly turned to the serious side of this subject. She noted that Ohio was the scene of a wellplanned campaign using dark money in 2018 and 2019. She briefly told the story of how First Energy Solutions, the operator of two failing nuclear power plants, engineered the passage of a bailout bill in the Ohio General Assembly worth $1.1-billion. The plan first called for finding and financing candidates in Republican primaries for the Ohio House who would support a bailout, while also championing behind the scenes the replacement of the House Speaker with a sympathetic spokesman. Once that goal was achieved, First Energy and its coal company allies launched an expensive advertising and lobbying effort to steer bailout legislation to passage in both House of the General Assembly. Governor DeWine signed House Bill 6 into law in July. The next step of the bailout campaign was to protect this billion-dollar boondoggle from a citizen ballot initiative to repeal it. Bailout advocates created Ohioans for Energy Security, a limited liability corporation, to run an expensive but successful operation to smear the repeal effort and prevent it from collecting sufficient petition signatures. Thus in 2019 alone, it is estimated that $16.56 - million were spent on the passage and protection of House Bill 6. Turcer offered House Bill 6 as one of many horror stories that portray the power of "big money" to shape public policy and dominate campaigns for public office. The problem confronting reformers, noted Turcer, is the limited number of legal remedies now available to combat the influence of "big money." Supreme Court cases over the years, she continued, have tied our hands in terms of limiting spending. First the Buckley v. Valeo Case in the 1970s equated spending money to free speech, and the Citizens United decision in 2010 argued that corporations have the status of individuals and have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on public issue campaigns. What can be done? Turcer acknowledged that reformers can either take on the huge task of overturning the Buckley and Citizens United cases with Constitutional amendment campaigns, or support a series of smaller reforms such as the public financing of candidates for public office and disclosure laws that reveal the names of major corporate, union, or individual contributors. For instance, Move to Amend is a national organization with local chapters established for the sole purpose of overturning Citizens United. Meanwhile, effective public financing and disclosure laws exist in a number of states and cities across the country. Turcer averred that Ohio is badly in need of more comprehensive donor disclosure laws. The ad blitzes for House Bill 6 provide a mountain of evidence of why citizens need to know who is paying for issue campaigns as well as for individual candidate's races. Ohioans, she noted, almost got an effective disclosure law in 2010. The Ohio Senate unanimously passed a Bill, but it died in the House. With the prospect of huge amounts of dark money being spent in 2020, Turcer says it's time for reform groups and citizens to lobby their legislators that comprehensive disclosure is necessary. Public financing of campaigns for public office was talked about during the Forum discussion period. Ohio has no experience with this reform. Although the Charter Amendment that was passed by Cincinnati voters in 2001 included it for Council and Mayoral races, public financing was taken out of this reform Amendment in a second referendum in 2002. Meanwhile, public financing has helped level the campaign spending playing field for candidates in states such as Arizona, Vermont and in cities like New York City and Los Angeles. In conclusion, Turcer called attention to one very positive piece of legislation that the U.S. House of Representatives passed last March. H.R. I-, the For the People Act, contains an array of good reform measures, but it has not even received a hearing in the Senate. It includes partial public financing for Congressional campaigns that agree not to accept large PAC donations, and also a section that establishes disclosure regulations for large donations to PACs or campaign committees. An anti-gerrymandering section sets up non-partisan commissions in the states to draw Congressional District lines. Finally, the Bill calls for a series of protections for individual voting rights, while it makes Election Day a national holiday. Make a commitment, declared Turcer, to call or write Senator Portman's Office and demand that the Senate at least give such an important piece of legislation a fair hearing. 2019 ANNUAL DINNER Tickets: $75 Non-members, Thursday, December 12 5:30pm $55 Members Tickets and tables, avaiable online at www.CinciHomeless.org or mail a check to 117 E 12th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Newport Syndicate 1, E 5th Street, Newport, KY 41071 Sponsor a Distributor for $75 Contact: Mona Jenkins 513412-7,03 ext.11 CHANGING THE SCORE THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 3 |- N ov 2 28, - N o2019 v 19,| 2 0 18420 Nov 14 Nov No. LOCAL 7 Colonizers Invading Community Council Kiara Clark ContributingWriter “I s there a limit to how much time a memorial can be up before the police take it down?” This was the first question asked the police officers at the Over-the-Rhine Community council meeting on Monday, September 23, 2019. This question was in reference to the memorials that people put up in the location where someone died or spent a lot of time prior to dying. Memorials in neighborhoods are used as any other memorial. They are primarily used in black neighborhoods as a symbol of remembering a person and the life they lived. It is a way that people mourn. It is used for those who can't make it to the cemetery or simply to know this person lived and they lived here. There in a community council meeting full of people who had mourned in some type of way was someone asking could they be taken down. This question set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Specifically the argument between the police officers and community members. For the purposes of this article native Overthe-Rhine residents refers to longtime and generational residents of Over-theRhine. One man in particular reference the native Over-the-Rhine residents as “deadbeats” and “thugs”. He wanted the police to arrest and chase people with no prior cause other than word of mouth and fear of white gentrifiers. While this man was taking up the time of the community meeting arguing with the police officers it also needs to be noted that the police officers were not disagreeing with his thoughts on the actions that needed to be taken, they only disagree with how they should be taken. Comments and arguments like these in community councils meetings is why so many of the native and/or long time Over-the-Rhine Residents have low attendance at community council meetings. But before accessing exactly what goes on during the meetings it is important to look at the history of council meetings in Over-the-Rhine. The Over-the-Rhine Community Council was designed to be a voice for residents. It was started in 1970 to be a voice for Over-the-Rhine residents, particularly because Over-the-Rhine is home to so much of Cincinnati’s entertainment. In 2002 the City Planning committee was dissolved and in 2003 3CDC was determined to be the city’s preferred developer, with most of the redevelopment being located in Over-the-Rhine. This “redevelopment” displaced many native black Over-theRhine residents and brought in upper middle class white colonizers, mainly happening over the last 10 years. It also happens to be that during these 10 years that the Over-theRhine Community Council has lost most of its native resident members. This group of colonizers in turn them became members of the community council. This background leads to the community council we have today. Where a colonizer can ask to get rid of memorials. The disrespectful things said during community councils ultimately pushed out long time residents.While in some cases long time residents, like Mr. Earl, who lives on 14th and Race, have not come to meetings because that's not their cup of tea, for most cases it’s because they don't feel welcome at community council. Bonnie Neumeier who has been a resident of Over-theRhine since the 70s is one of the few long time residents who still comes to meetings. She stated that many members have stopped coming in the last 10 years because of the racist and disrespectful comments made against Over-the-Rhine residents. But other members like Ms. June Alexander and Ms. Dorothy Darden simply because of health issues. To talk more about the difference in reasons for no longer regularly attending meetings I sat down and spoke with Ms. June. Ms. June used to attend community council meetings regularly because her recent decline in health no longer allows her to attend regularly. Ms. June stopped attending regularly around 2017. But long before that she begin to notice the decrease in regular members. Ms. June said that over the past 10 years she can think of about 10-15 regular members have left community council. This number doesn't seem that great but considering that the amount of members who attend community council meetings is between 30-40, it is a lot. Ms. June stated that a lot of people were tired of fighting and that it felt like developers and newcomers were blaming people for being poor. The comment made at the council meeting in September wasn't the first time a comment like that was made there was another offence made in February of 2019. Just off of OTRCC’s website one can find some of the racist and classist comments made not only by new members but also by business owners in Over-the-Rhine. In a council meeting on October 5, 2016, Source3 Developers did a Q&A with council members. When asked would their project include affordable housing they said the “OTR Housing study actually showed that market rate housing was a need of the community, so that is what we are looking to fill.(October 2016 Membership Meeting Minutes, Overthe-Rhine Community Council).” How can anyone say there is a need for market rate housing when the only people who can afford that housing already have homes. Especially when there are so many people in THIS city are experiencing chronic homelessness. Some of the comments made by the members were in support of this project. Comments made by David Macejko included that it is not the responsibility of developers to create affordable housing, saying it is the role of the city to incentivize for building affordable housing. But why should you be given a prize for giving people a home to live, a basic human right? Another comment made by Bill Cappel said “If this project doesn’t happen the demand will still be here and make it even more expensive for everyone. Stopping this project makes housing even less affordable in OTR.(October 2016 Membership Meeting Minutes, Over-the-Rhine Community Council).” This comment standing alone makes absolutely no sense, logically and statistically providing more market rate housing in communities raises property taxes. It also just shows how little these colonizers know or care about the community. While there are people check these comments and projects like, Bonnie Neumeir, Jen Arens, and Kim Green, who were all in attendance at the meeting, there needs to be more native residents in attendance to protect the rights of other long time residents. No different from another incident at community council where on February 23rd, 2015, the Northpointe group presented the infamous project Rothenberg Row. For those who don't know the project would take 21 plots available for individual purchase and turn them into single family homes, but in the process it would be taking THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED away the basketball court that is located across the street from Rothenberg Elementary School at the intersection of Main and Schiller. When developers were asked about the rent they said that it would be between $400,000 and $600,000 a month for a single family home. They also asked who can’t afford $400,000 and $600,000 a month (interview with Ms. June). This is in a low income black neighborhood in a state where a minimum wage worker cannot afford the fair market rate for a two bedroom apartment at $818. At this meeting Martha Dorff made a motion to ratify a letter of support for this project. Also at this meeting one of the board members, John Walter, who is known to frequently support 3CDC, stated that Main and Schiller was the most dangerous area in the Over-the-Rhine area when in reality Main and Schiller has one of the least concentrated crime statistics (Interview with Ms. June). In fact the most recent crime statistics presented by the chief of police at the last community council further proved that (Crime Statistics sheet ran 9/23/2019 and 28 day calculations based off 9/22/2019). The next meeting on March 30, 2015 the attendance was more than 80 people. Ms. June said that people were so upset about the support of the community for this project that people showed up to vote against this issue. The community support resulted in the rescinding of the letter at the conclusion of this meeting. There are so many more examples of We know that Over-the-Rhine native and longtime residents will always defend their right to live here, but you can't defend that right if you don’t feel comfortable in your own community council. �FEATURED 8 N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Nov 14- -NNov 28,2 02019 420 It's A Wrap Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer T he struggle to preserve, maintain, and build affordable housing in our county continues, as we are more than 40,000 units short of affordable housing in Hamilton County. As we gear up for a ballot initiative to get the City’s support of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, it’s important to examine some of the issues that have brought us to this crisis. When it comes to homelessness, we know that the lack of affordable housing, the lack of a livable wage, and the lack of housing protections have combined together to create our housing crisis. Coupled with disinvestment in public housing for over three decades, the options for housing have shifted greatly in favor of the wealthy and rich. But there is, however, an advantage that proponents of affordable housing have in our favor — the power of the people. Recently, the FC Cincinnati and Port Authority commissioned a “study” of housing in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati. This work was not done out of consideration of the community, but rather was required following the hasty, and possibly unjust, Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that was produced and agreed upon by the wealthy and affluent stakeholders following community outrage. The West End, and neighboring communities, like Over-the-Rhine, expressed deep and valid concerns about putting a private stadium on top of an existing public school stadium and street. Many of the concerns rightfully stemmed from the tens of millions of public funds that are aiding the development of this private stadium. Other justified concerns came out of the historical knowledge that the majority of residents from the West End have been displaced from the neighborhood at least twice. Seeing the importance of retaining the fabric of the community, residents fought back against the stadium, but were ultimately THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED thwarted by the ruling class, including City Councilmember, PG Sittenfeld, who pushed the project through against the wishes of the majority — both community councils, the West End and Over-the-Rhine voted against the stadium’s presence. Throughout the past couple of years, since the powerful Lindner and Farmer families business, FC Cincinnati, has been forced upon a neighborhood that did not want it to come, the amount of racism, whether aware or not, that the company has levied against the neighborhoods has been astonishing. Everything from questioning the validity of the community council votes, silencing the voices of those who are concerned, encouraging their supporters to say racist things at the school board meeting, like “Imagine it’s 2024, and ‘Keisha’ from the West End is on the American Olympic soccer team because she had the chance to play soccer.” Ultimately, the responsibility of the destruction of the community will lay in the hands of a corporation, known as FC Cincinnati. A Community Benefits Agreement is intended to be a document that gives the community the power to retain the values of the community while giving a developer, or developers, a guide as to how to appropriately interact with the neighborhood. As part of the CBA, which was rushed through during a private weekend meeting, a housing study was required. The FC Cincinnati business was advised to pay $100,000 to fund the housing study. In comparison, the company paid $150,000,000 to �No. 39 Nov 228, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 143 -| Nov | No. 420 join the Major League Soccer league. Apparently, one hundred thousand dollars wasn’t enough to fully fund the study, so The Port put money towards the study as well. Both of these entities own property in the West End and plan to make as much money as possible off of their investments. The Port can even acquire properties through eminent domain, as long as it is done for an authorized purpose. The footing on which this housing study stands is shakey, at best, as those who paid for the study intend to gain financially from its recommendations. In the boundaries section of the housing study, Over-theRhine is referred to as an “affluent neighborhood” although the majority of residents in the neighborhood live in poverty. This statement shows how little regard the study authors have towards people living in poverty in our communities. It shows how little a voice and power the authors believe that people living in poverty have to make decisions regarding their own futures. Ultimately, this disdain for low-income, generally Black residents pours into all parts of the study. While the study shows that the area median income for the neighborhood is $14,632, the proposed solutions do not directly enable this group of people to retain membership in the neighborhood. In the Displacement Risk Analysis section, the study inaccurately states that people living in subsidized housing are not at risk of being pushed out of the neighborhood. Public housing across the country is being privatized through a program called RAD. Without going into a great deal of detail on RAD, it’s important to note that there is an “acceptable loss” of units through the RAD process, and possible loopholes that will allow for entire buildings to razed without the requirement to rebuild them. Stanley Rowe Tower, for example, has had considerable pressure FEATURED on it to be razed in recent history. The other problem with the assumption that people in subsidized housing are safe from displacement doesn’t take into account that Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) evicts more people than anyone else in our county. It is clear that these numbers greatly conceal the actual vulnerability of residents of the West End. One ominous statement appears in the study “If nothing is done and if no policy or recommendations are implemented, then the risk of displacement could exponentially increase with the expiration of subsidized rental units.” The study acknowledges that that vast majority of residents wish to remain in the West End. We have seen through the Wade and Central Streets tenant organization, Fight Back Cincinnati, that people want to remain connected to their neighborhood and social ties. Leaving the neighborhood represents a social death, and is made even more difficult with the lack of available affordable housing. The housing crisis makes displacement even more dangerous, as people are forced to settle for substandard housing far away from their known social circles. Gentrification is a type of genocide which gives the power and control into the hands of the wealthy while pushing residents on fixed and low incomes from the neighborhood. Two housing production scenarios are presented: 1. Meet the current need for housing; 2. Meet the potential displacement need for housing. The numbers that are presented, in regard to percentage of AMI are based upon county AMI, rather than neighborhood AMI. County AMI is $78,300, whereas you remember that the neighborhood AMI is $14,632. Therefore, the proposals for housing are not for existing residents, but rather investors who are bringing with them wealth from outside of the neighborhood. The first housing production scenario calls for 456 rental units above 80% AMI, meaning that you would have to make at least $62,000 per year to afford; 55 units at or below 50% AMI, meaning you would have to make $39,000 per year to afford; and 148 ownership units above 100% AMI, meaning you would have to make at least $78,000 per year to afford. This scenario clearly does not stop the loss of our neighbors, but only encourages development of highend units at the expense of existing residents. The second scenario, which claims that it will prevent the loss of existing residents, requires 869 rental units at or below 50% AMI to be built; however, this does not take into account the residents who are most vulnerable, those who are living in subsidized housing threatened by RAD and evictions, but it does show the great need for affordable housing in the THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 neighborhood. Unfortunately, in the end, once the majority of low income Black residents are displaced from the West End and the luxury apartments and condos are built and filled with white suburban-bred “urban pioneers,” the gentrification of the West End will be seen as a success, just as “the affluent” Over-the-Rhine is described today. In Over-the-Rhine, we have lost thousands of low income units, and more than half of the Black population over the past 17 years, and somehow this is being lauded as a success. We continue to fight back against displacement and the unbridled power of white generational wealth as we see fit; however, only through true system change, such as the affordable housing trust fund, will be actually able to change the direction of housing from loss to gain. �10 GLOBAL N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Nov 14- -NNov 28,2 02019 420 'White Death' In Argentina: The Hunger Of Poverty Feeds Tuberculosis Magali Druscovich I Reuters n a poor Buenos Aires suburb, Cristian Molina's jeans and denim jacket hide his unhealthily slight frame, his legacy from years of a poor diet that left him susceptible to the tuberculosis infection he contracted earlier this year, a disease of poverty that is making a comeback in Argentina. Molina, 26, lives in the shantytown of Lujan near the wealthy capital with his parents, six siblings and four nephews. Doctors think one brother contracted the disease in prison and then spread it around the family when he returned home. Cases of the "white death" illness, closely linked to malnutrition and poor housing, have been on the rise since the turn of the decade as Latin America's third largest economy has been battered by repeat recessions and inflation. Currently, fast-rising prices and recession are driving more people below the poverty line and stoking homelessness and hunger. The poverty rate stood at above 35 per cent in the first half of the year, hurting Argentine President Mauricio Macri, who is expected to lose the general elections this Sunday. "Tuberculosis is the collateral damage of poverty," said Laura Lagrutta, an Argentine respiratory specialist focused on treating children with the disease. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, there were 10,320 reports of new and relapsed TB cases in Argentina last year. The number of cases, which had dropped steadily since the 1980s, started to rise again after around 2010. Tuberculosis kills 5,000 people A view of Villa 31, a populous and marginalized shantytown neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 5, 2019. every day globally and is one of the world's biggest killers. Farm-rich Argentina is still better off than some of its South American neighbours, including Brazil and Peru where incidence of the disease is higher. But the infection rate in Argentina is rising worrisomely. Marcela Natiello, coordinator of the national TB and leprosy control program, said a declining trend since the 1980s had reversed in 2013, linked to "multiple and complex causes." "TB primarily affects the most vulnerable populations, with low economic resources, residing in poor, badly ventilated and overcrowded environments," she said, adding that over half of all cases were in the populous area around Buenos Aires. Doctors said the rise in the number of cases was straining some hospital wards where patients with TB are being treated. Patricia Figueroa, a social worker at the Muniz public hospital, said the facility was struggling with Cristian Molina, 26, takes his tuberculosis medication at his house in the shantytown of Lujan in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 26, 2019. overcrowding as it faced a growing number of TB patients, which she described as "a record in recent history." "Due to overcrowding, the hospital is discharging patients with low risk of contagion in order to receive highrisk ones, something very dangerous," she said, adding that the hospital was looking at how to add more beds to other wards to accept more people. In slums around the country, we spoke to many people with the disease, who all described living in cramped and insecure housing and lacking an ample supply of nutritious food. In Villa 31, a populous shantytown neighbourhood in the capital, Luli, 19, has gone through a year of treatment since contracting the disease while she was pregnant. She says her nowmonths-old baby luckily did not get infected. Luli lives in a flat with one bedroom, a kitchen and no bathroom together with her son and partner. The three sleep in one room. "We are constantly moving from one house to another because of the high price of the rent," she said. Daniel, 40, who lives in the same area, is also being treated for HIV, which made him more vulnerable to tuberculosis. He is largely immobilized with an injury to his hip as well as scarring on his lungs. Brigida Simaniz finished her TB treatment in May. She lives with her two children in the shantytown of Bajo Flores in Buenos Aires, all three sharing a single bed. She feared passing the infection to her kids. "I was scared when they told me the diagnosis because I did not know it existed. I always followed the treatment as the doctors said for fear of infecting my children," said Simaniz, who works in a textile workshop earning 70 pesos ($1.19) an hour. "Even though it was cold at night," she said, "I opened the windows of the room to circulate the air." Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo Mariela, an infectious disease specialist intern, analyses an X-ray of 24-year-old patient Jorge, who is currently undergoing treatment for tuberculosis, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 29, 2019. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 228, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 143 -| Nov | No. 420 11 GLOBAL Japan Attempts To Repair Relationship With Indigenous Ainu – But A New Tribute And Rights Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough I Kayoko Kimura The Big Issue Japan n February, for the first time in 21 years, a new bill regarding the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan, received Cabinet approval. Officially titled ‘Bill on the implementation of policies to realize a society where the pride of Ainu people is respected’, the bill marks the first time Japan has legally recognised the Ainu as indigenous people and outlaws discrimination against them. However, Yuji Shimizu, an Ainu living in Hokkaido, takes issue with the bill. “Although this bill specifies that Ainu are indigenous people, it totally lacks substance. The need to protect indigenous rights has been recognised internationally, but no matter how many times I read the bill’s text, I found no mention of rights related to land, resources, or self-determination. I demand the bill be withdrawn immediately and that a revised version be presented following rational discussion with the Ainu,” he said at a Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan press conference. The new bill omits the support for livelihood and education the Ainu have requested. Instead, it contains subsidies for regional industries, such as cultural activities and tourism, as well as special measures related to the Ainu’s traditional salmon fishing and timber collecting. The bill also includes provisions regarding the management and operation of the National Ainu Museum and Park and designates it as a place to share Ainu culture. Located in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, the Museum and Park is set to open in April 2020 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. The modernist shrine, called the ‘Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony’, Ainu demand indigenous rights be protected at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo on March 1, 2019. [Credit: Kayoko Kimura] has cost $220 million so far and is part of a drive by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to draw millions of foreign visitors to Japan and to the northern city of Sapporo, where the Olympic marathon will be run. Also known as "Upopoy" or "singing together" in the Ainu language, the complex will include a museum, a replica of an Ainu village, many of which Japan destroyed in its 19th Century colonization of Hokkaido, and a memorial housing the bones of hundreds of Ainu whose remains were sent to universities in the 20th Century. For some surviving Ainu, whose exact numbers are unknown, the project underscores how Japan has failed to come to terms with its history - despite more than a decade of deliberation on how Tokyo could meet its commitments to an indigenous group it only officially recognised in 2008. Some Ainu worry the new museum complex is mostly meant to burnish Japan's international standing ahead of the Olympics. Ainu artist Koji Yuki (R) and his fellow Ainu Fukumoto Shoji, sit in front of a makeshift altar for a memorial service for Ainu tribesmen defeated by a Japanese army in a fifteenth century battle in Kaminokuni, Hokkaido Prefecture, northern Japan, July 6, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon "I think it's possible it could end up becoming a theme park," said Ainu tattoo artist Mai Hachiya. "People would come to see the dancing and other performances. It would be like a zoo." Scholars say the Ainu settled in Japan's northernmost island and across Sakhalin, Russia, by the 1300s. They hunted, fished, practiced an animist religion and spoke a language unrelated to any other. Japan took control of Hokkaido by force in the 19th Century and made it a colony. After opening it to Japanese settlers, it forced the Ainu, which it labelled "former aborigines," to assimilate. As for the bill, Ainu have raised objections to its content. In 2018, Hokkaido celebrated the 150th anniversary of its naming, but that history also represents the era when the Meiji government dispossessed the Ainu, who had lived in Ezo (currently Hokkaido) for centuries, of their land and traditional livelihood, hunting and fishing. Not a single reflection on or apology for past treatment appears in the bill. “Although the preamble of the 1997 Ainu Culture Promotion Act mentions ‘a society that respects the Ainu’, we have not yet realized a society that respects our human rights,” Mr. Shimizu said. “The new bill bandies about similar phrases, but nevertheless, promoting the tourism industry is nothing more than turning Ainu’s flesh and blood into a tourism resource.” “I want Japan to give back all the resources — the salmon and whales, the forests and seas — that it stole from the Ainu,” Satoshi Hatakeyama, an Ainu who lives in Monbetsu and works as a fisherman in the Sea of Okhotsk, said angrily. “Last summer, when I tried to catch salmon with a net in the nearby Monbetsu River, in order to offer them THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED to the spirits, I was stopped by a group of police officers. I was told I needed to obtain permission from the Hokkaido administration before fishing, but I refused to listen. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous people have a right to access this kind of natural resource,” he said. The new bill also lacks measures related to Ainu living outside Hokkaido. “There are many issues that must be addressed so that Ainu can live in big cities. Handing out subsidies, saying ‘enjoy the Ainu life’… We don’t want subsidies; we want measures that will allow us to work. What we want most of all is to be able to work and support ourselves, so that we can live with dignity,” said Shizue Ukaji, an Ainu. “We have made a lot of progress since the Ainu Culture Promotion Act was passed,” said an Ainu woman living in the Greater Tokyo Area who worked to get Ainu included in the provisions of the Hate Speech Act. “However, it’s natural that Ainu are demanding real recognition of their indigenous rights. Until the bill is becomes law, the Diet should hold repeated debate on its contents, as well as keep an exact record of the proceedings. Young Ainu are passionate about promoting their culture, but they don’t have much interest in politics. Although culture is one way of contributing to diversifying Japan, politics are also indispensable.” The administration plans for the Diet to enact the new Ainu bill. Mr. Shimizu objects: “Japan’s long history of mistreating the Ainu is a national issue and must be addressed as such.” Translated from Japanese by Annelise Giseburt Courtesy of The Big Issue Japan / INSP.ngo �12 STREETVOICE N o v 14 2 --N o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Nov Nov 28,22019 No. 420 A New Beginning Son God is good, not some of the time but all the time 24/7 Son Talk To Me I believe that be the reason we live on earth and god lives in Mommy Needs To Know heaven Looking back on my life and the so many changes that i went What You Feel through And What You See Learning from repeated mistakes good and bad until i Son Talk To Me learned what to do Mommy Loves You Realizing today knowing what to do and how to do it plus the method to use With All Her Heart I see now that having knowledge doesn't determine the route Seems Like We Have Been Drifting Apart we choose It's A Feeling, I Feel In My Heart I know now that everyday above ground is a day to take heed I Will Never Let Anything Keep Us Apart In The Heart Is Where We Need To Start When Learning And Hoping Were Part And We Would Talk I know now that my choices will determine whether i live with god or i burn Today, knowing, understanding with the realization that Like The Good Old Days Of Our Start and learn yesterday is pasted Praying and hoping my words will linger in your memory making a change to last If you haven't paid attention to your life may you look back and see Let's Start Over Son Because You Are My Heart Kim Green Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor That a new beginning is what's up for the politicians and that includes you and me Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 28, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 143- |Nov 2019 | No. 420 1214 Race Street STREETVOICE Just like I could use a dentist, a plastic surgeon and Elizibeth Arden; the women’s building on 1214 Race Street needed a visit from the Property Brothers. We have much in common from the wear and tear of unconditional love. And both of us, being great divas, miss our days of pageant waves and lime-lit stages. Although we are big and old, we both have dared to love all who came to our doors--to our hearts. The day they came to tell me 1214 Race had only two months to live jolted me into shock, disbelief and finally a hollow and isolating despair. I cried for one week. I was paralized until 1214 Race Street (her grand self) gently sang to me. Her lullaby echoed through the walls reminding me about priests and their mission to protect the least of these.”The stories of madness and depression; claireity and elation rang out in every creaky wooden board. “I celebrate each bird who’s song was returned to them within my walls.. And I hope and pray your song and wings will be healed as well.” She choursed. Trump's Tariff's Mother Goose To market, to market to buy some supplies, Only to encounter a quite nasty surprise. Your bill prompts several very deep sighs, As all Trump's tariffs caused prices to rise. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer She was proud to have a mission of tender mercies for those who have experienced a lifetime of neither tenderness nor mercy. And on September 30, 2019, 1214 Race Street silently passed away. Her tender mercies will be paved over, mortared over and bricked over just like so many monuments of human love in OTR as if it is too much of a reminder for Cincinnati that mental illness knows no color, no gender, and no class--IT (like death) does not discriminate. Nevertheless it will not be forgotten. As long as this old body carries the song of 1214 Race Street and all of the women who found sanctuary within her walls, I will fly and sing out Her story of love to all who will hear. I will carry the legacy and share it with the next traveler who’s journey becomes too much to bare. I will remember and sing the praises of the priest who said, “Peace be still ,” to the raging storms in the lives of those first two women..and me. Finally, to those who will tear down her walls or make shops or condos I will say to you,and all of Cincinnati; take heed you are standing on Holy Ground. And as you know, Holy Ground is always hunted. But this hunting will be one of mercy for all who look upon her grave. The spirits standing watch will be those of tender healing songs of love thy neighbor. 1214 Race Street... well done, my Love June Alexander Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 13 �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 109 Across 1. Passport endorsement 5. Take notice of 9. Bitter quarrel 13. Golf club 14. Notion 15. Pointer 17. Young male horse 18. Grime 19. Tenet 20. Heavy block where hot metals are shaped 22. Prejudice 24. Notable achievement 25. Cereal grass seed 26. Not in use 28. Pastry item 30. Color 31. Animal coat 32. Travel a route regularly 35. Modernize 38. Charter 39. Regret 40. Narrow secluded valley 41. Part of a journey 42. Scintilla 43. On the sheltered side 44. Something intended to deceive 46. Small storeroom for food 48. High-pitched bark 49. Peculiar 50. Pack of cards 51. Append 52. Conceited 53. Small fruit seed 56. Endure 59. Slender 61. Evade 63. Theatrical performer 65. In addition 67. Region 68. Musical instrument 69. Without speed 70. Approach 71. Sketched 72. Rational 73. Small wooded hollow PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #108 Down 1. Clergyman 2. Satire 3. Figure out 4. Not in favor of 5. Concealed 6. Comestible 7. Spooky 8. Information 9. Craze 10. Wear away 11. Exhort 12. Concave shape 16. Batch 21. Rhythmicity 23. Incite or stimulate 27. Scheduled to arrive 29. Anger 30. Prohibit 31. Mediterranean fruit 32. Poke 33. Stringed instrument 34. Period of time 35. Horrible 36. Supplication 37. Unfathomable 38. Jinx 41. Boy or man 42. Irritate 44. Brick carrier 45. Betting ratio 46. Hawaiian garland 47. Skin condition 50. Sweet dark purple plum 51. Make amends 52. Country house in ancient Rome 53. Food processed in a blender 54. Paragon 55. Sometimes found in an oyster 56. Circuit 57. Turns litmus paper red 58. Celestial body 60. Young girl 62. Bring ashore 64. Angry dispute 66. Be indebted to Nov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Nov 14- -NNov 28,2 02019 420 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 4- EASY SODOKU PUZZLE NO 3- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 228, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 143-| Nov | No. 420 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 214 - N o v 19, 18 | N o . 393 Nov - Nov 28,2 02019 | No. 420 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 November 14-November 28, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From Hamilton to Trump Pg 3: Homelessness Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Living on the Edge in the Homeless Encampments of Los Angeles Pg 6: The Horrors of dark Money in Politics Pg 7: Colonizers Invading Community Council Pg 8: It’s a Wrap Pg 9: It’s a Wrap Continued Pg 10: ‘White Death’ in Argentina Pg 11: Japan Attempts to Repair Relationship with Indigenous Ainu 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 November 14-November 28, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Graham Bowpitt Alex Dobuzinskis Dr. Mark Mussman Magali Druscovich Willa Denise Jones June Alexander Kim Greene Kiara Clark INSP.com Blake Burrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alex Dobuzinskis Argentina Bill Woods Blake Burrell Donald Trump Dr. Mark Mussman Gabriela Godinez Graham Bowpitt Indigenous Ainu INSP.com Japan June Alexander Kiara Clark Kim Greene Los Angeles Magali Druscovich reform Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/cb2c5def1885d44f68500041f382dd24.pdf 583672d46c794cf97566da1957a87d1b PDF Text Text N o v e m b e r 2 8 t h - D e c e m b e r 1 2 t h 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 3 ( N o . 4 2 1 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. Better Door than a window Article on Page 8 This Issue is sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N o v 28 2 - -NDec o v 19, 0 18 | | N o . 393 Nov 12,22019 No. 421 From The Editor: DACA Goes To The Supreme Court Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief O n November 12, 2019, the supreme court reviewed DACA. DACA refers to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program established in 2012 to protect undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States under the age of 16. In 2017, President Trump revealed his plan to abolish DACAclaiming it was unconstitutional and an illegal program. Even though there have been multiple lower federal court rulings that have blocked the dismantling of the program, the supreme court might comply with the Trump administration’s wants. The hearing transcripts showed that Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco argued the court had no reason to be reviewing the matter since it was under the discretion of the administration and homeland security. However, he also argued that the government had to drop DACA because it was illegal and that it made no sense to create law if the law was then to be ignored by creating other policies. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was quick to point this out saying, “General Francisco, there's a strange element to your argument because you're arguing this is a discretionary matter; it's not reviewable because it's committed to agency discretion. But, on the other hand, you say the agency had no discretion because this program was illegal.” According to NPR, Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out that President Trump was contradicting himself by first saying that the DREAMers were safe underneath his administration, but then abruptly wanted to end the program. The supreme court transcripts also show Justice Ginsberg speaking about a memo saying it was “infected” with the idea that DACA was illegal. That rhetoric clearly shows that Justice Ginsberg does not agree that DACA has ever been an illegal policy. However, after reading the transcripts, CBS News reported, “ some of the more conservative-leaning justices on the court did seem inclined to allow the administration to end the program; justice is like Brett Kavanaugh and chief justice John Roberts.” We will have to wait until the spring of 2020 to know what the supreme court rules after hearing arguments to end the program. So while we wait, let us review the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. To even apply for DACA, an undocumented resident had to be under the age of 30 and had to have been brought to the United States before they turned 16. Unaccompanied minors do not qualify. They had to either have graduated high school, be currently enrolled in school, or completed a GED certificate. Alternatively, they could be in the military or have been honorably discharged. The individual had to prove all of this as well as show they had not committed a violent crime since their arrival in the United States. Over 700,000 undocumented immigrants are currently protected under DACA. That is 700,000 of the approximated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The Conversation reported that on top of all of the benefits the program provides, DACA significantly improved the mental health of its recipients. They were now able to plan for the future without fear. Many young people were able to apply for university, receive financial aid/scholarships, work legally in the United States, all under the protection of DACA. They reported, “our research demonstrates that DACA has enabled youth and young adults not just to work towards building their own futures, but also to find peace of mind- something that, until then, was unfamiliar to them.” Many people who qualified did not apply for protection under DACA because of the fear of outing themselves and their families. All of DACA recipients are known and exposed to the federal government. If Congress rules that it is under the Trump administration‘s discretion to remove DACA, all of DACA’s recipients will be vulnerable to deportation even though the administration claims that they are only doing this to end the benefits the recipients currently receive. 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: ACCORDING TO NPR'S LATINO USA Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Helen Hill, Sebastien Malo, Dr. Mark Mussman, Jule Lummen, Gwladys Fouche, Willa Denise Jones, June Alexander, Kim Greene, Kylie Blovits ------------------------------------------- There are 11million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. S 3.6 million undocumented immigrants are DREAMers 1.8 million DREAMers were eligible for DACA 700,000 - 800,000 were estimated to have received DACA 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 Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, Blake Burrell ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 39 Nov 2 - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 283-|Dec 12, | No. 421 3 HOMELESSNESS Life on the streets: Growing old Helen Hill Street Roots T he streets are getting grayer. The proportion of elderly people experiencing poverty and homelessness has risen by more than 20 per cent in the past 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development. There are myriad reasons for this increase. Baby boomers are aging. Social Security benefits have fallen far below the poverty line. There is the lingering legacy of the recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Add federal housing cuts, the high cost of health care, the de-institutionalization of mental patients, the epidemic of street drugs such as crack and meth, and finally, the 2008 economic crisis in which caused large numbers of people over the age of 50 to lose their homes to foreclosure and succumb to a soaring rental market. Growing old on the streets or in shelters is not for the faint of heart. Health concerns we all face as we age are harder to manage without the stability of a home. Diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay and memory loss are just some of the challenges faced by older adults on the streets. Falls can be catastrophic. Poor nutrition can accelerate and intensify chronic issues such as arthritis and joint problems. And the arrow of time moves in just one direction. None of us are getting any younger. Street Roots asked its vendors about their experience of aging on the streets and in shelters. “You are, like, 10 years older than what you should be,” said Jason Scheer. Mark R. is in his early 60s. “I get up early and I’m really sore, especially when you sleep on top of just the concrete, if you didn’t get any cardboard,” he said. “I’m very vain, I’m used to doing all sorts of things for my vanity, and I can’t do that anymore. I can’t clean my face like I used to. I have no idea what I look like. You have to take better care of yourself when you get older to look right. I have to take care of my hair, if I don’t, it mats up. I had a big snarl back here, but thanks to Street Roots, at Christmas last year I got a coupon for a free haircut, and she cut all that matted hair off. “I used to look at people and think ‘Why don’t you bathe? Why don’t you take care of yourself?’ But I realize now sometimes it’s not that easy. Sometimes you get caught in something and your clothes stink, and you don’t know what to do. And people say it’s only $4 to do a load of wash, but sometimes you don’t have that $4. There are free places to do laundry, but a lot of times there aren’t any openings. I’m used to being very hygienic, wearing clean clothes. When you can’t, I think that makes you look older. And that hurts your pride and vanity.” Tony Prince-Deno describes the experience as “horrific.” “Every step you take is a step you are aging,” Prince-Deno said. “You are out here by yourself, getting older, and it feels like a giant weight on you. It builds and builds and builds. My 51st birthday was probably the worst experience I ever had. I was angry for three days, until one day I came out of Street Roots and sat out under an umbrella at a table at the corner in the sun. I remember it well. And this guy goes by with a red-tipped stick, on a scooter. I’m watching him go by, and there’s another guy behind him with a cane and a scooter. They’re both blind. And the one guy says, ‘I think we’re doing really well!’ And then lo and behold, I saw 10 policemen down the block looking up. There was a jumper (a person threatening suicide) up on the crane. So you can go from bad to wow in a moment’s notice out here. It makes you wonder what you have to complain about.” Melissa, 50, said the cold weather goes right through her. “Every joint in my body hurts. It’s hard to get up off the concrete. It’s also hard to carry all your stuff with you when it’s cold out. My feet hurt worse. It’s getting hard all the way around,” she said. “I’ve only been out here for two and a half years,” said a vendor who wanted to be identified only as DWD. “But as my back continues to fail, and I think I can’t continue to do what I’m doing, I’m starting to look at Melissa’s cart here and wonder if I could get one. I’m trying to figure out how to save my back so I can keep going. It takes a toll, when you have degenerative disks and you wind up carrying everything you need back and forth, it’s gonna wear on you. Things will hit you. All of a sudden you don’t have the energy you once did. I get about a half-day of travel back and forth. If bedding gets wet, everything weighs so much more.” DWD added that the challenges are compounded with the aging standards of hearing and sight issues. “You can’t make out who’s coming toward you, and you can’t hear what someone’s saying. It makes you more of a target out there,” he said. “but there’s a lot of people who will stand up for you. There’s that, too.” George M. said being outside in extreme weather – the cold and the heat – is hard. “As you get older, it’s worse,” he said. “More tasks to take care of, more lines to stand in. More things to do, more exposure to the weather. I can feel the aches and pains in my bones. You get sick more often. Things won’t go away. It’s stress. I can sleep in the shelter, but there are 15 men in there. I can never be by myself. You can’t maintain a level personality without privacy. There’s no ‘you’ anymore because there’s no opportunity to be you.” Sean Sheffield said it seems like he doesn’t age. “It’s hard to explain,” he said, “but this weird thing happens. I lost my Image by Sabine van Erp from Pixabay THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED apartment six years ago, and it seems like time has stopped while you deal with the situation. You already have the aches and pains from the concrete, so it’s like you aren’t aging. You’re used to it. My hip and my knee I’m feeling especially. It slows down my selling. If my hip hurts too bad, I can’t sell at my spot.” For Jennifer Bradford and Heather Duffield, getting on and off the Max and TriMet buses with serious mobility issues adds another challenging layer to their lives. Jennifer is in a wheelchair and has a prosthetic leg. She recently went to the hospital after a fall on the Max. “I got on the Max; it was an older car. When I got to the handicapped spot, I had to lock my wheels, but I only got one of them locked, and the driver took off, and the force threw my wheelchair backwards. I hit my head on the chair and my wheelchair went down on the floor and my legs were straight up in the air. Two guys helped me get back upright. “I hit my head pretty hard. I’m on blood thinners, so I got right off and went to the hospital. I was doing what I thought I had to do for myself.” Heather uses a walker. “My main transport is bus and Max. People can be oblivious. Getting on and off Max is hard. Sometimes they don’t put the ramp down, then people have to wait extra long while I lift my walker on and off, and I end up hurting my back. “I wish I could go to PT (physical therapy), but it costs $40 a session. I can’t afford that right now,” she said. Courtesy of Street Roots / INSP.ngo �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED N o v 228 - N v 19, 18 | N o . 393 Nov - oDec 12,2 02019 | No. 421 �N o. 39 ov 212, - N2019 o v 19,| No. 2 0 18421 Nov 283 |- NDec U.S NEWS 5 Future Cool: The City Advertising Itself As A Haven For Climate Migrants Sebastien Malo Reuters B efore the advent of air conditioning, this northern U.S. city on the shore of Lake Superior promoted itself as a cool summer haven for the sweaty and allergy affected. One day Duluth might offer another kind of relief: As a haven for future U.S. migrants fleeing runaway heatwaves and other extreme weather elsewhere in the country. The Minnesota town, nestled along the world's largest freshwater lake, is among a small group of cities that scientists predict will become top destinations for Americans abandoning parts of the country one day made inhospitable by climate change. Up to now, frigid winters in Duluth - often ranked one of the coldest cities in the United States - have limited its appeal. The city, which planned to one day become as large as Chicago, never quite achieved its aims, as vacant lots testify. But Sandy Hoff, the president and owner of local real estate development firm F.I. Salter, said a changing climate could spur a property boom that would "no doubt" propel his company in ways unseen since his grandfather acquired it 90 years ago. "Duluth, in particular on the shore of the lake here, has tended to be a little cooler maybe than people have wanted at times in the past," he admitted. "Maybe a little climate change, where we're getting a little warmer, is beneficial to us," he said. No joke Predictions that a wave of Americans could one day wash in as a result of climate threats leave many residents part intrigued, part skeptical. Karen Pagel Guerndt, a realtor, joked that she hopes people don't hear about Harvard professor Jesse Keenan's research suggesting Duluth is wellsituated to become a climate sanctuary. "We don't want to be a big city," she said. She's kidding, of course, she said after all, she sells homes in Duluth for a living. Some early climate migrants are already buying them. Angel Dobrow, her husband Bob and their dog arrived in Duluth in 2017 from Northfield, about three hours south, and bought a sandy brown brick bungalow on two acres, with a backyard forest included. Dobrow, who works as a herbalist and for a small company that supports farmers, said they made the move with the future - and growing worries about how climate change might affect them a top priority. "The number one criteria for me was access to freshwater. I'm nervous about climate change. I wanted to be where - I mean it's a little hokey - we could walk and have water," she said. Leaving their home of 16 years "was hard," said Dobrow, 59. "But we felt like we were being freed" from ongoing worries about where they would best be able to ride out climate change impacts. Location, location, location Harvard's Keenan, an idiosyncratic bow tie wearer, first set foot in Duluth in March - three months after he began fleshing out why the quiet town of 86,000 might one day see tens of thousands of new residents settle in. The professor and his team had identified Duluth after more than 2,000 hours of work studying which U.S. towns might appeal to tomorrow's climate migrants and have room for them. In Duluth's case, the attraction can partly be summed up in an old real estate adage: Location, location, location, said Keegan, an expert in climate adaptation and design. Duluth abuts the cooling breeze of Lake Superior - a big source of freshwater - and is a reasonable 2.5hour drive to a dynamic economic hub, Minneapolis. The northern city's infamous cool weather means it will be temperate when most of the country sweats in a world climate experts say could be up to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than preindustrial times as early as 2030. With its secure water supply, it is also less likely to face some of the climate-driven threats other parts of the country may grapple with, including worsening droughts and water shortages. Other U.S. "Rust Belt" cities - which lost population as heavy industry declined - also have been floated as potential climate refuges, including New York state's Buffalo and Cincinnati in Ohio. On a visit to the University of Minnesota Duluth in March, Keenan offered a few sleek potential slogans for the city: "Duluth - not as cold as you think", "The most climate-proof city in America", or "Duluth: 99 per cent climate-proof ". The social scientist was riffing off some of Duluth's own marketing ideas from another era, when it tried to persuade tourists that the lake-side city was worth a detour. Duluth's cool weather has long been the best draw for summer tourists, said Tony Dierckins, a local historian. Vintage postcards tout the town as "the air-conditioned city" and it was dubbed the country's "hay fever haven" until the arrival of antihistamines blunted that appeal, Dierckins said. The invention of air conditioning meant some residents of Rust Belt cities such as Duluth eventually departed for warmer destinations in the south of the United States, following jobs, said David Woodward, a professor of history at UMD. As a result, Duluth represents a "time capsule" of sorts, with a population virtually unchanged in half a century, Woodward said. That means there is room for newcomers - but after decades of a somewhat-depressed economy and no need for fresh housing, many of Duluth's homes have aged. Some fear the city is not ready for an influx. Serendipity On Jefferson Street, amid chirping birds and bushy trees, four neat houses speak to Duluth's housing crisis. The Loaves and Fishes residences are for Duluth's homeless residents, most of whom work but cannot afford the high rents landlords typically charge, said Joel Kilgour, who volunteers at the non-profit and chairs the Affordable Housing Coalition. Rents have skyrocketed largely due to a housing shortage of about 3,000 units. Local housing is shared with about 30,000 college students who need a home during the school year, said UMD's Woodward. Kilgour fears a surge of climate migrants could increase pressures on housing, compounding an already "serious internal displacement crisis" and creating a more unjust future for current residents. "If we as a community can't solve (current problems), there's no way that we're going to be able to handle an influx of climate refugees in an equitable manner," he said. That conundrum is on the mind of many more Duluth residents as well, including elected officials such as Mayor Emily Larson, a former Loaves and Fishes volunteer. In the heart of the Civic Center, Larson's stately office, with ornate brass lamps hanging from the ceiling, acts as a reminder that this mid-size city hall was intended for a "big city mayor", she quipped. If climate migration puts to better use Duluth's oversize territory and infrastructure - there are 29 per cent more road miles per person here than in the similarly-sized Minnesota town of St. Cloud, federal data shows - the result could be a kind of "ironic serendipity," said Larson. But she concedes she has "trepidations" about rapid future growth. "We struggle like many communities to ensure we have economic opportunity and safety and housing," she said. Preservationists such as Dennis THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Lamkin also fear for the city's historic housing stock. After developers build on the ample vacant and forested land on the city's periphery to meet growing demand for homes, continuing waves of climate migrants could prompt razing of the city's myriad aging historic mansions to make room for apartments, he worries. Many mansions were erected during the city's heyday at the turn of the last century, when more millionaires lived here than anywhere else in the nation, thanks to thriving mining, lumber and wheat industries. "I would hate to see developers come into town, tear down the historic architecture that we have, and just build non-descript housing units to accomodate climate refugees," he said. Futures Harvard's Keenan said after his presentation in March he received at least two dozen emails from people who had recently moved to Duluth with climate change in mind. "Last October I bought a house in Duluth. It's my retirement plan," said New Yorker Lacy Shelby by email. "I needed ... a lower 'dose' of noticeable climate change," she said. Word is spreading among physicians too. At St. Luke's Hospital, recruiter April Knapp, whose job it is to convince in-demand physicians to take a job in Duluth, said reading up on climate change was now on her "to-do list" as she finesses her pitch. Already, about 10 potential job candidates have mentioned hearing that Duluth may be a climate-proof destination, she said. In a brutalist campus building next to a highway, Patrick Schoff, the biology research associate at UMD who invited Keenan to present his vision for Duluth, is already plotting next steps. A conference looking at the economic aspects of positioning Duluth as a climate refuge is in very early planning stages, he explained, and other ideas are circulating as well. For Dobrow's close friend, Karen Olson, a future in Duluth is already in the works. Olson, 51, is also planning in a year or two to leave the Minnesota town of Northfield for Duluth, looking for the best place to ride out forecasted climate threats. "This feels like the last big thing that I can do in order to have at least tried to be as responsible as I could to my children," she said. "I wanted to leave something, a place for my children to potentially have some kind of a chance, some sort of safe harbor." Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo �LOCAL 6 NNov o v 228 - N- oDec v 19, 2 02019 18 | N o . 393 12, | No. 421 Sanctuary Communities - New Book To Be Released By The Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center Bill Woods ContributingWriter A timely book is about to be released by the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center. Co-authored by Brennan Grayson, the Executive Director of the Center, and John D. Tynes, "Sanctuary Communities" examines the role of providing "sanctuary" in this current climate of deporting any person who cannot prove their legal status for living in this country. The book also explores what motivates so many people from Central America to seek refuge in the United States. The authors strive to provide essential information so that readers can understand a complex and often emotionally charged subject. Cincinnati receives a lot of attention in the section of the book focusing on "sanctuary issues." Although City Council voted in February 2017 to become a Sanctuary City, Brennan Grayson declares that the City lacks the legal capacity to be such a community. Council's formal Resolution states the City will deny the use of its law enforcement personnel or services to enforce federal immigration laws. However, since it lacks its own jail, this critical portion of the Resolution is unworkable. Hamilton County operates the Justice Center that houses the jail where persons arrested by the City Police are held. Although the County has no formal written policy regarding federal enforcement of immigration laws, Grayson found the activities of jail employees add up to an informal working relationship with ICE ( U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). In essence according to this section of the book, the policy of Sheriff Jim Neil, who administers the jail, is to cooperate with ICE. What are these activities occurring at the Hamilton County Justice Center? The common practice is for the Center to contact ICE when it is holding someone who appears to be an undocumented immigrant. It honors ICE requests to detain an immigrant even when that person is found to have broken no local law. It also informally cooperates when ICE officials are working to collect damning evidence about someone being held at the County facility. The results of this cooperation are significant. Over the last decade, the Hamilton County Justice Center has facilitated over 1,500 deportations. Since Cincinnati declared itself a Sanctuary City in 2017, 359 of those deportations have occurred. These facts are why the authors conclude that cities like Cincinnati that do not control the policies of their jail systems cannot call themselves sanctuary cities. "While there is no standard definition for what constitutes sanctuary or a sanctuary community," they write, "the term is used to refer to cities that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation by limiting cooperation with the federal law enforcement agencies that deport them." San Francisco is cited in the book as a model for other communities to follow. The need for effective sanctuaries is stressed in the book because of the current thrust of the federal government to deport especially undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America. The authors spend some time debunking the negative myths about lawless Hispanics crossing the borders to rape and pillage. In fact, studies indicate that undocumented immigrants are more likely to be taken advantage of by employers and landlords due to their fears of deportation. One of the primary goals of the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center is to protect immigrant workers from wage theft. "Clearly," note the authors, "immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, face significant challenges living in this country." The Workers Center will release this book on December 5th, and people will have a chance to hear and meet the authors that day at the Community issues Forum at Christ Church Cathedral, 318 East Fourth Street. This event begins at noon on Thursday December 5th, and is free and open to the public. For more information, call 381-4994. 2019 ANNUAL DINNER Tickets: $75 Non-members, Thursday, December 12 5:30pm $55 Members Tickets and tables, avaiable online at www.CinciHomeless.org or mail a check to 117 E 12th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 Newport Syndicate 1, E 5th Street, Newport, KY 41071 Sponsor a Distributor for $75 Contact: Mona Jenkins 513412-7,03 ext.11 CHANGING THE SCORE THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL N o. 39 3 |-N ov 2 12, - No v 19,| 2 0 18421 Nov 28 Dec 2019 No. 7 A Microcosm of Hypocrisy Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer O ver the next year, there will be considerable discussion regarding Cincinnati’s new Affordable Housing Trust Fund. By the end of 2020, we hope there will be dedicated funding sources for the trust fund, to create and sustain high-quality affordable housing in Cincinnati. The need for our trust fund came out of the steady displacement caused by gentrification in many of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods. In Overthe-Rhine, Mt. Auburn, Corryville, Avondale, Lower Price Hill, Walnut Hills, and other neighborhoods, Black and low-income residents are being displaced for wealthier, and often whiter, residents and businesses. It is common knowledge that gentrification is occurring in the areas surrounding downtown, including the West End, but people often don’t realize that their own taxes incentivize the displacement of residents and businesses. The city of Cincinnati incentivizes development in many different ways, but no mechanism to prevent displacement exists. Today, a developer may receive direct subsidies from the city to develop a market-rate building. They may receive TIF funds to build a parking structure under their development. They may receive city tax breaks, amounting to millions of dollars. Developers may receive tax abatement on their property, which also short-changes our public schools. All of these tools are used to displace low-income, and often Black, residents from their homes. Other countylevel pressures, such as property tax valuation, increase disparities in our communities. In order to fully understand what is happening to our communities, we need to look at the street-level advancement of gentrification. One example of the cycle of gentrification is Findlay Playground, or as it is commonly known, Findlay Park. Parks have a huge impact on perception of a neighborhood. Looking at Washington Park, for example, which saw 46 million dollars in renovation nearly a decade ago, the privatization of the park by Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), received a lease of the park for 95 years. (It wasn’t so simple as that, as the Cincinnati Public Schools Board agreed to a land swap to move the school land across 12th Street, where the School for Creative and Performing Arts is today. And to acquire that land, property owners, including the Drop Inn Center, had to be compensated for the historic buildings that were torn down after the residents were displaced.) 3CDC leased Washington Park from the City of Cincinnati for 95 years at the cost of $1. On the surface, the rehab of Washington Park seems like it has spurred development, increased social activities, increased revenues through parking, alcohol, and events, but there is also an insidious side that has resulted in the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness and poverty. The old park had a deep water swimming pool, including a swim and dive team made up of Overthe-Rhine youth. The basketball court and non-magnet elementary school (which was the highest performing in the neighborhood) were all removed as well. As the closed-door community meetings on the rehab of the park began to show the loss of these important community assets, the protest included signs and chants of “You can’t learn to swim in a sprayground!” which show that the lack of access to swimming pools in neighborhoods like this result in drowning later in life. This is especially true for Black people, who have been historically barred from swimming pools. (Coney Island even closed their pool for several years, rather than let Black children swim in it.) Public Murals are Inaccessible Due to Privatization Corner Store Closes Without Fanfare Also concerning are the rules that 3CDC put on the park which bar people and organizations from donating clothes, food, and having events that benefit people in poverty. Essentially, criminalizing homelessness by banning laying down in the park or eating out of garbage cans creates a very real barrier for people who want to use the park, as it was intended, a respite from the bustle of city life. Coupled on top of complaints from people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity who have been “banned” from using the bathrooms in the park, it is clear that the hostile designed fence around the park isn’t the only thing keeping the “undesirables” out of the park — the 24/7 private security force is always at work. The renovations of Ziegler Park proved to directly displace Black residents from the area, both in privately-owned apartments, and subsidized apartments abutting the park. We have seen the cost of a swim membership rise from $4 a year to $4 a day. While there are claims that children can get discounted rates, this comes with structural and racist barriers that require family background information which result in less accessibility for all families. Overall, the millions that went into these two parks means that someone has made a considerable profit off of the projects. At a recent community meeting about Findlay Park, that was attended by less than a dozen residents, we heard that the goal is to raise 22 million dollars for the rehab. The CRC Director of Recreation stated that the Cincinnati Business Committee will ask the State of Ohio for 5 million, and the rest would be from TIF money and other fundraising channels. The Director said that they don’t need any plans to present to the State for the 5 million dollars, and at this time have no idea what the 22 million dollars rehab would actually look like. The purpose of the meeting was to come up with programming THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED ideas, starting in April of 2020, so that if the fence is removed, there would be programs set in place. It was clear that it doesn’t take millions to remove the fence. The Director of Recreation also said that the reason the fence was put up was due to safety concerns of the Mayor, City Manager, and the Cincinnati Police Department. While Grant Park, just a few blocks away, also sees high crime, including murder, there is no fence around it. The area around Fountain Square sees more crime than these areas, but there is no fence around it. People in our community bemoan the loss of any parking spots, but when the “City Parking Only” signs in front of Findlay Park went up, no one mentioned it as an issue. When the public mosaic was gated off by Model Group on the west side of the park, no one said anything regarding the loss of public art, yet we are filling every space will murals for BLINK and ArtWorks. Finally, when the word on the street is that the store directly across Vine from the park closed because the owner said they lost all of their business when the fence went up around the park, no one came to their aid, even though the community acts like small, minorityowned businesses are a priority. (A recent report shows that only about 8% of the businesses in Over-the-Rhine currently are Black owned, even though the neighborhood is still majority Black). While the condos abutting the Park receive tax abatement for decades and other incentives to displace the lowincome Black residents who lived there less than 2 years ago, the neighbors get a fence around their park. When white people make blatantly racist remarks, even micro-aggressions, at every community meeting, the true meaning of the fence is explicated: Only power and money is welcome, everyone else is fenced off. �FEATURED 8 N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Nov 28- N - Dec 12,2 02019 421 Better Door Than A Window: Part I Kylie Blovits ContributingWriter O n Wednesday, October 2, hundreds of people marched from Laurel Park to City Hall to demand for Housing Now! — or more specifically, the long-awaited funding for the 40,000 units of affordable housing that is needed in Hamilton County, 28,000 of which is for Cincinnati alone (Community Building Institute). Seeing this shortage and consequences of it worsening everyday, the community decided enough was enough. If city government wouldn’t address the issue on their own, the people, organized by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, would bring it to the discussion and hold the people in power accountable. And that was exactly the plan. The day and time of the march was set to align with the City Council meeting, a part of which is supposed to be dedicated for ‘public comment’, so that the community could air their concerns to their representatives and advocate for the basic human right of shelter. However, upon arrival, it was discovered that City Council had conveniently moved their meeting up four hours (2pm instead of 6pm as planned). The doors were closed and no-one was home. Apparently the community’s voices weren’t worth being heard. Though one of the more recent examples, this was not the first time that the Mayor and the rest of City Council has turned their back on their ‘constituents’ in regards to the affordable housing crisis, specifically the people of Over-the-Rhine. In June of 2002, the Overthe-Rhine Comprehensive Plan: A Consensus-based Plan by People who Care was published. This document, a product of a 5-year collaboration between the City Planning Department, City Council, and Community Members, called for things like a more balanced housing stock, significant increases in affordable housing units, more home ownership, etc. In her book, Econocide, long-time resident and social worker in the Over-the-Rhine area, Alice Skirtz recalls that “it became part of the larger City of Cincinnati Comprehensive Plan, intended to guide the city’s decision making, neighborhood by neighborhood.” Like the larger, encompassing City of Cincinnati Comprehensive Plan, the more focussed Over-the-Rhine Comprehensive Plan was set to be managed by the Planning Department. Everything was put in its place, teed up for a home run. But what happened? That was 17 years ago. Clearly, as evidenced by the Housing Now! March, the city of Cincinnati is experiencing an incredible shortage of shelter for its low-income residents. In fact, according to The Enquirer, there has been both a net loss of occupiable housing units (market rate or otherwise), as well as a dramatic reduction in the amount of affordable housing units (0-30% AMI) — from 3,235 units at the time that the Overthe-Rhine Comprehensive Plan was published in 2002, to 869 at the time of the last Housing Inventory. What happened was thenMayor Charlie Luken. Barely six months after the Over-the-Rhine Thanks to city government, 3CDC is well on its way to a monopoly of Over-the-Rhine. 3CDC denied the Homeless Youth Empowerment Council and the Inter-community Justice & Peace Center (IJPC) use of Fountain Square Park, but permits events like 'Tequila Fest". Comprehensive Plan was adopted, the 80-year-old Planning Department was dissolved. Suddenly, Skirtz writes, the Plan “lost its administrative champion…[and] only resource for ensuring compliance with the Plan.” Shortly before that, Mayor Luken had also abolished the Economic Development Department. In place of both of these governmental, regulating bodies, Luken created two private corporations, so-named The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, respectively. Both private entities have a Board of Directors composed of CEOs and other high-level executives which double-dip from many of the same Fortune 500 companies, such as: GE, Proctor and Gamble, North American Properties, Cincinnati Bell, Kroger, and more. While the latter, now interestingly enough run by the same Charlie Luken, works on development predominantly on the outskirts of Cincinnati, the industrial sector, and foreclosures , the former — 3CDC — was created to attack the heart of the city, or as they put it — “Build life in our City’s center”. In contrast to 3CDC, though the Port Authority does feature corporate actors, there are also two community members and advocates on their Board, and furthermore — the organization is required to have open hearings and receive community input. 3CDC, however, has no community members on its Board and has no obligation to engage with the community or cater to them. And it shows. To date, only two projects on 3CDC’s website advertise units of affordable housing. The first, City Home - Pleasant Street, is for residents who can afford 50-60% THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED AMI as noted on the 3CDC website. The second, Columbia Flats, has 8 (of 36) units for those at 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Moreover, according to Bonnie Neumeier, longtime resident and founder of Over-theRhine Community Housing (OTRCH): “Often times, 3CDC will claim the work OTRCH has done in affordable housing because they have control of resources that we’ve needed on various projects. When they have done affordable housing, it’s never 0-30% of AMI, it’s more close to 80% of AMI which is beyond the reach for those we serve.” But no matter, affordable housing and the good of the original community was never the goal. As said on 3CDC’s website, Luken and the aforementioned members of the Cincinnati corporate community agreed that “the economic future of Cincinnati depended first and foremost on a strong and vibrant downtown business and entertainment district,” which required a “strategic focus” in the revitalisation of Over-the-Rhine. And boy, was there strategy. The first element of strategy was creating an entity which has essentially as much power in and over the city as a governmental body, but without any of the responsibility that a governmental body would have in upholding promises, policy, or morals as said entity is a private corporation. Not only does this immensely benefit the corporation, 3CDC, who can further their own economic endeavours using millions of dollars of the city’s money, assets, and tax abatements, but it also allows city officials (like thenMayor Charlie Luken, now-mayor, John Cranley, and Council members) to yield results in questionable ways, �No. 39 Nov 212, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 283 -| Dec | No. 421 all the while remaining politically correct by relinquishing responsibility —throwing their hands up, as if to say: “We can’t control what 3CDC does; they are a private organization and therefore independent from the city.” But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The city of Cincinnati and 3CDC have been cut from the same cloth, inexorably linked, at times even synonymous. 3CDC was literally founded by the Mayor, and since then— has been considered the city’s exclusive and ‘preferred developer', as reported by Bizjournals.The transformation of the community of Over-the-Rhine is said to have “happened in a blink of an eye,” something only made possible by the ever-growing list of powers awarded to them by the city. Thanks to Cincinnati’s leaders, 3CDC, a supposedly nongovernmental group, has “the ability to initiate regulatory reform, issue bonds, and use eminent domain [to acquire land],” says Skirtz. Soon, public assets were surrendered to 3CDC, as well. For example, by 2005, 3CDC had a contract with the city for full planning, development, and management authority of Fountain Square Park for 50 years. Not long after that, 3CDC was given Washington Park for 95 years, no questions asked. Ziegler Park followed. It wasn’t until a couple years after the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation obtained Fountain Square Park that public awareness was raised about 3CDC’s power to grant or deny permits for public use of the park. In the spring of 2007, two groups, the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) and the Homeless Youth Empowerment Council, were banned from organizing demonstrations and discovered that there was no real appeal process for contesting or negotiating these decisions made by the authority of 3CDC. It seems that in addition to control over the use of the public by public land, 3CDC also has power over human rights. In not one, not two, but three of the area’s largest public spaces. And, therein lies the twisted beauty of the aforementioned mutuallybeneficial relationship between the city and 3CDC. By privatising public property like Fountain Square, Washington, and Ziegler Park, 3CDC, the managing entity has the jurisdiction to forbid behaviors or persons. If management resided with the city, as it was, they could not justly discriminate. In this arrangement, 3CDC and the city of Cincinnati can stick to the ‘mixed model’ described in Econocide, “which was undertaken fir purposes of promoting business and preventing use by certain so-called undesirable people and events.” The people can’t challenge them, and apparently neither can other developers. As of this January, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI), a non-profit organization founded in 1994 to improve metropolitan Cincinnati, merged to become a 9 FEATURED On the day of the Housing Now! March, City Council changed their meeting time to take away the platform for advocacy and discussion, either leaving early or hiding inside. subsidiary of 3CDC. WVXU reported Joe Rudemiller (VP of Marketing and Communications at 3CDC) chalking it up to a decision to increase efficiency: “The city just saw there were two organizations performing very similar functions.” Now there’s one less organization to stand in their way. That is indeed more efficient. Furthermore, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier, in 2014, 3CDC managed to find themselves in the position to “serve as a reviewer of proposals from thirdparty prospective developers and provide recommendations to the city.” Moreover, of the approved projects, “if redevelopment does not take place as planned, the property would revert back to city ownership.” So, essentially 3CDC gets to control all other development in the city, either vetoing or passing on whatever they like— which is both a gross conflict of interest and a very powerful, monopolising role. And, if a third party projects get through, they can be taken over by the city, and by extension — 3CDC if they don’t uphold the terms of the agreement. Whether or not other developers are given the nod of approval, whether or not they succeed, 3CDC is in control. It’s a winwin-win-win! In addition to being the filter and deciding vote for any potential development project, 3CDC was also granted custodianship of two private investment funds — the Cincinnati New Markets Fund (CNMF) and the Cincinnati Equity Fund (CEF). In 2004, when they graciously accepted this responsibility, the combined total amounted to nearly $100 million dollars. Since then, 3CDC has created two more funds -- the CEF II and CNMFII funds, from which they can play with a $36 million line of credit, according to a Drexel University study. Besides the $100+ million of development funds, 3CDC receives incredible amounts of tax incentives from the Community Reinvestment Area Commercial Tax Abatement Program (Commercial CRA), Tax Increment Financing (TIF), and the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program. According to Mayor Cranley, 3CDC has received nearly $50 million from TIFs alone. Almost all projects are given full financial backing and forgo having to pay taxes for up to 15 years. And then some properties the city just basically donates to 3CDC. For example, as seen in the image below, 1409 Race Street was sold to OTR Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of 3CDC, from the City of Cincinnati for $0. With all this power, preferential treatment, and public funding being funnelled into a private organization running parallel to the city government, it’s no wonder why a citizen member of the Planning Commission thinks “the mayor’s development task force [is] a ‘stacked deck’ that is very heavily weighted toward developer interests.” It’s even less of a wonder since the former City Manager, Harry Black, had similar things to say. Less than a year ago, in April of 2018, Fox reported allegations about corruption in City Hall began circulating the media. Two days before his resignation, Black publicly accused now-Mayor John Cranley (political-mentee of thenmayor Charlie Luken) of “mixing his campaign fundraising with the city’s economic development deals.” According to WCPO, the firestorm surrounding the scandal included a threat to sue the city, persisting several months until finally the flames were suppressed — by money. Lots of money. Ex-City Planner, Harry Black, silenced by settlements. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �10 GLOBAL N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Nov 28- N - Dec 12,2 02019 421 Adapting To The Effects Of The Climate Crisis Jule Lummen bodo T he current horror of the visible effects of global warming can make it easy for us to forget the fact that man-made climate change has been the object of scientific research since the beginning of the 20th century. The topic has been on the political agenda since at least 1979, when the first World Climate Change Conference was held, and the cities of Bochum and Dortmund In Germany have had tangible climate protection policies in place since the early 1990s. In science, there is little need to discuss the existence of climate change. Instead, in-depth research into the growing impacts of climate change and the practical application of climate change adaptations is being carried out. More than a decade ago, in December 2008, the German government adopted the German Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, which includes various areas of action—ranging from human health to construction, manufacturing and transport to agriculture, forestry and biodiversity. The government is already focussed on big cities; however, a recent study by ETH Zurich indicates the scale of the consequences of the climate crisis and warns of a massive warming of the urban climate in European metropolises by 2050. 10 degrees warmer Even in the Ruhr valley, a densely populated area, the urban climate effect has already caused drastic temperature increases during the summer. “The high proportion of sealed surfaces stores heat and releases it as radiant heat at night,” explains Professor Stefan Greiving, who heads the Institute for Spatial Planning at the Technical University of Dortmund and researches climate change adaptation. “This heat island effect can lead to eight to ten-degree higher temperatures at night when compared to the rural surroundings.” Overnight temperatures of over 20 degrees were rare between 1961 and 1990, according to the climate charts produced by the Regionalverband Ruhr [RVR: the regional association for the Ruhr area]. During that time period, there were no more than three such nights per year in Dortmund’s city centre. However, researchers estimate that from 2021 to 2050, there will be between 27 and 30 tropical nights, which are called Tn20GT by meteorologists, every year. This increase is associated with specific health risks, says Dr. Med. Andreas Rienow, one of the researchers of the Geomatics working group at the Geographical Institute of the Ruhr- A man walk through a flooded street during heavy rain in Berlin, Germany, June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch University in Bochum. “Especially for vulnerable groups, [such as] small children under four years old and people older than 65, this can be a heavy burden,” he says. A second consequence, Stefan Greiving explains, is a change in precipitation. The increase of atmospheric convection, a weather phenomenon in which humid and warm air rises quickly and can lead to thunderstorms with heavy rain, poses major problems for cities. The effects of, and damage caused by, floods are mainly influenced by the degree of surface sealing. “These changes in temperature and precipitation ultimately have a detrimental effect on water supply, quality of life and biodiversity,” Greiving says. Weather conditions in the last two summers, in which there was little rainfall followed by heavy rainfall, have led to significant strains on the vegetation—sometimes with complex repercussions. “We can assume that, in the longer term, most of the native species that currently live here will disappear,” he states. What can be done? A whole range of measures can help to combat changing trends in precipitation and rising temperatures. For example, cities can create airways and green corridors, which can help to mitigate the consequences of these weather phenomena. Andreas Rienow researches the possibilities of designing a sustainable climate landscape as part of the Bochum-based project KlimNet. The project is based on satellite images and is focussed on the issue of surface sealing. “We mustn’t seal up green spaces, as they are important for cold air generation and infiltration,” Rienow explains. “It is important to determine which areas are climate-relevant. In the Ruhr area in particular, there is a wealth of conversion areas. Many former industrial sites can be redeveloped, without having to seal them any further.” In city districts, green areas, green roofs and facades significantly reduce the heat radiation of buildings and bind CO2. In the past year, for example, Dortmund made roof greening mandatory for new buildings and roof coverings. In Bochum, this will also apply to new buildings and conversions in certain areas of the city in the future. At the same time, integrated water surfaces within the landscape serve to cool the district. “There are innovative concepts that we can implement, such as the sponge city,” Rienow says. “[This is when] partly permeable materials are used to buffer precipitation, rather than draining it directly through the sewers.” “In the larger cities in particular, awareness of the topic has grown over recent years,” says Stefan Greiving. “Together with us, the city of Dortmund has carried out a pilot project for climate change adaptation for the district of Hörde. The findings are currently being applied to the rest of the city.” A heavy rain hazard map has recently been created, which shows the flood risk during heavy rainfall for each part of the city. This is important to know when building canals or houses. Or when the city has to decide where to construct emergency water channels or retention basins so that water drains off better during heavy rainfall. Bochum has developed its own method by which to adapt to the changing climate. The new Ostpark residential area serves as a model by which to investigate how urban planning measures, such as green areas, water-permeable footpaths, heat- and rain-resistant trees, cooling city lakes and flood protection can be implemented in residential and urban areas. The Emschergenossenschaft [the public water board responsible for the area] and the RVR are also active; for example, in connecting the different municipalities. Andreas Rienow also sees increased activity at local THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED government level: “Many municipalities are not just thinking about climate protection, but also about climate adaptation— because, unfortunately, it is already very late; actually, maybe even too late [to take action].” Environmental justice Even if the will to act is there, local governments are sometimes confronted with conflicting objectives. The lack of housing is one example: urbanisation and land use are causing cities to overheat even further. “The legitimate interest in affordable housing and the right to live in the city is also the legitimate interest of those who already live in cities and want to protect themselves from additional burdens,” Stefan Greiving says. He stresses that climate protection, as well as measures to mitigate climate change, should be looked at together with social issues. Making transport, energy and consumption simply more expensive for climate protection reasons would make life even harder for households with a low disposable income. The same applies to climate change adaptation, says the Dortmundbased researcher. “Those who live in neighbourhoods that are exposed to multiple environmental burdens are also disproportionately affected by climate effects, such as increased levels of overheating. And they often live in buildings that are not insulated and do not have exterior shading, shutters or even air conditioning,” Greiving adds. Climate change is harder for the poor and it increases social inequality. “The challenge is environmental justice,” Greiving concludes. “We have to take the perspective of socialecological justice and ask: can climate adaptation unintentionally reinforce existing inequalities?” Translated from German by Eva Schueckel Courtesy of bodo / INSP.ngo �No. 39 Nov 212, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 283 -| Dec | No. 421 11 GLOBAL On Norway's Border With Russia, Unease Over Military Build-Up Gwladys Fouche Reuters Under a soft winter sun in northern Norway, U.S. Marines train in the ice and snow as they learn how to fight in the freezing cold. "Which country is to the northeast?" Staff Sergeant Daniel Croak bellows at a group of 20 soldiers in camouflaged combat jackets and white trousers in a pine forest near the town of Setermoen. "Russia!" they shout back. The troops are part of a contingent of 650 Marines staging a recent joint military exercise with 3,000 soldiers from NATO-member Norway at a time when both NATO and Russia have increased their military presence in the Arctic. A few hundred kilometres from Setermoen, Russia is modernising its forces on the Kola Peninsula, home to its Northern Fleet. Russia has also carried out manoeuvres in recent weeks, staging a major submarine exercise in the North Atlantic, according to intelligence sources cited by Norwegian media. "Do not use your GPSes. They may be jammed," Croak barks to the Marines, a warning stemming from NATO accusations - denied by Russia - that Moscow has in the past jammed GPS systems in Norway. The rising tension is unsettling many Norwegians, not least in the town of Kirkenes, which for three decades has been trying to foster cooperation with Russia. Residents can cross the nearby border quickly with a visa-free permit. Many go to the nearby Russian town of Nikel to buy petrol because it is much cheaper there, and street signs use both the Cyrillic and Latin scripts. "I don't like it that they build up the military on both sides of the border. We don't want rising tensions," said Eirik Wikan, co-owner of the Kimek shipyard in Kirkenes, which gets twothirds of its revenues from repairing Russian vessels. "Here in the north, we work together to reduce tensions ...We are trying not to be part of them." Created in 1987, the shipyard quickly found business with the Soviet Union as it opened up under reformminded leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It is now doing a brisk trade and about a third of the company's 180 employees are Russian, 22 of whom work in the Russian port city of Murmansk. They include Nikolai Chagin, a 48-year-old mechanic from the Russian town of Severodvinsk who has worked for the shipyard in Kirkenes since 2006. "I don't have those problems I used to have in Russia before: I have a good job, a normal salary ... there are only positives," he said. In the early 1990s, after the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union's collapse, building regional cooperation became a foreign policy priority for Norway. About 10 per cent of Kirkenes residents are now from the Kola Peninsula. Kirkenes' Samovar theatre company performs in both Norway and Russia, and has Russian and Norwegians employees. Russian choreographer Nikolai Shchetnev feels at home and is thinking of applying for dual nationality. "Kirkenes is a Russian town in Norway," said Rune Rafaelsen, the mayor of Soer-Varanger municipality which includes Kirkenes. He said he would not welcome more tanks on the border though he saw Norway's NATO membership as "a U.S. marines of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, part of Marine Rotational Force Europe take part in "Reindeer 2", a Norwegian-U.S. military drill, in Setermoen, Norway, October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov Norwegian soldiers stand guard in front of a temporary command centre camp during "Reindeer 2", a Norwegian-U.S. military drill, in Setermoen, Norway, October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov guarantee that I can do my job." Russia denies responsibility for the increase in tensions and blames the presence of U.S. Marines at Norwegian bases, which it sees as a security challenge. But Norway's worries about Moscow's intentions grew after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and then staged Arctic military exercises including maritime manoeuvres with ballistic missile capable vessels present. "These were clear messages from Moscow," said Lieutenant-General Rune Jakobsen, Commander of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters -- the Norwegian Armed Forces operational command centre. "Do not be part of (NATO's) ballistic-missile defence." Despite the tensions, he says Russian forces are behaving less aggressively on the frontier with Norway than in some other border zones between Russia and NATO, such as the Baltic Sea. In efforts to build trust, Jakobsen has in recent weeks had talks with the regional head of Russia's FSB security service in the Kola Peninsula, and met the newly appointed head of the Northern Fleet, Alexander Moiseyev, in Kirkenes. "As a small nation neighbouring a superpower, you have to strike the right balance between deterrence and reassurance," Jakobsen said. But conducting exercises jointly with the U.S. Marines in the field is also important for Norway's armed forces. "Working together is what makes it possible to fight together, if we have to," said Brigadier Lars Lervik, commander of the Brigade North based in Setermoen. Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo A sign reading "Russia 490m" stands next to the checkpoint between Storskog and Borisoglebsk on the Norway-Russia border in Finnmark county, Norway, October 26, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �12 Giving Thanks STREETVOICE N o v 28 2 --NDec o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Nov 12,22019 No. 421 X-Ray This Thanksgiving people all over our country will sit around tables and diners and tailgates and proclaim, “What I am thankful for…” I will also share my heart-filled gratitude for my most amazing adopted family. While helping me through another dangerous journey, they protect and give me my most treasured gifts--the ability to serve and to love. If I did an x-ray on myself what results would I see? Deep down there is a king in me. He is trying real hard to break free, so the devil I command you to flee! Thank you for keeping me human. I daydream constantly about my potential, June Alexander Contributing Writer it’s time to do something with my life that’s beneficial I got to Waited Too Long try to make this world a better place, Have you waited too long? I hope when my time is up God will welcome my face I don’t Waited too long to become humble and strong Feeling all alone need a doctor to exam my thoughts, Has that feeling come and gone? because a war within myself I have always fought with liquor Don’t wait too long and cigarettes, When everything is gone I have been destroying myself so the next time I’m at the Saying to yourself I didn’t give it my all I waited too long! Kim Green Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor store you can stay on the shelf! Jamar Malcom King Contributing Writer Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 12, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 283- |Dec 2019 | No. 421 My Father's House 13 STREETVOICE In my fathers house there are many mansions Many mansions, with many rooms to rest and pray in In good times, in bad times, day, night, sleep or wake times THE IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS' MOTHER GOOSE All the time I spend in my fathers house cause his house is Citizen Mary says "It's scary, mines When I was homeless, a drunkard, a drug addict and all alone I found much comfort and peace just praising in song Watching the hearings on TV. Republicans may yell 'Boring,' When I was hungry, hair nappy, dirty and smelling really And that viewers are snoring, bad But the witnesses are credible I held onto my sanity, when my belief in pray was all I had To me!" As in any house with rules, my father has commandments of ten Even though I would make mistakes, I’d always repent of my sins BILL WOODS Contributing Writer And ask for forgiveness with the understanding to make a change A change for the best so there would be no more fear or pain Taking what each day brings in pray and always believe Having faith to know that my fathers will is best for me While searching for God’s love, wisdom and understanding I come into the realization of just what my heart was demanding I began to go to church to learn more about my father’s house I found peace and my soul was saved I could finally announce I learn that there is a place in my father’s house for everyone The young, the old, the lost and the sick at heart and mind I learned the mistakes I’d made were all of one kind I understand today that we must learn from the mistakes we’ve made And know only by the grace of God can our souls be saved So won’t you come visit in the house of my father Learn the bible and know that with my father there is no other Take your time and search you soul to truly find yourself An understand that in our fathers house is where we’ll be forever safe with plenty of help Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 109 Across 1. Passport endorsement 5. Take notice of 9. Bitter quarrel 13. Golf club 14. Notion 15. Pointer 17. Young male horse 18. Grime 19. Tenet 20. Heavy block where hot metals are shaped 22. Prejudice 24. Notable achievement 25. Cereal grass seed 26. Not in use 28. Pastry item 30. Color 31. Animal coat 32. Travel a route regularly 35. Modernize 38. Charter 39. Regret 40. Narrow secluded valley 41. Part of a journey 42. Scintilla 43. On the sheltered side 44. Something intended to deceive 46. Small storeroom for food 48. High-pitched bark 49. Peculiar 50. Pack of cards 51. Append 52. Conceited 53. Small fruit seed 56. Endure 59. Slender 61. Evade 63. Theatrical performer 65. In addition 67. Region 68. Musical instrument 69. Without speed 70. Approach 71. Sketched 72. Rational 73. Small wooded hollow PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #108 Down 1. Clergyman 2. Satire 3. Figure out 4. Not in favor of 5. Concealed 6. Comestible 7. Spooky 8. Information 9. Craze 10. Wear away 11. Exhort 12. Concave shape 16. Batch 21. Rhythmicity 23. Incite or stimulate 27. Scheduled to arrive 29. Anger 30. Prohibit 31. Mediterranean fruit 32. Poke 33. Stringed instrument 34. Period of time 35. Horrible 36. Supplication 37. Unfathomable 38. Jinx 41. Boy or man 42. Irritate 44. Brick carrier 45. Betting ratio 46. Hawaiian garland 47. Skin condition 50. Sweet dark purple plum 51. Make amends 52. Country house in ancient Rome 53. Food processed in a blender 54. Paragon 55. Sometimes found in an oyster 56. Circuit 57. Turns litmus paper red 58. Celestial body 60. Young girl 62. Bring ashore 64. Angry dispute 66. Be indebted to Nov 2 o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Nov 28- -NDec 12,2 2019 421 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 4- EASY SODOKU PUZZLE NO 3- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 212, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Nov 283 -| Dec | No. 421 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 214 - N o v 19, 18 | N o . 393 Nov - Nov 28,2 02019 | No. 420 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 November 28-December 12, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: DACA Goes to the Supreme Court Pg 3: Life on the Streets Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Future Cool Pg 6: Sanctuary Communities Pg 7: A Microcosm of Hypocrisy Pg 8: Better Door Than a Window Pg 9: Better Door Than a Window Continued Pg 10: Adapting to the Effects of the Climate Crisis Pg 11: On Norway’s Border with Russia, Unease Over Military Build-Up 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 November 28-December 12, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Helen Hill Sebastien Malo Dr. Mark Mussman Jule Lummen Gwladys Fouche Willa Denise Jones June Alexander Kim Greene Kylie Blovits INSP.com Blake Burrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Blake Burrell Cincinnati Climate Change DACA Dr. Mark Mussman Gabriela Godinez Gwladys Fouche Helen Hill INSP.com Jule Lummen June Alexander Kim Green Kylie Blovits Migrants Norway Russia Sebastien Malo Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/befa66a5da07a5cb4dbe96ed158fd24e.pdf a2dcc39eeb738117ace9f061a9b4caa2 PDF Text Text D e c e m b e r 1 2 t h - D e c e m b e r 2 6 t h 2 0 1 9 | Vo l . 2 3 I s s u e 2 4 ( N o . 4 2 2 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. LOOK BACK AT 2019 Article on Page 8 This Issue is sponsored by Cecilia and Tom Kloecker Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION N o v 12 2 - -NDec o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Dec 26,22019 No. 422 From The Editor: Articles Of Impeachment Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief O n Tuesday, December 10, 2019, the house judiciary committee presented two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. The articles called for President Trump to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. The first article states, “Donald J. Trump has abused the power of the presidency,” specifically stating, “ using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States presidential election.” Before the first article comes to a close it goes on to say, “ where for President Trump, by such conduct, has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security and the constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.“ The second article goes on to accuse the president of “obstruction of congress”. It states, “Donald J. Trump has directed the unprecedented, categorical, and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the house of representatives pursuant to its ‘sole power of impeachment.’” The second article continues by saying, “In response, without lawful cars or excuse, President Trump directed executive branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interpose the powers of the presidency against lawful subpoenas of the house of representatives and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to exercise of the “sole power of impeachment” vested by the constitution in the House of Representatives. in response, without lawful cars or excuse, President Trump directed executive branch agencies, offices, and officials not to comply with those subpoenas. President Trump thus interposed the powers of the presidency against lawful subpoenas of the House of Representatives and assumed to himself functions and judgments necessary to the exercise of the ‘sole power of impeachment’ vested by the constitution in the House of Representatives.” The articles end by saying, “ President Trump does warrant impeachment and trial, removal of authors, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. Now President Trump is headed to the third step of impeachment: the house of representatives vote. Hear the house of representatives will vote to impeach the president; if the vote is “yes“ with a simple majority, then the president is officially impeached. However, this does not mean that his term is finished. The last and final step is the Senate trial, where there is a supermajority vote (67% vote yes) needed to convict and remove the president from office. The Senate will act as a jury and listen to evidence and cases presented by those in favor of removal and those defending the president. The Senate has never in the history of the United States voted to remove a sitting president. For historical references, President Andrew Johnson and President Clinton both were impeached by the House of Representatives but were acquitted by the Senate. President Nixon resigned before the Senate could even vote. President Johnson had 11 articles against him, President Nixon had 3, and President Clinton had 4. At the announcement of the articles of impeachment Representative Adam Schiff said, “Despite everything we have uncovered the president’s misconduct continues to this day unapologetically and right now.” The reason that there are only two articles of impeachment against President Trump is because the House Judiciary Committee suggested that these were the only two with enough solid evidence backing them up that it is very difficult to seriously dispute them. At the announcement, Schiff said, “For the members of Congress, this is not a question of facts because the facts are not seriously contested. It is rather a question of duty. The president's oath of office appears to mean very little to him but the articles put forward today will give us a chance to show that we will defend the Constitution and that our oath means something to us.” Representative Gerald Nadler said while announcing the articles of impeachment, “A president who declares himself above accountability, above the American people, and above Congress’s power of impeachment, which is meant to protect against threats to a democratic institution, is a president who sees himself as above the law. We must be clear: no one is above the law.” 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 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Bill Woods, Samira Sadeque, Rina Chandran, Dr. Mark Mussman, Magali Druscovich, Willa Denise Jones, June Alexander, Kim Greene, Kiara Clark ------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, Blake Burrell ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 39 Nov 2 - N o v 19, 2 0 18 Dec 123-|Dec 26, 2019 | No. 422 3 HOMELESSNESS Rent Subsidies, Mental Health Care Tied To Housing Stability For Homeless Reuters staff Reuters M entally ill adults e x p er i enc i ng homelessness may have an easier time finding and keeping stable housing when they receive rent supplements and mental health support services, a Canadian study suggests. Researchers focused on the effectiveness of Housing First, a program in Toronto that’s different from traditional approaches to housing for adults with mental illness that require aid recipients to achieve sobriety and or undergo psychiatric treatment. Housing First provides immediate access to housing and mental health services without any preconditions. All 575 participants in the current study did not have homes and were mentally ill, and some of them also had substance use disorders. Researchers randomly assigned them to receive Housing First services with community treatment or with intensive case management, or to a control group that only received access to more traditional support programs. Over the first year of the study, people assisted by Housing First spent 70-72 per cent of their days in stable housing, whereas people who received traditional support services conditioned on sobriety and psychiatric treatment spent 23-30 per cent of their days in stable housing, the study found. And by the sixth year of the study, people assisted by Housing First spent 86-88 per cent of their days in stable housing, compared with 60-78 per cent of days in stable housing for individuals who received traditional support services. Much of this difference might be due to the higher likelihood of unmet needs among adults experiencing homelessness who received traditional support services instead of immediate assistance through Housing First, lead study author Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and colleagues write in Lancet Psychiatry. “Participants with high support needs in the TAU group maintained persistent low levels of housing stability during the study period, exposing persisting access barriers to appropriate services for this population,” Stergiopoulos and colleagues write. “These findings highlight the unmet needs of homeless adults with mental illness and high support needs, even within a resource rich service delivery context, and the limited effectiveness of usual services in supporting housing stability for this population,” the authors write. The study is the first to suggest that Housing First is associated with lasting increases in the number of days adults experiencing homelessness spend in stable housing, especially for individuals with more severe mental health needs, the study team notes. Housing First wasn’t associated with improvements in quality of life, reductions in the severity of substance abuse problems, or better functioning in the community, the study found. But the program didn’t make any of these outcomes worse, either. It’s also not yet clear what specific aspects of Housing First might have had the most positive impact on the lives of adults experiencing homelessness, or how easily a program like this might be replicated. Even so, the results add to the evidence suggesting that the Housing First program does meet the needs of many adults it serves, Emmy Tiderington of the Rutgers School of Social Work in New Brunswick, New Jersey, writes in an editorial accompanying the study. “This study adds to an extensive body of literature that has already demonstrated the positive effect of Housing First on housing stability over time,” Tiderington writes. “The major contribution of this particular study is the documentation of the effect of the intervention over a six-year period, which is the longest follow-up to date.” Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo A man experiencing homelessness sits on a grate venting warm air in a steady snowfall in Toronto's downtown financial district. REUTERS/Andy Clark THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED NDec o v 212 - N v 19, 18 | N o . 393 - oDec 26,2 02019 | No. 422 �N o. 39 ov 226, - N2019 o v 19,| No. 2 0 18422 Dec 123 -| N Dec 5 U.S NEWS A Tale Of Two Proclamations Jaqueline Keeler and Desiree Kane S Street Roots ince 1990, Native American Heritage Month (or a similar variant) has been acknowledged in presidential proclamations every November and issued every year on the same day: 31 October. But this year is different. Trump did honor the tradition but also declared the month of November ‘National American History and Founders Month’, a celebration of America’s “dedication to promoting liberty and justice.” That proclamation and others signed that day were immediately available for viewing on the White House website, but not the one honoring Native Americans. The White House, five days late, on 5 November, unceremoniously posted a presidential proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month. Trump’s National American History and Founders Month proclamation, given priority posting on the White House website, clearly indicates where his priorities are. It could be just an oversight. Still, given the president’s predilection for petty and public battles, even with celebrities on Twitter, we cannot rule out the possibility it was meant to be a slight against Native citizens. In any event, the fact the proclamation was not posted and not noticed for five days, is evidence yet again of the near-absolute invisibility Native people labor under in terms of recognition. And I would go beyond that to say it is a preemptive move to block the fight for rights (rights to land, rights to safety) on every front that Native people are waging in this country. And no matter what Native American Heritage Month proclamation written by his staff Trump affixes his signature to, it cannot mask his true position vis a vis Indian Country. His legacy will be remembered as one that upholds the suppressive, abusive, colonizer narrative that harms Native people and the sovereignty of Tribal Nations of the United States. The Indigenous nations that the U.S. is People gather at the Oceti Sakowin camp in September 2016 near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. The Oceti Sakowin camp was formed by groups protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. [Credit: Desiree Kane] supposed to employ a nation-to-nation relationship with respectfully. But then, is anyone surprised? This is America, after all. Genuinely honoring National American History and Founders Month would mean dealing severe blows to the story United States citizens are taught about America’s “promotion of liberty and justice.” Let’s not forget the opening salvo of his administration, which included a flurry of executive orders beginning in January 2017 that led to the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline and went on through that year to include an order that reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85%. He then ushered in the opening of previously protected and sacred sites for drilling and mining. These actions reveal his true feelings and, in total, compose his actual proclamation of policy toward Native people. This “oversight” then should be correctly read as part of a continuum of aggression against our respective sovereign Indigenous Nations from a “domestically oppressive” (read colonial) political regime. Yes, we just People participate in one of many community prayer walks up to the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site in 2016. [Credit: Desiree Kane] turned the phrase Chief Justice John Marshall used in 1831 to deny our full sovereignty calling us “domestic dependent nations” on its head. Yet, we should also take heart and see these aggressions as a response by the “leader of the free world” to the undeniable rising power of Indigenous people. Because the reality is: Indigenous power is real. The fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline struck a significant (if not final) blow against the oligarchs who put Trump in power and who keep him there. The movement, if we include the reported successes of the divestment campaign, cost them upwards of $11 billion. Yes, they built their pipeline, and now we must monitor it to protect our water and our future. But united, we brought together a power based on kinship, on our traditions and our cultural understanding of the world, and we lead with our hearts, canté, and it is powerful. He knows it, and we know it. The National American History and Founders Month proclamation reads: “This month, we acknowledge the tremendous strides we have made as a people and recognize that our democracy’s survival is dependent upon a well-informed electorate. To ensure the success of our future generations, we pledge to continue to build a more educated citizenry. We heed the warning of President Ronald Reagan that ‘freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.’” So as California burns, Trump threatens to cut off funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, scribbles proclamations for tired ideas, erasing Native people, and he cannot escape the immovable truth. A new world is rising out of the ashes and the smoke. The camp we held together in the snow at Standing Rock is not gone. They can dismantle it, THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED but it lives on in our hearts. The Oceti Sakowin, the seven campfires of the Lakota/Dakota people, still lights the way for us all in this troubling time. We are committed to creating a world where Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and two-spirit relatives go missing no longer. We are led by Native women in Congress and state legislatures, and are everywhere they said we could not be. So as Native women, men, two-spirits, children and elders take on the energy companies, their man camps, prevent the mining of our homelands for their profit, we are opposed by Trump, who invests in these schemes against us. We have taken them on and won. And we will win again, presidential proclamations or not. This is an undeniably true fact in a time of Trump’s rampant fake-newsmaking. So, even if the man in office slights us and tries to turn our victories against depredations into oil and uranium dust, ultimately, we know he recognizes us. We also know he cannot reconcile our collective power based not in colonial takings but in Indigenous concepts of kinship to one another and the land, our Mother. “We ARE power,” as the Dakota poet and leader John Trudell said. We are pollen. We are all the things he and the global 1% can never be: Indigenous, connected to this land, and the true children of our mother, this land, this world. Jaqueline Keeler is a Diné/ Ihanktonwan writer and the executive editor of Pollen Nation, a Native-led and edited magazine dedicated to issues affecting Indigenous people. Before being published in Street Roots, this article was originally published in Pollen Nation. Read more at pollennationmagazine.com Courtesy of Street Roots / INSP.ngo �LOCAL 6 NDec o v 212 - N v 19, 2 02019 18 | N o . 393 - oDec 26, | No. 422 Local Government vs. Federal Priorities Bill Woods ContributingWriter A s 2019 winds down, at least one must priority comes to mind for activists seeking to make a difference in 2020. Groups such as the Homeless Coalition and Affordable Housing Advocates (AHA) need to convince the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to start funding critical services and programs that they previously relied on the federal government to pay for. Local government's failure to respond to decades of federal budget cuts have led to crises such as the 40,000 affordable housing unit shortage in Greater Cincinnati. One problem exists in making the case for local action. The federal cutbacks didn't happen overnight. They have added up over a forty year period. This fact alone makes the story less dramatic, but what has evolved is every bit as devastating for those impacted by the cuts. The loss of federal money for a range of diverse programs began in the Carter Administration in the late 1970s, and the cuts intensified in the Reagan years. In 1978, approximately twentyfive cents of every City of Cincinnati budget dollar can be traced to federal funding. Slowly but surely funding for everything from health services to employment programs began to dry up in this period, and this trend has continued until today. Homelessness as a major urban problem did not emerge until the mid1980s when the initial cuts in various housing programs and other services for low-income families and individuals took effect. When Applied Information released Its study of homelessness in Greater Cincinnati in 1987, it reported that housing related issues ranked first as the cause of homelessness among families. It also acknowledged the local loss of federal dollars for federal housing programs as a factor. By the time AIR researched its second homeless report in 1993, it included a section on the lack of affordable housing as a major reason for the further growth of homelessness in Cincinnati. "There are numerous factors involved in the housing crisis confronting the homeless," reads the report, "but most of these factors relate to the clients lack of income and the absence of affordable units." The report cited that federal funding for publicly assisted housing programs shrank from $30-billion in 1981 to $8-billion in 1987. It noted that in Cincinnati alone, less than 30-percent of the households that qualified for some form of federal housing assistance received it. With some ups and downs over the years, federal cuts in affordable housing program and other safety net services have continued to this day. Although even activists have become somewhat numb due to the evolutionary nature of this trend, it is not surprising that poverty and homelessness have increased rather than lessened and that Cincinnati and Hamilton County have a 40,000 unit affordable housing deficit. Local officials must absorb these facts in order to convince them that they must assume some responsibility for this crisis. Cincinnati like most cities across the country has used a variety of policies such as tax abatements to lure business and to promote development. This approach that also dates back to the 1980s has succeeded to a large degree in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Dallas. Recent research shows that these cities have secured a lot of high paying businesses and upper-income residential development. The flip side of this picture, however, is that the highest degree of income inequality now exists in these cities. Low-income residents have failed to benefit from this wealthy urban development. In fact, they are usually the losers who are displaced from gentrifying neighborhoods. Over-the-Rhine and downtown Cincinnati are examples of this development trend. While gentrification has gone forward in housing and business in OTR, thousands of affordable housing units have disappeared from the area. Downtown is currently going through a burst of condo development, but it is all aimed at affluent clients. Very few apartments still exist for the working poor. Thus, city governments such as Cincinnati's have long catered to this high-end development, while they primarily denied any responsibility for their low-income citizenry. The parallel trend of the federal government's retreat from supporting and funding services for people in need of assistance have created the perfect storm for local income inequality and a hand to mouth existence for a large percentage of urban populations. These facts must be part of their argument when activists state their case that Cincinnati and Hamilton County Governments assume greater responsibility for the current crises brought about by these trends. It will not be an easy struggle in this era where politicians fear that voters will oppose any tax increase. It may require a grassroots campaign that ends up as a tax levy on the ballot in order to wake up the general public and elected officials to the necessity of adequately responding to long neglected problems. Region’s Largest Universities Join Cincinnati 2030 District Elizabeth Rojas. Green Umbrella G reater Cincinnati’s three largest universities – University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and Northern Kentucky University – have officially joined the Cincinnati 2030 District as regional members. The collective commitment of the universities – 152 buildings with approximately 17.1 million square feet – increases the District’s total footprint to over 24 million square feet across the region. “These institutions symbolize the benefits of setting goals that help achieve higher levels of innovation,” says Elizabeth Rojas, new 2030 District Director, “The relationship between our universities and the 2030 District is mutually reinforcing: ensuring our largest institutions continue to uphold their role in the community as they simultaneously foster our future innovators.” By joining the District, each university commits to the 2030 member goals of 50% reductions in energy and water consumption and transportation emissions. For all three universities, the commitment is part of larger long-term sustainability efforts. “Joining the 2030 District shows NKU’s support for sustainability and that we are dedicated to our commitment to being carbon neutral by 2050,” says Tiffany Budd, NKU’s Sustainability Operations Coordinator. “Being a member of the District will provide NKU with external partnerships and resources that will allow us to more readily advance our sustainability goals while in turn contributing back to the group with our own resources.” Beyond working with each university’s building portfolios, the 2030 District will gain valuable access to a robust research base for collaboration across district members and partners. “The 2030 District is THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED a flexible, long-term framework for addressing the environmental impact of the built environment in our �N o. 39 3 |- N ov 2 26, - No v 19,| 2 0 18422 Dec 12 Dec 2019 No. community,” says Dr. Amanda Webb, Assistant Professor at UC’s Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering & Construction Management whose research informed the District’s initial phase focused on benchmarking LOCAL energy and water consumption data in downtown Cincinnati’s commercial buildings. All three institutions agree that the greatest opportunity of membership is the educational engagement opportunities for students. “It is a particularly important statement to our students and the greater Cincinnati community that all three major institutions of higher education have joined the District initiative,” says Dr. James Buchanan, XU Professor and Executive Director of The Brueggeman Center for Dialogue. In its inaugural year, the Cincinnati 2030 District has accepted twentysix members including developers, commercial building owners and tenants working to advance the bold sustainability goals of the 2030 Network. There are also opportunities to become 7 financial sponsors and professional and community partners. “We have a variety of professional partners who provide a wide range of expertise,” says Rojas. “They work collectively across the community, demonstrating why Greater Cincinnati is a destination where talented professionals and innovative businesses can thrive.” To learn more about becoming part of the solution to decrease our region’s carbon emissions and secure a sustainable future for all our community members, visit 2030districts.org/ cincinnati or email Elizabeth Rojas. Ayanna Pressley on Ending Homelessness Adam Sennott ContributingWriter A yanna Pressley remembers running for reelection to the Boston City Council in 2011, when a constituent asked her what she was going to do about the homeless people who were sleeping on park benches. “They used some other term that was very derogatory,” Pressley recounted in a recent interview with Real Change News. “They said, ‘what is your plan to make our parks safe?’” Pressley responded that her plan was “to end homelessness.” Now a U.S. congresswoman, Pressley said she has a plan that will not only help accomplish that, but will also transform the criminal justice and legal system, which she said perpetuates homelessness. On Nov. 14, Pressley unveiled a resolution titled “The People’s Justice Guarantee,” which “lays out a bold, new vision for justice in the American criminal legal system,” according to a press release issued by her office. The plan’s priorities include eliminating life sentences without parole, abolishing the death penalty, private prisons and solitary confinement, and decriminalizing sex work and other low-level offenses, “which are byproducts of poverty, homelessness, discrimination and/or addiction,” according to the release. The plan is based on five principles: shared power, freedom, equality, safety and dignity. Pressley said the status quo of the current criminal legal system is “fundamentally flawed” and that a new vision is needed. “It is xenophobic and racist, and just tinkering at the edges with legislative reforms is not going to be enough,” Pressley said. “We need to do something bold and transformative.” She said that by prioritizing decarceration, it is possible to cut the prison population by 80 percent or more. To accomplish this goal, Pressley said we need to stop punishing poor people for being poor. “In order to reduce our incarcerated population by the 80 percent plus that we believe is possible, it means that we need to decriminalize poverty, and that means decriminalizing those that are experiencing homelessness,” Pressley said. “That means decriminalizing fareevasion,” she said. “There are so many people experiencing homelessness who do evade fares [on] public transit just to get to [a] shelter before curfew, or to try to be gainfully employed,” Pressley said. “And they just don’t have the money, and they should not be arrested and experience punitive consequences simply for trying to get on a better path.” Another key aspect to her plan, Pressley said, is access to housing. “The People’s Justice Guarantee will invest $1 trillion in the modernization and expansion of social housing stock throughout the country,” Pressley said. “It guarantees housing for survivors of crime and, again, it decriminalizes homelessness, which we know eliminates reinceration for individuals who failed to secure housing.” And many who are released from prison currently do fail to secure housing, Pressley said. “In Massachusetts, I think at one point, 30 percent of those being released from correctional facilities were being released directly to shelter,” Pressley said. “That is not a recipe to support formerly incarcerated men and women in getting on a pathway to gainful employment [and] self-sufficiency. “In fact, housing is such a critical determinant ... that when people don’t have that, we know that it contributes to recidivism,” Pressley said. “So it is really disingenuous to say, ‘OK, now you’ve received maybe some training behind the wall ...’ and then to say, ‘now go into the world and make a legitimate contribution and make your best contribution’ when people are experiencing housing discrimination, employment discrimination and, again many are being released directly to shelter.” Too often, people will see those experiencing homelessness as the other and will marginalize them instead of seeing them as members of the community, Pressley said. “I think that often because most people are disconnected from their own reality, which is that many people are a life disruption away from experiencing homelessness,” Pressley said. “They are one government shutdown away, one illness, one layoff, one defaulted student loan away from experiencing homelessness.” As a child growing up in Chicago, she experienced firsthand the impact incarceration can have on families, as her father, who battled substance abuse THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED disorder, was often incarcerated. Pressley spoke about her father’s struggle during a congressional hearing earlier this year. She said that while her father was incarcerated and in the throes of addiction, “our entire family was serving with him.” “My father was in and out of the criminal justice system because of crimes he committed while battling a substance abuse disorder. I know intimately the destabilization, the stigma, the social shame and isolation of having a loved one who is incarcerated,” she said. Her father was later able to “do incredible things,” Pressley said, including obtaining two advanced degrees, becoming a college journalism professor and a published author. “I’m very proud of him,” Pressley said. When asked about her experience growing up, Pressley said that her story “is one of millions.” “I think my job as a legislator is not just to take up space, but it’s to create space,” Pressley said. “That’s something that we put into practice in the developing of every legislation that we have offered, which is to create space and to bring a seat to the table for those who are closest to the hurt and the pain who have been directly impacted. “And we know by staying acutely uncomfortable and listening to those stories, it ensures that we never grow complacent in the work,” Pressley said. “But it’s also by being in the proximity to the hurt and by actively listening and leaning in where we find the best solutions.” �FEATURED 8 N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Dec 12- -NDec 26,2 02019 422 Look Back At 2019 Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer A t the end of every calendar year, we like to look back at the year and see what we’ve accomplished. In the Education Program, we have developed a training module around homelessness that has been successful in different settings. The training includes people experiencing homelessness, and gives the audience an opportunity to ask questions and reflect on their own experiences. It also provides a thorough background and history of homelessness in America. In addition to the training we provided this year, we also had success in our Speaker’s Bureau, Walking Tours, Streetvibes Shadow, and Alternative Breaks. Reflecting on our program gives us power to make changes to enhance the program for 2020. Winter 2019 We continued our Speakers’ Bureau engagements this winter, speaking to small and large groups alike. We had the honor of speaking at the Terrace Park Women’s Club, a group of women who care deeply about their community and helping their neighbors in need. They help to run a program in nearby Batavia, making sure the residents of a local housing community are stably housed. We shared the floor with our member organization, the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Anderson, who is exploring becoming part of IHN. This was a powerful discussion because IHN was able to provide details, while our speaker was able to provide a first-hand account of staying in shelters, and the care that is needed. We also spoke with students through the Tau House and St. Vincent de Paul. Our speakers made an impact on students at Loveland, Gamble Montessori, Deer Park, Mercy McAuley, and Roger Bacon High Schools. Our speakers hope to instill empathy into the listener, but also a realism that helps people to understand that policy change is needed to end homelessness. This was especially true at the Urban League, where we spoke with a group of Black entrepreneurs, who struggled with their understanding of what homelessness actually means, and how their experience with homelessness affects their worldview. It was a positive event for the speaker, Melissa, as the entrepreneurs reached out to support her beyond the speaking engagement. Melissa remains in contact with members of the group even today. Our Alternative Break program, the Cincinnati Urban Experience (CUE), was in full swing this March as we hosted Central Michigan University and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) for the first time. We also hosted the University of Vermont, who has participated in CUE in years past. Each of the trips went smoothly Melissa at Ursuline Shantytown and gave the participants a new view into homelessness, poverty, hunger, gentrification, and displacement. The amount of learning participants receive over the week can’t really be summarized here. We are fortunate to work so closely with our member organizations who make the experience so fulfilling. CUE participants interact and learn from the Interfaith Workers’ Center, Peaslee Neighborhood Center, the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, Over-the-Rhine Community Housing, St. Joseph St. Francis Catholic Worker House, St. Francis Seraph Ministries, and Streetvibes. They hear Willa takes a silly picture with Bishop Fenwick after her Talk THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED from community speakers, such as Over-the-Rhine Community Council Board members, and leaders from Mass Action for Black Liberation. They complete each of our educational programs, from the walking tours, to Streetvibes’ Shadow, and our Speakers’ Bureau. They attended a City Council meeting, many for the first time. They experience Lunch on Food Stamps at Findlay Market, where they develop strategies to deal with situations of need. One participant summed up their experience: “I deeply admire all of the work you’ve done for Cincinnati and how much effort you put into making this week amazing for us. I really feel like I got to know the city, homelessness, and gentrification, on a personal level. Thanks.” Spring 2020 We started off the season with a set of tours for a national Rabbi Conference being hosted in Cincinnati. It was a great opportunity for people who had been away from Cincinnati, or who had never been here, to get acquainted with the area. It was a powerful group of individuals who understood the complex nature of gentrification and the pain and suffering that the neighborhood has experienced over the years. We also did tours for Aiken High School, Dayton’s middle school Clubhouse program, Camp Ernst counselors and staff, Over-the-Rhine Community Church, and University of Cincinnati Medical students. Our Speakers’ Bureau had the opportunity to speak to the entire DePaul Christo Rey student body at an end-of-the-year assembly. Hundreds of students listened intently to Willa Jones as she told her story using her book of poetry. Dozens of students surrounded Willa to give her hugs and �9 FEATURED No. 39 Nov 226, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Dec 123 -| Dec | No. 422 Sam Speaks to St. Barnabas Summer Program thanks her for telling her story. We then spoke with a smaller classroom about gentrification specifically, and students expressed their concerns about being displaced from the West End and Overthe-Rhine. We spoke about historical and contemporary issues that lead and sustain homelessness. One student passed along her grandparents’ names so that our Advocacy Team could look into their property. Our speakers, Deedee, Cleo, Willa, and Melissa also spoke with groups from: All Saints 1st Grade, McNicholas, Aiken, and Moeller High Schools, First Unitarian Church, Ameri*corps West End, local students from the St. Vincent dePaul summer program, and non-local groups at the Tau House. Summer 2020 Our relationship with the Tau House remained strong as we spoke with groups from various locations and backgrounds. At the Tau House, our speakers engaged with groups from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Washington State, as well as groups from Centerville, Grove City, Mason, and Cincinnati, Ohio. In general, the groups at the Tau House show compassion and are starting to understand the underlying causes of homelessness. Over the course of a week, we worked closely with St. Barnabas in Montgomery, bolstering their summer youth camp. We went to the Church to speak with the youth as an introduction to the week on Monday, then on Tuesday we took them on a Over-theRhine People’s Movement walking tour to help them gain historical perspective and see what is currently happening in Over-the-Rhine. The next day, Wednesday, they participated in a Streetvibes Shadow with Lee McCoy which proved to be eye-opening as many of them have had interactions with people panhandling, but didn’t know how to respond. Finally, on Thursday we went back to the Church Dayton Clubhouse after Walking Tour THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED with another speaker and wrapped up the week. The participants remarked that they have seen things with a new perspective, with hopefulness. Our Autumn program has included the Xavier University Alternative Break Program, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. We also supported several schools who participated in Shantytown. It has been a productive and rewarding year so far. If you are interested in hearing from one of our speakers, or participating in our education program, please sign up at cincihomeless.org/education/ Training at Central Clinic �10 GLOBAL N ov 2 o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Dec 12- -NDec 26,2 02019 422 The Story Behind The Gambia’s Lawsuit Against Myanmar Over The Rohingya Genocide Samira Sadeque Inter Press Service O n 11 November, the Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice for the southeast Asian country’s atrocities against the Rohingya population. Over the past years, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh for refuge, sparking one of the more dire refugee crises of the decade. They continue to remain in camps in Bangladesh, where they are vulnerable to human trafficking and other forms of violence. Even though the crisis has been ongoing for decades, it’s a crucial time for the lawsuit to be filed, advocates say. And the Rohingya people’s continuing refusal to go back is only testament to the lack of security for them in Myanmar. “No one has been held accountable,” said Akila Radhakrishnan, President of Global Justice Center (GJC). “It’s the same forces [that] remain in Rakhine state, they remain kind of [as a] part of the military with no punishment. There’s no feeling that there’s safety and security to go back to Myanmar.” Radhakrishnan pointed out that even though the lawsuit may be “far away” from when the crisis began, the continued fear of Rohingyas to return to their home shows how deeply the crisis persists. “I think there’s a recognition of the impossibility of the return of the Rohingya, a solution to the humanitarian crisis,” she said, adding that the lawsuit will push for the Myanmar government to take actions that focus on changing the laws and policies that enabled the genocide. The lawsuit by the Gambia is supported in large part by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is being led by Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Gambia Abubacarr M Tambadou, who decided to pursue actions after a recent visit to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, a region where about 900,000 Rohingya refugees are living in camps in that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has termed the world’s biggest refugee camp. Tambadou, who also worked to bring justice for the case of the Rwandan genocide, immediately recognised a similar pattern and was moved to take action, he said during an event held during U.N. General Assembly in September. One of the key things being asked in the lawsuit is the request for provisional measures that would require the Myanmar government, on a basis of “extreme urgency”, to set a hearing date for Myanmar government to “restrain certain conduct” by Myanmar that’s enabling the genocide, Paul Reichler, head of Foley Hoag, the law firm leading the lawsuit, explained. “When you file a suit, you want to make sure the very object of the suit is not destroyed while the case is pending in court,” he explained. “The Gambia will be asking the court to order Myanmar to cease all acts of genocide against the Rohingya.” But a challenge remains here: how can Myanmar stop actions they don’t acknowledge as genocide denial? “The court may wish to define what kind of acts should be stopped so the order makes clear what Myanmar is prohibited from doing,” Reichler said. “[The] main thing we’re asking for is final judgment…in the interim to prevent further irreparable harm.” In case Myanmar does not comply with the requirements of the lawsuit, Reichler says the court can take further actions or the international community “can react with political measures”. Within a few days of the lawsuit being filed by the Gambia, a lawsuit was filed by Argentina against leaders in Myanmar, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the first Nobel peace laureate to face such legal charges. Suu Kyi, however, has not budged from her position. She continues to justify the torture of Rohingyas while branding them as “terrorists” owing to a 2017 attack that sparked the most recent exodus. In the aftermath of the lawsuit, her government has set up a legal unit while she aims to lead the country’s defence at the ICJ, with a hearing expected on 10 December. “Aung San Suu Kyi and the civilian government failed to act against genocide in Rakhine State with any level of urgency and have taken no steps to hold the military to account,” Radhakrishnan said in a statement for Suu Kyi’s announcement. “Now, they are going to defend the military and government’s genocidal actions on one of the world’s largest and most influential stages. The international community should no longer have illusions where Suu Kyi and the civilian government stand and must act to support the Gambia and take other measures to hold Myanmar accountable.” Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo Rohingya after they fled Myanmar in 2017 arrive at Shahparir Dip in Teknaf, Bangladesh. On Nov. 11, the Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmar in the International Court of Justice for the southeast asian country’s atrocities against the Rohingya population. Credit: IPS THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 226, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Dec 123 -| Dec | No. 422 11 GLOBAL Afghan Women Brave Rockets For Rights I Rina Chandran Reuters n the decade since launching a radio station in northern Afghanistan, Sediqa Sherzai has braved mines and rocket attacks as the Taliban seeks to silence her. But she has kept going. Fawzia Koofi, the country's first female deputy of the lower house of parliament, has survived assassination and kidnap attempts. Last year, she was banned from running for re-election so she set up her own party. Women have made huge strides in the conservative country since a ban during Taliban rule of 1996 to 2001 from school, work, politics and going outside without a male relative. While growing numbers of women now complete education and work in previously male bastions, they continue to face harassment and hurdles, human rights activists say. "Women are half the population, and should have the same rights and opportunities as men in this country," said Sheila Qayumi, a programme coordinator at Equality for Peace and Democracy, which advocates for more women in politics. "But women are still denied education, forced to marry young, kept from working, and treated no better than animals in the provinces," she said. Four decades of war, from occupation to internal fighting, have destroyed the economy, rendering it among the poorest in the world, with few jobs for a mostly young population. Women occupy a particularly precarious place, as they face cultural barriers and hostility - not just from conservative family members, but also hardline Islamist groups - for pursuing financial independence and greater equality, Qayumi said. Open minds Nearly half of Afghan women would rather leave their wartorn country permanently if they could, citing poverty and limited opportunities, according to a Gallup poll in September. On her radio broadcasts in Kunduz, Sherzai discusses issues from education to independence, domestic violence, inheritance rights and women's right to vote - and stand for elections. Most women are not aware of their rights, or are too scared to exercise them, said Sherzai, whose staff are mostly women. "My goal is to educate women on their rights, and open their minds," she said, speaking through a translator. "I want to convince families to let their daughters study, to not marry them off young, and to respect their choices." Funding for the station is uncertain, and her family fears for her safety, but she has never thought about quitting, she said, even when she had to broadcast from home after the station was attacked and her equipment stolen. "My dream is that Afghan women can be safe and free to do what they wish to do, without men stopping them," Sherzai said in an interview on a visit to the capital. She asked that her picture not be taken for safety reasons. Across the country, efforts are underway to make public spaces safer and more open to women. While Afghan women lag on many measures, a quota that reserves 68 of 250 seats in the lower house of parliament gives them a higher representation than the global average of 24%. The quota makes it easier for women to enter politics, but they lack money and run greater security risks, said Koofi. "Being a female politician is hard everywhere - we are scrutinised for our looks and our clothing, and we are not taken seriously," she said in an interview in her office. "In Afghanistan, men don't accept An Afghan woman carries flowers as she celebrates Valentine's Day in Kabul, Afghanistan February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED women in the public sphere, and our views are not respected even in parliament." Mayor, de-miners An international aid effort that arrived with foreign forces in 2001 prioritised girls' education and women's empowerment. From a female de-mining team in Bamiyan province to street singers in Kabul, women have since won more independence. But there are fears that a final withdrawal of U.S. troops, the winding down of international engagement and the re-emergence of the Taliban may reverse gains. Turnout of women voters in September's presidential election was low amid security threats and concerns over facial recognition technology. In the provinces, the challenges are still greater. Zarifa Ghafari, 26, mayor of Maidan Shahr in restive Wardak province, has said she expects to be assassinated. She was recently named on BBC's list of 100 women of 2019. Khadija Ahmadi is the only other female mayor in the country, in the city of Nili in the remote Daykundi province. It has taken her a while to assert authority locally and to get federal authorities in Kabul to allocate resources. "The men would not listen to me at first. Many have come around after they realised I am persistent and can get the work done," she said. Yet women are constantly thwarted. Last year, Koofi was one of several members of parliament disqualified from contesting the elections for allegedly running private armed militias and possessing illegal weapons - charges she denied and challenged. Koofi recently set up a political party, Movement of Change for Afghanistan, becoming the first Afghan woman to do so. The 44-year-old also took part in so-called intra-Afghan talks aimed at bringing together Taliban representatives and other Afghans to find a way to end the war. Women were also included for the first time in the Taliban delegation at the peace talks, as the militant group projects a more moderate image. "Women have been the worst victims of the war, so we must have a say in the future of this country," Koofi said. "It's not enough to just fill a quota; we have to bring women to the forefront of politics, to leadership positions, and be a part of national decision making," she said. Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo �12 I Am STREETVOICE N o v 12 2 --N o v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 Dec Dec 26,22019 No. 422 Too Comfortable Have you ever had days where everything seems to be alright I am alive and hopeful I wonder if Cincinnati has turned into an alcoholic city Have you ever had days where your last problem seemed our of sight Have you ever had days where you thought you were at your I hear hope and fear very best I see good and bad And in that same day you felt a wet mop slap you back into a I want to keep improving my health mess Those are the days that I be mindful of everyday and all of I am alive and full of hope the time I’ve learned that with the good days I must not forget the bad I pretend to sometimes not be disgusted with our city days they’re all mine! For me I believe that the luxury of living and being able to I feel hopeful make a conscience choice I touch a person To know right from wrong, to make decisions and to take I worry about the economy heed to God’s voice Keeps me in tune to the understanding that living life can be I cry for the world very good I am hopeful And in past experiences I’ve been blessed so I try to live life as I should I understand the coalition is headed in the right direction I’ve come into the understanding of what living life should be all about I’ve learned to believe in miracles, believe in blessings and and Advocating justice God’s love no doubt! Just take the time to think about these words while you’re I say don't give up hope looking for that lucky day I dream of a place Consider these words that the good and bad days are what I hope God stays merciful with us I am alive and full of life Kim Green Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor you make them Just remember that I pray!!!! Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 26, 2- N o v 19, 2 0 18 Dec 123- |Dec 2019 | No. 422 STREETVOICE Declaration of Independence How can you know my mind, my heart or my soul? You do not even acknowledge your very presense causes a toll. How can you say you can sympathize and understand? You have not even helped during the times I have asked for your hand. How do you see yourself in the mirror today I wonder? THE YULETIDE SEASON 2019 We just survived Thanksgiving, And now great merciful heaven, All the banal Christmas songs Come at us twenty-four-seven. Meanwhile multiple candidates Continue to orate on the stump, That they possess the chutzpah To defeat The Donald Trump. We best get on with Christmas, Shopping till we drop at a mall, And telling everyone we meet: "Glad tidings to us all!" Now that you have allowed your life to go asunder. Know this much about me today as I look upon myself. No longer will my needs or desires be put upon hold nor a BILL WOODS Contributing Writer shelf. Know it is not a broken shell I see in the mirror today. It is a stronger, fused sould that has learned to pray! Know there are moments of extreme doubt and feelings of being forsaken; Yet if you believe my foundation is broken then you are sadly mistaken! Know these last several years of torment and pain. They have not accomplished your desire to drive me insane. Know I have absorbed every single ounce of the devastation and pain. Know I am no longer going to feed you my tears from the strain. Today I reclaim my life for my benefit and my dreams. Hopefully, you will understand I will defend this by any means! Carolyn Cupp Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 13 �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 109 Across 1. Exchange 5. Curved masonary structure 9. Hold firmly 14. Present location 15. Commercial transaction 16. Artery 17. Fury 18. Leg joint 19. Promise solemnly 20. Start abruptly 22. Sodium chloride 24. Challenge 25. Staining substance 26. Heavy metallic element 28. Beam 30. Oval fruit 31. Snakelike fish 32. Consumed 35. Thoroughfare 38. Run away quickly 39. At this time 40. Support 41. Subdued 42. Shrivelled 43. Lubricant 44. At any time 46. Brief period of precipitation 48. Digit 49. Line 50. Water hen 51. Floor covering 52. Exchange goods for money 53. A quick short straight punch 56. Not in favor of 59. Malevolent 61. Musical composition 63. Tied 65. Shaft 67. Public violence 68. Boredom 69. Male red deer 70. Unit of area 71. Taunt 72. Novice 73. Rind Down 1. Small piece of cloth or paper PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #108 2. Fatigued 3. Debate 4. A secret look 5. Request 6. Payment for the release of someone 7. Remove unwanted substances from 8. Part of a shoe 9. Fuel 10. Raucous 11. Length by width 12. Principal actor 13. Trim 21. Roofing material 23. Large woody plant 27. Furrow 29. Beer 30. Liveliness and energy 31. Tree 32. Afresh 33. Ripped 34. Pitcher 35. Blemish 36. Group of three 37. Theatrical part 38. Conifer 41. Condensation 42. Chronic drinker 44. Historic period 45. Referendum 46. Ancient Roman god 47. Cavity 50. Storage space where wines are stored 51. Arithmetic operation 52. Value of Roman numerals LX 53. Liquid extracted from fruit or vegetables 54. Worship 55. Asian pepper plant 56. Assist in wrongdoing 57. Not any 58. Large marine food and game fish 60. Immense 62. Snare 64. Perish 66. Self N ov 2 o v 19, 0 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Dec 12- -NDec 26,22019 422 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 5- EASY SODOKU PUZZLE NO 4- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 39 Nov 226, - N2019 o v 19, 2 0 18 Dec 123-| Dec | No. 422 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 212 - N o v 19, 18 | |NNo. o . 393 Dec - Dec 26,2 02019 422 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 December 12-December 26, 2019 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: Articles of Impeachment Pg 3: Rent Subsidies, Mental Health Care Tied to Housing Stability for Homeless Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: A Tale of Two Proclamations Pg 6: Local Government vs. Federal Priorities Region’s Largest Universities Join Cincinnati 2030 District Pg 7: Ayanna Pressley on Ending Homelessness Pg 8: Look Back at 2019 Pg 9: Look Back at 2019 Continued Pg 10: The Story Behind the Gambia’s Lawsuit Against Myanmar Over the Rohingya Genocide Pg 11: Afghan Women Brave Rockets for Rights 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 December 12-December 26, 2019 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Bill Woods Samira Sadeque Rina Chandran Dr. Mark Mussman Magali Druscovich Willa Denise Jones June Alexander Kim Greene Kiara Clark INSP.com Blake Burrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Afghanistan Ayanna Pressley Bill Woods Blake Burrell Dr. Mark Mussman Gabriela Godinez Genocide Impeachment INSP.com June Alexander Kiara Clark Kim Greene Magali Druscovich mental health Myanmar Rina Chandran Rohingya Samira Sadeque University of Cincinnati Willa Denise Jones Women Rights https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/be8372b849f38b87c540dd324456a6d6.pdf ca2e09dd658ab411d4d2c302da65d6ad PDF Text Text D e c e m b e r 2 6 t h - J a n ua r y 9 t h 2 0 2 0 | Vo l . 2 4 I s s u e 1 ( N o . 4 2 3 ) advo cating justice | building communit y Any opinions in this issue are of the authors and don't necessarily represent Streetvibes or The Homeless Coalition. Impeachment Coverage on Pages 2 & 6 This Issue is sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.com Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 12 �2 COALITION NDec o v 226 - N v 19, 2 0 18 || No. N o . 423 393 - oJan 9, 2020 From The Editor: When the Truth Doesn’t Matter Gabriela Godinez Editor-in-chief P resident Donald Trump is officially the 3rd President of the United States to be impeached. While this doesn’t come as a surprise for those in the U.S. who don’t like Trump, it looks like a witch-hunt for his supporters. Many of his supporters refuse to believe he committed any corruption-based crime. This might be because of their blind loyalty to their political party, or because of the bias media they consume. The Republican Party is very good at reaching their voter base through their preferred sensationalized media to spread misinformation, and when they engage with mainstream media, journalists can’t always keep up with all the lies being spread to fact check all of them in time for every consumer to hear it. This perfect storm then creates a different conflicting narrative that makes the truth sound like a lie. It doesn’t matter what the details and facts are, because the Republican Party is united today in their stance that the President did nothing wrong, and they are eager to show their loyalty to their party. In 1999, during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Representative Lindsey Graham said, “you don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this constitutional republic…impeachment is about cleansing the office.” This is the same Lindsey Graham that said that he would do everything in his power to make the impeachment process “die quickly” when it came to Donald Trump. This is just one example of how our leaders are working through partisanship rather than to protect the role of president and our democracy. This might be frustrating, but it is not surprising. This should be incredibly troubling to the American people and we need to learn from this and act now, though we seem to be exhausted by the current presidential term. Our leaders are blatant liars, in all branches, and while the focus today is on republicans we should still be paying attention to democrats. This is what we get for being a majority dual party country, instead of thinking of them as “the most fatal disease” as Alexander Hamilton once called them. Is there a remedy for such bias in our leadership? Probably, but it would have to start with the people. We have to hold our leaders to a higher standard than simply choosing the lesser of two evils when voting. We cannot be blindly partisan as our leaders currently are, and we cannot allow ourselves to just roll our eyes at lies. We should not be voting for habitual liars simply because they fit into the party we identify with. No one should have a party be part of their identity; American should be their identity. Unfortunately that is not the reality we live in. We are a painfully divided country and it seems like it is only going to get worse before it might get better. The American people have a very intense distrust of mainstream media, which causes us to end up looking for facts and figures in other places that aren’t trust worthy. Yellow journalism is a term for American press that shows minimal research and instead uses sensationalism and exaggeration to increase profit. This term can be used today almost equally with Fake News, though it has less of a modern political connotation. We need to reject journalism that is being used primarily for driving up revenue, and support independent and well-researched media. It is not reasonable to expect that all Americans will be able to put in the time and effort to read the reports that come directly from the government. Therefore we need to support journalists who do their job well for the sake of the truth not for the sake of a paycheck. We are getting to a place in our nation where we dangerously don’t care about facts. We are beginning to live on very different planes of reality, depending on what we believe to be true. What matters now is not if Trump gets removed from office, because he won’t. Mitch McConnell made it clear when he said that he would be working closely with the White House on this matter. What matters is how we educate ourselves, that we hold our leaders accountable to tell the truth, and how we vote. The founding fathers were afraid of a corrupt president and put in place the impeachment process, but they couldn’t have guessed it would come at a time where facts didn’t matter to the party in power. 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 www.cincistreetvibe.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor-in-chief: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Volunteer Editors: Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey Distributor Program Manager: Sallie Mascus Layout: Gabriela Godinez Feregrino Reception: Bonita Batton, Larry Johnson Maintenance: Pete Roper ------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Gabriela Godinez, Jonathan, Emily Green, Bill Woods, Amanda Baker, Casey Miller, Sarah Shearman, Eloisa Lopez, Dr. Mark Mussman, Willa Denise Jones, June Alexander, Kim Greene, ------------------------------------------- Impeached March 3, 1867 S Impeached Dec. 19, 1998 Impeached Dec. 18, 2019 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 Photography/ Artwork: Gabriela Godinez, INSP.com, Blake Burrell ---------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition do not endorse candidates for public office. �N o. 39 3 |- N ov 2 N o v 19, 2 0423 18 Dec 26 Jan 9,- 2020 | No. 3 HOMELESSNESS Criminalization Hitting The Fan At National Level Under Trump Appointment Of Robert Marbut To Usiach Jonathan W.R.A.P. T he president threats are becoming a reality, the new head of the USICH Robert Marbut (News Article Link: How A Traveling Consultant Helps America Hide The Homeless). “We don’t use the term shelter,” Marbut says. “We use the term transformational campus.” Marbut does not believe in Housing First but instead believes all individuals experiencing homeless have to be “fixed” before they deserve housing. The “Velvet Hammer, approach” Marbut offers the same basic advice to most cities: Cut the goodies and build a shelter like jails facilities. Pending final approval at a U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness meeting on December 10, Robert Marbut has been appointed Executive Director of the USICH. Before receiving this appointment, Marbut worked as a Texas-based consultant advising cities on how to decrease the size of their homeless communities. Marbut rejects the widely accepted and proven method of housing first, telling Huffpost “I believe in Housing Fourth.” Instead, Marbut follows a set of methods he developed himself, called “The Seven Guiding Principles of Transformation.” Marbut’s approach can be understood by looking at these principles and how he has applied them across the country. The first two principles, “Move to a Culture of Transformation” and “Colocation and Virtual E-integration of as Many Services as Possible” require houseless people to live in close proximity under heavy supervision. He regularly pushes for large shelters, instead of permanent housing. This is in-line with failed approaches from the 1980s. His first major project, Haven for Hope, opened in 2010 with an annual budget of $15,000,000 and room for 1,500 people. Five hundred of those people are required to sleep in an outside courtyard. Haven for Hope also has 550 closed-circuit television cameras and a staff of 40 security guards. Principles four and five are “Reward Positive Behavior” and “Consequences for Negative Behavior,” which Diane Yentel, president of the National LowIncome Housing Coalition, accurately described as “paternalistic, patronizing, filled with poverty blaming/shaming.” These principles fail to account for the structural issues that created the contemporary homeless crisis and instead fixate on blaming poor people for homelessness. The Pinellas Safe Harbor in Florida, which Marbut also helped to design, shows what those principles look like in practice. The shelter is operated by the County Sheriff ’s office out of an old jail, and houseless people are required to sleep on the floor before “earning” a bed with good behaviour. The Pinellas Safe Harbor was described in a 2014 report to the United Nations Committee Against Torture as a “cruel, inhuman, and degrading” choice for homeless people there. In order to make people actually use these shelter-jails, Marbut advised cities to make living on the streets as difficult as possible for houseless people. His sixth and seventh principles are “External Activities Must be Redirected or Stopped” and “Panhandling Enables the Homeless and Must Be Stopped.” Early criticism of Marbut came in 2014, after the city of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida arrested 90-year-old Arnold Abbott and Food Not Bombs volunteers for sharing food outside the downtown library. Said Marbut, “If you give food on the street, you end up preventing people from going into 24/7 programming.” Sheriff ’s department data from the Pinellas shelter indicated that just 7% of those leaving the facility found permanent housing. Marbut employs methods that have been proven not only ineffective but harmful to the very people he is now being tasked with helping. We're no fools! Gentrification harms everybody! Image from Western Regional Advocacy Project. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 ADVERTISMENT THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED N Dec o v 2 26 - N-oJan v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 9,22020 No. 423 �NDec o. 3926 3 | -NJan ov 2 9, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 2020 | No. 423 U.S NEWS 5 Environmentalist Carol Van Strum: “Do not believe anything they tell you” Emily Green Street Roots C arol Van Strum, 78, still lives in the forest she fought to protect. She moved with her family to Five Rivers in Oregon’s Siuslaw National Forest in the 1970s, and soon after, her farm was sprayed from overhead with a compound found in Agent Orange. Her family got sick, and animals in the area were dying. Along with other residents in Lincoln County, she sued the U.S. Forest Service, winning an injunction to stop the aerial spraying of federal forests with toxic herbicides. Thus began her lifetime of environmental activism that continues today with the effort to ban aerial spraying on private timberlands in Lincoln County. During the course of several lawsuits against federal agencies and chemical companies such as Dow and Monsanto, Van Strum obtained an arsenal of documentation – nearly three tons of paper – revealing massive, coordinated cover-ups and fraud among government regulators and the companies they were responsible for watchdogging. The Bioscience Resource Project and the Center for Media and Democracy have digitized her collection and have made it available online to the public. The Poison Papers Project, as it’s called, has served as a resource for attorneys suing Monsanto. It contains documents spanning back to the 1920s and, as a whole, demonstrates how both the chemical industry and its regulators understood and worked to conceal the dangerous toxicity of many products that were approved for use – and in some cases still widely used today. Van Strum chronicled the efforts of herself and her fellow activists in the award-winning book “A Bitter Fog.” Ultimately, her research and activism contributed to the adoption of more sustainable national forest policies still used today. She has also written several other books, and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today. In 2018, Van Strum was awarded the prestigious international David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding environmental and social justice work. Street Roots: What’s the most difficult lesson you learned in your activism? Carol Van Strum: I think the most difficult lesson was finding out that our entire system of government, of protecting the environment or human health, is a fraud and that you can’t believe anything that they say. And, it really is a massive fraud. The Environmental Protection Agency’s very name is a lie. And, you know, President Nixon knew that when he established it. He created it to be a buffer between the chemical industry and the people who were getting affected by the chemicals and starting to find out about it, thanks to Rachel Carson (author of Silent Spring). I guess we were naive. This was 40 years ago, and the Forest Service was spraying us with Agent Orange. We were getting sick, and we were finding dead animals and deformed animals, and we thought if we just told them about it, they’d stop. (She laughs.) And we found out otherwise, so that was a real hard lesson at that time. In a way, that kind of set the whole systemized, institutionalized lying that now the government, at the very top, indulges in. It’s become so commonplace people don’t even get upset. Well, I got upset. I don’t like “If you can keep laughing at the absurdity and insanity of what you’re fighting, it really makes all the difference in the world.” Carol Van Strum -- Credit: Peggy webster being lied to. What kept you going at times when winning seemed impossible? Well, I guess the opposite of that is, what’s the alternative? Do you do nothing while the things you love are dying? You can’t. Or at least I can’t. So the alternative was always worse than the battle. I have to say, you can’t look at the big picture all the time. You have to take what I call “a wicked glee” in causing some bureaucrat to crap his pants. You have to look for those moments and celebrate them and laugh. That’s so important, I can’t emphasize that enough. What do you think young environmental activists today are doing right? Oh, God, I love them! They’re doing wonderful things that I see. They’re finding their strength in numbers, which is so important. No one person can do this alone. I still feel kind of weird for being singled out as this so-called activist when I was only part of something that was a large group of people. I wrote about it, so I kind of became the point person, but the activism – if you want to call it that – it was a group of people, of really unrelated people. There were loggers, there were tree planters, there were doctors, there were nurses and there were housewives that came together for a common cause. That’s so important, and I see the young people doing that, and I love it! The way they are banding together behind Greta Thunberg, joining classaction lawsuits to force their elders to accept that they’re changing the climate. They’re not accepting the word or the authority of elders bent on destroying the world that they will inherit. I just applaud them. I can’t say that enough. I love them. I’m really proud of them all being able to call bullshit on all of the lies. What are they doing wrong? I can’t really think of anything they’re doing wrong. I think they’re using what they have – that we didn’t have – things like the internet and social media. They’re connecting with more and more people. I think they’re already achieving far beyond what we did, and that’s wonderful. What advice would you offer young activists today? Some of it is what they’re already doing; they’re not being afraid to care. That sounds kind of hokey, doesn’t it? But you have to care. You have to care about something. It doesn’t matter what it is. Once you start caring, then you want to protect, then you become the cornered badger; you’re going to fight, and you’re going to join with others. And that’s what they’re doing. My advice would be: Don’t ever, ever accept the platitudes, the euphemisms, THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED the lies of their elders and those who say it can’t be done or say, “You don’t understand; you’re too young to know.” That’s baloney, and they should never, ever listen to it. The other thing is: Demand proof of every statement coming out of government or industry, or whatever they’re fighting. Whether they’re tracking or spraying or nuclear waste, it doesn’t matter. Demand their data. Don’t take their word for anything. And above all, have fun. Humor is the strongest weapon we have, and you burn out without it. Believe me, I’ve seen too many people fall by the wayside; they just can’t handle it anymore. But if you can keep laughing at the absurdity and insanity of what you’re fighting, it really makes all the difference in the world. Look at Randy Rainbow or the Trump Blimp. Any way you can to point out the nonsense that you’re fighting is so much more effective than any other weapon that you have. So I would say, keep laughing. When you can make people laugh, then you’ve really reached them; they understand. When you look back over your years of activism, can you describe a moment that you feel defined your legacy? For me, after 40 years of feeling, at times, like a voice in the wilderness, proving information to people all over the globe, really, but not seeing much progress. But then this little group comes together in my own county (Lincoln County Community Rights) to stop the aerial spraying of poisons by timber companies. It was so beautiful and so simple, and they won it; the voters voted it through. Then, of course, industry challenged it in court, and I think the most touching moment for me was when Lincoln County Community Rights asked me to be the voice of the ecosystem, the trees, the river, in court. It was such a beautiful thing. I felt like I was standing there with the Lorax or Justice William O. Douglas – he actually was a voice in the Supreme Court for giving nature rights to exist – and to me, that was my proudest moment, being asked to do that. It’s giving a voice to the voiceless. That’s what it’s all about. And I feel very proud that they asked me to do that. I still kind of tear up thinking about it. (Since our interview with Van Strum, a Lincoln County judge overturned the voter-approved ban on aerial spraying within the county, ruling that the state law trumped the local law. Lincoln County Community Rights said it is preparing an appeal. The deadline to appeal was 19 December) Courtesy of Street Roots / INSP.ngo �LOCAL 6 N oDec v 2 26 - N -o vJan 19,9,22020 0 18 | |N o . 393 No. 423 Putting Impeachment In Perspective Bill Woods Board Member A s I write this article, the House of Representatives has just voted to impeach President Donald Trump. Lined up on rigid party lines, the proimpeachment Democrats and antiimpeachment Republicans sound like they are living in different worlds. This major Constitutional decision whether to remove a sitting President from office starkly reveals how polarized U.S. politics is today. In reviewing our political history over the past sixty years, this country appears to be experiencing a low point in terms of government effectiveness as well as public trust. Although Trump currently looms as a bigger than life problem or the elephant in the room, his election in 2016 was the result of negative trends that had already weakened our democratic process. Although numerous factors caused this decline, two trends stand out. Over this period "big money" has become more and more dominant in political campaigns at all levels. At the same time, the constituencies of both major parties have changed dramatically. In the 1960s and 70s, both major parties had liberal, conservative, and moderate wings. While the Democrats elected liberals such as Hubert Humphrey or John Kennedy, they also possessed a full slate of elected Senators and Congressmen from the South. Likewise, one can point to GOP-conservatives such a Robert Taft or Barry Goldwater and liberals like Mark Hatfield or Nelson Rockefeller. Moderates from both parties could also be cited. A typical criticism of that era was that the two major parties were too similar in makeup and views. In retrospect, however, the strength of this situation meant that even within the parties, compromise was necessary. Furthermore, temporary coalitions could be formed among the factions of the Democrats and Republicans to support legislation. Without such inter-party coalitions, it is doubtful that the major Civil Rights Laws would have passed. With this kind of political flexibility prompting working across the aisles, much positive legislative action occurred, and bills usually did not get lost in ideological stand offs between the two parties. With today's rigid, uncompromising political atmosphere, little can get through Congress that requires more than one party's support, and then a veto by an erratic President may have to be overcome. The current impeachment process is a case in point. The Affordable Care Act offers another example. Passed with strictly Democrat votes, once the Republicans took over Congress in 2010, they have spent a huge amount of energy weakening this law and trying to repeal it. It took a number of years to get to today's partisan stalemate. Under President Lyndon Johnson, the Democratic Party was blamed for Civil Rights legislation such as the Voting Rights Act, and the once solid South began to shift to the Republican Party. Barry Goldwater's nomination signaled another conservative shift for the GOP. However, the emergence of Ronald Reagan and his election as President in 1980 and reelection in 1984 brought about the real conservative take over of this once diverse Party. Meanwhile stripped of the South, the Democratic Party became the political home for liberals and moderates. The other force that gradually took hold of both major parties from the 1970s onward is influence of "big money" on elections and the legislative process. Because of an emerging reliance on public relations and TV ads, both parties were beginning to spend much more money on campaigns by the 1970s, and reformers began pushing for limits on all the unregulated big contributions to candidates. From the start, the Supreme Court created legal obstacles with cases such as Buckley v. Valeo that equated campaign donations to free speech. Much later in 2010, the Court put even greater limits on reformers by ruling that corporations were people with the same free speech rights to spend money on campaigns. Although reforms such as contribution limits and the public financing of campaigns have had some success in states and cities that adopted them, "big money" has grown more and more dominant in the political process. Average citizens realize that they have less and less influence on public decision-making, and many people have become disillusioned with government. In part, Trump is a result of voters opting for a loud outsider who promised to "make America great again." This analysis takes us back to the present and the implications of impeachment and the 2020 Presidential campaign. Certainly Trump is a danger to everything positive that this country has ever stood for, and a top priority must be removing him from office. However, this would only be a first step. A lot of thought and energy will be required to put in place the reforms necessary to truly make this country great again. Homelessness Report Amanda Barker Staff Writer E arlier this month, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) issued their most recent report on the criminalization of homelessness. The NLCHP is one of our partners, and the only organization dedicated to studying how the power of law can be applied toward preventing and ending homelessness, and protecting the rights of those individuals who are experiencing homelessness. The report, titled "Housing Not Handcuffs", is the first report released since 2016, and it tracks the growth of criminalization laws across 187 US cities including Cincinnati. It also describes how criminalization policies are ineffective and illegal, and discusses more humane and productive alternative strategies for ending homelessness. The equitable solution is neither criminalization, nor allowing a stratified society where some people are displaced onto the sidewalk, a camp, or their vehicles. Rather, the solution is more and greater access to subsidized and affordable housing. In August 2018, I spent some time in Budapest, Hungary. I was traveling to a youth development project in Csikszereda, Romania. In Budapest, I met with a doctoral student who studies foreign policy at a university in Antalya, Turkey. One day while walking across Ferenc Square, he commented on the “homeless crisis in Budapest” when he saw five men sleeping outside along edges of the buildings. This led to a deep cross-cultural discussion about the issue of housing, the growing wealth gap, and American social service policies. He was shocked to hear that in a nation as wealthy as the United States, many people including families with children and those who work full-time, are not able to find safe and stable housing. He assured me that in Turkey, “everyone has a place to live.” I have not studied housing data in Turkey, but it was interesting to hear his perception of American domestic social service policies. He had never been to the U.S., and was only familiar with U.S./Turkish trade relations. He now probably knows more about U.S. class differences and access to food, housing, and transportation than he had ever intended. The Housing Not Handcuffs report lists what they call a “Hall of Shame,” which are city, or state, wide policies passed since the 2016 report that only serve to sustain the cycle of poverty and homelessness. One example is Kansas City, Missouri, who passed food sharing regulations and then brutally enforced them. In November, 2018, the Kansas City organization Free Hot Soup was sharing food at a weekly gathering in a public park. According to the Washington Post, the city Health Department responded by collecting the chili, soup, and sandwiches being offered to the needy, and poured bleach on the food, stating that the event was not “properly permitted.” Another city on the list is Sacramento, California. I lived in Sacramento for more than 5 years and during that time I helped with food sharing through FnB and the Occupy movement. I also collaborated with an organization that was attempting to secure a location for solar-powered tiny homes designated to house people experiencing homelessness. I witnessed the exponentially skyrocketing rents as the downtown and midtown neighborhoods underwent their gentrification processes. I saw the growing numbers of folks displaced from safe housing to live in camps along the Sacramento or American rivers, or in the parking lot at the corner of C and 16th streets. The City of Sacramento made the “Hall of Shame” list for their THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED repeated aggressive sweeps of the camps, which resulted in the seizure and destruction of personal property and in some instances, even caused injury. One such sweep in May 2019 ended with 30 arrests of people living along the American River Parkway bike trail, as reported by the Sacramento Bee. A misinformed attitude at the Federal level doesn’t help matters on the ground. In September 2019, the Trump Administration’s Council of Economic Advisors released a statement claiming that people who experience homelessness are “too comfortable” to change their circumstances, and that policing is the best tool for moving people off the street. These ruthless and inhumane tactics are not effective at ending the poverty that causes people to experience homelessness. The NLCHP has the data to influence action more inspired than further criminalization. One such solution is called Housing First. Housing First is a model “premised on the idea that pairing people with immediate access to their own apartments- without barriers and without mandated compliance with services- is the best way to sustainably end their homelessness.” Through Housing First, the communities of �NDec o. 3926 3 |N ov 2 9, - N2020 o v 19, 2 0 18 - Jan | No. 423 Bergen County, New Jersey; Rockford, Illinois; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and the jurisdictions in the Southwest Minnesota Continuum of Care have all effectively ended chronic homelessness. Additionally, through Permanent Supportive Housing, Charlotte, North Carolina, saw an 82% decrease in arrests; and Los Angeles County saved $6.5 million in its second year of implementation while also reporting a 70% reduction in the number of emergency room visits from among people experiencing homelessness. In another win as recently as December 16, LOCAL 2019, the 9th Circuit of the US Supreme Court ruled that people experiencing homelessness can’t be punished for sleeping outside when they don’t have anywhere else to go. Pebble by pebble, we are building a more equitable and just society. Here in Cincinnati, we didn’t make the “Hall of Shame” list, but we have a long journey ahead of us. We still face an affordable housing shortage of at least 18,000 units, even though there are almost 29,000 vacant market-rate units currently available. However, our market rate is so high that anyone who 7 works a full-time job at minimum wage won’t be able to afford rent. The Housing Not Handcuffs report documents how in Cincinnati, it is illegal to sit or lie down in some public places; to lodge, live, or sleep in vehicles; to get caught loitering or loafing anywhere in the city; and to beg or panhandle anywhere in the city. We know that further criminalization is not the answer. The Coalition and its partners are actively working to secure a revenue stream in 2020 for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This fund will increase resources for affordable housing through creating and preserving housing that meets the income needs of low and extremely low income people. It will also provide housing investments to revitalize neighborhoods that are experiencing de-investment or displacements. Social change can happen, when enough of us are willing to take a stand and demand that governments redistribute wealth to meet the basic human rights of healthy food, safe housing, warm clothing, and clean water. You’ve Got Mail Dr. Mark Mussman Staff Writer C ommonly, an experience with homelessness is often marked by a sense of disconnection. Having a mailbox can change that. Although the Homeless Coalition is an advocacy organization, we do provide a few direct services that enable people to stay connected to family, friends, government, and social service organizations. With the exception of a few holidays, the Homeless Coalition’s lobby is open weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Our lobby is a place people come to get warm in winter, cool down in the summer, to get a drink of water and commune. Our friendly front desk staff helps people get connected to resources such as the Mary Magdalene House (the shower house), the PATH Team, the Shelterhouse, and housing resources. Even more, people are able to connect to the world at large through a mailbox. More than 3,000 people receive mail at the Homeless Coalition. On a daily basis, more than 100 people come through the door to check whether they received mail or packages. The process is simple, as people who are experiencing homelessness just need to start using our address to receive mail here. They do not need to do a change of address, in fact, that process is blocked for our address because one time someone did a change of address and received everyone’s mail! Once someone has received and retrieved their mail, they will be assigned a mailbox number, which is important to remember. When someone comes back in for mail, they need to let the front desk staff know of their name and box number. Keeping it simple speeds up the process. The importance of having a place to receive mail cannot be overstated. In Ohio, to receive or renew your ID, you must have it sent to a physical address. Although the State of Ohio allows a park bench to be an address for voting, how do you receive mail at a park bench? This makes correspondence impossible without a mailbox. Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services sends SNAP EBT cards through the mail, as well as important documents that demand immediate responses. The Social Security Administration needs to send checks and important judgements through the mail. This is why it is important for people to be able to readily access their mail – it may literally be what determines if someone is able to eat today. If you don’t have an address, you don’t have a connection to services that are needed to survive. Building and maintaining a system for mail has been a monumental task. Through the years, patterns have developed to ensure that the mail is processed and accessed quickly and accurately. This week we have seen the biggest change in the mail system in at least 4 years. Several students from Central Michigan University chose to spend part of their winter break with us in Cincinnati. Typically, Alternative Break trips at the Homeless Coalition involve spending time learning from people in the community. We spend time hearing about the history of Overthe-Rhine from people who have lived here for decades. We talk to affordable housing developers and community activists. Normally, we do some service at soup kitchens and shelters, but this trip is different. The program from Central Michigan University prefers student groups to do projects that are in direct benefit to the community. We thought that revamping the mailroom – in fact, making a mailroom, would help create a better, and more efficient experience. When asked about why the students came on the trip, the responses varied from having gone on a trip before; wanting to learn about an issue they hadn’t learned about; getting exposed to the city-life and homelessness on a larger scale; to gaining a new perspective on the issues of hunger and homelessness. Collectively, the participants had participated in trips in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arkansas, and North Carolina, on food justice, preservation of public lands, arts in urban schools, and rural poverty. Packaging food, documenting botany, delivering food, demolishing work, planting and harvesting organic crops were just some of the skills the students had learned through these alternative breaks. This project-based trip would hopefully give them skills in office management, construction, design, and problem-solving. The group was charged with making the mail system more userfriendly and organized. Part of that included moving the mailroom from the conference into a dedicated room. But before that could be accomplished, the group needed to determine ways in which the mailroom would be easier for the front desk staff to operate. When you are dealing with thousands of names and hundreds of physical boxes, it can become mentally taxing very quickly. Misfiled letters may result in someone losing access to benefits, so it is essential that the mail system be organized and easily accessible. The students generated strategies to make the mailroom more efficient, such as larger mailbox numbers, color coding box rows, rebuilding and fixing the frame, reorganizing overflow mail, and creating a dedicated mailroom by cleaning out an office behind the front desk. On the second day, we created a temporary mail system, removed the old structure, cleaned, repaired, and primed it. It was a natural wood color, but the participants’ desire to color-code the boxes meant that we needed to prime the mailboxes. There were several issues with the dividers between the boxes that were repaired. Using a circular saw, the participants were also able to create a back for the mailboxes, so that mail isn’t able to fall behind them. This required measuring and cutting several pieces of wood and fastening them to the back of the boxes with screws. The process resulted in a stronger, more organized mailbox structure. As unexpected issues arose, the group worked collectively and quickly to respond and solve the problem. On the third day, they began to paint the boxes to color code them. The color coding will help the front desk staff feel confident that they are in the right area, and give people picking up their mail another way to remember their box number. The group also created large laminated letters to mark each mailbox row. Finally, the group created some tools to help newly received mail get filed accordingly. In the end, the mailroom has become a reality and it will help people receive their mail in a more efficient manner. We are thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity to work collaboratively to solve issues that were impeding the mailroom. People experiencing homelessness will be able to benefit from the work the students accomplished this week. Central Michigan University nearing completion of the mail project. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �FEATURED 8 NDec o v 2 26 - N-oJan v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 423 393 9, 22020 At The Crossroads Of Art And Social Justice Casey Miller Street Roots R icardo Levins Morales describes himself as a “healer and trickster organizer disguised as an artist.” Morales was born in Puerto Rico during the anti-colonial movement and spent his teenage years delving into the world of organized activism and protests in Chicago with such visionary groups as the Young Lords and the Black Panthers. He sees his art as “medicinal”; a way to address trauma individually, collectively and historically. Morales’ current organizing efforts beyond the art studio include workshops on trauma and resilience for organizers, creative and strategic training for organizing sustainable activism and mentoring young activists both in his community and nationally. The social justice artist is celebrating 50 years of artistry and activism and he visited Portland in November to attend Portland Jobs With Justice’s annual dinner as the keynote speaker. Street Roots spoke to him about his decades of dedication to both his artistic craft and activism. Street Roots: What do you believe makes a social protest effective and how is this seen in your artwork? Ricardo Levins Morales: It really depends. What are the conditions? What’s the balance of power for a protest in a concentration camp? It’s a lot different than a protest in a workplace. It depends on how much leeway you have and how much organization you have. So there’s no single answer to that. It’s like saying asking what kind of medicine is most effective. What’s the condition of the patient, you know? What artists and activists have influenced you over the years? I learned to do art by copying art. I dropped out of high school, so I never had any formal education in it. One of the main influences on me was one of the Puerto Rican screen printing masters. Screen printing is a highly advanced art in Puerto Rico, where I’m from. So, he was a major influence there. Also cartoon artists and caricature artists, because I started out doing a lot of political caricatures. In terms of activism, there’s a long line of political ancestors. My parents were both involved in the anti-colonial movement in Puerto Rico. When we moved to the States, when I was an adolescent, a major influence was Fred Hampton, who was the leader of the local chapter of the Black Panther Party. We did very creative coalition-building work across racial boundaries. That has still left an imprint on how I think about organizing. Did these two activities cross when you were younger—activism and art? Had you met people like yourself who purposely made art about social justice issues that they were passionate about? When I was young in Puerto Rico, I wasn’t really much aware of other artists. It was drawing: it was just something I did as a little kid and about making up stories. I didn’t really have anything that you could call media access up in the mountains—no TV or magazines. I think the real key for me is not that I [purposely] connect the two, but more that I’ve always drawn what’s important to me. And when I was 5 years old, that was chickens; when I was 8, it was pilots. Now, it’s resilience in the face of oppression. But there was never a moment where I said, “Well, I’m going to connect these two separate things.” It just came up through the roots, the things I cared about at different times in my life. So that’s what’s reflected in my art. Self portrait THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Can you describe your first real encounter with social justice movements? Was it when you moved to Chicago? In Puerto Rico when I was young, we would sometimes go to protests and nationalist events and things like that. As I wasn’t directly exposed to organizing or protest building there, I would have to say yes, it was probably when we moved to the States. That was in 1967, to Chicago. There was a lot going on and a lot of protests, whether it was antiwar, second-wave feminism, the black power movement—and especially the Panthers gaining a presence. There was a Puerto Rican version called the Young Lords organization active in Chicago. It was really an environment of turmoil. How has activism changed since you were younger and first started to participate in social justice causes? A number of ways. I mean, certainly the technology has changed for the better and for worse. When I was first organizing movements, our version of the internet was telephones, leaflets, handouts, papers and bulletin boards. Now, of course, you have various social media networks, though most of them are controlled by hostile corporations, so it’s a little bit vulnerable. Another way [is that] my initial experiences in organizing were with people engaged in a lot of different kinds of organizing work, but they all considered it to be part of one current called “The Movement.” Nowadays, it’s more about people considering themselves part of the immigrant rights movement or civil rights movement or gay rights movement; they’re thought of as different movements. And that’s probably the legacy of 40 years of a nonprofit system that really funds people according to rather narrow definitions of their needs rather than a broad narrative of social change. So, that’s one of the major differences. Another more positive [difference] is that I see young activists coming into movements as they emerge through engaging in art and creativity, like having art builds—where everyone gets together and makes signs or banners or whatever it is that they need. In earlier periods, it was a real battle to get organizers to understand how useful art could be. So you’d say that protesting has become a lot more creative? I’d say that the importance of creativity is a lot more widely accepted. You host workshops on trauma and resilience for organizers. How does grouping with others help solve individual traumas? A lot depends on the health of the organizing effort. If you just sort �NDec o. 3926 3 |-NJan ov 29, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 2020 | No. 423 of step back and look at what a social movement is, the purpose of it really is to restore power to people whose power has been taken away. And that’s also kind of your elevator definition of trauma healing, because trauma is about the loss of power and you need to restore that and restore a healthy narrative about what your experience meant, which gets scrambled when you become traumatized. That’s also the process of an entire people reclaiming their identity and reclaiming their history. They’re really essentially the same process but happening on different scales. Can you explain why you call your art “medicinal”? If I am involved with, say, a local or community group or some group that is trying to organize, the first question— kind of my doctor question, my diagnostic question—is what is keeping this group of people feeling powerless? [What is keeping them] from tapping in and understanding how powerful they are? Not what is the external force that they’re facing, but what’s internal? What is it that people believe that keeps them 9 FEATURED from understanding how powerful they really are? Because the enemies of justice are very well aware of how much power poor people and working people have. We ourselves tend to forget it, right? So then the art that I create is meant to counter whatever that story is, which is as widely varied as any kind of cultural identity can be. Organizing is really a question of shifting people’s stories. And what is your story about yourself? That’s something you can see very clearly with the current president. For example, the way he tries to achieve policies is to first SR_Ricardo Levins Morales_2 convince people about stories. If he can convince people that immigrants are dangerous, then the policies follow that. And that’s equally true with struggling for justice. You need to create a narrative that really allows people to organize and gain support. For example, if everybody in the community believes that schoolteachers are lazy, apathetic, greedy and don’t care about kids, [then] you’re going to have a hard time when you need good contracts for teachers. My basic mantra with organizing is that the soil is more important than the seeds. The stories that people believe is what determines whether your organizing seeds [and] your projects— your initiatives—are going to take root. Can you tell me about the process of creating your art, from conception to final touches? Conception can really come from any place. Inspiration can be that I run across a quote or I want to depict a certain issue or there’s a story that feels compelling that I want people to know about in terms of history. Or I feel like, “Oh, I haven’t used charcoal or I haven’t done crosshatch for a while.” So the spark can come from all kinds of different directions. When I’ve decided to make a piece, then it comes down to sketching initially, or researching if it’s something that requires historical or cultural accuracy. Then I look up the information that I need in order to make it recognizable to the people most directly affected by it so that it feels authentic. The material I use is called scratch board, which is a clay surface on a wood backing. I brush onto it with ink, with black ink usually, scrape it with knife plates to get the textures, and then add watercolor over that. I come out of a printmaking tradition and my art really has that aesthetic to it, but it’s not actually printmaking form. Finally, do you have a favorite piece, and why? Um, no. [laughs] I just finished opening an exhibit of 50 years of my work. The first pieces I had were done as a teenager and, looking at that range, there are posters that were just perfect for a particular moment but really don’t necessarily have much relevance now except as a piece of history. But they’re all my children. They were right for what they were. There’s some that I use more than others. There’s some that I frequently use in organizing workshops, but the posters are really only meant for a small group: it’s only a small group of people that they’re going to be meaningful to. But to them, they’re going to be very meaningful. Courtesy of Street Roots / INSP.ngo Lose Our Fear Training at Central Clinic THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �10 GLOBAL NDec o v 2 26 - N-oJan v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 423 393 9, 22020 Death And Debt: Ethical Companies Find Ways To Tackle Funeral Poverty Sarah Shearman Reuters W ith average funeral costs edging toward 4,000 pounds ($5,100), dying in Britain has become an expensive proposition - at least for those left behind to pay the bills. When Laura Cunningham's brother died this year, she was still paying for her mother's funeral from more than two years earlier, and had no idea how she would afford another one. Cunningham's story is not uncommon. Even a simple service such as her mother's can cost more than 3,000 pounds. But social enterprises have begun springing up to tackle "funeral poverty", often brought on by upselling of products and services such as flowers and cars that can send grieving families deep into debt. "We didn't have any savings," Cunningham said. "We just work month to month to pay our bills and live basically. We didn't have any money at all." Cunningham did not qualify for government support because she works as a cleaner. But a non-profit funeral director helped Cunningham through with a simple, cut-price cremation for her brother. Glasgow-based Caledonia Cremation is just one social enterprise exploring alternative business models to traditional funeral providers, which are sometimes accused of profiteering. Similar businesses have sprung up in Canada and Australia, including community-owned businesses and funeral services for the people experience homelessness. Poverty With the average cost of a basic funeral at an all-time high of 3,785 pounds, nearly one in eight people in Britain go into debt to bury or cremate loved ones, according to a 2019 study by insurer Royal London. The average debt is almost 2,000 pounds and pushes many into poverty, the annual study found. "It's a nightmare scenario ... with a long-lasting impact," said Paul McColgan, who founded Caledonia Cremation in 2018 after seeing his sister struggle to pay for her husband's funeral. "It's not just a normal grieving process of losing a loved one," he said. "You're dealing with all of that and you are dealing with the worry and torment of not knowing how you are going to pay for it." Caledonia Cremation has carried out about 250 direct cremations, which are carried out without a funeral service and with no mourners in attendance. At a flat 995 pounds with no deposit, it offers a safety net for those who cannot afford a more expensive funeral. Still, about half its customers are not struggling financially. As a social enterprise, Caledonia Cremation will reinvest profits into its mission of preventing funeral poverty, although so far McColgan said it has only just broken even. The cost of a funeral has risen 6% a year – double the rate of inflation – for more than a decade due to rising crematorium fees, a lack of burial plots and the practice of upselling, and Britain's competition watchdog is A woman walks through an old graveyard in London January 30, 2013. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED investigating the industry. It has accused some funeral directors of not being transparent about pricing and of taking advantage of people at their most vulnerable, with grieving customers less likely to shop around. The profit margins of the largest industry players such as Dignity are high by international standards, the watchdog said. Dignity said that since 2016 it has offered more options and price ranges to meet growing demand for lower-cost funerals, including a direct cremation service. Last taboo Compounding the difficulties wrought by funeral poverty is a reticence to even speak of its two main components - death and money. "It's the last great taboo," said Liz Rothschild, co-founder of Westmill Woodland Burial Ground, a natural burial ground in the south of England. "And they come together really poisonously, when you put when you put death and money together," she added. Like Caledonia Cremation, Westmill is registered as a community interest company, a type of social enterprise that reinvests or donates profits and must demonstrate its service to the community – a detail customers appreciate, Rothschild said. Westmill suggests ways for its customers to reduce costs, such as carrying and lowering coffins themselves, but Rothschild said that the business has recently had to raise prices as margins were so tight. Lucy Coulbert, who runs the Individual Funeral Company, said the squeeze was felt across the industry regardless of social enterprise status. While she says big companies that seek to maximise profits are "industrialising funerals", Coulbert does not believe that the social enterprise model is necessarily the solution,calling instead for more government support. Currently it takes weeks for the government to assess and award funeral cost benefits, but Coulbert suggested paying before the funeral could be a simple way to prevent people going into debt. "The market does not need disrupting," she said. "What the market needs is for people to stop thinking that we are here to get money out of people - we're not. "What we're here to do is support somebody, be as transparent and as ethical as we possibly can and let people make their own decisions." Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo �NDec o. 3926 3 |-NJan ov 29, - N o v 19, 2 0 18 2020 | No. 423 11 GLOBAL Rising Seas Threaten Early End For Sinking Village In Philippines Eloisa Lopez Reuters D anica Martinez, 16, grew up in a house that grows taller every few years. Her father raises the stilts of their bamboo hut so water from the sea doesn't reach the floor. They live in Sitio Pariahan, a coastal village in the Philippines that was once an island, and is now without land. Sitio Pariahan, about 17 kilometres (10.5 miles) north of Manila, is sinking about four centimetres (1.5 inches) every year, owing largely to land subsidence from the population's overuse of groundwater, according to experts. Now rising sea levels caused by global warming could soon make this village unliveable, a problem faced by other countries in Asia, where the poorest communities are worst hit. A deep well is the only source of water, and residents use it to bathe, clean, cook and, sometimes, even to drink. Solar panels are installed on many rooftops for electricity, mostly to watch television that's shared between neighbours. On days that power is low, residents pass the time by gambling. Martinez remembers that their village wasn't always like this. She recalls basketball tournaments and grand feasts that their community once held, so popular that visitors from nearby towns would flock to watch performances, and celebrate mass at the church. The court is now fully submerged, and the church that was once filled with devotees is stained with moss. Much of the destruction happened when Typhoon Nesat struck in 2011, bringing waves Martinez said were as big as houses. She saw how the huts were pulled into the sea, one by one, as she and her siblings held onto bamboo poles. Their school was also destroyed, and left only with walls. More than 50 families left and never returned. Now, Martinez and her siblings take a 30-minute boat ride to school, sometimes with uniforms drenched by big waves. "It seems scary to look at, but you get used to living like this," she said. "It's difficult, but also fun." Her parents rely on their boat to make a living. "Without a boat, you are paralysed," said her mother Mary Jane Martinez, who sells crabs her husband catches to the town's market. She said life in the village was getting harder day by day, but she still preferred it to the city. "If you work hard here, you will survive. You only have to jump on the sea to catch food. In land, you can work hard and still not have enough," she said. Her husband, Domingo, said leaving was not an option, because there is nowhere to go. They once tried to rent an apartment in a nearby town, but moved back shortly after. "Our livelihood is here," he said. "If we are asked to move inland, it would be difficult to make a living. What if we become beggars there?" Fernando Siringan, a climate change expert, has studied Sitio Pariahan closely and said some delta areas north of Manila were changing rapidly because land was subsiding and water levels rising at the same time. "What is being projected 50 years from now or 100 years from now for many parts of the globe is actually happening right now at even faster rates," he said. With wildfires plaguing parts of the United States and Australia, and severe flooding in Europe all being linked to global warming, public pressure is rising on cost-conscious governments to find urgent solutions. Danica sees no future in living permanently in what has become like a scene from Waterworld, the 1995 film starring Kevin Costner, where postapocalyptic tribes live on boats and rafts. "Someday I also want to leave and experience what it's like to live inland," she said. Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo Nancy Manalaysay, 54, a church caretaker, cleans a crucifix in a partly submerged church in the coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines, November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez The Martinez family spend time together on the roof of their bamboo hut, which is risen on stilts, in the submerged coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines, November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez Domingo Martinez, 40, drives his daughters Danica, 16, and Cindy, 14, to school on his boat, in a nearby town in Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines, November 25, 2019. REUTERS/ Eloisa Lopez A bamboo hut sits on top of concrete structures in the submerged coastal village Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines, on November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �12 Goodbye Saying Goodbye is such a hard thing to do It's like taking a Rock and breaking glass You Can't fix it It's too shattered It's too broken Shattered pieces of glass everywhere unfixable tiny pieces remaining If you try to pick up the pieces of Glass You may cut yourself Goodbye and So Long STREETVOICE N ov 2 o v 19, 2 0 18 ||No. N o .423 393 Dec 26- N - Jan 9, 2020 SANTA CLAUS Today while watching the news I heard that Santa Claus arrived in a helicopter They also talked about tax cuts and how the politicians were eating out at Red Lobsters What happened to the days when the bells rang for Santa Claus, his reindeer and sled? What happened to the belief in miracles and all the little children went to bed Waiting for that glorious morning to open all the presents that Santa left under the tree Asking questions about how he brought all the gifts down the smoke filled chimney Waiting day and night, trying to be good all for Christmas so we'd be granted the ultimate blessing Looking back and understanding that as a child I was tricked, Santa in a helicopter that's a new lesson to the glass that got broke and is now shattered Without the holiday's Thanksgiving and Christmas Day Goodbye is the final song thankful for Jesus birth just to name a few To the broken glass that became the Goodbye Song Kim Green Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor what else is there to really look forward too Without giving thanks for so many blessings and being So for me Christmas has somehow lost the true spirit and has been misunderstood by all We must always remember God's blessings, don't forget to give thanks and bring back Rudolph the red nose reindeer driving Santa Claus!!!! Willa D. Jones Contributing Writer Streetvibes Distributor Streetvibes Writing Circle If you would like to submit a story for publication in streetvibes, come join Katelyn Lusher, Chris Wilkey, and Alex McIntosh for a group writing session! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �STREETVOICE No. 39 Nov 2 N o v 19, 2 0423 18 Dec 263 -| Jan 9,- 2020 | No. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like DECK THE HALLS Hypocrisy Once again the Christmas trees are decorated and lit; the smell of sweets and baked goods are in the air and churches post, “Put Christ back in Christmas!” Maybe, just maybe somebody should put Christ (a.k.a. Jesus) into the hearts and minds of those Christians who did not learn Christ was not a bigot or capitalist! Deck the halls with green, soft money, Fa-la-la-la-la - attack ads too. It's a campaign's milk and honey, Fa-la-la-la-la - attack ads too. Now our polls opinions measure, Fa-la-la-la-la-la - attack ads too. While we hustle campaign treasure, Fa-la-la-la-la - attack ads too. Maybe I got it wrong. Let’s see Jesus (Christ) was a Jewish baby; who was a person of color; whose family was BILL WOODS Contributing Writer homeless; whose mother was pregnant before she got married; and who had to escape into Egypt as refugees--that Jesus (Christ) you say is the reason for the season? Although that is a very simplistic account of events, there was also something about serving the least of these. As a Christian who went to Sunday School quite often as a young person I am confused. We still have no “room” for children; no mercy for the poor; no compassion for those who are marginalized, and no love for each other. And that command’ “Love each other as I have Loved you,” is just sarcastic hypocrisy floating in the air like smog, choking the life out of Hope. Are you sure you ever had Christ in your Christmas? June Alexander Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 13 �PUZZLES 14 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 109 Across 1. Exchange 5. Curved masonary structure 9. Hold firmly 14. Present location 15. Commercial transaction 16. Artery 17. Fury 18. Leg joint 19. Promise solemnly 20. Start abruptly 22. Sodium chloride 24. Challenge 25. Staining substance 26. Heavy metallic element 28. Beam 30. Oval fruit 31. Snakelike fish 32. Consumed 35. Thoroughfare 38. Run away quickly 39. At this time 40. Support 41. Subdued 42. Shrivelled 43. Lubricant 44. At any time 46. Brief period of precipitation 48. Digit 49. Line 50. Water hen 51. Floor covering 52. Exchange goods for money 53. A quick short straight punch 56. Not in favor of 59. Malevolent 61. Musical composition 63. Tied 65. Shaft 67. Public violence 68. Boredom 69. Male red deer 70. Unit of area 71. Taunt 72. Novice 73. Rind Down 1. Small piece of cloth or paper PUZZLE SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD #108 2. Fatigued 3. Debate 4. A secret look 5. Request 6. Payment for the release of someone 7. Remove unwanted substances from 8. Part of a shoe 9. Fuel 10. Raucous 11. Length by width 12. Principal actor 13. Trim 21. Roofing material 23. Large woody plant 27. Furrow 29. Beer 30. Liveliness and energy 31. Tree 32. Afresh 33. Ripped 34. Pitcher 35. Blemish 36. Group of three 37. Theatrical part 38. Conifer 41. Condensation 42. Chronic drinker 44. Historic period 45. Referendum 46. Ancient Roman god 47. Cavity 50. Storage space where wines are stored 51. Arithmetic operation 52. Value of Roman numerals LX 53. Liquid extracted from fruit or vegetables 54. Worship 55. Asian pepper plant 56. Assist in wrongdoing 57. Not any 58. Large marine food and game fish 60. Immense 62. Snare 64. Perish 66. Self NDec o v 226 - N-oJan v 19, 0 18 || No. N o . 423 393 9, 22020 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 5- EASY SODOKU PUZZLE NO 4- EASY PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �N o. 39 3 |-NJan ov 29, - 2020 N o v 19, 2 0 423 18 Dec 26 | No. 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 NDec o v 2 26 - N-oJan v 19, 0 18 || N o . 393 9,22020 No. 423 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 December 26, 2019-January 9, 2020 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: When the Truth Doesn’t Matter Pg 3: Criminalization Hitting the Fan at National Level Under Trump Appointment of Robert Marbut to Usiach Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Environmentalist Carol Van Strum Pg 6: Putting Impeachment in Perspective Homelessness Report Pg 7: You’ve Got Mail Pg 8: At the Crossroads of Art and Social Justice Pg 9: At the Crossroads of Art and Social Justice Continued Pg 10: Death and Debt Pg 11: Rising Seas Threaten Early and for Sinking Village in Philippines 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 December 26, 2019-January 9, 2020 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Gabriela Godinez Jonathan Emily Green Bill Woods Amanda Baker Casey Miller Sarah Shearman Eloisa Lopez Dr. Mark Mussman Willa Denise Jones June Alexander Kim Greene INSP.com Blake Burrell Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Amanda Baker Bill Woods Blake Burrell Carol Van Strum Casey Miller Donald Trump Dr. Mark Mussman Eloisa Lopez Emily Green Environmentalist Gabriela Godinez Impeachment INSP.com Jonathan June Alexander Kim Greene Philippines Sarah Shearman Social Justice Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/5c558afb5a28dab5df512ebb244945e6.pdf 1235d235abeeac069dd650710354da4a PDF Text Text . ... . - --·· ---..- ..--...... ··- -··--·--- -.....____...__-...___... -.---. $I Do. is.lion• ree v1 Your Progressive News Source August 2003 BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLy •. Greater Cincinnatr Coalition for the Homeless . �• August2003 Sweeping of camps halted by the homeless policy, custom, and practice of the City of Cincinnati to engage in a pattern of depriving the constitutional rights of homeless individuals." The city went to great lengths in their attempt to remove camps from underneath downtown bridges. In June, a meeting between the Mayor's office, police officials, the Governor's office, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Downtown Cincinnati, Inc. took place to come up with a plan-to remove camps from under bridges. The meeting ended after the representative from ODOT insisted that, despite the fact these people were camping on ODOT property, ODOT had no legal right to remove them. But the city was determined, and finally got ODOT's permission to do what it wa ted with the camps underneath the bridges. City officials often invoke "quality of life issues" or the "broken windows" theory when Don Henry speaks to Homeless Coalition representative Andy Erickson. , by Andy Erickson, photos by Jimmy Heath A little over a year ago, Don lost his job, his three-bedroom house, his two cars, and then ife and his kid. "I lost everything that ever "Don't hide the homeless. Help them." They then called on people to join them for a 24-hour vigil ending at 1 pm on Fri ay - the time that the they talk about camps like Don's. The "broken windows" theory states that if we fix broken windows, clean up litter, erase graffiti, and remove the visible homeless, like Don, from public sight, the quality of life in the City will order to vacate would take affect. tum for the better. impromptu protest would bring. Supporters isn't a piece of litter. He's not a broken window, Don didn't realize what kind of effect his ·honked as they meant nything to drove by, delivered me," he said. donations, stopped That's when Don started to talk, and carried sleeping under a picket signs. Social bridge. service workers The problem with this theory is that Dg and he's not graffiti. He's a person who has lost his home and is living in public. He obviously shouldn't be treated the same way we would deal with a broken window. The theory makes Don a scapegoat for the City's problems. Don knows this. "Why are people met with Don and messing with me when they could be having a first moved under others at his camp, this bridge," Don placing some of problem? Or how we could stop people from says, "I begged for them into services trash bags from a they needed. And "Whenl city building. I at 1 :00 on Friday - wanted the place to when the police look half-decent. I were supposed to filled 1 3 garbage arrive - Don's bags. J didn't want lawyer arrived to be an eyesore." instead with a But temporary "eyesore" is exactly what the city labeled Don's restraining order against the police and a lawsuit camp when they threatened him with eviction. against the city. On July 15, police officers arrived at Don's Don happily signed the camp to post "No Trespassing" signs. The necessary papers. The lawsuit officers took pictures of the people who lived in could possibly overturn many the camp and told them to be out within_ 72 of the actions that the city has hours or be charged with criminal trespass. "What is the issue with the public seeing me here?" Don asked. "I guess they drive by panhandling Ofdinances be say that I'm a distraction, but someone could be declared unconstitutional, and distracted by the new stadium. Should we tear that the city be barred from by four-foot sign facing the busy intersection where his camp is located. The sign read, When the city attempts to treat people experiencing homelessness as if they were broken windows, they are not solving any problems, except perhaps the "cleaning up" of an overpass - until someone moves back in. Homeless Save Camps .... Cont. on Page 1 O Don rolls is own.... The filed complaint thinking. But I'm not bothering anyone. They Don and his fellow bridgemates killing each other in Over-the-Rhine?" he asks. the last two years. asks that the new and old responded to the order by erecting an eight-foot meeting about how we could solve the drug taken against the homeless in and see that I'm a disgust to their ways of that down?" ri performing weeps of homeless camps. The complaint also states that the panhandling laws and the threat of sweeps resulted from the official Greater Cincinnati Coalition for , the, Homeless �STREETVIBES August, 2003 Editorial Page 2 City Attacks Bridge Homes by Jimmy Heath, Streetvibes Editor Duringthe summer months, l are horrendous. Yet we see the city continues to wage against the focusing on the people who are think about how the hot weather homeless doesn't take a vacation quietly living under bridges, looking affects the people living on the streets either. for ways to be left alone. Why such Because most of the outdoor of Cincinnati, under bridges or in animosity for the poorest of the makeshift camps along the river, or homeless camps are located on State poor? Is it because comfortable other hidden away places. property the City has had its hands people see themselves in the faces of tied trying to figure ways to deal the homeless, an unpleasant Donations go down at homeless shelters because the season with the "problem." But City reminder of what can happen to of giving, Thanksgiving and officials, the police and state officials them or anyone? Is it because the began meeting to find out ways to . folks on the street are easy targets, evict the homeless. The last time the easy to blame for all the City's ills? Christmas, is far away in people's · minds. But the shelters remain busy, r broken into again. Crime statistics other camps. The war that the City especially if it gets really hot. The Drop Inn Center functions as a · city raided a public homeless camp, state workers threw away personal In the most recent move against the outdoor camps, public neighborhood cool center when belongings. The people just moved opinion and awareness brought temperatures rise into the danger elsewhere. Civil liberty attorneys hundreds of citizens and social zone. The homeless, many rallied to help the people whose service agencies to the aid of the neighborhood seniors and others seek refuge at the Drop Inn Center wh n rights had been violated by the so­ people who want to exercise their called sweeps and things died down right to live outdoors. Hours before the temperatures get unbearable for a while. the Cincinnati police moved in to outside. But Now Mayor remove the campers, a law firm Luken and others voluntarily stepped in and filed a folk decide to are talking again motion to block the illegal evictions. take up residence about how these The campers rose up and decided outdoors anyway that they weren't going to be moved, rather than stay in camps offend · tourists who see the shelters and them when they Thanks to public opinion and resolve some homeless led by fellow camper Don Henry. deal with curfews drive into the city. on the part of the campers, the little and crowds. Even the guy won this one, for now. We will . Governor of Ohio Summer see how this plays out in federal is not the "slow has gotten into the court. Meanwhile the press and the season" for the discussion. A talk shows are having a field day homeless. There radio talk-show with the issue. The public is no slow season suggested the discussion heard has been both for people removal of "tlrese- sympatlietic without homes. people" because Homelessness they are smelly does not take a and might end,·but the little guy got his frighten little moment to tell the story. Don children. Another Henry, bridge resident talked about tying leader o vacation. Living outdoors in the . summer can be Don Henry [ ads a sidewalk protest The City may win out in the them up, just as dangerous ting. At least people are talking about it. uctant me ess protesters said what anyone would say if their as during the winter. The park bench throwing them into the back of a home was threatened, "They will is just as hard, the weather just as truck and hauling them away. have to handcuff me and carry me The irony of this is not lost challenging and cruel, the life just as out of here. This is my home." In Cincinnati, there seems to forgotten,-and the City. continues to on me. We are living in a city with a be as ruthless as ever. national reputation for segregation be a home for you only if you look and racial discord. My street in or act a certain way, spend money a decided to take up arms against Over-the-Rhine is a blatant open-air certain way, and live by standards homeless campers living on public drug market. The schools are that leave no room for the less property. They are threatening and crumbling. People are fleeing the fortunate. I continue to be amazed harassing the people who live city in record numbers. The by the resolve of homeless folk, and Homeless Coalition office was disgusted by the ways of the City. Once again th City has outside, under bridge overpasses and Vendor: 80 cents * Printing and Production: 20 cents her our ollar oes The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal overhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. Please call our office at 421-7803 for more informa­ tion about the program. Many thanks for your support. �STREETVIBES Page 3 August, 2003 ON A SCALE OF- ONE TO A HUNDRED, HOW MUCH DO YOU DISAGREE WITH THE CITY'S TREATMENT OF CINCINNATI'S HOMELESS? ----------------------- 1 w111 0111E: --------, []] I s21 I- I S4• I I s11 I I s11-I ls111I He's only 18 months old and already he's trapped in the cycle of homelessness in Cincinnati. His mother needs an affordable place to live and a job with a living wage as she escapes a life of domestic violence. The current treatment of homeless individuals in our city means that he may never be able to live in a home of his own. There are 25,000 people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. More than one-third of those are women and children. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addres ing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and coordination of services, we ·can end homelessness in our city. The more support we have from the community, the further our efforts reach. Please cut the coupon and pick a box. It could mean that one less child will have to live in one. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Greater Cincinnati Coc;dition For The Homeless L------------------------------------- I I �STREETVIBES August, 2003 next day... she didn't show up! ... imagine that. Could it be that it is easier to beg for money than to put . in a honest days work? You remember that phrase don't you? We would like to hear from you - please address letters and comments to; "Honest days work".... Even the Salvation Army just rings _a bell ... they don't confront you for a contribution. Streetvibes, 1506 Elm Street, Why should these individuals be (or) email to: only place these "unmotivated" permitted to act any differently? Cincinnati Ohio 45202 As far as I'm concerned the. Streetvibes@juno.com individuals should beg is in front of Readers respond to homeless evictions .... Dear Ms. Getty, You are wrong. I read your cotnments in an article regarding the eviction of homeless people your building every time you are entering or exiting it. If you had . your head on straight you would be counseling these folks in what it takes to get them back on their feet. .. not encouraging them to continue to be involved in this self from under the overpasses. I, humiliation! Your not part of the being a Cincinnati resident, am for . problem! You should be ashamed removing them. I know there are shelters and other places they could solution, you're part of the of yourself! Page 4 Waiting for City to Decide by Elaine Coffey In waiting for the city to decide exactly what the heck they are doing I'm finding out that most .citizens are not aware of any of the panhandling issues or what they reall.x_ are. Issue # 1. Panhandling became the city's problem when our brilliant Councilmembers decided to take all of the activities from downtown and build the Riverfront area up. Well we don't want to place all the blame on you Charlie, but here it goes! town. There was an excellent individual has a right to free speech . , at my personal expense no matter what their personal situation is at the time!! I have personally offered to give a beggar a job· at my plant in Memphis ... and guess what... the Georgine Getty with our Quality of Life, Safety and stayed open all night, a porno film Welfare, VOTE. While being a good citizen, I registered for the CINCINNATI PANHANDLERS We had Morgana, that LICENSE, with the City of would jump out from the crowd Cincinnati seal. Look close. It and chase Johnny Bench around really says; CITY OF the field, and added attractions CINCINNATI REGISTRATION were that both teams (Red/ Bengals) were very-well organized. They brought the fans downtown. FOR SOLICITATION - OOPS! xplain to me this meaning of solicitation. This registration does So many more people not provide for any ty spoke to each other. They were ocial services, employment, education, gainf11lly eJ.Ilployed. Try speaking housing, or medical plans. The to someone in this town. Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the "HELLO?" - no response, it is Homeless made a suggestion almost like pulling teeth. If you city for place don't feeling like speaking, just ocial Services WORKER to provide this smile. Your faces will not fall off. and DCI (Downtown Cincinnati Inc.) is willing to provide $25,000. How do you expect visitors to come to Cincinnati and they are Why is that the city not will to not feeling welcomed? There is match this sum? At lease give it just nothing for the people here to one try. There are some wonderful do. Even the police shut down - people that are homeless, willing to try to get a car to come after 2:30 p.m. I don't care what community you are in. I am seeing no work, educated and dependable, only needing affordable housing· and employment to maintain. investment in the children or the Some, with treatment, are available seniors of this town. The flowers and will work. Come on citizens, and the tree get more attention yes, it is rough for a lot of people. than the people that paid for them But am I my Brother's (Bicentennial Commons and Sawyer Point). Yes, I would like office that will make dangerous decisions for us, and all year, adult book shop that Fountain had many fans.. That's a hassle!!! And no who we place i parlor that stayed open all night Georgine Getty Responds.... Thank confront you asking for moriey ! change. We have to take charge of shows, the Skywalk, the ice cream dangerous and restricted areas. I · to explain that everything must remember at least three movie house, The Playboy Club, and the you for your comments and con­ cerns about this issue. The social that have that purpose. If we allow services of Cincinnati are-wonder­ . people to camp out anywhere they ful. However, two points remain: like, you might as well set up tents 1. There is not enough outreach on Fountain Square. Instead of being conducted to engage with criticizing the actions of the city, people who are not already benefit­ why don't you go down there and ing from the system. This is why we help these people find someplace to asked the City of Cincinnati to o.. Seems that would be a better commit money to an outreach use of your time. program that targeted panhan­ Jeffrey dlers. We were turned down in favor of their punitive, money­ Georgine, wasting registration program. Saw you on Hannity (Fox 2. People have a constitutional TV) last nite. · Just want you to right to live under the bridge, be in know you are a real piece of work. public, address people, and walk And I don't mean that in a around like any other American complimentary way. It gets tiring, citizen. They are not causing any listening to the same old liberal harm except to those people who comments by left wing trash like are profoundly troubled by looking you. Why is it, that you could not poverty directly in the face. And answer Sean Hannity's questions? my message to these folks is to help Any tiine you liberals cannot or will us end homelessness rather than not answer a question, you always hide it away. try to deflect off to a different Self-determination does not subject. The regular (normal) encourage "self-humiliation" as people of society have had enough Mr. Page suggests. I encourage of the people you purport to each of us to look within our hearts defend. Why don't you get a real and find patience, concern and .job? most of all compassion until this Don Salamon situation can be resolved for the benefit of everyone involved. Ms. Getty, And as for Mr. Salamon, the I read a quote from you on work we perform at the Greater the Fox website portraying the Cincinnati Coalition for the Home­ registering of the homeless as "this less is the most important work added hassle" and a infringement there is; we help restore dignity on the rights of free speech. and end homelessness everyday. I I'll tell you what a hassle is, consider that the most "real" job having one of these individ11als anyone could ever hope to have. In this article I am hoping quality of life in Cincinnati. I Jim Page and volunteered for organizations Elaine Coffey In 1974, I moved to this be rather than on public property in know this because I have donated · keeper? Y ES I AM! Needing your · to know where that $200,000 came from and where is it going to be placed? Just a thought, if there is any left over, would the city spend that money against DCI? Yes the. people are coming downtown and going across the river enjoying life. feedback: E-mail me at elainecoffy@yahoo.com Until next time. If you can't be a part of the soultion, don't be a part of the problem! See ya, for now. �STREETVIBES Page 5 August, 2003 . The Homeless Made My Day condition they were in. There are by Mrs. Mary Gaffney I was sitting at my desk one day and thinking about something that had happened unexpectedly. I was very happy and surprised by it. T o formerly homeless guys I had met three years ago had stopped by the Homeless Coalition office one ways to speak to people without being harsh or bitter. As the old saying goes; you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. On the recent day when I got to see and greet my two homeless friends who had not forgotten me, and I remembered them, I recalled afternoon this week where I now how you never know what is in work. These guys had been making their home under the 1-4 7 1 bridge that time long ago. I grew store for you in the life you have to share with your fellow man. As we travel the road of life remember, it is no harm to to know them speak to someone and they were with a tone of very polite to Do you have a favorite Stre_etvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about? . Send us your Storie$ or comments to: Streetvibes@juno.com or Streetvibes 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 gentleness, or me. During bad take time to say weather, they 'hello" or to would be at reach out to help Court and a person in need Walnut Streets, or give a-kind and where I'd be, gentle word or getting off one smile or a little bus to transfer to advice. I say another in order today to my two to get to the office, and they DEAR READERS! Send us your Vendor Stories Miss Mary Gaffney would be there saying, "How are you, Ms. Mary?" When they came into the homeless friends who I once knew as the homeless are on their way to a better life. No more underpasses or bridges will they have to call office they would share with me their personal stories or sometimes about problems that occurred in home. To my friends, Bob and Dave, I say to you, God bless you. Because I always told you many the streets. Yesterday, after three times regardless of what came up years, I got off my bus at Court and Walnut Streets and someone or what ever problem, remember,. called out my name. Then there you are somebody. These words I were two voices, "Ms. Mary!" At will always share with you. first it startled me but when I Remember them and.keep them. looked, I didn't recognize them These are my friends and if I can without the rugged beards and long say a kind word of encouragement hair. I recognized the smiles or a smile then I'll have a beautiful though;. these were my two day, shared with my homeless friends. Good luck Bob and Dave. homeless friends. Now they were casually dressed, with hair cuts, but I still · recognized them. My first question was to ask them where had they been these past years. They said that they no longer lived in Cincinnati, and now have good jobs. They talked about their jobs and the company they worked for. One of them was about to get married, and he promised to let me know when. No, I hadn't fussed or preached at them anytime they had come into the office those many years ago, regardless of the Privatizing the budget surplus. �STREETVIBES August, 2003 Page 6 _ The Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland The decisions of the Supreme Court this week in reaffirming affirmative action and the privacy rights of homosexual couples ·are welcome events that reverberate in the Peace Village. Racial justice and civil rights for all are basic goals for the Peace Village. Doing posters with team member and multi-talented artist, Amos Hopkins, and a dozen youth artists at a site that was part of our riots two years ago; Findlay Market, brought home just how different the inner city world is. from the rest of our city and region. Amos' program, "Arts in the Market," is helping to design a mural, made from these posters by inner city kids, to .be placed in our large inner city market. The· · mural will be displayed in a totally rebuilt meat and vegetable market that is surrounded by one of the worst looking ghettos in Cincinnati. Buildings that are burnt out shells, along with some of the city's oldest housing structures are in every view from -- the restored and almost completely opened market. We sat outside of the I market, under a walkway, making posters on a table thrown together with a slat of wood of a supporting structure, in a bright and warming sun. The youth had stories to say and draw, concerns that ranged the gamut from drugs,· murder, guns, to facing the reality that people, no matter what is invading their lives, need hope. Our posters, hanging from the poles that held the market up, on fragile duct tape, spoke of this abiding hope. These youth, really children, wanted an affirmative action city and neighborhood, a place where the old ravages of urban abandonment, planned urban destruction through overcrowding, and ineffective policing, co _ uld be replaced by physical spaces of safety, compassion, and just plain neighborliness. "There need to be jobs," one beautiful poster shouted out,. affirmative jobs for all those people surrounding the market who had no place to go and nothing to do on a early and beautiful Summer day except dream of what isn't. We needed affirmative actions of beauty, places in our neighborhood that were allocations of caring and compassion. "Why not a mural and a community of love?," another poster beckoned to us. . The artist, a very young, very shy, and very beautiful little one, by Terrence McNally, "Corpus makes it dangerous to both teach Christi," that recently came and making that moment a shining example of affirmation. For moments, we were affirmative viewpoint. I felt the play and serious retelling of the strengthened our ability to tolerate Passion Play, that asked if Jesus action. We redrew our city, placed would have accepted gays, including himself if gay, brol).gh ' t in a minimum quota of softness, gende acts of compassion. We had that conversation about the magical way a city could be colored so that the and tolerate the different just left. The play, a delightful our own madness for tolerance, / gave us the joy of laughing, at times, at ourselves, and I returned · trem ndous protest to the ,outside to the powerful point of finding of the theater by local and the capacity to continue to support Pennsylvania group_s seeking to this wonderful idea of difference. I would have loved to do rainbows in each posters with the audience and the person could shine out protesters outside and to see if we of the window, onto the could share our perspectives after streets and into the seeing this play. I brought some families that embraced cardboard into the play and did them and the children. some drawings that I hope to A breeze blew through share with the director and cast. the market, lifting the posters ever so The opportunity to deepen our education continues, now, without _ delightfully in a kind of the benefit of this extraordinary dance of cardboard. performance. Clearly, the play We laughed as they unleashed so. many feelings for seemed to flap and those of us who were there in any wave at us, at the form. But, where can we find a market, and at our pretend. forum to discuss our differences, Dr. Steve Sunderland hear the pain on all sides, and Amos helped struggle together for mutual me bring the materials back to my car and we felt that we had started a day of affirmative action on a . street that cried out for some change. 'This program may die after this Summer;" Amos said as linger in our ears as we hugged abut the direct cost of prejudice in strong and difficult task facing our society and in education in peace keepers who are working particular? What the Supreme Court decision rem o c . play wer.e asking for a rethinking race prejudice is one of the glues of whether one idea of Jesus the lines of the youth we worked dedicated this morning to a belief that this program and the hope it represents for us will continue. The Supreme Court's decision to allow homosexuals privacy rights falls on Cincinnati like _a gentle Summer rain. Seeds of struggling for rights to be married, to hold ceremonies that honor gays and lesbians, along with rights to just be .able. to express feelings about difference have been planted in our Spring of conflict. Just last month, a local should be the only one portrayed changed, melted, and refo into a learning-eK-p expelled for wanting to go on with honoring marriages and holding discussing amongst themselves at mostly all white civic the wrong headed position that organizations, schools, many of us represented. Other neighborhoods, and churches in protesters were prepared to fight, our community and see the to curse, to raise the level of consequences in terms of conflict so that their point could additional hurdles added to those be driven home. I wondered how safe Stef, the supporters, and the color, I feel that this decision is of us of color just because of cast and I were at these moments. too little and too late. Yet, the The cast seemed totally unaffected American door stays open a little by the stress and conflict outside while longer, and the children of the theater (a stage, ironically, in a our city, looking ahead to college church basement). Their and jobs, will have this decision performance was a gem: the to study and implement. There can be a mural, I glistening and suggestive of the think, that stretches across our beauty in this difficult story. city, of the dreams of our community, our entire community. I left the theater asking the marriages for homosexuals. Hearings that sounded like medieval drama were held to try the minister as hundreds of that can strengthen everyone. When I look · points they made were sharp, Presbyterian minister was at of our society that needs to be in any form. Many of the protesters were civil, praying and with were drawn, and we question about how love can be We are drawing this mural in the so brutally turned into hate, all in Peace Village, one poster and one the name of love. Each religion community at a time. seems to cry out for one approach parishioners walked outside the to love and, then, twisted to church holding posters of protest. Grief and anger ensue. Yet, there was hope and beauty captured in Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor supporting a kirid of faith that is of Social Work at the University violent, at times. Beneath all of of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of the "drama" outside the theater, the annual Cincinnati Pride March indivitJ.uals from the national and and in the play, were fundamental as thousands marched in support international community questions that are as relevant to of diversity and especially the committed to examining all issues Cincinnati as they are to Israel, right to be gay. Right in the of Peace in the world. Dr. Argentina, or Nigeria. We middle of the march, a gigantic Sunderland also heads up educators are faced with a rain storm came and we marched reception to the controversial play seemingly dangerous viewpoints support the play, I again felt the many know and still cannot face: mural, the call for another view, Not so happy was the Jesus. Standing in a protest to difference. Those protesting the and hoped for a miracle. The on, soaked and delighted. respect for different and toward some form of tolerance for we put the. markers and cardboard in my car. We let this sentence s op the play because it "insulted" Posters-for-Peace which engages difficult task of making the many · points clear and encouraging tolerance for difference, even though our culture of violence · people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words, through the creation of posters. �STREETVIBES .l'agc 7 August, 2003 true change. More information on the initiative can be found at www.carenotcash.org. .A second person has been charged in the murder of Gregory Biggs , a homeless man who was hit by a car and left Compiled by Molly Rhodes Seizing on the chance to make a statement about homelessness the whole world will see and hear, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty plans to take over an abandoned building in Toronto to coincide with a visit by the Pope the end of July. The Pope Squat, as it's known, is designed to harness the socially active energy of the many Catholic organizations that are expected to descend on Ontario, to start making real progress towards the creation of enough affordable housing to house everyone who needs it. According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Toronto Social Housing Connections had 60,870 stuck in the windshield until he housing, then we will!" over how to best serve their to reaching the November ballot. Earlier this month, Supervisor Gavin Newsom submitted s"ignatures to City Hall for his Care . Not Cash initiative, which would take the money that is currently been given directly to homeless people to more or less use as they please - between $320 and $395 per person on average -. and redirect it into specific programs to provide services and support for these people. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the proposed initiative has support among people Squatters intend to form a self­ individuals who have no intention center, and to keep it going for as long as the world's spotlight as too tempting for families and of using the money to do anything but feed habits, such as using drugs and alcohol, that only keep them prevents the Toronto police from homeless. Yet critics doubt that the visit as an opportunity to literally created the current homeless crisis evicting them. "We see the Papal get our foot in the door," reads the Coalition's website, www.ocap.ca. "If the city won't build social same city officials who have will be able to put together the kind of programs needed to help people put their lives back together. The only things that these two groups do agree in is that, despite throwing more than KTB AMKlltCAH Street Newspaper· A880()lATlON . $ 1 00 million towards the homeless problem every year, the city is not doing nearly enough to bring about 12) Clete Jackson was indicted for evidence tampering for removing Biggs from the clients has come one step closer who see the current cash give away managed house and community page Francisco homeless advocates applications for affordable housing in May to fill 337 vacancies. died. (See complete story on T he fight between San windshield after he died and · dumping his body in a park, in an apparent attempt to cover up the hit and run by his friend, Chante Mallard, the driver of the car. Mallard was indicted for murder in April, and is awaiting trial in jail on $250,000 bail. Loss of airline traffic could be a gain for homeless families living in the vicinity of John F. Kennedy airport in New York, where a Manhattan federal bankruptcy judge has order the owners of a closed airport hotel to reopen the space as a shelter for homeless families. According to Newsday, the shelter will be run by the Salvation Army through the end of September and will provide a home for at least 10 families as they seek permanent housing. The owner of the hotel has also begun negotiations to perhaps extend the shelter lease beyond September, but business owners near the Queens airport don't like the idea of a shelter in the middle of a prosperous strip of real estate. "While we are concerned about the plight of homeless families," said Queens Borough President Helen Marshall in a press release, "we cannot stand by and watch them warehoused in a totally inappropriate site that is near the epicenter of an economic development renaissance." Streetvibes Vendor Code Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct ... 1. Streetvibes will be distributed for a $ 1 the sale of Streehlibes will go to the individual voluntary donation. I agree not to ask for donations of vendor. Falsely stating intent or otherwise mis­ able to keep 80 cents of each dollar collected. may be cause for arrest. more than $ 1 . I also understand that I will be 2. Streetvibes may only be purchased from the representing is a vio ation of a city ordinance and 8. (GCCH). Purchasing or selling unauthorized papers, or from other vendors, will result in . termination from the program. 3. I agree that I will not ask for donations or attempt 4. I agree to treat others with respect - other ven­ 5. to vend after 1 2 midnight. I will always present my badge when purchasing papers, and I will display my badge at all times Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 9. while vending. Replacement badges are $5 each. There are no.territories. I agree that I will not contest territories with other distriQutors. I will not sell on private property without permission. 10. I understand that Streetvibes strives to be a self­ supporting paper created by people who are . dors, customers, and GCCH personnel. homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this I will not sell Streetvibes while under the influence effort, I will of drugs or alcohol. 6. I will not give a "hard sell" or make someone feel 7. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I threatened. 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 try to spread the word and write stories if possible. 11. I understand that failure to comply with any of the above statements will result in termination from the Streetvibes vendor program. GCCH reserves the right to terminate a vendor at any time as deemed appropriate. · �STREETVIBES Au . gust; 2003 The Stench of Poverty downtown to be panhandled in the . by Amy Allen · I recently watched with fascimition the Fox News national first place? But'perhaps this statement coverage of Cincinnati1s new has some merit. After all, ordinance for the registration of shouldn't we be afraid of the panhandlers. One of the homeless? Couldn't we, safe for enlightened hosts (I never could the moment in middle class distinguish who was who, other complacency, become homeless at than to discern that one was any time? One ill-timed layoff, one moderately conservative while the devastating medical bill, one other was rabidly so), said, escape from an abusive "Frankly, a lot of people see relationship, or just a string of homeless people and they1re afraid. could be out on the streets. Will with children and they see we then ha.ve the tenacity to be homeless people that have old dirty seen begging for the money to clothes, they1re afraid of them." survive? Or will we stay safely He later stated that when "families hidden from the people who might . be afraid of us? with children" encountered the homeless, who also "perhaps have some body odor," it was "a very of "mothers and fathers with children" who have the right not to smelly people in dirty clothes. assumptions behind them can shed What families with children are Perhaps it will make the children of "non-lethal violence" in that question why they have so much same time period. These hate and others have so little. Or perhaps they will question why a lot of people are afraid of these crimes were motivated, mostly, by the simple fact of the victims poverty. Indeed, we should people in dirty old clothes with definitely find panhandling a very body odor issues. All in all, I can threatening experience. So the national coverage of understand why this situation could be frightening to many parents. ·Finally, let1s look at panhandling itself as a "very threatening experience." · According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (www.nationalhomeless.org), the number of homeless people killed . between 1 999 and 2001 by "housed the Cincinnati issue was indeed an eye opening experience for me. Next time I encounter a threatening and dirty person who asks me for change, I will be sure to call the nearest police officer to protect myself and any nearby children from the stench of poverty. these? Are they the 40% of the behind Cincinnati's criminalization national homeless population that of poverty. is made up of families? Are they First of all, I wonder who homeless people experienced acts be threatened and intimidated by profound statements to see if the more light on the assumptions people" was 110. Meanwhile, 1 40 difficult questions of their parents. Next, let1s examine the idea threatening experience'." Let1s unpack these clothes" may make children ask ·unfortunate events., and we too If you have mothers and fathers Page 8 Editorial the families who live next to the the "a lot of' people are who are drug dealers that Cincinnati1s afraid of the homeless. In her police force is too overworked to statement on the show, the director for the Greater Cincinnati get off the streets? Are they part 0 of the 52% of homeless families Coalition for the Homeless, who were turned away from very eompetitive rat lack of facilities? Are these . per month. ···· ··· . am volu11te < . OurW-t! . {\idlltl be'.a seri dti Georgine Getty, stated that 65% of Cincinnati's population opposed the new panhandling ordinance. If . 65% of Cincinnati's population is opposed to the registration of the 100 or so homeless people who actually panhandle in Cincinnati, is children part of the 1 . 35 million " 39% of the total United States Cincinnati c u En r the Homeless homeless population? But we should be worried that children might _be exposed to who are afraid when they see poverty, especially with mothers majority of citizens ever venture . who are homeless every year, the the other 45 % the "a lot" of people homelessness? If so, will this vast tliiit: r¢a.clis aHt)µt ,l'S €),{}O peopi emergency shelter in 2001 due to and fathers in tow. The sight, or smell, of a panhandler in "dirty, old ··· H_elp build a powerful, resident led organizationl Thefe fif. iluifz iblis income residents in Over-the-Rhine and they are going strong. Block clubs .are forming in e . !m8m; or apization. . Thi could 11 lude asKing your friends and f(l.mily for donations t? res7(1.rchiJig an w t ng grants for ()Ur excellent programs. · ' The Streetvibes . l ays, 11. · neetl of people interested ill . c:onnecting;):Vith the vendors and th <ifeater Ci fi natfi Coalition. . for the: Homeless. We;are h lping th willing (o work with each poetry, or personal stqries. 9l i · c "' n 'rtJi ervice · . tsng lit.ior opportunity t . ' i the . The fozli ing are.a few .... . fun opportunities Jor ollinteers at i Clubs are fig hting for the rights of low- volunteer that would like to ll J¥ 1?a1? rg.w ject · The Repu blic Street & Vine Street Block v-m<l · y f;;. ··hthe rite . ed.h Pm . the v····i .;. !i . . · 'aftemo6ris anhe front tlesk: \ an erihgp ones an(ihandlin .. reetvifA f tip ) ;: Ventlors: . · ill · ad<iress th F hfr ; othe . r parts of the neigh borhood, too. ic es on so.ci.al justice/poverty-iss.ues, ' Call the Contact Center at 381-4242 or stop by 1227 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine to a 'Yays nee .,. for elp witti bulk niaijings. learn more about how you can get involved i .M with these resident led organizations. ,ngs! repqrt, qu 9 .tij ·. p,11ual,. , , iy news,letter, arid v<µi.ous C(l.p tol c mpaigns. While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. If yo°ii are ihtet sted in o en ·e,?uf' . ·• \ .· t · Stree yibes prqgram, we are searcipng for vp!unteef; to solicit . ·advertisements from local busirie e . If your business or a .. busiJ?. ss you know of would like to ad. f!ise irrpnr pap r, we offer voiunteering at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, please contact the office at 421 -7803, a visit us at 1 50(') Elm Street in,Over-the- Rhili.e =\+ · , �STREETVIBES Page 9 August, 2003 Poets Against the War Sam Hamill, Artistic Director, poetsagainstthewar.org "All I ask is that, in the midst of a murderous worl.d, we Poets Against the War. Our accomplishments have been bold has been accomplished because_ poets gave their art and hearts and money to make it work. The war, however, has only and vivid, subtle and modest. just begun. The Bush policies have Both the electronic anthology of been somewhat reinforced, at least agree to reflect on murder and to 1 3,000 poems and the now best­ for the short run, thanks to make a choice. After that, we. can selling print selection from it have manipulative, flag-waving media. distinguish those who accept the made history. Our actions in Poets Against the War will remain consequences of being murderers creating national and international an active organization opposing themselves or the accomplices of days of poetry readings against new and continuing wars and new murderers, and those who refuse to war have also been historical "patriotic acts." Now it is time for Dante put the defilers of language into the seventh circle of his Hell. Our liberties are defined by a few " clear, simple words The history of poetry is filled with advocacy, private and public. It is our privilege to draw on that history and to educate our friends and neighbors - and ourselyes - to extend the vast pleasures and wisdom of poetry as peaceful world together. .Jn long-range - ..a force and being. planning. For that Since this terrible reason, the Board telling the story, in singing the dividing line does of Directors has actually exist, it will appointed Andy be a gain if it be Himes to the clearly marked. position of Over the expanse of Executive five continents Director. I will throughout the continue to serve do so with all their · · coming years an on the board between violence aided by an and friendly Advisory persuasion, a Committee of struggle which, poets to be named within the month. has a thousand firsts. We have established a to extend our message and provide worldwide network for poets valuab e information, as well as , always hel.d that, if he who bases opposed to George Bush's threat opening a forum where poets may his hopes on human nature is a of worldwide "pre-emptive" war explore strategies and propose fool, he who gives up in the face of circumstances is a coward. And and his creation of a United States actions. We have drawn our line in the sand. Our tools are everyone's henceforth, the only honorable nation. We have joined with other tools : the simple words we use course will be to stake everything anti-war and human rights almost thoughtlessly every day, but Only a few well-chosen words can make peace. And even then, only when we are willing to fully inhabit those words. To live by them. Sometime within the month, poetsagainstthewar. org will once again begin publishing new poetry on our web site. May we all find those few right words we can live by. use in our art with scrupulous on a formidable gamble: that organizations to broaden and words are more powerful than deepen our opposition to this honesty and precision. I am munitions. " Albert Camus administration's policies as more Confocian enough to believe that and more people become ·aware of "All wisdom is rooted in learning the terrible consequences we all to call things by the right name,. " face. All of this, and much more, And we poets understand why SIR. AS A MORALE OOSTER FOR THE EMPLOYEES... damage done by inappropriate deceptive misnomer. We will continue founder-and primary spokesman of come to understand the terrible metaphor and deliberately granted, the former has been my privilege to serve as sooner we shall understand the consequences of our actions. The better our poetry, the better we . Artistic Director, For the past six months, it beautiful and the deceitful. The through the deliberately warped going to be pursued that is in fact and deed a rogue behind the words, both the language of this administration, the while acting as than does the latter. But I have song, there is always the poetry more peop_le learn to see clearly endless struggle is times more chances of success ...YOU MIGHT CONSIOER A VOLUNTARY PAY COT. · we explore ideas, working to make 1 Peas lee Neighborhood Center 2 1 5 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhi ne Ci nci nnati , Oh i o 45202 (513) 621-5514 WHICH OF THE EMPLOYEES SHOULD I VOLUNTEER? Empoweri ng our neighborhood chi ldren through peace , art and educati on �STREETVIBES August, 2003 Page 10 · Homeless Save Camps.... Cont from Page · 1 The City's approach does nothing_ to prevent homelessness or lessen poverty. The City rarely shows any desire to attack the root causes of homelessness - like rising unemployment or rising housing costs. They just want to move people from under bridges. When camps are swept, the people who lived there move somewhere less visible, and then the City is happy because the homeless are out of sight and out of mind. Social service agen_cies in the area are trying a different . approach. Outreach workers stress the need to first build a relationship with people, earn their trust, and then help them get into the services they need. This approach works, ril}fre but it takes time. Uncompassionate approaches like the sweeps of hoµieless camps (and the recently passed legislation that helps the city put more panhandlers behind bars) only make matters worse. Don says he knows the people of Cincinnati are generally . compassionate people. "There's a minister who comes down to talk Some of the campers under the 3rd Street b · ' wants to make sure people see that. He's earning that right. And he citizens in the futur . Especially other homeless_people. "I' m not really doing this for me," Don explains. "I' m doing this to help all the people who live out here." .· So far things are working / . out. On July 2 1 si, Judge Dlott r extended the restraining orde to me every Sunday," he says. "I . 20 days. On August 1 1 th, an9ther hearing will be held to dete,rhrine tell him not to give up on me. One the fate of the bridge sw9ips, the day I'IJ get out of here " Don plans to stay under his . panhandling ordinance ihnd the way the city will t ea s homeless bridge for a little while anyway. The Restraining Order ·/ r,Jo - "Wolf' leads protestors at the intersection near the 3rd Street bridge The news media had a field day �Au gust, 2003 STREETVIBES The Homeless Man Page 11 ' It was a cold winter 's day that Sunday. The pafking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car that fellow churc_h members were whispering among themselves as they walked to · the church. As I got closer I saw a man leaned up against the wal outside the church. He was almost lying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet with holes all over them, his toes stuck Th rou g h · u r Eyes Reflect!ons on Horne1essness out. I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me. A few moments later church began. We all waited for the Preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up on to the pulpit he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. Jhere stood our preacher. . .he was the "homeless man." No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on the stand. "Folks, I don't think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today. If I can help somebody as I pass along. If I can cheer somebody with_ a word or song. If l can show somebody that he's traveling wrong. Then my living shall not be in vain." Commun ity f,l source Cards ...,....·. / / / . F'f¢tf g/1flu1{MtipY!ni 'lr t:i!11iruN1.IJ Ml./kr fMti't ,_ ' HiJ.h .�JJInni tire �IP CiJlo"nafi �ilu� for t'iie 1'}{!htdMJ. A The book, Th rough Our Eyes, a collaboration of Cincinnati '.s Mother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ tion for the Homeless.... Through Our Eyes: Reflections on Homelessness takes you on a experiential journey of learning by high - Rockdale Temple has announced the release of the latest in its series of Community Resource Cards. The new one, printed in Spanish, is customized for school _students as they leave their subm;ban comfort zones to explore the world of the inner-city homeless of Cincinnati. A collaboration of Cincinnati's Mother of the needs of Cincinnati's rapidly growing Hispanic/ Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ Latino population. tion for the Homeless, The tri-fold, plastic cards are funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a project , of Rockdale Temple, in consultation with Bienstar, Su Casa and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. In addition to the Hispanic Resource Card, the Resource · Card Project has also produced cards for senior citizens, the ho eless, and public school and Catholic school students covering the Tri-state area. Cards can be ordered from: cc 5300 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio · 45224 #2 10 Proofreader/Copy Editor Strata-G Communications and formerly homeless individuals, reflections, art­ the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless for $10 each, plus $3 shipping and handling. 506 Elm Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202. more information call (513) 421-7803 Homeless, For SOLUTION S pastries : · 11379 Montgomery (513) 469-1111 Road , 3366 Erie Avenue East Hyde Park (513) 533-3402 51 3/381 -8855 7896 Montgomery (513) 891- 7740 51 3/381 -0385 (fax) Make checks payable to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the 250 W. Court Street Suite 400W Cincinnati, OH 45202 - work and photography. The books are available from generous donation of coffee and S T R A T A - G f mrnmunfcatfons Brad Crawford munity about homelessness through stories of homeless these Starbucks locations for their (5 13) 541-0099 MARKETING educate other high school students and the larger com­ The GCCH would like to thank or send a fax request to: i N T E G R AT E D Through Our Eyes attempts to Road · / �Page 12 · August, 2003 .S TREETVIBES Woman Gets 50 Years for Windshield Death by Angela K. Brown, Associated Press Writer comment afterward. A jury sentenced a former nurse's aide to 50 years in prison counseled Mallard in jail as part of "My heart is heavy truly heavy," said Norma Carethers, who a chaplain program. t took the jury less than an hour to convict Mallard, who after a night of drinking and using drugs last month for leaving an accident victim to die a slow death while lodged in the broken windshield of struck Biggs, 37, with her car about her car. 3 a.m. on Oct. 26, 200 1 . She drove Chante Mallard, 27, could . have receivecf anywhere from five : . home with the man crurilpied in the years probation to life in prison for windshield and left him in her murdering Gregory Biggs. She and her family cried after the . garage to die. Medical experts testified that Biggs was alive for one or two hours after being hit and probably would have survived had he sentence was read. ''There's no winners in a case like this. Just as we all lost Greg, you all will be losing your daughter," Biggs' son, Brandon, told Mallard's family in a received medical help. Defense attorney Jeff statement he read in court after the sentence was announced. Brandon Biggs told Mallard he accepted the apology she tearfully offered on the witness stand, "but in return I hope that you will accept my forgiveness and I hope you will accept the forgiveness of Jesus Christ." Both families declined to Kearney said he was disappointed with the length of the sentence, which was announced after jurors deliberated about 2 1 /2 hours. He said an appeal is planned. "We certainly knew it would be a significant prison sentence · based on all the evidence but we were hoping it would be somewhat lighter," he said. Mallard told the jury Thursday that she was sorry, for a couple of years after loaning adding that she didn't call for help because she was scared and didn't know what to do. But prosecutor girlfriend money and then losing his truck and horrie. Biggs' battered body was found in a park the day after he Richard Alpert said Friday that the case "is all about selfishness." "Some people lack the moral fiber to do the right thing," was hit. Authorities had no leads in the death untilfour months later, when one of Mallard's he said. "A man is lying in her car acquaintances called police and said she had talked about the accident at a party. moaning and bleeding and she needs someone to telf her. what to do? Any decent person would call for help." Officers went to Mallard's house and found the bloodstained, dented car. , They also found the . passenger seat burned in the back yard. Before her trial began Monday, Mallard pleaded guilty to t pering with evidence by burning Kearney told jurors that Mallard would not have left the man to die if she hadn't been under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and Ecstasy. Alpert, who had told jurors that Mallard deserved life in prison, said he was pleased with the sentence. "We just wanted.to point the bloody car seat. On that charge she was sentenced to 1 0 years in prison, to be served concurrently with the murder sentence. A friend of Mallard's and his cousin pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence by dumping the body. Clete Jackson and Herbert Cleveland received prison sentences of 1 0 years and nine years, respectively. out that this was a serious case and it needed a serious punishment," he said. Brandon Biggs testified earlier in the week that his father took medication for bipolar disorder and mild schizophrenia. He said Biggs had been homeless Homelessness Doesn't Discri minate, but People Do His heart and compassion is great with a sweet smile that seems to always exist on his face. He has by Patti McKenzie . Since I was young, I had always had a heart for the homeless, poor and needy. My husband, Geoff and I moved to Williamsburg, VA in October for tried to get help from our local . organizations, including our · personal reasons. I had done work in the town we moved from for over six years, and I wanted to continue the work here in Williamsburg. It took awhile to get started because many of the hom.eless and working poor aren't noticeable. They dress nice, keep clean and there's no shelter here, where they can go or anyone who Community Service Board, but because he lost his ID; he falls through the crack. But since we have been working with him, he is learning to slowly cut back on his drinking, in order for tis to help him get a job and with his desire to have a normal life again, he is now beginning to reach out to God for help. Another gentleman has suffered through a drug problem She has 3 young adult boys, with She wants him to finish out this year before she moves to an area ki s, keep a motel room as shelter help from service organizations, but kept being told move away right. We love these people as they are and what we see within them. family struggled to get out of living be or what we think they should do with their life. Everything is in couldn't match a place to live. Last week their daughter had to weeks ago he was given a chance as a bus boy in a local restaurant get shelter. They reached out to a church who put them into a weekly week of our ministry. The . struggles, trials, tribulations and attitudes have been great. In the beginning, the biggest struggle was to get the trust of those we wanted to reach out to. Any test you think they· could put you through, I passed. Slowly they told me their stories. One gentleman ended up ilivorced due to his alcohol problem. Because his family had and moved into a Weekly motel. We offer him help to manage his they can call home. These are just a few an inexpensive motel, the husband weren't willing to reach out any bottle. He is actually our favorite and we have become best friends. license and stable life. longer until he would give lip the motel so their daughter could recuperate. Although they can pay into the other week is a couple was a victim of identity fraud. He fights the courts to prove the tried several times to help; they signature .isn't his that made them lose their credit, job, vehicle, patience. And this is what God asks all of us to do; reach out to · have surgery, which forced them to for some of the weekly cost, the hotels in our area increased the with children and although they finally got the opportunity to live in their time, not ours. To reach out to somebody also means to show both work, their paychecks money and to find a place he can afford to live. As of right now, he· still maintains his job with the hope of having stability in his life. An unusual situation we ran Not for how we think they should · from here. A sweet, hard working services here, but none saw him to be worth the effort. Finally, three best interest, not because you won't help." In many ways they are and give her son a chance at ari education. She also tried to get tried to get help through the · say no when you know 'it is for our struggles t.P get to work, feed her to live, get back on their feet, a friend to fellowship with and a vision of hope. We are now in our 1 2th much respect as you would like us to treat you. Yo!J are human. You cost of living. Until then, she now we have a goal; to get a nobody could reach him. He also need you. You treat us with as . where the pay wages match the in their car and find a place to live. Although the husband and wife shelter for those who need a place different to you in regards to getting help? You are our friend. You are there no matter when we the youngest still in high school. that put him on: the street. He also has family here, but once again, wants to do volunteer work. So and a job. Their stories all vary but their desires remain the same. We have asked _them, "What makes us A lady we work with, has a decent job, but it is located 40 miles from where she once lived. cost due to tourism season. We still help them get contributions for their living until we can find a place examples of the people we try to reach out to, because we have over 20 right now we work with; some literally on the streets and some in weekly ro ms awaiting their chance. The three most common dreams they all share: hope, a home · the poor and needy. Our most recent struggle has been the discrimination we suffer within the neighborhood we live in. We don't have any bi-laws or regulations, but our neighbors are trying to set forth rules for us to adhere to. Although they all claim "This is a just and noble cause you do, we don't want it here in our neighborhood affecting us." We have never stated we wanted the shelter on this street, nor do we intend to establish a Discrim i nate . . . . cont._ next page . - �Page 13 August, 2003 ST REETVl BES Victory For Parents Med icai d Coverage D iscri m i nate . . . . . by Lynn Williams from previous page The Ohio Empowerment shelter in this area. It is too remote and would be hard for those needing help to travel to our area. Coalition, in collaboration with other groups across Ohio, succeeded in convincing state legislators to restore Parents They don't want us doing laundry services at our house because we are all on well systems and we will Medicaid Coverage in the State affect the water supply for all. means that parents who are because we didn't check with the neighbors first. I didn' t think we poverty level or.below will be able They felt like they lost trust in me needed their permission to have friends over, and besides, they have never asked us if it was ok to have visitors at their house. But, we did take fliers around to each house, which included olir intentions for our ministry and request for old clothing, bedding and empty milk JUgs. Because we only rent and don't own the property we live in, we don't have a vested interest in this neighborhood. But does that mean we don't care about where we live or our personal property? These are j ust a few of our neighbors complaints. What caused this uproar within the Budget for 2003 - 2005. This working in low-wage jobs at to continue receiving Medicaid coverage in Ohio. (Poverty level for a family of three is officially set at $ 1 5 ,260.) Approximately 50,000 working parents are currently affected by this decision. In addition, during the course of our campaign, we found parents who were unaware of their eligibility for the program. The campaign served to educate them on what was available for their press conference in Columbus that care subsidies to be restored to health care bills. I would have antibiotic couple of homeless men and brought them to our house one day to grill out, fish and later to have Bible Study. Because we offered the lady with the 3 sons to stay a few nights while we tried to find her a place to live. Oh wait. The neighbors didn't have a problem with that ! Why? Because it was a white family. You see all the others they have complained about were black. My husband and I grew up didn't give me a chance to answer their questions. Since our meeting two weeks ago, our landlords are now trying to evict us with lease violations, that don't exist in our lease. With new added rules such as: nobody can visit or stay more than three days a month and only licensed/insured people can cut our grass or help to clean our house. Will this stop us? NO ! Oh and by the way, my husband, when I met him, was homeless. and added her own "Broken promises, with the high cost of child care. Everyone receiving child care vouchers is expected to pay a co­ payment, with the amount increasing based on income levet. · broken Without any assistance from couldn't lives" when expense." disabled subsidies, child care costs can she saw our · easily eat up a family's budget. afford the Medicaid Child care costs can be similar to dolls who paying for a college education ! bearing the higher the costs are. Yet The younger the child, usually were coverage means adeq ate child care is a main signs much deterrninant of whether parents reading more than just can continue working and stay "Save Parents Health Care." She commented, "All the promises of off the welfare cash assistance "package" that includes dental welfare reform, that their lives will be have used up their three years of services, vision care, and mental health counseling services. One better when they are working eligibility for welfare cash assistance in Ohio, there is no woman who worked on the the high cost of health care and child medical coverage. It is a comprehensive health care • Empowerment Coalition. to alleviate their fears? No, the income level would receive help was very sympathetic to our cause sick. I just Coalition also pushed for child 1 85% of poverty level so that parents working at or below this received supportive coverage by a Columbus TV Station. The anchor when I was really clean clothing, Bible study, Was anything resolved with the neighbors when we had a meeting Ohio Empowerment Coalition held a comments, campaign in the Fairborn area fellowship, fun and a normal life? On June 1 8th, a day before to get an color-blind. But even in the end, don't the homeless deserve food, "swing" votes. the work of the Family Coverage Coalition of Have A Heart Ohio us, "I wish I would have'lm ow the house weekly, in return for money/clothes/food/reading grass and maintain our yard. Because we made friends with a Empowerment Coalition thanks was launched, pinpointing the members who were determined to be the conference committee vote, the attending college at the time, told been able homeless man to weekly cut. our Action. In addition the Ohio pass. A last ditch effort to save it County, who was working and · neighborhood? Because I hired a homeless girl to come help me at lessons. Because I hired a the OEC in the Press Conference/ told the chances were slim it would for their work on this issue. The Ohio Empowerment families. Margaret in Adams about this program. All this time I could have received help with my . The OEC in Columbus wrote back to thank the Ohio "Because of the work of the Ohio Empowerment Coalition, I have my benefits. This really helps my family." Parents Medicaid coverage came extremely close to being terminated. In February the Governor had presented his budget proposal to cut costs by eliminating the program. Likewise the Ohio House of Representatives voted to terminate it. A last ditch effort was launched to save it in the Ohio Senate. After receiving hundreds . because they w!ll receive help with supports are being taken away from them. At least on welfare, their to support their families. For health care needs were covered.' We most of these parents, child care couldn't have said it better. The dolls were then delivered is an essential slice of the household budget "pie", as members, as well as Speaker of the essential as paying rent. Although the Governor Governor. Joe Clark, aide to Rep. child care eligibility to 1 50% of to the six conference committee House, Senate President and the · Larry Householder, received the doll on behalf of Householder. "Rep. Householder is well aware of the need for health care for low-income people in his district. His counties consist of workers struggling in very low wage jobs," Mr. Clark of phone calls and mail, the Senate looked dim when the conference Columbus NOW and Greater committee convened and we were choice to go back on welfare. They must hold down jobs in order to have income coming in care, are being broken. Now these responded. voted to restore it. However, hope rolls. For those parents who and the Hovse were for limiting poverty level, the final vote of the Ohio Assembly mirrored the Senate version and restored child care to 1 65% of poverty. This is only a partial victory; but it will makdife better for thousands of working parents across the state. For more information, Members of UHCAN-Ohio, contact the Ohio Empowerment Columbus Jobs With Justice joined 5 1 3/38 1 -4242. Coalition at 1 -877-862-5 1 69 or �. Art & Poetry STREETVIBES . Au g ust, ioo3 White Boy by steven shockley Page 14 Remember Us I ha 1en' t been harassed for the colour of my skin since sixth grade. But I guess I kinda feel the same thing today, that I felt back then. The same uneasy humidity, the same mouths spitting the words that pass past my eyes like knives into the heat waves that rise l!P tearing through my chest, strangling the head-held-high that I always try to hold when I ' m equally scared of every footstep that I have to take as those I ' ve already taken. I look from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of the gauntlet around rrie in the creeping LeSabre reflections and the small storefront mim;>rs; "WHITE BOY !" drips off of me in ten steps until the next "What you need?" I need a break, I need lunch, I need nothin' that you wanna give me. I need to sit down because I ' ve walked down twenty miles and eight years in the past five blocks, and I ' m not afraid of you, I'm afraid for you. I ' m afraid that your struggle to prove that you are a man will kill the beauty in you and your children. I ' m afraid that your daughter will never get to be a little girl because she's surrounded by ten year old dope boys that see your guns and want to play cowboy in this cobweb of broken bottles and family trees, half smoked blunts, gold teeth, and crack pipe exploitative marketing schemes. But I'm not afraid anymore, because you can only be afraid of the blade before it rips through your skin, and I've never been afraid of bk>0d, especia1ly not now,,and especially not mine, because I bleed the same red struggle as you. My head slammed into the wall and I clenched me fist and looked into your eyes before I looked across the street at KUJO, ROB, and R.I.P. Timothy Thomas and below that I saw the promise of another mind enveloped by violence. I saw your eyes and found no peace, and no rest, and in all of your screaming • by Chris Whitler remember us i am unseen but i am not nameless. · i live pretty close to you. my life is chaos but i don't really know it, as chaos is all i' ve ever known. i am not an alcoholic. i have never taken drugs. i am not irresponsible. i didn't make a choice. i live in a tent. i live in a dirty motel. i am surrounded by prostitution, alcohol and drugs. i am surrounded by violence. i am constantly hearing harsh and vulgar language. i am not encouraged. i am not edµcated. i do not have a dentist. i rarely have a hot meal. there is no one in a kitchen making anything for me. i get by. i am dirty. where i live is dirty. i use the bathroom in the park. i never leave this town. i do not think about the future. my life is today. i am 1 , i am 5 , i am 1 2. i am a homeless child. A piece written by Chris Whitler for the April Issue of Curbside News. , I found a man with his head resting between his palms in a dark room by himself; screaming to the voices in his head for silence. Then a voice cut through the gelatin thick air, "Whatchy' all doin' to that white boy !" and that was it. One more voice in your head froze you in the heat of your rage, and let me go, · and I stood there unable to walk away. Berta 's Art Corner Th is Sti n ks byjh Don't yell, it's unbecoming . . . . Garbage o n the ground, and you are just standing in it. Alley calls you, dark and distant, smells like urine when the-wind is right. Why are you here? You're in the street again, flagging cars. . . . Your clothes are clean, and you wipe down the car, you don't care about anything, this all stinks . . . . The old woman walks by head down, trying to hide, from you. You've broken the gate to her hall, down for making Deals, cause you don't care 'bout nothin' . Yet, you still stink. Detail, Ceramic Wall Collage, Doerr Alley, rear of Scotti s Italian Restaurant, 919 Vine Street, Downtown Cincinnati Bal lade by Robert Demalvilain If I knew the answer to your shady grace imp disposition tranquil certainty and to your clear days, whatever · notes in sequence adagio I would probably ask you to accompany me just like that with the quickness an overture sounding · a gesture sibylline a glance to the impatient horizon over a few hills to a river and then a city of lights we could just ask ourselves questions and decide a few things a duet perhaps, reverie for flute and oboe vivace As it is I don't know you well do I, but I do know you see me as I am taken with your dusky charms, the mischief in your eyes dancing as you pass you touch the unstruck chords of my being, yes you_do like a very fey pianist which is a mystery like magnetism and chance intention how you will'answer me · what you will say how it will go when you give me that look when you meet me there and we slide into bed as if into a pool sliding into you our tongues playing like ardent otters and everything suddenly applauds, everything breaks into laughter graz1oso Reprinted from Real Change �STREETVIBES Au g ust, 2003 Art & Poe try Arise B lack Woman You Are G reat · It All Came Tu mbling Down by Cindy Carlson They say that he watched over NH From 2 million years back. They made him famous Profiled him .on currency, Postcards and crap. Friday he died. with a rumble Sliding down like Jack In a great tumble Ironic I think Since responsibilities of his watch Most recently lack. No funding for schools No insurance for workers Housing cost soar Budget cuts hit hardest The ·elderly and poor Suddenly a Governor's iask force formed For this one dead Meanwhile the rest of us, Dealing with dread What will it cost? How much to spend? Special cash for this lost? Where will it end? Rebuild it? Memorialize it? Its just rocks! What about the people Living the hard knocks? · Manchester, NH by Bro. Khalfani Malik Kha/dun (#874304 Leonard McQuay, Wabasjh Valley Correctional Facility, Carlisle, Indiana Your significance is of great importance, to the world and Humankind as a whole; Without your existence your world would be, unbalanced, gruesome and cold; arise Black Woman You are Great. . . . Without your understanding and love, most of us wouldn't be able to reach above, · Your loving touch, your gentle smile, makes our struggle worth that extra mile . . . . arise Black Woman You are Great... You are the mother, which gives life To many nations of men and women, Boys and beautiful little girls that gives color to the Black and White unexplained issues Of this ugly world . . . arise B lack Womari You are Great.... It was woman like you who gave us great man and women such as Malcolm X, Nat Turner, Marcus Garvey, Assata Shakur, Dr. Francis Cress Welsing, and Bell Hooks, George Jacksori, and still we continue to Rise, Rise, Rise. arise Black Woman You are Great.... You have been wronged but You Remain Strong You are Strong minded, Strong willed, Strong bodied crafted by a Great God . Awaken Yourself - because it is best for your Health. When you do finally Rise and act more aware - we can reach that Final Stair. . . . Respect fo r and To The Black Woman means freedom for our Nation as a whole and still we rise . . . . arise Black Woman You are God's Gift to Humanity. . . . Shutter Speed Sidewalk Art Boulder Pag e 15 of Big Busi ness by Laura E. Clisbee Let us move the stone gentleman to the toadstool wood where they may benefit. Their granite shoulders, a resting spot for the creatures of flight; their soles of rock, a roof to the burrowing kind. There amongst the fallen branches, atop the moss laden floor, the craggy corporate aristocrats will cohabitate with creation. Instinctively coalescing, tickled by the breeze, smelling the mud. Let us move the stone gentlemen to the toadstool wood where they may be reborn. Deliver them back to nature, that they may live again. Reprinted from Whats Up, Boston by Jimmy Heath �STREETVIBES Au g ust, 2003 News & Editorial · Page 16 Solving the World-'s Prob l-e ms from my Couch . . . that "Things should be different. by Leigh Coats Look at the.m ; they don't even try to help themselves." ):'et, I wore a fake badge of honor, and well­ neighborhood. She pointed to all the boarded up windows around, everyone else that complains about all the world's problems from their couches. Yes, I might have been and dilapidated buildings. She then told me "God bless you, and what helping people. But, it was the being instead of using II1Y energy you are trying to do; but you - people that I wanted to help; not and resources to be a part of the the people that-needed my help. should just pack up and go home. solution. "But, how could I help?" Now, if I saw that faceless There is no hope for this place." It For, ·one l could rip off my fake \Vas the first time I heard someone lady again, she would have a nt?W badge, and make sure what I do speak so bluntly. And honestly it message to read in my eyes . . . It is a and say is sincere. I could make was hard for me to hear; because message of renewal, hope, and was not excited -about it at all. sure that the citizens of Over-the­ that is exactly how I felt At that love. "I don't know your name, But, l did trust AmeriCorps Rhine saw hope in my eyes, instead moment I tried to get that out of ­ but now I see you. I see everyone NCCC-Capital Region that they - of defeat and disgust. my head. I realized that l have had researched; and I would be like you. I am here to help." I saw so much defeat. I was been lying to myself my whole life. completely safe. Thank you, Over-the-Rhine for offered drugs so many times; I saw A one-minute conversation I had helping me realize my mistakes. I AmeriCorpsNCCC is a 10 month a prostitute sell herself for $4; and with a stranger told me everything just regret that I did not help your residential, team-based program saw so many panhandlers. But, community wholeheartedly all of I didn't want to realize about that serves in five states in our what I learned was they all Wyre our stay. But, you have taught me , myself. I was content with being regio . The NCCC is part of comfortable. Comfort isn't where I the greatest lesson; and I am AmeriCorps, a network of national just trying to make it in life Everyone was just trying to should be. If I have vowed to help thankful that I did not continue to service programs created to those in need; that means everyone. ignore it. Yet, I was uncomfortable improve the environment, enhance survive. I was constantly walking around the neighborhood "half' not just those I feel comfortable almost my entire stay. This was the education, increase public safety, helping. So, on ou.r last week of most vital project we have done provide disaster relief, and address breathing; because the stench of human waste was so overwhelming our project my attitude towards this year; because it opened my unmet human needs. this community and its' people eyes and heart fully. I will not be Truthfully, I hated this project to my middle-class lungs. And, I so selfish again. Now, I am truly changed drastically. For so many from the minute we drove into our was going to try to ignore this travesty. years I have been lying to myself, just a humble servant; willing to go temporary neighborhood. I was On our fourth week of being my friends, and family. For ANYWHERE and help ANYONE terrified. I have never been to a goodness sakes, they pretty much ­ here an elderly woman stopped me that needs me. I now leave you place like this before. I was as I was walking to work. She thought I was a saint. For so many with a quote from Margaret Mead _terrified to look, talk, walk, or years I have been doing COI!1ffiunity that sums everything !IP . . . breathe wrong. I started seeing so must have seen the disgust I had service, coordinating all these big "Never doubt that much that I and society try so hard for this community on my face. projects to help the "needy." She asked me if I was a part of a small group of thoughtful, not to see. For five of the six "Project Hope." I told her that I Mostly, I just helped from a weeks that we lived here I chose committed citizens can change distance. For the first time I wasn't; and tried to explain to her the world. Indeed it is the only to close my eyes; ana fie part of that I was in AmeriCorpsNCCC, realized that I am nothing but a the problem. I was caught up in thing that ever has." and what we are doing in her "POSER." I am no better than using all my energy complaining As I drove into Over-the­ Rhine I already gave up hope. We were sent from Washington DC to work with ReSTOC ; painting "buddy's place." This was my last project of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps; and I · _ "Okay. Your 're se lf:employed and you hate your boss. Go on . . . . " Streetvibes exists as a forum for the exp,ression of the views and opinions of o·ur readers and_supporters. The opinions expressed· herein·are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. �Au g ust, 2003 STREETVIBES News & Editorial Page 17 Santa. Cru.z Police Arrest Political Organ ization Leaders. Performer Tom Noddy was recently arrested and held for twelve hours under this new law. From a Press Statement Steve Argue and Matt Hartogh were arrested on Sunday, While being filmed by July 6th for distributing literature fellow activists, both Steve Argue on Pacific Avenue. Both had their _and Matt Hartogh refused to move literature tables, signs, and their political table and refused to literature confiscated by the police . sign a ticket when asked to do so. and taken in as evidence of their Steve Argue instead cited the right supposed crime. Steve Argue was to free speech under the First also arrested on June 23rd under Amendment to the Constitution and the same law. pointed out that the Santa Cruz City The law they were arrested Council and the arresting officers under is a new law passed by the were the ones who were actuallyin supposedly "progressive" Santa violation of the law. Cruz City Council. It is a law that As a large supportive crowd makes it illegal to keep a political gathered they told the many cops table up for more than an hour who were also gathering that they without moving along (5.43 .020 would not stop distributing SC). This law is only selectively literature and that they would not enforced against activists that are take the table down. They said they particularly disliked by the Santa would not back down voluntarily Cruz City Council, while those and pointed out that the only way organizations that do not expose they would be temporarily stopped the fake leftists on the City Council would be if the police arrested have so far been generally left them and took the table down alone. The political tables targeted themselves. After officers waited for by the police were joint tables of Sgt. Butchy Baker to arrive, the the Revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg police then arrested the two and Club of the Peace and Freedom took the table and flyers into Party (RRLC - PFP) and Homeless evidence. United for Peace and Freedom Sgt. Baker is a cop that is (HUFF). Both organizations have assigned to deal with political been outspoken in our opposition cases. On Monday, June 30th, Sgt. to the anti-poor and. anti-working Baker closed down a video class policies and laws of the Santa showing of Steve Argue's earlier Cruz City Council as well as in arrest and cited activists Robert opposing this new law that violates Norse and Jim Ross for "audio the basic free speech rights of the amplification without a permit". people of Santa Cruz. This is the first time such a charge Other new laws that both organizations have opposed include has been used against a video display by aCtivists. Baker also one that makes juggling illegal. · · cited another qian for "sitting on the planter railing" ·after that man had helped in carrying video equipment for the showing. It was also Sgt. Baker who arrested Steve Argue on Labor Day last year for jaywalking and Baker has cited Robert Norse for this same "offense". The Labor Day arrest of Argue prevented him from making it to a Labor Day picnic where he was scheduled to promote his campaign to be elected to City Council. In addition, Baker was accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault by 9 different women that he held in custody a few years back. Soon after these accusations had blown up and had been absolved y the police department, Baker was named officer of the year and was promoted. As bad as Sgt. Butchy Baker is, his activities are not those of some rogue cop. They represent the laws, policies, and intentions of his fake leftist bosses that comprise the entire Santa Cruz City Council. this is why the Citizen's Police Review Board, appointed by the City Council, was almost entirely useless. And after the Board took an independent stand opposing the selective enforcement of the Santa Cruz Police the City Council abolished the body. Steve Argue is no stranger to being arrested for free speech. In 1 998 he was arrested by the Santa Cruz Police for selling a noncorporate newspaper. _During that arrest, and while he was being held in custody, he was brutalized by the police and deputies and held for four days. That arrest, another violation of the First Amendment to the constitution, backfired for the police with the publicity the case received and the outrage it provoked. After that arrest the Santa Cruz Police became very timid about violating freedom of press, although they did issue a couple citations again last year. In addition to the publicity Argue's 1 998 arrest received, he also won a ruling in the court of Federal District Judge Ware stating that not only do the Santa Cruz olice violate constitutional rights, but the way city lawyers were trying to defend the police proves that it is city policy to violate those rights. As Steve Argue has stated, "In the traditions of the IWW who successfully defended free speech rights at the tum of the last century, Steve Argue has vowed to continue violating this city law until free speech rights are restored in Santa Cruz and I urge others in .Santa Cruz to join me." The homepage for Liberation News, the mouthpiece of the Revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg Club of the Peace andw Freedom Party, can be found at: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/ -.rf• liberation_news People may subscribe to Liberation News on the internet for free by sending email to: liberation_news­ subscribe @ lists.riseup.net · U .S. News Won 't Retract Fiction Presented as . Fact by F.AIR-L (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting) Media analysis, critiques and activism In a June 1 6 editorial, U.S. News & World Report editor Mort Zuckerman provided anecdotes to make the point that nowadays "anyone . . . can haul anybody into court for j ust about anything." But Zuckerman's facts turned out to be fiction- and now U.S. News is refusing to issue a correction. Zuckerman claimed: "A woman throws a soft drink at her boyfriend at a restaurant, then slips on the floor she wet and breaks her tailbone. She sues. Bingo-a j ry says the restaurant owes her $ 1 00,000! A woman tries to sneak· through a restroom window at a nightclub to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She falls, knocks out two front teeth, and sues. A jury awards her $1 2,000 for dental expenses." Zuckerman offered these incidents as proof that society is "rewarding cynical opportunists" and "punishing innocent people, like the owners of the restaurant folks familiar with urban legends." and the nightclub." But in fact, all they prove is that U.S. News needs Silopes.com also said that to be more careful in checking its the bogus list of lawsuits (sans facts. As Washington Post media poodle) had,been reprinted in June reporter Howard Kurtz pointed out . 2002 by the New York Daily News, in a June 23 column, the spilled . which "presented it solely as an e­ drink lawsuit and the nightclub. mail it had received, makingno cheater lawsuit are long-discredited statements as to its likeliness to be . real or detailing any attempts that myths. The myth-debunking publication might have made to website Snopes.com, which Kurtz verify any of the entries." (The cited, traces the bogus lawsuit Daily News is owned by Mort anecdotes back to a piece of Zuckerman.) . Internet spam from 200 1 , which It's customary for a news listed six separate supposedly outlet to offer a correction when it has offered fictional material as outrageous legal awards. . "All of • · the entries in the list are fabrications- a search for news stories about each of these cases failed to tum up anything, as did a search for each law case," the website reported last year (7/02). The original list, Snopes said, included a seventh example involving a microwaved poodle, which the site suggested had been dropped because "its inclusion would have immediately called into question the truthfulness of the other six cases for any number_of fact. But that was not U.S. News & World Report's response to the discovery that its cor:porate chair and editor-in-chief had cited Internet hoaxes as key evidence in · his editorial. Instead, the magazine ran a letter to the editor (7/30/03) from Mary Alexander, president of the Association of Trial Lawyers, calling the anecdotes "urban myths"- leaving readers to decide whether to believe the magazine's editor or the head of an interested lobbying group about the stories' veracity. A spokesperson for Zuckerman, Ken Frydman, gave the Washington Post two rationales for why the magazine would not run a retraction: First, "These cases were reported in a variety of other reputable publications, such as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the London Telegraph." And: "Few Americans would disagree with the proposition that there are far too many frivolous lawsuits filed." So if a falsehood has been reported elsewhere, and you still believe your argument is true, then corrections aren' t necessary? That's a novel interpretation of journalistic responsibility. Please ask U.S. News & World Report to issue a correction in line with normal journalistic standai;ds, and to check facts more carefully in the future. U.S. News & World Report Phone: 202-955-2000 mailto:letteis @ usnews.com · �SUMMER FOOD PROGRAM FRAC News Solutions, June 26, 2003) The Program, the Administration on Food Service Program fed 40% fewer low-income children last su er than it did in the summer _ The weekly Food Research and of 200 1 , according to a report by Digest highlights what 's new on the Food Research and Action hunger, nutrition and poverty Center. Local advocates have issues at FRAC, at the U.S. . been u;ging the State Education Office (SEO), the City agency that Department of Agricultur'!, around the network of national, administers the program, to state and local anti-poverty and recruit additional community­ anti-hunger organizations, and in the media. The Digest will alert you to trends, reports, news items and resources and, when available, pr.ovide a link directly to- them. based organizations to feed children during summer · enrichment programs. Several community-based organizations VACATION: SUMMER REPORT (FRAC Report, June 26, 2003) Only one in five of the Perry, Director of D.C. Hunger for the SEO to provide assistance to smaller community-based by federal nutrition programs during the summer, according to Research and Action Center (FRAC). In July 2002, on an average weekday, 3 .25 million hildren from low-income recreation centers, schools, parks ARE FUNDED BELOW Girls Clubs and other sites REQUESTED LEVELS IN through either the Summer Food HOUSE AGRICULTURE Service Program (SFSP) or the APP:J{OPRIATIONS BILL National School Lunch Program (FRAC Alert, June 26, 2003) On (NSLP). FRAC's report ranks June 25th, the House states by assessing their Appropriations Committee performance in reaching needy approved fiscal year 2004 funding for nutrition and other programs youngsters with either SFSP or NSLP summer meals, compared administered by the U.S. to regular school year meals. The Richard Lugar-(R-IN) and then state pilot program that simplifies FRACsummer2003.pdf (Full Report; Adobe PDF) THOUSANDS OF NEEDY CHILDREN MAY BE LEFT UNSERVED BY THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA'S . · Older Americans Act Fact Sheet: PDF) schooi finishes, bring lunches to more sites). Children .are already . beginning to-show up at some feeding sites and recreation directors are scrambling to find ways to feed them. http://www.examiner.com/news/ defaultjsp?story=n.schoollunch.0625w SEVERAL BILLS BEING CONSIDERED BY OREGON'S TAX RELIEF FOR 6.5 LEGISLATURE WILL BOOST MILLION LOW-INCOME FUNDING FOR NUTRIT ION FAMILIES WITH CIULDREN PROGRAMS (Statesman SEPT EMBER (New York million low-income families with children, relief for those families, who were left out of an earlier tax cut bill, is unlikely to be resolved before the July 4th recess. Both the Senate and the House bills Journal, Salem, OR, June 24, 2003) Three Senate bills in the Oregon legislature will boost funding for nutrition programs in the state. The first bill, Senate Bill 287, requires the state Department of Education to redirect $49,000 toward schools with 85 percent or more of the students receiving free and reduced-price lunches to bolster smµmer lunch programs. . ,The second bill, Senate Bill 500, would appropriate $49,000 to extend the child tax credit to low­ provide fruits and vegetables from what else is included in the participants. The third bill, Senate financed. The House $82 billion farmers market nutrition program income families, but differ in farmers markets to WIC Program package and h,ow the bills are Bill 50 1 , provides funding for a bill over 10 years would add to for senior citizens. The bills are $ 1 0 billion version is financed governor. Tina Kotek, policy Congressional committees that Oregon praised the bipartisan compromise between the bill is a smart investment that through increased customs fees. director for Children First for. funding for the Women, Infants would meet to come up with a support for Senate Bill 287. "This disparate versions will not address will . . . help provide greater access and Children program (WIC) and cost accounting and paperwork Release) http://www.frac.org/pdf/ Sheet: http://www.frac.org/pdf/ eligible children with meals (e.g., bill -falls $ 1 80 million short of President Bush's request for approved by Congress, is a 1 3 ­ http://www.frac.org/html/news/ 062603summerFood.htm (Press contact eligible families before Administration on Aging and the . expected to be signed by the House Agriculture Appropriations originally proposed by Senator states declined 4 percent. legislation authorizes the . summer. Ash said that the mayor's the projected defi.cit; the Senate Department of Agriculture. The '"Lugar Pilot," a program than 200 1 , while total meals served in the SFSP by all other office should do more to connect The Older Americans Act Times, June 25 , 2003) Due to large differences between the bills passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate that would extend tax cuts to 6.5 WIC PROGRAM AND TEFAP departments, Churches, Boys and of 2002 was 1 2 percent greater care, and other senior services. become successful summer food sites for children in need." http:// families received meals at pilot states offered in the surrimer to 80 for 2003 from 1 00 last health, including nutrition, health DELAY ED UNTIL AT LEAST w w.frac.org/html/news/ 062603summerDC.htm program. Some low-income with issues related to senior organizations, and help them work through the red tape and this report from the Food number of SFSP meals Lugar number of feeding sites dropped , feeding sites available. The http://www.frac.org/pdf/ AoAOAAfactsheet.PDF (Adobe · meal reimbursement rates. The and Human Services and deals only reaches 35 percent of of the U.S. Department of Health . feeding sites could leave . thousands of low-income children Solutions, said "There is still time and allows for modestly higher neighborhoods do not have any · Administration on Aging and the regular school year are served · Administration on Aging is a unit assistance from the SEO. Noting free or reduced priced school · children who qualify for the home-delivered meals. The ENPfactsheet.PDF (Adobe PDF) without summer meals, Kimberly the city's summer lunch program Program includes congregate and by inadequate detail arid technical 1 5 .5 million children who receive Francisco Food Bank criticized -saying that it is inefficient and Act. The Elderly Nutrition Elderly Nutrition Program Elderly Nutrition Program Fact that serious problems in recruiting NUTRITION STATUS Francisco, CA, June 26, 2003) - Paul Ash; director of the San Aging, and the Older Americans report their ability to participate in the program has been undermined HUNGER DOESN'T TAKE A 1 about the Elderly Nutrition District of Columbia's Summer Action Center (FRAC) News June 25 , 2003) These FRAC fact sheets outline basic information (News Release, DC Hunger Digest lunches on a typical day during Pag e 18 Au g ust, 2003 STREETVIBES $ 1 0 million below the amount America's Second Harvest requested for administrative the legislation until mid-July, after child credit refund checks have to summer meals for kids in the future and bring more federal Assistance Program (TEFAP). For http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/ http://news.mysanantonio.com/ funding in The Emergency Food a complete look at funding levels in the Administration's budget, the House Appropriations been sent to middle-class families. 25/national/25TAX.html (free registration required) dollars into the state," she said. stay.cfin l For a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report on the To subscribe t o the weekly below. Check the FRAC website likely harm to low-income /capwiz .com/frac/mlm/ issue. http://www.frac.org/pdf/ www.cbpp.org/6- 1 1 -03tax.htm Food Research and Action Committee and FRAC's _ recommendations, see the link regularly for updated alerts on this agappropschart.PDF (Adobe PDF) House Child Tax Credit Bill's Center SAN FRANCISCO FOOD TWO NEW FACT SHEETS ON MAY OR TO IMPROVE FEDERAL NUTRITION SUMMER MEAL PROGRAM ELDERLY (FRAC Fact Sheets, FRAC News Digest go to : http:/ children (June 23, 2003):http:// BANK CHALLENGES PROGRAMS FOR T HE _ PARTICIPATION . (San Francisco Examiner, San . 1875 · Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 540 Washington, DC 20009 (202) 986-2200 x3019 phone (202) 986-2525 fax Email: bwinter @frac.org �STREETV I B ES Page 19 Au g ust, 2003 Federal utrition rograms Update RAC During the week of June 23rd, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Agriculture and Labor-HHS­ Education FY 2004 spending bills; the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee rriarke_d up its FY 2004 spending bill; and immigrant advocates beat back (on a vote of 65 to 33) an amendment by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that would have stripped from the Senate prescription drug bill a restoration of health benefits for lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women. (For more on the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act $ 1 ,709,524) will develop an on­ line "Cus_tomer Service Toolbox" (with a self-screening program, full and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) (S. 1022). Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) has endorsed both S . application for food stamps and other programs, form for applicants to make changes to and 1 02 1 and S . 1 022. See http :// gsmith.senate.gov/press/2003/06­ 05-03.htm. Action Needed: Seek Additional Republican Cosponsors for the Kohf Bills. A temporary extension of funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reauthorization of the Child Nutrition and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. On June 25th, the full House Appropriations Committee voted out both the Agriculture and - Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills. The House Agriculture Appropriations bill comes $ 1 80 million below the President's request for WIC funding and $ 1 0 million below the amount FRAC and America's Second Harvest requested for (TANF) Program is expected to continue the program while lawmakers work on reauthorizing _ it. A House passed bill (H.R. 4) severely stiffens work requirements, fails to adequately invest in families, allows a new - administrative funding in TEFAP. The House bill also fails to provide sufficient funds for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). The House Labor-HHS­ Education Appropriations bill . zeroed out funding for the Community Food and Nutrition Program (CFNP), the only federal funding for state and local anti­ hunger groups. Also on June 25th, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that funds CFNP at $7 .28 1 million. The executive branch could drop protections in the Food Stamp and other programs, and permits five _ Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee will begin marking up their legislation after the July 4th recess. Senator-Herb Kohl (D-WI) has offered three bills to improve federal child nutrition programs: Scpool Breakfast (S. · 1 020); Summer Food (S. 1 02 1 ) ; and Child submit queries about status of their applications) and use sites for testing the on-line system and encouraging its use; 3) New Jersey program expansion, including those that Congress should consider during reauthorization of the (funded at $848,570) will implement a statewide web-and­ telephone based application process that includes an on-line interview and answers to applicant questions in up to 1 0 languages on Solutions, a Project of FRAC, challenged the District of Columbia federal child nutrition programs. Kimberly Perry of D .C. Hunger to take steps to improve the situation for children this summer. See http://www.frac.org/html/news/ 062603summerDC.htm Press and Polls - "Barely one in five of the students fed free lunches at school are getting the lunches they' re entitled to during the sunimer, an implement an oh-line pre­ screening and application system that provides access to all _ governmental and private nutrition states to opt for Food Stamp Program block grants. A Senate support services in the state; and 5 ) Rhode Island Department of anti-hunger group said Thursday. According to the Food Researc and Action Center, 3.25 million _ Human Services (funded at $785 ,000) will rei;iesign the state Agency Action: Food Stamp Program Access Grants an 9n-line applicatjon system with scanner technology for entering verification documents into the system. For more details, check http://www.usda.gov/news/ releases/2003/06/0236.htm children who received free or reduced-price lunches during the 200 1 -2002 school year, FRAC said. ' In a time of rising unemployment, falling wages and millions more families struggling to feed their children well, reaching only one,in five needy children is unacceptable," FRAC Preside�b.Jim Web Watch: FRAC Summer Food Report Only one in five -of the 1 5 .5 million children who receive free or reduced priced school lunches on a typical day during the regular school year are served by federal nutrition programs during the summer, according to the new _ innovative technology, will improve the food stamp application process and work to identify and eliminate barriers to participation: 1 ) University of Oklahoma/Oklahoma Department of Human Services (funded at $843,075) will systematically analyze barriers to participation, produce a set of alternatives for removing them, and develop a Continuous Quality Improvement model to help Oklahoma update its application processing in the future; 2) Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (funded at report, "Hunger Doesn't Take A Vacation," that FRAC posted on . June 26th. See http:// www.frac.org/html/news/ 062603summerFood.htm _ - In July 2002, on an average weekday, 3 .25 million children from low-income families received meals through either the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). "In a time of rising unemployment,­ falling wages and millions more families struggling to feed their children well, reaching only, one in five needy children is unacceptable," said FRAC President Jim Weill. "We already know that millions of the nation's neediest children have been refused a child credit refund check by Congress this summer. What this report shows is that millions of - them also won't get the help they desperately need from the summer food program." FRAC estimates how many more low-income childfen could be served and how many more federal dollars could _ children were served in two federal rri;eal programs last summer. That is 21 percent of the 1 5 .5 million agency's application and develop the White House (202-456- 1 4 1 4) , and Members of Congress (202­ 225-3 121) to urge enactment of the Senate Child Tax Credit legislation. application process. The 2003 grantees, through the use of also identifies strategies for a 24 hour basis; 4) Virginia Department .of Social Services (funded at . $8 1 3,83 1 ) will waiver process through which the On June 26th, USDA Secretary Ann Veneman announced a total of $5 million in grants to agencies in OK, WI, NJ, VA, RI to improve access to and awareness of the Food Stamp Program· for low-income households. "Providing nutrition assistance to eligible families is a top priority for the Bush Administration," said Veneman. "Partnerships with state governments will help give families needed nutrition assistance."' The 2002 Farm Bill authorized USDA to award grants to test different approaches to simplifying the school lunc during the school year were served summer meals. FRAC Department of Human Services (ICHIA), see web site of National Finance Committee markup is Immigration Law Center - expected in July. Action Needed: (www.nilc.org). Also, USDA Urge Senators to reject the House­ announced a total of $5 million in passed TANF bill (l:{.R. 4), oppose Food Stamp Program access grants any attempts to we<\ken the Food_ to agencies in RI, NJ, VA, OK, and Stamp Program, and instead WI; FRAC released its annual strengthen supports for low­ report on the Summer Food income people. Program. Members of Congress Messages and Action on were home for the July 4th recess Child Tax Credit Needed: Contact period, providing anti-hunger advocates and allies opportunities to educate them about priorities for be drawn down in each state if the even just 40 out of the 1 00 children who receive a free or reduced price Weill said. One of the two programs serves meals throug)l schools, while the other reimburses local governments, nonprofits and others who serve meals. Both are overseen by the Agriculture Department. In some cases, schools remain open to serve the lunches; in others, local authorities serve the lunches through community centers. . . .FRAC blames copious and confusing paperwork, the difficulty of serving rural children and the low federal reimbursement rate for the lack of summer lunch service. In 2003, the average reimbursement rate is $2.55 per lunch, although some rural areas aie entitled to slightly moreJ FRAC spokeswoman Crystal FitzSimons said. The Washfogton-based group estimated that 3 . 8 million more children could be reached if every state performed as well as the top states." (Source: "Many Miss Out on Free Lunch in Summer," by Dee-Ann Durbin, AP, Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram, 6/26/03) Prepared by Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) 1875 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200 (www.frac.org) �' Need Help or Want to Help? Mt. Airy Center If you need help or would like to help SHELTER: Both please call one of the Coalition for the Homeless members listed below. 761 -1 480 Friars Club 381 -5432 Drop Inn Center 72 1 -0643 Haven House 863-8866 471 -1 1 00 Lighthouse Youth Center 861 -1 1 1 1 (Teens) St. John's Housing 651 -6446 872-9259 1 -888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-'5660 HOUSING: CMHA 721 -4580 Excel Development 632-71 49 . Welcome House 859-431 -87 1 7 Women's Crisis Center 357-4602 Hospitality YWCA Battered (Toll Free) (Youth) Caracole (AIDS) I nterfaith HELTERS: Women and _hildren 859-491 -3335 SHELTER: Men Miami Purchase 241 -0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381 - 1 1 71 639-7056 ' Tom Geiger House 961 -4555 Tender Mercies City Gospel Mission 241 -5525 Garden St. House 241 -0490 TREATMENT: Women 241 -2965 Full Circle Program 721 -0643 First Step Home Joseph House (Veterans) St. Francis/St.Joseph TREATMENT: Both member groups serve the homeless througf'J emergency shelter, transitional living facilities, permanent housing, medical services, social Cincinnati is an inclusive community, · citizens. Join the fight to end homelessness; contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Clfle·iAAOtf, CoqtitiO,n tta rne. 1 ; . , / 351 -0422 C.C.A.T. 381 -6660 684-7956 859-559-501 1- DIC Live-In · an active role in ensuring that ... A.A. Hotline VA Domiciliary The Coalition also consists of individual citizens who want to take r- 820-2947 Transitions, Inc 859-491 -4435 health/addiction services. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 N.A. Hopeline Talbert House services, soup kitchens, and mental at (5 13) 42 1 - 7803, 1506 Elm Street 961 -2256 Starting Over is a membership organization. Our meeting the needs of all of its 921 -1 61 3 Prospect House Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless . 784- 1 853 Charlie's 3/4 House Formed in 1984, The Greater &eater 961 -4663 TREATMENT: Men 381 -4941 House Program 721 -0643 241 -2563 Freestore/ 24 - 1 064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651 -6468 Goodwill I ndustries 771 -4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421 -7803 Hamilton Co. Mental 946-8600 Health Board Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-71 86 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 22 1 -36 1 9 Legal Aid Society 241 -9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271 -5501 · Mary Magdalen House . 721 -48 1 1 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621 -6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center · 62 1 -551 4 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471 -4357 Travelers Aid 721 -7660 United Way 721 -7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) Cincinnati St. Raphaels A I DS Volunteers of 421 -2437 Appalachian Identity Center · Beech Acres 621 -5991 231 -6630 Center for I ndependent Living Options 241 -2600 Churches Active in Northside 591 -2246 961 -0600 ,. 381 -4242 Emanuel Center OTHER SERVICES: Cincinnati Health Network * Contact Center Foodbank Anthony House Greater Cincinnati Women's Shelter 661 -4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381 -1 954 Community Action Agency 569-1 840 (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) Salvation Army 863-31 84 863-1 445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Siflgles) 423-4673 � 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 2003 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 August 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Sweeping of Camps Halted by the Homeless Pg 2: Story by Jimmy Heath Pg 3: GCHC Pg 4: Reader Mail Waiting for City to Decide Pg 5: The Homeless Made My Day Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: Homeless News Digest Pg 8: The Stench of Poverty Pg 9: Poets Against the War Pg 10: Sweeping of Camps Halted by the Homeless Continued Pg 11: The Homeless Man Pg 12: Woman Gets 50 Years for Windshield Death Homelessness Doesn’t Discriminate, but People Do Pg 13: Victory for Parents Medicaid Coverage Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Solving the World’s Problems from my Couch… Pg 17: Santa Cruz Police Arrest Political Organization Leaders Pg 18: FRAC News Digest 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 August 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Steve Shockley Mary Gaffney Elaine Coffy Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Camps Elaine Coffy FRAC Georgine Getty Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath Mary Gaffney Medicaid Peace Village Poets Santa Cruz Steve Shockley https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/a9eb36a21a1371606706b14a265c6995.pdf bf50604a015fb0a7f1fc0f50f9b46d5c PDF Text Text $I Da '1ti~11 • ree v1 es Your Progressive News Source BUY FROM BADGED VENDPRS ONLy February 2003 Walking in Washington forPeac·e Cover Story, Page 1 Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �• - - - - - - - - - - -February Cover Story 2003~---------­ Al Sharpton, along with others. overwhelming feeling ofthe day The keynote address ofthe rally was a sense of shared purpose and ·determination to end the cycle of was made by the former United speeches from people of many States Attorney General, Ramsey insanity that continues to shake and by Michael Flood Clark who urged the gathering to shock our world to its core. There backgrounds and experiences: work for the impeachment of Native Americans, a Palestinian was a sense of camaraderie, On the very cold evening fellowship and solidarity that was Arab, college students, a Latina, George Bush. The march from the of Friday, January 17th, about 150 Mall climbed tangible. The hundreds of long time people boarded three buses from Capital Hill antiwar thousands of people from all over Cincinnati en route to a walk on along the country who converged in Washington in a show of solidarity activists, such Independence Washington, DC, were of all races, as Elizabeth with the people of Iraq. This trip Avenue, McAllister, religions, backgrounds, ages and was organized by the- Coalition to the widow of national origins. People do care which Prevent War in Iraq. Our hope about what is happening in the allowed a was, and remains, to prevent a war recently Longview world and were willing to endure in which most of the victims would deceased Philip back toward the long hours in the severe cold to be innocent civilians. After the beginning say "we care about our sisters and Berrigan, leaving from the Mt. Auburn point of the brothers in Iraq." The walk on GBLT Presbyterian Church parking lot, march. There Washington, DC was one of many activists, where we were supported and was no end in others throughout the country, actors, labor encouraged by those who could activists, a sight ofthe including a very large one in San not go themselves, we arrived in Francisco and in thirty three other Member of Washington shortly before Does Bush have his finger on the trigger? people walking the countries around the world. IO:OOAM Saturday morning. The Parliament of the Labor Party of Great Britain, two and one half mile route. A When one rider, from Greensburg, planned rally was an hour away Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovick, who march organizer, who was among Indiana, was asked by the person in and the mass of peopJe grew the seat next to him why he was the first to arrive at the end point was wounded and paralyzed thirty steadily larger until we were all five years earlier on Martin Luther near the Navy Yard, walked back making the journey, his simple, but pressed in closely, huddled to the Mall only to find people just telling reply was, "common sense." King's birthday, Civil Rights together against the bitter cold. activists, such as Jesse Jackson and beginning the walk. An I wish George had a litt.le of that. The rally was a series of short A Walk in Washington Cincinnati Movement for Peace has International Roots against the occupation of Rep orted andp hotos by Jimmy Heath Every Monday afternoon since last fall, a group of protesters have been gathering at the corner ofVine and Central Parkway in downtown Cincinnati, protesting against possible war in Iraq. These men and women, all dressed in dark clothes symbolize the mourning of those lost through violence. The international movement of Women in Black began in Jerusalem in January, 1988, with a group oflsraeli women who carried out a simple form of protest Palestine. One a week at the same hour and in the same location - a major traffic intersection - they donned black clothing and raised a black sign with white lettering that read "Stop the Occupation." It was a simple form of protest that spread quickly to other places in Israel. They could bring their children, there was no chanting or marching, and the. medium was the message. Within several months after the first vigil in Israel, "solidarity vigils" began in other countries and around 1990, Women in Blackvigils took off with a life and a message of their own. Women in Black in Italy, Germany, Belgrade, Zagreb, and India began protesting a range of issues that affected people throughout each respective area of the world. Women in Bia.ck has become a movement of women and men of conscience and of all denominations and nationalities who hod vigils to protest violence in their part of the world; war, lnterethnic conflict, militarism, the CINCI N Tl C .A I 0 arms industry, racism, neo-Nazism, and violence against women. Each vigil is autonomous, setting it own policies and guidelines, though in all the vigils, the participants dress in dark clothing, symbolizing the tragedy ofvictims ofviolence. The idea of Women in Black was soon adopted by the peace activist community here in Cincinnati. Organized by the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, Cincinnati 's own Women in Black have taken to the streets to protest against the war in Iraq. Every Monday at Spm the group gathers at the intersection of Vine Street and Centi-al Parkway in downtown Cincinnati, acting in solidarity against violence and war. THE 0 SS �STREE TVIBES February, 2003 Local News · Page 2 "Keep The Dream Alive" Ceremony honors local activists physician ofmedicine, who believes that practicing medicine is more than just caring for the sick; William Mallory Sr., who was a member of the State House of Representatives for decades working for funds and programs reached those most in need; Rev. Damon Lynch III, who is committed t~ing the battle for social justice on a daily basis; Rev. Thomas Bokenkotter, who Bonnie Neumeier, Over-the-Rhine community activist, was one ofthe recipients ofthe continues to work "Keep The Dream Alive" award. tirelessly in the This year's honorees On Monday, January 20th, Cincinnati communify for the included; Bonnie Neumeier, who Saint Mark Church in Evanston poor; Renita Zellers, a young hosted its annual Holiday Mass and has dedicated her whole life to woman who works to better serving the poor and displaced Award Ceremony honoring 10 herself while being ofservice to Cincinnati citizens who have helped citizens ofthe Cincinnati the community. neighborhood ofOver-the-Rhine; make a difference in people's lives Martin Luther King Jr. day and the community. The "Keep Elizabeth Patterson, who has been is not only for celebration and The Dream Alive" award also promoting independence and remembrance, education and preserving the dignity ofolder celebrates the life and legacy of tribute but above all a day of Martin Luther King, Jr. The values adults; Barbara Twitty, founder of service. The King Holiday and tbe House ofRefuge Mission; Dan celebration honors the life and of the people honored with the and Ann Nader, who have for award embody tbe leadership and contributions ofthese citizens, years, performed outreach to needy who help lead a movement toward commitment ofKing; forgiveness, citizens ofinner-city unconditional love and non­ achieving a purposeful life and neighborhoods; Keith Melvin, a violence. service to others. Streetvibes Vendor Code Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct... the sale ofStreetvibes will go to the individual donation. I agree not to ask for donations of vendor. Falsely stating intent or otherwise mis­ representing is a violation of a city ordinance and more than $ 1. I also understand that I wil1 be able to keep 80 cents of each dollar collected. may be cause for arrest. 2. Streetvibes may only be purchased from the 8. 1 will always present my badge when purchasing Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless papers, and I will display my badge at all times (GCCH). Purchasing or selling unauthorized.. while vending. Replacement badges are $5 each. papers, or from other vendors, will r~~9lt in:,f. , 9. There are no territories. I agree that I will not termination from the program. · ' contest territories with other distributors. I will 3. I agree that I will not ask for donations or attemp.t not sell on private property without permission. to vend after 12 midnight. 10. I understand that Streetvibes strives to be a selfsupporting paper created by people who are 4. I agree to treat others with respect - other ven­ . homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this dors, customers, and GCCH personnel. 5. I will not sell Streetvibes while under the influence effort, I will try to spread the word and write stories ifpossible. of dmgs or alcohol. 6. I will not give a "hard sell" or make someone feel 11. I understand that failure to comply wit h any of threatened. the above statements will result in termination from the Streetvibes vendor program. GCCH 7. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I reserves the right to terminate a vendor at any am collecting for a not-for-profit charity or that I am collecting for the "homeless" in general. I time as deemed appropriate. will be honest in stating that all the profits from 1. Streetvibes will be distributed for a $1 voluntary - �STREET VIBES February, 2003 Page 3 North American Homeless News Digest by M olly Rhodes In Portland, Oregon, residents of the two-year-old self­ run encampment for homeless people wants to ra ise money to buy a site for a long-term homeless community, according to the Oregonian. They have been looking for more than a year­ and have even put together a glossy brochure to help boost their efforts - but have yet to find a site where neighbors don't see their potential presence as a threat to their exisiting community. Its biggest supporter ·_ retired transportation magnate Lee Larson - has agreed to pay the city $2,000 a month to rent the land where they are now. Residents have raised about $12,000 in cash, and have the support of a retired transportation bigwig, not to mention hundreds of volunteers, but it's still not nearly enough to purchase land. And until the city starts adding new services and improving access to other forms of permanent housing, the Village is the best option for many of the people who live there. Wbat'll it take the people of Northern Oklahoma to recognize the plight of the homeless? How about a trip for two to Las Vegas! Or tickets to see Tony Orlando! In an effort to help raise money for a new youth shelter and family service center in Ponca City, OK, local country radio personality Ryan Diamond has started living on a downtown street comer, according to the Ponca City News. The broadcast of his "homeless" life encourages people to come on by and donate to his cause, as well as learn about what it's like to live on the streets. As an extra incentive, everyone who comes by and registers at his "homeless shopping cart" will automatically be entered to win the Vegas trip or coffee or other fabulous prizes. Those who actually give money - not a prerequisite for winning a prize ­ will get a yellow ribbon for their troubles and for their car antenna. And Diamond will get to go home and rest up before his 6 a.m. to 7 Write Us! We'd like to hear frOlll IJOU- % Send. letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, ,,., or write the Coaliti!>n office attn: Stl'eetvibes Letters, · I 506 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 p.m. "homeless" shift the very next day. How long do homeless advocates and Atlanta city officials think it will take to house the city's estimated 10,000 to 15,000 homeless people? Well, Atlanta's mayor Shirley Franklin is giving a 19-member commission three months to come up with a plan, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In this time, the commission must analyze the homeless population, rate the effectiveness ofthe various local and national organizations that serve them, and find enough money to cover their plan. They are starting with approximately 5,000 current shelter beds - less than half the total number needed ­ and 672 beds for people suffering long-term problems, when the estimated number oflong-term beds needed is at least 3,500. There are also the immediate needs for laundry services, blankets, and job training that are not diminishing as the city waits for the commission's report. Key West, Florida, city officials are so tired of talking about "chronic public nuisances" that they have shortened the name to CPNs and started filming them. City workers will spend their days in beaches and parks and their nights in homeless encampments - the destinations of choice for CPNs­ recording whatever activities they see and then handing over their findings to city commissioners and the general public. The hope is to use the video to build enough support for a shelter, the first on the island, without which local police cannot arrest someone simply for being homeless. Once there is a shelter, CPNs and all other homeless people can finally be arrested for sleeping anywhere else. In his war against panhandlers tarnishing the image of downtown Cincinnati businesses and turning away tourists, Mayor Charlie Luken is going after almost anyone who sells anything on city streets, including the local street newspaper, Streetvibes. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless puts out the paper, which is then sold by vendors as an alternative, legal means to get enough money to help get them back on their feet. Mayor Luken counters that it's just another form ofpanhandling that only gives people money to buy more drugs and alcohol. Apparently preventing homeless people from making money legally is a vital step towards aHeviating Cincinnati's some place relatively warm to sleep. The location of choice is homeless problem. Even t hough the what's known as the Las Vegas wash, an underground drainage Massachusetts state Legislature system that has a ~abit ofturning has been cutting funding for homeless services, Boston Mayor into a powerful river whe11ever it rains. Early this month, the body Thomas Menino thinks he can of a homeless man suspected of convince them to pass a $35 drowning in the wash was found, million bond bill to improve according to KLAS TV homeless services across the (www.klas-tv.com). Of the 47 state, according to the Boston people who died this year on the Globe (www.globe.com). streets ofLas Vegas' Clark county, Approximately $25 million of the those who didn't die from bond would provide more shelter drowning in the wash passed away beds, job training, and health services. Another $5 million would from exposure to the sometimes specifically help Boston's homeless extreme desert cold. Things are much better in population. Although the state is Canada, where northern Toronto currently feeling the fiscal pinch, city officials and advocates got Menino believes the expected of homeless together with local businesses to increase in the number people could get the bond through. help fulfill the housing needs of "I understand the financial picture," 80 former tent city residents who were evicted from Home Depot Menino told Boston Globe property. The city of Toronto reporters, shortly before his own helped secure the new homes with city began its annual count of a rent subsidy initiative, and then homeless people. "But this is the businesses helped to furnish about people's lives. There's no them, according to Toronto's Town price you can put on people's Crier (www.towncrieronline.ca). lives." The newly housed people got beds One of the most recent and tables from Executive cases of a homeless person Furniture, Furniture Bank, and committing a crime to get into a Royal York Hotel, glasses, cutlery, warm jail with hot meals involves a 70-year-old homeless and pots and pans from Goodwill, dishes from the National Club, and man in San Diego, who robbed a linens from the Park Hyatt, as well gas station and then waited for police to escort him to his new as drivers and trucks to move it all temporary home. When the in. Whatever doesn't get used will be saved for people when they police arrived, Victor Lopez told them he wanted to go to jail leavelfway houses and jails, or for because the winter shelter was not new immigrants to the city. open, according to NBC San Diego (www.nbcsandiego.com). Lopez was booked into jail on $20,000 bail. Because Lopez had no intention ofkeeping the cash, he will not be charged with a felony, though he could face misdemeanor charges. A little farther north up the west coast, San Francisco recorded an 18 percent increase in its homeless population during its annual count of homeless people. More than 300 volunteers found 4,535 people living on the * Supplies for Vendor's streets and another 4, 100 in Lounge Cpaper to~els, shelters, treatment centers, and cream and sugar, snacks, jails, according to the San .' ~ etc.) Francisco Examiner (www.examiner.com). While the total numbers were discouraging, * Office Supplies - floppies, there is good news in the number copier paper and otlier of people who are seeking of supplies treatment or getting off the streets. The count showed a 25 percent If you can help, contact us at: increase in the number of homeless Streetvibes, c/o Greater people in shelters and a 71 percent Cincinnati Coalition for the increase in the number of homeless Homeless, 1506 EJm Street, people in treatment programs. Cincinnati, OH 45-202 The situation is so dire in (513) 421-7803 Las Veg~s that homeless people e-mail: streetv:ibes@juno.com are getting killed just to find ~ �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Recommended Reading.... The Treatment The Story of Those Who Died in the Cincinnati Radiation Tests by Martha Stevens The Treatment is the story ~ of one tragedy of research that stretched over eleven years and affected the lives of hundreds of people in Cincinnati. Thirty years ago, the author, then an assistant professor ofEnglish, acquired a large set oflittle-known medical papers at her university, the University of Cincinnati. These documents told a grotesque story: cancer patients corning to the public hospital on her campus were being swept into secret disputes in court, they agreed to settle the case with the families of experiments for the U S. military. those they had afflicted. In 1999, a They were being irradiated over memorial plaque was raised in a their whole bodies as ifthey were soldiers in a - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - yard of the nuclear war. "Stephens is a skilled investigative journal- hospital. Ofthe ninety ist, piecing together medical records, Penta- Who were women and gon reports, andfirsthand interv;ews to these men exposed weave a damning and unforgettable picture doctors? to this ofwhat happened in the basement ofCincin- Who were treatment, nati General Hospital - EUeen Welsome, the people twenty-one author of The Plutonium Files: Americas whose lives died w ithin a Secret Experiments in the Cold War they took? month of - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Who was the reporter who could not forget their radiations. the story, the young attorney who Martha Stephens's report on these deaths led to the halting of first developed the case, the judge who issued the historic ruling the tests, but local papers did not against the doctors? This is print her charges, and for many Stephens's moving account of all years people in Cincinnati had no that way of transpired in knowing that "Read this book not only to grasp the lethal horror ofwhat official medicine did to 90 these lives and her own experiments families, but also for the fuel you need to during this had taken fight such outrageous injustices in our battle place there. midst - Jim Hightower, radio and televi­ In 1994 between sion personality other military tests were brought to light, rights. and a yellowed copy ofStephens's Martha Stephens was for original report was delivered to a many years Professor ofEnglish at television newsroom. In Ohio, major publicity ensued - at long last the University ofCincinnati. She is the author of The Question of - and reached around the world. Stephens uncovered the names of , Flannery 0 'Connor, th~ novels Cast a Wistful Eye and Children of the victims, and a legal action was the World, and many social filed against thirteen researchers critiques in the press. An activist and their institutions. A federal for many years, Stephens was the judge compared the deeds of the first to break the story of this doctors to the medical crimes of project and continues to work for the Nazis during World War II and justice for the victims and their refused to dismiss the researchers families. from the suit. After many bitter ---------------- . Page 4 Streetvibes Welcomes New Vendor Coordinator Steve Schockly joins GCCH Staff Since January 61h when I started at the Coalition, I have been easing into my position as the new vendor coordinator. I have taken over at a time of transition at the office, and with that the posi­ tion of vendor coordinator is shifting from what it was. I will be doing less person to person service than Cheryl did. I want to increase the presence of Streetvibes in our community. Streetvibes has the potential to be one of the most important voices in the Cincinnati area, but it is not quite there yet. I will be working alongside Jimmy Heath bringing what I can to the publication as well as working with the vendors to increase their input into the paper. We want to increase the number of articles by our vendors. Another focus of mine is on the Speaker's Bureau. I hope to get as many speakers into as many schools and organizations in the area as I can. I want to help to create awareness in communities that have been blind to the problem of homelessness for too long. Hopefully a lot will be accomplished in the next six months that I am here. I am excited to be working with the staff and al.lQf,the.k'eo.dors. I feel that this is time for things to change, and I feel that we all will be part of that. For more information please call me, Steve Shockly, at the Coalition Office at 421-7803 Non-violence is a very powerful weapon. Most people don't understand the power ofnon-violence and tend to be amazed by the whole idea. Those who have been involved in bringing about change and see the difference between violence and non-violence are firmly committed to a lifetime ofnon-violence, not because it is easy or because it is cowardly, but because it is an effective and very powerful way. Cesar Chavez Community Resource Cards Rockdale Temple has announced the release of the latest in its series of Community Resource Cards. The new one, printed in Spanish, is customized for the needs of Cincinnati's rapidly growing Hispanic/ Latino population. The tri-fold, plastic cards are funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a project of Rockdale Temple, in consultation with Bienstar, Su Casa and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. In addition to the Hispanic Resource Card, the Resource Card Project has also produced cards for senior citizens, the homeless, and public school and Catholic school students covering the Tri-state area. Cards can be ordered from: cc 5300 Hamilton Avenue, #210 Ohio 45224 or send a fax request to: (513) 541-0099 Cincinn~ti, �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Reader Hail Vendors tell story of "the other side..." Know Your Rights Brochure Available! I am a longtime member of We would like to hear from you the Central Parkway Branch YMCA and use it frequently. I - please address letters and have bought editions ofyour paper comments to; from several ofyour vendors over Streetvibes, the years. I appreciate the efforts The Know Your Rights 1506 Elm Street, your organization is making to get Brochure is now available at the Cincinnati Ohio 45202 "the other side of the story" out Coalition's office. The brochure is (or) email to: there to the average citizen and to try and educate us on the dynamics a legal guide for Cincinnati' s Streetvibes@juno.com homeless and covers a person's that create homelessness and basic rights when interacting with Psychiatrists for the poverty. I know there are a lot of skewed perceptions out there about the police, .as well ~s some local ~; ft, ,, Poor? laws that rrught be ofmterest to the '1; ~j it, including my own, but I do try In response to get homeless population. If you are a p ·1:. Caseworkers for panhandlers, Page to keep an open mind, as I live in a homeless person or if you work ' recovering household myself. 5, January, 2003 Streetvibes. with homeless people and would "': I also appreciate your Panhandlers do not need like to obtain free copies of the --­ efforts to help those who want to psychiatrists or psychologists to bro chure for yourself or your · · figure out why people need money help themselves. I used to buy agency, please call 421-7803 ' or .from W , when he sold in to be able to live a decent life. stop by the Coalition office and pick · front ofthe Y. I now buy from Evictions and poverty are major Tony Williams and he is the reason one up. reasons for panhandling. , he The Mayor Luken's and the for this letter. I liked W always presented himself well, but Pat DeWines 's ofthis city should Watch for the return of sometimes in addition to selling the · not be telling any panhandler what paper, wanted to "borrow" money to do. They should not be passing and sometimes, because I liked anti-poor laws to get the him, I would "lend" it - but it was panhandlers off the streets of an annoyance. I have never Streetvibes TV is a live program created by the Greater Cincinnati . experienced that with Tony. Tony When the panhandlers do Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and Media is always professional, even when get off the street, they should be Bridges. Watch as our panel discusses the after talking to him for a while I going into affordable housing, not issues surrounding homelessness today. realize that he's been having a bad the Hamilton County Jail\ Check your local cable listing for day or maybe even a bad month. Sonny Williams, former He is never looking for a handout, panhandler and Over-the-Rhine broadcast dates and times.... just people be can count on to buy resident his paper. He is polite, patient and upbeat. I always enjoy talking to Streetvibes Online him and I think our city would be I was wondering how I better off if there were more people could read the current issues of like him raising the "vibes" in streetvibes on line? downtown Cincinnati. I appreciate Specializing in downtown and Over-the-Rhine All I se~ on your website is his positive outlook and I wanted past issues and I would be interestd to let you know. Free Estimates in reading this months issue on line. Sincerely, M R. Call 421-7803 Rhonda Summerlin Streetvibes TV Jimmy Gipson Painting, Repair and Remodeling Editors Note: We are working with a website developer to update our cu"ent Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless site. Stay tunedfor updates and Streetvibes Online, with links to other street newspapers, service providers, news and information. Youth is the first victim of war; thefirst fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more ofpeace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds ofwar to destroy him King Baudouin I, King of Belgium The finger pulls the trigger, but the trigger may also be pulling thefinger. Dr. Leonard Berkowitz rrs A umE SHORTCUT I KNOW. "~ t E(ONOfv'\( RK.OV'ERY . ~- .~ �ST R EETVIBES February, 2003 Page 6 GCCH Coat Drive Brings in Over 800 Coats for the Homeless The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless sponsored a coat drive which began on October 25 and ended early in 2003. Barrels were placed in over 20 local businesses and coats were donated by the patrons of these places. Many hundreds of slightly used coats were collected. The coats were then gathered up and dry cleaned by A-One Dry Cleaners in Silverton and SpringdaJe Cleaners. After this, they were distributed to homeless and formerly homeless individuals by the Coalit ion and through our member organizations. Special thanks to all businesses who let us place barrels in their stores; A­ One Dry Cleaners and Springdale Cleaners; the Drop Inn Center for loaning us their van (many times), John Briggs, Maura Ramsey, Brendan Goodwin, Andy Erickson, Walter Reinhaus, John Halpin, Cheryl Ware, and everyone else who helped move a mountain of coats from point A to point B. Write Usl We'd like to hear " from you .... Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition office attn: Streetvibes Letters, 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati , Ohio 45202 Your vendor keeps 80 cents ofevery dollar..... The "mountain " ofcoats at the Coalition office. GCCH Director Georgine Getty (left) andAndy Erickson. It is the job ofthinking people, not to be on the side ofthe executioners. Albert Camus Mother Laments Loss of Son to Drugs We are convinced that non­ violence is more powerful than by Charlotte Wethington the university campus. Being even bolder, they have at times moved violence. We are convinced that This is a copy of a sp eech their operation onto the campus of non-violence supports y ou if read to Cincinnati City Council 's you have a just and moral Law and Public Safety Committee UC. Parents who are sending their children to Cincinnati to get an cause...If you use violence, you to address street drug dealing. education would be horrified and have to sell part ofyourselffor I want to speak in favor of deeply dist ressed to know how that violence. Then you are no the ban on public loitering for the purpose of engaging in illegal drug drug dealers are allowed to offer longer a master ofyour own bi them drugs on a daily basis. struggle. Cesar Chavez dealing. T s law could serve as a deterrent to the rampant drug deal.mg t hat is · gomg · on m · t he city · Heroin, like other drugs is an equal opportunity killer. It knows no socio-economic or educational ofCincinnati. boundaries Unfortunately, I have firstThis phot o is from t he November, 2002 March for Justice for Roger I would like to see this hand knowledge of how illegal Owensby Jr., from the site of his death by three Cincinnati Police committee, as a part, and the drugs, and more specifically Officers in Bond Hill to the Federal Building on Main Street in council as a whole put as much downtown Cincinnati. Roger was an army vetera n who was stopped narcotics, are being blatantly sold on the streets. I know because my effort into the life-threatening by police in 2000 in Bond Hill and choked to death. The C itizens for problem that plagues tbis city every Just ice, F arm Workers L abor Organizing Committee, C oalition for a son told us how dealers would call to him in his car as he was driving day as they are willing to commit Just C incinnati, O ct.22 Coalition Against Police Brutality, and the to the problem of panhandlers down the street. I know because Black F ist participated in the ma rch. Photo by Sonny WUliams during the Christmas season. he told us of how one drug dealer ~ There are many parents who live in in particular would set up his lawn ·~ fear every day that their child will chair to do business every day. I "shop in Cincinnati" but not for can say with assurance that Casey Christmas gifts. Their fear is that it will no longer be one oftheir will be their last time to shop and customers. He died on August 9 the last Christmas they will have to from a heroin overdose. spend with their loved one. After Casey's death, we went to the area our son had been According to the paper, city officials are going to be very frequenting. As my husband and I aggressive with panhandlers, by drove down Republic Street, our among other things, increasing car was approached by three men • who immediately asked us what we enforcement, publi.c awareness and wanted. One attempted to get into creating stiffer penalties. Panhandlers are doing no more, the back seat of the car. They and in the case of being a threat t o acted without any apprehension that t hey would be arrested. There human life, a lot less than a drug While we make evefY effort to provide a forum for those was no evidence of law dealer. without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of Statistics show that seven enforcement anywhere. However, THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION of ten families are affected by out there were expensive vehicles on a FOR THE HOMELESS, is not substance abuse. Your fami ly street where poverty is evident responsible for statements, and do not necessarily could be the next victim. What everywhere else. endorse the opinions of the people would you be willing to do to My husband could also tell whose writings are represented here. protect your child from drug you something about how dealers dealers? '--------------------------~ set up shop across the street from ----------------------------1 ,.-,~ �STREETVIBES Febru ary, 2003 Page 7 Church 's commitment to excluding full rage and misery to compassionate Joining team member Jay Rothman and the group working to listeners. homosexuals from marriage bring peace and justice to Cincinnati Listening to historian Daniel ceremonies or the use of Methodist by Dr. Steve Sunderland was a most valuable experience. Jay Jonah Goldhagen discuss his book on churches for ceremonies, Jerry and his Making it to this date without had a vision for police-community how the Catholic Church has not church has decided to vote for equality a war in the Mid-East, or between relationships that involved listening to repaired its relationship with for all in the church, to hold meetings India and Pakistan, or in Kenya, or in those who felt wounded and then Holocaust survivors comes to my mind ofother gay friendly Methodist the streets of Cincinnati is amazing! building a plan for peace and justice as one of the key frames of reference churches, and to work for the spread Perhaps the work of the peace out of the mutual concern. By for thinking through peace work. oftolerance of homosexuals at movement is having an impact in lots leadership councils within the Goldhagen maintains that there is a encouraging police and their families ofdifferent places and perhaps more Methodist community. Seeing this form of " repair " that goes beyond the to participate as full and equal than any ofus realize. Gandhi said church become a place ofjustice, members, financial that making peace with the war freedom and openness has been one of attempt to Jay had the making part ofourselves and others is make whole. the great teachers of peace and justice insight that the real task. And, this attempt at There is a for me. I have realized that peace with their pain making a kind of peace that bas moral duty of justice requires a persistence to listen could be wisdom and meaning is part of the to those feeling invaded by the new repair that shared along mystery of our current times ofwar thoughts of tolerance, and a includes with their preparation. sharing the commitment to allow for discussion creativity But what d~ur ~ce whole story and support for expressing fears of for a lasting effort' mean? Yitzhak Frankenthaler ofthe crime, change and the consequences of and deep speaks of a "peace that is wise but and includes uncertainty. Safety for all in this peace without justice." He is suggesting that solution. seeking to 'church requires a reminder ofhow there is too much pain spilling from precious our beliefs in certainty are undo the Joining this the wounds of injustice to possibly and how troubled people can become peace harm, and hope for reconciliation in this regard. process and includes in a change effort, even a change effort While I am tempted to tum away from feeling the doing suffused with peace and justice. "justice" as a critical ingredient in common everything Working in a larger society that can be Jimmy Heath photo possible to working for peace, I am brought up Dr. Steve Sunderland weight of said to be homophobic, means that short by so many examples of those each person has to face him/her self fear and prevent the who can only have a peace with horror faced by African American return of the criminal culture and the with the choice ofresisting or justice. I just listened to historian accepting the culture's threats. Jerry citizens and police and their families threat to rearm Jews. He sees his James McPherson's thoughtful has modeled that this choice can be approach as being applicable to any gave us a just and experimental recounting ofthe peace struggle during perspective upon which to build for peace process. He raises important made and made with compassion, the American civil war. The one gentleness, and support for further questions about whether anyjustice peace. All along we faced denial, sentence.that stunned me concerned questioning. can come with the peace process. withdrawal, resistance as well as Davis' offer of peace to Lincoln if he HappyNewYear! The Team member Rev. Jerry Hill encouragement, support, and wonder would abandon the emancipation of headline stories are all ofwar, with at the stories we heard and the ways in has led a successful effort to make his slaves. The offer came when the which we could craft mutual church inclusive ofgays, lesbians and even the wonderful cartoonist ofthe South was in a seemingly strong statements of respect. others. Does this effort get factored in Christian Science Monitor, Bennett, position and Lincoln and his All ofthis work ·continues to to a small but critical peace effort? I colleagues bad little evidence that they be most fragile. Our city has not feel it does and is one of the examples would win a second presidential term. ofhow peace can be gained and justice found the path through the darkness, cont. on page 8 Yet, Lincoln turned down the offer and yet, to make justice and peace an fostered. Despite the Methodist McPherson noted that he is the only ongoing reality in our city. I could p.residential candidate that put the fairly say that we are poised for abolition of slavery above his own compassionate reform, on alert for political future. Could Lincoln's signs of cooperation, and, ready for concern for justice have prolonged the small steps into justice. war and defined a kind of peace that Team member Ken Manges, made early end to the war out of the forensic psychologist, and I have been question? Perhaps. The bloodiness of working for peace and justice in a the war and Lincoln's deepening process that has tried to assist people depression about his own personal who were given the double griefof hand in the killing ofso many, and his having a loved one killed and the rage at the incompetence ofhis corneas ofthese loved ones taken by generals, and, his growing awareness the County coroner without their or that the North was rioting to stay out any family permission. Plunging into ofthe war {NY), all did not override this painful mess, it is fair to ctsk if his concern for keeping j ustice to freed justice can ever be found. Thanks to a blacks as primary. courageous j udge and his special The peace effort, even as an master, Ken and I have sought to expression, seems grandiose. Are create a method ofboth listening to the there real groups at work for peace, family members who have suffered thinking through what to do about the and, where possible, using a financial tortur~ ofchildren within Iraq going settlement with the state of Ohio to 18" X 24" poster print: Washington Park, Over­ unanswerea? Are there groups help with the pain. Listening to a the-Rhine, Winter 1999. Each print is individually working in Israel to stop abuse on the family member who has been violated Temple Mount of Moslems as they signed by OTR photographer Jimmy Heath. in the grief process is one ofthe only seek to go and pray in their holy sites? behaviors that reveals j ust how deep Purchase benefits the children's Can a peace effort exist in Nigeria as the sense of injustice can go. We have Literacy Through Photography program at Peaslee the fragile tempers may again explode listened for over a year to family in a bloodbath of Christian/Moslem member after family member. Slowly, Neighborhood Center in Over-the-Rhine. war? All of these international and we are seeing a form ofjustice arrive, Posters are $10 each, plus $3 for shipping. national efforts make my head spin along with some peace, in our limited around the precise meaning ofwho work. It is depressing for us to work Send y our order and check to: and what is the peace movement and with no real knowledge ofwhether Peaslee Neighborhood Center what meaning does it have for me. peace and justice can be sustained by What has been most personally each person. In many cases, we saw Attn: Photography Program exciting in the work of the Peace even our attempts at caring only 215 East Fourteenth Street Village has been to learn and support adding to the sense ofpain. Yet, we peace efforts on a small group basis, have concluded that many ofthe Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 irrespective ofwhether this leads to people we have listened to have been global or widespread peace. or call (513) 621-5514 for more information grateful for the chance to express their The Peace Village Peace Village ... �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Peace Village ... cont. from page 7 drawing Father Time handing a soldier 's helmet to baby 2003 . ls there time for peace? The pundits are twisting and turning with the threat of North Korea, making more talk ofwar on two fronts even more likely. Even Daniel Schorr has depressing feelings about peace: " ... peace seems further away than ever...Peace today is a nervous look at your neighbor, an X­ ray ofyour baggage, a color coded alert, and a president who says be is at war in defense of a place called homeland ...Peace bas become a sometime thing, a search for enemies without return addresses operating from the shadows ... peace today is waiting for the next war to begin... " (Christian Science Monitor, 12/27 /02) But the worst news, if such a label can be given at this time, came in the form of an article that brought together the concepts of terror with what is happening in our cities: "9/ 11 last year? We have it going on every day," said Paula Drew-Williams, the facilitator of the weekly free for all at the offices of Save Our Sons and Daughters. "Look at how many babies we don't have. We had 9/11 before 9/ 11." Though violent crime over all has declined by about 4.5% in Detroit this year, and total homicides are down to 391 from 395, fatal shootings of children increased to 17 from 1 L And Detroit is not alone: New Orleans had l6 children killed this year, double last year 's 8, giving it a child homicide rate of 13 per 100,000. In Washington, 12 children were killed this year, a rate of U per 100,000." (The NY Tunes, 1/1/ 03) So how does a peace effort work at this time? I continue to be impressed with the small scale efforts to bring understanding and change toward peace and justice, creating waves of hope and success that are the seeds of long term efforts for making reconciliation and justice two concepts that can find meaning in the work of human relationships. Abandoning war language and action, while respecting those who have convinced themselves that this is the source of serious security, requires facing our fears right in our here and now. My wife, Stefanie, continues to work on our neighborhood streets for a) the end of drng sales by African An1erican youth; b) the return to high profile work by our local police; and, Page 8 c) community, neighbor to neighbor, together to build a strong symbol of our future, and seen people dull to our education and support for both not accepting the terror ofour local streets efforts light up with concern and a or any behavior that reinforces hope for our community. I have seen watching black youth, drugs or not, her and a large group of neighbors rise up and stop the plans for a highway kill each other. The connection between the tolerance ofdrug being put through our community and, in the process, awakened an interest in behavior, the uselessness ofthe police preservation ofold neighborhoods as to stop it, and, the perpetuation of hopelessness for young people can jewels in our city. None of these only lead to more terrorism. Why projects have been easy to conceive, have our young people turned to drug sustain, or preserve. The talents of the sales in our neighborhood?, Stef asks most creative people in our community herself and others. Why have our have a lot to show for their continued police turned away from strong efforts. A main street bas been beautified, a farmer's market has been enforcement of the law in our local community other than there appears to instituted on a weekly basis, an old be a tolerance for black on black and distinguished school has been converted into a remarkable set of genocide?, she muses with me. Who can realistically stay and fight for the condos, a very old Masonic Temple is now totally renovated into a Buddhist deeper meaning ofcommunity when there seems to be overwhelming forces temple and retreat center. All of these projects and more are in our aimed at turning our neighborhood neighborhood. into a dumping ground for long term problems?, she asks neighbor after Yet all is threatened, including neighbor with mounting exasperation. our spirit, by the invasion of crime The signing ofthe agreement through the twin activities of drugs to change police behavior towards less and police inaction, Stef firmly brutality appears to have been believes. She will not stop fighting for interpreted by the community and the a change in these factors even though her actions are largely unknown police as a criticism of strong police enforcement. The wish to work with amongst peace workers. Yet, she like the police on crime reduction appears several other community leaders are to have been interpreted by the police dedicated to the peace and justice as an invasion of their domain and an process on a block by block basis, invasion that can be repelled through family by family, garden by garden, inaction. The local community, garbage can by garbage can. Her untrained in peace work and policing that contributes to safety and respect, appears dumbfounded by the perpetuation of a status quo of more killing, more flight, and more symbolic by Denise Crew and insubstantial efforts to bring Today is a day of great peace. Stef persists in going to meetings, riding her car into reflection. Recently I have been dangerous territories, meeting with consumed by my own troubles local police leadership, heading up a and my personal existence. As I local group unafraid of calling our city usually do I spend this day every council to task, and continuing to year listening to the recorded plant the seeds of hope. "What messages left to us all by Martin possibility is there to put down LutherK.ing, also reading words terrorism at the airports, museums," she asks, "when we can't walk our as quoted of Rev. Maurice streets safely day or night?" McCrackin , and remembering There are few processes more the legacy of buddy gray. beautiful than the restoration of a (founder of Drop Inn Center) neighborhood, Stefhas taught me. I www.dropinncenter@overtherhine.org have seen her lead efforts to create With the boycott still in gardens and bring little chilqren into full effect this year, I did not the wonder of planting and caring for attend the march. I have been . the land, with the result that some of these children have turned away from very mindful of the boycott and street comer drug sales. I have seen have not ventured downtown. So her lend energy to design, implement I took pictures to accompany my and strengthen a community thoughts and reflections. As the playground, bringing dozens ofpeople Local Schizophrenia/Schizo-affective Research Study * Financial Compensation * 45 years and over * Symptoms of depression * 13 visits (513) 861-3100 ext4187 or toll free (888) 267-7873 ext 4187 work is a barometer for me about the future of our neighborhood, our community, our city, and our international efforts for peace. There can be little peace without the peace of the street and the street ofpeace for everyone. Our street cannot afford to watch little children planted in abandonment, forced to be raised by pre-teens, forced to be at schools that have no.way of working with them as long as their are no parents to be co­ workers. There can be no peace as long as drugs offer a temporary solution for relief from the great rejection ofour neighborhoods and community for those in poverty. The street can look beautiful and there is nothing more amazing than watching little children play in a safe and caring street, fearing nothing but the loss ofenough sunlight on a cold wintry day. Children on skate boards and old bikes fly by, carefree, happy to be out in a place where Christmas lights are kept on through January and some until February. A community glows when there is a chance for a child to sit on a police horse, with the police officer holding the reins, smiling and saying, "Hold on and I'll take a picture of you. Now smile." I see Stef's smile, too, acknowledging that this is one more sunbeam that might bring a flower to bloom. She is not smiling now. Walking Strong for MLK Marchers filed by I snapped a picture or two, waved to friends who chose to participate. After the Marchers had filed by marching, singing and chanting, I noticed that even though there were no more marchers, the police did not move forward with their escort. They stayed far back. I leaned further out my window and used my binoculars to see what could be the problem. What I saw approaching, very slowly yet determined was a woman, a much older woman. She was not well dressed, but bundled well to protect herself from the cold temperature. She walked at a slow steady pace, with a cane to assist her. What was more amazing to me was that she walked alone. Every one had gone by, respectfully. Four police cruisers slowly escorted her to Music Hall to attend the proceedings. I waved and thanked the officers and one officer waved back to me. I was moved to tears and embarrassment to dare think that the problems of my life could compare. This morning when I woke, thoughts of what the next few days that lay ahead consumed me. What a wonderful Gift this great day did bring. She is a mother of the people's movement, a mother of the village, the mother I do not know but feel a great deal of love for. Tears streamed from my eyes, and I was thanking God for allowing me to witness real strength. The kind that it will take to move, on through these difficult times. I wanted to share this with someone, any one who would be touched by this Mother. Please pass this along to those who need a reminder that somewhere before I came to be, someone was being all they could be to clear a path for me.... for all of us. �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Volunteer Opportu1iities at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless There are numerous opportunitiesfor volunteers at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. We are willing to work with each individual j n choosing a service opportunity that is right for them. The following are a few ofthe areas in which the Coalition could use your help: per month. Our dream volunteer would be a self-motivated volunteer that would like to fundraise for our organization. Th is could include asking your friends and family for donations to researching and writing grants for our excellent programs. The Streetvibes newspaper project is always in need ofpeople' interested in connecting with the vendors and helping them write articles on social justice/poverty issues, poetry, or personal stories. We need help in the afternoons at the front desk, answering phones and handling transactions with our Streetvibes Vendors. This person wiU address the needs ofvisitors, having direct contact with homeless individuals and should be available one afternoon a week. There is always a need for help with bulk mailings. Mailings include the annual report, quarterly newsletter, and various capitol campaigns. If you are interested in volunteering at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, please contact the office at 421-7803, or visit us at 1506 Elni, Street jp Over-the­ D esigning a web site for our National Civil Rights Organizing P roject. This would include working with the Americorp Vista volunteers on how to prevent further criminalization ofhomeless individuals as well as preventing the increasing hate crimes against them. To enhance our Streetvibes program, we are searchlng for volunteers to solicit advertisements from local businesses. lfyour business or a business you know of would like to advertis_e in our paper, we offer very competitive rates for Rhine. ads that reach about 15,000 people iBienvenidos! by Samantha Broclifield Ahora Streetvibes esta dedicando una pagina a su comunidad. Este es el peri6dico escrito para crear una conciencia de las personas sin hogar, la injusticia social, y la pobreza en nuestra cuidad. Es la hora que se oye la voz de usted. l Ha pasado algo emocionante en su vida recienteinente? lTiene Ud. unas ideas que quiere publicar? l Ha escrito algiln tipo de poesia? Streetvibes quiere publicar sus historias, su poesia, su prosa, y sus pensamientos_ Hay personas que pueden ayudarle a escribir y preparar todo para redactarlo. Tambien, Ud. puede ser un vendedor de Streetvibes y ganar dinero. La Coalici6n de Greater Cincinnati provee el peri6dico para las personas sin hogar en Over-the-Rhine. El meta de la coalici6n es eliminar la situaci6n de personas sin hogar, con respeto a la dignidad y diversidad de sus miembros, las personas sin hogar, y la comunidad. La Coalicion y sus miembros pueden darle a usted lo siguiente: el refugio de emergencia, las habitaciones provisionales, la vivienda permanente, los servicios medicos, los servicios sociales, los lugares donde Ud. puede obtener comida, y los servicios de salud mental. Nosotros creemos que es importante que Ud. sepa cuales son sus derechos civiles como persona sin hogar. Tenemos folletos que los explican. Nos gustaria que Ud_ nos visitara algun dia para que le podamos dar servicios mejores. Para reunirse con La Coalicion: 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-7803 www.cinci.com/gcch Para ayuda, llame- Su Casa Ministerio Hispano (513) 761-1588 115 W. Seymour Ave Cincinnati, Ohio 45216 San Damiano House- Los Hermanos de Las Personas Pobres (513)241-8585 923 Bank St Cincinnati, Ohio 45214. Tambien, hay una lista de lugares (para el refugio, la vivienda, el tratamiento medical, y otros servicios) en Ia ultima pagina del periodico. Page 9 We Can Be Proud! .Judge MARK PAINTER Ohio Court of Appeals The Most-Published Hamilton County Judge Ever! Our own Judge Mark Painter has reached a milestone­ 250 of his decisions have been published nationally. He is the most-published Hamilton County judge ever, and one of the most-published Ohio judges in history. Judge Painter has: • Served on the Court of Appeals for seven years, after 13 years on Municipal Court. His opinions ha:ve been recognized as legal precedent more than 2000 times­ In cases. textbooks, and encyclopedi?.s. • Written 52 artictes on appellate pra<'f sentencing. DUI. contempt, and legal ethics. He writes a monthly column on legal writing for Ohio Lawyers Weekly. • Taught 85 seminars for judges, lawyers, and police officers, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at U.C. • Authored the textbook Ohio DUI Law, now in its 12th edition. His other book, The Legal Writer; 30 Rules for the Art of Legal Writing, was published in June. www.judgepalnter.org Paid for by The Judge h inter Committee. Greo Ruahlmann, Chair. 3)2 Walnut St,, Cinclnnati The GCCH would like to thank these Starbucks locations for their generous donation of coffee and pastries: 11379 Montgomery Road (513) 469-1111 3366 Erie Avenue East Hyde Park (513) 533-3402 7896 Montgomery Road (513) 891- 7740 National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Call Andy Erickson {513} 421-7803 �STREETV I B E S February, 2003 Implode THIS! photographs and story by Jimmy Heath On December 29th, around 7:30 in the morning, a friend and I made our way to the Kentucky side of the Ohio River for a front-row view ofthe implosion ofCinergy F ield. Braving the pre-dawn cold and darkness, thousands were gathered to witness the destruction ofthe 32-year-old stadium, that would eventually make way for the Great American BaJlpark and the new Banks Riverfront development on Cincinnati 's waterfront. Fifteen-hundred pounds ofcarefully-placed, high explosive charges were to tum the old ball field into a pile of rubble in 32 seconds. The reasons for my being there were less than nostalgic. I didn' t mourn the destruction ofthe great ball park, and I wasn' t reflecting on fond memories ofthe games I attended at the old Riverfront Stadium. I was there for the event. I wanted to see some destruction, and I had my camera and tripod set up to record the event. I was there to see something get blown up. We are obsessed with new things in our culture. And there is no place for "old" buildings, or old stuff. If it doesn't fit right, we throw it away. Or, in this case, blow it up. Meanwhile, turn it into a political, public and media spectacle ifyou can. For 10 bucks, Cincinnatians could enter their names into a lottery for a chance to press the button that would begin the implosion sequence. Even that was only symbolic. For "safety reasons," the winner of the lottery never pushed the real hot button. Sonm' of my reasons for being on that riverbank were political too. In my view, the whole Cincinnati riverfront development project continues to stand as an example ofskewed government priorities. In a city known nationally for its poverty, segregation and civil discontent, the Cincinnati Riverfront project continues to roll forward as a regrettable symbol of government spending gone wikl. Yes, back in 1996, Hamilton County voters decided on a half-cent sales tax increase to fund the new Riverfront redevelopment project. Two stadiums and a huge riverfront complex were to be built with taxpayer 's dollars. But this tax increase came with a promise that was never fulfilled - Hamilton County homeowners were going to get a property tax rollback. A detailed financial analysis for Hamilton County showed commissioners how a half-cent on every dollar spent countywide could fund nearly three-quarters ofthe massive project. This, and the promised rolllback, is how the project got sold to the taxpayers. 30 percent of the tax­ an estimated $16. 5 million in 1998 - goes for a property tax rebate that commissioners pledged as part of the campaign to increase the sales tax. "The reason we fought so hard to use the sales tax as a revenue stream was because of the lessons we learned from Arlington, Texas, and Denver, Colo.," said then County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who pushed the 1996 half-cent sales tax increase. In addition to sales-tax revenues, the county is counting on parking revenues, $81 million from the state of Ohio, $25 million from the Bengals and $30 million from the Reds. "The people have been mislead," Page 10 �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Page 11 said Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich, in reference to the tax rollback. So far, there will be no tax rebates or property tax rollback. As a matter offact, the whole riverfront project is grossly over budget. No one is surprised at that. All ofthe numbers around this project are staggering. At its completion, nearly $1. 5 billion will have been spent: $404 million for football , $297 million for baseball, $13 5 million for parking and road work and a $12 million cushion. And that doesn't include interest on debt: an estimated $283 miIJjon for the Reds' new ballpark and $353 million for the Bengals' new home. Tracing the stadium 's history from its conception in the late 1940s reveals it was ;...._..._....__~~.-~ only marginally considered an economic­ development project. Riverfront Stadium, as it was known when it opened in 1970, achieved its initial goals: replacing a blighted neighborhood of crumbling tenements and warehouses and bringing NFL football to the city. The design ofFort Washington Way still reflects the attitudes and concerns of downtown business interests before the ..----~--~~---~----~-~-----~""!""'""\""'-~----~-------. development ofthe riverfront. The huge interstate-connector provided a dividing line and a physical boundary between downtown and what were the riverfront slums. Serving as a magnet for economic development wasn't part ofthe plan. A riverfront stadium first showed up on drawings in the 1948 Cincinnati Metropolitan Master Plan, developed by the city's planning commission and dozens of planners, politicians and business people from both sides ofthe river. That plan called for the cleanup ofthe riverfront. Planners believed the crumbling - conditions in "The Bottoms" was a drag on property values in the central business district. Even then, "The Bottoms" was considered so decrepit the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers concluded it wasn't worth the $6. 5 million cost of a flood wall to save it from annual flooding. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against professional sports. I have gone to games and I enjoy watchlng sports of all kinds. And I believe sports are an important part ofgenerating revenue streams for cities like Cincinnati. My beef is with the ------------------------------------~-- exorbitant cost, and the misdirected priority. About a half-mile north ofthe riverfront lies one of Cincinnati's most impoverished neighborhoods: Over-theRhine. Residents and neighborhood groups struggle daily trying to make ends meet. Drug dealers have turned our neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine into a Wild West scenario; neighborhood schools are falling apart. Nearly 100 percent ofOver-the-Rhine neighborhood kids are poor enough to qualify for free lunches at school. And there are other Cincinnati neighborhoods just as bad off. ..-.-f""!"".. ~· .....,.~....,....,,~._"""",... \:4~::;;;5•iiJil~;:, ~~.._;..ii._-.;..._....,......~ $1. 5 billion would do much for the quality oflife of all Cincinnati citizens. Even our middle-class suburban neighbors stand to benefit with a much ~ser use oftaxpayer money, ifthere were a political will and sense ofpriority. We should be building people first, not expensive playgrounds. At 8 a.m., the implosion sequence began and the old Riverfront Stadium crumbled just as planned. A metaphor for a city on the brink ofopportunity, drifting off in a cloud of dust. �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Universal Living Wage Breakthrough and call for tax relief and greater worker independence from foo d stamps by initiating the Universal Living Wage. Ending Homeless Through Higher Wages by Richard R. Troxell It is time to end The initiative to Fix the homelessness and stabilize the base Federal Minimum Wage achieved a ofAmerica's work force. The · major breakthrough when the problem ofhomelessness can be nationwide construction company, broken down into three major HSR Construction, became the categories: affordable housing, campaign's 700th endorsement. health care, and livable incomes. HSR Construction is a Part of the livable income national construction company picture includes 42% ofAmerica's with 34 years experience in new/ homeless population that the commercial construction federal government says is specializing in multi-family working. The problem is that the rehabilitation. federal minimum wage is $5 .15 per HSR Construction becomes hour. the 1st national business in the According to the last construction industry to recognize several U .S. Conference ofMayors' the moral and fiscal implications of reports, $5.15 per hour or $9,880 the Universal Living Wage. While per year is an insufficient wage for touting customer satisfaction as its anyone to get and keep housing # 1 priority, Robert Perrin, the throughout the United States. company's president, believes that While some employers are paying it can best achieve this by listening $6.00, $7.00 or even $8.00 per to its customers and by promoting hour, the wage is still not enough economically stable and motivated to get or keep most folks in workers. Additionally, HSR housing. Construction recognizes the Senator Ted Kennedy has a implementation ofthe Universal bill to raise the federal minimum living Wage as having colossal wage by $1.50 over the next two ramifications for the entire years. The problem is that the day construction industry nationwide. that bill gets passed, not one Mr. Perrin stated, "This concept minimum wage worker can then will result in both a national work themselves off the streets in economic stimulus package, and in the very city where it is passed. creating a long term stabilizing Others wonder about the effect for aJJ minimum wage approach of paying a flat national workers. We are pleased to call minimum wage of say $10.00 per upon the President and the United hour. Again, that would not afford States Congress to immediately any minimum wage worker an pursue this initiative." efficiency apartment in cities such On April 15th, Tax Day, the as Washington D.C. , Santa Cruz, Universal Living Wage Campaign California or even Austin>Texas. will go to our nation's post offices At the same time, that flat wage Page 12 would swamp small businesses all across America in cities Like Biloxi, Mississippi or Harlingen, Texas. In fact, this is Congress's biggest problem; one wage size no longer fits all . It is recognized that the single most expensive item in everyone's budget is housing. In response, we've devised a single national formula that is indexed to the local cost of housing across the U.S. The Universal Living Wage Formula (ULW) ensures that anyone working a 40 hour week will be able to afford basic rental housing (i.e. an efficiency apartment) wherever that work is done throughout the U.S. Using a single formula, each city and Fair Market Rent (FMR) designated area, has a wage relative to the local cost of living based on housing. The formula is based on existing government guidelines: • spend no more than 3 0% of income on housing, • HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), • a 40 hour week. The Department ofHousing and Urban Development (HUD) under its Section 8 housing rental program, annually determines what one can reasonably expect to spend on rental housing across the U.S . for an efficiency, one, two, three, and four bedroom apartment. They are referred to as Fair Market Rents. Over the past five years, due to the Herculean efforts of local initiatives, the concept of a "living wage" has swept America. However, even with 90 local campaigns, less than 100,000 workers are represented. Between opposition and unorganized rural America, this won't bring wage equity for all 11.8 miJlion minimum wage workers for about 3000 years. In the l 930's, the Unions answered this question by creating the Federal Minimum Wage. Our goal today is to fix it ... to everyone's benefit. The Universal Living Wage Formula is based on the moral premise that anyone working 40 hours should be able to afford basic rental housing. To this end, we have launched a national campaign that has garnered wide spread support across the United States. 585 organizations have endorsed. The campaign has captured the imagination of unions (i.e. the Communication Workers of America International boasting 650,000 members), religious organizations and businesses alike. Enactment of the Universal Living Wage will create a true Economic Stimulus Package. The local construction industry all across America will respond to the need of millions of minimum wage workers' new ability to rent non­ existing efficiency apartments. "If we build it, they will come." Based on government statistics, it is estimated that, with implementation, over one million homeless people will be able to work themselves off the streets of America while offering businesses stable workers. Finally, the plan will prevent economic based homelessness for all 11.8 million minimum wage workers. That's true Homeland Security. For additional information visit www.UniversalLivingWage.org. Be the Change You Want in the World by Brian Garry We must love each other in "the movement."'' Even if we don't 100% agree on everything, ideology, methods and tactics. No two people can agree on every single issue, so I can't expect several whole groups of people to agree point for point. We must be united as one front if we are to survive and progress. Now is no time for infighting. Ifyou are not against me in times like these, then you are for me. We must be the equality that we desire. We must be the community we desire. We must be open and inclusive if we are to progress. In my personal life I must embody all ofthe qualities that I think that our "leaders" and government should display. In my personal life, do I treat others as I would like to be treated? In relation to those closest to me, do I show them respect and honor them and give them the attention that they deserve? Truly, respect and equal treatment cannot ultimately be legislated. It must come from one human heart to another. From within not from without. Gandhi said we must be the change that we want others to be. I for one have not been a very good example ofthis concept. Becoming angry at an unjust system is right and normal and a start. But when I let the anger dictate my actions then I have become a slave. I am no longer directing the course ofmy life based on principles. I have the let other win by controlling me. I must chart the course not be steered by my anger. Here locally, I am inspired by a woman for whom I have nothing but the utmost respect. She lives out this creed in her daily and public actions. The life of Susan Knight illustrates this idea. In matters great and small, I have witnessed her be the change that she expects the world to make. From helping and really listening to those less fortunate, to speaking truth, respectfully and compassionately, to corporate and government power, she lives out this simple and pqwerful concept. She is gentle and sincere yet honest in her communication with others. We could all take her lead on this. The most powerful motivating factor of change on Earth is the power of a living example. She is a powerful example of how to interact with others in this Life. I have been motivated to change the whole basis of my life to become more compassionate, gentle, sensitive to the needs of others and more thoughtful. I hope that we can all be example to each other. As we commence, shoulder to shoulder on this long journey toward justice, I hope to more and more, be the change that I expect in this world. To treat others, including cops and politicians, as I want to be treated. �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Reauthorization. Registration for conference Make plans now to attend materials which includes three the Ohio Empowerment Coalition's meals and child care if needed is seventh statewide conference $10 for low-incqme individuals and March 11th and 12th in Columbus, $35.00 for non low-income. Ohio. The Statewide Mobilization Registration for a hotel room at the will kick-off with a rally at the Best Western Columbus East is Statehouse at 12:00 noon on separate: please call the Best March 11 , followed by meetings Western at 614/864-1280 to with state legislators at the Ri.ffe reserve your room. Both doubles Center and Senate Building. The and single rooms are $45.00. "conference" portion begins at 5 :30 Please reserve your room under the p.m. at the Best Western Columbus "Contact Center" block of rooms. E ast, located at 2100 Brice Rd., Scholarships may be available: call Reynoldsburg. 1-877-862-5 179 to request a Keynote speaker is Shirley scholarship. McLain of the Hunger Network, If you need transportation North Carolina. She has many to get to the conference, don't let years' experience organizing for this deter you from coming!!! Call social change in the south. A panel 1-877-862-5179 and we will make of speakers who have been directly sure you get a ride from your area affected by welfare policies will of the state! Cincinnati people: call also be featured on opening night. Cassandra at 513/381-4242 to The second day of the reserve your seat on the Bus conference includes a full plate of leaving from Cincinnati to workshops and speakers. Topics Columbus the morning ofMarch include: Education & Ohio Works 11. First; Supports for the Working This promises to be a very Poor; Domestic Violence and Ohio inspiring and motivational Works First; Building Organizing conference. United we can Skills; Developing Media Skills, surmount any obstacles the Ohio and more. Speakers will also Assembly may put in our way! But present on Tax Reform in Ohio; the it will take all of us united across State of Ohio's Budget; and TANF the state to make change happen! Page 13 Welfare News --~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--· Renaissance House 524 Ridgeway Avenue For single men, recovering addicts, felons, home­ less - looking for a transition to a productive life through employment and a structured living enviroment. Contact Robert Pace, 281-6855 ART, MUSIC, AND WRITING OPPORTUNITIES! Peaslee Neighborhood Center, 215 East 14th Street, hosts lots of arts opportunities·for adults and children to learn skills such as playing a steel drum or piano, photography, making mosaic art, or writing. Any resident of Over-the-Rhine or the West End is welcome! All sessions are FREE, including instruction and materials. No previous artistic experience necessary. Contact Brenda Z. at 621-5514 for more information. OTR Steel Drum Band -Learn how to play the steel drums in .a n introductory series for adults. Parents may bring their children (age 9 and up) to learn together if they like. Participants will learn steel drum technique, rhythms, and how to read music. young adults are invited to learn basic photography skills through introductory courses prov,ided at Peaslee. Call the Center for class schedules. Writing -Any young person in the Greater Cincinnati area may submit poems and/or articles via email for publication in Streetvibes. Content should be related to homelessness, social justice, or pgx,ertyJ-;r~lated issues. Call For New Arts Advisory Committee Members! -The Arts Advisory Committee is looking for representatives from· the neighborhood and the arts and business community. This committee helps to formulate the direction and development of Peaslee's arts programs. Lookjng For New Staff Community Mosaic Art Project- Community members are coming together to make mosaic art for the Over-the­ Rhine neighborhood. The organizers are looking for ideas for the next project. Forward your ideas to Brenda Z. Photography - Over-the-Rhine and West End teenagers and Peaslee is also looking for new music instructors for the piano and the mallets program. This is a wonderful opportunity to get involved in teaching music in a fun and rewarding setting. Anyone interested in any of these opportunities, contact Brenda Z. at Peaslee, 215 East 14th Street, Over-the-Rhine, 621-5514. Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression ofthe views and opinions ofour readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those ofthe Streetvibes staffor the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. �ST R EETVI B E S February, 2003 Loneliness in New York City by Mike Henson Art& Poetry God S·e nt Me My Angel by Mary The woman at the news stand takes my money. She does not look at me. Hi, my name is Mary. I prayed to She looks at the newspaper in my hand God to send me an angel and one and she looks at the three coins 1 give her. day he sent me him. His name is Crowds of people stride past Vernon. I couldn't ask for a better in N ovember coats and jackets. man. He is there for me and he The river wind chutes down the avenues. does a lot for me. He cares for me The harbor wind sweeps the streets like no one else ever has. His love and I know is like none I have ever had before. the woman in the stand is probably cold. He has a good heart and if he can But it seems she is contented help you he will. He's a caring and it seems she has a friend person. I thank God every day for for she looks to the left and she is talking him. To me he is everything in a and she only glances at the paper I hold up man I wanted to be. He makes me -just to checkhappy. and at the coins -three quarters- that I drop into her palm. She does not break stride in her conversation with her hidden friend . She is framed like a woman in a Renaissance painting by tabloid newspapers and fashion magazines. So perhaps it is fashion that she speaks of with her friend. Or perhaps the recent election. How can I know? She speaks in a language that is not mine and it all happens very quickly. But I know she will not say, tonight, there was a man of such a height, by RickAshcroft with his ears tinged red from the cold and he wore a beaten hat May you always stop and think and his collar turned up. Before you relapse, ad start to For how could she remember? drink she barely even sees me. May you find your "Higher Power" And that is how it is in the city. and let him be with you each Buyers and sellers passing hour. crossers and dodgers May your road to happiness be drivers and messengers lined with gold a boy all in gold and may all your dreams, somehow and men all in black unfold. a naked man in a cowboy hat May each ofyou find ·success along angels ofthe alleys the way, ghosts of the squeegee men And may your road to recovery · a line of angry gridlocked cabbies start each day. Amazing! Amazing! For tomorrow is not promised, it is So many people press from so many sides, said. so much dance of one past another May'relapse never enter your head. and we have only so much of soul Always stop and think from where to absord it all. you came. The world is wide. May your troubles never remain the Our arms are small. same. So we bend home to the small warm place; May you find peace of mind at we shift our eyes from the blazing street. heart. We tum to the hidden friend God has given each of us a new as I tum, now, in this odd poem, to you. start. So my prayer for each of you is the best. He has showed us the way, by William A. Johnson We just have to do the rest. So good luck in everything you do As Christmas has gone I say goodbye, the best of luck to and there's a New Year, each ofyou. We hope that we will not result into fear or tears. As we all come together, with cheers, may God help us all in this New Year of 2003 My Prayer For You Page 14 Lonesome Me by Denise Crew I couldn't wait until I had time to myself no little ones outside the bathroom door doing a battle royal about a pair of socks NO book fairs to scrounge up money for so that my little ones could be privileged to a book or two of their choosing no lunches to pack for school and complaints about what was in them or discovering them uneaten the following day Worrying who will do child care next week because the baby sitter just isn't working out now my mind is on other things bow are the children are the grandchildren doing all right Why don 't they ca11 why don't they visit some things never change The Bottom Line by Michael Nelson Sin on our street, Death in our city. The bottom line is, Life shows us no pity. Women cheat on husbands, Men cheating on wives, The bottom Line is, More pain in their lives. Kids killing kids, Cops shot every day. The bottom line is, We all need to pray. People watch violence, See ladies quite nude. The bottom line is, Our morals are crude. The bottom line is, Then end may be near. The bottom line is, Man shall know fear! �·. STREETVIBES February, 2003 Art&Poetry Page 15 Life Is by Lee Crum 239-589 Orient Correctional Institute What is life, a meaningful thing More precious than money. I do mean! A Prisoner of War That still has dreams. No chance for parole is how it seems. Incarcerated! No help from the outside. Behind the walls of a prison Is where I Lie. In need of Friendship, that's no lie. For many reason, and this says Why? Confined with envelopes, pens and paper But no one to write, It seems as though a long lost fight! Untitled by James Curry The Beast is indisputable Because it is immutable. It uses reason as its quest, So simple recognition is best. It knows not time, but looks ahead. For anytime it may be fed. A day, a year, a century, Is fine in its eternity. You know your Beast is treatment-wise, You'd now be better, otherwise. "Treatment" means, "When you feel well, then tell your Beast to go to hell." The beast knows well you'll not feel well enough for long enough to tell just when it's finally time to yell, "It's time for you to go to hell." And when you do feel well enough, the reason's lost; you'll want your stuff. but "Never I" sets the Beast aflame. That word alone can win the game. Sat "Never!" now, and feel the view of Freedom - joy, with hope anew. Sat "Never! " now, and step ahead, to sober living, treatment's dead. Easy Be Yourself Inadequate by Gloria Wiggins by Bruce B. Willmer by Lisa Webster What is easy? Is it up or down? Is it straight or crooked? Is it loving or hating? I've never known the meaning of easy. Everything has always been hard.What is hard? Well, hard is the ground I'm down on. Hard is loneliness, non-satisfaction. Hard is the hearts of many men and women Who have broken my heart. Hard is holding back tears. Hard is the cement wall I find myselfleaning on when I need support. Hard is not being able to support. Hard is not being able to trust. Especially when that is all you 'd like to do. Hard is living. You take chances, just being alive. Now I know what is easy. Easy' it is to cry. Easy is it to die, even lie. The world would Like to change you, There are pressures all around, You must decide just who you are Then firmly bold your ground. It smells like something has just died. Down on hands and knees, I search the rug. My fingers rake the plush. Under these nails there is some dirt and blood, but no hope. Shutter Speed You have an image of yourself. An ideal sense ofyou. And to this vision you must always Digital and vacant, Struggle to be true. a voice reaches me. Solace to silence. You know what you are good at, And you know where your talents It reminds me how close I am lie, to becoming a simple whore. But ifyou are ruled by others, Your uniqueness could pass by. I want to tear that need from my skin, Remember, there is much to learn, to expose hat lies beneath. But all new things aren't good, It just gets muted by Wisdom lies in what you've a desperate quiet learned, that scares even me. And what you have withstood . I bring my knees to the floor, come eye to eye. So, be yourself and don't allow The world to take control. Rolling and rolling, Preserving your identity covering myself with something Is tie's most precious goal. more pure. Something perhaps, human. by Jimmy Hea th Dance, when you ' re broken open Dance, ifyou' ve torn the bandage off Dance, in the middle ofthe fi ghting Dance in your blood Dance when you ' re perfectly free. - Ru mi Women In Black demonstrating against war with Iraq, Central Parkway and Vine Street, Downtown Cincinnati �STREETVIBES February, 2003 News & Editorial Page 16 Chicago Passes Anti-War Resolution (Chicago, Jan. 16, 2003) After one of the most mesmerizing, impassioned and personal debates ever to occur in Chicago's City Council Chamber, Chicago has become the largest and most prominent city in the nation to formally oppose a unilateral pre­ emptive strike on Iraq. One by one, black and white, Latino and Jewish, men and women, the Aldermen stood to draw attention to their own particular concerns with the current path of the Bu~I?.J...dmU»stration. Many pointed out that the real dangers this nation faces today are the rising rates ofunemployment and economic stagnation. Others were concerned about the double standard the administration is showing with respect to North Korea. And some drew attention to the prospect ofyoung sons and daughters coming home in body bags from an ill-conceived war. The Committee ofHuman Relations of the Chicago City Council sent the "Resolution Opposing Pre-emptive U.S. Military·Strikes on Iraq" to the full council today after a vote yesterday. "It is our sons and daughters who will be recruited­ perhaps even conscripted- to fight in this war," said Ald. Joseph unilateral U.S . military action would result in the installation of a free and democratic Iraqi government; and WHEREAS, U.S. military actions would risk the deaths of thousands oflraqi civilians without guaranteeing the safety and security ofU.S. citizens; and WHEREAS, a pre-emptive and unilateral U.S . military attack would violate international law and our commitments under the U.N. Charter and further isolate the U.S. from the rest of the world; and WHEREAS, the Congressional Budget Office estimates a military action against Iraq will cost our nation between $9 and $13 billion a month, likely resulting in further cuts in federally funded projects and programs that benefit our city and its residents; and RESOLUTION OPPOSING A WHEREAS, a U.S.-led war in Iraq PRE-EMPTIVE U.S. MILITARY would compromise our current ATTACK ON IRAQ action in Afghanistan, and require years ofnation-building activities in WHEREAS, the issues between Iraq and the world community have Iraq; and WHEREAS, the Bush not proven to be irresolvable by administration has failed to traditional diplomatic efforts; and articulate a clear strategic objective WHEREAS, while Saddam or outcome of a military attack Hussein is a tyrant who should be against Iraq, and such an attack removed from power, both for the good of the Iraqi people and for the fails to enjoy the support of many of our important allies; and security oflraq's neighboring countries, it is not at all clear that a WHEREAS, we give our Moore (49th), chief sponsor of the resolution. Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) was concerned that the "cost of the war will dry up federal funding for domestic programs for a war that has yet to be justified." Judith Kossy ofChicagoans Against the War on Iraq said she and her organization were deeply moved by the leadership ofAld. Joe Moore, Ald. Helen Shiller, Ald. Ricardo Munoz, Ald. Leslie Hairston and by the action taken today the City Council. "Two out of three people in the nation oppose a unilateral war. It's important for local leaders to articulate their constituent's feelings to President Bush and to the world," Kossy said. unconditional support to U.S. military personnel serving at home and abroad in their tireless battle against global terrorism, and should our military forces be sent to Iraq, we give our unyielding support to our young men and women serving in our nation's military, even ifwe oppose the policy that sent them there; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the members ofthe City Council of the City of Chicago, oppose a pre­ emptive U.S. military attack on Iraq unless it is demonstrated that Iraq poses a real and imminent threat to the security and safety of the United States; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support a return ofU.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq, enhanced by sufficient police support to guarantee unfettered access to all targeted sites; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the U.S. to work through the U.N. Security Council and reaffirm our nation's commitment to the rule of law in all international relationships; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Illinois congressional delegation and the President of the United States. Sports plays a societal role in engendering jingoist and chauvinist attitudes. They're designed to organize a community to be committed to their gladiators. Noam Chomsky Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life ofservice and compassion are the things which renew humanity. Buddha edition of STREETJ?IBE8 ·is Mondtzy,, Februaa 1 fl "Here syour first paycheck. Directions to the food stamp o.ffice are on the back.'' Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression ofthe views and opinions ofour readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those ofthe Streetvibes staffor the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. �STREETVIBES February, 2003 FRAC News Digest Food Research andAction Center, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 540 Washington, DC 20009 (202) 986-2200 x3019 phone (202) 986-2525fax Email: bwintet@frac.org The FRAC web site is http:// www.frac.org FOUR FAMILIES' REACTION TO THE PRESIDENT'S TAX CUT PROPOSAL (New York Times, January 13, 2003) Four families that the New York Times interviewed two years ago after the last tax cut were reached again for comment on how President Bush's latest tax cut proposal would affect their lives. A carpenter, a sales clerk, a surgeon, and a software engineer, all of whom own little taxable stock, commented that they were working longer and harder today than two years ago and they do not expect the new tax break to make much difference. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01 / 13/national/13FAMI.htrnl (free registration required) FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY PAUL O'NEILL COMMENTS ON THE PRESIDENTS TAX CUT (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA, January 12, 2003) Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said money from the president's $674 billion tax-cut plan would be better spent on shoring up the nation's ailing Social Security system. O'Neill saw minor value in eliminating taxes on corporate dividends, commenting "I would not have done it." http:// www.post-gazette.com/nation/ 20030112oneillnpl.asp BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S TANF REAUTHORIZATION PROPOSAL INCLUDES STRICTER WORK REQUIREMENTS (New York Times, January 15, 2003) President Bush announced his position on TANF reauthorization, putting his support behind legislation similar to the House­ passed bill that would require TANF recipients to work 40 hours a week. Up to 16 hours could be met by attending school, job­ training programs or substance­ abuse treatment. The President's proposal would maintain the current level offunding for the program at $ 17 billion a year plus $4.8 billion a year for chiJd care (also the same as the current law). Recipients are currently required to work 30 hours a week and ten or those hours can be replaced with other supervised activities. Critics worry that the President's approach would require more from the states at a time when budgets are tight. Also, the 1996 law· was successful in a climate of economic growth with low unemployment but may not be suit ed for the current economic conditions. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/ 15/politics/15BUSH. htrnl (free registration required) Statement by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on President Bush's TANF reauthorization proposal: http ://www.cbpp.org/ 1-14­ 03tanf. htm Statement by Center for Law and Social Policy on President Bush's welfare reauthorization plan http ://www.clasp.org/Press/DMS/ Documents/1042575984.51/ Response_to_Pres_011403 .htm NATIONAL CAMPAIGN AIMS TO HELP MORE LOW­ INCOME PEOPLE RECEIVE THE·EITC (Brookings Institution, January 2003) The Earned-Income Tax Credit (EITC) has become one of the nation's largest anti-poverty programs. Tu 2000, the credit returned $31 billion to low-wage workers. An estimated 15 percent ofworkers who qualify for the credit may not receive it because they don't know about it or are not filing tax returns. Also, many tax filers who receive the credit are paying 5 percent or more of their total credit for loans to get their refunds immediately. The National Tax Assistance for Working Families Campaign, launched by the Annie E . Casey Foundation, aims to help more people receive the credit, find out about free tax preparation services, and use the credit to get out of poverty.•http:// www.brook.edu/ dybdocroot/ es/ urban/publications/ berubetaxcode. htm GET READY FOR FOOD STAMP REAUTHORIZATION CHANGES IN YOUR STATE ­ REVISED (FRAC Publication, revised January 2003) . This FRAC report has just been revised to reflect recent USDA comprehensive guidance on legal mmigrant eligibility. The report summarizes the important Food Stamp Program changes in the Food Stamp Reauthorization Act title of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of2002, and describes opportunities those changes create for state-level advocacy. The law requires states to take certain positive steps and News & Editorial also gives states a range of new options to improve the program for low-income residents. http:// www.frac.org/pdf/ implementation081402.PDF (Adobe PDF) PRESIDENT BUSH TO PROPOS]j: $43 MILLION INCREASE FOR WIC IN FY 2004 (Associated Press, January 15, 2003) The Bush Administration will request a $43 million (or 1 percent) increase in funding for the WIC Program for FY 2004, which begins on October 1, 2003 . The USDA press release indicates that the increase would allow the program to serve nearly 8 million women and children. The overall budget requested for the program is $4.72 billion. http:// www.newsday.com/news/politics/ wire/sns-ap-bush­ nutrition01l5jan 15,0,7074713.story USDA Press Release (January 15, 2003): http://www.usda.gov/news/ releases/2003/01/0009. htm NEWLY SWORN-IN GOVERNORS FIND STATE DEFICITS HAVE GROWN (New York Times, January 14, 2003) The 'country's 24 new governors face the worst state financial situation since at least World War II. The collective shortfall for the current year is estimated at $45 billion and the gap is projected to be $60 to $85 billion next year. A number of new governors found that the state's deficit had grown considerably between the election and' the time they were swor~ in. In Illinois, the estimate doubled since the election. Many governors are considering options like layoffs, tax increases and program cuts. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/0l/ 14/politics/14GOVS.htrnl (free registration required) TWO-THIRDS OF STATES CUTTING BACK ON MEDICAID (New York Times, January 14, 2003) Two-thirds of states are planning to cut back on Medicaid by limiting benefits, increasing co-payments, restricting eligibility or removing low-income people from the roles- moves that may result in as many as one million to two million low-income people losing health insurance. The cuts are seen as necessary by states because of soaring costs and plunging revenues. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 16 states are cutting benefits, 15 are restricting or reducing eligibility, four are increasing the co-payments charged to beneficiari~s, and 21 Page 17 states are freezing or reducing payments to doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes. California Governor Gray Davis has proposed plans to cut nearly 500,000 low­ income parents from Medicaid. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/ 14/politics/ 14:MEDI.html (free registration required) GRANTS AVAILABLE TO FIGHT HUNGER AMONG ELDERLY (DEADLINE: JANUARY 20, 2003) (Philip Morris Management Corp. and National Meals on Wheels Foundation, 2003) The 2002/2003 Senior Helpings grant program will award 12 to 15 programs nationwide with grants for as much as $150,000 for one year. The program is funded by Philip Morris Manage1!1ent Corp. in a collaboration with the National Meals on Wheels Foundation. It supports programs that help alleviate hunger among the homebound elderly. The program aims to respond to service gaps occurring in communities across the country and to create long-term solutions to alleviating hunger among elderly people through community partnerships. The deadline for applications is January 20, 2003. http ://www.philipmorris.com/ philanthropy/hunger/igam/ community.asp HOMELESSNESS IS GROWING IN SMALL-TOWN WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA (Winchester Star, January 11, 2003) The number of homeless people is growing in the town ofWinchester in the heart ofwestern Virginia's countryside. Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, now used by the Food Stamp Program, are a positive developtnent for Wmchester's homeless people, helping ease stigma for program participants in using their benefits at the grocery store. New rules in the wake of September 11th requiring a birth certificate and street address for getting photo identification, however, have made things more difficult. Previously, social workers used to help pay for a post office box that would enable them to get identification. http ://www.winchesterstar.com/ TheWmchesterStar/030111/ We'd like to hear from you... . . ~ ~ -~ ·~ .' ' ~. Streetvibes@Juno.com ~· · or write the Coalition office attn: · _Streetvibes Letters, 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Send letters or comments to: �STREETVIBES February, 2003 Page 18 Profile of a Street Newspaper Salesman by Michael Robinson I was born in Harlem Hospital January 13, 1956, and I an 18 year old, I started cocaine. Then I started drinking. [Then] I went offi Cause I thought these the grew up in Manhattan on 148th kind of friends I need, I started Street. My family wasn't rich, but going with the wrong path. I had we had enough to keep us going. who'd tell me, " Come on friends First I went to school at PS 121.. . that's my elementary school. Then man, do this .. . if they catch you, all they going to do is slap you on the from there, I went to my school at PS 169, JohnF. Kennedy . . . that's a wrist and let you go." Naw, I used rough boys' school. It's one of to get in a lot of trouble just those bad boy school places. They believing friends. I don't believe them no more. You gotta look at said I needed some discipline and yourselfand believe in yourself, all that. and say hey . .. I have the same I liked to fight. I wouldn't take nobody's@#%&. You know, friend now, but I can't go that way, now. I don't want to listen to you, I just liked to fight, and that's why because you, you put me on the [my parents] sent me there, that's it. The wrong track. I'm going to school spoke Everybody gotta live. .. As long as stay on this to my parents and said, 'We you wake up every day andyou got track. I fell got a school life to live in your body, you pick yourselfup. through the for him.' Even though cracks and, that didn't help me; I still bad some you know, landed up at St. Agnes. First I landed up at Bellevue. Then edges to be cut. And then I went Camp La Guardia, then St. Agnes to a vocational school, to learn a (for about a year around 1994). I trade. Then I dropped out of went through the whole system. I school. know all the shelters, just about. I couldn't live with my Usually I would just drop in, drop parents, so I'd play musical chairs. out [of St.Agnes]. But going on. .. More or less... Ward's Island ' Bellevue, Camp Laguardia, Atlantic I ran into a lady who had no place to go, and I didn't know her, Jack Avenue, Fort Washington, Willow, from Jill. But we got to talking, I been to all. Name one, I been there. [I couldn' t stay] because my and I figured I'd help her out, because she didn't know her way father was strict. And you know, around the city. I took her to me and him don't get along. I get Homeward Bound. I gave her along with my mother, but I don't get along with my father, because I money out of my savings. I just gave it to her. She used it to [get never did like to be downgraded again. He said, you never going to where she had to go] and she wired it back to me, [via] Western Union. be this; you this, you that. I don't And I was surprised. And I need to be downgraded. I said we all need to be picked up, not picked thought t~at was nice, you know, cause it's hard to find people with down, not picked on... You know, their word and their word is good. you got to look at it so people can That was in '94. I spoke to her a look at you a little better, few times since then, but being everybody needs lifting up, and I moved around, going from place always used t hat to mean here to place there, I lost the sometimes you look down on yourself and say "I ain't really got nothing to live for." But no, that's not an .,&. answer; that's a cop-out. Everybody gotta live. .. As long as you wake up every day and you got life to live in your body, you pick yourself up. You can't close your eyes, naw. I know that sleeping on chairs is a suffering - you sleep on these chairs, you suffer. You out in the street, you suffer. People look down on yo'u because they already know what you are about. They already judge you . It's not my job to judge you, or you to judge me, or anything like that. But everybody needs to be picked up. Man, I've been picked up . I've been through drug life, I used to be cocaine head, and all that. I was fifteen years old... when I first started weed. As When I got my new place, [people] always wanted to stay. You let them stay for a few days, address. I tried to get the address and then they just start going off from somebody else, but they told the wires, and I said, you know, yo, me all that's confidential, they I got to get rid of them. They bent wouldn't give me the address or up my door.. . you know, disturbed the number, so I said that's fine. the other people, I told them, I [As for] Section Eight ... I don't live here long. How come had an opportunity in 2000, two these other people live here years, years ago, but I had kept missing they ain't have no problems till that because y'all came? I wasn't And the When I got my new place, [people/ stationed, landlord said, you know, at always wanted to stay. You iet tliem it's not you, a spot. stay for a Jew days, and tlien they it's your Every time just start going of/the wires, and I friends. And you go to said, you know, yo, I got to get rid you 'd be up one shelter, there, paying ofthem. you don't rent, and stay there a your friends hot second, you are removed. I look at you, like, you just want to finally found a way to get around get on us cause we went through ... it, I kept calling, kept calling, kept and I say no, it has nothing to do calling, to stay up on them. Each with racial conflicts and stuff like month I kept calling them, kept that, it'sjust... y' all. Y'all don't act calling them, asking them what's right. Instead ofy'all watching TV, the status of my application. y' all wanna fight, y' all wanna get Because I had mail sent here, mail drunk. I told them, I don' t need sent there. So you know, they this. I tell you, you wanna get couldn't locate me. I finally got drunk and act stupid, go outside section eight. I got me an with that mess, and when you apartment. finish, come on back in. But I They pay $726, welfare can 't have your fighting here, with pays $106. I got my own so-called friends. I told them I apartment, I got my own keys, I didn 't need these kind offriends. feel I got more freedom now, cause I had to put them out. And you know, I go as I will. You I keep putting people out. But you know, I'm not clustered up no know, the only thing that was more. It just - I fall down once in killing me was the loneliness. You a while, like anybody else. And know, so, that's why I'd let them people look down on you .. . Like I in. I figured they' d be company. had friends who looked in, and But they were too much company. said, " Oh you think you're better They were company with an than I am, you know, you be aspirin. You know, I don't need throwing us out." And I said, "I'm that. I just figured , I been where not throwing you out for that. I'm you at, I know how y'all throwing you out because you all suffering ... fight too much. And I don't want Michael Robinson is a formerly that around me; I want to be at homeless street newspaper peace. I don't need this around, salesman from New York City. y'all fighting and stufflike that. Reprinted from Upward, a How y'all going to be my friends homeless newspaper in New York and disturb the atmosphere?" City. l. Vendor: 80 cents Where Your Dollar oes Printing and Production : 20 cents The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal overhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. Please call our office at 421-7803 for more informa­ tion about the program. Many thanks for your support. �STREETVIBES February, 2003 A World of Websites Page 19 work. (Try 'em.) If one has NOT be changed and doing it all over Public transportation, of again. That's not too practical. bookmarked it yet, the first one course, is not the only way to get by Caroyln Messaros The original idea for this might be the best one to use. to things; but, for those that need M ORE LOW-INCOME column was to provide a total of a Still on the subject of the bus and the bus schedules H OUSING DEMOLITION IN corrections and the like, every dozen websites every month (in handy for unfamiliar parts of town, THE CINCINNATI AREA website listed here is "tested" to some sensible order) out of which here are the websites for both The wisdom of almost anyone might find see if it connects as presented. If "Metro/' if the locations happens unnecessarily "making transient" something worth saving and worth to be on the north side of the river; the copies of Streetvibes ever go some elements of society when <?n·the Coalition their time and a review of the completely and TANK, ifthe lo~ations what society appears to need is website, the links should previous month in case those were happens to be on the south side of "stability" is surely open to connect to anything automatically lost. the river: question. And, the righteousness What was covered last listed. Any sequences given (click The official name for of what appears to be a wa~ed month: The country is made up of on, then on, then on) are also Metro is Southwest Ohio Regional version ofthe legitimate principle normally tried out several times. states and the states are basically Transit Authority which is why of "eminent domain" is likewise divided into counties. In the three That doesn't mean errors can't Metro's website address is: http:// open to question. There are a states surrounding Streetvibes creep in (move two words and a www.sorta.com and it might be couple of points that will probably home base there are 300 counties; whole sequence is disrupted). mentiohed that there is another be argued for some time into the If someone finds a link or so, the "coverage" is set at only a Metro site as well; but, this one future. In the meantime, some "route" that for some reason fifty mile radius, a distance known has the bus schedules. On the top folks are surely going to need new as and also time honored as "about doesn't.work, corrections will be left it says, "Metro Schedules." housing. an hour's drive." published. However, someone has As for TANK, the Transit The U.S . Department of "About an hour's drive" is to be told if something doesn't Authority ofNorthern Kentucky: Housing and Urban Development also what some can manage on , my website is work. At this time, http://www.TANKbus.org/ or (HUD) has a website where they foot and even more can manage connected to my personal email more directly http:// list their available housing address and the account can't given access to public www.tankbus.org/tank _frame. html (sometimes the system set-up even handle much volume of additional transportation. And, it includes (the £rst works). email as long as that situation about forty counties of which would be There's The wisdom ofunnecessarily eleven have been listed. exists. easier to probably "making transient" some elements remember Previously, nothing was included What would happen if much more ofsociety when what society from Kentucky or Indiana and six someone sent me email, if the but it there than counties on the northern fringe of space alloted was then completely converts to appears to need is "stability" is any full, is that the letter would Ohio also were not included. the second). surely open to question. caseworker "bounce." (It might also give me As previously mentioned, The routes would have some account trouble where there someone from anywhere can get and and it's a site to explore while the SOME information about any has never been any.) A note by the top schedules are reached caseworkers are out to lunch. county government in the United (written) for purposes of right circle. Just locatin{ the aodresses States at http://www.naco.org/ As for various additional not. i fication, sent or given to the of apartments, however, obviously \ services, the Mother Homeless Coalition office, is the of all ' counties/ counties/index. cfin which would not be enough, so a map to best way to handle things at t he of the National is a general site Charities as we might know it is look up the locations in relation to Association United Way (also known as United present time. what persons may need (like or some It's Way/Community Chest something close to a hospital or Ifsomeone finds a link or "route" of Counties. enough to So, let's go such combination of words). whatever) and transportation thatfor some reason doesn't work, to Kentucky, of agencies at the say There is a list schedules to get there would seem corrections will be published something at least to United Way website: http:// to be useful. However, someone has to be told if like: the link across the www.uwgc.org/ Clicking on Our Use the U.S. Department of river. As given for Agencies/Initiatives. (They do something doesn't work. Housing and Urban Development operate via email and don't forget whatever explained last (http://www.hud.gov/) to start doesn't work their telephone referral service.) month, there hunting. There may be more than Lastly, for any on-going tried it on three different is no attempt here to reach any one way to find this stuff but this particular county department or way DOES work, while clicking on events, there ) s always a need for a computers. It may tilke. a while, but it can be expected to eventually individual although one might find out of the local media source. If, something like "renting" doesn't something in particular or a link to be straightened out. many that it is possible to list, it help much: It's well understood that 1 to be_ the newspapers, since has such. The one thing that WAS After getting that HUD every one ofthese links should be searched for was some kind of a front page, go all the way up to the copies of the Enquirer and Post to the county done in boldface type (the black contact and are kept in files in places like top right and click on search/index. print; this is boldface) so it can be commissioners. the library. Both newspapers use You get an alphabetical listing. seen better. There's a technical Boone County: http:// the same web address: http:// Under " S" there's a link for reason why they aren't. The www.boonecountyky.org/ - on www.cincinnati.com/ and WCPO " Section 8 Program." Click on material is sent by email, which is also there. the left look for "Elected Officials." that and go down to the bottom of County seat: Burlington. also is easier to set in the Gremlins have been that text area. There's a place newspaper than something written Campbell County: http:// working in the Streetvibes office. where it says Learn More and if out and carried in. www.campbellcountyky.org/- on Among other things, they recently you click property search, you'll the left look for "Elected Officials." The problem comes from changed the inside masthead to get pages where you fill in siate, is supposed to the fact that http:// County seat: Newport. give everyone a web address for then city (be alert - there's two of light up on the screen regardless Kenton County: http:// Cincinnati Coalition the Greater spellings for "Cincinnati") and type what's behind it, while at the www.kentoncounty.org/- on the for the Homeless different from of apartment and finally a list of present time the boldface feature left look for "Elected Officials." the one listed here. actual locations, some of which are One correct and up-to-date doesn't always work, so it's not County seat: Covington. fairly up-to-date. This site has readily visible if something is or is And, to keep things close homeless coalition web address is: listings for anywhere in the United not set bold. The only way to together here, from last tnonth, http://www.homeless.cincy.com/ States. all be in make sure that they would BUT if one has the old one: http:/ Hamilton County, Ohio: http:// There are numerous map www.harnilton-co.org/ and Butler would be to print heavy black print /cinci.com/gcch/ bookmarked or services; Yahoo 's seems to be as up the material before sending it, County, Ohio: http:// filed away, that works, too. What good as any, so here's at least that correcting anything that didn't also works is what was listed in www.butlercountyohio.org/ should one: http://maps.yahoo.com. The show up blacker; and, that could the masthead for January, 2003: be enough. Have a good month, "view" can be moved in different also involve erasing everything http://homeless.cinci.com/as of folks. directions and made larger or back to that point where it needs to the first of January, all ofthem smaller. �Need Help or Want to Help? If you need help or would like to help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below. Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 381 -5432 Friars Club Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861-1111 St. John's Housing 651-6446 SHELTERS: Women and Children YWCA Battered Women's Shelter 872-9259 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome House 859-431 -8717 Women's Crisis Center 859-491 -3335 HOUSING: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 241 -0504 Miami Purchase OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 381 -1171 ReSTOC Tender Mercies 639-7056 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 SHELTER: Men City Gospel 241-5525 Mission Garden st. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241 -2965 St. Francis/St.Joseph 381 -4941 House IREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 Formed in 1984, The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a membership organization. Our member groups serve the homeless through emergency shelter, transitional living facilities, permanent housing, medical services, social services, soup kitchens, and mental health/addiction services. The Coalition also consists of individual citizens who want to take an active role in ensuring that Cincinnati is an inclusive community, meeting the needs of all of its citizens. Join the fight to end homelessness; contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at (513) 421-7803, 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 O,.•t•r r ... C~ifl~f, CMJ,lofl f@f ""•~ ""'~-·~- .. ~ .· TREATMENT: Men Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 starting Over 751-3260 TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351-0422 C.C .A.T. 381-6660 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721-0643 OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living 241 -2600 Options Churches Active in North side 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 \ Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Co.ntrol 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile 352-2902 Health Van House of Refuge Mission 221-3619 Legal Aid Society 241 -9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 621-6364 Oui:-G>atly BFead Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food 471 -4357 Center Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 � 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 2003 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 February 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: A Walk in Washington Women in Black Pg 2: “Keep The Dream Alive” Ceremony honors local activists Pg 3: North American Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Recommended Reading… Pg 5: Reader Mail Pg 6: GCCH Coat Drive Brings in Over 800 Coats for the Homeless Pg 7: The Peace Village Pg 8: The Peace Village Continued Pg 9: ¡Bienvenidos! Pg 10: Implode THIS! Pg 11: Implode THIS! Continued Pg 12: Universal Living Wage Breakthrough Pg 13: Welfare News Pg 14: Art & Poetry Pg 15: Art & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Chicago Passes Anti-Wat Resolution Pg 17: FRAC News Digest Pg 18: Profile of a Street Newspaper Salesman Pg 19: A World of Websites 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 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Pat Mitchell Steve Shockley Mary Taylor Virgil Tuttle Elaine Coffy Jimmy Heath Sony Williams Michael Flood Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Activists Andy Erickson Arts & Poetry Bienvenidos Brendan Goodwin Cincinnati Coat Drive Elaine Coffy FRAC GCHC George Bush Georgine Getty Jimmy Heath living wage Martin Luther King Jr. Mary Taylor Michael Flood Pat Mitchell Peace Village Sony Williams Steve Shockley Virgil Tuttle welfare