<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<itemContainer xmlns="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5 http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5/omeka-xml-5-0.xsd" uri="https://streetvibesarchive.net/items/browse?output=omeka-xml&amp;page=30&amp;sort_field=added" accessDate="2026-10-22T18:13:04+00:00">
  <miscellaneousContainer>
    <pagination>
      <pageNumber>30</pageNumber>
      <perPage>10</perPage>
      <totalResults>291</totalResults>
    </pagination>
  </miscellaneousContainer>
  <item itemId="293" public="1" featured="1">
    <fileContainer>
      <file fileId="294" order="1">
        <src>https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/54fdf16fb7fc5e3547b5f5829f167070.pdf</src>
        <authentication>2390a898e1efd5722f899891d57fac24</authentication>
        <elementSetContainer>
          <elementSet elementSetId="5">
            <name>PDF Text</name>
            <description/>
            <elementContainer>
              <element elementId="53">
                <name>Text</name>
                <description/>
                <elementTextContainer>
                  <elementText elementTextId="3622">
                    <text>November, 2004

STREETVIBES

Remembering buddy gray
From Streetvibes November 2002
by Jimmy Heath
November 15th is the sixth
anniversary of the shooting death of
our good friend Buddy Gray. It was
one of those moments in my life
that I will always remember. I’ll
never forget the details of that day,
the horrible reality of the incident
that took his life.
My friend Donald
Whitehead called me at work on
that Friday morning and gave me
the news that Buddy had been shot
to death. The phone dropped out
of my hands in disbelief and shock.
I left work immediately and
caught a bus back into downtown
and Over-the-Rhine to join my
friends at The Drop Inn Center,
trying to figure out what had
happened. I was hoping in my
confusion for some sort of kinship
with the strangers on that bus, some
relief, some recognition of my
shock, some assurance that
everything was going to be alright.
Certainly the whole city had
heard what happened to Buddy? I
wasn’t alone, was I? It was a long,
lonely ride on that crowded bus
into downtown.
Walking to the Drop Inn
Center from the bus stop on that
bright, sunny morning, I saw the
late morning edition of the Post in a
paper rack that coldly announced;
BUDDY GRAY SHOT DEAD.
How could a man, a man that had
helped so many, be dead? I thought
that he couldn’t be killed. He had

100th ISSUE

caught inside each one of us. Like
a deadly, choking pressure that
begins in your gut and pulls at your
heart and bends your back.
Why do these horrible days
become so indelibly etched into
our memories? I guess, that is the
irony of the heart, of being human.
All these memories make us into
what we will eventually become

rescued me but could not save
himself. The mindless bullets had
entered his body and destroyed his
flesh. Until that moment, until I
saw that indifferent headline in the
paper rack, I hadn’t accepted the
reality of Buddy’s death. At that
moment the truth finally sunk in.
Buddy was gone. Taken by
violence.
I worried
about Buddy’s
friends and loved
ones who were
grieving what had
happened, and I
was dreading the
grief I was about to
witness at the Drop
Inn Center. Access
to the Drop Inn
Center where
Buddy was shot
was restricted but Buddy Gray (left) and the late Rev. Maurice
McCrackin
somehow I made
my way through
later in life. As Buddy’s life was a
the front doors. The cops were
long gone and the remnants of what part of me, so was his death.
The memory of Buddy’s
had happened had been cleaned up.
work
brought
words of comfort and
Buddy’s assassin had been arrested
on the scene and taken away to jail. admiration from all across the
Buddy’s body was being taken care country. And his work and spirit
of at University Hospital. Staff and continues to live on to this day. I
friends who were not at the hospital see it everywhere, in the buildings,
in the people, and in the work he
were gathered together at the Drop
left behind. This is his legacy and
Inn Center. It would be a couple
it is what keeps me focused. I hope
days until the details of what had
happened during the shooting came in the coming years I am up to the
task. I hope the good memories of
to light.
my friendship with Buddy will
At that moment though,
always remain vivid.
there was the grief. The pain was

Donald Whitehead joins the NCH as Executive Director

From Streetvibes, February 2002
by Jimmy Heath
Donald Whitehead has
joined the National Coalition for
the Homeless (NCH) as the newly
appointed Executive Director.
Formerly, Mr. Whitehead has
served as a program supervisor at
Goodwill Industries and as
Executive Director of the Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless.
A Cincinnati native,
Whitehead is breaking new ground
by becoming the first AfricanAmerican and first formerly
homeless Board President, and
now Executive Director of the
NCH.
The National Coalition for
the Homeless is the oldest
homeless advocacy group in the
nation. Its governing board
represents 35 states including the
District of Columbia and Puerto

Rico. “NCH has a strong record in
advocacy for the homeless, from
the McKinney Act to the
Community Investment Housing
Trust. NCH has continuously
steered America towards real
solutions to this countries biggest
failure,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead will direct four focus
areas; housing, income, health and
civil rights for the homeless.
Whitehead hopes to lead a real
grassroots effort to end
homelessness. “I’ll bring empathy
to my work at NCH,” says
Whitehead. “I know what it took
to end my own homelessness.”
For the last 6 years
Whitehead has worked in the
community as an activist and an
advocate for homeless persons.
When asked how he felt about
leaving Cincinnati to work in
Washington, Whitehead said, “I’ve
received so much support from so

many people and groups here, from
the Drop Inn Center, ReSTOC, and
many others. I have a great deal of
gratitude and I have mixed feelings
about leaving too. It’s going to be
tough. I’ve had a real healing
relationship with all of my family
here in Cincinnati. I hope to
develop a more inclusive
environment for homeless people
to get involved in their own
advocacy.”

Streetvibes
100th

Issue

Timeline

February, 1997 – First issue
of Streetvibes published,
independently of Cleveland’s
Homeless Grapevine. Pat
Clifford, director of the
Greater Cincinnati Coalition
for the Homeless, remembered
the legacy of buddy gray on
the first cover. The first
printing of Streetvibes was 300
copies.
May, 1997 – Streetvibes
features a story on the
opposition by neighborhood
service providers to the
proposal for a new Reds
Stadium in the neighborhood,
fearing its impact on Over-theRhine residents and housing.
July, 1997 – Congress
finalizes welfare reform,
imposing time limits up to five
years for continued welfare
benefits and granting states
greater freedom to impose
their own standards for welfare
recipients.
September, 1997 – All
homeless shelters in the city
are full. Streetvibes becomes a
founding member of the North
American Street Newspaper
Association and
representatives attend the
second annual conference.
October, 1997 – Streetvibes
features an article about the
plan to move the location of
the Cincinnati School for the
Performing Arts (SCPA) to an
area near Music Hall, raising
concerns about forced
relocation of the Drop Inn
Center.
December, 1997 – ReSTOC,
an Over-the-Rhine low-income
housing co-operative, breaks
ground on buddy’s place. The
building provides housing for
homeless individuals. The
Reverend Maurice McCrackin
passes away.

TIMELINE
continued on page 4
Donald Whitehead


Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless


�Streetvibes
Streetvibes, the Tri­
State’s alternative news source,
is a newspaper written by, for,
and about the homeless and
contains relevant discussions of
social justice, and poverty
issues. It is published once a
month by the Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless.
Becoming a Streetvibes
Vendor is a great way for
homeless and other low-income
people to get back on (or stay
on) their feet. Streetvibes
Vendors are given an orientation
and sign a code of conduct
before being given a Streetvibes
Vendor badge. All profits go
directly to the vendor.
The Greater Cincinnati
Coalition for the Homeless is a
group of shelters, agencies and
individuals committed to ending
homelessness in Cincinnati
through coordinating services,
educating the public and
grassroots organizing.

GCCH Staff
Georgine Getty - Executive
Director
Allison Leeuw - Administrative
Coordinator
Andy Erickson - Education
Coordinator
Rachel Lawson - Civil Rights
VISTA
Kate McManus - Civil Rights
VISTA
Janice Faulkner - Receptionist
Mary Gaffney - Receptionist
Cover
Streetvibes vendors, volunteers
and staff....
Streetvibes
Jimmy Heath - Editor,
photographer

Streetvibes accepts letters, poems,
stories, essays, original graphics,
and photos. We will give
preference to those who are
homeless or vendors.
Subscriptions to Streetvibes,
delivered to your home each
month, can be purchased for $25
per year.
Address mail to:
Streetvibes
Greater Cincinnati Coalition
for the Homeless (GCCH)
117 East 12th Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
(513) 421-7803
e-mail: streetvibes@juno.com
web: http://homeless.cinci.com

Page 2

Letter From the Director

Dear Streetvibes Readers:
Happy 100th Issue! To
prepare for this landmark, I had the
pleasure of sitting down with the
rest of the staff of the Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless and going through the
last 100 issues to help piece
together the timeline. I was
amazed by the journey of this paper
from humble, one-page insert in the
Cleveland Grapevine to the
publication you hold today. I was
also touched by the incredible
amount of time, energy and talent
that has gone into Streetvibes over
the years.
Even more important than
our growth, I was also struck by
how Streetvibes has stayed true to
itself. Streetvibes continues to be a

place for the real story of
homelessness to be told by the
people who are living it. These
stories may slip through the cracks
of more mainstream papers, but
they come through in Streetvibes
with honesty and clarity.
I would be remiss if I let
this opportunity go by without
thanking the many people who help
make Streetvibes come to life each
and every month. First, there is
Jimmy Heath, editor of Streetvibes,
who puts in countless hours and
enriches each issue with his
writings and photography. It is
under Jimmy’s guidance that
Streetvibes has been honored as
one of the top street newspapers in
North America. Andy Erickson,
who runs the vendor part of the

paper, recruits new vendors while
ensuring that our current vendors
have a voice in the running of the
paper. Our vendors, who put a
face on homelessness with each
paper they sell and are out there in
rain or shine for their customers.
All of the contributors to
Streetvibes who take the time to
tell their stories and share their
artwork. And finally, the readers of
Streetvibes, whose dedication to
justice over the years helps
Streetvibes continue to grow.
Thank you to everyone!
I hope you enjoy this issue
and continue to support this
remarkable paper!
Sincerely,
Georgine Getty, Executive
Director, GCCH

The View From Within

by Jimmy Heath
Streetvibes Editor
We are proud of Streetvibes
and how it has made an impact on
the lives of our vendors, the
community and the people who
support our street paper.
Streetvibes brings a unique
message, a voice for those left
behind - a perspective that without
Streetvibes, would go ignored and
unheard.
When I first came to
Streetvibes, I was not a writer or a
professional journalist. I didn’t
know what it was to put together a
news style publication. I’m still
learning everyday. It’s not just
about the nuts-and-bolts of
everyday newspaper
publishing. My
lessons come from a
unique and important
point of view; the
everyday lives of our
community poor and
the vendors who sell
and write for the
paper. Through the
telling of these honest
stories from the
Jimmy Heath

street, I have learned
many valuable lessons.
These lessons have been the
most important and personal of all
because they continue to teach me
my responsibilities as a human
being living in a community - a
community where, even after 40
years since the civil rights
movement, people still struggle to
be heard and recognized and
respected. A community where
poor children are left behind.
Where low-income senior citizens
are lost and hidden from sight.
I’ve learned about what it
means to give charity, watching
other people interact with the poor.
You can see the best and worst of
people when you observe them in
charitable acts.

I’ve learned what it means
to have power, both political and
economic, in a poor inner-city
community. It is amazing to watch
how this power plays out in the
lives of my neighbors. How access
is denied, where the cries for help
go ignored.
Although I can’t forgive
them, I understand where
uninformed white people get their
perspective. It’s an unspoken
power that comes with birth.
But ignorance does not
absolve us of our responsibilities.
We need to stop and think and
make an effort to learn and
promote change from within
ourselves. People ask me all the
time, “What can I do
to help?” The first
step is education. We
hope that Streetvibes
provides a beginning
to this selfexamination.
I am struck by how
many good people I
meet everyday who
have distorted notions
of who and what the
homeless are. All of
us are victims of stereotypes. We
are constantly bombarded by the
media, movies and TV with
portrayals of the homeless as
winos, bums and crazy streetpeople who yell at fire hydrants and
invisible adversaries. This is a sad
commentary on our society.
People are willing to listen and
learn, yet are honestly surprised
when their stereotypes are
shattered.
Some of this comes from
lazy thinking – we let others do our
thinking for us because it is too
hard, too painful, to do first-hand
exploration of these serious issues.
We want it hand-fed to us, as
painlessly as possible, even at the
expense of truth. What we don’t

Streetvibes 100th Issue


know first-hand is suspect – all of
it. We are not born with these
notions of racism, sexism, classism;
our ways of thinking are learned.
These are serious lessons
coming from a small street
newspaper project, put together on
a shoe-string budget and with plain
spoken words from the street.
There is much to be learned from
simplicity and honest expression
that speaks to truth.
I have gotten more out of
this work than I have given. I
guess that is what education means.
The learner is always on the
receiving end of the gift of daily
lessons.
We hope that Streetvibes
continues to give readers the truth
about the issues of poverty and
homelessness. We hope that as we
move past our hundredth issue, we
all continue to learn that positive
change comes from listening to
everyone, including the voices from
the street.

Our newspapers are
abused. We are told that
they are irreverent, coarse,
vulgar, ribald. I hope they
will remain irreverent. I
would like that irreverence
to be preserved in America
forever and ever—
irreverence for all royalties
and all those titled
creatures born into
privilege.
We like to read about rich
people in the newspapers;
the papers know it, and
they do their best to keep
this appetite liberally fed.
- Mark Twain

�Save the Date
You are cordially invited to attend the
Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless’
Annual Dinner

HOMES, DIGNITY AND HOPE ­
A 20 YEAR CELEBRATION
December 9th, 2004 6:00 pm @
Xavier University, Cintas Center

Keynote Speaker - Dr. Ron Arrundle
Director of Social Work
College of Mount Saint Joseph

Including Dinner, a Silent Auction, Raffle,
Prizes, Awards, and Entertainment
For tickets, please send $25 to
GCCH at 117 E 12th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Make checks payable to GCCH and write
‘ticket’ in the memo....
(If you are a service provider, please send $20 for your ticket.
The discount is our way of saying Thank You!)
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 421-7803, EXT. 16

Reserve a table for your church or company for $200 (10 seats)
Sponsor dinner for a homeless individual for $25
Donate an item for our silent auction
Streetvibes 100th Issue

Page 3


�TIMELINE


Homeless News Digest


compiled by Patty Lane and
Jimmy Heath
Two men in Ohio have
been indicted in the beating
death of a homeless man.
According to the Columbus
Dispatch, a third suspect is
discussing a possible plea deal and
may testify against the other two.
Daniel Fetty, 38, was found naked
in a trash container October 2. He
died at a Columbus hospital just
hours after being found. Police say
he was beaten with boards and
bricks. Acquaintances of the victim
say he had just begun making
salads and washing dishes at a
restaurant and was saving for an
apartment. The killers, both of
Waverly, were indicted by a grand
jury on aggravated murder charges.
This is the first slaying in four
decades in Waverly, a city about 60
miles south of Columbus. All three
men are being held on $1 million
bond.
An Arizona resident who
was once over her head in debt is
teaching a group of homeless
people lessons of financial
hardship and credit repair to
keep from making the same
mistakes. Darlene Salle selfpublished a book called I Owe, I
Owe, So Off to Work I Go, and
tells the Arizona Republic she
never forgot her painful
experience. “The book has sold
well, but I wondered what else I
could do with it,” Sallee said. She
created an evening financial class
for Central Arizona Shelter
Services, a Phoenix homeless
shelter helping them with
everything from the basics of
budgeting to credit repair. CASS
Development Coordinator Bill
Manson says it’s been great for
clients. “Darlene has been very
good and receptive with our
clients. She doesn’t talk down to
them at all. Her classes bring a
level of awareness that truly makes
a difference.” Sallee provides all
her own materials for class, since
there is no budget to cover it and
also gives each participant a free
copy of her book. “I just try to
give them tools to get them to
think about money and priorities,”
Sallee says. “People have wound
up here not because they’re stupid
or want to be in the system, but
because something serious
happened. I just feel like it’s a gift
to be able to spend time with
people who are really trying to get

Page 4

out of the system. I know how
hard it is to get out when you’re at
such a low point, but I feel like I’m
making a little dent.”
A Hawaii judge has ordered a
homeless man to curb his
shopaholic ways after the man
racked up debt and committed
forgery. Leon W. Grant was living
at a homeless shelter but according
to Deputy Prosecutor Mark
Simonds, “was spending a great
deal of money on clothing…. He
was known for his Tommy Bahama
shirts.” Grant was two months
away from completing a drug
treatment program and clearing his
record of forgery and theft charges
when he was terminated from the
program last October. He was
later indicted on federal bank fraud
charges and spent time in federal
detention before being placed on
five years’ probation. The 44-year­
old Wailuku resident was found
guilty of 19 counts of seconddegree forgery, second-degree theft
and attempted second-degree theft
in 2001 cases. He was charged
with writing bad checks on his own
and others’ Bank of Hawaii
accounts. Grant said he was
diagnosed with post-traumatic
stress disorder, which affected his
drug use. The judge warned Grant
that he would face harsher
penalties if he reoffends. “And no
more shopping at Tommy
Bahama,” the judge said, “until
you’re financially stable.”
A federal jury in Los Angeles
deadlocked last month on
charges that a homeless woman
bilked a government Social
Security program intended to
help the elderly and disabled.
Dessie Robinson, 55, was
scheduled to return to federal court
Nov. 30 to be retried on 24 felony
fraud counts, said Thom Mrozek,
spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s
office in Los Angeles. Robinson,
who contended she has diabetes,
heart trouble, ulcers and a hearing
problem, was accused of
defrauding the government of
$17,525 by cashing monthly
disability checks and then
requesting and cashing duplicate
checks. Robinson, who was
arrested at a downtown homeless
shelter in July, alleged that
authorities improperly targeted her
and 20 other people in a Social
Security probe because they are
black. Federal authorities denied
the allegation.

The St. Louis County Medical
Examiner’s Office used dental
records last month to identify the
body of a homeless man found in
the woods near Point of Rocks
last week. The body of Richard
John Neumann, 49, of Duluth was
found Oct. 4 by a passer-by in the
woods near Eighth Avenue West
and First Street. “We identified the
remains through items found at the
scene, which led us in the direction
of Mr. Neumann,” said Detective
Sgt. Bob Erspamer, head of the
Duluth Police Violent Crimes Unit,
which routinely investigates deaths
in the city. “The investigation then
showed that neither friends nor
family had seen Mr. Neumann since
sometime in mid-August. With the
help of family, we were able to
locate dental records.” Because of
the body’s decomposition, neither
the cause nor manner of
Neumann’s death could be
determined.
The death of a homeless man
whose body was found in a
vacant lot has been ruled a
homicide, Milwaukee police said
last month. An autopsy
determined that Rex Robert Baum,
49, died of blunt force trauma to
the body, police Capt. Eric Moore
said. A passer-by spotted Baum’s
body on a Tuesday afternoon near
South 1st Street and West Lincoln
Avenue, said Sgt. Ken Henning,
spokesman for Milwaukee police.
No arrests have been made in the
death, Moore said.
An Elizabethtown women’s
group is headed to the Louisville
Wayside Christian Mission to get
a feel for what it’s like to run a
soup kitchen. After the
experience, M.O.R.E. for Women
will be ready to open the Bread of
Life Soup Kitchen at 34 Dee St.,
off East Dixie Avenue in
Elizabethtown. The kitchen will
serve local homeless and other
needy people, the elderly and
anyone who is just lonely, said
Nelle Thomas, who heads the
group. Volunteers will provide
music, activities and an opportunity
for social interaction. The first of
these meals will start at noon Nov.
20 at New Hope Community
Church’s fellowship hall. The
second one is scheduled for noon
Dec. 18. “If there is a good
response, we could very well do it
on a long-term basis,” Thomas
said. M.O.R.E. members, who are
looking for more volunteers, have
passed out fliers advertising the
kitchen to local motels, cash
advance businesses and
laundromats — all places
sometimes frequented by people in
need.

Streetvibes 100th Issue


continued from page 1
January, 1998 – Donald
Whitehead assumes the position
of director of the Homeless
Coalition. Streetvibes raises
circulation to 2,000 copies per
month.
April, 1998 – Over-the-Rhine
residents rally against changing
Vine Street to two way because
of safety concerns. Cincinnati
City Council rules in favor of
the business community to make
Vine Street two-way.
May, 1998 – National Coalition
for the Homeless launches the
National Civil Rights
Organizing Project to document
human rights abuses of
homeless people.
June, 1998 – City of
Cincinnati’s panhandling
ordinance is ruled an
unconstitutional limitation of
free speech by a district court.
Jimmy Heath, administrative
coordinator of the GCCH
assumes duties of Streetvibes
editor. Previously, the
production of Streetvibes was
divided among the staff and
volunteers of GCCH
July, 1998 – Despite concerns
expressed by low-income
housing advocates, the
Cincinnati Metropolitan
Housing Authority applies for
Hope IV funding to demolish
and rebuild Lincoln Court
housing project.
August, 1998 – National
shortage of affordable housing
documented locally; 48% of
Cincinnati’s low-income renters
spend more than half of their
income on housing.
November, 1998 – 3rd annual
Standdown is organized by the
Greater Cincinnati Coalition for
the Homeless and the Veterans
Administration. The two-day
event provided opportunities for
homeless people to receive
medical attention, legal services,
food and clothing.
December, 1998 – The annual
Homeless Memorial takes place
in Washington Park,
remembering the homeless who
had died in the past year.
February, 1999 – Laurel
Homes joins Lincoln Court as a
Hope IV project which will
cause a loss of nearly 1300 units
of low-income housing.

TIMELINE
continued on page 5

�The Zen of Streetvibes Vending

From Streetvibes, June 2001
by Jimmy Heath
Jimmie Gipson is typical of
many of the Streetvibes vendors.
He’s clean cut, well spoken, and
challenges the stereotype many
people may have of a homeless
person. He is a man who has been
down on his luck and has struggled
to find his way.
But Gipson finds enjoyment
in his work as a Streetvibes vendor.
He plies the sidewalks of
downtown Cincinnati looking for a
good place to sell his stack of
Streetvibes papers. A good spot
for selling has to meet several
criteria; it needs to have a steady
stream of passersby (lunchtime
hours are best) and the folk
walking by need to be somewhat
sympathetic. “I like the challenge
of getting the attention of people
who are trying to ignore me,” says
Gipson. “Once I get them to listen
to me, and I show them what I

have, they will almost always buy a
paper.”
Gipson has also developed
relationships, not only with
customers on the street, but
business owners. “I have a couple
of businesses that will let me sell on
their property,” Gipson says. “As
long as I ask and I don’t create a
nuisance, people will let me sell the
paper at their business.”
When Gipson goes out with
his Streetvibes, he makes good
money. Sometimes $10 to $20
dollars an hour. He says he has
sold over 600 of the papers in just
over a month. A lot of people just
give him money, or let him keep the
change.
Jimmie Gipson says that
some of the vendors have disputes
over territories and street corners,
but it doesn’t bother him - there are
plenty of good spots for selling
Streetvibes in Cincinnati. “Can I
interest you in a Streetvibes

TIMELINE

newspaper to help the homeless?”
says Gipson to a businessman
walking by his post at 5th and Vine
Street.
Creating an Alternative Media
Empire
There are nearly 50 street
newspapers published in the US,
written or sold by homeless and
formerly homeless people. Some of
the papers vary widely in content,
philosophy and format. And they
come in all sizes from simple two
page newsletters reproduced on a
photocopier all the way up to
mainstream, stylish full color
magazines with runs of over
100,000 per month.
The Streetwise newspaper
in Chicago is one of those high-end
street papers. It has slick full color
printing, major advertisers,
celebrity interviews and a full-time

Zen
cont. on page 13

To My Fellow Readers

by Ms. Mary Gaffney
Thanks to our regular
customers, who each month
purchase Streetvibes from my
homeless friends, helping them help
themselves.
I have been writing monthly
for the paper and you all know by
now the concern I have for our
friends, the vendors.
I, the staff of the Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless, and the Streetvibes
editor, Jimmy Heath, wish to thank
each and every one of you for
supporting this paper.
This month celebrates the
100th issue of Streetvibes. That’s

8 years and 4 months that the paper
has been published and been
available to the public.
With your purchase of the
paper each month you have helped
support the homeless and lowincome people who work so hard
to sell the paper. This has helped in
so many different ways, providing
food, shelter and their other needs.
We say thank you, thank
you for your kindness and concern
for your fellow man. As the winter
months begin to filter in, bringing
cold nights, the little donation you
have made toward purchasing the
paper will keep them and their
family warm.

May God forever bless you.
Until next month, remember, it
doesn’t take much to give a smile
to someone. Regardless of creed
or color, as I always say, we are all
children who are placed in the same
garden of life.

are down or don’t care or even
when they are a little bit happy. I
can always talk with them and give
them a smile.
Some even call me “mom,”
“granny” or “Miss.” I answer them
and tell them to keep the
determination, for there’s a brighter
day ahead, if you just keep the
faith.
On a Thursday of last
month, I was a guest at a Xavier
University luncheon called
“Reaching For The Stars, 2004.”
The event honored emerging
Cincinnati leaders, young men and
women who had a determination
and a faith.
Some of their work was not
easy, with climbing and walking on
the road of life. I know at times
that the people had a rough spot in
their road, but were able to go
around it, and now have caught the
glimpse of reaching for the stars by
gaining some position in life.

May, 1999 – GCCH forms the
Speakers Bureau. The Bureau
organizes homeless people to
share their stories with groups,
schools and churches
throughout Greater Cincinnati.
September, 1999 – Demolition
of Laurel Homes begins.
Jimmy Heath is given a
fellowship with the
Congressional Hunger Center;
Tom Billman assumes
Streetvibes editor duties
fulltime.
November, 1999 – Stop The
Clock campaign to fight Ohio’s
welfare cuts begins. Protestors
demand that Ohio adopt the
federal option of cutoff after
five years instead of Ohio’s
current three years.
January, 2000 – GCCH
becomes a regional civil rights
site for the National Civil
Rights Organizing Project.
February, 2000 – “Artists for
the Drop” organize a benefit
concert in support of the
shelter’s efforts to oppose the
School of Creative and
Performing Arts plan to
relocate the Drop Inn Center.
March, 2000 – U. S. Census
Bureau attempts to count
homeless people in Cincinnati ­
the census count is disputed
because advocates say the
numbers are inaccurate.

Miss Mary Gaffney


The Sun Will Come Out

From Streetvibes, March, 2003 –
by Ms. Mary Gaffney
To the readers and
purchasers of Streetvibes paper,
welcome to the third month in the
year 2004!
While sitting here by my
living room window, one minute it
is snowing, the next minute it is
raining. Before I get up from my
chair, I look up and see the clouds
parting, and there is a little bit of
sunshine. Before I can turn
around, lo and behold, the clouds
are gone.
The sun was out, bright as
ever, with strong rays of warmth. I
began to think that this was like
life, especially like the lives of my
homeless friends. Oh, you might
sat, “there she goes again!” Yes,
because I enjoy being around them.
For six years, off and on
I’ve been with them, helping them
and getting to know them. And I
really know them; even when they

continued from page 4

As I first stated, there was
first darkness and dreariness.
Before you know it, there is the
sun shining bright. I know the sun
doesn’t shine bright all the time. If
it did, could we accept it?
If you could take a moment
and think of the life of my friends
who need help. How they have to
accept life, good or bad. There is
sometimes no work, or other
things, but they try to remain
happy.
I always say, it doesn’t take
much to give a smile, and if they
approach you, take the time and
opportunity to speak to them. You
never know what is in the future.
We are all the children
placed in this garden of life who
must brave hard weather, wind,
rain and storms. Remember, for
every dark cloud there is a silver
lining. Until next time remember,
God love you and me – all races,
creeds and colors.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

April, 2000 – Bonnie
Neumeier is forcibly removed
form the Greater Cincinnati
Arts and Education board
because of her opposition to
the SCPA plan which includes
relocation of the Drop Inn
Center.
May, 2000 – Streetvibes begins
extensive coverage of
opposition to globalization,
examining the effects of free
trade on homeless sand
impoverished people.
June, 2000 – Alicia Beck
becomes executive director of
the GCCH after Donald
Whitehead leaves to become
director of the National
Coalition for the Homeless.
Streetvibes remembers the sixth
year anniversary of the
demolition of the Milner Hotel
which resulted in the loss of
115 units of low-income
housing.

TIMELINE
continued on page 6

Page 5


�Fire Cat Review

The Fire Cats are a group of
advocates dedicated to fighting
poverty and criminalization who
live right here in Cincinnati. This
month, they are joined by their
Fire Cat chums from Columbus.

Fire Cat Orange: Chipotle
traitors! You guys don’t appreciate
the deliciousness of the burrito bol.
Yummy (gives evil glances to Fire
Cat Grey and Fire Cat Black).
Fire Cat Magenta: The
awesomeness of the burritos is
almost enough to overlook the evil
of McDonald’s.

Chipotle:
Fire Cat Orange: I love Chipotle!
I enjoy the burrito bol with lots of
corn. Lots and lots of it. Lots!
Fire Cat Turquoise: I’ve never
had a bad burrito. They are all
good. The tacos are good too.
Fire Cat Magenta: Yeah,
Chipotle’s is pretty good. I don’t
like the corn too much, but the
cheese is the best part. I think
that’s the reason people keep
coming back.
Fire Cat Grey: Burrito bol’s not
cool Go for the calories, go for the
fat. This should be the official meal
of the Fire Cat!
Fire Cat Blue: Too bad they’re
owned by McDonald’s – they are
delish, but did y’all see Supersize
Me? Yikes!
Fire Cat Black: Yeah. . . that takes
away from the deliciousness. Save
me from the wrath of Fire Cat
Orange!

Reality Shows:
Fire Cat Blue: The Next Greatest
Champ is so good. It’s about
boxers and they’re not very good
at boxing, but they’re supposed to
be good at boxing and there’s lots
of scheming. Plus, Eye of the Tiger
(which is also the Fire Cat’s theme)
is the theme song. Sometimes,
there’s a musak version of it that
plays during montage scenes.
Fire Cat Black: I though “Wife
Swap” was just a Dave Chapelle
sketch.
Fire Cat Orange: I enjoy VH-1’s
Surreal Life. Flava Flav and
Brigitte are crazy in love. Or just
crazy.
Fire Cat Turquoise: The Real
World used to be really good, but
it’s not anymore. Now it’s just
irritating. The presidential debates
are kind of like a reality show.
Fire Cat Magenta: Does Best
Week Ever on VH-1 count? I think

Fire Cat Review

it does, so that’s my favorite. Oh,

and I really like Made on MTV.
The high school nerd/beauty queen
episode is awesome!
Fire Cat Grey: I am still waiting
for the Fire Cats reality show. Now
there is a show where the ratings
would not be low.
Fire Cat Orange: The new Real
World is kinda good. I hate Road
Rules!
Fire Cat Blue: Is Clear here?
Things that have Piqued the Fire
Cat’s Interest:
• Lost – the new so good/pointless
show on ABC.
• The Presidential and Vice
Presidential Debates – who will
reign supreme?
• Cookies. Always.
• Apple disposal remedies, ie:
muffins, pie and coffee cake.
• The 100th Issue of Streetvibes –
put that in your pipe and smoke it
Charlie!
• Secret Machines – an Out of
Town thang.
• CSI, Monk, Law and Order –
pick your crime show poison and
also Arrested Development,
Scrubs, Sex and the City and Aqua
Teen Hunger Force. T.V. is the
balm for the busy feline activist’s
soul.
• The Virgin Suicides and other
good books.
• Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind’s release to DVD
• “My Boo” by Usher and Alicia
Keyes – perhaps the worst song
ever to be unleashed since “Lady”
by Styx.

Hate in Corporate Over-the-Rhine

From Streetvibes, April 1997
Chamber of Commerce and its
commentary by Berta Lambert
clean-up subsidiary, Impact.
Marge Hammelrath and Jim
Jennifer Sizer’s mother is a
Tarbell have for nearly 20 years
recent president of the Over-therepresented the under-the-rock
Rhine Chamber. She is the public
persona of the anti-poor and antirelations person for the infamous
buddy gray attitudes of the art-bar
Damon Lynch III’s so-called ULI
corporation speculators of Main
coalition and she is the PR person
Street.
for both the OTR Chamber and Jim
For several years, the old
Verdins Pendleton Art Center
guard conservatives have been
(Verdin is responsible for the
supplanted by the overt guerilla
phallic Corporate Bell Tower vis-à­
activities of Chris Frutkin, Jennifer vis his Verdin Bell Company).
Sizer and Peter Calloway. For
None of the rascals named
nearly two years these folks, along
above is and OTR resident. Peter
with their greed-ideology friends
Calloway, however, is a resident.
have disrupted the meetings of the His personality seems driven by
30 year-old Over-the-Rhine
this current fashion of right-wing
Community council (ORCC). It
entrepreneurial spirit beliefs. At
had been necessary in recent
ORCC’s October meeting he was
months to move its meeting place,
videotaped thanking buddy gray’s
appoint a sergeant-at-arm, tighten
its still very open meeting
process, video tape its meetings,
and on several occasions request
additional police presence at its
meetings.
Chris Frutkin is the
nephew of the wealthy Ed
Burger. He is in his 30’s and an
owner of several properties in the
neighborhood. As a yuppieentrepreneur, he is a board
A No Way Buddy Gray sticker

member of the Over-the-Rhine

Page 6

friends taking down the hate-filled
No Way Buddy Gray stickers and
announcing the existence of a No
Way Buddy Gray organization.
The reader will find it
useful to know that the sticker with
a telephone number remains on
post throughout the city is a third
generation effort. It was preceded
first by a gray and black silver
dollar sized Stop Buddy Gray
sticker, and then by a fluorescent
green or sometimes reddish hand
sized circular stick-on. If you
called the number on the most
recent sticker, which was
disconnected by 10AM the day
buddy was shot, you were invited to
push 1 or 3 for separate hate
messages. The recordings
consisted of lies, misinformation
and inferences of improprieties.
Frutkin, Sizer, and Calloway bear
the moral responsibility for the
hate campaign and the climate of
fear for buddy’s personal safety.
Within twenty-four hours
of buddy’s death, new stickers
appeared in Over-the-Rhine
which read, “Where there is a
Wilbur, there is a way.” Wilbur
was the name of the man who
shot and killed buddy gray.

Streetvibes 100th Issue


TIMELINE

continued from page 5
August, 2000 – Streetvibes
begins printing full color on the
front and back page. ReSTOC
rehab project on Vine Street
comes under fire from
Cincinnati City Council. Hart
Realty, the largest property
owner in Over-the-Rhine, opts
out of Section 8 housing
program resulting in a
continued loss of low-income
housing and paving the way for
further gentrification in the
neighborhood.
September, 2000 – Ohio
welfare cutoffs begin. Plan for
relocation of the School for
Creative and Performing Arts
(SCPA) is approved by the
Cincinnati Public Schools
Board.
October, 2000 – Streetvibes
adopts magazine style format.
November, 2000 – Nader
campaigns in Cincinnati.
January, 2001 – Preliminary
reports of Greater Cincinnati
Homeless Study is released.
February, 2001 – Tom Billman
steps down as Streetvibes
Editor. Dam Marschner
assumes full-time editor duties.
March, 2001 – Covington
Kentucky City Government
battles against proposed Life
Learning Center, a
multipurpose service center for
homeless people. Dan Marshner
becomes Streetvibes editor.
April, 2001 – Homeless Think
Tank is developed to provide
input to the Continuum of Care
funding process for homeless
services.
May, 2001 – Civil unrest, after
the shooting death of an
unarmed teenager by a
Cincinnati policeman shatters
Over-the-Rhine and other lowincome neighborhoods.
June, 2001 – Streetvibes
celebrates five years of
publishing.
August, 2001 –. Streetvibes
Editor Dan Marschner leaves
for the Peace Corps. Jimmy
Heath returns as Streetvibes
editor.

TIMELINE
continued on page 7

�Sweeping of camps halted by the homeless

From Streetvbies, October 2003
by Andy Erickson
A little over a year ago,
Don lost his job, his threebedroom house, his two cars, and
then his wife and his kid. “I lost
everything that ever meant
anything to me,” he said.
That’s when Don started
sleeping under a bridge.
“When I first moved
under this bridge,” Don says, “I
begged for trash bags from a city
building. I wanted the place to
look half-decent. I filled 13
garbage bags. I didn’t want to be
an eyesore.”
But “eyesore” is exactly
what the city labeled Don’s camp
Don Henry (left) speaks to Andy Erickson of the Homeless Coaltion

when they threatened him with
eviction. On July 15, police
“resulted from the official policy,
broken windows, they are not
officers arrived at Don’s camp to
custom, and practice of the City of solving any problems, except
post “No Trespassing” signs. The
Cincinnati to engage in a pattern of perhaps the “cleaning up” of an
officers took pictures of the people depriving the constitutional rights
overpass – until someone moves
who lived in the camp and told
of homeless individuals.”
back in.
them to be out within 72 hours or
The city went to great
The City’s approach does
be charged with criminal trespass.
lengths in their attempt to remove
nothing to prevent homelessness or
“What is the issue with the
camps from underneath downtown lessen poverty. The City rarely
public seeing me here?” Don
bridges. In June, a meeting
shows any desire to attack the root
asked. “I guess they drive by and
between the Mayor’s office, police causes of homelessness – like rising
see that I’m a disgust to their ways officials, the Governor’s office, the unemployment or rising housing
of thinking. But I’m not bothering Ohio Department of Transportation costs. They just want to move
(ODOT) and Downtown
anyone. They say that I’m a
people from under bridges. When
distraction, but someone could be
Cincinnati, Inc. took place to come camps are swept, the people who
up with a plan to remove camps
distracted by the new stadium.
lived there move somewhere less
from under bridges. The meeting
Should we tear that down?”
visible, and then the City is happy
ended after the representative from because the homeless are out of
Don and his fellow
bridgemates responded to the order ODOT insisted that, despite the
sight and out of mind.
fact these people were camping on
by erecting an eight-foot by fourSocial service agencies in
ODOT property, ODOT had no
foot sign facing the busy
the area are trying a different
legal right to remove them. But
intersection where his camp is
approach. Outreach workers stress
located. The sign read “Don’t hide the city was determined, and finally the need to first build a relationship
got ODOT’s permission to do what with people, earn their trust, and
the homeless. Help them.” They
it wanted with the camps
then called on people to join them
then help them get into the services
underneath the bridges.
for a 24-hour vigil ending at 1pm
they need. This approach works,
City officials often invoke
on Friday – the time that the order
but it takes time. Uncompassionate
“quality of life issues” or the
to vacate would take affect.
approaches like the sweeps of
“broken windows” theory when
Don didn’t realize what
homeless camps (and the recently
they talk about camps like Don’s.
kind of effect his impromptu
passed legislation that helps the city
The “broken windows” theory
protest would bring. Supporters
put more panhandlers behind bars)
honked as they drove by, delivered states that if we fix broken
only make matters worse.
windows, clean up litter, erase
donations, stopped to talk, and
Don says he knows the
carried picket signs. Social service graffiti, and remove the visible
people of Cincinnati are generally
homeless, like Don, from public
workers met with Don and others
compassionate people. “There’s a
sight, the quality of life in the City
at his camp, placing some of them
minister who comes down to talk
will turn for the better.
into services they needed. And at
to me every Sunday,” he says. “I
The problem with this
1:00 on Friday – when the police
tell him not to give up on me. One
theory is that Don isn’t a piece of
were supposed to arrive – Don’s
day I’ll get out of here.”
litter. He’s not a broken window,
lawyer arrived instead with a
Don plans to stay under his
temporary restraining order against and he’s not graffiti. He’s person
bridge for a little while anyway.
the police and a lawsuit against the who’s lost his home and is living in He’s earning that right. And he
public. He obviously shouldn’t be
city.
wants to make sure people see that.
treated the same way we would
Don happily signed the
Especially other homeless people.
deal with a broken window. The
necessary papers. The lawsuit
“I’m not really doing this for me,”
theory makes Don a scapegoat for
could possibly overturn many of
Don explains. “I’m doing this to
the City’s problems.
the actions that the city has taken
help all the people who live out
Don knows this. “Why are here.”
against the homeless in the last two
people messing with me when they
years.
So far things are working
could be having a meeting about
The filed complaint asks
out. On July 21st, Judge Dlott
how we could solve the drug
that the new and old panhandling
extended the restraining order for
problem? Or how we could stop
ordinances be declared
20 days. On August 11th, another
people from killing each other in
unconstitutional, and that the city
hearing will be held to determine
Over the Rhine?” he asks.
be barred from performing sweeps
the fate of the bridge sweeps, the
When the city attempts to
of homeless camps. The complaint
panhandling ordinance, and the
treat people experiencing
also states that the panhandling
way the city will treat its homeless
homelessness as if they were
laws and the threat of sweeps
citizens in the future.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

TIMELINE

continued from page 7
November, 2001 – Streetvibes
remembers buddy gray on the
fifth anniversary of his shooting
death.
December, 2001 – The long
awaited Cincinnati Homeless
Study is released by the Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless.
January, 2002 – Cincinnati
Mayor Charlie Luken asks the
City Solicitor’s office to examine
ways to tighten restrictions on
panhandling, years after previous
ordinances were deemed
unconstitutional and were
overturned.
March, 2002 – ReSTOC’s new
rehab project leads development
on Vine Street.
April, 2002 – In a GCCH
campaign thousands of citizens
tell Mayor Luken that they
support Streetvibes. The Civil
Unrest of April 2001 is
remembered in photographs.
June, 2002 – Protests against
Hope IV development project,
which threatens displacement of
low-income families, continues.
July, 2002 – Nearly 400 people
gather in Covington Kentucky to
march and protest treatment of
the homeless, which included
sweeping of homeless camps on
the Ohio River and destruction of
personal property.
September, 2002 - Huntington
Meadows housing complex lowincome residents face eviction for
redevelopment project. Georgine
Getty becomes Executive
Director of the Greater Cincinnati
Coalition for the Homeless.
November, 2002 – Citizens
gather in the alley where Timothy
Thomas was killed. The April
2001 shooting death of Thomas
sparked three days of protest and
civil unrest.
January, 2002 – Streetvibes TV
plans its return to regular
broadcasting.
April, 2003 – ReSTOC
celebrates its 25th anniversary of
providing housing for lowincome citizens. National
Coalition for the Homeless ranks
Ohio as the fourth most
dangerous state for homeless
people.

TIMELINE
continued on page 10

Page 7


�Move Homeless From Under Bridges

Streetvibes, October 2003
story by Jimmy Heath
On Wednesday, September
17th, Cincinnati City Council voted on
a resolution allowing the city and
police to immediately remove
homeless individuals living under
bridges and highway overpasses. The
city has already erected no trespassing
signs in areas used by the homeless.
Although the areas are public
property, according to the city
solicitor the city has the right to
remove individuals who pose a “public
safety threat to themselves or to the
general public.” Although loosely
defined, the “safety threat” is being
used by city council to move homeless
people from areas that might be in
clear view of the general public,
thereby tarnishing the city’s image.
The author of the resolution,
Councilman Chris Monzel, was
outraged when he saw a person
defecating in public while driving in
his car with his family. Monzel said
more needs to be done. “It’s a public
health issue, a public safety issue,”
said Monzel. “I just believe the
current situation in this city is
unacceptable.” An encampment near
the Spring Grove Avenue exit from
Interstate 75 has been there
undisturbed for about five months,
Monzel said.
The Greater Cincinnati
Coalition for the Homeless has been
working to help coordinate outreach to
people living outside and under the

bridges. Working with the police and
social service agencies, many of the
homeless have been moved into
programs or housing. A temporary
restraining order issued by U.S.
District Judge Susan Dlott expired
over a month ago, and many of the
homeless people already have left the
camps. Attorney Jennifer
Kinsley filed a lawsuit in
July on behalf of Don
Henry, a homeless man the
city attempted to evict
from beneath an overpass
at Third Street under the
Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.
Kinsley, who continues to
represent the homeless,
promised to fight in court
the legality of any new city
sweeps.
A variety of people
spoke against the current
resolution during the
public speaking portion of the City
Council meeting. Elaine Coffey gave
an emotional response to the
resolution, “I’ve been homeless too,
and I know what it is like. Why don’t
you do something about the dope
dealers that are loitering on my street?
Why aren’t trespassing laws enforced
against them?”
Roger, a man who is currently
living under a bridge in downtown
Cincinnati told council, “We are
human beings, just like you all.”
Georgine Getty, executive
director of the Greater Cincinnati

Life Under a Bridge

Streetvibes, October 2003
by Jimmy Heath
It’s truly the American dream
unfulfilled; living under a bridge, in a
camp on the river, or in a clump of
bushes near the railroad tracks. Not
exactly the future we would hope for
ourselves or our children or anyone
else for that matter.
How and why does a person’s
life reach the point of homelessness?
And why, when there seems to be
other options available, would a
person choose to live outdoors in 10
degree weather, in the rain, the snow,
exposed to not only these cruel
elements, but an unforgiving society?
What drives a person to live outside of
the so-called social order?
The answers are as diverse
and complex as the varied
personalities that make up this
sometimes forgotten and ignored
segment of our society; the homeless.
There are issues of addiction
and mental illness, which brings with
it fear and apprehension and distrust
of the systems designed to reach out to
the person needing the services.
Social service agencies are pushed to
the breaking point, hard pressed to
find staff and time to devote to gently
persuading folks to come in off the
street.
And for those reasons, and
more, the answers are never simple.
To bring the homeless in out of the
weather requires an approach that
respects the individual nature of each
person. If their perceived needs aren’t
met and there is mistrust, they may

Page 8

feel fearful and run. Blanket
solutions and ultimatums are not the
answer. What works for one, will not
work for another.
There is a fear by the
sidewalk traveling
public of engaging
homeless people.
Observe the homeless
man holding the sign at
a downtown corner as
people pass and react.
You see fear in the
general public manifest
in many ways. Most
commonly, the homeless
person is ignored, others
increase their distance,
and sometimes people
react in disgust and
even anger.
There is
certainly a serious and
hurtful disconnection
between the general
public, politicians and
homeless persons.
I was passing
through Fountain Square one day,
and I observed an interaction that
some young men were having with a
homeless man who had asked them
for spare change. The men
entertained themselves by throwing
some loose change on the ground,
laughing while the disoriented man
chased after the rolling coins.
I didn’t know who to feel
sorry for; the simple-minded men who
entertained themselves at some poor

Coalition for the Homeless said, “the
people who live under these bridges
are among the most challenging for
social services to find, engage and
assist. The outreach network in
Cincinnati grows stronger and more
committed every day. However, when
homeless camps are swept, it gives

homeless people one more reason to
mistrust the system and frustrates the
outreach workers attempts to keep
necessary contact with people.”
Over the past month, the
Homeless Coalition has worked
diligently with social service agencies,
police and homeless individuals to
propose sustainable solutions to
moving people out from under bridges.
“We all agree that human beings
should not live under bridges...The
city has conducted sweeps before.
This city still has people living under
bridges,” said Getty. “If we continue

unfortunate’s expense or the man
chasing the nickels.
There was the radio talk show
host who called for a “homeless
roundup” to remove homeless people
from the city because they are
“nothing but drunks and derelicts.”

Part of the perception problem
is driven by public discussions. A
Cincinnati City Councilman recently
spoke in disgust and outrage that he
and his family had witnessed a
homeless man defecating in public.
This Council member sponsored and
succeeded in passing an ordinance that
called for the immediate removal of all
homeless persons living under bridges
and highway overpasses.
This, in spite of recent and
successful collaborations between

Streetvibes 100th Issue


to sweep people away without treating
the reasons that they became homeless
in the first place, we will continue to
have people living under bridges.”
There continued to be much
discussion among more compassionate
members of City Council as to
whether the current proposed
resolution would just make life harder
for people living outside.
“Out of sight does not mean
the issue of homelessness goes away.
It does nothing but move them from
one place to another place,” said
Council Member Laketa Cole who
voted against the ordinance.
“It seems to be an
overreaction to the whole problem of
homelessness,” said Council Member
David Crowley. “I view this issue as
almost one of mean-spiritedness.”
“I don’t think it is mean
spirited at all,” said Mayor Charlie
Luken, in defense of Monzel’s
resolution. “What we are talking
about are aesthetics. We are not
talking about changing anything but
the way it looks,” said Councilmember
Minette Cooper in opposition of the
ordinance.
“It’s the city’s responsibility
to stand up and protect properties,
especially properties they own, for all
the citizens,” Monzel said.
“The lack of compassion
showed by the five city council
members who voted for Monzel’s
resolution tonight was absolutely
shocking,” said Georgine Getty. “We
don’t need more laws,” say homeless
and advocates.

social service agencies, the Homeless
Coalition, and the police to move
people out from the bridges in a
humane manner.
We can all agree that people
should not be using outdoors spaces as
a public toilet, but the continued
passing of ordinances shows little
depth in the analyses of the homeless
condition.
No one should have to live
outside, without the simple life
sustaining things, like a shower or a
stove; things we take for granted.
In my neighborhood of Over­
the-Rhine, I have witnessed many
visiting suburban folks partying on
Main Street relieving themselves in our
alleys and behind our buildings. The
tourists leave their drink cups and beer
bottles scattered on the ground and in
our parking lots. They walk on Main
Street, the so-called entertainment
district, with drink cups in hand, while
neighborhood folks and the homeless
continue to be harassed and ticketed
for the same infractions.
The middle-class gentry who
live in our neighborhood use the small
patch of grass at our community enter
as a toilet for their pets. Our
neighbors and community and the
homeless see these disparities, and they
understand what it means. The
message to the poor is “get out!” and
for those spending so much money, it’s
“go about your business.”
It is no wonder that there is so
much fear and distrust on the part of
the homeless in Cincinnati.
Apparently, it isn’t enough to be a
human being. Maybe living under a
bridge isn’t such a bad idea after all.

�Homeless Men receive Settlement from City Of Covington

From Streetvibes, February 2004
and clothing were taken. One of
Rights Organizing Project and
In June of 2002, hundreds
by Jimmy Heath
the men lost a litter of kittens and
from the National Coalition for the Northern Kentucky service
Three men met last month
family photographs. No notice was Homeless, and the Greater
providers and advocates.
near the Covington riverfront levy, given to the homeless residents and Cincinnati Coalition for the
In late December of 2003,
close to the Ohio River bank
their property was not held but
the City of Covington decided to
Homeless assembled for a
campsite they once called
settle with the claimants
home. Present were their
and on January 23rd, at the
attorneys, Robert
site of the injustice, the
Newman and Covington
homeless campers received
lawyer Linda A. Smith.
their settlement checks.
The men were among
Each of the men received
eight who sued in U.S.
$1,000 checks, handed out
District Court in
by attorney Robert
Covington after city
Newman, against the
workers removed their
backdrop of the Ohio River
riverfront camps in April
where the campers once
of 2002. A lawsuit was
made their home. They
filed in federal court in
will receive another $1,000
May 2002 alleging the
each later from attorneys’
city of Covington violated
fees.
the due process rights of
“There’s now a
the individuals who lost
nationwide precedent that
their personal property.
cities cannot take the
Homeless advocates said
property of homeless
most of the 30 men living
people without notice and
on the riverbank were
destroy it,” said Cincinnati
away at work when the
civil-rights attorney Bob
Covington city workers
Newman, during a press
Philip Folk, attorney Robert Newman, Delbert Thompson, Charles Singleton and
removed their belongings attorney Linda Smith gather at riverfront campsite for press conference. Claimants Folk, conference at the riverfront
from city property
site. “It’s a fair warning I
Thompson and Singleton each received a check for $1,000.
without notice.
think, to Covington and
During a “sweep” of
thrown away. City officials,
any other city that homeless people
Homeless Rally and March to
homeless camps, Covington city
including Covington Mayor Butch
Covington City Hall to support the are human beings just like
workers removed and destroyed
Callery, described the riverfront
everybody else and they have the
claimants and to draw attention to
property of individuals who at the
camps as a “health hazard and an
same constitutional rights as a
the plight of the homeless. The
time considered the Ohio River
eyesore.” City crews were ordered march was organized by the
homeowner, so we’re very happy
bank their home. Items such as
to remove any objects that looked
about that.”
individuals who lived on the
sleeping bags, medication, tents
like housing or bedding.
riverbanks, the National Civil

Katie Fischer, National Low
Income Housing Coalition, reads
Streetvibes
Mary Burke, Director of the Over-theRhine housing network, reads
Streetvibes

Bill Faith, Director of the Coalition on
Housing and Homelessness in Ohio
reads Streetvibes

David Knoll, chair of
Standdown, reads Streetvibes
Captain James Whalen, District One

Cincinnati Police, reads Streetvibes


Pat Clifford, General Coordinator of the
Drop Inn Center, reads Streetvibes

Streetvibes 100th Issue

Page 9


�The Peace
Village
The recent conference of
the Peace Village on “Ending
Hunger in the Peace Village,” on
October 2nd, featured student
teams sharing their visions of how
their schools, or college programs,
could reduce hunger by teaching
their fellow students about the
needs of the hungry in our city.
“Teaching” meant being clear that
peace could not be available to a
hungry person because they had to
spend their food budget on
uninsured medical treatments, or
that tightly stretched dollars had to
be spent on prescription drugs that
were not covered by limited or
non-existent fringe benefits, or that
the weekly part-time wage could
not adequately cover food and the
basics of housing, utilities, or
insurance. One by one, each team
shared with the conference the
ways in which this “message”
would be delivered. Each team
hoped that the information would
spur both interest and action.
Gathering cans of food for the Free
Store/food Bank, or a related
pantry, would be the result of all of
the efforts. But something bigger
was also on the table.
What students are teaching
and learning is the twin lessons that
hunger has no place in our city and
that students can do something
very important to reduce it.
Teaching peace through a goal in
reducing individual and family
hunger places these students into a
discussion that has been largely
invisible in our community. We
have not taught the reasons for
hunger being so extensive or for
the rising need of our citizens,
many of them working one or two
low paying jobs, for relief from the
stark reality of hunger. Our
students have not been asked to
think about the hard choices facing
an increasing number of families

who are choosing, if choice is the
right word, to keep the family
together through reducing the food
budgets during the emergencies
arising from money just running
out by the end of the month. Our
students are not learning about
how they can encourage hungry
children to eat federally supplied
breakfasts and lunches in ways that
do not increase stigmatization of
the children.
Sharing the plans for action
and learning opened up the

Dr. Steve Sunderland

possibility of community wide
approaches that will make a local
difference in each neighborhood or
school community.
More than collecting cans
or dollars for cases of food, a
consequence of this program will
be the deepening of each person’s
knowledge about the power of
young people to organize for peace
in their schools and communities,
irrespective of race, economic
class, gender, and religious
perspective. These student leaders
have already asked themselves the
critical questions of what is the
important information so necessary
to change indifference about peace
due to hunger into action for peace
based on joining energy and
resources. Stopping hunger is a
form of learning about how to stop
conflict and victimization.
Reducing hunger through programs
of assistance also reduces

ignorance about the ways in which
society maintains a cruel
relationship with the weakest
members of our community.
The joining of young
people to such a peace effort will
alter some people on a permanent
basis. Seeing hunger as humanmade by choices our society makes
to ignore, trivialize and punish
large number of citizens, forces a
kind of teaching on the young
students that will shift their
interests into social justice.
Bringing the mission
of this effort down to
personal involvement
may encourage the
kind of further
teaching and learning
within the school that
leads to wider
participation from
other students and
teachers.
Can students teach
peace? We are all
realizing that teaching
for social justice is
within the power of
youth. Teaching for
us means to study the issues of
hunger and how they can be
realistically addressed in our
educational institutions within a
limited time. The consequence of
this teaching is action at the level
of consciousness that is at a deep
and important level. I applaud our
new teachers and their passion for
a society that can learn about needs
and do something about it. The
connections between old and new
teachers was evident throughout
our day and in our closing
ceremony. A student from Ursuline
Academy gave us some
inspirational final words as a
counselor from Aiken led us in a
chorus of “We Shall Overcome.”
On the table, where people were
leaving, there were cans of food
brought by students and teachers
for the Free Store, cases, really of
generous hopes and beliefs. We are
off!

TIMELINE
continued from page 8
May, 2003 – Report on the
Panhandling for Awareness
Campaign organized by the
GCCH and the Cincinnati Youth
City Council.
June, 2003 – Streetvibes reports
on the new effort by City Hall to
curb panhandlers by requiring
them to get a license.
August, 2003 – Homeless people
living in camps under Cincinnati
bridges are ordered to move out.
Homeless gather to fight the
eviction. Community shows its
support of the homeless.
November, 2003 – GCCH’s
Annual Standdown event is held
in Over-the-Rhine’s Washington
Park.
January, 2004 – GCCH Annual
Dinner is featured in this month’s
Streetvibes.
February, 2004 – Homeless men
receive settlement from City of
Covington after city workers
removed their riverbank camps
and destroyed personal items.
April, 2004 – Hundreds gather in
Cincinnati to protest one-year
anniversary of Iraq War, joining
millions of protestors around the
world.
May, 2004 – Downtown’s Fort
Washington Hotel is slated for
upscale condo development
which will result in more loss of
low-income housing.
June, 2004 – Cincinnati City
Council votes to extend
controversial Panhandling
Registration ordinance.
July, 2004 – The Cincinnati
Center City Development
Corporation (3CDC) fast tracks
its plan for development of the
Washington Park area of Over­
the-Rhine resulting in another
threat to the Drop Inn Center
shelter.
August, 2004 – The Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless and the Drop Inn
Center begin campaign to register
homeless voters.
September, 2004 – New GCCH
homeless education packet is
piloted in Cincinnati schools.
November, 2004 - Streetvibes
celebrates 100th issue!

Page 10

Streetvibes 100th Issue


�Curtis Norvell finds healing at Drop Inn Center Program

From Streetvibes, October 2001
by Lisa Bridges
“Life has taught me that
there is a bit of good in the worst
of us, and a bit of bad in the best of
us, but we are all children of God,
and we all have a right to be here.
I invite who ever reads this little
article and is not satisfied with the
way you’re living I need you to
know, we no longer have to remain
stuck. One thing this addict/
alcoholic do know is I had to be
ready! And only I knew when Trey
was ready. Me, myself have lived
my life on a wire without a net.
Funny thing about fear, it kept me

from the rooms of recovery and
today fear keeps me from returning
to the horrors of active addiction.
Like Martin Luther King Jr. today,
Trey has a dream. Thank You
God!” - Curtis “Trey” Norvell
LB - What is the biggest change in
your life since you have started the
program at the Drop Inn Center?
Trey - “I’ve stopped
fighting….meaning: completely
surrendering to the simple program
(of NA and AA.) And it has taken
me so long to do this.”
LB - What has your experience
offered you at the Drop Inn
Center?

Trey - “It has offered me a sense of
freedom from active addiction and
alcoholism. Also, the opportunity
to sit back and reflect on life in the
past, the present, and what I want
to accomplish in the future.”
LB - Where do you see yourself in
the future?
Trey - “In one of two places: either
in broadcasting (which Trey has
already completed some schooling
for), or starting a program for
young men ages 18-25. Trey got
really excited about a program for
young men. Offering them a strong
since of encouragement and
empowerment. “It is a difficult age

for a sense of belonging, and I
want to be able to be there for
these men. I have noticed since I
have been living here, I have been
approached by many young people
who have questions, and need
support and encouragement.”
LB - What has been your biggest
learning experience?
Trey - “I know what other people
meant at all the other treatment
centers that I went to. You have to
REALLY, REALLY want it and
today I really do. I don’t want to
drink or drug anymore. And today,
I feel and understand this
surrender.”

Cathy Johnstone of COHHIO reads
Streetvibes
Spencer Wells of COHHIO reads Streetvibes


Tom Stricher, of The Other Place, reads Streetvibes


Streetvibes 100th Issue

Page 11


�Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct
 About the Greater Cincinnati
All Vendors Sign and Agree to a Code of Conduct

Coalition for the Homeless and
Report Any Violations to GCCH - 421-7803

Streetvibes....
This program has helped
1. Streetvibes will be distributed honest in stating that all profits go
for a $1 voluntary donation. If a
customer donates more than $1
for a paper, vendors are allowed
to keep that donation. However,
vendors must never ask for more
than $1 when selling Streetvibes.
2. Each paper purchased from
the Greater Cincinnati Coalition
for the Homeless (GCCH) costs
30 cents. Papers will not be
given out on credit. Old papers
cannot be traded in for new
papers.
3. Streetvibes may only be
purchased from GCCH. Never
buy papers from, or sell papers to
other vendors.
4. Vendors must not panhandle
or sell other items at the same
time they are selling Streetvibes.
5. Vendors must treat all other
vendors, customers, and GCCH
personnel with respect.
6. Vendors must not sell
Streetvibes while under the
influence.
7. Vendors must not give a “hard
sell” or intimidate anyone into
purchasing Streetvibes. This
includes following customers or
continuing to solicit sales after
customers have said no.
8. Vendors must never sell doorto-door or on private property,
unless given permission from the
owner of that property.
9. Vendors must not deceive
customers while selling
Streetvibes. Vendors must be

to the individual vendor. Vendors
must not tell customers that the
money they receive will go to
GCCH or any other organization
or charity. Also, vendors must
not say that they are collecting for
“the homeless” in general.
10. Vendors must not sell papers
without their badge. Vendors
must present their badge when
purchasing papers from GCCH.
Lost badges cost $2.00 to replace.
Broken or worn badges will be
replaced for free, but only if the
old badge is returned to GCCH.
11. Streetvibes vendor meetings
are held on the first weekday of
the month at 1pm. The month’s
paper will be released at this
meeting. If a vendor cannot
attend the meeting, he or she
should let us know in advance. If
a vendor does not call in advance
and does not show up, that vendor
will not be allowed to purchase
papers on the day of the meeting
or the following day. Five free
papers will be given to those who
do attend.
12. Failure to comply with these
Rules and Regulations may result
in termination from the
Streetvibes vendor program.
GCCH reserves the right to
terminate any vendor at any time
as deemed appropriate. Badges
and Streetvibes papers are
property of GCCH, and must be
surrendered upon demand.

The mission of the North American
Street Newspaper Association
(NASNA) is to support a street
newspaper movement that creates and
upholds journalistic and ethical
standards while promoting self-help
and empowerment among people
living in poverty. NASNA papers support homeless and very low-income
people in more than 35 cities across the United States and Canada.

Streetvibes
Vendor: 70 cents

Printing and
Production:
30 cents

Page 12

The Greater Cincinnati
Coalition for the Homeless
(GCCH) was formed in May of
1984 for one purpose: the
eradication of homelessness in
Cincinnati. What started out as
a coalition of 15 volunteers
meeting weekly in an unheated
church basement has since
grown into a Coalition of over
45 agencies and hundreds of
volunteers dedicated to
improving services for homeless
individuals, educating the
public about homelessness and
empowering homeless
individuals to advocate for their
civil rights and housing needs.
Streetvibes is a tool of
GCCH used to help us achieve
our goal of ending
homelessness. On the one hand
it is a self-sufficiency program
geared towards the homeless
and marginally housed
individuals who are our
vendors. Streetvibes vendors
buy the paper for 30 cents per
copy and sell it for a suggested
one-dollar donation, keeping
the profit that they have earned.

hundreds of people find and
maintain housing. The vendors
also sign a code of conduct
stating that they will behave
responsibly and professionally
and they proudly display their
official Streetvibes badge while
selling the paper. Our vendors
put a face on “the homeless” of
Cincinnati and form lasting
friendships with their
customers.
On the other hand,
Streetvibes is an award-winning
alternative newspaper and part
of the international street
newspaper movement.
Focusing on homelessness and
social justice issues, Streetvibes
reports the often-invisible story
of poverty in our community.
Streetvibes is also proud to
include creative writing, poetry,
articles, photography and
interviews written by homeless
and formerly homeless
individuals. Streetvibes enjoys
a loyal reader base that respects
the honest portrayal of the joys,
sorrows, and challenges facing
the people of Cincinnati.

Streetvibes is a
member of the:

The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) unites
street papers sold by homeless and people living in poverty
from all over the world. INSP is an umbrella organization,
which provides a consultancy service for its partner papers
and advises on the setting up of new street papers and
support initiatives for marginalised people.

Where
Your
Dollar
Goes...
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 information
about the program. Many thanks
for your support.

Streetvibes 100th Issue


Don’t be Squirrelly!

Buy Streetvibes!

�Zen

cont. from page 5
professional staff. There are over
200 homeless and formerly
homeless vendors hawking the
Streetwise newspaper at any given
time. One thing all of these papers
have in common is that homeless
vendors not unlike Cincinnati’s
Jimmie Gipson sell them and keep
the profits. They write the stories
and are involved in the editorial
process.
There are many ways to
measure success in the street
newspaper business. Streetvibes,
and the street paper movement, has
become the alternative voice for
people whose voice has gone
unheard for so long. When the
mainstream media fails, the street
newspaper succeeds. Street
newspapers tell it like it is without
the confines of advertiser politics.
That is one of the real successes of
street papers like Streetvibes.
Homeless people can especially
speak their mind where before,
they would be ignored by the
mainstream media. Advocates for
the poor also find a voice in the
street paper movement and use the
network extensively for getting the
word out about local community
and national issues.
Legal Alternative
For many cities, including
Cincinnati, the street newspaper
movement grew out of the need for
creating an alternative to
panhandling. Although the First
Amendment right to free speech

protects people who are peacefully
engaged in panhandling, the City of
Cincinnati took measures to
strengthen a 1992 aggressive
panhandling law. Jimmie Gipson
says that he used to be a
panhandler himself. “Some of
those guys make good money,“
says Gipson, pointing to a nearby
panhandler.
While homeless advocates
and the ACLU were disputing the
anti-panhandling issue in the
courts, the idea for a street
newspaper for Cincinnati was
developed as an alternative. For
several months Cincinnati’s
Streetvibes was a one-page
supplement to the Homeless
Grapevine, a Cleveland, Ohio street
newspaper. Using Cleveland’s
Grapevine newspaper as a model,
Streetvibes published its first full
issue in February of 1997. In the
spring of 1998 the proposed antipanhandling ordinance was ruled
unconstitutional by the US District
Court, thereby legalizing peaceful
panhandling. These days, Jimmie
Gipson competes for a share of the
street with panhandlers, but he
doesn’t mind.
The New Success
Because of the panhandling
legal dispute, making profits as a
business was not the impetus for
publishing Streetvibes. The paper
was also developed as a program
to help people get back on their
feet. In the publishing office of
The Greater Cincinnati Coalition
for the Homeless, vendors gather

to socialize, drink coffee, and
discuss the issues of the day. The
vendors purchase their papers and
head out to the streets. There are
countless success stories
surrounding the history of the
Streetvibes newspaper.
Many vendors have sold the
paper for years and have come to
rely on it for their livelihood.
Others use the program to find a
way out of a temporary situation
and move on. “We work with the
vendors to help them reach their
personal goals,” says Alicia Beck,
[former] Director of the Greater
Cincinnati Coalition for the
Homeless. Traditionally, the
GCCH staff has worked with
vendors to help them meet their
goals. “We are in the process of
hiring a full-time staff person to
help the vendors with their needs,”
says Beck. “Our goal is to develop
vendor support groups that will
identify issues for the vendors,
provide educational opportunities
and health services. We will be
able to help vendors with referrals
for housing and other types of
assistance.” The Streetvibes
newspaper is an empowerment
program for homeless folk who are
looking for a way to get their lives
back. “I really enjoy selling
Streetvibes,” says Jimmie Gipson.
“It makes me feel good, like I’m
doing something that matters.”
The Challenge
The most difficult aspect
for Streetvibes vendors is
consistency. Many of them live on

The Lost Boy
Hello, my name is Reggie.
I’m back in treatment for the 48th
time not because I’m homeless, but
also because I have a drug addiction.
Homelessness doesn’t have a color
or age or place. I’ve found out in
my 16 years of being homeless that it
doesn’t classify who a person is.
I’ve met some of the nicest
people that were homeless. Sleeping
under bridges and not knowing
where they were going from one
minute to the next. It’s only ignorant

Streetvibes 100th Issue

the streets because they suffer from
circumstances that prevent them
from following a regular schedule.
Lack of housing affects many
different areas of somone’s life: no
place to store their things, nowhere
to take a shower, few safe places to
rest.
Selling Streetvibes is a
great alternative for homeless
people because they make their
own hours. The best vendors come
as close to consistent sales as they
can; they sell in the same general
area to repeat customers month
after month. Jimmie Gipson hopes
to use the money he earns from
Streetvibes to improve his
situation: “I like this job. My
dream is to make enough money to
get a place of my own. In the
meantime, though, I’ll just keep
meeting people and letting them
know about life on the streets.”
Jimmie continues, “I want to thank
the people for encouraging and
inspiring me by wanting to help and
feeling that they are doing their
part. I keep telling them that their
support is very necessary for
improvement of the homeless
problem.
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to
vendor Jimmie Gipson, whose
generous donation of his time
made this article possible. To
learn more about vendors or for
more information, contact the
Greater Cincinnati Coalition for
the Homeless at (513) 421-7803.

people that don’t understand and can
care less about homelessness. I’ve
lost my dignity, my family, jobs,
money, and most of all I lost contact
with the little boy that was born
March 19th, 1966. The little shy kid
that got A’s and B’s in school. The
kid that everyone liked. The kid that
never went to jail or stole anything
until he lost his self in the dark alleys.
Long and lonely streets of crack
cocaine. I’ve never had a chance to
feel what it is like to live free and be
happy without a mood altering
chemical in me.

Page 13


�Mourning the Morning

The Other Side of the Desk

by Rachel Lawson
(My sophomore year of college I visited West Africa and was inspired
by an individual and this was written in dedication of Agiee-the silent hero)

Anonymous
Have you ever thought, just a wee little bit,
of how it would seem to be a misfit,
and how you would feel if you had to sit,
on the other side of the desk?

She always sat in the dark
I assumed it was because it was cooler in the daytime heat of Africa
Until I noticed her sitting in the dark at night
She was so close to the wall trying to blend in, trying to hide
I smiled, ignorant and turned on the bright and revealing light
It’s amazing how the light captures fresh bruises, new black eyes,
scratches, and wounds
My memory flashed back to all the times she hid in the dark
And reality hit and I finally knew why
I quickly became a hero
I would tackle whatever and whoever did this
and the abuse would stop now
All she had to do was tell me who
She told me her pain
And I told her my plan
As the result of being raised in a different culture
I had a desire to disrupt this routine of being abused
The only problem was when the morning arrived
The mourning said I don’t want you to come to my culture
and disrupt what is accepted
The mourning said I would only cause more bruises
The mourning was praying for that comforting night
And the morning willed me not to tell
The mourning asked me to do nothing
She said every slap in the face wasn’t that bad
It would heal
I should just forget about it and not let it affect my journey
In the end it became my journey
From the dark to the light
The day when the sun can shine rather than trying to hide in the dark
My journey to understand why the sun hides
And the morning mourns

Have you ever looked at the man who seemed a bum,
as he sat before you nervous – dumb –
and thought of the courage it took to come,
to the other side of the desk?
Have you ever thought of his dreams that went astray,
of the hard, real facts of his every day,
of the things in his life that make him stay,
on the other side of the desk?
Did you make him feel that he was full of greed,
make him ashamed of his race or creed,
or did you reach out to him in his need,
to the other side of the desk?
May God give us wisdom and lots of it,
and much compassion and plenty of grit,
so that we may be kinder to those who sit,
on the other side of the desk.

Death by Detachment

The Bullet
Iraqi poet
I tried to domesticate the bullet,
To take her with me to school,
To teach her the alphabet
And have her speak
But she is made of black clay
and stuffed with canned blood
I tried to domesticate the bullet,
To take her to the water-spring,
To the fields of dew.
But she has consumptive lips
That love to kiss the lips of death
To rummage or wreck
And blow ashes in our eyes.
I tried to domesticate the bullet,
To lead her to the truth,
To wash her copper with perfumes
And replace her gunpowder
with sweets.
But she refused to be unlocked;
and remained dripping pus,
With poison in her breath.

Page 14

by JH
What is this other world on the Corner?
Of violent and menacing gestures,
and growling peril.
And bloated pockets, filled with danger.
The bulky shells, and anger gone wild,
fill the street with deadly void,
inside and outside the soul,
with and without spirit.
Clashing on the gray,
the staggering limbs askew,
twirling, menacing, frightened,
of the blue and white shadow.
Tomorrow is a hazard,
out of reach, on a dusty shelf.
Beyond the dream of home,
and mom, and warming family.
To get there is a nonsense dream,
in TV land and liars,
peddling another place,
a vision beyond reach.

Streetvibes 100th Issue


The Work of the Dead
by Michael Henson
In every life cut short,
so many things are left undone.
The dishes stacked and crusting in
the sink.
The dogs unfed.
Three new strings on the guitar,
the others still in their wrappers.

The bedroom half-painted,

one side fresh and glossy,

the other a map of patching plaster

islands.

And the oil that really ought to be

changed.

And the letter unsent:

it only needs a stamp

and someone to walk it to the

mailbox.
And all the work of love:
words and gestures
still bundled
in their little proud houses
and the keys
lay right on the table where we left
them.
And even the nation,
this sprawling, addled nation:
Such a tangle of dropped threads,
interrupted projects,
failed promises.
Who will beat down the hammers of
greed?
Who will untangle the knots of
deceit?
Those whose lives have been cut
short
are crowded into their darkened
theater
where they watch us
bawling and arguing
like actors in an ancient drama.

They watch us closely,

for they want to know

who will take on

the unfinished work of the dead.


�Bush is my Shepard

Acquainted With The Nite

Bush is my Shepard, I am in want,

He maketh me to lie down on park benches,

He leadeth me by still factories,

He restoreth my doubt in the Republican Party,

He guideth me in the path of the Unemployed

for his parties sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of soup kitchens,

I am hungry.

I do fear evil, for thou art against me;

They Cabinet and Senate, thy do discomfort me;

Tho didst prepare a reduction in my wages;

In the presence of m creditors thou anointed my income with taxes,

So my expenses overuneth my income.

Surely, poverty and hard times will

follow me all the days of the Republican administration.

And I shall dwell in a rented house forever.


by buddy gray
i am one acquainted with the nite,

from my growing years in the country,

to my adult life in the inner-city.

i began with the very dark – unless moonlit nites,

with people all asleep.

And crickets – thousands it seems –

chirping their screeky, leggy noises,

and occasionally – in the wee hours of the nite,

long distance soulful whistle of the train,

blowing for a crossing – long and deep.

Then to the city, at first hard to sleep,

since, it seemed,

there were always people and machines that never sleep.

All beneath my 4th floor window –

echoing between the concrete,

or hot-muggy polluted summer + poverty, stress.

Many nitely screams of our city’s women being battered,

on lonely, unsafe, nite streets –

or echoes imprisoned in an apartment with an abuser.

Cops – often siren-maniacs – racing dangerously down dark,

skinny, populated streets.

Going the wrong way down one-way streets,

chasing one individual.

The flood of the voices and cars of the well-to-do in evening gowns,

oblivious to the social stress.

Ending their social event – in the wee AM hours –

from Music Hall across the street,

just before dawn – the whirring, brushing sound –

of the city’s street sweeper.

Through many all-niter work projects at the shelter,

or sleepless, tossing nites,

i’ve heard and seen it all.


The Bottom Line
by Michael Nelson
Sin on our streets,

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 everyday,

The bottom line is,

We all need to pray.

People watch violence,

See ladies quite nude,

The bottom line is,

Our morals are crude.

Our leaders are weaklings,

Our court systems fail,

The bottom line is,

Does Truth ever prevail?

The bottom line is,

The end may be near,

The bottom line is,

Mankind shall know fear!


Relatively
by Derek Landers
Relatively speaking
he was my husband
to my mother’s
mother and the son
of another Reich
polished boots
and martial mannerisms
were his
yet he knew no order
Relatively speaking
he was my father’s father
and the son of a people
dispossessed
from their homes and heritage
held hostage by the geography
of North America and the ties
of the delta bayous
he knew pain
Relatively speaking
she was wife
to my father’s
father and the
daughter of a kidnapped
African women and a
Frenchman’s contempt
for that women’s humanity
Jim Crow she’d come
to know she knew
not who she was
Relatively speaking
I am
their mongrel progeny
I span
the waters of their
existence uniting
four continents and
no one
Relatively speaking
I am alone

Shutter Speed

by Jimmy Heath


Kroger Company got a tax-payer subsidized parking
garage - Over-the-Rhine got this lousy rock

Streetvibes 100th Issue

Page 15


�TREATMENT: Both
820-2947
N.A. Hopeline
351-0422
A.A. Hotline
381-6672
C.C.A.T.
684-7956
Talbert House
Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435
VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011
DIC Live-In
721-0643
Program

TREATMENT: Men
Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853
921-1613
Prospect House
961-2256
Starting Over

TREATMENT: Women
961-4663
First Step Home
Full Circle Program 721-0643

HOUSING:
721-4580
CMHA
Excel Development 632-7149
241-0504
Miami Purchase
OTR Housing Net. 369-0004
381-1171
ReSTOC
721-8666
Tender Mercies
Tom Geiger House 961-4555
Dana Transitional Bridge
751-9797
Services, Inc

761-1480
Caracole (AIDS)
381-5432
Friars Club
721-0643
Drop Inn Center
863-8866
Haven House
Interfaith
471-1100
Hospitality
Lighthouse Youth Center
961-4080
(Teens)
St. John’s Housing 651-6446

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.
SHELTERS: Women and
Children
YWCA Battered
Women’s Shelter 872-9259
1-888-872-9259
(Toll Free)
557-2873
Bethany House
762-5660
Salvation Army
Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717
Women’s Crisis
859-491-3335
Center

357-4602

SHELTER: Men
City Gospel
241-5525
Mission
Garden St. House 241-0490
Joseph House
241-2965
(Veterans)
St. Francis/St.Joseph
381-4941
House
661-4620
Mt. Airy Center
Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954
SHELTER: Both
Anthony House
(Youth)

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, 117 East 12th
Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

OTHER SERVICES:
AIDS Volunteers of
421-2437
Cincinnati
Appalachian Identity
621-5991
Center
231-6630
Beech Acres
Center for Independent Living
241-2600
Options
Churches Active in
591-2246
Northside
Cincinnati Health Network
961-0600
Community Action Agency
569-1840
381-4242
241-2563
Contact Center
Emanuel Center

Freestore/
241-1064
Foodbank
Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468
Goodwill Industries 771-4800
Coalition for the Homeless
421-7803
Hamilton Co. Mental
946-8600
Health Board
Mental Health Access
558-8888
Point
Hamilton Co. TB Control
632-7186
Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602
Homeless Mobile
352-2902
Health Van
House of Refuge Mission
221-5491
Legal Aid Society 241-9400
Madisonville Ed. &amp; Assis.
271-5501
Center
Mary Magdalen House
721-4811
McMicken Dental
352-6363
Clinic
621-6364
Our Daily Bread
Peaslee Neighborhood
621-5514
Center
Project Connect Homeless
357-5720
Kids
St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841
The Emergency Food
471-4357
Center
721-7660
Travelers Aid
721-7900
United Way
VA Homeless
859-572-6226
Women Helping
872-9259
Women
MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON
(Butler County)
St. Raphaels
(Food Bank/Soup Kitchen)
863-3184
863-1445
Salvation Army
Serenity House Day Center
422-8555
Open Door
868-3276
Pantry
New Life Baptist Mission
896-9800
(Soup Kitchen)
Hope House
(Homeless
Families/Singles) 423-4673

$1 Donation

November 2004

STREETVIBES

BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY

Celebrating the 100th Issue

Streetvibes Timeline
The Best of Streetvibes

Serial Number

Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless

Inside

�</text>
                  </elementText>
                </elementTextContainer>
              </element>
            </elementContainer>
          </elementSet>
        </elementSetContainer>
      </file>
    </fileContainer>
    <collection collectionId="10">
      <elementSetContainer>
        <elementSet elementSetId="1">
          <name>Dublin Core</name>
          <description>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/.</description>
          <elementContainer>
            <element elementId="50">
              <name>Title</name>
              <description>A name given to the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="21">
                  <text>2004</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
          </elementContainer>
        </elementSet>
      </elementSetContainer>
    </collection>
    <itemType itemTypeId="1">
      <name>Text</name>
      <description>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.</description>
      <elementContainer>
        <element elementId="7">
          <name>Original Format</name>
          <description>The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data</description>
          <elementTextContainer>
            <elementText elementTextId="3328">
              <text>Newspaper</text>
            </elementText>
          </elementTextContainer>
        </element>
      </elementContainer>
    </itemType>
    <elementSetContainer>
      <elementSet elementSetId="1">
        <name>Dublin Core</name>
        <description>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/.</description>
        <elementContainer>
          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3319">
                <text>November 2004</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="49">
            <name>Subject</name>
            <description>The topic of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3320">
                <text>Homelessness</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="41">
            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3321">
                <text>Pg 1:&#13;
Remembering Buddy Gray&#13;
&#13;
Pg 2:&#13;
Letter from the Director&#13;
&#13;
Pg 3:&#13;
GCHC&#13;
&#13;
Pg 4:	&#13;
Homeless News Digest&#13;
&#13;
Pg 5:&#13;
The Zen of Streetvibes Vending&#13;
&#13;
Pg 6:&#13;
Fire Cat Review&#13;
&#13;
Pg 7:&#13;
Sweeping of camps halted by the homeless&#13;
&#13;
Pg 8:&#13;
Move Homeless from Under Bridges&#13;
&#13;
Pg 9:&#13;
Homeless Men Receive Settlement from City of Covington&#13;
&#13;
Pg 10:&#13;
The Peace Village&#13;
&#13;
Pg 11:&#13;
Curtis Norvell finds healing at Drop Inn Center Program&#13;
&#13;
Pg 12:&#13;
GCHC&#13;
&#13;
Pg 13:&#13;
Zen Continued&#13;
&#13;
Pg 14:&#13;
Art &amp; Poetry&#13;
&#13;
Pg 15: &#13;
Art &amp; Poetry Continued</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="39">
            <name>Creator</name>
            <description>An entity primarily responsible for making the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3322">
                <text>Streetvibes Archive Project </text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="48">
            <name>Source</name>
            <description>A related resource from which the described resource is derived</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3323">
                <text>Streetvibes</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="45">
            <name>Publisher</name>
            <description>An entity responsible for making the resource available</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3324">
                <text>Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="40">
            <name>Date</name>
            <description>A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3325">
                <text>2004</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="37">
            <name>Contributor</name>
            <description>An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3326">
                <text>Georgine Getty&#13;
Allison Leeuw&#13;
Andy Erickson&#13;
Rachel Lawson&#13;
Kate McManus&#13;
Janice Faulkner&#13;
Mary Gaffney&#13;
Jimmy Heath</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="42">
            <name>Format</name>
            <description>The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="3327">
                <text>PDF</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
        </elementContainer>
      </elementSet>
    </elementSetContainer>
    <tagContainer>
      <tag tagId="2559">
        <name>Allison Leeuw</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="814">
        <name>Andy Erickson</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="297">
        <name>Arts &amp; Poetry</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="2">
        <name>buddy gray</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="2549">
        <name>Camps</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="396">
        <name>Covington</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="725">
        <name>Curtis Norvell</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="6">
        <name>Donald Whitehead</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="145">
        <name>Drop Inn Center</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="2567">
        <name>Fire Cat Review</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="836">
        <name>Georgine Getty</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="960">
        <name>Homeless News Digest</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="930">
        <name>Janice Faulkner</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="197">
        <name>Jimmy Heath</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="947">
        <name>Kate McManus</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="884">
        <name>Mary Gaffney</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="83">
        <name>Over-the-Rhine</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="954">
        <name>Rachel Lawson</name>
      </tag>
      <tag tagId="2554">
        <name>The Peace Village</name>
      </tag>
    </tagContainer>
  </item>
</itemContainer>
