7 10 291 https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/1e42da204d44a3f431a9dbe7dbc237aa.pdf 9e90fcc199593b11353b761232a90736 PDF Text Text ' Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �• June 2003 Panhandling Registration: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Georgine Getty, Executive Director, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Stop feeding them or they'll just keep coming back. This is what people say about stray dogs and cats. It's also recently become the mantra of anti-panhandling proponents. Whereas it may be a true sentiment, there's one problem: panhandlers are people. People with stories, families, self­ determination and needs. In November, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) challenged city hall to address the root causes of panhandling, rather than making panhandlers register. To their credit, DeWine and Crowley did establish an Outreach Professional position to do street outreach to people who panhandle and direct them to services. The Coalition, as well as other well respected social service agents, worked with the city to draft this position. This is a fine first step, but it doesn't begin - to go far enough. Plus it was coupled with registration. Registration requires that panhandlers get a panhandling license through the City Health Dpeartment and the Police Less Disgusting . . . The Coalition also worked with the city to change some of the logistics ofthe registration process to make it, "less disgusting," to borrow a phrase used by a concerned citizen who spoke out at the public hearing on May 12. Originally, panhandlers had to register at the police station (now they would have to register at the Health Department, though the police stilJ track the registration), they had to have an address, they had to be fingerprinted, and they had to wear their registration. We changed all of this, but is it enough? We oppose the registration ofpanhandlers. Why? Because it's hard enough to be in poverty, without adding layers of bureaucracy. Because it addresses the end result of poverty and homelessness instead of trying to cut it off at the root. Because it makes panhandling into a bigger issue than it is in reality, relegating larger issues such as police protection, the boycott and even parking to the back burner. Because sometimes, people just need to panhandle to get by. p;: ~ However, panhandling is complicated. Nobody Likes aggressive panhandlers. They make life uncomfortable for the people they panhandle and also for other panhandlers who are given a bad name. There is already a very strict panhandling ordinance on the book that could be sufficient to address aggressive panhandlers. Must all panhandlers be licensed because of a few bad apples, or worse yet, the mere perception of a few bad apples? Here's the kicker... •1 1t t Mayor Luken piped in at Coucilmember David Crowley andMayor Charlie Luken the very end of the public hearing with his sentiments about Don't Like Panhandlers? Streetvibes vendors. He alleges Here are 6 steps you can take to end panhandling: that one vendor was unconsciou s in *Humanize and eoipathize. Once you look someone in the the middle of the street due to eye and say llello, they stop being a ''panhandler'' and start alcohol consumption, but managed being a person who happens to be panhandling. Most to regain consciousness long panhandlers are decent, law-abiding people who happen to enough to "bother" Luken by need money for some reason. If you believe them, and want trying to sell him a Streetvibes newspaper. When I asked for the to give, do it~ Hyou don't, don't. Ultimately, the choice is name of the vendor, Luken was up to you. unable to provide it and became *Work to increase low-income housing availability in the quite agitated, saying that he has city of Cincinnati. · long believed the Streetvibes *Work to insure a living wage for all Cincinnatians. program needs to end. Luken then *Fight unfair welfare "reform." began to actively campaign to keep (Numbers 2, 3, 4 sound too big to tackJe, but the Coalition is the panhandling registration currently working on several campaigns. Give us a call at ordinance from passing because of 421-7803 and find out how you can help.) its inclusion of an Outreach · *Support your local shelters, especially shelters with Professional. services attached. Call us for a list of names and ways you So it broke down into four can help. People are often concerned that panhandlers use camps ofthinking in City Council: those who liked the Outreach earnings to purchase alcohol or drugs. If this is the case, we Worker but hated the registration, need to increase treatment centers, not decrease our those who liked the registration concern. and hated the Outreach Worker, *Buy Streetvibest You have already heJped make a those who wanted both and those differ ence in someone's life. Streetvibes allows vendors to who wanted neither. So what fill the ga·p between wage earnings and the cost of living, happened? The registration passed thus preventing the need to panhandle. without the Outreach Worker. Downtown Cincinnati, Inc. (DCI) stepped up to the plate and offered to pay half of the amount needed to pay the salary of an Outreach Worker, but the City missed their opportunity to even attempt to make a distinction between aggressive panhandlers and people who have to panhandle to make ends meet. So now we stand blinking in the rubble and faced with an ug1y new reality: registration without the Outreach Worker. We need your help. Please call or e-mail your councilmembers and let them know your opinion. Registration with no outreach simply adds yet Georgine Getty, f;xecutive Director ofthe Greater Cincinnati another layer ofcruelty to the lives Coalition for the Homeless, addresses City Council ofCincinnati's poor. �STREETVIBES June,2003 Local News Perception Drives New Law by Jimmy Heath A local radio "personality" A new city ordinance, suggested giving one-way bus which requires all panhandlers to tickets to the next county for the register wjth police and get a panhandlers and "bums", with free license, will soon become law and malt liquor and cheap wine another tool for police enforcement supplied along the way. These and control of who gets to use kinds ofdiscussions fuel criticisms downtown Cincinnati. Of course, and ridicule our City's less we all know that this is really about fortunate. perception. It's about how people If Cincinnati had the who spend money perceive political will to end homelessness, downtown Cincinnati. to address issues of poverty and We all have a right to move injustice, then maybe citizens about freely in public without fear would rally of harassment or threat. It is the around this primary job of government to cause too. provide this type ofsecurity, within The media and the boundaries laid out in our city leadership Constitution. All citizens are set the tone protected by these rights regardless for these kinds of their economic situation, ofdiscussions. supposedly. If only they Panhandlers are categorized would look at it another way. as a threat by City leadership. Not so much an immediate economic But threat, but a threat to how things downtown look, and how the interactions . Cincinnati is make people feel. It's about not a place for poor people, perception. panhandlers and the homeless. According to David Unsightly panhandlers roaming the Ginsberg, president ofDowntown sidewalks and alleyways cannot be Cincinnati Inc, panhandlers are the permitted. Poor people are scary! number one reason that people stay (There is the nagging old stereotype-that-there-MUST be away from downtown. The new licensing ordinance is an attempt to something WRONG with "those" make it look like something is people, and they have CHOSEN to live this way.) being done to address these complaints. It's all about To appease opponents of perception. the licensing ordinance, who Cincinnati Councilmember criticized it for being too punitive Pat DeWme, the author of the new and uncaring, a social worker position was added, to be paid for ordinance, lumps panhandlers in with litter, broken glass and graffiti. by the city. This social worker wouJd roam the streets and try to (City Council Law Committee connect panhandlers and homeless Meeting, May 12th). If we do people with services designed to something about these unsightly things, people will return to help them get off the streets . It is downtown, he says. It is obvious to me that the purpose, the unfortunate that human beings are job ofthis street social worker, working out of the offices ofDCI, lumped into the same category as will be to shoo people out of litter and the like. Page 2 downtown and encourage them away from public view. But the commitment for a social worker paid for by the city has gone away as council wrangled over the new ordinance. Now, DCI says it will pay halfthe money for the position, about $25,000 for one year, which won't cover the costs of a professional social worker anyway. There is additional concern from those opposed to the ordinance that the new law will legitimize panhandling, others say that it just recognizes the probl.em. Some say that the truly aggressive panhandlers will continue to do what they have always done because they have been acting outside of the law all along. And people who quietly hold signs or cups will not be required to get a license. So who will get these licenses? It probably doesn't matter all that much~clu!n citizens won't read the ordinan~ or question its effectiveness, as long as it appears that something is being done about t~e "p.roblem' _ / IfCincinna~ polifical wi1T't()e;;d homelessness, to address issues of poverty and injustice, we would be having a different discussion. We wouldn' t be talking about perception or how to control the less fortunate of our citizens, and who gets to use our public sidewalks. But "appearance" and "perception" means everything these days. From where I sit, things are looking real bad in Cincinnati. Streetvibes Vendor Code Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct... 1. Streetvibes will be distributed for a $ 1 voluntary the sale ofStreetvibes will go to the individual vendor. Falsely stating intent or otherwise mis­ donatiop. I agree not to ask for donations of representing is a violation of a city ordinance and more than $1. I also understand that I will be may be cause for arrest. able to keep 80 cents of each dollar collected. 8. I will always present my badge when purchasing 2. Streetvibes may only be purchased from the papers, and I will display my badge at all times Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless while vending. Replacement badges are $5 each. (GCCH). Purchasing or selling unauthorized 9. There are no territories. I agree that I wilJ not papers, or from other vendors, wiU result in contest territories with other distributors. I will termination from the program. not sell on private property without permission. 3. I agree that I will not ask for donations or attempt 10. I understand that Streetvibes strives to be a self­ to vend after 12 midnight. . supporting paper created by people who are 4. I agree to treat others with respect - other ven­ homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this dors, customers, and GCCH personnel. effort, I will try to spread the word and write 5. I will not sell Streetvibes while under the influence stories if possible. of drugs or alcohol. 6. I will not give a "hard sell" or make someone feel 11. I understand that failure to comply with any of the above statements will result in termination threatened. from the Streetvibes vendor program. GCCH 7. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I reserves the right to terminate a vendor at any am collecting for a not-for-profit charity or that I time as deemed appropriate. am collecting for the "homeless" in general. I will be honest in stating that all the profits from �STREETVIBES June,2003 Page 3 homeless people ranked 16th ­ $26, 81 0 a year, or two cents a person - only better than Cleveland, which uses no local money for homeless services, according to the Houston Chronicle (www.houstonchronicle.com). The shadowing him for the day, "If we city 's total spending of about $.53 by Molly Rhodes million a year, including federal we can rebuild our can rebuild Iraq, Berkeley Mayor Tom cities." funds, is about $4.64 per capita, Bates didn' t want to be called less than one-fifth of the national On a note of good Easter chicken. So, as part of a campaign big city average of$21.86. On top cheer, All Saints' Kingsway "dare" he agreed to last year, he Church in Toronto hosted its of that, the city has no large-scale spent 24 hours on the street of bis job program for homeless people, annual Easter sale of art by fair city last month, getting to and no public shelters for families. know the life of a homeless person. homeless people. Nine homeless What shelter for families do exist artists created 177 pieces of work Stops along bis journey included are turning away people every for this year's sale, each of which meals at the Trinity United was offered for $25, according to night. Methodist Church, a tour of Yet lest you think no one services along Telegraph Avenue, a the Toronto Star cares about homeless people in (www.thestar.com). Last year, the sleep out in the Civic Center Park, San Antonio, an art school church made $1,700, all ofwhich and visits to homeless advocacy graduate has returned to his went back to the homeless artists centers, all followed by a weblog, themselves. "These artists express native city to embark on a pro­ from www.NewsBerkeley.com. bono project.to capture the themselves in vibrant ways, and While Mayor Bates did get a taste homeless population with you don't see a sense of angst, a of life on the streets, he still would sense of poverty and a sense of charcoal and easel. Seth Camm's have no idea what it would be like stint in San Antonio is part of his depression in them," Elisabeth to survive without a home while nationwide, four-year-old project of the Gibson, the co-coordinator also battling addictions and/or to document homeless people in art sale, told the Toronto Star. mental illness. At the end of his ofjoy." Philadelphia, Bakersfield, Calif, "They portray a sense day, when Mayor Bates had heard If things are bad in Bellingham, Wash., SanDiego, and dozens of stories from homeless they're worse in San Berkeley, Los Angeles. When he's finished, people, his first thought to share Camm hopes to put his discoveries with www.NewsBerkeley was, "It's Antonio, Texas, which ranked overwhelming." And with a state 14th out of 17 big cities surveyed and portraits into a book to be for the services and help the budget that's desperately short of offered as a guide to the streets for anyone to use. Every homeless cities offer homeless people. funds, it's only going to get worse. Local money given to helping person who agrees to let him As Mayor Bates told the reporters sketch them also gets a copy of their portrait. When asked to sum up his experience for the San Antonio Express-News (news.mysanantonio .com), Camm simply said, "Throughout my travels, I've seen an enormous amount of people crying." Sacramento homeless advocate~ thought they saw a lot of people being scammed when ­ they beard about local homeless people panhandling to raise money for a battered women's shelter that may not even exist. The women have been raising money for One Nation Under God Christian Church in Los Angeles, with promises that they get to keep 20 percent of what they make. Loaves & Fishes in Sacramento counters in a complaint filed with the state attorney general's office that these women are required to pay for rent, gas money, and "pastor appreciation fees;" costs that usually cancel out any money they might have earned, according to the Sacramento Bee (www.sacbee.com). On to.p of that, Loaves & Fishes stafffound no proof of the shelter even existing, although One Nation's pastor, Jack W. Robinson, has amassed about $1 mill.ion in real estate property in the past four years. Education is the First Step to Ending Homelessness by Andy Er;ckson, National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project Why don't homeless people just get a job? Are home­ less people just not trying hard enough? Should I give money to panhandlers or not? Why is it so difficult to get people off the streets and into homes? How many people are homeless in Cincinnati tonight? Why do people become homeless in Cin­ cinnati? I spoke to a woman who was in her sixties and who was a nurse for many years. She unex­ pectedly lost her job, and after a while, she lost her house. She had been homeless for months, but had finally obtained housing again. She hadn't obtained a secure job though, and was in danger of once again losing her home. She was crying when she said, "I just want to have a place where my kids can come visit me." Unsµre about some of the issues surrounding homelessness? You can learn a lot by asking the experts: the homeless themselves. No one knows more about home­ lessness than the people who have lived on the streets and in the shelters. People often have an image of the homeless as "bag ladies" or "drunk, dirty men," as one letter­ writer recently put it. Many years ago, a typical homeless person might have fit the stereotypes we have. But in the past twenty years, rising housing costs and other economic problems have caused a wide variety of people to end up on the streets. These days, the for­ merly housed population is lQoking a lot like the currently housed. You can see this ifyou volunteer your time at a homeless shelter or another organization that helps the homeless. Working with the homeless will help you shed stereotypes you might not even know you had. You'll learn where the roots of homelessness lie, along with the unexpected links it has to certain aspects of society (like temp~rary labor agencies, for example, who sometimes send people away with $25 after a full day's work). Volunteering at an organi­ zation need not be time consuming. Many organizations need volun­ teers for just a few hours a week. While you are helping people move out of homelessness, you will come to see the world from the bottom ofthe economic spectrum - which is a very illuminating perspective. Ifyou can't volunteer, you can learn about homelessness through our Speaker's Bureau program. The people in the Speaker's Bureau have all been homeless. They can come to speak at your church, school, or event for $35, nearly all of which goes to the individual speaker. This is a popu­ lar program in our organization, and another great way to learn about homelessness. Of course, you could also send any questions you have to Streetvibes@iuno.com. We work with homeless individuals every day here, and we, or one of our Streetvibes vendors, would be happy to respond to you. Homelessness in Cincinnati has grown 200% in the past 15 years. Education is the first step to reversing this ~ren<;i. With mory people losing their housing now than ever, it's important that the currently housed understand more about the issues surrounding homelessness. If more ofus reaily understood what it means to be homeless these days, I think we' d also understand that we need to be working harder to end it. People who have worked their whole lives are homeless. Children are homeless (one our of every four the homeless, in fact). Whole families are homeless. Some of the people who are serving you food when you go out to eat are homeless. Over 25,000 people each year in Cincinnati are homeless. And the numbers are growing. We have the means to end homelessness. It starts with educa- ­ tion. And the best education you can get is from those people who are or have been homeless. Volun­ teer at a shelter or have a speaker come out to your event to speak about their life. Make an effort to understand who the homeless really are. of �ST R EE T VI B ES . J u ne, 2003 Page 4 Reader Hail photo ID and several dollars of busfare to go seek work. Refer panhandlers and the homeless to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless We would like to hear from you (GCCH), where they will receive a - please address letters and picture ID and ten free issues of StreetVibes to sell for a dollar comments to; each. Streetvibes, The Coalition holds 1506 Elm Street, vendors accountable to a Code Cincinnati Ohio 45202 reached in agreement with city (or) email to: police that will help prevent or Streetvibe~uno.com even resolve complaints some residents have against aggressive panhandlers. Fighting.... The StreetVibes' vendor I have been fighting for the code does not allow vending the rights of the poor most my adult paper after 12 midnight. It requires life in Cincinnati and for the respect for others and prohibits a panhandlers. Where were you in "hard sell," deception, or vending 1987 when Pat Clifford started the under the influence of drugs or Cincinnati Grapevine, or later when alcohol. Failure to comply results Donald Whitehead sued Cincinnati in termination from vending and in federal court to protect the seizure of the StreetVibes picture constitutional rights of panhandlers ID by police. and won. When Streetvibes Ifhired, the new city social became the tri-states homeless worker assigned to directly helping paper, I wrote articles for the paper the down-and-out will have two and became the volunteer reporter inexpensive options to get for the prisoners' news column, panhandlers jobs through the which at one quarter covered three region's numerous resources, such pages. The former director would as the Career Resource Centers in not let Tom Billman print articles Over-the-Rhine and around town. that hurt the establishments Ifthe social worker plan feelings. He wasn"t permitted to has been scrapped, I'd suggest that de his editors job effectively, so he some ofthe money be spent in q&it, so he could sleep at night. placing more curb-cuts on city I The former director was sidewalks for the diabled not interested in the right for andrepairing inadequate. I'm prisoners to speak out against feeling really abused by the injustice, so I lost that column. So installation and up keep ofthe thats where I have been, sister.· curb-cuts now that I am using a This is 'get it offmy chest' day. wheelchair more often. The Ed (sonny) Williams condition or absense of many curb­ cuts, especially in Over-the-Rhine On Panhandling .... are a disgrace, for a city serving citizens and welcoming visitors Council should find other justly. options to licensing citizens and People .seeking work and visitors panhandling here. Neither the city Health Department nor the other networking resources may police farce (sic) need to burdened consult my article in the May issue of Streetvibes (p. 19) about free with such a task. access to the Internet and free or Send panhandlers to affordable classes to gain or METRO-TANK's Bustop in the Mercantile Building at Government enhance computer skills. Square with a voucher to get a bus John Zeh, Over-the-Rhine While we make evety effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati , OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Call Andy Erickson (513) 421-7803 CALL FOR. OVER-THE-RHINE COMMUNITY ARTISTS SUtUrday, ~ugust ~-, . -~--· As ~rt of Cincinnati's celebration of the Festival of the New, the Over-the-Rhine.Community Festival will showcase artwork by neighoorhood arti.sts. Any artist living in Over­ the-Rhine, age 16 and up, r:nay submit up to two works of art for consideratiori of awards by a panel of local artist jurors. Call Peaslee Neighborhood Center at 621-5514 for guidelines JURORS: Gary Gaffney, instructor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati Jimmy Heath, Director of Pea . slee Center for Photography Jim Pendery, a Cincinnatj pointer with a lorig history, of • involvement in public art SPECIAL THANKS TO SUMMERFAIR INC. AND THE ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI FOR SUPPORT OF THIS EXHIBITION. Sponsored by the Contact Center, Peaslee Neighborhood Center, and the Art Academy Prisoners Advocacy Committee - Ohio PO Box 1746 Cincinnati, Ohio 45201-1746, or submit a prisoner's name and jail number at chu-lai@juno.com · Finding pen-pals for people incarcerated in jails throughout Ohio. / �ST R EETV IBES June, 2003 I am scared! I am so scared! I am so scared in Cincinnati by Elaine Cojfy Summer hasn't blessed us with her charm yet. Already we have 29 homicides in this area alone (at least none were homeless). In February of2003, I addressed members ofthe Cincinnati City Council about my concerns about homelessness and my personal experience ofbeing homeless. Panhandling became not an issue with me, but a need. Without permanent housing, employment became temporary labor. Then, unable to work in the field in which I am trained and certified, bad health ·s et in. I placed a copy of my resume' on each ofyour desktops that day, and stated that I would gladly clean your toilets if it would help me become gainfully employed and maintain the quality of life to support my family. With this proposal from DeWine to register all panhandlers, I have become very confused on what is important to the people of Cincinnati and the members ofcity Reflections in a river and pulls him out, only to see more drowning people. The young man then gets help as the by Donald Whitehead, National drowning people continue to be Coalition for the Homeless found in the river. Soon a whole Executive Director Moving Upstream: the Time community of people have formed to End Homelessness is Now on the river, all focused on pulling drowning people from the water. A couple of weeks ago, I The community has all kinds of was on a stage at Loyola College programs for the people they pull listening to NCH Board Member out, and they continue to create Neil Mitten speak about his current · new and more effective programs work. Neil shared the analogy as they continue to pull people about pulling drowning people from the water. Unfortunately, from t he water. Some ofyou may despite all the wonderful programs, have heard this analogy. For those they can't keep up. This continues that have not heard the analogy until one day when the original about the drowning p~rson, it is an young man decides to tak~ a day analogy about somebody who off and go upstream to find out stumbles upon a drowning person And where would a homeless person fit into this mix? Lacking. any transportation to the suburbs, how would a homeless person even reach the promised land of the Golden Corral? Once . there, would their presence be by Rhonda McKinney welcome? People don't like to look I recently had a person ask poverty in the face while they are me why homeless people don't go gorging. That might bring guilt. to the "Golden Corral" with their And it struck me; this is panhandling earnings to take America. My fellow diners and advantage of the all-you-can-eat myself were consuming "all-we­ buffet. "It just makes sense," he can" simply because we can. Eating assured me. It's what he would do. past the point of necessity, even Intrigued, I went to a past the point of comfort, we Golden Corral. I was ushered consumed and consumed and through line and given my one consumed. We didn't speak to one option " all-you-can-eat Steak bar with drink" and handed.a rolled up another because that would slow set of silverware. Stuck in a comer, down the consumption. Heaven forbid we pause to realize how full I proceeded to the nearest counter to begin loading up. All around me, we are. people were jammed in, mere feet away from each other; black and white, young and old, all ofus not talking to one another. I piled on a bland assortment of beige-colored food items and began to eat. Being a vegetarian, the fried chicken, steaks and infinite varieties ofpork products did not appeal to me. The food was mediocre. Not terrible. Not great. But, I could eat as much of it as I wanted to. America in . the "Golden Corral" Page 5 council. These are my exact embariassment to this city, with feelings about this situation, me double standards on life, race, trying to pe a viable citizen in this females, and safety. I would love city, I see no way out. to see another Mayor in Mayor '­ Is this just another·one of Luken's place, a Mayor that will the city's attacks on middle and promote self-esteem, higher goals lower income individuals for this city and would work on (supporting his low self-esteem) or , trying to improve the Quality of will this pass once he finds Life, rather than spending tax someone else to make nervous and money for two stadiums and a -pull another pie-in-the-sky purple bridge (What is up with harebrained idea to work on, biding that?). his time until some ofus wake up This city needs a severe and impeach him or just don't vote change. Come on people, drop me on him again? a line, let me know how you feel. I am sure that his dad is not Elaine Coffy - E-mail: aware that this mess is going like elainetcoffy@yahoo.com Until the /­ this. I feel that our Mayor is an - ··­ next time "Have a Great Day" ~ how people are getting into the river in the first place. The story is significant to me for two reasons. First of all, that night was a night that I will remember for a long time. It was a night ofinspired speeches, informative dialogue and a night that symbolized what the birth a movement must look like. If we are ever going to end homelessness students must be involved, and on this night they truly were. The second reason this story is significant is its relevance to what's happening within the homeless movement today. NCH was the first group to start pulling people out of the water, and now we have decided it's time to go upstream and address the root causes of homelessness: The Bringing America Home Campaign is the perfect opportunity to make a significant impact on the issue of homelessness. The Bringing America Home Act also allows people experiencing homelessness, providers and advocates an opportunity to show America that they are indeed committed to ending homelessness. Anyone who is truly committed to ending homelessness should endorse this campaign. The Bringing America Home Campaign is a chance for all ofus to move upstream. �ST REETV I BES Page 6 June, 2003 Wanted: suspected terrorist by Rhonda McKinney There once was a very compassionate New Yorker. He wasn't working at his job as an EMS provider on 9/11 , but he was close to the scene. When he didn't return home that evening, his family and friends feared the worst. They knew he was the kind of man who would go to help, even if he wasn't on duty. As the days went by with no word, his family joined fhousands in putting up posters. "Lost: friend, son, brother." Meanwhile, the U.S . government was putting up their own signs, "Wanted: suspected terrorist." The government came and harassed the man's worried family, demanding to know where he was. Why? Because the man's name was Muhammad, and he was a Muslim. The government got their answer when Muhammad's remains were found under the rubble in November. I recently had the privilege of attending the Aninesty International General Meeting in Pittsburgh. At this meeting, there was a panel discussion on racial profiling, pre and post 9/11. The panel started with Reverend William Rutherford from the NAACP who began with the · history ofracial profiling in America. Until 9/ 11, racial profiling was a product of the "war on drugs" and primarily used to target African Americans and Latina/o s, causing drug arrests to go up 510%. Since 9/11, Arab Americans, Muslims and South Asians h~ve become the target. Over 1200 Arab Americans have been held without charges. Many are still being held . The second panelist, Dalia Hashad, is the leader of the ACLU's post-9/11 campaign against racial profiling which focuses on Arab Americans. In the hours following 9/11, New York did a sweep ofMiddle Eastern men and gathered them up as "suspected terrorists." All of these men had minor INS violations (such as being tardy in announcing a change of address). When the ACLU and other groups began to question this practice, Ashcroft stopped telling us about it. Middle Eastern men are being required to register, or they can be deported without even a chance to tell their families. The registration was done in secret, so many people didn't even know they were supposed to register and were deported as a result. (At the registration, I am not making this up, people are asked, "are you a terrorist?"). The government has ordered " mosque counts" so they know how many wire taps to do in an area. The panel ended with Sharam Hasheni, a soft-spoken hero from 9/1 1. Blessed by a Catholic priest at ground zero, the Muslim Sharam rushed in and led a dozen people to safety before the building collapsed on him. When he was pulled from the rubble, his life was saved by a Jewish doctor. Mr. Hasheni stated that if all three maJOr religions could blend in a synthesis of harmony and heroism on a tragic day, there is no reason that this true dialogue cannot continue. However, two weeks after 9/11, Mr. Hasheni was forced to register as a suspected terrorist. He complies, but with a heavy heart. In conclusion, Mr. Hasheni called·for a renewed focus on unity, not division. He states that true dialogue is the only thing that will prevent terrorism in the future. Ms. Rashad added that looking for a terrorist is like finding a needle in a haystack. Racial profiling does nothing but increase the size ofthe haystack. She added, tongue in cheek, t hat not altwhite men were rounded up after the bombing in Oklahoma City. What is needed is crime fighting techniques and investigation, not racial profiling. Please join us in writing letters to Ashcroft, Ridge, and . Bush. Let them know that America cannot continue to violate the Constitutional rights ofits residents simply to promote a false sense ofsecurity. Do it today, in memory ofMuhammad and all the other brave_souls who are part of Americas proud and diverse history. The Jf.onorable John Ashcroft, Attorney General, J)epartmentof Justic~ 950 Pennsylvania A~enue, Nw, Room 440, Washington DC 20530-0001 (fax 1-202-307-6777). The Honorable Tom Ridge, Secretary ofHomeland Security, U.S. Department ofHomeland Security, Naval Securilj!Stati-011....___ Nebraska andMassachusetts "-... Avenue, Nw, Washington, DC, 20528 (fax 1-202-282-8404). The Honorable George Bush, President, the White Houie, Office ofthe President, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, J)C, 20500 (Fax 1-202-456-2641). - The Most Dangerous City to be Homeless: A Snapshot of shelter system have mental illnesses " quality oflife" laws disrupted the population for the state capitol Sacramento and other disabilities, and many of totals about 1600, but Lomazzi relative safety found in the loose­ dismisses this as a "low-ball" knit community of campers and folks living in their vehicles in that figure. Lomazzi lives .in her bus. neighborhood, and ultimately She used to park it in a light displaced an estimated I 00 industrial area in Sacramento that homeless people, leaving them at increased risk for hate attacks. was to become what is now the Richard Blvd. Redevelopment_ Joan Burke, Advocacy District - a location identified as a Director ofSacramento's local possible site to develop a proposed homeless service provider Loaves stadium project. "City.policies and Fishes, paints a darker picture. have been really hard on homeless " Sacramento doesn't have enough housing, or even the will tO create people, displacing them from it, so homeless hate crimes here are downtown areas to appease business interests and developers," crimes ofvulnerabiHty." says Lomazzi, who·was Burke cites factors such as "vehicularly housed." shelter beds reserved for specific Lomazzi says increased · homeless sub-populations (AKA "case-managed beds"), as well as police enforcement of so-called the entire Sacramento shelter system's lack of compliance with National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as major factors in what Project (NHCROP) she describes as "a game of musical 1506 Elm St reet beds." Cincinnati, OH 45202 According to Burke, most of the homeless people competing homelesscivi lrights@yahoo.com for scarce beds in Sacramento's by Chance Martin Paula Lomazzi is editor of Homeward - Sacramento, California's local street newspaper, and works with the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee (SHOC), a CHCROP reporting agency. She reports that two homeless campers have been found murdered along the Sacramento River's banks already this year. Sacramento currently has only 3 50 shelter beds for men and 153 beds for women, famiH es and youth year-round, adding an additional 228 "overflow" beds during the winter months. The - estimated "official" homeless (513) 421-7803 them are older. "The leastfunctional homeless people are always losing this game," she explains, " So they are at increased risk ofvictimization. " Burke also reports that Sacramento's District Attorney wasn 't prosecuting homeless people's camping citations aggressively enough to suit local business interests. Exploiting the issue to further his poljtical ambitions (and denigrating homeless people in the process), Sacramento's City Attorney Sam Jackson then hopped on the pro­ development bandwagon, taking on the persecution of Sacramento's homeless campers as a campaign to increase his public name recognition. After a homeless camper there successfully employed the defense to defeat a camping citation last year, City Attorney Jackson took on the prosecution himself, enlisting the assistance of �STREETV I BES June, 2003 Page 7 Just Visiting - City Council Behavior is Shocking by Amy Allen While visiting Cincinnati recently, I had the joyous opportunity to attend two Cincinnati city council meetings. The first was to discuss the proposed ordinance that would require the Nazi-like registration of "panhandlers," and the other was to vote on it. At both of these events I was struck by the rudeness and lack of attention Cincinnati's elected officials pay to their constituents. Frankly, all I knew of this city was what I had seen in the negative press Cincinnati has received in the past few yeats from the national news. Knowing how the national media often spins things into generalizations that are not really true, I tried to keep an open mind during my visit. However, after witnessing the rude and destructive behavior at the city council meetings, I now understand a bit more why Cincinnati receives such a bad rap. First ofall, rudeness abounded at the civic proceedings I witnessed. I would hate to generalize ab.out all ofCincinnati from the behavior ofits elected officials, but these are the people who are selected by a majority of citizens to represent you. I was astounded at both meetings by the gt:?neral aura of disdain directed at public commentators from council members. Perhaps I attended these meetings on heated nights, perhaps . these meetings were not typical of the city council's normal behavior. However, while I was there, I witnessed council members twirling in their chairs, leaving their positions to go whisper like school children with other council members and with the mayor, and otherwise displaying obvious inattention during public comments. Nor was the rudeness merely directed at the public. At one point, a council member verbally attacked another council member, trying to silence or embarrass her into thinking she didn't understand how things worked because she was new. At the formal council meeting on Wednesday, May 14·, I counted the number of council members paying attention to two teenage representatives of a youth program. At any given time, only three of the nine council members were paying attention to the teens. The rest were whispering to each other, reading and highlighting their notes on other issues, or talking to their aides. Especially disturbing was to see the council member who had encouraged the teens to testify engaging in this behavior. After the high schoolers were done speaking, this same · :..... council member then took credit deliberate belittling ofthe non­ for bringing the youth ofCincinnati white, non-male public speakers. forward to active involvement in The mayor had a suspiciously the proceedings. Her hypocrisy consistent problem pronouncing was not lost on me, and most likely .names that had, as he said at one was not lost on these future voters, point, "too many letters." either. Secondly, I ·saw a decided Amazingly, the mayor was able to lack of compassion that is alarming pronounce smoothly all the names anywhere, but most significantly in ofthe whjte male administrators from the pniversity ofCincinnati elected officials." At the meeting regarding the so-called panhandling who were there to testify on behalf ordinap.ce, your mayor told a oftheir drunken and brawling delightful story ofhow he had been white (and largely male) students. "accosted" by a Streetvibes vendor Finally, through the whole while innocently walking a experience, I noticed a marked downtown street. H~ then went on trend am~ngst council members to to attack a program that, if I focus on the trivial surface detail of understand it correctly, employs social problems rather than larger Streetvibes vendors and allows problems. I know it is easier, on them to work with dignity and self­ the surface, to harass panhandlers respect. It seems that ifthe city is by placing them on a public roll. truly horrified by its panhandlers, After all, compared to all the more program,s like Streetvibes scared suburbanites who are afraid should be in place rather than to say no to someone asking for fewer. The national press tells me spare change, the panhandlers that Cincinnati is a racist city with don't vote in large numbers, do they? But if the council had been police brutality and a lack of concern for the safety of its non­ listening to the public speakers, empowered citizens. What I they would have heard that their constituents want a solution to the witnessed from the mayor and his irrational attack on a self-sustaining poverty and social inequity that causes panhandling and social program did nothing tb prove this negative press wrong. homelessness, not the vilification of · Thirdly, I observed a the poor. They want a clean city that is safe for all its citizens, not just those who commute to the downtown area and who are terrified to look at the poverty there. I heard one council member say that if Cincinnati cleans up trash and graffiti and registers panhandlers, then larger problems like theft, assault and murder will miraculously disappear. Leaving aside for the moment the implication in this statement that panhandlers and the homeless are the same as trash and graffiti, the .If idea that picking up around irt downtown will eliminate systemic poverty, racism, and class division is beyond asinine. What business of mine is this situation? Well, it's not really. But I can tell you that ifl didn't have family to visit here, I would never again visit, and neither would my tourist dollars. It is not the panhandlers that I fear, but rather the rude and insensitive politicians who represent you. One can tell a lot about a city by the way it treats those who are powerless, and from what I have seen from Cincinnati, it is not a place I would choose to call home again, even if it is for only a week. �STREETVIBES Page 8 June, 2003 Bringing America Home: the Volunteer Opportunities at on housing and that wages are Campaign. based on the local cost of housing. the Greater This Campaign is founded Temporary Wor ker F airness & on the principles and action of Protection Act public education, grassroots Temporary Workers work in Cincinnati organizing and support for an industry that is characterized by progressive policies and wage levels that keep workers in Coalition/or poverty as well as no job security, legislation. It is founded on the principles that people need no health insurance, and inadequate the Homeless affordable housing, livable incomes, health care, education, and protection of their civil rights. The Bringing America Home Campaign is composed of a variety of efforts that address these causes of homelessness, including the following key elements of the Campaign: T he Bringing America H ome Act This comprehensive bill to be introduced in the 108th Congress includes resolutions putting Congress on record as supporting housing as a basic human right, Universal Health Care - and a Living Wage; a dramatic expansion of federal resources for affordable housing and homelessness programs; a dramatic expansion of health care and services for people experiencing homelessness; greater income and work supports for people experiencing homelessness; temporary worker protections; and civil rights protections for people experiencing homelessness. The proposed legislation represents the most far-reaching initiative to date to address modem homelessness and is based on research, data, and the experience offront line providers and advocates. - The Nat ional Housing Trust Fund A National Housing Trust Fund (H.R. 1102) should be established to serve as a source of revenue for the production of new housing, and the preservation or rehabilitation of existing housing that is affordable for low-income people. The initial goal of the National Housing Trust Fund is to produce, rehabilitate, and preserve 1,500,000 units of affordable housing by 2010. H ealth Care Access R esolution The Health Care Access Resolution directs Congress to enact legislation that guarantees every person in the United States, regardless of income, age, employment or health status, has access to affordable, quality, comprehensive health care. - U niversal L iv ing Wage R esolution ULW is based on the premise that if a person works 40 hours a week, th~n he/she should be able to access basic hous ing, calling on Congress to enact _ legislation that Federal guidelines be established whereas no more than 30% of a person's gross monthly income should be spent worker protections. The Protection Act calls for federal legislation that offers day laborers the same rights and protections that are extended to permanent workers. Civil R ights P rotections for P eople Experiencing H omelessness Legislation to prevent the criminalization of homelessness is included in the Bringing America Home Act. In addition, NCH calls on Congress to ensure that no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote because that citizen resides at or in a nontraditional abode. NCH also calls on Congress for a GAO investigation and subsequent report into the nature and scope of violent acts and crimes that occur against people experiencing homelessness. R eauthorization of the Head Start Act Preschool-age children experiencing homelessness often face unique barriers to enroJling and succeeding in p~eschool. NCH recommends rev isions to the Head Start program that will remove barriers to the full participation of children experienc~ng homelessness and increase their access to appropriate services. Reauthorization of the Indiv iduals with Disabilities Education Act The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act'(IDEA) provides students with disabilities with a wide array of substantive and procedural rights. In the upcoming reauthorization of IDEA, NCH recommends revisions that will ensure children in homeless situations are able to access the services and procedural rights that IDEA provides. Please contact your Representative and ask him/her to become an original co-sponsor of the Bringing America Home Act, the National Housing Trust Fun9, & the Health Care Access Resolution. To contact your member of Congress, please calJ the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. For more information on the Bringing America H ome Campaign, contact Brad Paul, (202) 737-6444 x13 or bpaul@nationalhomeless.org. would like to advertise in our paper, we offer very competitive rates for ads that reach about 15,000 people per month. Our dream volunteer would be a self-motivated volu nteer that wou ld like to fundraise for our organization. This could. include asking your friends and·family for donations to researching and writing grants for our excellent programs. The Streetvibes newspaper project is always in need of people There are numerous oppottunities f or volunteers at the interested in connecting with the Greater Cincinnati Coalition f or vend0rs and helping them write the Homeless. We are willing to articles on social justice/poverty issues, poetry, or personal stories. work with each individual in We need help in the choosing a service opportunity afternoons at the front.desk, that is rightf or them The f ollowing are a f ew ofthe areas in answering phones and handling transactions with our Streetvibes which the Coalition could use Vendors. This person will address your help: the needs ofvisitors, having direct Designjng a web site for contact with homeless individuals our N ational Civil Rights should be available one and Organizing Project. This would include working with the afternoon a w~ek. Americorp Vista volunteers on how . There is al~ays a ne~~ for to prevent further criminalization ~elp with bulk ma1hngs. Mailings ofhomeless individuals as well as mclude the annual report, quarterly newsletter, and various capitol preventing the increasing hate camprugns. crimes against them. Tfyou are interested in To enhance our Streetvibes volunteering_!t the Greater program, we are searching for­ volunteers to solicit advertisements Cincinnati Coalition fort e Homele.ss, please contact the office ~ from local businesses. If your bJJsiness or a bu siness you know of at 421-7803, or visit us at 1506 Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine. We Can Be Proud! Judge MARK PAINTER Ohio Court of Appeals . . The Most-Published Hamilton County Judge Ever! Our own Judge Mark Painter reached a mil~stone in November- 250 of his decisions (now 261) have been published nationally. He is the most-published Hamilton County judge ever, and one of the most-published Ohio judges in history. Judge Painte r h as: • Served on the Court of Appeals for eight years, after 13 years on Municipal Court. His opinions have been recognized as legal precedent more than 2000 t imes-in cases, textbooks, and encyclopedias. • Written 55 articles on appellate practice, sentencing, DUI, contempt, and legal ethics. He writes a menthly column on legal writing for Ohio Lawyers Weekly. • Taught 91 seminars for judges, lawyers, and police officers, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at U.C. • Authored the textbook Ohio DUI Law, now in its 12th edition. His other book, The Legal Writer: 30 Rules for the Art of Legal Writing, was published in June. • Is writing two more books to be published this fa ll : William Howard Taft- President and Chief Justice and a new edition of Ohio Appellate Practice. www.judgepainter.org Paid for by The Judge Painter Committee..Grog Ruehlmano, Chui~ 312 Walnut St., Cinc!t>rnil.i �ST REE TV IB ES June, 2003 Page 9 Coalition for the Homeless Releases .Book P·rofiling downtown Cincinnati's Over-the­ by John Zeh Cincinnati's Homeless Rhine neighborhood . They Westside Cincinnati's f conducted interviews to learn about the issues through the eyes of people without homes or ones who recently lacked a home of their own. The 0 -T-R neighborhood, and the GCCH office on Elm Street became their classroom, with real-world lessons. Our Eyes: Reflections on Getty acknowledged the Homelessness, launching an work of several staff excellent exploration of homeless issues as members on the book's creation, seen trough the eyes of Cincinati's the creativity and including homeless. wordsrnithing ability by GCCH The celebration, at the outreach coordinator Steve Civic Garden C~nter in Mt. Shockley. Auburn, was enjoyed by over 40 Also honored were Kevin students and others who worked Pease and Serendipity Design for on the project. This book will be his direction of design, layout, and part of GCCH new, multi-media art direction which required long outreach effort for area educators. hours to ensure that all participants The book is full of color had their voice represented and photographs, personal reflections, their vision accurately captured in poetry, artwork, and nine .book form. Said Getty, "Kevin is interviews conducted by some 30 not your every-day graphic Mo~her of Mercy students. The designer," she added, "but one on a book will be packaged with a holistic journey, with an incredible videotape and supportive print work ethic, and infinite patience." material to educate students about Mother ofMercy educators Cincinnati's growing homeless Susan Staub and Kathryn Schnier crisis. were also recognized. "I am very proud ofthe The project was funded students ofMother of Mercy high with a grant from the Greater school for leaving their comfort Cincinnati Youth Grant-making zones and addressing the issue of Council, which has national homelessness head-on," said support from the Corporation for GCCH director Georgine·Getty. National and Community Service "Homelessness is a growing problem in Cincinnati and hopefully and locally by Xavier University and the Manuel D . and Rhoda this book will be used by future Mayerson Foundation. high school students to learn from Through Our Eyes: the experiences oftheir peers." Reflections on Homelessness is Researching the book, available for $10 at the GCCH students journeyed into the Over­ office, 1506 Elm Street, Cincinnati, the-Rhine neighborhood and they Ohio 45202. For more worked at the GCCH office in information, call 421-7803 . Mother ofMercy High School students and parents and the Gt-eater Cincinnati Coalition (GCCH) for the Homeless gathered together on Saturday, May 17, to celebrate the release of their colorful 80-page book, Throug~ The book, Through Our Eyes, a collaboration ofCincinnati sMother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincirmati Coalition for the Homeless T h e GCCH would like to thank these Starbucks locations for their generous donation of coffee and· pastries: :* 11379 Montgomery Road (513) 469-1111 3366 Erie Avenue East Hyde Park (513) 533-3 402 7896 M ontgomery Road (513) 891- 7740 Book release party at the Civic Garden Center - unveiling ofthe project book. Far left, Georgine Getty, Executive Director ofthe Greater Cin­ cinnati Coalitionfor the Homeless with Mother ofM ercy High School Students While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do n ot necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. �STREETVIBES Page 10 June,2003 Building Community for 25 Years ReSTOC celebrates 25th Year Anniversary: Triumph and Struggle in - o ver-the-Rhine by Melissa Currence photo :S by Jimmy Heath Ms. Patricia Jackson, a ReSTOC tenant board member, spoke from the heart when addressing the audience at ReSTOC's 25th Anniversary Dinner on Sunday, April 27. ReSTOC. · ReSTOC was founded as a way to address the problem of homelessness in Cincinnati when Drop Inn Center volunteers quietly but steadily worked to rehab several buildings in Over-the­ Rhine; both abandoned and occupied, and ultimately, many years ago, saved a building from deterioration and three ­ Meyer has been organizing to recognized nationally in involve Miami University students developing ways to address the Patricia Jackson, ReSTOC resi­ many systemic causes of in Over-the-Rhine organizations dent speaks to dinner crowd for several years. homelessness, especially in the "ReSTOC is my world," area of housing development. The ReSTOC is a service site Ms. Jackson explained. ReSTOC shortage of affordable housing is for 3, 000 volunteers annually who come and contribute labor in was there when she needed housing the number one cause of in 1999. Ms. Jackson now liv es on homelessness in ReSTOC's community Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine the nation. building efforts. and is active with the Republic Bonnie Street block club. For some of the Neumeier, now a volunteers who ReSTOC tenant Ms. Jackson's words come on a board member inspired many from the Cincinnati weekly basis, served as the community who came to Elder High School in April to help master of ReSTOC ceremorues. provides a ReSTOC celebrate 25 years of unique learning David Crowley, a building a strong community in ReverendMcDad.e begins the Cincinnati City experience on Over-the-Rhine. evenings festivities with an open­ Council member, Councilmember David Crowley, - • the realities of ReSTOC, the Race Street ing prayer inner-city life, Tenant Organization Co-Operative, was the keynote keynote speaker at R~STOC 25th tenants from displacement. Bonnie speaker. He poverty and was chartered in 1978 with a Celebration \ Neumeier, Buddy Gray and other homelessness. mission ofproviding decent and spoke of devoted volunteers recognized the ReSTOC is a job-training ReSTOC's commitment to affordable housing for low-income serious shortage of housing for the site reinvest on Vine Street in Over­ for AmeriCorps National individuals and families. low-income and homeless people the-Rhine and wished the The evening fundraiser, Sei)vice, AmeiiCorps National the Over-the-Rhine in organization good luck in the held at Elder High School in Price Civilian Community Corps and the neighborhood of Cincinnati. · Hill brought over I 00 people American Association ofRetired future. ReSTOC and the Drop Inn Center Today, ReSTOC is a major Persons (AARP). together to share stories, to developer of affordable housing in celebrate and show their support of are pioneers and has been The sponsors for the Over-the-Rhine ReSTOC's 25th Anniversary Dinner included Elder High neighborhood of Cincinnati . School, JTM, The Coca-Cola Since 1994, ReSTOC has brought over $8 million of Company, and F&M Mafco Inc. investment to Over-the-Rhine. Currently, ReSTOC has 25 units offamily housing under construction in the Vine Street Community Project and an additional 7 units coming soon. All of this work is accomplished with a with a very small staff and a significant volunteer workforce. Ross Meyer, Miami University graduate, Harry S. Ross }.feyer, longtime ReSTOC Truman Scholar and graduate volunteer, student and Harry S. ofFinneytown High School, Bonnie Neumeier, Master ofCeremonies, talking to Councilmember Truman Scholar, shares his expe­ spoke ofhis involvement with David Crowley and his wife, Sherri rience ofworking with ReSTOC ReSTOC throughout his high over the years. school and college years. . --- �J une,2003 STREET VI BES P ag e 11 Just Chillin ' by Jerome M anigan - What better way to move along Vine Street on a bright, balmy spring day than on a bicycle -._vith your truted companion at your side? Community R~source Cards , ' ' Cincinnati Celebrates Baseball. Baseball Sculpture, Fountain Square. Mean­ while the Reds vie with the Bengals for losing status Does Stossel Deserve a Promotion? Rockdale Temple has announced the release of the latest in its series of Community Resource Cards. The new one, printed in Spanish, i s customized for the needs of Cincinnati's rapidly growing Hispanic/ Latino population. The tri-fold, plastic cards are funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a project of Rockdale Temple, in consultation with Bienstar, Su Casa and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. In addition to the Hispanic Resource Card, the Resource Card Project bas also produced cards for senior citizens, the homeless, and public school and· Catholic school students covering the Tri-state area. Cards can be ordered from: cc 5300 Hamilton Av enue, #210 Cincinnati, Ohio 45224 or send a fax request to: (513) 541-0099 ;::=======================~ Watch for the return of Streetvibes TV Streetvibes TV is a live program created by the· Greater Cincinnati Coalition f or the H omeless and Media Bridges. Watch as our p anel discusses the issues surrounding homelessness today. Check your local cable listing for broadcast dates and times.... From FAIR-L, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting ABC reporter John Stossel has a new job at 20/20: co-anchor. Barbara Walters' former partner John Miller departed inJanuary, and ABC chose Stossel to fill his role. According to a recent report in TV Guide (5/10/03), one source at ABC says that picking Stosselmakes sense: "These are conservative times ... the·network wants somebody to match the times." One might hope ABC would be more concerned with hiring a jou rnalist with a record of credible and accurate reporting than with matching the perceived political climate. For years, Stossel's work has been notable for bungled facts and twisted logic, all in service to his conservative "free market" agenda. (See Extra! , 3-4/ 03.) In a 1998 report (2/3/98), Stossel dismissed compl~ts about rising CEO salaries, saying that "factory wages were up, too- up 70 percent" in the last 15 years. But wages for manufacturing workers had risen only if you don't adjust for inflation; in terms of purchasing power, factory workers' wages had fallen by more than 6 percent since 1983. In a 1999 special (9/19/99), one of Stossel's J1 main sources claimed that Hong Kong is "the only government in the world that makes a surplus, a big surplus." In fact, I 1 countries-including the US. ­ had run a budget surplus the preVIous year. Stossel 's methods have also been called into question- most memorably when he cited research that didn't actually exist about pesticide residues in organic produce (New York Times, 7/31/ 00). In a recent email to viewers (5/16/03) Stossel lashed out at his critics,"the activists ofthe totalitarian Left, which try to get people like me fired, or silenced." FAIR, however, has never called on ABC to fire him. We have frequently asked for Stossel's reports- more opinion pieces than news stories- to be balanced with commentary from an opposing point ofview, and we've encouraged viewers to ask ABC whether the numerous inaccuracies and distortions in Stossel broadcasts meet the network's standards. Up until now, ABC has for the most part ignored the thousands ofletters pointing out the unreliability ofStossel 's reporting. Now, apparently, it's decided that the appropriate response is a promotion. CONTACT: ABC News mailto:netaudr@abc. com �ST R EETVIB E S June, 2003 Page 12 The Peace Village many different ways ofeducating for peace. I suspect that her workshop on how to use music, · enthusiasm for Posters 4 Peace w ill by Dr. Steve Sunderland spontaneously developed, as a Many new friends have expand and redefine my own method of gaining both freedom, joined the Peace Village and are understanding of this form of peace and peace. I want to learn joy work. welcome to comment on all that more about music and our I was also deeply moved by proceeds in these and future development of peace as I see the reports. Many ofthe newcomers the commitment to peace.in the limitations of so many ofus in the were presenters and participants at work and words ofRebecca Janke arts as part of the reason so few of a recent conference in Minneapolis and Burt Berlowe ofGrowing us understand the connections of on youth service education. Communities for Peace, the arts to creating peace. Minneapolis, and the peace pole Over 2500 people came, Humberto, a gifted magician and mostly high school youth who are work ofDebra Caron ofWorld Citizen.Inc., St. Paul. carrying out peace activities under the label, They are consultants "service education," and to peace programs, have a peace pushing back the bookstore and boundaries on education· mailing list and, for social justice. Thanks wonder of wonders, to the Mayerson Foundation, I was able to ~ Rebecca does a S week program in the attend and present the Peace Village idea of schools as Posters 4 Peace to about "Peacemaker," 7S eager adults and working with kids youth. Team members, and teachers to Steve Elliot and Donna create a deeper Mayerson, also presented understanding of and we were joined by peace and justice. teams from two She has a specially Cincinnati high schools, made peace outfit including team member, she wears. Wouldn't David Schur, who you love to see her Dr. Steve Sunderland works with youth on ways to explore brought along two and imagine a set of Peace busloads of the Clark uniforms, all gaily musician, br_9ught a 3 part musical Montessori Steel Drum Band, and representing peace? I hope that the expression out of a group of a group ofAiken High School connection with the Peace Village strangers with such delicacy and will lead to their participation in students. affection, that peace and harmony We had a delightful lots of events. broke out. workshop and I met Humberto Aliza Olson, working in Wanda Holland Stallworth, distance learning in northern Lopez ofBuenos Aires, Argentina, Texas Center for Service Learning, Minnesota, has a dream about a a peace worker in the disguise of a found the workshop a door to music director. Humberto led a museum and programs connecting war memorabili~ to peace work. While we make evety effort to provide a forum for those As I listened to her connections without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of with VFW, veterans, libraries, and THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION her programs in the schools, and FOR THE HOMELESS, is not her desire to link these activities to responsible for statements, and do not necessarily a museum, perhaps connected to endorse the opinions of the people her college, I began to think of whose writings are represented here. ways that this could be a site for peace conferences as well. I also had a wonderful connection with biology teacher and new team member, Joan Felice, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, about opening many programs to peace ideas. Thanks, Joan. Having a few days with team members Steve and Donna, The Know Yo ur Rig hts deepened my understanding of the Brochure is now available at the efforts being made to bring young Coalition's office. The brochure is a leg al g uide for C incinnati 's ~ homeless and covers a person' s basic rights when interacting with . We'd like to hear \~ fl'9m IJOU,_,r'_.-. the police, as well as some local ~ 1 laws that might be of interest to the ~ ~· homeless population. If Y?U are a !~ Send letters or 11 homeless person or if you work , 1 "' ~. comments to: with homeless people and would Streetvibes@;Juno.corn,·· ­ like to obtain free copies of the ~ Of' write the Coafdion office broc hure for yourself or your attn: Streetvibes Lette~ agency, please call 42 1-7 803, or I·506 Elm Street stop by the Coalition office and pick Cincinnati, C>hi~ 45202 one up. Know Your Rights Brochure Available! Write Us! " *"' f ... >' : ;;:;r people out of the classroom into the social settings that require a different orientation, almost like a junior level social work effort. Through their experienced perspective I began to see a network of schools connected to peace issues and justice issues in our city, a kind of Peace Corp of secondary education citizens, capable ofbringing their questions about why our cities and poor are continuing to be victims of poor social policies and declining allocations of resources. The kids of Clark and Aiken stood out at this conference because there were so clearly talented and many of them were African American and deeply involved in service education programs, thanks to deeply committed teachers and administrators. The absence of many black, .Native American, Hispanic and poor people at this conference reminded us that the "two Americas" also will exist in service and peace work unless we work for inclusion. One ofthe most inspirational workshops I attended involved the presentation ofwhat youth are doing who are disabled to provide service to different groups. Again, these talented kids, some With serious problems were not going to be deterred in the service and peace effort. But, they too, stood out as exceptional minorities at a conference that didn't provide signing to the general sessions. Donna deepened my understanding of how strengths can be touched and expanded and Steve broadened my amazement of how one person can have a deep impact on schools and agencies through building connections, spiritual and intellectual, between youth and those in greatest need. I left the conference amazed at the range of activities that youth are deeply involved in that connects to our efforts at peace. Their story is untold but their work expands and raises important questions about the designs ofeducational and political institutions. How many schools and boards of education are ready for unleashing the power ofyouth to make peace a priority? Dr. Steve S underlantl, professor ofSocial Work at the University of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues ofPeace in the world Dr. S underland also heads up Posters-for-Peace which engages people in expressing their visions ofPeace, in their own words, through the creation ofposters. �STREETVIBES June,2003 Thinking Inside the Box nextmeaJis coming from. They are at the by Kelly Klein, Erinn Lewis, and Carrie Brokamp mercy ofthose around them. For photos by Grady Cook the students, this It was constricting, experience isn't nearly as harsh as limiting. The walls were barely enough to protect us if the weather it would be in a took a turn for the worse, but those real homeless situation because walls were enough to put us into a they are category and to strip away our surrounded by humanity. Looking up to the thin friends and sheet of plastic that served as a teachers who are roof, we realized how lucky we eager to help are. In a short time we would retUrn to the safety of our own them. "I feel admiration and homes complete with walls, heating, indoor plumbing and warm respect for people that are participating in Shanty Town. I meals. If the weather really aid don 't think I could do it." ­ become too dangerous we could Ashley Lukens. leave our shanties and sleep in the On Tuesday the school, but that is not a realistic participants hosted the option for the people who live this Empty Bowls Night which everyday; the city's homeless. included a simple meal of "I remember thinking how fun it would be to sleep in a shanty soup and bread. TheFe were with my friends. Late in the night I informational guest speakers, entertainment provided by the looked up at the box that was Bucket Boys, and students sheltering me and I had this horrible sense of worthlessness. I giving personal tours of their shanties. Proceeds from this was in a box. That is not where people belong" - Kelly Klein. event go to Our Daily Bread Shanty Town is a three Soup Kitchen in Cincinnati. . day awareness-raising event. "Listening to the speakers made me realize that Ursuline Academy students these are all people, not just construct their own shanties made statistics, and that I need to do oflimited materials and sleep in them for two nights to get a something about this. I need to glimpse of the experiences and help them." - Erinn Lewis. Although it is afar problems facing homeless people. reach from the true experience Activities this year included a trip ofthe homeless, this event to the Drop Inn Center where provides an opportunity/or students helped serve food before sitting down to their own meals at . students to get involved and the center. Dinner is followed by a learn what can be done to help ease the problem ofpoverty. tour of the facility and guest Even with this limited speakers who tell oftheir experience, the reality becomes experiences with addiction and glaringly obvious ofthe pain homelessness. During the day and struggle that people suffer.. students have to beg for their food Hope.fully, this will bring us from other students at the school. one step closer as people work This gives a minor feeling of what for a solution. it is like to not know where the Page 13 �ST R EETVI B ES June, 2003 The Curse o.f Poverty Art& Poetry Page 14 Mary, Forgotten You Are Not by Cherokee Homegirl Walker by Charles Bailey Do we be women folks of property Ph~aohs? Da.rnried to the curses of mountain peak corrupt altitude sins? The air sooo thin The air and homes be way up there at $650, $800 beyond our small budget deposit with one months rent. That thick penis landlord pride push gender lies, . . . they echo ringing from his mountain, I can't climb sharp cliffs, with clipped old shoes Yeah, Sally Sue Section 8, is sistah who gotta spread, or gotta go, or gotta fight, but some have a good brother, father, or son on our side. Ain 't nah sex on my mind, I got a no no baby like Sally Sue too. The Devil sent one of his followers and Took you Mary away, But you will never be forgotten, In the hearts ofmillions Each Day Though Mary your life, Here on Earth was cut so very Short - and it put Tears in so many eyes ­ But you are really . Protected NOW that you are standing By Jesus's Side And from all of us who love you.little Mary, Spread your wings and take to the sky - you may be gone But we who love you will N_ever say Goodbye.... April 10, 2001 by Melissa Currence A threatening ofwork and invention, of sin and rebellion, of responsibility and tightening of the screws. am tired. am despair. beyond repair. Praye;s jump rise and absolution slips from greased fingers. long enough to detect the edge of exclusion, embrace, not break. Or a way out happenstance for collected self-interest. when the church ofmy god becomes our god. white face on the dollar bill is us. our children. our responsibility. tightening of a choke hole, limited ground war. rubber bullets into our young and smiling faces upturned towards blue and down in red. Joe'z Bluz (The END of the Seventies) by Jesse James Once upon a Dream Freedom·was meant to be. But society's cruel reality Took it away from me. The Great Man by Mike Henson Sara's Art . .. \ ·~- .. The vigilance of a great man is the tooth of a fox at the neck of a vole. The breath of a great man blesses all his projects and withers the hopes of his enemies. The will of a great man rains on·his people. Day and night, day and night it drenches all otherwill. The voice of a great man rings like a metal dollar on a marble counter. The potency of a great man has no purpose but to bear all before it like a flood or a powerful wind. The mind of a great man is not bothered by contradiction, is not worried with truth or lie, is not disturbed by the thoughts of others. The stride of a great man is certain and is not broken by the bodies in his path. �ST REET VIBE S June, 2003 Cheap Diets Spread Through The Month Page 15 Attention Writers by Cherokee H omegirl Walker Tension be tight, lite quick steams with police bang bang sistabs hold bands, good cops get scared sistabs put out thier man, sistah rotate dip dodge then scoop swing city curfews timing Metro Bus revisions. Our fingers are strings tied streched for change or to bend, be rubber, be rope long for money, spaghetti, Jiffy rich cornbreads. Buttered toast, jeUy snacks again for my kids. We bounce spring cook mop, rinse, dry then copulate in secret. Hide love under our beds. Pompom weddings dance in our dreams but squeak tunes of low money plays, but I live I need a better home, I peter to paul, paul to peter to pay bills I do right by my God who forgives and knows me. But putterstroke Paula, put out her stuff herself. The Over-the-Rhine Community Festival and Writers Unlimited . will be hosting a booth at the Communjty Festivar in Wash ington Park, Saturday August 2, 2003 from noon to 5PM. L\mit ene page per subject - any topic. D,easline for submissions; July, 11 ttl. Stiomit your entries'to Judi l\11endrist<i, 1715 Republic Street, Cincinnati, 9H 45202 (513) 381-1893 My Name Ain't Money by Cherokee Hdmegirl Walker 77% they say. Households in this hot zone got 77% single mommy's so the pompom city shakes the state for federal games makes fouJ plans for suburbs migrations too far from our survival cultures. Good Metro rides coasting ~er 10:00 No four bus transfers with our cold January little kids For information on . submjttiny "J';,OUr;poet~ ·or arl. to STREE'FVIBES email­ Streetvi/Je'S@juno.com Shutter Speed 4 Days to Mississippi by Denise Crew Tossing and Turning Waiting and yearning Po pping aspirin like Pez calms the pain in my head . The only pleasure to seek In the food I eat I can't wait for the day W hen pain goes away I feel so weird, so strange A little deranged Almost insane I don't understand why My heart's in my hand After all, he's just a man Todd and James playing dominoes in Washington Park �STRE ETVIBES June, 2003 Book Review: Tyco, WorldCom, Xerox, Qwest, Merrill Lynch and the rest have exposed a brutal disregard in the boardroom for the fate of those in the office cubicles or on the factory floor." "More than a million U.S. corporations and individuals have be a better word for them) are registered as citizens ofBermuda greedy, cruel, and monomaniac, by Holly Hand to avoid taxes, a practice okayed with contempt for laws and other "What we have in this country is by the IRS. Although the exact peoples' well being. These pigs socialism for the rich andfree number is unknown, the IRS make their enormous fortunes by enterprise for the poor. "- Gore estimates that ' tax motivated committing business fraud and expatriation' drains at least $70 Vidal dodging personal and corporate Pigs. I must admit I've billion a year from the U .S. taxation. Living "high offthe always had a soft spot in my heart treasury." hog," they devour the lives oflhe for them. Probably because as a "If ypu were poor enough poor and the marginally employed child I was moved by the story of to apply for the Earned Income Tax who have to shoulder the tax Credit in 2001, your chance of Wilbur, the little piglet in E .B . burdens the wealthy have shrugged being audited was one in 4 7. If White's novel for children, off Huffington does a terrific job you made more than $100,000 a Charlotte's Web. Then as an adult of writing about some of these year, your chance ofbeing audited I loved the movie Babe, about a wealthy oinkers whose.blatant piglet that learns to herd sheep. was one in 208." greed and illegal action.s have made The drama for both Wilbur and "The richest 20 percent of the headlines in the past couple of .Americans earn about 50 percent Babe is that they' re destined to be years while the US economy has ofthe nation's income. The slaughtered and so they urgently slid down the drain and the rest of poorest 20 percent ofAmericans need to find a way to escape their fate. Wilbur escapes (with the help us have been picking up the tab in earn only 5.2 percent of the so many ways. Here are some of the clever spider, Charlotte), by nation's income." highlights from her book: growing big, beautiful and "In 2000, the average CEO "Between March 200 1 and outgoing and thus winning a blue earned more in one day than the March 2002 a record-breaking 1.5 average worker earned all year. In ribbon at the county fair. Babe 2000, 25 percent of all workers escapes by winning a sheep herding million Americans filed for bankruptcy. Investors have lost earned less than poverty-level competition. Yet, despite $9 trillion since March 2000 nearly wages." becoming winners, both Wilbur and and retirement assets lost 11 "How can there be talk of a Babe remain humble, helpful, shared destiny in a nation where percent oftheir value-$630 foving creatures, so we're billion- over roughly the same just over 1 percent ofthe delighted that they survive and period. Meanwhile the chairmen population (170 billionaires, 25,000 thrive. I can't say I have any of the and CEO's ofthese companies live deca-millionaires and 48 million in mansions, yachts, fly in millionaires) control approximately same fond feelings for the human corporate jets and walk away with 50 percent ofthe entire country's " pigs" Arianna Huffington personal wealth? .... Where since describes in her latest book Pigs at millions in bonuses and pensions the Trough: How Corporate Greed despite the rest ofthe people losing 1980, real income for the bottom their jobs." fifth of families fell by $800, while and Political Corruption are "The scandals at Enron, for the top fifth, it rose by Undermining America (2003). Arthur Andersen, Global Crossing, $56,000? These human pigs ("hogs" might Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corru·ption are Undermining America "This is your former captafn speaking... " Page 16 "Even as our count1y has taken steps to abolish welfare, forcing the poor to sink or swim, we've allowed the high-end corporate class to weave a giant safety-net for its members. Is this corporate welfare realJy any different or less costly than the kind most ofthese people inveigh against? To use their own argument how are we ever going to get then to act responsibly when we keep rewarding them for irresponsibility? To say nothing of criminality." "Like a lung-cancer patient reaching for a pack of smokes, the Bush administration has again and again greeted gloomy economic news with a nerve-settling puff of its favorite brand of economic relief: tax cuts for the rich." "Stock options ... a versatile form of compensation that is not counted as an expense on company ledgers, and yet is fully deductible when it comes to chiseling the taxman." "According to one estimate, the amount by which exercised stock options reduced corporate taxes may have as much as doubled between 1998 and 2000, from $28 billion to $56 billion. WorldCom, for example, used stock option deductions to trim $265 million off its tax bill between 1996 and 1998. Microsoft saved $2,7 billion, Cisco saved $1. 5 billion and GE saved $1 billion in tax bills through stock options." " Since the beginning ofthe new century over 570 public companies- including most famously Enron, Global Crossing, Adelphia, WorldCom and Kmart­ have declared bankruptcy. 2.7 million Americans have lost their jobs. Nearly $9 trillion in market value has been lost on Wall Street. But while the average American has suffered staggering losses in 401(k) and pension value, and many have struggled to stay afloat, the average CEO has added millions to his personal wealth. In corporate America, apparently, nothing succeeds like utter failure." " In corporate America crime pays. Handsomely. Grotesquely, even." Yeah, it's like that. And ther~ 's more good stuff in the book. Pigs at the Trough is a fine, incisive, and often witty work. Just one last thing I'd like to know: when is pig slaughtering season? Soon, I hope! Reprinted courtesy ofSpare Change News, Boston Streetvibes ~ists as a forum f or the exp ression ofthe views and opinions ofour readers and supp orters. T_he opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staffor the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. �ST R EET VIBES June, 2003 Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Report COLUMN: BUDGET PROPOSALS AND TAX CUTS THREATEN BIPARTISAN CONSENSUS ON POLICIES TO HELP LOW-INCOME PEOPLE (Boston Globe, Boston, MA, May 11 , 2003) This column, by David Callahan, director of research at Demos in New York City, and Tamara Draut, who directs Demos' economic opportunity program, draws attention to the recent bipartisan consensus that has emerged over policies aimed at helping low-income people. The authors note that this consensus is threatened by the Bush Administration and House of Representatives' budget proposals and tax cuts, which would restrict federal funds to states and result in additional cuts to social services. The earned income tax credit, a program which has done much to reduce child poverty, enjoyed bipartisan support in the 1990s when it was greatly expanded, as did the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) when it was created in 1997. http ://www.boston.com/ dailyglobe2/13 l /focus/ Broken_bargain+.shtml REPORT: EVALUATION OF THE USDA FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PILOT PROGRAM (Economic Research Service ofUSDA, April 2003) This report to Congress is an early review of the U.S . Department ofAgriculture's Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program (FVPP). The 2002 Farm Act provided $6 million for the 2002­ 03 school year to improve fruit and vegetable consumption among the nation's schoolchildren. One hundred schools in four states (25 schools each in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio) and 7 schools in the Zuni Indian Tribal Organization (ITO) in New Mexico participated in the program. Almost all schools participating in the FVPP consider the program to be very successful and would like the pilot to continue. Schools believed that 80 percent of students were very interested in the pilot. http://www.ers.usda.gov/ publications/efan03 006/ REPORT: ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM REVENUES AND EXPENSES IN SELECTED STATES, 1996­ 2001 (U.S. General Accounting Office, May 2003) This report analyzes how revenues and expenses have been affected since the U.S . Department ofAgriculture implemented more stringent nutritional requirements for meals served in the National School Lunch Program. In the six states studied (Florida, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Texas and Virginia) for school years 1996-97 through 2000-01, federal reimbursements decreased slightly as a share of total revenues, revenues from food sales increased slightly, and the small amount of state government and other funding was stable. On expenses, food expenses decreased slightly and labor expenses grew slightly. Overall, expenses increased by about 22 percent while total revenues increased by 20 percent. Local school food authorities limited expenses by, among other strategies, buying in bulk and expanding a la carte menus. The six states had a small but growing deficit in their lunch programs. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/ d03569.pdf (Adobe PDF) MANY STATES LIMIT CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AS MORE LOW­ INCOME MOTHERS WORK (Center for Economic and Policy Research, May 6, 2003) This data brief examines the child care choices ofworking mothers as more and more women in the last few decades have started going to work. Currently, two­ thirds ofmothers with children under age six are employed. More than 30 percent of working mothers provide child care themselves or through the child 's other parent, 30.9 percent rely on relatives, and 22.7 percent of working mothers use formal day care. Low-income working mothers generally rely most on relative care and can only afford formal day care with financial • assistance. Since 2001, 23 states have limited eligibility for low­ income mothers (including former welfare recipients) in their child care assistance programs. More low-income mothers have had to tum to relative care, considered a lower quality form of chil.d care. http://www.cepr.net/ Data- Brief- Child- Care.htm THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S INCOME VERIFICATION PLAN COULD CAUSE ELIGIBLE CHILDREN TO MISS SCHOOL MEALS (Tri­ Val.ley Herald, Pleasanton, CA, May4, 2003) Anti-hunger advocates in California are worried that the BushAdministration's income verification proposal for the National School Lunch Program Page 17 could cause 750,000 children in the state to lose their free and reduced­ price school meals. "The whole idea is to feed kids and now we're looking at ways to not feed them," said Karen Candito, director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District. Administration officials claim there is a significant number of children using the program whose families make too much money to be eligible for free meals. The estimate cited by administration officials is flawed, critics note, as it is based on census data from a year different from that of the enrollment numbers being compared. Overenrollment virtually disappears when children who receive reduced-price lunches are factored in, according to FRAC. A state official says that for every child found ineligible through verification, five eligible children will drop from the program because their parents do not respond. http://www.trivalleyherald.com/ Stories/ 0, 1413,86-10669- 1369114,00.html# FOOD STAMP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION DROPS IN CALIFORNIA, RISES NATIONALLY (Associated Press, May 12, 2003) California has seen enrollment in the Food Stamp Program decrease by 4.4 percent over the past year, which means the state ranks last among states in signing people up for the program. Over the past year enrollment in the program has increased by 9.1 percent nationally, and only Hawaii and Rhode Island have seen decreases in enrollment, but neither have seen decreases as large as California's. The California Hunger Action Coalition wants the state to do more to boost enrollment in the program. With the current economic downturn, the state could boost its economy by boosting enrollment, which would bring in hundreds ofmillions of dollars in federal funds. http://www.bayarea.com/mid/ mercurynews/news/5842871 .htm IMMIGRANT FARM WORKERS IN NORTH CAROLINA ARE GOING HUNGRY (News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, May 13, 2003) Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found that nearly half ofNorth Carolina's Latino farm workers faced food insecurity and 5 percent of the workers lacked adequate access to food and suffer from "severe hunger." The findings are based on a survey of 102 families in a five county area in central North Carolina and is part of a four-year project to devise ways to address issues affecting farm workers. Researchers believe that the nature of the work - jobs that start and stop during the year- contributes to the high rates of food insecurity. http://www.newsobserver.com/ front/story/2534056p­ 2353209c.html INDUSTRY OPPOSITION FORCES TEXAS LAWMAKERS TO DROP SCHOOL NUTRITION MEASURE (Corpus Christi Caller-Times, May 7, 2003) A bill in the Texas legislature would have eliminated vending machines in elementary schools and limited their use in middle and high schools. Opposition from the soft drink industry and school superintendents forced lawmakers to rework the bill. School superintendents argued that the money from vending machines is crucial in light of decreased education funding from the state in recent years. "It's unconscionable to me that we would not consider children's health over making a profit from these machines," said state Senator Eddie Lucio, sponsor of the bill. http://www.caller.com/ccct/ local news/article/ 0, 1641,CCCT_811_ 1943832,00.html FLORIDA GROUP FORMS POLITICALACTION COMMITTEE TO LOBBY FOR PROGRAMS FOR THE POOR (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FL, May 13, 2003) A Broward County, Florida anti-poverty group has created the Economic Justice Committee, a political action committee to lobby for local ordinances and state legislation that supports "a fair and equitable society." The Broward Coalition for the Homeless registered the PAC in February 2003. The group's goals include lobbying for affordable housing, for living wage ordinances, and against funding cuts in programs for low­ income people. The PAC also intends to raise private funds to donate to candidates who agree with its agenda. Laura Hansen, executive director ofthe Coalition, notes that it is the responsibility of the government "to ensure people have access to food, shelter and clothing and that their [basic] needs are met." http://www.sun-sentinel .com/news/ local/broward/sfl­ cpac 13mayl3,0,3579380. story T he FRAC web site is http:// www.frac.org Food Research a nd Action Center 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 540 Washington, DC 20009 (202) 986-2200 x3019 phone (202) 986-2525 fa.x Email: bwinter@frac.org �STREETVIBES June,2003 Editorial Peace and Justice are Fragile in the Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland The never-ending saga of Cincinnati's struggle with peace and justice continued with another fantastic twist. The community activist that shot a robber in an attempt to rob a bar was released by a grand jury without any charges against him for breaking laws about carrying a concealed weapon and bringing a gun in a bar. The grand jury felt, we can only assume, that the situation of danger warranted the activist's actions to protect the bar's patrons and himself from the danger ofalleged robbers. The robbers were charged with breaking laws that may get them 50 years in jail. Our local community and the larger city is struggling mightily with this decision. Self defense is understandable, but was this self defense or trying to stop a bad situation from getting worse? Were the robbers egged on to a more violent stance by some of the customers in the bar and thereby responsible in some way for a little of the violent response that led to an even greater violent response? And, of course, the racial "card" is being played: "Would the activist have gotten off if he were black and the robbers white?" Rain has been falling in Cincinnati, on and off, for the past few days. This, again, seems to be calming rising feelings of anger. Beneath the rhetoric is a sense of something fragile being broken as this neighborhood is stunned that private use of weapons is approved in certain situations. What is fragile is the delicate connections between people living in a neighbor~ood, particularly a voices when we think about and recount the details of the breaking of the threads of hope. People shut their doors solidly. Garbage suddenly appears and flies around diverse neighborhood racially and without any home address. No class-wise. There are "good" hand reaches for it. Glass dots the neighbors that participate in local gardens and only the youngest government, keep their streets children dare to play outside. The clean, our radios somewhat heart beats slower. A beat of moderated, our children watched depression followed by another for any danger, and our concern and compassion for those who also need thud of despair. Slowly, someone tries again to make a connection; a to be watched, helped and encouraged to participate. There is community dance is ~ailed, pizza offered as a peace gesture, and ever something quite wonderful about so slowly the tom fabric is held in the helping process in a neighborhood. It makes the streets the hands, bruised, of the wea~ers. And so this community shine with friendship. People looks for another road to peace and bloom in the light of mutual The Wise ones will wonder justice. concern shown for helping with how much resilience this fragile gardens, helping old people get.to can sustain. The rest of us thread church, or calling the police if will be looking for the short cuts, danger suddenly appears. Almost the summarizing rhetoric that everyone accepts the standard of makes it ever so simple and stupid, repairing some aspect of the too. Peace was.lost in a bar,-a dark community through an endless and sad place, where men had gone series of public and private actions. to feel companionship on their Stef(my wife) has led a movement journey into the world of alcohol. to give and plant trees for.free and Their trip was interrupted. So is this has planted more than trees. She has shared her secrets with kids ours. Stef reports that these men were crying yesterday as they and adults about how to grow realized that the community cared floW.ers in our and their front yards about them and was glad they were and more than tulips pop up in the alive. She danced with one who everyday lives as a result. Banners had to stop because the tears were have been hung to celebrate the too strong. We are all dancing and community and we have raised our stopping, looking out, still in a own flag of hope at the same time. haze, for the sounds and signs of A children's park has been created peace. from a field of broke~ glass and The monitor of our peace abandoned crap so that now · agreement between the police and children s';\'ing and climb in the community, Saul Green of beautiful safety and more than Detroit, came to town and gave a children feel liberated to be alive talk to a large number of religious and cherish life in our streets. leaders. Thanks to team member, But nothing, and I mean nothing, shatters these relationships Rey. Duane Holmes, I was invited. Green went over the reasons for the quicker than violence, and racially peace agreement and the fact that motivated violent acts drives us all no other peace agreement in any to our knees ·in despair. There is that blue look and gray sound to our other city has involved the "/ wouldn 't worry about being deported. We own lots ofsweatshops back in your home country." Page 18 community as deeply as this one calls for. But, he also noted that our city doesn't seem ready for implementation of the "contract." Every day there is another event that attacks the agreement and makes the possibility of success more remote. He spoke candidly but also indicated that he could not say too much as it is up to the parties to the agreement to take the leadership. Green's job is to monitor success, offer technical assistance when requested, and make reports to the city and the federal judge on the compliance with the agreement. What would promote peace and justice? Clearly, like many other places, the cessation of crime and especially murder would make a big difference. But what controls crime growth and who can stop murder? Our police have prevented many crimes of violence and even lost their lives in attempting to break up violent situations. Yet, the best of police philosophy only goes so far and then mystery seems to rule. The same can be said.for community action theories. What we are attempting in Cincinnati is to change police behavior by befriending the communities they work in and, thereby, foster more comprehensive approaches to crime reduction and, simultaneously, the creation of stronger communities. The hope is that a joint effort will make the difference in both intimidation of the criminals and offer a clearer ground for growing healthy communities. The big question concerns the effectiveness of this partnership. A set.of fragile behaviors is involved in this situation, too. Can the police accept citizen information and use this information as part of police decision making? And, is this more effective than continuing without citizen involvement? The blending ofpolice functions into citizen leadership efforts has not been disproved; or, in our case, tried as policy on a neighborhood basis. The theorists of our peace agreement are adamant about trying this effort. Some community leaders are in agreement. Some community leaders see this as the taking of a second job in the community, a job that should be taken solely by the citizen paid police. It is not easy to prove effe.ctiveness or to prove justice by just a theory. The test of Cincinnati's peace agreement requires implementation and evaluation. The monitor, the signers of the peace agreement, the community leaders, the criminals, and the average citizen are participants in what promises to be one of the major factors strengthening or destroying our city. �STREETVIBES Page 19 June, 2003 Boycott Current State - The Burr Und·e r the Saddle uprising occu_rred, then they seem by Allen Abrams to have decided that it was a " bad So there has been some in­ idea" to keep killing young black fighting. Hands down with no males so they stopped. That's room for discussion, the easy. They just stopped killing Cincinnati Boycott has .been the them. Therefore, whether strongest, most effective tool for through blatant disregard or social change that Cincinnati has through conscious action, the ever seen in its entire history. Cincinnati Police had been Disagree? Point to another choosing to use fatal force on element that has generated so . young black males. much discussion among The divide and conquer households, businesses, the City mentality has been employed Administration and the press. throughout history. We need to Name one, just one. Name one unite and get along. We don 't other tool of social change that need to agree 100% on all issues. has actually gotten the City In the minds of many, the Administrati.on to get up off its collective butt and decide to try to boycott has overshadowed the actual issues. In the media and in rebutt all the true things said minds of many, the personalities about them·by " the boycotters". of the boycott have become the Why has it taken so long for the issue. This is not about City to even think of addressing personalities, people. It's about the needs of the people? Why principles and the principles are have there been no unarmed simple; equal treatment and equal black men killed in the last two opportunity. So the city digs in its years? Apparently, it is actually heels and refuses to sit down and possible to affect an arrest of a black man without actually killing talk to the boycotters due to pride, arrogance and personal ·issues. him. And apparently cops don ' t The real issue is the addressing of have to use fatal force to the root causes which led to the apprehend a person. After they uprising. The boycott in many kiJJed Timothy Thomas and an peoples' minds has become a polarizing factor rather than helping us change and heal. But to others there will be no forward movement unless the boycott succeeds and the desired changes are made. To some, without the polarization, the uncomfortable feeling that the boycott instills in white people, there will be no burr under the saddle. The boycott provides a needed incentive, a sense of discomfort without which, this city will fall back asleep, into its illusory sense of placid numbness to the pain and plight ofthose less fortunate. We have swept them under the rug long enough, now we must face these boogeymen, the people our society has created but wishes it could ignore or pretend they don't exist - the throw away people. I've got news for you; we do exist and we will rear our ugly head again if our basic needs, our human i:ights aFe not addressed and met. The basic rights of food, shelter, and clothing. The right to choose our living location and sc~ools we wish to send our children to. The right to earn enough money to send our children to college and to go on vacation. You heard me right, a vacation. For the rich, vacations are an assumed luxury, but for the poor, vacations may be a once in a life time experience, if that. We need this boycott so badly. It must succeed. It is our only hope. We have always held the purse strings and now we are finally using our power of the withholding of the almighty dollar. We must spend our money wisely. Why are they running scared, blaming every problem or frustration on the boycott? If it rains too hard, then the City Administration will tell you that it's because of the boycott. People have a choice to spend money wherever they want. People have a choice to talk to ~ * Supplies for Vendor's. Lounge (paper towels, cream and sugar, snac~, etc.) * Cleaning Sup.plies . * Office Supplies - postage stamps, floppies, copier paper and other supplies If you can help, contact us at: Streetvibes, c/o Greater Cin~innati Coalition for the Homeless, 1506: Elm Street, Cincinnati, Oii 45202 (511)' 42'1-78<>3 e-mail': streetvibes.@juno.com tv1 Vendor: 80 cents whomever they want. People have the right to encourage other people not to come to Cincinnati until certain conditions are met. Let's call the "demands" conditions or prerequisites to ending the boycott. The boycott has been the only tactic to get the attention of the City Administration and business community. These are serious issues that need real solutions, now. Not in the future, at some far off distant time and place. These are life and death issues which cannot be evaded nor postponed. We need to face, admit and deal with these issues now - or there is no "moving forward" . . These issues are urgent, li~e the state of emergency that Luken called. Why isn't there that same °'state of emergency" with regard to addressing the inequalities in this city? Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th ·street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati , Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education Where Your Dollar Goes Printing and Production: 20 cents The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal overhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. Please call our office at 421-7803 for more informa­ tion about the program. Many thanks for your support. �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 (foll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome House 859-431-8717 Women's Crisis Center 859-491-3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden st. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 st. Francis/st.Joseph House 381-4941 Formed in 1984, The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a membership organization. Our member groups serve the homeless through emergency shelter, transitional living facilities, permanent housing, medical services, social services, soup kitchens, and mental health/addiction services. The Coalition also consists of individual citizens who want to take an active role in ensuring that Cincinnati is an inclusive community, meeting the needs of all of its citizens. Join the fight to end homelessness; contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at (513) 421-7803, 1506 Elm street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471 -1100 Lighthouse Youth Center 861-1111 (Teens) st. John's Housing 651-6446 HOUSING: CMHA 721 -4580 Excel Development 632-7149 Miami Purchase 241-0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 381-1171 ReSTOC Tender Mercies 639-7056 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 IREAIMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 TREATMENT: Men Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351-0422 C.C.A.T. 381-6660 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721 -0643 OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living 241 -2600 Options Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health.Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile 352-2902 Health Van House of Refuge Mission 221-3619 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 st. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4357 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 . l Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWNlHAMti:ION (Butler County) st. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863·3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 ' ' � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2003 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource June 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Panhandling Registration Pg 2: Perception Drives New Law Pg 3: Education is the First Step to Ending Homelessness Pg 4: Reader Mail Pg 5: I am Scared! I am so Scared! I am so scared in Cincinnati! Pg 6: Wanted: Suspected Terrorist The Most Dangerous City to be Homeless: A Snapshot of Sacramento Pg 7: Just Visiting- City Council Behavior is Shocking Pg 8: Bringing America Home: The Campaign Pg 9: Coalition for the Homeless Releases Book Profiling Cincinnati’s Homeless Pg 10: Building Community for 25 Years Pg 11: Does Stossel Deserve a Promotion? Pg 12: The Peace Village Pg 13: Thinking Inside the Box Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: News & Editorial Pg 17: Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Report Pg 18: Peace and Justice are Fragile in the Peace Village Pg 19: Boycott Current State- The burr Under the Saddle Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Steve Shockley Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Jerome Manigan Elain Coffy Grady Cook Berta Lambert Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Erickson Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Book Boycott Brendan Goodwin Cincinnati city council Community education Elain Coffy Food Research FRAC Georgine Getty Grady Cook Jerome Manigan Jimmy Heath Mary Gaffney News & Editorials Over-the-Rhine panhandling Peace Village Reader Mail Sacramento Steve Shockley https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/693ae3607d5fb888b2e7c3b27aea8556.pdf 8b447cb7e6de4736d6b0c2c0bc6bf04b PDF Text Text Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �ree • July 2003 City gives free, legal licenses _to panhandle politely by Andy Erickson National Civil Rights Organizing Project (NCROP) On June 161h the Elm Street Health Center, located on Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine, began accepting applications for panhandlers' licenses. On that day, nearly 60 people were registered in just two hours, though many were protesters rather than panhandlers. The registration process is actually very quick and easy. The difficulty will lie in understanding all the laws that apply to panhandling. Violating one of these laws means a hefty fine, plus losing one's license for 18 months. In order to get the panhandling license, an applicant must first fill out a City of Cincinnati/Temporary Registration for Solicitation form, which asks for a name, address, phone number, driver' s license or state ID number, and other identifying characteristics such as height, weight, race and sex. In the case that an applicant has no ID, they could opt instead to sign, under penalty of perjury, a declaration stating that they have none. Once the application is filled out, the applicant's photograph is taken. The photograph and the completed application are then sent to District One, the police department headquarters. At District One, the application is checked for any false or misleading information, and the applicant's criminal record is checked for any violations of the panhandling ordinance that might have occurred in the past 18 months. Provided there are no such violations, and the application contains no false or misleading information, the applicant's license is printed and mailed to JUs or her address within three weeks. For applicants who have no address, the $$$ millions • license can be picked up at r¢1oeate La2or District One on Ezzard $0 for Charles Drive in the West n~ighborhoo End. The applicant does Protesters gather in front ofthe Elm Street Health Center in Over-the-Rhine to not need to wait for the protest panhandler licensing. "Its a bad use ofresources and a waste oftime license to arrive in order to and taxpayer money, " said one protester. start panhandling, though. The to an inquiry by another person." one's circumstances, soliciting Elm Street Health Center gives when the sun is down, and So if you choose to use a out a temporary license on the soliciting in specific places such sign, you can panhandle without date ofapplication. As long as the bus stops, near ATMs and on having to register, but the person District One police check goes who verbally asks for a dime private property without the well, the applicant becomes a permission of the owner, to name a cannot. You can sit at a bus stop, licensed panhandler from the day few. A licensed quietly with a sign, but the person that he or she panhandler who verbally asks for a dime fills out the caught cannot. You·can sit within 20 feet application. A of an ATM with a cup or a sign, but panhandling licensed person the person who verbally asks for a aggressively needs only to dime cannot. You can sit with a would have his renew the or her license sign after sundown, but the person - . 06/20/2004 license yearly. (For ­ 911).12 only} revoked for 18 who verbally asks for a dime There The panhandling license cannot. months, and are, of course, could face a As long as you make sure some restrictions that come with never to verbally ask for money, fine ofup to $250 or 30 days in this license, such as those that goods, or any other form of jaiL limit aggressive panhandling Strangely, a person could gratuity, you have a lot more rights behaviors. Aggressive avoid entirely the registration than those people who use verbal panhandling is defined in the process and learning about the speech, have a license and are panhandling ordinance as aggressive panhandling laws by acting within the law. You have to intimidating, touching, blocking or simply choosing to sit or stand be careful, though: if you do ask for following people, lying about quietly with a sign that asks for money verbally, and you do not money - because this have a license, you can be fined ordinance only $250 or 30 days injaiJ, and you will applies to people become ineligible to receive a once they open up license to panhandle for 18 months their mouths to say after your arrest date. something like, If you would like more "Could you help me information about the city's out with some panhandling laws, feel free to change?" contact the Coalition for the The ordinance Homeless. The Coalition can get clearly states that it you a copy ofthe panhandling shall not apply to "the ordinance, or if you' d prefer, we act of passively can get you an easier-to-read standing or sitting "Know Your Rights" brochure, with a sign or other which details some of the laws that indicator that a could affect panhandlers and homeless citizens of Cincinnati. A donation ofmoney, goods or any other copy ofthe ordinance #0158-2003 , form ofgratuity is is also available at the City Clerk's Protester Lois Presser (r) signing up for panhandling license at the E lm Street Health being sought without office on the third floor of City Center. "Under the law, without a license you can~ even ask someone for change for a any vocal request Hall, 801 Plum Street. dollar to use a pay phone orf eed the parking meter, " say anti-license protesters. other than a response ... ­ Greater Cincinnati Coaliti n · or the Homeless �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Editorial Willy the Bully supplying them with "malt-liquor" and "cheap wine" along the way. Bullying Fills Void Left When I called in to protest that this was dehumanizing and disgusting, by Fleeting "Willy" told me that homeless Compassion people are "dehumanized by homeless advocates who need by Georgine Getty, Executive homelessness to keep working." Director, Greater Cincinnati He then told me to "go to hell" and Coalition for the Homeless hung up. Apparently he spent the According to next day making fun of my bullybeware.com, "Bullying in its appearance and truest form is accusing me of comprised of a series single-handedly of repeated causing the intentionally cruel homeless problem in incidents, involving Cincinnati while the same children, in continuing to the same bully and screech slurs abouf victim roles." Bullies how filthy ho~eless tend to remain bullies people are and how their entire life, they are leaving behind them a "degenerates." trail of destruction. Georgine Getty Now what What happens to would make an alleged adult childhood bullies when they grow behave in such a way? Part of it is up? ratings. For some reason, people One bully moved 'onto the enjoy listening to Willy, whether to airwaves ofWLW Radio. On June get angry, to laugh at him or 5, 2003 Bill "Willy" Cunningham because they believe him. and his lackeys at WLW conducted However, I think it's a bit more what they called a "Derelict than that. Again I return to Round-up", a boorish publicity bullybeware.com that states, stunt during which they ran an on­ "bullying usually, although not going live broadcast from a bus always, occurs between individuals taking "bums" to West Chester, What is Streetvibes? Page 2 who are not friends. In a bullying situation, there is a power difference between the bully and the victim. For instance, the bully may be bigger, tougher, and physically stronger or be able to intimidate others or have the power to exclude others from their social group. The intention ofbullying is to put the victim in distress in some way. Bullies seek power." They may be bigger and tougher, or they may just happen to have a far­ reaching radio show. Seeking power by bullying the weak. All of the major religions revolve around preventing this behavior. Great works of art, literature, film and dance have been written around this timeless theme. Heroes emerge from their ability to combat bullies. Take the time to be a hero today. Contacting Bill or the folks at WLW doesn't help. Contact WLW's owner Clear Channel c/o John Hogan, CEO Clear Channel Radio at clearchannel.com or 200 Basse Road, San Antonio, TX, 78209. Help us send a clear message that the 25,000 homeless men, women and children in Cincinnati should not continue to be the victims ofWilly 's bullying. the paper for a $1 donation. Over the years, tens of thousands of own Grapevine newspaper. In by Jimmy Heath dollars have gone directly to the early 1997, Streetvibes started Many people call or write vendors. publishing on its own, right here in the Homeless Coalition office The 20 cents barely covers Cincinnati out of the offices ofthe asking questions about the Streetvibes Vendor Program. What Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the the cost of printing, let alone staffing and overhead. From its Homeless. It took us many years is it? What does it do? Who is it very beginning the paper has lost to get to where we are now, for? Even many long-time readers money. But for the Greater becoming established as are sometimes confused about the Cincinnati's voice for the homeless Cincinnati Coalition for the Streetvibes project. For those Homeless, the paper provides a interested, here is an explanation of and the disempowered .. voice for current issues regarding Potential vendors sign up the program. Please continue to low-income people and an for the program, and are given an call or write ifyou have more alternative news outlet for orientation that includes the do's questions. We also encourage our concerns that aren't always and don'ts of offering the paper to readers to share their own stories represented by local mainstream people on the streets in Cincinnati. with us and the rest of the media. The Vendor is required to sign a Streetvibes readership. Just email We don't solicit Code of Conduct (see page 4) and your thoughts to us. advertisers, and we receive NO is required to adhere to the rules or Cincinnati's Streetvibes face termination from the program. government funding for the newspaper is a project of the program. The Coalition has Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Vendors are issued an official happily financed this project from vendor badge and are required to Homeless and is a founding early beginnings through private its display it at all times while selling member ofthe North American grants and donations. The Greater the paper. Street Newspaper Association Cincinnati Coalition for the All of the vendors are (NASNA). Nearly every state, and Homeless supports the program encouraged to take time to write most major cities in the US are because it provides an important represented in the street newspaper for the paper. There are computers voice to its constituency. at the Homeless Coalition office movement. There is also a large Although we are considered that vendors can use to write their street newspaper movement in a thorn in the side for many at City stories, poetry or any commentary Europe, Africa and many other Hall and the powers-that-be, we they desire for inclusion in countries around the globe. The still maintain our right to speak to Streetvibes. papers are as varied as the talents issues that the mainstream press The Streetvibes newspaper and resources of the individual often ignores. We are proud of program provides homeless and publishers. Some of our street low-income vendors a chance to do Streetvibes, and of our vendors. newspapers are modest If you have any further something for themselves, on their photocopied handouts; others are questions about how the program own time, and at their own pace, slick, mainstream-type magazines, works please call me at the with the profits going directly to with full color printing, major Coalition office at 4 21-7802, advertisers and a huge distribution. the individual. Vendors ~uy extension 12. Streetvibes at the Coalition office Streetvibes began in 1996 for 20 cents per copy and then sell as a supplement to Cleveland's' �STREETVIBES Page 3 July, 2003 ON A SCALE OF ONE TO A HUNDRED, HOW MUCH DO YOU DISAGREE WITH THE CITY'S TREATMENT OF CINCINNATI'S HOMELESS? ~-------------------------------~ 1will 10111E: []!] Is20 I IS41 I I s11 I Is11 I Is111I He's only 18 months old and already he's trapped in the cycle of homelessness in · Cincinnati. His mother needs an affordable place to live and a job with a living wage as she escapes a life of domestic violence. The current treatment of homeless individuals in our city means that he may never be able to live in a home of his own. There are 25,00~ people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. More than one-third of those are women and children. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addressing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and coordination of services, we can end homelessness in our city. The more support we have from the community, the more influence we have with our city's officials. Please cut the coupon and pick a box. It could mean that one less child will have to live in one. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Greater Cincinnati Coalition For The Homeless ~-------------------------------------~ �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Page 4 ·Renters Have Rights Read·e r :.·- , . ." " Mail We would like to hear from you - please address letters and comments to; Streetvibes, 1506 Elm Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202 (or) email to: Streetvibes@iuno.com Translate Streetvibes into Spanish I was at the Salvation Army for lunch. I met a man named Phillipe. He says he is Mexican, and that he does not understand very much English. Yo conosco un mucho poco y mucho malo en el. espanol. You need to start printing a Spanish edition of Streetvibes. As I understand it, 20% of the American population is Hispanic/ Latino. Because most homeless are mentally ill, did you know they had a Star Trek bible? It is written in Klingon. This was a short story in the Sunday Enquirer about a month ago. Out in Portland Oregon, the mental health (sic) is hiring people ·that are bi-linguaOOingon/English, so you might also need to start printing a Klingon edition of Streetvibes. I must not be much of a Star Trek fan, I don't know . Klingon. Maybe someone at Rockdale Temple could check with the Salvation Army for distributing Spanish cards. I saw their ad on page eleven oflast month's Streetvibes. St. Julie Belliard has a mass at 12:30 AM for Latinos. Also, the Ninth Street United Methodist, now called Living Water Church, has an adult learning canter for Hispanics. The Mormons have some members that speak, read and write Hispanic. Phillipe has only been in Hamilton, Ohio about four months. Your help list is good, but there is no help line listed for Latinos. I tried to make him understand that he would be able to get help at all the places I have mentioned in this letter. Sincerely, Frank L Martin Hamilton Ed Note; while we have no plans right now to translate the paper into Klingon, we have looked many times at the idea of producing a spanish language sectionfor Streetvibes readers. We are aware ofthe growing Hispanic population and the significance of these new residents to the Greater Cincinnati region. We will provide a Spanish language Streetvibes if there is a significant demand for it. My daughter was illegally on March 10, 2003. She was three months behind in rent due to an unfortunate circumstance that she couldn't help. Her court date on the eviction notice was March 11, 2003. A landlord cannot evict any tenant before going to court. An immediate writ can't be issued until on the court date (to rid drug dealers, etc.). The judge told her on March 11 that she had ten days to get out. Do not let a landlord illegally evict you and get away with it. You do have rights. The lcwllQrd ~i!t !;lOt get away with it. You can get good advice fre.e from Legal Aid. Ed Note: The best advice, as you mentioned, ·is to seek legal counsel especially ifyou think that your rights are being violated There are laws that protect both the client and the landlord Contact Cincinnati Legal Aid if you cannot afford a lawyer at 421­ 9400. . Yes., I'm Back by Elaine Coffey In the last issue I wrote to the public to explain the fear that I have living in Cincinnati. One gentleman emailed me back and suggested.that I move. Well, the trick is no good. l am not leaving here until I'm ready. You know who you are! HAVE A NICE DAY! Now back to basics. It is amazing how dumb the city council can be. Now all panhandlers are required to register for a Panhandlers License. How is it that you can allow someone to be legally on the street like this? I'm sending out this message to individuals, to target the homeless. This license can not give a person a home, treatment, dental, or employment. So what is the reason for the registration? Now we are back to square one on every issue. Som~ agencies have asked that the city along with t Elaine Coffey DIC (Downtown Cincinnati, Inc.) pay for a component of social services to be put in place to help with outreach to help people recover and become viable citizens. I am calling for an understanding. What is the city going to do to help these individuals recover and become stable? How will the city inform new homeless that they must register? How are they going to address that? Where Your Dollar Goes Printing and Production: 20 cents The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal overhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. Please call our office at 421-7803 for more informa­ tion about the program. Many thanks for your support. . Streetvibes Vendor Code Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct ... 1. Streetvibes will be distributed for a $1 voluntary donation. I agree not to ask for donations of '- more than $1 . I also understand that I will be able to keep 80 cents of each dollar collected. 2. Streetvibes may only be purchased from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH). Purchasing or selling unauthorized papers, or from other vendors, will result in termination from the program. 3. I agree that I will not ask for donations or attempt to vend after 12 midnight. 4. I agree to treat others with respect - other vendors, customers, and GCCH personnel. 5. I will not sell Streetvibes while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 6. I will not give a "hard sell" or make someone feel threatened. 7. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I am collecting for a not-for-profit charity or that I am collecting for the "homeless" in general. I will be honest in stating that all the profits from the sale ofStreetvibes will go to the individual vendor. Falsely stating intent or otherwise mis­ representing is a violation ofa city ordinance and may be cause for arrest. · · 8. I will always present my badge when purchasing papers, and I will display my badge at all times while vending. Replacement badges are $5 each. 9. There are no territories. I agree that I will not contest territories with other distributors. I will not sell on private property without permission. 10. I understand that Streetvibes strives to be a self­ supporting paper created by people who are homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this effort, I will try to spread the word and write stories if possible. 11. I understand that failure to comply with any of the above statements will result in termination from the Streetvibes vendor program. GCCH reserves the right to terminate a vendor at any time as deemed appropriate. �STR E ETVIBES July, 2003 To Know and to Understand the Homeless by Mary A. Gaffney It does not take much to understand and know them. We are all God's children, regardless of color race or creed. Some have gained fame and lost it through problems; family, job, service to their country, etc. By losing faith, they don't care about themselves anymore. And with this and their friends who are in the same condition, they have built a barricade around themselves to protect themselves from the outside world, because of some harsh words or kicks. I've found out, being around the families, that there is·some good in them. If you speak kindly to them they will watch your reaction to them. For almost 5 years, off and on, I have been around the homeless. Yes, some are overbearing but have you thought why they are t his way? Have you thought about what caused them to be this way? Think how it would be for you if you came into the position that they are in. You can be up on the high bills oflife, and the next day or hour you can be down. Remember, you can always come down faster than you went Page 5 DEAR READERS! . Send us your Vendor Stories Do you have a favorite Streetvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about? Send us your stories or comments to: Streetvibes@juno.com or Ms. Mary A. Gaffney up. So while you are sitting comfortable in your home protected from harsh weather, you are able to get up and walk to your kitchen for a snack, or you are able to pick up your child for a hug. In doing this you are blessed. Remember, our most Heavenly Father watches over everyone and will not suffer even a little sparrow to fall. Remember, he still cares for the homeless too, and this is why they still survive regardless of what comes or goes. God loves us all. And if you just take a little time to think, maybe you could understand the homeless a little better. Remember, we are somebody in our Father's eyes. Just think about life, OK? Streetvibes 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 We All Are Just One Step Away From Being Homeless If we lose our jobs, our business, we are in dire need of support by Stacy A. Smith I would like to share my story ofbeing homeless with Streetvibes and it reader's. It was January, 1995. I remember walking up Ninth street here in Cincinnati, and at that time I felt all alone. My dad had passed away in my arms on Christmas Eve, December 24,1993 . My mom is around but not feeling well herself. She is still faced with issues with her family in regards to Stacy A. Smith the Black and White issue, after 40 speak with me and said to me, years. I'm divorced and a mom of two children which are grown now "What can we do to help and how mµch could you afford to pay?" I and a grandmother of one. But explained what I when I was faced could afford and with no where to he mentioned go, it was really "I remember walking up that he could see an experience for M nth street here in what he could me. I stopped by Cincinnati, and at that do. the Regal Hotel time I f elt all alone. " We worked at that time and out a wonderful had a seat in the arrangement for my stay which lobby area to gather my thoughts. lasted about 4 months. That very A representative from the hotel asked me ifl was okay. I began to next day I received a job across the street working as a bartender. tell him my situation. He spoke Things were looking excellent. A with management and before I wonderful room with a view on the knew it, the manager came over to twenty-third floor. A view ofthe now have relocated my small , Ohio river, two kings size beds, business on West Ninth street. I eating area and bath. The room met the owner of the building and was a suite that rented for $2,000 a she believes in me, and I am so night. thankful for her and her daughter. I became so happy I felt We're building at this time and plan like I was Cincinnati's own star. to open in August. Serving the Also, at this commllnity is where time I have a it's at. I would like , small business "/ became so happy.../ f elt to thank the called like I was Cincinnati's community for its Certified own star. " Medical Affiliates. We provided medical equipment and medical supplies. We had some small contract's with our local government and Children's Hospital but payment from both became delayed. I was able to obtain housing since that time and was welcome to return to the hotel. I'm doing all right and I support throughout my struggle. Thank you Cincinnati for being there for me. Our local Government and it's Institutions should welcome all and be of support to an individual that is trying to make a living in America. �STREETVIBES Page 6 July, 2003 2000. We watch as a young black Close to the end ofthe 3 day exhibit, a poetry reading by man seems to buy cigarettes and peace poets was organized and then is accosted by the police as many very serious poems were soon as he reaches the door. A mature black man stands in front of read by poets who stood in front of by Dr. Steve Sunderland the film as it plays and describes a large flag, 15' X 15', of president So much to report and to what is happening to the young Bush with a U.S. flag taped across share. The center of it is that the black man and what will happen to his mouth. About 50-:75 people peace efforts of so many continue him. This man is the father of the sat, listened and applauded. I was to make deep impressions on young black man. He speaks the next to the last "poet," eager to citizens within the Peace Village. create a different kind of poetry, a There is not only a minimization of without bitterness or anger. He simply describes the ways in which poetry that reflected much ofthe what is happening in the peace the police killed his son. And, what hope that had emerged in this latest movements, and a reduction of was and was not done to bring the version ofthe Peace Village. I news interest in attempts to reflect murders to asked one of the on the past few months, but there justice. organizers, a is a shock and tiredness that I sit professor of overnihelms us, at times, as we try and watch, pathology from and make sense ofwhat is mum61ing ­ the University of incredible, i.e., thousands dead in questions to Cincinnati, and Iraq, UN rebuffed by US, an immigrant occupation of another country, lies him about the "facts." He from Lebanon, to about foreign intervention. Our answers each "start" my poem country and city may seem like question with. with "one they are spinning without a peace care and sentence" on rudder, without a continuation of detail. His · . ' . why he wanted the work of the past few months, son's death is to create this but I want this note to be a small the last Peace Village of measure ofwhat is happening out Dr. Steve Sunderland unresolved art, music, ofthe spotlight but in the poetry, and film. case facing illumination ofthe candles ofpeace Saad Ghosen, a wonderful artist, the Cincinnati criminal justice and hope. Serious people, here in system that has not given him said that he felt this exhibit was Cincinnati and world wide, are justice. "I just want to know what needed to strengthen ourselves, to lighting these candles, finding those police did to my son in his see what the arts can show us, and strength to keep them lit, and to break the loneliness he felt as sharing the experience ofsurviving last seconds oflife," he says with guarded passion. "I want to see someone seeking peace. I then in a world of terror and danger that them go to jail." His.wife, the turned to the rest of the group and seems without limit. asked those in the back ofthe hall mother ofthe young man, sits and I write as a reminder of to begin a sound in responsiveness watches. I talk to her as I leave what the peace movement stands and thank her for. being there and to Saad's beautiful statement and for. I write for those who are too just immediately, a beautiful moan busy to write. I write for those who thank the film maker. She is calm and appreciative, like hum began, first softly, then ofboth those have had unanswered deaths from louder, followed, with some who came to see the video and of police, false enemies, and her husband. "He won't quit," she beckoning on my part, by a solo by destroyed hopes. I write to heal, to says with pride, "until justice is one ofthe poets, then backed up by offer healing, to accept healing. I more sounds of happiness and realized." write these soundless words in the The Peace Village is a place seriousness, as we continued to place of speaking the sounds of join our voices in this poem. I where justice can still be searched voices lifting up notes ofharmony, for by parents who refuse to began t9 murmur Jewish prayers, melodies ofunity, and expressions Islamic words, in a melody that abandon their love and ofthe human voice seeking to sing came from so·mewhere as we responsibility for their son. I leave the songs of peace. deepened our voices, raised our this setting with the feeling that I just came from a Peace Village exhibit, at the SS NOVA, of there is a kind of feeling that knows volume, and lifted our hearts to the beauty of Saad's gift and our gift of peace posters, sculptors, paintings, no words to describe what these our voices. loyal parents are doing for the poems performed and music I was following the work of memory oftheir son. By staying played. A 3 story factory in the Humberto Lopez and his theory of heart of one ofthe poorest sections committed to finding out what that spontaneous expressions of really happened, they open ofCincinnati has been converted "sounds of peace" that are in play same door to any question about into a center for art and healing. I "peace", what is really happening in Buenos Aries. Humberto has want to tell you what was on the in these wars, in these areas of sent me some videos of his work third floor. Climbing up rickety cultures ofviolence that seem so with choral groups using his stairs, without rails, crumbling outside our knowledge. What philosophy and they are wonderful. walls, unpainted, to reach a large Thank you, Humberto. space is there to question the set of rooms, in darkness. On one The first and secorid floors police, the army, the governments, wall a picture from a video plays. the ignorance that is maintained, in ofthis immense building were filled It was the tape made of a gas with the work of 51 Cincinnati the Peace Village? station in Cincinnati in the year artists. Stef (my wife) and I were part of the exhibit, sharing our National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing posters on cardboard. The paintings and sculptures were Project (NHCROP) breathtaking, depicting violence at 1506 Elm Street its rawest as well as the beauty of Cincinnati, OH 45202 peace. I shall never forget the entrance way being a tiled version homelessciyilrights@yahoo.com of the floors of Iraq, the broken The Peace Village. t / (513) 421-7803 shards and tiles Qf great civilizations reduced to rubble. Or, the graves ofthe children with dirt and with little shoes, filled with dirt, and flowers, walking away from the graves in acts of hope. Or, the same artist's shocking silk screening of"The Bombing of Cincinnati," done at the same time as the bombing of Baghdad. Or, Steve Fox's painting ofthe citizen staring into a mountain of skulls, with the badge ofthe Cincinnati police included. Or, the beautiful and happy scenes ofMary Ann Lederer, calling upon images of children ofthe world dancing a great circle dance, or, the works seeking to put "peace" back together after the recent wars. In the two evening ofthe exhibit, we clustered together as artists and walked to each picture or art object and heard the artist's ideas until we were filled with every voice and interpretation. The next night we watched a film on the GulfWar of papa Bush and heard a scary talk by Elizabeth Frierson, UC history professor, on the causes ofthis episode ofviolence called, "The War in Iraq,' and how it was just a chapter in the 50 year hjstory ofviolence spurred on by U.S; policies in the Middle East. Elizabeth answered dozens of questions, many ofthem asking why this region's history is so unknown and, now, so mixed with biases of so many authors. Her good answers only raised more questions and there was a deepening sense ofhopelessness about stopping the "culture of violence" the U.S. government seems so organized to implement. She was no defender of Saadam; rather, we heard details that made us seem like we were spectators, children really, at a horrible game of world conquest. There was much food and drink, most of it donated. Very good conversations with people who did not know each other initially but who, over the 3 days, found the Peace Village a place of friendliness, hope, and healing. This entire exhibit, Saad informs me, was organized in less than 2 months. What an exciting model to bring peace out in all of its many colors. Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor ofSocial Work at the University ofCincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues ofPeace in the world Dr. Sunderland a!so heads up Posters-for-Peace which engages people in expre_ssing their visions ofPeace, in their own words, through the creation ofposters. �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Page 7 mental health issues. Freeman's death came just after the city released study calling for the city and Alameda County to · establish a detox center for Jow­ income and homeless people, according the Berkeley Daily Californian (www.dailycal.org). Next month, tj'le city's health by Real Change Newspaper refused to do more than tell one Miami Beach has become social service worker that a sweep department will present a report on the feasibility of creating such the latest city to move towards would occur," Witold Walczak, a center, which is expected to cost outlawing panhandling in prime the Pittsburgh ACLU's Legal hundreds of thousands of dollars Director who hanqled the case, tourist areas. The city joins 46 to build and run. Five years ago, of the largest 50 cities (including said in a statement, "and insisted the city pledged that building a that it had a right to immediately Cincinnati) in the country which detox center was a priority. destroy homeless people's already have bans or limitations The producers of the on who can ask for money and possessions. Now, th~ cify will "Bumfights" video managed to where, according to the Miami have one of the nation 's better escape the more serious charges policies for protecting homeless Herald (wWw.miami.com/mld/ earlier this year, but in mid-May people's property rights." Flyers miamiherald). Businesses have Michael Slyman plead guilty to for the first sweep under the new been the biggest push behind a lesser misdemeanor charge of these changes, arguing that agreement went up the end of conspiracy to commit a crime. May, for a sweep scheduled for panhandling outside their Slyman admitted he paid storefronts hurts their bottom line. the Tuesday after Memorial Day, homeless men to fight each other according to the Pittsburgh Post­ Yet such a criminalization of and perform dangerous stunts, activities that homeless people Gazette (www.post-gazette.com). according to the San Diego · . Homeless people in San rely on to survive flies in the face Union-Tribune of the protected rights, counters Francisco might not get their (www.signonsandiego.com). as checks after all. At the Benjamin Waxman, a board beginning of May, a fudge threw his punishment, Slyman has been member of both the American put on probation and has to out the Cash Not Care Civil Liberties Union of Florida arttl' of Miami. "Ifs one thing to proposition, which took money perform 225 hours of volunteer work to benefit homeless people. that now goes directly to criminalize me for grabbing your Three other "Burnfights" shirt," Waxman told the Miami homeless people and funnels producers plead guilty to into it social service programs, Herald. "It's another to criminalize me for asking you for because only the city's Board of misdemeanor conspiracy to promote illegal fighting. They Supervisors can make such change... That violates the will be sentenced in June. constitution." changes to welfare laws. The The American Civil supervisors responded in kind by working quickly to implement a Liberties Union has already version of what the voters wanted, won another small victory in Pittsburgh, where it reached an according to the San Francisco agreement with the city to stop Chronicle (www.sfgate.com). destroying homeless people's One version put before the property and to give them supervisors is exactly as the voters advanced warning of sweeps saw it; the other would be more through their makeshift specific about what kind of services the redirected money encampments. Under the three­ year settlement, Pittsburgh has to would go towards - particularly, that it would fund real, long-term give notice seven days before a sweep, including posting flyers in housing and not just emergency the area and notifying shelter beds. The supervisors are caseworkers who serve homeless scheduled to discuss both • populations that could be affected proposals in June. by the sweeps, according to the The recent death of a ACLU (www.aclu.org). The city homeless man being held in a Berkeley jail for public also agreed to store any personal property of value that it seizes drunkenness could have been The Peace and quiet of Spring Grove Cemetary if the city bad a detox avoided from the sweeps for at least one is an ideal place for these swans to enjoy them­ year; notices letting people know center. So say a number of selves.... how they can collect their Berkeley's homeless advocates property will be left at the site and city officials, who agree that where the sweeps took place. Kevin Freeman should not have Any items not claimed after a year suffered the fatal assault from his will be offered to social service jail cellmate, who had been agencies before being thrown arrested for an alleged knife attack INTEGRATED MARKETING SOLUTIONS away. "A week ago, the city and who was believed to have a STRATA•G~ communk:at1ons While we 1J1ake evel}' effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES atJd the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are representef! here. Brad Crawford Proofreader/Copy Editor Strata-G Communications 250 W. Court Street Suite 400W Cincinnati, OH 45202 513/381-8855 513/381-0385 (fax) �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Page 8 Editorial The Drop ·inn Center and Washington Park Development - by Pat Clifford, General Coordinator, Drop Inn Center (See the story on the Homeless Individuals Partnership for more.) Residents or members of our staff The drums are beating have participated in many again about the Drop Inn Center planning processes for a variety of and our location. It usually starts urban and homeless causes. I with a series of newspaper have been a board member of the articles dehumanizing the poor as Homeless Coalition for five years, "human litter" and "vagrant the chair of the Quality ofLife bums." This escalates into many Committee of the Over-the-Rhine editorials calling for the rem·oval Planning Process for two years of the human filth and those that and Board Member of the Greater "tarnish the gems" of the city. Cincinnati Arts and Education The question is: Is the Center. There is no reason to Drop Inn Center compatible with think that the Drop Inn Center progress in Cincinnati and Over­ cannot be involved in future the-Rhine? I recently attended a planning efforts. forum by John Alschuler-the Third, if the goal is to consuJtant that city business attract peopJe of different leaders hired to review downtown backgrounds to the Washington development. His focus was Park area, we are already helping naturaJly on safety and fostering to accomplish it. Many people great urban places downtown­ are not aware of it, but we are especially Fountain Square and host to thousands of visitors each Washington Park. He repeatedJy year who come to Washington · said that complete removal of the Park. In the first six months of homeless is not realistic or this year, we have played host to necessary to progress and over 2,500 individual volunteers revitalization. Instead, we should from school, church and civic focus on diversity, multi­ groups. Many of these people do culturalism and ·attracting people not regularly go downtown, but from a wide variety of -may stop off before and after backgrounds to add to an urban volunteering to patronize other ffilX. area attractions. Many will return .I think the Drop Inn again and again to receive a Center, current Over-the-Rhine positive feeling of expanding their residents and institutions are horizons, helping others and compatible with progress and this learning about people of different is why. races and cultures. First, the residents, staff Everyone is concerned and volunteers of the· Drop Inn about safety, the Drop Inn Center Center have valued and community included. No one implemented diversity in our day­ believes that crime should go to-day operations. Many of our unpunished or that illegal residents have gotten their lives activities should be allowed to together, are role models and continue out in the open. At the productive citizens in our city and Drop Inn Center we have staffing country. Residents who have a and polices to ensure that illegal stake in improving their activities do not happen on our neighborhood have more of a premises. If we can be successful commitment to the neighborhood at our agency, maybe we have and are the backbone for success. something to share witH others Including current residents m~kes about possible solutions. neighborhood revitalization not a I started working at the story of" eliminating the Drop Inn Center 13 years ago. I undesirables," but rather have seen a lot of development "working together for success." schemes come and .go. I have Second, the Drop Inn seen a l9t of hateful rhetoric and Center has been integrally animosity. I have seen riots and involved in planning for our racial/class division. Are we community and services. We are going to move forward with the committed to improving our same destructive patterns that services through collaboration have tom this city apart? Or do and looking at " best practices" for people believe, as I do, that it's services in our city and beyond. time to do things differently. While we make evety effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. / , / / / // / ,· The Drop Inn Center Shelterhouse, near Washington Park, downtown Cincinnati Voluatee~ . Opportunities at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition/or the Homeless There are numerous opportunities for volunteers at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition ;for the Homeless. ffi! are willing to work with each individual in choosing a service opportunity that is right for , them. Tkefollowing are afew ofthe areas In wliic}I the Coalition could use your lielp: Designing a web sjte for our National CivH Rights Organizing Project, This would include working with the Auiericorp Vista yoluhteers how to prevent fuither. crimina!ization.ofhomeless indi\cidua.ls as w.ell as preventing the increasing hate-crimes against them. on ., -veo: COJBPt},titive rates for ads that reach about 15,000 people per month. Our dieam volunteer would be a self-motivated volunteer that ':Vould like to fundraise for our organization. This could include asking your friends and family for donations to researching and writing grants • for our excellent programs. The Streetvibes newspaper project is always in need ofpeople interested in connecting w ith the vendors and helping them write articles on social justice/poverty issues, poetry, or personal stories. We need help in the '\fternoons at the front ·desk, answering phones and handling transact}ons with our Streetvibes Vendors. This person will address the needs of visitors, havj;ng direct contact with liomeless individuals and should .be available one afternoon a week. �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Page 9 Homeless Individuals Partnership (HIT Force) Shelter providers were hard at work this past year, forging a collaboration between all the service providers to single homeless individuals in the city. The effort is caJled the Homeless Individuals Task Force (or HIT Force). Parti.c ipants in this monthly committee are numerous, but contain .. representatives from the Drop Inn Center Shelter, Mt. Airy Shelter, the City Gospel Mission, Tender Mercies, St. Francis/St. Joseph Catholic Worker House and many others. When the Homeless Coalitions starts planning for the annual homeless Continuum of Care, the first step is to ask people who are experiencing homelessness what they feel is missing from the current system. This process is called the Homeless Think Tank. Consistently, the feedback received from this group is that -- -··- ­ homeless individuals need a worker who both "knows them" and "knows their stuff" For this reason, the first goaJ identified by the HIT Force was that each person who enters a shelter should have at least an initial meeting with a caseworker and an assessment of their needs. In order to do this, providers feit that they needed to work together and share the information they have. A new citywide database is being developed that could help be a conduit for information. · However, the current staffing at shelters was inadequate for the task. As a result, the group put in two major federal grants to fund a team of case managers that would pair with our existing counselors. Their goal would be to work one-on-one with the chronically homeless. Workers would be based at every shelter in the collaborative, but they The GCCH would like to thank these Starbucks locations for their generous donation of coffee and pastries: 11379 Montgomery Road (513) 469-1111 3366 Erie Avenue East Hyde Park (513) 533-3402 7896 Montgomery Road (513) 891- 7740 would meet regularly together ahd There are many people to function as a team. thank for the success of this The effort was modeled process. Michelle Budzek from after Cincinnati's own Family the Partnership Center, as well as Shelter Partnership. This Ann Perrin from the Health collaboration includes all the Foundation, were integral to the family shelters in town, utilizes a success of the grant applications. common database and funds Other members of the committee caseworkers that meet and work include: John Briggs from as a team. The goal is to link ~ Goodwill, .J5imberly H~_~ser from homeless families with Mt. Airy Shelter, John Cosby from mainstream resources and the City Gospel Mission, Anthony permanent housing. The Weems from the St. Francis/St. Homeless Individuals Partnership Joseph Catholic Worker House, would try to emulate their success Chris Engle from CRI/PATH, and forge new ways to access Dennis Rogers from Tender mainstream services that don't Mercies, Bro. John Martin from exist for men. Mary Magdalene House, There are two other efforts Georgine Getty from the that are ongoing which would fit Homeless Coalition, Bob into the developing partnership. Littmann from the Freestore, First, the successful effort by the Donna Howard from Lighthouse HeaJth Network and the Health and Carrnil O' ConnQr from the Resource Center to establish a HeaJth Resource Center. Respite Center will temporarily This effort demonstrates house homeless individuals that homeless shelters, as well as recovering from illness or disease. all the providers in the Cincinnati Second, there are plans to develop Continuum of Care process, are a Damp House to house committed to collaboration and chronically homeless individuals continuous improvement in our who are not ready for abstinence­ services. based programs. Homeless Camps Under Scrutiny Recently, amid complaints about homeless encampments from unspecified sources, Cincinnati police say they need to do something about the dozens of homeless people living under overpasses and bridges in the downtown area. Advocates for the homeless acknowledged that at one count there were 170 people living outdoors, providing a snapshot of how many people actually live and sleep on downtown streets on a given night. Many homeless set up camps, the largest is under the ramp to 2nd Street at the base of t he Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. Because many ofthese camps are located at the doorstep, or welcome mat of Cincinnati, they pose a concern for the police and others who see the camps as an unwelcome sight to visitors driving into the city. Police know that they can not throw peoples things away while they are stored at these camps, because they are unsightly or appear to be garbage; the items are private property located on public land. Keeping items on state property is what keeps any items at the camp from being thrown away. Cincinnati Police are meeting with the Ohio Department of Transportation to try to figure out a plan to move the camps out. Write Us! We'd I~ to hear from IJOU..­ Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, ·· or Write the Coalition office ·.~ "Let me know your vacation preferences so I can arrange the usual scheduling conflicts." attn: Streetvibes Letters, I 5b6 Elm Street Cincinnati; Ohi°"45.202 . ~ ~ �STREETVIB ES Page 10 July, 2003 Pendleton Heritage Center hosts summer photo workshop for East End kids Streetvibes News In June, over a dozen East End youth, ages 8 - 17, participated in a photo scavenger hunt designed to help the children learn more about the historically significant East End neighborhood of Cincinnati and explore, through the use of photography, the many issues that effect East End children and fam ilies. The summer program was sponsored by the Pendleton Heritage Center, and was made available free-of-charge to the participants, most of them children from the East End neighborhood. Some of the kids were recruited from the Le Blond Recreation Center Summer Daycamp, Linwood School, and the McKinley Elementary School, and others heard about the program through flyers and word-of-mouth. The three day workshop led by visual artists C. Pie Michel and Jimmy Heath and assisted by Pendleton Heritage Center manager Melissa English, encouraged the children to discover through photography the different issues affectjng the lives of the primarily Appalachian population of the East End. The workshop taught the children basic photography techniques such as lighting and composition. The children employed one-time use cameras for the project, and they had the chance to explore digital cameras and camcorders. A scavenger hunt list was developed to help the kids explore their feelings and perceptions of the community including gentrification, crime and safety, community service and kinship. The scavenger hunt list included people, buildings, Kyle selects photosfor the exhibit r Kyle photographs an East End neighborhood family the Ohio River, animals, signs and other significant East End landmarks. On their photographic tour of the East End, the children visited the Health Center, the Post office, a cemetery, places of business and churches. After completing the photo scavenger hunt the children were asked to write about their experiences exploring the East End. "I liked going on the boat and seeing the river", said Isaiah, age 6. "l realized that there is more to the East End than I knew before I did this", said Brittany, aged 14. The resulting writing and dozens of photographs were framed and are still on display for public view at the Pendleton Heritage Center. The photographic project was also a big hit during the 4th Annual East End Talent Show and Photography Exhibit held at the Pendleton Heritage Center, 2760 Eastern Avenue on June 28th. For more information about the Pendleton Heritage Center and its programs for East End kids and adults please call (513) ·321-4928. ' Kyle andAndrew photograph a neighborhood sign during the neighborhood scavenger hunt Andrew takes a photo ofJose �STREETVIBES Page 11 July, 2003 cont. from previous page.... Comn:'unity ~~source Cards , Artist Pie Michel (far right). discusses artistic techniques with the Pendleton Heritage Center workshop participants. During in-class sessions children learned about composition and lighting and were also introduced to video and digital photography. Watch for the return of Streetvibes TV Streetvibes TV is a live program created by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and Media Bridges. Watch as our panel discusses the issues surrounding homelessness, poverty and civil rights in our Greater Cincinnati community. Check your local cable listing for broadcast dates and times.•.. '""- Rockdale Temple has announced the release of the latest in its series of Community Resource Cards. The new one, printed in Spanish, is customized for the needs of Chicinnati's rapidly growing Hispanic/ Latino population. The tri-fold, plastic cards are funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a project of Rockdale Temple, in consultation with Bienstar, Su Casa and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. In addition to the Hispanic Resource Card, the Resource Card Project has also produced cards for senior citizens, the homeless, and public school and Catholic school students covering the Tri-state area. Cards can be ordered from: cc 5300 Hamilton Avenue, #210 Cincinnati, Ohio 45224 or send a fax request to: (513) 541-0099 SPONSORS Kids Talent Contest - 3 pm 'fracy Walker - 4pm Hip-Hop Jamz - 5pm Art .Activities, Games and fuod - All Dayt New thisyear: (J[R juriedArt$how! ® !!JldJtdt... Contact Center Peaslee Neighborhood Center P&G . Pr(nideot Bank Over-the-Rhine Communttr t-Ouncil Over-the-Rhine Community (e.nter/CRC Appalachian Community Development.A~wcia1ion Summerfair Inc. AL\fPPrinting l)owntown X'reruiipity Graphic D™gn fhe Kroger Company �STR E ETVIBES July, 2003 Page 12 Protests Against Play Sparks Eloquent Discussion of Art's Power, Censorship, Media Treatment by.John Zeh In the wake of controversy over the Know Theatre.Tribe's "Corpus Christi," the local Campaign Against Censorship in the Arts (CACA) produced a forum on freedom of artistic expression cleverly called "Censornaughti, Oh!" before the play's opening June 12. The free afternoon session focused on local and national examples of arts censorship to create "freely-assembled expression, " said CACA organizer William Messer. "One can indeed live and breathe Cincinnati freedom." Messer opened the afternoon panel with an incisive 40-minute overview on the arts here, citing changes in the local atmosphere such as the city-funded SS Nova gallery, which recently had a three-day panel on war, with a third floor already open, he said. "I shook my head in wonder. Imagine, a peace exhibit in 0-T­ R! " CACA partnered with the League of Cincinnati Theaters for the panel, with help from the International Art Critics Association-USA Section and the National Coalition Against Censorship. David Adams of Ensemble Theatre Co. agreed that it's not been as uncommon to see "controversial art" here as it once was. "I worked at the Kaffee Klatsch and saw huge lines out the door for 'Poor Superman,"' a play with nudity that police and prosecutors let play, he said. "Corpus Christi'' director and University ofCincinnati theater professor Michael Burnham offered first hand knowledge that when (then) prosecutor Simon Leis Jr. arrived at Music Hall for "Oh Calcutta," arts czarinas Irma Lazarus and Patty Corbett told ·him to "arrest us first" if he were to take any action against the run. When Burnham._ worked at Playhouse in the Park, "Ashes" with an infertile couple played the Mt. Adams' boards despite "scads of letters," which the company posted inside the theatre. This time, with 15,000 pieces of mail received by Know, "The cast became nervous worth it. There's tremendous a "very channeled information that the (volume) might get me to potential here, some really beautiful scheme that I am a horrible skew away from the play's places." necrophiliac." He accepts that message. In the culture at large Svetlana Mintcheva, a such portrayals come with the and still in this city, there's a more coordinator at the National territory here, but argues that insidious kind ofcensorship going Coalition Against Censorship in "Art's worth it and Cinc"1nati's on. Working on "Corpus Christi" New York, said she doesn't mind has been remarkably opposition·. "The worse thing that stressful," he told the can happen if art does not matter. audience. "Make it fun Cincinnati cares about art -enough for us." to censor it, to stop it." During the Government censorship is just "the Olympics, Burnham tip ofthe iceberg, she warned. noted, U. S TV networks "Much more dangerous is insidious "warped reality," airing censorship Michael mentioned, "plausibly live, re­ with chilling effects. And self­ arranged" events. censorship due to economical "Reality itself is being reasons is bad." It's sad, she said, censored," he charged. that some people avoid even " We manufactured the reading the play and will never go rescue ofJessica Lynch see it because of what they hear. ­ (that she was) under "Once you go into it, and think duress. We staged on TV about it, you will learn." a fake rescue. That's Those comments reflect this frightening to me. reporter's reflectionsafter seeing Censorship is happening Corpus Christi June 14. The acting in the real world, not just is awesome, the dialog a hilarious art." hoot throughout, and the work is David Knight, truly educational about Christ and galleries director at Christianity. The bloody harm Northern Kentucky done by opponents to such art is University, at which 14 Roy Ford, Corpus Christi supporter pro­ their own ignorance and failure to Catholic artists whose tests the protestors taste such an eloquent, moving exhibition "Immaculate Misconceptions" in 1995 drew nine months of hate mail and calls just because of the exhibit's title. "No one asked what it included. They and the media ignored the fact that its whole intent was to be healing," he said. Thomas Condon, the artist convicted for felony corpse abuse after taking photos in the County Morgue here, denied that his behavior was "evil," blaming Protestors gather across the street from the Know Theater, Sycamore and Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine > �STREETVIB ES experience. I have not seen much theater here, but I really enjoy a movie ifl cry. At "Corpus Christi," I was in tears all night over the play's power and the cast's devotion to putting their work on the world media map. The real story worth media coverage is not the so-called Christians protesting the play, but what happened inside Gabriel's Corner. McNally's genius was matched by Burnham 's casting and direction. If most shows sold out and people were turned away, a new run is required, for Christ's sake! Over-the-Rhine resident John Zeh was profiled by CityBeat June 11, gelting credit for helping squash plans lo force the Drop Inn homeless Center to move. He :S also featured in the new book "Through Our Eyes: A Reflection on Homelessness" by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition/or the Homeless and Mother ofMercy High School. He thanks Media Bridges for use ofsoft- and hardware. Page 13 July, 2003 Ohio Senate Restores Pare.nts' Medicaid Empowerment Coalition also issue the Ohio Empowerment Coverage worked with the Emergency Coalition has been working on in by Lynn Williams, Ohio Empowerment Coalition The Ohio Empowerment Coalition applauds the Ohio Senate for voting to restore Parents' Medicaid Coverage in the State Budget Bill (HB 95). This vote is a step forward in the positive direction of getting Medicaid coverage continued for 50,000 parents who are working but earning below poverty wages. At this level of income, parents cannotafford to pay the high cost of health insurance premiums. The 2001 national average health insurance premium was more than $2,600 for an individual's coverage and more than $7,000 a year for families (Source: Families USA). Those who are earning less than poverty level ($15,260 for a Family Size of 3)'simply cannot afford the high cost of health care insurance. · The Ohio Empowerment Coalition conducted a postcard campaign, involving its member groups in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, Adams/Brown/Clermonf counties and Athens, as well as individual members in other areas across Ohio. In April and May over a thousand postcards were signed and mailed to the Senate Finance Chair, Sen. Bill Harris. The campaign focuses on getting parents' Medicaid coverage restored as well as child care subsidies restored to 185% of the federal poverty level. The Ohio Campaign to Protect Ohio's Future and the Family Coverage Coalition (both organized by Have A Heart Ohio). It took the efforts of thousands of ordinary citizens across the state to convince the Ohio Senate to make these beneficial changes that will affect Ohio's low-income famil ies. Welfare time limits in Ohio mandate that low-income mothers lose their eligibility for cash assistance. Families on welfare are automatically eligible for Medicaid, but this is not guaranteed once they are off welfare and working a low-wage job. "Without Medicaid coverage continuing, we would lose our health care when we take jobs. Without health care we would be worse off than ever," states Carla P itsinger of the D.;:iyton Ohio Empowerment Coalition. According to "Families USA", Medicaid is the only source of health insurance for most low-income people. Only 55 percent of low-wage workers ($7.00 per hour or below) receive health insurance benefits paid for by an employer. Without health care coverage, many of the uninsured wait until a health care crisis, then turn to a hospital emergency room. The average cost of hospitalization for a heart attack is $25,000 and $7,300 for a · severe asthma attack. Restoring child care to the 185% of poverty level is another its postcard campaign. Although progress was made when the Senate voted to restore child care subsidies to 165% of poverty level, we will continue to advocate that subsidies be restored to 185% of poverty level. The budget bill (Sub. HB 95) now goes to the conference committee to reconcile differences in the House version and Senate version. The House version did not include restoring Parents' Medicaid Coverage or stopping the cuts to child care subsidies. The Ohio Assembly budget must be fin ished by June 30. It will also require the signature of Gov. Taft to take effect. (Unfortunate ly, Gov. Taft had eliminated Parent Coverage and also proposed eli minating child care subsidies above 150% of federal poverty leveJ in his proposed budget.) For more information or to find out how you can get invo]ved in the Ohio Empowerment Coalition or the local chapter, the Cincinnati Welfare Rights Coalition, call 1­ 877-862-5179. Wish List Cao You Help? Streetvibes newspaper is published monthly on a shoe­ string budget from the offices of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless·. Can you help us with some of the following items? * VCR for making copies of Streetvibes TV show and for educational packets * Blank VHS tapes * Desktop paper folder * Blank CD-RW Disks - for Streetvibes archives * Supplies for Vendor's Lounge (paper towels, cream and sugar, snacks, etc.) * Cleaning Supplies * "I've learned my lesson, your Honor. From now on I 'll only steq.l from other peoples companies." Office Supplies - postage stamps, floppies, copier paper and other supplies lfyou can help, contact us at: Streetvibes, c/o Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 1506 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-780l e-mail: streetvibes@juno.com �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Art& Poetry Dismissed Remember Us Shock and Awe by Michael Henson Only men who have made their souls small can contemplate such things. Only men with minds abstracted can murder with untroubled hearts. These men have made their souls small but their minds are very large. The pages of their books ripple with muscular theory. The screens oftheir computers fill with graphics. Their powerful search engines discover and delete every micron of resistance. They have charted destruction down to the megabyte. The color ofsand, the taste of salt, the prickle ofheat, the weight ofa piece offiuit are nothing to these men. For their souls are small, made smaller with every lie, and their minds are abstracted and augmented. Fed daily on megahertz and silicon, the inflated minds stride down the broken avenues. They would be like gods were their souls not so small. by Chris Whitler i am unseen but i am not nameless. i live pretty close to you. my life is chaos but i don't really know it, as chaos is all i've ever known. i am not an alcoholic. i have never taken drugs. i am not irresponsible. i didn't make a choice. i live in a tent. i live in a dirty motel. i am surrounded by prostitution, alcohol and drugs. i am surrounded by violence. i am constantly hearing harsh and vulgar language. i am not encouraged. i am not educated. i do not have a dentist. i rarely have a hot meal. there is no one in a kitchen making anything for me. i get by. i am dirty. where i live is dii:ty. i use the bathroom in the park. i never leave this town. i do not think about the future. my life is today. i am 1, i am 5, i am 12. i am a homeless child. Page 14 No Pompoms-For Jackie by Cherokee Home/girl Walker I, Jackie, of the Ovah the Rhine slopes gotta say Pompom Cincy ain't cheering of me. No pretty tuft shake, flattering my hands just the landlord cop, he came pride piles standing on his shoulders, anchors for that fat hea<l-.MHe cuts leases, he locks public housebox homes. He listens to denial selectively blinding his eyes when I say, ghettopathnics jump on my daughter. Cuts scratched on her face so she bleed between her hands. She has no wings to fly from my side so he can not see. A piece written by Chris Whitler for the April Isme ofCurbside News It All Came Tumbling Down by Cindy Carlson They say that he watched over NH From 2 million years back. They made him famous Profiled him on currency, Postcar~s and crap. Friday he died. with a rumble Sliding down like Jack In a great tumble Ironic I think Since responsibiliti~s ofhis watch Most recently lack. No funding for schools No insurance for workers ~ousing cost soar Budget cuts hit hardest The elderly and poor Suddenly a Governor's task force formed For this one dead Meanwhile the rest ofus, Dealing with dread What will it cost? How much to spend? Special cash for this lost? Where will it end? Rebuild it? Memorialize it? Its just rocks! What about the people Li~ng the hard knocks? Manchester, NH by Peter A. Deane Oh judge, oh judge, please hear his voice, he's only a peacemaker, . and has no other choice, to bring truth to the story, and form to the plans, with words to paper; he's a witness with pen. Arrested he was, for standing his ground, handcuffed and locked up, but never thrown to the ground. What more couJd he do? He listens to reasons," and has affirmed the blinders placed tight on our leaders. He only wants them removed. Suddenly the court door opened, and as quick as a flash, the witµess stood before us, his time had come at last. But the prosecutor said, "For the great good of the people, there's only one word that can be said.. . and that is ... dismissed!" And the people of Cincinnati clapped, rr· and then clapped some more. Later that day, I thought about it all, while asking myself, what are we fighting for? The peacemakers! The witnesses with pens! The future generations! Our freedoms! Their freedoms! Freedom to think! Freedom to dream! Freedom to learn! Freedom to teach! Freedom to sit and write! Freedom to stand and speak! In our courts, in our halls, in our homes, and on our streets, free. Corruption of power lies to the people, is bullshit piled high, easy answers become hard to find. What are you fighting for? Oh, you witness - witness with pen. Thank you, Mr. Flannery, for your extra, extra, extra, read all about it, shovel it away, searching for truth stand. �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Art&Poetry Page 15 A Letter From God The Message by Sheila Lindsey by Aaron Pitchford Dear Child, I wrote you this letter so that you can see, · All you need in this world is me. There was a guy named Joe When his mother died he had nowhere to go His father turned his back And he cold-blooded didn't get no slack So he wouldn't collect his rent Because it might've made a dent Because his father had one serious fault He was fueled with greed So back to Cincinnati with a little more income And an apartment he sought So after time went on and plenty of rest His faith became strong as the power was heaven sent Because he didn't give it up. I You have to believe I can help you, I can. You can't do it alone, no, not one mortal man. Wasn't I there when you couldn't be strong? When all were against you and everything went wrong? I'm the one who created every rock, tree and bird. When you send me your prayers, I hear every word. I've given you every one ofyour bright, new da~s~ 'I've tried to show you my love in so many ways. I've watched you um to drugs when you were in pain, And I've watched as they drove you slowly insane. I watch as you go through your day, worry free, And you never take the time to talk to me. I wrote you this letter to let you know, I LOVE YOU, and I'll never let you go. If it's a shoulder you need to dry your tears, Or comfort your need to ease your fears, I am nothing but a prayer away, So call if you need my help today. With love Eternal, Your Father, GOD Go Go Jesus by Cherokee Homegirl Walker I got the nocontest Ohio Revised Code disorderly conviction, and he know this. My check did not tum like Sweet Jesus grace, mercy nah nah I tore up a wicked temple feastin, breeding beat up my pretty headstart child foes Oh, Dear President Johnson, too early to go J. F. Kennedy so she bleed between her hands. She has no wings to fly from my side so he can not see. Still in Love by Michael A. Willis I met this gentleman at this place Where I sometimes eat, I call him a friend Because he has been a friend to me He sometimes tells me stories of his past life, He tells about the up and downs that he went through With his wife. He told me something that I will remember for as long as I live if you want to know the secret to Wisdom you must learn how to forgive. For without forgiveness you w ill never make it home to God up above. This my Wife and I learned from each other and that's why We are still in love. Bill Clinton at the Indianapolis 500 • Boulders of Big Business by Laura E. Clisbee Let us move the stone gentleman to the toadstool wood where they may benefit. Their granite shoulders, a resting spot for the creatures of flight; their soles of rock, a roof to the burrowing kind. There amongst the fallen branches, atop the moss laden floor, the craggy corporate aristocrats will cohabitate with creation. Instinctively coalescing, tickled by the breeze, smelling the mud. Let us move the stone gentlemen to the toadstool wood where they may be reborn. Deliver them back to nature, that they may live again. Reprinted from Whats Up, Boston, MA. �STREETVIBES July, 2003 Page 16 almost anyplace would be better with others. But I've met many than here. Our city government who a~e so fa r into addictions and From a truly compassionate heart, really seems like it wants to make it the day by day routines that they we stopped and tried to help. The hard for the homeless here. are just wasting away time. Mind minute our money was in their If you think thei{ decisions you, many housed folks in north band, the tears stopped and they stink, you can tell them every Modesto do this same thing ... they jumped in their car and took off Tuesday at Spm. The first agenda can just hide it better. down the freeway. Here I was, item for every council meeting is Look up from your Life! someone who truly cared and I got public discussion. Go! Be a thorn Get clean (easier said than done)! taken advantage of. Don't do stuff in their side. Make them pay There are many resources available like that. It sucks. attention to the homeless. to you to recover from addiction. You don't need an Right now they are making We all have addictions, I'm not elaborate story to get folks to help. decisions about what to do with looking down on anyone but we If you're jonesing for a cigarette, some money for a day shelter. need to commit to working don't say you're hungry. Okay, so La Loma through our issues in order to make I have talked to so many Neighborhood Association makes it our lives work. If you want help, people that really respect those hard for you. Form your own go get it. Get clear, and you can guys whose sign says, "Why lie, I Neighborhood Ass~ciation!_ Jorm take action in your life and maybe need a beer!" In some ways, that's the Moose Park Neighbors United help others. Utilize the library. much more respectable than some or the Dry Creek Campers Find an interest. You can make the of the crazy stories I've gotten. Association and get involved. Isn't world a better place right where Foster trust among the it a right for everyone to sleep? Is you are. Are you angry that more housed folks you meet. Be honest there a way for monies provided to people don't care for the poor? with them. If you don't want to be spent more wisely? Do you Why don't you start doing open up and tell the truth then want a legal camping ground? Do something? don't say anything at all. It's better you want a day center? Should the Recently at Bob "Big for everyone. city make it illegal or hard to have Word" Helton's memorial I realized Be neat another shelter in the city limits? If what a simple dream can do in this I was at the police sweep of you are informed, involved and world. I did not know him well, Dry Creek last week. We come to vocal then the city could not feign but I am working with The make sure everyone is treated fairly ignorance. Coalition On Homelessness And and to lend a hand to the campers They would at least have to Poverty partly because of him and who are displaced. They do listen to you. All of the city council his ideas. He never fully recovered sweeps when the complaints build receive this paper...you can write from the hard realities ofhis life up about trash from the housed but he did leave the world a better an article for us. No one is going neighbors. to understand your situation better place because he was here and he They came across a really than you. so help them see. cared. Do you care? Get creative. tidy camp site but as they were Be Creative If you need a sounding board to down there they had to displace the I've met so many that are bounce ideas off of or a structure campers. Had it not been for the to help you implement your ideas, realty "working" their garbage at other sites, the sweep homelessness. They are let us know. We' ll see you in the would not have been necessary and volunteering, getting involved and parks! this nice site could have gone helping others. They travel, find Reprinted courtesy of Curbside unharmed. One source actually News, Stanislaus County, odd jobs, seek education and told me that if the camps are kept .._..._._.;. enrichment and create community California, May 2003. ~""":':~ neat and packed up every day that there would be less need for the sweeps. is published monthly on a shoe-stri It would be way better for budget from ces ofthe Greater Cincinnati Coalition fot the whole camping community to the Homeless. Can fOU help us with some ofthe following travel light, stay packed up and neat. Most parks have garbage items? bins. Keep your site clean and no o Desktop Paper Folder one will have reason to complain and there would be less ~weeps . I o Blank CD-RW Disks - For Streetvibes Archives get the feeling that the police really o Supplies for Vendor's Lounge (paper towels, cream and do not want to do the sweeps. sugar, snacks, etc.) They know there is no place for o Office and Cleaning Supplies you to go. Not trashing your site would make sweeps less frequent. Thoughts from a New Guy by Chris Whitler . I am greliln. It's been a year and a half since I began working with the Coalition (in California) and I still feel like I'm only getting started. I have been housed all my life. I am not rich but I get by. I care about homelessness and I'm trying to process why. Here are some thoughts to ponder out of my complete ignorance. I hope I do not offend you. Be Civil I have met so many nice folks in the parks over the past year and especially in the past few months. Folks that are glad to meet us and truly interested and helpful to guide us in understanding the homeless experience. But there have been a few folks that have made it pretty hard to keep a compassionate outlook. There was a table full of guys in one park on the West Side who when I approached them to give them a copy of this publication (Curbside News) they jumped all over me because there was a bible verse on the front. I proceeded to try and get them to just open the pages and take a look and they refused. They thought I was only interested in getting them to become Christians. But I just wanted to give them a little paper that may be helpful, comforting and interesting to them. I let them know that people like them make it hard for the housed folks to care. My skin's a little thicker as I've been around this a lot, but had I been a first timer trying to lend a hand I probably would never try to help again When someone approaches you to try and help somehow, with food or change or information, please be civil. If they are saying ignorant or misinformed things, gently help them understand your reality. If you want the housed population to open their eyes to the plight ofthe homeless community then engage them. Help them understand. Don't attack. A little kindness goes a long way. Be Honest Nothing makes people more angry thart being conned. My wife and I were in Chicago working with a homeless shelter and were caught in traffic (surprise, surprise). There was a couple on the side of the road by a car that were imploring us in traffic to help them as they had run out of gas. They said they only needed some money. The woman was crying. ____________________ Be Involved Remember those guys that yelled at me in the West Side park? They kept saying they wanted me to go to city council for them and get something done politically. We have done and will do that in the future, but so can you. Did you know that you could speak your voice at every city council meeting? Modesto is a terrible place to be homeless ...well, I know anyplace would be but an help, contact US at: SM bl!S, c/o Greater Cincinnati UOalition for the Homeless 1506 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-7803 • • • e-mail: streetvibes@JUDO.com Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression ofthe views and opinions ofour readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those ofthe Streetvibes staffor the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. �STREETVIBES Page 17 July, 2003 Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Report FRAC News Digest (www.FRAC.org) The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) News Digest highlights what's new on hunger, nutrition and poverty issues at FRAC, at the U.S. Department ofAgriculture, around the network of national, state and local anti­ poverty and anti-hunger organizations, and in the media. The Digest will alert you to trends, reports, news items and resources and, when available, link you directly to them. SENATOR ELIZABETH DOLE DEVOTES FIRST SENATE FLOOR SPEECH TO HUNGER IN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD (Wilmington Star, Wilmington, NC, June 10, 2003) In her first speech on.! he Senate floor, North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) spoke about hunger in the United States and abroad. Calling hunger "the silent enemy lurking within too manyAmerican homes," Dole said that 900,000 North Carolinians are not able to afford enough food. She suggested making more children eligible for free meals at school, and giving tax cuts to businesses that donate food to food banks or lend trucks to carry food. http ://www.wilmingtonstar.com/ apps/pbcs. dll/article'.?AID=/ 2003061 O/EDITORIAL/ 306100311 NEW STANDARD OF PROOF FOR SUBSIDIZED SCHOOL LUNCHES AND THE EITC WILL BURDEN THE WORKING POOR (The Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, June 16, 2003) Beginning in August, the Internal Revenue Service will start sending letters to about 45,000 non-traditional child guardians who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit on their tax returns. These letters will require some taxpayers to produce official records and third-party affidavits in order to prove that the children they have claimed for tax purposes really live with them. Additionally, the US. Department ofAgriculture may require families to show proof ofincome in order to receive free school lunches. These extra burdens may discourage many eligible working families from applying for and receiving the services that they need. http ://www. ctnow. com/news/ custom/newsat3/hc­ taxcredit0615 .artjun16, 0, 1795010. story?coll=hc-headlines-newsat3 THE U.S. BOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESCJIIl,D TAX CREDIT WILL GIVE BIGGER TAX BREAK TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THAN TO LOW-INCOME FAMILIES (The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, June 12, 2002) According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the child tax credit being considered by the US. House ofRepresentatives would give a far larger tax break to Members of Congress than to working low-income families. Members of Congress will receive a child tax.credit of $875 per child. A working family. with two children and an income of $20,000 will receive a child tax credit of $237.50 per child, a little more than one fourth what a Member of Congress will receive. http://www.cbpp.orgt'.6-12­ 03tax.htm NEW USDA WEB-BASED PRE­ SCREENINGTOOLWILL HELP ELIGIBLE PEOPLE GET FOOD STAMPS (National League ofCities, June 16, 2003) In early June, Secretary ofAgriculture Ann Veneman unveiled an online pre-screening tool for food stamps. Anyone can use the tool to find out whether he or she is likely eligible, and what benefit level he or she would receive. Jim Weill, president of FRAC, praised the new tool for four reasons: food stamps are critical to help families make ends meet, participation rates are too low, the pre-screening tool may help facilitate food stamp applications, and people are more likely to apply or food stamps if they know how much they may receive. http ://www.nlc.org/nlc_ org/site/ newsroom/nations_cities_weekly/ display.cfin?id=BB65D800-5F93­ 4EDA-ABA057F7Al C9A378 OREGON FOOD STAMP PARTICIPATION IS DOUBLE WHAT IT WAS IN 2000 (The Business Journal, Portland, OR, June 11, 2003) Oregon, known as the hungriest state in the country, has increased its food stamp participation rate by more than seventy percent since 2000. Oregon now has the ninth highest food stamp participation rate in the country. The participation rate has risen in part because of the bad economy, but also because of extensive outreach efforts by both statewide agencies and anti-hunger non-profit organizations. However, even with so many people on food stamps, many Oregon families find it hard to make ends meet. http://www. katu.com/news/ story. asp?ID=5.83 84 http ://portland.bizjoumals. com/ portland/stories/2003/06/09/ daily23 . html PHILADELPHIA IS INCREASING OUTREACH EFFORTS WITH GRANT FROM STATE (Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 15, 2003) A recent statewide grant from the US . Department ofAgriculture is allowing the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, a community advocacy organization, to increase its outreach efforts to potential food stamp participants. Sixty-eight percent of eligible Pennsylvanians receive food stamps, a number that local community advocates hope to improve. Volunteers have begun outreach efforts to encourage eligible residents to apply for food stamps. Realizing that complicated application forms sometimes function as deterrents, volunteers are helping applicants through the application process. http://www.jewishexponent.com/ ZOOMasp?stoiyID=16908&szparent=I 9&pubID=208&Archive=True FOOD STAMP DEMAND RISES IN SOUTH DAKOTA (Associated Press, June 9, 2003) Food stamp caseloads have increased in South Dakota for both households and individuals since 2000. An administrator for the state Department of Social Services suggests that the caseload rise is the result ofa bad economy. The state administrator also notes that although food stamps are in higher demand now, they are generally only needed for a short time, and seventy to eighty percent of recipients are working. The caseload rise comes at the same time as higher demand for health care and legal assistance for low­ income people. State Senator Gil Koetzle notes that even some people with full-time jobs cannot afford to put food on the t~ble or buy ~ealth insurance. http://www.aberdeennews.com/ mld/aberdeennews/news/ 6047988.htm PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN CITY OFAPPLETON, WISCONSIN, BAN SODAAND CANDY VENDING MACHINES (Post-Crescent, Appleton, WI, June 10, 2003) The Board ofEducation in Appleton, Wisconsin, has recently voted to stop selling candy and soda on school grounds. The Superintendent of the Board of Education noted that there is "an obligation to provide the safest, healthiest environment" for children in school, and banning soda and candy from the schools is a step in that direction. One teacher noticed an improvement in student behavior after the elimination of soda and candy vending in his school. Principals and teachers support the board 's decision, while some students expect to start bringing sweets from home, or buying them from nearby stores. http ://www.wisinfo.com/ postcrescent/news/archive/ local 10713070.shtml HUNGER PERSISTS IN CALIFORNIAFARM COUNTRY (Associated Press, June 15, 2003) California's child poverty rate is twenty percent - three percentage points above the national average ­ and there are some farm counties~n California that remain pockets of much deeper poverty. This Associated Press article examines Tulare County, where poverty is so rampant that all six hundred children in the elementary school receive free meals. Most residents are farm laborers. The article nqtes that although Tulare County is rife with hunger, it is also the number two county in the nation for agricultural production. http ://www.billingsgazette.com/ index. php?id= l&display=rednews/ 2003/06/ 15/build/world/n-40­ hunger.inc SOFT-DRINK COMPANIES TO OFFER FLAVORED DAIRY DRINKS (The Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2003) Drink giants like Coca-Cola Co. and Cadbury Schweppes PLC are beginning to launch flavored dairy drinks aimed at teens. These companies hope to use the fact that dairy drinks are more nutritious than sodas as a selling point. Flavors will include blueberry, chocolate, vanilla-banana, and pina colada. The drinks contain just over fifty percent milk, which means that they will not be able to use the word "milk" on their labels. They will not need refrigeration. Although these drinks will contain some milk products, they will still be substantially less nutritious than regular milk. http://www.azcentral.com/business/ articles/0609dairydrinks-ON. html �STREETVI BE S Editorial July, 2003 Page 18 Media Silent on Clark's 9/11 Comments: General says White House pushed Saddam link without evidence from FA IR-L, Fairnes.<i & Accuracy 111 R eporting Sunday morning talk shows like ABC 's This Week or Fox ews Sunday often make news for days afterward. Since prominent government officials dominate the guest lists of the programs, it is not unusual for the Monday editions of major newspapers to report on interviews done by the Sunday chat sbows. But the June 15 edition of NBC's Meet the Press was unusual for the buzz that it didn't generate. Former General Wesley Clark told anchor Tim Russert that Bush administration officials had engaged in a campaign to implicate Saddam Hussein in the September 11 attacks- starting that very day. Clark said that he' d been called on September 11 and urged to link Baghdad to the terror attacks, but declined to do so because of a lack ofevidence. Here is a transcript of the exchange: CLARK: "There was a concerted effort during the faU of 2001, starting immediately after 9/ 11, to pin 9/11 and the terrorism problem on Saddam H ussein." R USSERT: "By who? Who did that?" CLARK: "Well, it came from the White House, it came from people around the White House. It came from all over. I got a call on 9/11. I was on CNN, and I got a caJI at my home saying, ' You got to say this is connected. This is state­ sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to Saddam Hussein .' I said, 'But-I'm willing to say it, but what's your evidence? ' And I never got any evidence." Clark's assertion corroborates a little-noted CBS Evening News story that aired on September 4, 2002. As covering damaging revelations correspondent David Martin about the Bush administration's reported: "Barely five.hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed intelligence on Iraq, yet still seem into the Pentagon, the secretary of strangely reluctant to pursue stories suggesting that the flawed defense was telling his aides to intelligence- and therefore the start thinking about striking Jraq, even though there was no evidence war- may have been a result of deliberate deception, rather than linking Saddam Hussein to the incompetence. T he public deserves attacks." According to CBS, a Pentagon aide's notes from that a fuller accounting of this story. day quote Rumsfeld asking for the If you ' d like to encourage media "best info fast" to "judge whether good enough to hit SH at the same outlets to investigate this .story, time, not only UBL." (The initials please see FAIR's Media Contact SH and UBL stand for Saddam list: http ://www.fair.org/media­ Hussein and Osama bin Laden.) contact-list.html The notes then quote Rumsfeld as demanding, ominously, that the To make a donation to FA.IR: http:/ -/www.fair.org/donate.html administration's response "go massive.. .sweep it all up, things related and not." Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra! Despite its implications, For more information, go to: http :// Martin 's report 'Yas greeted largely www.fair.org/ extra/subscribe. html . with silence when it aired. Now, Or call 1-800-847-3 993. nine months later, media are If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. M oslie Dayan Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire. Tei/hard de Cliardin Very few people chose war. They chose selfishness and the result was war. Each of us, individually and nationaUy, must choose: total love or total war. I Dave Dellinger Know Your Rights Brochure Available! The Know Your Rights Brochure is now available at the Coalition's office. The brochure is a legal guide for C incinnati's homeless and covers a person's basic rights when interacting with the police, as well as some local ,. 1 ft ., laws that might be ofinterest to the ~! · W' homeless population. If you are a ~ ~. homeless person or if you work with homeless people and would ~ like to obtain free copies of the , brochure for yourself or your agency, please call 421-7803 , or stop by the Coalition office and pick one up. Advertise in Streetvibes! Reach thousands of downtown zrorkers each month! Call 421-7803 for more information about how advertising in Streetvibes will work for your business_ �STREETVIBES Page 19 July, 2003 AmeriCorps program to be cut by 58°/o From the National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness http://studentsagainsthunger.org/ americorps In today's world, we should be doing everything we can to provide opportunities for young people to serve their communities. AmeriCorps involves young people in civic life, helps them to expand their educational experience through participation in service, and encourages them to become active members of society. And AmeriCorps members perform countless important services such as teaching at-risk students, running mentorship programs, and cleaning up rivers and parks. President Bush has repeatedly praised AmeriCorps and promised to dramatically expand the program, even making it a priority in his 2002 State of the Union speech. Many homeless programs around the nation depend on the services ofthe AmeriCorp program in order to successfully perform their work. ...,,.1 But under President Bush's watch, the program is severely threatened, and the White House has done little to help. Now AmeriCorps is facing cuts in the next few weeks that will eliminate over half ofthe nation's AmeriCorps members. Some states would see their AmeriCorps programs cut by over 80%. These cuts would mean an end to hundreds ofvaluable programs. Despite his many promises to support AmeriCorps, the President has done nothing to prevent these cuts or challenge Congress to reverse them. In fact, the President's 2004 pudget request actually asks for $40 million less for AmeriCorps than he requested in 2003. President Bush has repeatedly failed to back up his promises to support and expand the program. Now, the best chance for AmeriCorps is for the President to request supplemental funding so that the program can hire 50,000 members this year. Take a minute right now to e-mail President Bush and tell him that he needs to request supplemental funding so that AmeriCorps is fully funded this year: ttp :// studentsagainsthunger.org/ americorps Head Start Bill Nears House Floor Vote: Action Needed On Head Start Reauthorization Bill From the National Head Start Association (NHSA): Last month, the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted along party lines to support the eight-state block granting ofHeadStart. AJl the Democrats on the·committee voted against block granting, while all Republicans voted for it. A floor vote js expected foJlowing the July 4th weekend. Please continue to bring the following messages to your members of Congress in the House and Senate. To contact your member of Congress, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 225­ 3121. The new Castle bill is stiU a block grant and threatens to dismantle Head Start. AJthough the new bill limits the block grant to eight states, that is still eight states too many. Any measure that turns Head Start funding over to the states and without including the comprehensive services ofthe national Program Performance Standards will lead to the wsmantling ofa quality program that for 38 years has ensured that this nation's neediest children enter school "ready to learn. " Among our other concerns with the bill: - It provides little additional funding. With a proposed increase of only $203 million, the latest bill would not even allow Head Start to keep pace with inflation let alone add eligible children, pay for the proposed BA degree requirements, or provide enough resources to improve state collaboration. - It provides no meaningful federal oversight. AJthough slightly improved from the previous version, the new bill hands over primary oversight responsibility to the states. - It repeals civil rights protections for Head Start employees. The new bill adds a provision allowing programs to discriminate in hiring practices based on religion . . - It provides the Secretary of Health and Human Services with the discretion to prohibit the use of T/TA dollars for traveling to all training conferences. Reps. Michael Castle (R-Delaware) and John Boehner (R-Ohio) claim that their goal is to improve the quality ofHead Start, yet their bill would allow the Secretary to prohibit parents, staff, and directors from using T/TA dollars to travel to national, state, and local training conferences. For years these settings have enabled the Head Start community to benefit from high quality training's. Just to be clear, this would mean no T/TA funds could be used to travel to NHSA, NAEYC, or any other national conferences as well as any state association conferences, unless approved by the Secretary. - It does not improve quality by turning Head Start over to unknown, untested, and unproven state programs. On the other hand, there are ways to improve collaboration and coordination and the quality ofHead Start within the current federal-to-local structure. The Bush Administration argues that the only way to improve collaboration and coordination and school readiness is to dismantle the program through state-controlled block grants. Of course, there is no evidence that states can do a better job than the federal government and, in fact, studies have found the opposite to be true. Rather than dismantling Head Start, one way to improve the quality ofHead Start programs is to make sure every classroom ha~ an educated and weH-trained teacher. This can be accomplished by requiring 50 percent ofHead _Start teachers to have a BA degree and with adequate compensation to make it a reality. Collaboration and coordination can be improved through strengthening state collaboration offices, breaking down barriers between state pre-k and Head Start programs, and providing states a role in training and the technical assistance system. Ten to one it . was a non-unron project. �Need Help or Want to Help? If you need help or Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 would like to help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below _ SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 721 -0643 Drop Inn Center Haven House 863-8866 ·interfaith 471-11 oo Hospitality Lighthouse Youth Center 861-1111 (Teens) St. John's Housing 651 -6446 Sl:IELTERS: Women and Children YWCA Battered Women's Shelter 872-9259 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome House 859-431-8717 Women's Crisis Center 859-491 -3335 l:IOUSING: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 241 -0504 Miami Purchase OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381-1171 Tender Mercies 639-7056 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 SHELTER: Meo City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 St. Francis/St.Joseph House 381-4941 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 Formed in 1984, The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a membership organization. Our member groups serve the homeless through emergency shelter, transitional living facilities, permanent housing, medical services, social services, soup kitchens, and mental health/addiction services. The Coalition also consists of individual citizens who want to take an active role in ensuring that Cincinnati is an inclusive community, meeting the needs of all of its citizens. Join the fight to end homelessness; contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at (513) 421-7803, 1506 Elm street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 or.Gt• Cl\CIMai CoalMloft for .­. lMHolft•il• • .... TREATMENT: Men Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Bo.th NA Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. .Hotline 351-0422 C.C.A.T. 381-6660 Tatbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In 721 -0643 Program OTl:IER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of Gincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living Options 241-2600 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless . 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221-3619 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids. 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4357 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/l:IAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2003 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource July 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: City Gives Free, Legal Licenses to Panhandling Politely Pg 2: Editorial Pg 3: Donate Pg 4: Reader Mail Pg 5: To Know and to Understand the Homeless We All Are Just One Step Away from Being Homeless Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: Homeless News Digest Pg 8: The Drop Inn Center and Washington Park Development Pg 9: Homeless Individuals Partnership (HIT Force) Pg 10: Pendleton Heritage Center Hosts Summer Photo Workshop for East End Kids Pg 11: Over-the-Rhine Festival Pg 12: Protests Against Play Sparks Eloquent Discussion of Art’s Power, Censorship, Media Treatment Pg 13: Ohio Senate Restores Parents’ Medicaid Coverage Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: News & Editorial Pg 17: Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Report Pg 18: Media Silent on Clark’s 9/11 Comments Pg 19: AmeriCoprs Program to be Cut by 58% Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Steve Shockley Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Jerome Manigan Elain Coffy Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF AmeriCoprs Andy Erickson Arts & Poetry Brendan Goodwin Drop Inn Center Elain Coffy Food Research FRAC Georgine Getty HIT House of Representatives Jerome Manigan Jimmy Heath Mary Gaffney Media Medicaid News & Editorials Ohio panhandling Peace Village Pendleton Heritage Center Protests Reader Mail Senate Steve Shockley Washington Park Workshop https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/b4f0f7bb5ddcd924705c10a3f5c467d8.pdf 0763ef5ffa80f06ada2ca9d318edcb29 PDF Text Text · Your Prooressive News Source BUY FROM BADGED 9ENDORS ONLY Se tember 20113 // I I I' ,/ Cincinnati for the �September 2003 Homeless Under Attack; Protecting People Who Live Outside -----­ ---- Office (GAO) investigation injury, the youth videotaped their into the nature and scope of crimes, which ultimately led to violent acts and crimes that their arrests. It is easy to see why occur against people experiencing homelessness. Ohio has been named the fourth most dangerous state to live in.if Their efforts are driving a you are homeless. movement to position 123 homeless people have homeless people as a died in the last four years as a protected class against all result of this kind of hate. A study forms of discrimination. conducted by the National Malachi and Glenn . ., ' Cincinnati Civil Rights Project meeting at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Story and photos by Jimmy Heath All Malachi wants is membership in a designated group and because the victim was to be left alone. He lives quietly engaged in certain specified under a bridge near downtown federally-protected activities - such Cincinnati. Glenn lives in the camp as serving on a jury, voting, or too. But recently, Mal achi and Glenn have been the target of hate; attending public school. Hate crimes are commonly their make-shift camp near Lytle called bias-motivated crimes, Park and the Ohio River has referring to the prejudice or repeatedly been a target of partiality of the perpetrator against unknown aggressors, who have the victim's real or perceived thrown rocks and eggs at them and grouping or circumstance. Most their friends, and have vandalized the camp. Things have been taken from the camp and recently a pile of clothing was neatly arranged and then set on fire. Glenn has had his personal belongings scattered and hate crimes are committed not by organized hate groups, but by individual citizens who harbor a .strong resentment against a certain group of people. Some are "mission his vital kidney medication was offenders," who believe they are on stolen. The vandals come back a mission to cleanse the world of a regularly, usually when Glenn and particular evil. Others are Malachi and the others are away "scapegoat offenders," who project from their camp. their resentment through violence "They usually don't come toward the growing economic around and mess with us when power, media attention, or other there is a ball game or other event perceived positions of power of a downtown. They like to be sneaky when no one is around," says Glenn. The term "hate crime" generally conjures up images of cross l;mmings and lynchings, swastikas on Jewish synagogues, and horrific murders of gays and lesbians. In 1968, the U.S. Congress defined a hate crime as a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of their race, color or national origin. The first federal law to combat hate crimes, 18 USC Section 245, passed in 1 968; mandated that the government must prove both that the crime occurred because of a victim's particular racial or ethnic group. Still others are "thrill seekers" those who take.advantage of a vulnerable and disadvantaged group in order to satisfy their own ec Coalition for the Homeless join the ranks of homeless revealed that from 1999-2002, people around the country there were 212 acts of violence who have been brutalized by which resulted in the 123 deaths. people who can't stand the Further, 89 acts of non-lethal sight of folks living in public, violence were also reported. Many or hold unreasonable more hate crimes against homeless resentments against certain people go unreported because the vulnerable people. Over the victims are unwilling to contact law ,:__­ years hate crimes and violent enforcement because of fear of acts against homeless people have retaliation or distrust. All homeless been increasing with frequency and people have faced hate to some brutality. The killing of Hector degree, and most of it comes from · housed individuals. Robles in Paterson, New Jersey by Sometimes when given a a mob of high school boys sympathetic ear homeless people saturated front pages and evening will share their stories of these news reports with its horrid encounters. Malachi did not want brutality and inexplicable his photo taken for this story motivation. Hidden from most because he is worried about living rooms, however, were a retaliation. "I'm just not sure number of other shocking crimes who's behind this, and until we find committed nationwide against homeless people this year. A 22- out who is responsible, I want to stay anonymous," said Malachi. year-old woman was stabbed almost 1 5 times and thrown into the Charles River in Cambridge, MA. A man was drenched with gasoline and set on fire in New York City. An army veteran in Ventura, CA, was beaten to death while resting in his sleeping bag. Closer to home, Ohioans were horrified by the actions of a group of young men in Cleveland who shocked homeless people sleeping in doorways with a stun gun and tried to defecate and Malachi and his friends have seen the vigilantes, who once yelled threateningly atthe men in the camp, "You are finished ! " " I don't 11.ke t o be t eatened," says Malachi, "I don't want ariyone to get hurt." Glenn adde g/"Don't th y have anything better to do than pick on us?" · For more information and resources about the homeless and hate crimes against the homeless visit the web site of the National Coalition for the Homeless - http:// urinate on them while they were nationalhomeless. orglcivilrightsl incapacitated. To add insult to hatecrimes. html pleasures. Thrill seekers, primarily in their teens, are the most common perpetrators of violence against the homeless population. This may be the demographic that has targeted Malachi and Glenn and their encampment. A passerby told them recently that their attackers may be a group of young men from nearby Page Towers, an upscale downtown apartment building near the men's camp. The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) in .Washington, DC has called on Congress for a General Accounting Glenn (left) looks on during Civil Rights meeting Grea er Cincinnati Coal· ion for t e Homeless �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Editorial Page 2 Does War Mentality Sustain Us As Consumers? by Jimmy Heath, Streetvibes editor When the horrible tragedy of September I Ith transpired two years ago this month, we suddenly began to look at the world in a culture fully entrenched in cheesy billboards, boorish TV commercials, and lame displays of our flag. In Ohio, 22 cents_ of each different way, peering over our gallon of gas sold is tax money, political shoulders for enemies that most of it used for transportation we did not fully realize. Had we costs in the state. This means that foolishly stumbled through the . the bigger the vehicle, the more gas world without regard or you use and the more you pay in . consequence to the hate we were fostering in people we didn't even taxes. That seems fair. In fact, I think the tax should be higher. know? There are people "out Owners will continue to shell out there" who were and still are intent good money in exchange for the on our destruction. They are not use of their cushy vehicles. after us so much as a people but Americans will go to whatever extent to get and defend the right view. Some of the world sees us as rich, overpowering and bunkers and hidden cave's; and with weapons created out of imagination and bailing wire, cell phones and fanaticism. United Nations sanctions that stifled Iraq's economy for the past 1 3 years were lifted in May, when the United States and Britain won broad powers to run Iraq and sell its oil until a new government is established. Iraq has the world's second largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia. That's significant for rising cost of rebuilding Iraq, with be hated so much by so many. hate depends on your point of the oil field board rooms; in a number of reasons; chiefly, the Unfortunately, most more as a way of life. It is scary to The reason for this kind of waged against us will be fought in to use cheap gas. People are estimates now running as high as 1 00 billion dollars. As the world sees a failure buying huge SUV's in record numbers, no matter what the cost. In taxes, war, and environment, the imperialistic. Our own in Iraq to reveal weapons of mass destruction, Bush is now touting the war and the country of Iraq as a "linchpin" for government fosters this transforming the Middle idea by its actions, East. Before the war, taking an imperialistic President Bush stressed stance as the the limits of the mission, "responsibility" of a and promised to "remain democratic society. We in Iraq as long as do not bother to hide the necessary and not a day fact that we are more." More recently "promoting" democracy Vice President Cheney everywhere we go. said Iraq "will stand as an Invasions become a tool of national security and a kind of self­ righteousness. Our imperialism, or "world view", is also a tool for supplying our war, it has largely replaced products and control of "weapons of mass what we hold dear. I destruction" as think the appetite for oil justification. has redefined our On this anniversary patriotism as well. of the death of thousands Home-grown patriotism now means flying the flag inthe most unusual places. reasons for on insatiable lust for Banner painted by Eric Triantafillou, hanging outside of SSNOVA Gallery My favorite is in the window of the buying culture takes precedent. No huge SUV's that hog the road and wonder there are those in the world guzzle the gas that we depend on who hate us. from our questionable Middle East We spend over a billion _ "partners." I got stuck behind a dollars a day for national defense. huge Bumvee on Reading Road How do we use it to protect one day that was so big the driver ourselves from terrorism? The US couldn't keep it in his own lane. I is spending 50 billion dollars in the thought about the oil that was next six years to build a ballistic feeding this monstrosity and the missile defense system. Against young men and women who have who? The terrorists who attacked died in the Middle East to protect the World Trade Center used a our right to use it. The problem is strikingly simple home grown plan not that the owner of the vehicle is warlike, or selfish in nature, or that shook the world, rattling the ·United States military into a war in does not care; it is that he or she is Iraq and the occupation of caught up in de ire, a cornerstone Afghanistan. of our commercial culture. We Americans are fat in The continued and relentless Cold War mentality of a many ways, b_oth physical and previous generation that created philosophical. We consume these defense programs still lingers everything in sight like a plague of in Washington. How do we fight locusts. We defend our right terrorists with aircraft carriers, around the world to live this way. Comanche helicopter programs and Patriotism in the 2 1st century has sophisticated missile defense taken on the appearance of a systems? The war that will be of innocent people in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and with more recent tragedies from the war with Iraq, I cannot help but wonder if those who lost their lives would want to see the world as it is now. We have become a warring nation that hides under the cloak of patriotism and consumerism. Our own downfall, in spite of the sophisticated weapons defense systems and Homeland Security, will be here in om own home and rooted in our own desires, greed and consumerism. We depend on the world to supply our insatiable appetite for stuff, yet we are intolerant of the many varied cultures and customs of the world's people. We spend billions to defend our right to spend. At one time we-dreamed, celebrated and welcomed diversity into our immigrant land. Now we embrace our consumerism as a God-given right and sometimes, as a tool to undermine a world culture. For this we send our youth to war? �Page 3 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 ON A SCALE OF ONE TO A HUNDRED, HOW MUCH DO YOU DISAG·REE WITH THE ·CITY'S TREATMENT OF CINCINNATI'S HOMELESS? ------------------------------- [fil I s20 I I S4o I I soo I I sao I I s1ool 1 Will DONATE: He's only 18 months old and already he's trapped in the cycle of homelessness in Cincinnati. His mother needs an affordable place to live and a job with a living wage as she escapes a life of domestic violence. The current treatment of homeless individuals in our city means that he may never be able to live in a home of his own. There are 25,000 people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. More than one-third of those are women and children. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addressing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and coordination of services, we can end homelessness in our city. The more support we have from the community, the further our efforts reach. Please cut tt:le coupon and pick a box. It could mean that one less child will have to live in one. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 \ · Greater Cincinnati Coalition For The Homeless L------------------------------------- �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Page 4 From emails we have recieved .... I just have to tell someone whats happening to me. My children are raised and doing well after many years of struggling due We would like to hear from you to very little money, health issues, - please address letters and and my lack of higher education. comments to; My job paid 6. 1 0 an hour and was Streetvibes, 30 hours a week. My twin boys 117 East 12th Street, were in and out of the hospital for Cincinnati Ohio 45202 twelve years. Due to this problem (or) email to: I had to home, school them. Over Streetvibes@juno.com the years due to no money and no health insurance my health took a In response to "Get A back seat. Now I have several health issues which keep me from Job!" being able to work to support I am responding to the myself. I cannot get health care I readers letters in the August issue need because of no money. Now of Streetvibes. my three kids have told me I have I was really hurt by what to leave because they want to live people had to say. on their own. I am now joining the Ms. Georgine Getty, I want world of the homeless. you to know that what you are doing is what God wants you to could help Y OU succe d in your ·undertakings. Yes, my Friends and new office, the new home of the Buddies who are lost and have no Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the desire to better themselves or care, Homeless. It is very nice and a lot the homeless veterans after serving larger. in the armed forces; Life has made But my mind still went, as a bitter imprint on them. usualfo, my friends and buddies, But I still remember as a· the homeless. Yes, my friends and child in church in Sunday school buddies. For regardless of where lessons about our Savior and Jesus, they see me they greet and speak to who was always up in the square me - uptown, downtown or talking to people. One lady whereever. It is, "Hi Miss Mary." approached him and invited Him to They aren't asking for money, etc. And it is good to know that her home, and asked him to be a special invited guest. At he home, all Cincinnatians aren't against the there was a knock at the door. It homeless. I've found thaf out. By was a little child, hungry, dirty, just standing asking for and something to watching the eat. She told reactions to the child, "I some of the have no time people and to do this for do, so don't ever, ever give up. see how they you". The Organizer who do right. respond, second My name is Malachi. of Cincinnati. Things I don't like and things that I do like. Cincinnati needs a paper - desk admiring the new look of our who with help and understanding God is always on the side of those , I live under a bridge with 3 have learned so much about ny city · Today, I am sitting at my To GCCH Civil Rights I love to read Streetvibes. I · - God in the- Homeless by Ms. Mary other guys. . The next day after the city was told to leave the homeless - camps alone our camp and stuff in the last unheard otherwise. Keep up the 11 days we have been threatened and assulted. good work Streetvibes. _My camp mates were told Ms. Getty, I don't have no we're finished we're done. We money to give; but I do have have been insulted by eggs and avoice with words to be heard. rocks as we sleep. However, it has Marcella Brown, Avondale been quiet the last 3 nights. However I believe they will be back soon. A friend of mine, Sean, who works at the library told me he has been talking to you and he said you really seem like a nice guy. It just really bothers me that this city pushes the homeless around like they're nothing. We're human too, we have rights and God doesn't make no junk. Do homeless people have to be seriously injured or killed before any one takes notice? God bless, thanks for letting me vent my anger in this email. God bless you, thanks sincerely, Malachi Innocence Coalition Walk for Freedom September 27th, 2003 for more information: WJM Innocence Coalition Attn: Erica Farris WALK FOR FREEDOM P. 0. . Box 428617 ' Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 . ( knock was a to the man, all people who ragged an_d speak kindly dirty, asking to them. I for help. She said, was destroyed. Also about 5 times like Streetvibes because things go WJM quite kindly ) Call 513 891-0405 homeless tell them thanks and "God Bless You", when you drop something in their door. This time it was a tired, basket or bucket, whatever. elderly lady, hungry and weary, And this also brought to my dressed very badly. She asked if mind about our Savior Jesus. It is she could have some foo well known, by most everyone, the place ou story of Mary and Joseph, trying­ find a place on that eve. There were no rooms at the inn. Was it because the way they were dressed, pulled by horses. They were homeless, a child about to be born. But a person let them go to the stable for this child to be brought into the world, to grow, our Jesus. 1 sorry, I am very busy. I am expecting a guest". She was turned away. The hostess waited for or the way they came with a donkey? There was no fine Chariot · s usual, the answer was "No, Jesus to come, but he never showed up. This really _ disappointed the Lady. So she walked up to the square, and she saw Him. She asked Him why he did not come to her home? His The condition of the place he was reply, very quietly spoken; "I was born in remains a question. It had there three times, and you refused to be God, who saw ahead for this me and turned me away." child who would be Jesus, and who, at a certain age would see ·about a certain business. Not Joseph, but God.through His life, would be stoned and crucified. Was hung on the cross between the two thieves. He was told to come down and To make this short, I ask you would it be to much of your time or would it hurt to say a kind word to someone _on the street as you travel this road of life? You never know whihe or she has stopped you or come up to you. You might ask yourself why this save himself, but he would not man approached me and what come down. And the two thieves lesson is there that can be learned. And please remember, in asked Him if he would remember them in Paradise. He did not say no, or refused their question. He died, not for himself, but for our life and sins. To this I say to my Homeless Friends; you have people who care regardless what is said through the media, etc, clamoring for success, for buildings? parks, etc, - but no time for the little man, the sight of our most Heavenly Father, regardless of our race, creed or color, we are His children that he has placed in this garden of life. Until next time, may we all love one another, for it is said, how can you love God and harbor anger against your fellow man? �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Looking Away From the few people want to help to get the by Booger Love When someone asks for help, who will help them? Most people just look away and say nothing. Most people would rather have a hand up than a hand out, but where can they go? Nowhere. No one cares about what happens to the homeless, the children, only one, two, and three years old, out on the streets with their mother . · We need help to help these people, but don't know where to go. Some churches are trying; but they and the social services can't do it alone. It's sad that so people on the streets back into housing. No one needs to live on the streets. It's hell to live on the streets, not knowing where you are going to sleep and if if you're going to be alright at night. You never know who is going to come up to you when you are asleep and kill you or steal the few things that you have. Homelessness can happen to anyone, just like it happened to us and then who will be there for harder. I didn't know who to tum to for help. I 1 995, I moved to real father. It hurts. I hope and Cincinnati. I left in pray that one day I will see my back in father. When I ask my mother clothes on my back. I stayed at the 1 997 with nothing but the Drop Inn Center. There I met a grew up on the street at a young lady selling Streetvibes. When I age. My childhood was hard. I home. I have been adopted twice. I didn't like my adopted fathers at asked her about it she told me where to go. I went there. The people at the Homeless Coalition helped me get on my feet. all. There was one man, I loved I started selling Streetvibes. After him like a father. He just couldn't selling Streetvibes for a few weeks adopt me. His name was Julian. I left home very young. I It was not easy. My husband stayed gone all the time, and when my husband was home he used to beat me. You just want to have your broken over it. You go for days, weeks; heart fixed so that you can move and sometimes years and still don't ori with your life as if nothing ever get over it. For a long time you happened. carry a sad heart with you. But it takes time for a You go to talk to someone broken heart to heal, especially to fix your broken heart, to get when you are crying and the pain in over the hurt and pain. your heart won't go away with the You don't really want tears. PriS()Aers Advoca y Committee - Obio I got a place to live. I am still selling Streetvibes. It helps me make ends meet. Streetvibes did a lot for me over the years and still does. God Bless everyone at the Homeless Coalition. Ciru:in fi; Ohio 45201 ,r;submit a pri!2'! t'! name a cle. ·· 1?46, l !J flpmber at . i9?17@yahoo.co111 · .. .. 1 996, moved about him, she says nothing. I came from a alcoholic and abusjve broken it takes a long time to get thank you with all our hearts. by Mary Ann Bravo I grew up not knowing my you don't want to be alone either. we're houseless. Please help. We When I got married my life just got 1 7 years old. anything to do with anyone, but When someone's heart is you? We're homeless because Growing Up got married at Healing a Broken Heart by Booger Homeless ,, Page 5 u· ·L·· · r P. ;,,;'e ' fljroughout Ohio. Our New Address Still Downtown, still in Over-the-Rhine! Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 421-7803 "Okay. Your.'re self employed and you hate your boss. Go on.... " �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 The Peace Village barbarism? Since when did this by Dr. Steve Sunderland The killing and glorification of Saddam's sons and form of military murder gain acceptance from our leaders? grandchildren have "tuned" into me . I continue to wait for our in frightening ways. Has this religious, educational and political country lost even the shred of leaders to stand up and say that our decency and respect for law that it current military policies in Iraq had not so long ago? I cannot violate the rules of engagement for watch the pictures that are being war. We are silenced by brutality shown of the alleged dead sons when we see it because it violates without thinking that we have lost something very basic in the our understanding of just how American character. Bush and damaging these pictures are on our Rumsfeld and psyche. The killing of these two Powell and Chaney without any chance for surrender, should know this or, without a trial, or, without even from the Vietnam the chance to interrogate them experience. sends a violent message to all who Frightened though look for a different behavior on the we may be for the part of American soldiers and the moment, the policies they are carrying out. American people Stunned by the violence of the will not be silent army actions, numbed by the for long. Shocked by the trauma of blatant killing, the the dead, and having- to listen to All1:erican political pseudo-arguments for the brutality, culture will either warn me that we are readying for have to black out an even greater overwhelming of protest or try and the American people. persuade the believing that no violence comment on what is affecting you committed in exterminating at this time in terms of the rise in Saddam is extreme enough violence in our culture of war. Can considering what happened to the you feel it? And, if so, what can World Trade Centers? Is the very we do as a Peace Village at this important grief response tied up time? with a holy war in which we thirst Recently, at a lovely for the blood of the Iraqis and meeting at team member Ellen anyone else who gets in our way? Bierhorst's house, four beautiful In short, only terrorism that is _teenage young men and women listened to we elders as we · · discussed the horror that some of us are seeing in our world. I smart, so savvy about the world, so "perceptive." I felt we were · American people necessary along with the death of allegedly perpetrated against the our men and women. But I believe Iraqi people will justify the torture that the American people have seen and lawlessness of the American the "line" of civility crossed and actions. We, our soldiers and our will see our leaders as reckless families, are the "collateral unless controlled by our damage" this time. We are the by Constitution. Or am I misreading the sounds of our people, as team member Ken Manges suggests. what are clearly acts of a frightened "Now," he says, "is the time for the and defensive super.power. Was sounds of war." Are the American anyone in the peace movement people so scared by the experience prepared for this level of of September 11 as an "enemy." I urge you to America. We adults seemed so that the death of more Iraqis are 1 1 justifications for anyone who we choose to identify Bush read the public correctly in remain innocent about "our " brutal pill. No amount of violence September developments? Moreover, has wondered how long they could American people will swallow this under the rhetoric of post­ for a long war of violence against hope and our own sense of pictures shown everywhere on standers who are being buried along with this set of violent robbing these young people of their television of the faces and bodies of I do not believe that the Page 6 as to willingly go SIR, AS A MORALE OOSTER FOR THE EMPLOYEES... American spirit as well. Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. --..__,,, ---_Q Sun er heads up "good" can answer terrorism that is Posters-for-Peace whzc enga es "bad." people in expressing their visions . I hope that those in the of Peace, in their own words, Peace Village who are reading this through the creation of posters. _ note will react with your own ideas about the state we are in at this moment. Isolation may contribute to the brutality because we do not share our own feelings and ideas about the rawness of our current situation. Not so slowly, we are being drawn into conflicts that may · tum out to be humanitarian jokes on us, ways of "shaping" our souls .. .YOU MIG T CONSIDER A VOLUNTARY PAY CUT. · _Slpplies for Vendor's U:mnge(paper towels, cream and sugar, snacks, etc.) * t:... WHI OF THE EMPLOYEES SHOULD I VOLUNTEER? Cleaning Supplies 'Wce.,.§11pplies - p()stage ' stifmps, floppies copier Ify !l r aJ!d ot ,r sqep!ies . ca el 7 ont ft us at: n: "Stre, 'Jvib(! ;clo . ! Cincinna Bo Str 1( 1 5. . .. less;; reater . Coalitionf?:r the · l7 Jlt.;ist llth t, Cincin !ti, o:u 45202 l.. 42177803 y · ;· I: s etvilles@ · · _ · _ : , · · -_ 1 _ _· - _ . - · · · · · · _· _ . _ , _ _ _____ _ ,. · - · · _ · · · · · __ __ _ _J �' Page 7 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 building these for the rest of their lives." For families staying at the Tedford Shelter, they've found not just a temporary home but the resources needed to get a place of their own. That's because the Brunswick, Maine, shelter is homeless families can use to get county services has dropped In Portland, Oregon, street youth are shunning services that require them to give up personal information, like their names and family history. dramatically from 993 in the fiscal year that ended in June of 2000 to an estimated 400 in the fiscal year that ended this past June, out of an estimated total population of As a result, even as the number of to street youth continues to grow, the 1 ,500 2,500 youth who have lived on the streets in the past year. "With number of these youth seeking some kids, the new rules aren't publidy funded services has pushing them into the services," a percent 50 library filled with information homeless y_outp being served by compiled by Molly Rhodes dropped by more than also home to a comprehensive took effect, the number of North American News Briefs young woman called Bright Eyes over the past four years, according told the Tribune. "They are to the Portland Tribune feet. The library was developed in partnership with the Curtis Memorial Library's Health Info1lnation Partnership, and the tireless efforts of Curtis librarian Paul Dostie, who also works at the shelter. The libr contains 54 titles, covering topics such as health, pregnancy, parenting, domestic violence, and substance abuse, as well as a collection of pushing them out." (www.portlandtribune.com). Over jobs, services, and get back on their fiction, according to the Times Families staying at Salt Record (www.timesrecord.com). Lake City s Road Home shelter A month-long protest to can now proudly claim to have bring attention to the plight of added their own artistic stamp to homeless people in Ottawa shows the home, thanks to four newly no sigh of closing down, even installed stained glass windows after the group's permit expired that were all made by children the beginning of August. The who stay at the shelter. The the past four tc;>_ five years, the Multnomah County Board of Directors began requiring that agencies that serve youth start keeping better track of who they're serving and funneling more street youth into education, job, and housing programs. These changes stained class window projec came in response to a local report as led by the Salt Lake Art Center, in that found that many of the city's an effort to brighten the services allowed kids to come and perspective of about take essentials like food, clothing, 60 shelter the windows, according to the Salt sense of who these kids or were Lake Tribune (www.sltrib.com). and little attempt to get them off interfere with the protesters, who have set up camp near the government conference center, as kids, who both designed and built and temporary shelter without any police said they have no plans to long as don't break any laws, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Panel designs included one the streets into housing and job · geometric shapes and a yellow sun in a corner, as well as ones with a house, a star, a snowman, ;:tnd hearts. "The process is llTH AMEIUCAN reef Newspaper ASSOC'IATJ.ON important," Lou Marzulli, the children's case manager at the shelter, told the Tribune. "They'll probably remember Streetvibes Vendor Code Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct... 1. Streetvibes will be distributed for a $ 1 voluntary donation. I agree not to ask for donations of more than $ 1. I also understand that I will be 80 cents of each dollar coilected. able to keep 2. Streetvibes may only be purchased from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH). Purchasing or selling unauthorized papers, or from other vendors, will result in termination from the program. 3. I agree that I will not ask for donations or attempt to vend after 1 2 midnight. 4. I agree to treat others with respect - other vendors, customers, and GCCH personnel. 5. I will not sell Streetvibes while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 6. I will not give a "hard sell" or make someone feel threatened. 7. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I ' the sale of Streetvibes will go to the individual vendor. Falsely stating intent or otherwise misrepresenting is a violation of a city ordinance and may be cause for arrest. 8. I will always present my badge when purchasing papers, and I will display my badge at all times while vending. Replacement badges are $5 each. 9. There are no territories. I agree that I will not contest territories with other distributors. I will not sell on private property without permission. 10. I understand that Streetvibes strives to be a selfsupporting paper created by people who are homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this effort, I will try to spread the word and write stories if possible. 11. I understand that failure to comply with any of the above statements will result in termination from the Streetvibes vendor program. GCCH am collecting for a not-for-profit charity or that I reserves the right to terminate a vendor at any am collecting for the "homeless" in general. I time as deemed appropriate. will be honest in stating that all the profits from charter of rights and freedoms," Ottawa police staff Sgt. Monique Ackland told the CBC, "and people have the right to demonstrate as long as it is done within the parameters of the law." The protesters plan to keep the protest going for a year. A Cleveland photographer has put a real face to the homeless population in area. Tuo years ago, with the support of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), photographer David Hagan began inviting the city's homeless people into his studio, providing food and music as he captured them without makeup and in their everyday street clothes. The culmination of his work is now available in a book, distributed by NEOCH, Face to Face: Portraits of Homeless People in Cleveland. "While photographing, we discovered that we were portraying our homeless subjects as they should be seen," reads the introduction to the book, "as diverse as the i:est of us; complex people in a challenging world, struggling to find happiness." For more information on the project or to get a copy of the book, visit, www.neoch.org/ face_to_face l .htm. Support your local Streetvibes Vendor! dominated by green, blue and red programs. Yet since these rules (ottawa.cbc.ca). There is the �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Page 8 Editorial The Lifestyles of the Rich and not because I made a bad decision Less Caring It has not always been this way in Cincinnati. We used to support all of our citizens, all who were poor, mentally or physically programs that would support our youth and seniors. Some where down the line we lost all of this interest in our Elaine Coffey Ms. Ruth Lyons, Oprah Winfry. b. Transitional living, Thanking God that there are other Now what is the next action that.we need to take? My main focus has always been the homeless and seniors, in Cincinnati and throughout our world. I commend those individuals and support them with all my heart for their strength to endure all that they must overcome. Steps I think can be taken to improve the Quality Of Life in our city; Evaluate each persons 1. circumstance; why are they in the place of un mployment and' homeless. 2. Set a goal of how many ) individuals can be served and work with that number for a year, (supportive services, Department of Human Services, Unemployment, and HUD for Housing). 3. . The caseload could be lighter if some extra special housing could be funded for that year. This space could be used as a. Housing, I would like to hear from interesting for the larger companies you. Give me some feedback. Let to come up with a think tank. me know if I am just becoming Even if you are downsizing your paranoid, or is it time for this city company there is there a way that to wake up? Until next time, I put you could hire two people for half this pen down for this month. Hopping that you will join me on Media Bridges, channel 24 I am asking for City Often we had some type of people who really do care. of employment. the price? handicapped. up in the caring years of Bob Hope, responsibilities and are also in need never forget ! It would be by Elaine T. Coffey citizens. Thank God that I came . twenty years ago and computers , c. Treatment and aftercare centers, and finally d. Comeback Center (Social Services). 5. Evaluate each person and each person's barriers and redesign their future to allow them to regrouP,. Allow them to lean and grow on 8. 1 8. they should now be setting in place It Real -N- Cincinnati". Good Bye an agenda for employment for our for now. Peace, Elaine T. Coffy youth. They now have (E.T.C.) The GCCH would like to thank these Starbucks locations for their generous donation of coffee and pastries: 11379 Montgomery Road (513)469-1111 their strel}gth, skills, and education 3366 Erie Avenue or vocational training. East Hyde Park I am also suggesting to all My show is called "Keeping Council Members to realize that (513)533- 402 the high officials in this state to take action, revise and amend some of your laws. You must understand. .to repair these 7896 Montgomery Road (513)891r.- ·r17 4ttO)-- --- Homeless issues there has to be a change in higher places also ! I will not allow this cities officials to take the blame alone. If you want to have _:.;·.· dependent on this system, take a pl look at the felonies. Remember Lfrie :10 r income residents in Over-the-Rhine and they are going strong. ·Block clubs are forming in other parts of the neighborhood, too. Call the Contact Center at 381-4242 or stop by 1227 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine to learn more about how you can get involved with these resident led organizations. While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. s J1dJ ly forqpnµtions . eatthing and writing grants . .. for Our excel}ent}Jrogtams. cycle. Become gainfully employed Clubs are fighting for the rights of low­ in t wp}.ild J¥cy io _ And this might be the best The-Republic Street & Vine Street Block te · .• lffhi�tcoi!}d mtlude-askmg your! employment for me to break the Help build a ·powerful, resident led organizationl . .-:-:- · :< . undtaise for'oUr•orgallizatfon. that some have to pay child support, that FELONY COUNTS. for a job, because I was qualified, ·:.:;:·:·.: .. r<li:eaihv6lb leer 15e a·s lf--nrdtiV'titedi individuals independent and not .,;. ,, The Streetvibes . newspaper project is always in eed of peopl interested m There are numerous o parpnif!_es .l'!r '!-lunt ers at . the Great t Cincinn ti G:oalitio for thJ'.HomelJss.•.· We'are w!lling to !!'-or!{ witlJ. . ..ea€h individual in choosing g. service< " ' ·' ' opporlunify thilti� figlitfor tlJ m.·uTh fo#qwin_g.af:if. afew< · , · @ hieli tlie connecting with the vendors and . helping them write articles on social justice/poverty issues, .poetry, or personal stories. We need help in the ···afternoons at the front desk it!-nswerip.g phones and handlmg : trai c ns ith pur tj;re tviblffi ;l •Ve11c1orss This pe.. son.will j · .ddres '· · _em,tieds of visitofs, �Page 9 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 On Getting Along by Howard Zinn You ask how I manage to stay involved and remain seemingly happy and adjusted to this awful world where the efforts of caring people pale in comparison to those who have power? It's easy. First, don't let "those who have power" intimidate you. No _matter how much power they have they cannot prevent you from living your life, speaking your mind, thinking independently, having relationships with people as you like. (Read Emma Goldman's autobiography LIVING MY LIFE. Harassed, even imprisoned by authority, she insisted on living her life, speaking out, however she felt like. Second, find people to be with who have your values, your commitments, but who also have a sense of humor. That combination is a necessity ! T ird (notice how precise is my advice that I can confidently number it, tlie way scientists number things), understand that the major media will not tell you of all the acts of resistance taking place every day in the society, the strikes, the protests, the individual acts of courage in the face of authority. Look around (and you will certainly find it) for the evidence of these unreported acts. And for the little you find, extrapolate from that and assume there must be a thousaqd times as much as what you've found. Fourth. Note that throughout history people have felt powerless before authority, but Sixth: When we forget the consciousness of people growing. fragility of that power in top we So you need patience, persistence, become astounded when it and need to understand that even crumbles in the face of rebellion. when you don't "win," there is fun We have had many such surprises and fulfillment in the fact that you in our time, both in the United have been involved, with other States and in other countries. good people, in something Seventh: Don ' t look for a moment of total triumph. See it as an ongoing struggle, with victories worthwhile. Okay, seven pieces of profound advice should be enough. and defeats, but in the long run the that at certain times these powerless people, by organizing, acting, risking, persisting, have created enough power to change the world around them, even if a llttle. That is the history of the labor movement, of the women's movement, of the anti-Vietnam war movement, the disabled person's movement, the gay and lesbian movement, the Movement of black people in the South. Fifth: Remember, that those who have power, and who seem invulnerable are in fact quite vulnerable, that their power depends on the obedience of others, and when those others begin withholding that obedience, . begin defying authority, that power at the top turns out to be very fragile. Generals become powerless when their soldiers refuse to fight, industrialists become powerless when their workers leave the jobs or occupy the factories. Peas lee Neighborhood Center 2 1 5 East 14th Street Over-the-Rh i ne Ci nci nnati , Oh i o 45202 (513) 62 1-5514 Empoweri ng our nei ghborhood chi ldren through peace , art arid education Write, Us! We'd ltk�>to h�:: from 'JO •• ,._ �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Page 10 North American Street Newspaper Association mem bers gather in Q uebec Story and photos by Jimmy Heath Believe it or not, Streetvibes is not the only homeless newspaper in the world as evidenced by a recent gathering in Quebec, Canada of the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA). Dozens of street newspapers from around North America gathered tn Canada " for the eighth annual NASNA Conference to share resources and ideas and to participate in business meetings and workshops. The schedule also included visits to city shelters and programs to explore the driving forces of homelessness in Canada. There are nearly 50 street newspapers in North Americ , all working to accomplish the same thing; empower homeless and formerly homeless people through the NASNA Executive Committee. programs like Streetvibes, and provide them with a voice in their There was also time during the conference to explore the city communities through their own of Quebec, one of the oldest and writing, artwork and poetry. The most historic cities in North papers also provide the vendors America. The vast expanse of with financial support - all vendors Quebec province, which rests keep the profits earned by selling . within the even vaster expanses of the various street papers. Some Canada, has made some NASNA member papers are major questionable contributions to pll lic.ations with tens of thousands global culture. This, after all, is the . printed monthly, others are place that inflicted Celine Dion, newsletters produced by social Corey Hart and Men Without Hats service agencies. Although every (remember Safety Dance?) on the. city has a different approach and world. In contrast, Canada has the street papers are varied, the provided North America with some goals of each are the same. of its best street papers including Every year representatives Street Sheet out of Winnipeg, of street papers gather together for L'ltineraire of Montreal, and this ·a conference in a city hosted by years conference host paper, that city's street newspaper. The LaQuete published from Quebec. 2003 conference began with Older than that of any other · keynote speaker, Jean-Paul l'Allier, city in North America (north of Mayor of Quebec. In his speech he Mexico), the bilingual and utterly praised street newspapers for European capital of Quebec coming together to share province divides its time between information and ideas· so that the an Old Town bristling with historic · larger problem of homelessness and ramparts, churches, narrow lanes poverty could be addressed and former everywhere. battlefields, and _ - The conference also included competitive awards that · honored street papers in different categories, including best artwork, best poetry and best writing. This year Cincinnati's own Streetvibes districts revamped with museums, cafes, bars, and restaurants. Conference won an award for best overall attendees visited street paper. Old Quebec During the business during free time, meeting of the conference, the new enjoying the Executive Committee of NASNA many was elected by the membership. · Tim Harris of Spare Change metropolitan newspaper in Seattle, Washington and crafts restaurants, arts was named chair and I was selected stores, and as co-chair. Michael Stoops, of the street vendors National Coalition for the that crowd the Homeless was selected as narrow streets Treasurer, and Nancy Roussy of of this historic Canada's L'ltineraire street paper neighborhood. was selected to be the secretary by �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Page 11 J : T -A-- rough Ou r Ey_ ·-e1 · , _ _,Jo·n-·1· NASNA conference keynote speaker, ean Paul f'Allier, Quebec. .. "' ' . "• >.; - - " • - • ii\i;.iA •11 . .• 74 , • ,.r., .;; I, • : t<>ii Ii\ '•· t 2t4' - j NASNA Awardfor Streeivibes newspaper I While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. The book, Through Our Eyes, a collaboration of Cincinnati '.s Mother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ tion for the Homeless. . :_. Through Our Eyes: Reflections on Homelessness takes you on a experiential journey of learning by high school students as they leave their suburban comfort zones to explore the world of the inner-city homeless of Cincinnati. A collaboration of Cincinnati's Mother of ST R A T A·G I N T E G R AT E D MARKETIN G Brad Crawford Proofreader/Copy Editor Strata-G Commun ications 250 W. Court communications SOLUTIONS Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinna i Coali­ tion for the Homeless, Through Our Eyes attempts to educate other high school students and the larger com­ munity about homelessness through stories of homeless and formerly homeless individuals, reflections, .art­ work and photography. The books are available from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless for $10 each, plus $3 shipping and handling. · Make checks payable to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202. For more information call (513) 421-7803 �Page 12 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 M i dwest Ral ly Aga i nst Rac i s m held to chal lenge pol i ce , city's m o n oc h rome b i as by John Zeh The focus of the Midwest African-American depart the city for the suburbs or beyond. "I saw a sign saying 'No one benefits from racism, ' " she the International Socialist columnist and Co-keynoter Kathy Organization (ISO), "What are we Y. Wilson noted "a serious, going to do about homophobia in a but classism, sexism and profound classism problem in this city that denies us full civil rights? homophobia, were spotlighted as Rally Against Racism was racism, city among blacks and whites and We must organize at the grass roots other curses c:m contemporary while racism will never end, we level and continue to fight for society as a multi-hued cast-of­ must find a way to put some justice and equality." buffers up. That's one way to fight changes in Cincinnati on S aturday, classism." . Wilson writes a frank, ·giying large local corporations weekly "Yolir Negro Tour Guide" millions of dollars in corporate August 9 . The event held i n Washington Park near historic . and other articles in CityBeat. "Another part of racism's status quo," she said. "They don ' t on this same day the U.S. dropped hop in Over-the-Rhine, a working want to be class neighborhood on the edge of interrupted, downtown. Chanted one disturbed. While performer under an overcast sky; we' re comfortable "Don't just sit there in your 'hoods, with a computer, the build up neighborhoods ! " Internet, a Palm Pilot, and a refrigerator for instance, others are Advocacy in Resources and getting the crap beat Education (ICARE) said Cincy is out of them because "not the best place to be if you're they' re poor-whites Indian ! " Embracing "two-spirited" or Hispanics. There people, she said, "racism is not a must be mutual black-white issue, but in between respect for different are red, yellow, and a multitude of mindsets. Black colors." Adding that her people people must stop are tired of being "treated like people-of-color. Any year-old daughter was spat on and movement needs a told to go home when she chorus of voices. protested the Cleveland Indians Muslims and Asians baseball game here. count as much as the "We may never win this war Council candidate John Schlagetter said he vows to unite Council. "If you don't "'· keep important issues . on peoples' minds, we forget there's a problem. We must not let issues like the ones raised today fall off their radar and lose vigilance." A 37-year-old architect, Schlagetter owns a home in the racially-diverse Price Hill neighborhood. He teaches interior design at the College of Mount Saint Joseph rest of us." here. His website is Another part www.John4Council.com of this town 's problem, said an atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Wilson, is that city government that in New York City police fired "criminalizes the oppressed, 49 shots against a West African making (the issues) their fault. irllrnigrant in a case of mistaken Owensby, Sr. , whose son was killed . . . and selling Streetvibes is a job," identity. by city cops, said Roger Jr. was not enhanced panhandling as "ready to go back to college, but Mayor Charles Luken says about for all regardless of race, class, or the police claimed he was a thug. the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for sexual orientation," said Suhiith · They said I had a dysfunctional the Homeless monthly newspaper, Wickrema, a Sri Lankan native. family, despite being married for 34 calling it his "pet peeve." "Police here are profiling on the years. [Hamilton County­ "Let's be conside'rate of · "We stand for equal rights basis of sexual identity," he economic issues," Wilson said. charged. "We must repeal (the City disgruntled father. The fix was "We may not agree with the Charter 's) Article 1 2, protect on !" boycott, but those who seem womens' (family/abortion) choice, annoying show up and are and make structural changes in the working with you to correct the effective. Anytime the city loses local election system." system so it won't happen again. even 50 cents, the boycott is You must fight the system, don't working. We must show those in take the easy way out. We must city hall - by our work - that we are . .federal Empowerment Zone fight for justice for the murder of serious. Everything is not black program, observed that only one of my son, that's my life mission," he and white. There are gradations." six OTR citizen groups attended Prosecutor] Mike Allen said I am a He was not deterred. "I am challenged the small crowd. He said Mayor Charlie Charter Committee OTR activist Berta Lambert, who serves in the city's the event, saying, "people who candidate for City Council John claim to be progressive need to be Luken told him that "if the facts Schlagetter said he was chagrined where the action is." With over 70 about (my son's) case were that "not a single Council percent of OTR's 7000 residents disclosed it would tear this city incumbent is here," noting that African-American, "decisions they up." Regardless, Owensby said, independent candidate Brian Garry make affect people in this "The city must be told the truth. I and he were the only non- community," he noted, holding a will go to the U.S. Supreme Court incumbents here. "Council does colorful anti-gentrification sign to make sure everyone's safety is not take the high road. Where are saying "No Yuppieville in 0-T-R ! " assured and we stop the the social justice candidates? We institutional racism in this city. If it have to stop being afraid of being Coalition for a Just Cincinnati also doesn't come to en end, it will seen with each other! " condemned Council's funding to destroy all of us." order to keep its here. and tell my brothers and sisters in Co-keynote speaker Roger scrutiny, it has delayed the OK for a new garage that Kroger wants in grocery headquarters heaven I tried," ICARE's Whitewolf said. provider Cynergy stay and gave denigrating other mascots ." She noted that her 1 6- (on racism) but I ' ll work till I die recently helped gas and electric for patrons). Under renewed historical note, she mentioned that Native American, Vicky Council built a new headquarters with parking for (but forced it close a free liquor bar welfare "while it harasses the homeless and panhandlers." On a soundtrack of rap, poetry, and hip­ Whitewolf of Indigenous Cultural definitely are ! " the Saks store money to modernize economics is people accepting the Music Hall included a colorful Kroger, and Saks Fifth Avenue Delta Airlines reservations center, She railed about city council color gathered to urge critical said. "On the contrary, Cynergy, C:::hallenged Molly Seifert of Monica Williams of the make sure big businesses don 't The rally's status was unclear for some because the City park board had demanded that sponsors take out special insurance. A donor paid the bill. A short march to police headquarters had been planned, but police _ insisted that organizers pay overtime costs for officers to block Satll;rday afternoon traffic, so groups settled for a rally only. Four police officers, one of them horseback, were on hand. No police intervention was necessary. This reporter counted about 1 20 people at the rally an hour after start-up, and 80 at the conclusion 3 hours later, 90 percent of them white, with many newcomers who missed opening speeches and poetry. Wilson noted that "white people outnumber people-of-color here today." Saying it's okay because, "we have to be off the radar a little bit. Let's show some unity. It can be invisible. They don't have to know. I ' m tired of this classist city. Close ranks in a multi-hued frontline," she concluded. "Work gets done by the few and the mighty." Journalist John Zeh welcomes · comments at JohnZeh @ mail. com. �Page 13 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 What's Happe n i n g With TAN F Rea uthorization ? (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Federal Welfare Policy) by Lynn Williams, Ohio Empowerment Coalition TANF Reauthorization. Deja vu. Weren' t we struggling with getting TANF Reauthorization changed & passed out of Congress fast summer at about this time? Well, here we are in August a year later and once again TANF Reauthorization has been put on hold in the Senate . . . . . . until the Senators come back from their Individual Development for Everyone Act. His bill makes the Representatives passed in for welfare reform. Some of the policies included in the PRIDE Act that would be detrimental and a step backward for TANF policy include: § himself has made press statements that three months is long enough for welfare recipients to get an extension of the current TANF education ! ! ! ) -§ Congress that the 1 996 TANF to recent bills that have been § that Senator Grassley, Senate sanctions § Fails to adequately increase child care funding * Instead of earmarking required to work ·more $300 million per year for than 20 h urs per week for "marriage promotion" their benefit check. activities, use this money Earmarks $300 million per for education and job year for "marriage training programs to assist promotion" activities low-income parents in supporting wages. You can educate your Ohio in Sen. Grassley' s bill. Senators by writing and calling them about these issues. The Ohio Empowerment Coalition advocates for policies that are going to help, not hinder, low--income parents to escape out of poverty. These include: * Senator George Voinovich United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 202/224-3353 Revive the tri-partisan 202/228-1382 (fax) WORK Act that was voinovich @voinovich.senate.gov passed out of the Senate Finance Committee last Senator Mike DeWine United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 summer * Increase hours that 202/224-23 1 5 recipients can use for Fails to protect families from unfair or illegal family members. parents with children policies that would be detrimental assistance for recipients or are disabled themselves recipients with disabled Eliminates protections for This is only a partial list of the Fails to create adequate disabled family members Allow exemptions for obtaining family who are caring for policy looks milder in comparison introduced: the PRIDE Act or Allows only 3 months out of 24 months for education ! (President Bush Committee or at least an Finance Chair, recently § I out of the Senate Finance Take, for instance, the bill and what President Bush states he wants - to fight for a better bill to come introduced. 4) * under 6: they would be what the U.S. House of good news; it allows us more time the mindset is so conservative in § is basically very, very similar to August recess. Actually this is policy. It's hard to believe that to 37 hours per week current TANF policy look good. It February 2003 (HR year yet increases work hours Personal Responsibility and * * education 202/224-6519 (fax) Keep work requirement at senator dewine@dewine.senate.2ov 30 hours weekly For more information call the Increase child care funding Ohio Empowerment Coalition at by at least $5.5 billion per 1 -877-862-5 1 79 . Community source Cards _/ ., Rockdale Temple has announced the release of the latest in its series of Community Resource Cards. The new one, printed in Spanish, is customized for the needs of Cincinnati's rapidly growing Hispanic/ Latino population. The tri-fold, plastic cards are funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a project of Rockdale Temple, in consultation with Bienstar, Su Casa and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. _ In addition to the Hispanic Resource Card, the Resource Card Proje t has also produced cards for senior citizens, the homeless, and public school and Get Ready, Get set...Go back to school! Workmen spruce up the exterior of Rothenberg School in preparation for the return of students, teachers, support staff and administrators for the 2003-2004 school year. Rothenberg, one of the oldest schools in Cim;innati, is a landmark for the communities of Mount Auburn and Ov-er-the­ Rhine. Photo by Jerome J. Manigan Catholic school students covering the Tri-state area. Cards can be ordered from: cc 5300 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45224 or send a fax request to: (5 13) 541-0099 # 210 �Art & Poe try STREETVIBES Sep t:em er, 2003 Page 14 The Crack Attack is Over D ECEMBER 7th Wanting by P. J. by Cornelius Douglas by Delia Sizler I'm a quitter, that's right I quit Pearl of beauty, pearl of life Why do I plod along focusing only on what has to be done Within your channel deep, and fail to appreciate what all I've accomplished? Geek.in' & Seek.in' 4 my next hit 4 awhile I thought that crack was my friend Rest the men and tools of war Now I'm in a cycle where there's no en,d. For you and God to keep. I'm an American child, a "baby Boomer," All I wanted was something From northern skies an-early phase witp "baby boomer." 2 do But day after day my addiction grew Fell death and strife , As history wrote by early light, The affluence of America came right after I arrived. At 1 st• I didn't know that it was a habit A tearful memory tale. The boys were home again and life was going on. 2 have it Sometime I realized I just had 2 have it I'd do anything 2 suck the pipe What valor is there to be found Everyone was busy, making babies, making love, Until I realized I jl!st had W hen I hit the dipper 4 the very 1 st time In tragic human loss? making homes, making goods to feather the new nests. Man must begin to live as one Gradually prosperity happened to ordinary people, no matter what the cost. well, to some of them. . . the white ones especially. For all who died that Sunday mom What happened to the overflow of emotion then? That's when I knew that there wasn't enough We bow our heads and pray. Where did the trauma memory go? I had I beamed up 2 Scotty - past cloud nine 2 get more of this "redi roe" stuff For them, Please grant them Fifty plus years later we are awakened emotionally, On the street they call me a runner Peace. thrown out of our post war stupor, But mostly I was a cocaine hunter For us . . . . a better way ! ! our denial that memories matter, Search all day 4 that rush 2 my head And get mad cause my money was dead Yeah, the higher I got the lower my paper 2 pull off a caper 's low-down 2 steal But I always managed I know that's it our man made euphoria is interrupted. LORD WHY? I'm a "baby boomer," what do I know? Five decades to grow up focusing on what's yet to be done, ./ Lord, why did you put m_e_ here to · die, to bum, to learn? . It didn't matter, I had a crack deal Lord, why did you put me here to I still get a hooter around if I want it What is there to gain in this wicked I have 2 stop my own way when I part it Sometimes on purpose I even get broke die, in a world full with pain? game? What is there to gain when your That's also part of my strength, and it works ! back is against the wall, and you Now I can smile as I walk past the dealers try to get by you fall on your face? Cause I know dope boys R nothing but killers W hen I walk past the "dope fiend" puppets I laugh Cause I quit, I'm a quitter I put crack in my past. constantly fall, when everytime you What's left to save the human race? What is there to gain when-hope is gone and you are standing all alone? To bum in hell or die in a jail cell? When pain and sorrow, and it seems like no tomorrow, thinking back to the goodness we once had. It seems to me that the worlds is so sad when everybody professes to· keep it so real when it comes down face to face. They hold their head down in disgrace in J:hi-s wicked place. More Condos by Mike Henson Yellow dozers tearing up the hobo camps of Eastern Avenue: Bare clay, naked roots of the trees Black plastic tarps tangled · among the spllintered willows. When everybody's puffing on so much chronic smoke, it seems that life is one big joke. When kids play with guns thinking that this is a game of fun, and missing memories and the connections they have with the other "more" of life, more than growing, building, making, buying, economy fixated thinking. What else to be accomplished? We have wanted to ask that, but later, too busy now, more to do. Don't pause lest the economy slump. One day the comfortable shell that insulated us _was cracked open. Terrorists attacked. The activity stopped. We "baby boomers" and all brew a collected breath, sensing something new erupting from inside the shell, hope and a glimpse of enduring freedom. Some "old-timers" remember when freedom was won. I don't want to lose it now. not after paying so much for it with human life. I want freedom to endure and memories to surface. emotions expressed and real connections to deepen. I want to pause to experience what I've accomplished in these growing up times. I want all of us to trust the freedom we've been blessed with, so much that we want to share it generously with-the world. I want an economy of peace and justice that has a face of freedom for all. money rules the world, and its war and tears, and its man that they fear. Don't they know the Savior is near? And the heavens open up and I heard a voice say "My son, what I said will be, so always keep your faith in me." Then I said to the Lord, "Will I . drown in the sea or weaken like a willow tree?" Then in reply, the Lord said to me, "Stay strong even if you stand alone." So my brothers and sisters, we must have hearts like steel to keep it real, looking up to Gods beautiful grace in surrounding this wicked place. ; �STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Ar t & Poe try LOST Saint Francis of . the Entrepreneurs by Steve Sunderland by Mike Henson I lost my wallet yesterday At the Public Library. I was in the Education and History section Looking for books on the Stories of the first Jews and B l acks in the US. What was in my wallet And lost? I lost the peace plan For the Middle East for 2004-5 . I lost the formula for Reconciliation between poor and rich In our world. I lost the genetic code that explains why all the races are one. I lost the 1 0 items that Guarantee rec.onciliation Between husbands and wives In conflict. I lost the battered program Page 15 Pit Bul l by JH Tiny, warm pet on a rope, g I feed the birds outside my window. dra ging on the ground, My father made a bird feeder of cedar. cringing, It is small, square, and humble. sighing, The birds don1t care. begging, It is battered: the lid bright, innocent eyes. blew off the hinges in a storm years ago. Gettin' ready for the big fight, small puppy. The birds don1t care. Teach you how to kill. The nifty plastic shield that held up the seed in a stack Cinder block as play toy. and dropped it into a feeding tray­· Chewin ' on broken glass. that1s gone to6. Momma' was a killa' , The birds don1t care. don't know who daddy is. The feeder is nothing more than a three-sided box Chicken bones and bread for dinner, screwed to the window frame. drink.in' from the street oil-pond. The birds don1t care. Wantin' to run away, the sides of the feeder and the windowsill but can't 'cause the rope is too tight, are white with bird shit. and the grip is too strong, but the birds don1t care a bit. and there ain't nothin' on the other side they perch in a row, waiting for the bonanza- anyway. . . They scrap and chatter and argue over their places­ . sparrows, doves, an occasional pigeon and a jay -regular as the meter manwho calls, sharp and piercing if he is not fed when he demands. Time and Time Again by Robert Manassa Of the Bar Mitzvah Of Jesus. I ' ve been told since I was a lad Things are goo, but oft times sad I lost the list of all of The reason I can't imagine why My children's birthday and I laugh and then I cry all of my wives date of marriage. I lost the special picture No one knows nor can predict the out­ Of my older brother, Lew, come of things And me when we We can't run away from reality Were smiling on the beach Nor do we have wings to fly. At Coney Island. We sit do wn to reason it out I lost the pictures of We' re only left with a world of doubt My grandchildren- Time anti Time Again. the newest and the oldest ones, The brown, black and beige. With only a few ideas left unsaid I lost the key to my The only thing left to wonder about Safety deposit box that is dread Holds a list of what I ' ve Time and Time Again Forgotten I had put in it. by Jimmy Heath I reach for the phone to Call the police and see At my feet A brown wallet. I pick it up and look Inside and see The face of love on a message: "Nothing is ever lost." Bingo in Washington Park �News & Editorial STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Page 16 Words from the Evangelist, (Perilous Times) someone who five minutes before It is perilous times when Pepper and Monzel are preaching were sitting quietly enjoying the to the public that providing secure day is on their way to jail. My question to you communities is the motivation behind their decision to work for becomes does this make our an agreement that would keep community safe? Then we have the Shell Convergys in Cincinnati. It is perilous times when the station at Liberty and Walnut with communities, which are being its young entrepreneurs. On most secured, are being subjected to days they are very helpful to the unfair ordinances such as the no customers and the station loitering and panhandling attendant, but on others there registration. It is perilous times arises a need to call the police and when the Cincinnati Police are their arrival does not always bode being called to violate their oath to well for our young entrepreneurs; protect and serve, and asked to yet the ladies plying their trade in abuse and misuse the rights of our the same area seem to go disenfranchised and unnoticed. Again I ask, does this make underprivileged citizens. our community safe? The pictures you see here I also conduct ministry in were taken as I was doing ministry · in Over-the-Rhine on several Camp Washington, South different occasions. Twelfth and Cummingsville, Avondale, Winton Vine as we all know is an area Place, Pleasant Ridge, and Price where people tend to cqngregate as Hill. I also conimunicate with they conduct their business in the clergy and community leaders stores. Making purchases, and throughout other parts of the city. cashing checks. On any given day Therefore, I can tell you on some the police will have roused some authority that othe_r communities poor soul from their perch, and are not being made safe by the depending on the circumstances, abuse of the disenfranchised homeless and mentally ill. Nor can work, but only when all does the misuse of a loitering affected parties are at the table ordinance against young discussing the problems and entrepreneurs help make our producing solutions. City Council, communities safe. Cincinnati Police, and DCI must Is it going to take a federal court to make all our communities include the homeless and youth at the table. safe without the abuse and misuse Otherwise the pictures we will be of our disenfranchised and seeing are those of a underprivileged citizens? confrontational nature as the The Apostle Paul wrote to problems in our empowerment the Corinthian Church almost 2000 zone communities escalate out of years ago regarding their disregard control. of those they considered less than I have been doing some themselves. He reminded them that exciting ministry with the United those who considered themselves to Church of Christ here in Cincinnati, be of the body of Christ were many and have been privileged to members, yet one body. So the participate in some educational foot cannot say, because I am not opportunities that I will be sharing the hand, I do not belong to the with you in the months to come. body. God did not put us here to be AWOL Ministries will soon have a divided, but to have equal concern new Program Director so we can for one another (I Corinthian provide more Christian counseling 1 2 : 1 2-26) and referral services. Call As our disenfranchised and underprivileged citizens suffer we 349-5 1 1 9 (5 1 3) 36065, or write P.O. Box Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. suffer. We must find a way to include all in the decision making process to help provide safe communities for all. Community God Bless You All, Rodney L. Sutton, Sr. The Evangelist Problem Oriented Policing (CPOP) Race in C incinnati gourmet meals, golf, and have sex motivated. For instance, Sands with their spouses while locked up. Montessori School was visited by by Brian Garry Poor and blacks steal a package of in the job/employment/income Having grown up in Bond field? Let's go further. Let's look Al Gore while he was running for baloney and get shot in the chest by president, and called "a diamond." Hill, I was given a very different at education in Cincinnati. Public perspective on race than your the Cincinnati police, as I It was the only Montessori in the schools contain more than downtown area. Now it has been av rage white male in Cincinnati. I personally witnessed at the Walnut black students. Why is this when moved out of the "inner city" to the consider this experience a blessing. Hills Kroger's. Why this serious Cincinnati is only approximately disparity, this discrepancy, this privileged area of Mt. Washington. Cincinnati is approximately 50% 50% black, 50% white, with a sprinkling inequality of treatment? For three years, grades seventh, the white students go to school, of other races. All of our city and why? In addition, why is it that employment should reflect this 70% black? Tell me, where do all All poor and black people want in Cincinnati is to be treated eighth, and ninth, I attended Walrwt Hills High School. 90% of those labeled as LD are color balance. For instance, our equally, and to be given the same black? Could those numbers use a police force, city paid construction opportunity, and rights as rich and little evening up? white people enjoy. Is that leaned over to me and asked where difficult? Why? Please explain to I lived. I replied that I lived in contractors, Cincinnati public school employees, and city There are limited land and While there, in Latin class, a pretty girl from Mt. Washington limited units of living space in administration should reflect this me why this is so hard. Aren't we North Avondale. She leaned back Cinci nati. Therefore, for one racial balance, but it doesn't. Why taught as children to be fair, just, over and asked, "Isn't that where white person to move back, one honest, and to share? What is up . all the n------ live?" I mention this not? Some studies reveal black person must be displaced. with our current city not to paint Mt. Washington with a · Cincinnati to be the sixth most What gives these people'the right segregated city in America. That is administration, that when we rise broad stroke brush, or to make to just come back and steal up and demand what is. rightfully blanket statements, but rather to not a distinction to be proud of. In someone else's property? Is it right Cincinnati, the boundaries of ours, i.e. freedom, equal treatment, illustrate the deep division of the to engage in a hostile invasion into "inner city" from the outlying areas, neighborhoods are the boundaries and opportunity, do they dig in someone else's neighborhood? of race and class, and unfortunately their heels and resist allowing us to including East, West, and to the Over-the-Rhine is Palestine. And North. in Cincinnati, race and class, more have what God has given us? Why Vine Street is the DMZ. The riot often than not, go hand in hand. must Pharaoh harden his heart? was the rebellion of the oppressed One plague, the uprising, has come. o illustrate this concept, let's look I think I have talked enough about the problem: rich people not who want the right not to be How many more plagues must sharing, building their wealth on the Cincinnati. For example, the pushed into encampments. Do rich , white people have the "right ,- to come? What is next? Why do they hacks of the poor while isolating average income of a black person insist on tearing down homes and themselves from poor and black evict poor people from their moving poor and black people out people. Let's talk about the at income and color statistics in in Cincinnati is $ 1 6,000 per year, homes? Some rob with a gun. while the average income of a of the city? How can they justify solution. The solution is Some rob with a peh. The white Opportunity, placing neighborhoods white person is this? Where is our mass protest man robs with a pen, and steals against this obviously racially first, and Equality for all people. more than all the poor and black motivated closing of Cincinnati's O.N.E. Cincinnati means we cannot largest apartment community? truly move forward unless we all $24,000 per year. That means that for every dollar the average white person makes, a people steal put together, and do black person only makes vety little, if any time in jail. If they 66 cents. Could this fact demonstrate racism do go to jail, they get to eat · Cincinnati Public Schools: This whole CPS plan is racially move forward together as one, O.N.E. Cincinnati ! exists as a forum for the expres ion of the views and opinions of our readers and 'supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Streetvibes �News & Editorial STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 Take a Wal k i n my Shoes you desperate. had that training. mad, but pounding on the door by Dan Newth That little hamster driving and yelling have little effect other the rumor mill has been working than swollen knuckles. It was a overtime lately. metal door. Isn ' t it funny that Several "grass roots" something air tight isn't water organizations heard comments, tight? You feel something dribble through the grapevine, that the down your leg. [Portland, Oregon] City Council was displeased with them. It restroom? You walk around - started after Crossroads had the well, more- like shuffle, asking at audacity to hand out sleeping offices and restaurants. The most bags, a demonstration of the common reaction is a scrunched needs of Portland's homeless, in up nose. front of city hall. Then, members . Congratulations. You have of Crossroads addressed the City acquired a homeless aura: The Council, presenting the radical combination of perspiration and concept that people should have a diarrhea make you authentic. right to sleep. Well you' ve made it to the ..... I have a friend who thinks Salvation Army. Relief at last. City Council members have an You knock on the door and the opportunity for spiritual growth; guy you see at the reception desk He' d like to extend an open through the glass ignores you. invitation to the City Council : Feelirtg the fuse shorten you yell Leave your cash and credit cards out the urgent need to use the at home, and spend a day and damn toilet. Suddenly, desk guy night in the homeless system. pays attention to you. He will You could challenge your now be able to exercise his small immune system by eating bit of power by refusing you breakfast at the B lanchet House, access to the bathroom. The irony after that you may decide to - that someone that has been purchase your lunch. Time to homeless (the desk guy) exhibits panhandle. Holding a sign will so little compassion to another most likely generate a visit from human being enduring the the friendly "Clean and Safe" powerlessness of being homeless cops. They present an - escapes you for the moment. that in reality they are little more your way. The Adult and Family than security guards. They may Services office is across the street. offer you a place to stay but don ' t We can always rely o n the believe them. The j ails are full . government, can't we? Why not You end up being ordered priorities. The pain is causing you McDonalds. You ' re still hungry, to walk stooped over. Your face you ask around for a place too eat. is pale and grimaced. As you S alvation Army feeds at walk by a couple of construction 2 3 :30 p.m. Waterfront Park and chill out comment, "Watch the tools. 90 There goes another junkie." You get a feeling it was directed a.t see hundreds of people laying around, enjoying the blue sky, So you enter the AFS dealers. The police know who the · office. About a dozen people are · waiting in the lobby for their numbers to come up. Three person lying down wrapped in a social workers are at the front blanket. Heck, it's too hot for counter, one with a client, the blankets, anyway. other two are chatting and joking A sudden urgency comes upon you: The-call-of-nature, red dispenser." And the social Then you add in a subdued tone, worker turns away. "May I please use another abdominal cramping with that with each other. You have just entered the "Client Zone." . Approaching the two social workers, you stand at the for public restrooms ! This is a counter for a few moments great time to practice the funny waiting for acknowledgment. walk. You know, short quick Social workers know damn good strides with the muscles of your and well they have a lot of power gluteus maximus clenched. to influence a client's life. Subconsciously, they understand outside the bathroom? Well, it it is OK to feel superior to the seems some druggie has been client. It takes training and effort occupying the restroom for the to maintain sensitivity to the past clients' needs. These two ain 't minutes. Now you ' re restroom." "THE B ATHROOM ! The security guard shows WHERE' S THE B ATHROOM ! " Your frazzled nerves have no give. "I'm going to have to snapped. ask you to leav now." Just as the anger starts to The social workers have now evaluated your case and overwhelm you it is replaced by determined it looks, sounds and humiliation. The Blanchet House smells like a nut. One social breakfast has broken free in a worker signals the security guard noisy wet slide to the floor. You while the other addresses you like now have the complete attention a child, "Yelling is inappropriate of everyone in the room. The behavior for this office. If you smell is making you feel ill, will please take a number. and sit people are moving away from down you will be helped as soon you. You tum and wall\_ out the as possible." · door, swearing to yourself you "Can I help you?" you hear will never show your face in that the voice of the secu ity guard. office again. "Yes I need to know where the restroom is," your voice is a Reprinted from Street little shaky and the pain is making Roots, Portland, Oregon. DEAR R EADERS ! Send us you r -Vendor Stories Do you have a favor ite Streetvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about ? Send us your stories or comments to: Streetvibes @juno.com or Streetvibes 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 Know Your Brochure The Know Your Rights got-to-go-now feeling. Thank god 45 UNDER THE INFLUENCE !" Available ! drug deal if they see a homeless Is that an angry mob defensively state, "I AM NOT Rights . you. sunshine and easy access to drug past a You feel insulted and "But I just need . . . " and. you' re' cut off again. Scottsdale pick-up, you hear the degrees. When you get there you dealers are but will race building." workers sitting in an old p.m. now. Head to because the mercury is at influence to re!Ilain in this counter," states the social worker. Today, you have other just enough to get a burger at It's be helped at the information while in the neighborhood? managed to scrounge up a dollar, don' t allow anyone under the "Take a number and you ' ll apply for government assistance to move along. Luckily, you closed," the guard says, "and we wondering . . . " and you ' re cut off. Desk guy sends you on intimidating attitude considering "The clients' restroom is "Excuse me, but I was "The numbers are in the Where is another Page 17 Brochure is now available at the Coalition's office. The brochure is a legal guide for Cincinnati ' s homeless and covers a person 's basic rights when interacting with . the police, as well as some local laws that might be of interest to the ' homeless population. If you are a homeless person or if you work with homeless people and would like to obtain free copies of the brochure for yourself or your " agency, please call 42 1 -7803, or • stop by the Coalition office and pick one up. �Page 18 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 B u s h Sa i d . . . . A n d I Say. . . . by Ali Khalid Abdullah Fund reported that nearly one During the presidential election 0{ 2000, · George W, Bush said he would "leave no child behind." Well Mr. B ush, with all due respect, you have left many children behind. You have left them several hundred miles behind as you push for military conquest in foreign lands that promise the Big Pay Day in Oil and other natural resources vital to Big Business and capitalism. You have left children behind with your new tax cuts, which will benefit those who are making below poverty wages or poverty wages, thus causing the children of poverty to be pushed further back. 200 1 lived in a family with an annual income of less than half the federal poverty level (disposable . income below $7 ,064 for a family of three, including food and housing benefits). Over one million black children are left behind in extreme poverty, according to Children' s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman. I say that the Republican Party has never been concerned for the poor. Not even Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party cared about the suffering of poor black children, or else he would not have told the borcl,ering slave You have said how the states (during the Civil War) that nations children is our most precious and vital resource, but when a mother can't afford to buy her child new clothes and must go to the thrift store and barely have enough money to feed them, what importance do you place on this precious and vital resource? And hoe far behind are those children that you promised not to leave behind, Mr. B ush? With the growing numbers of extremely poor black chi ldren, which is at its highest level in million black children in 22 or 23 years, according to the Children' s Defense Fu d, how do you j ustify your billions of dollars . per day expenditures for military ­ occupations of foreign countries? The Children' s Defense they could keep their slaves as long as they did not fight against the Union. I say the two-party . system (republican and Democrat) are both the same, only difference i s one is more open with their agenda while the other is more covert - but the end results are usually the same. I say we ought to stop believing in campaign slogans and speeches and begin to develop our own structures, ways . and means for our children and ourselves . I say it is high-time that so-called revolutionary activists for social justice take a stronger stand and begin tackling these "government", along with bug very real issues and not overlook corporations, the mil itary them because your focus is industrial complex and the prison outreached on global matters, industrial complex . while neglecting the more imminent needs domestically. I say to the revolutionary The B ush Administration plans to dismantle programs like START, and block-grant activists that if you can spend the Medicare, as well as the type of money it takes to organize Children's Health Insurance rallies and huge demonstrations ­ Program. why not use that money to help Though there is research our poverty-stricken children? that suggests that overall poverty Children of all races, nationalities has declined among black and ethnicity? Why not lobby for chi_ldren, this research has not them? highlighted the condition on the I say we need to shift our record-breaking increase of attention away from simply giving children living in poverty. workshops and talks on the subject matters that do not Extreme poverty. While Bu sh has the concretely include the needs of military so-called "liberating Iraq" children at its most basic level. and previously claimed to have All the parades; · "liberated Afghanistan" from demonstrations _and rallies, rock what he called an "axis of evil", and bottle throwing, or the then why aren't children being trashing of police cars will not liberated here in Amerikkka from help feed a hungry child, or give the political rhetoric of mass that child shelter, a balanced diet destruction which keeps them and health care needs. desperately in need and without We know B ush has left children behind. We know Bush · vital necessities? \ The time is NOW that we has lied to us (as all previous focus more attention to this politicians have done) to be national and international elected into office - so why not problem, rather than ignore these focus our attention on doing for grim facts in order to protest other the "left behind" child rather than issues while children go to bed continue to seek handouts and hungry: favors from the government, which no longer means you and I, but the billionaires and multi­ millionaires who control the course of direction for career politicians, who ' ve become the UDGET S U R PLU S �//F _,_�j}J Privatizing the budget surplus. Comments can be sent to Ali Khalid Abdullah, s/n #148130 16770 S. Watertower Drive, Kincheloe, MI 49788 . �Page 19 STREETVIBES Sep tember, 2003 F RAC ( Food Researc h· a n d Action Ce nter) N ews The News in Brief and a Look Ahead On August 12th, Representative Allen Boyd (D­ FL) visited Bellevue Middle School in Tallahassee to discuss with students the connection between good nutrition and good results in school and to present to Florida Impact a $1,000 Victory Against Hunger award from the Congressional Hunger Center (CHC). Florida · based nonprofit Food Rese rch community groups and public and Action Center. 'The Stat entities to sponsor" the Summer Education Office is not providing Food Program policies that will technical assistance and one-on­ allow the Summer Food Program one guidance to new sponsors; ' and Child and Adult Care Food and rural areas," and state options "With the federal government being limited by deficit, rece sioil, and obstinate conservative leadership, it will be left to the states and NBCSL members for pragmatic, progressive policies _which can improve the lives of America's working families. We want to (See "Mayor Seeks Review of Feeding to expand CACFP to suppers in Program," by Valerie Strauss, afterschool programs." NCSL Washington Post, 8/1 2/03) . Perry reaffirnis its longstanding support was also featured on News for school lunch and school more on these: issues, link to the but efforts to ensure that only award, noted that federal child web site (www/ncsl.org) of the eligible children are served must nutrition programs address National Conference of State not have a chilling effect on household food insecurity and Legisl tures (NCSL), whose program participation for hungry stimulate local economies. animal meeting approved ·a education and ultimate future self­ sufficiency of young children." NCSL cautions, "[A]ccurate eligibility determination i s important in any federal program · children." Also new on the NCSL technical assistance on setting up revised nutrition policy calling for site is "Use of Non-Cash Supports feeding site visits for elected greater access in Food Stamp and by Former TANF Recipients. " Stamp Program, including those "While the most severe forms of malnutrition and starvation that prevailed through the 1960s have largely disappeared, some 33 million people live in households that aren't sure where their next meals are coming from-those whom policy analysts call the food insecure. When the that restore benefits to many legal nutrition programs under the · Lieberman, The Nation, 8/ 1 8-25/ action center." Debra Susie, who accepted t e For in America," by Trudy 03). summer food program this year. Florida counties to sponsor the "Hung available in more neighborhoods breakfast programs "as critically aggressive outreach strategies in less inequality. "' (Source: Program (CACFP) "to be important to the well-being, helping to sign on five north bottom were higher and there was said Kim Perry, director o f D.C. Go to FRAC's web site (www.frac.org) for information about Food Stamp Program implementation as well as news on upcoming reauthorization of child nutrition programs. For and recognized by CHC for ·its 'Food stamps Hunger Solutions, a project of the Channel 8 TV. Impact was nominated by Boyd and Action Center. were more available, wages at the officials, contact child nutrition programs. NCSL evollinger @ frac.org or declares, "The Food Stamps, eteller@ frac.org. For more Emergency Food Assistance, WIC information on child nutrition and Child Nutrition program legislation, go to http:// alleviate and prevent hunger and www.frac.org/html/ enable families to improve their federal_food_programs/ health and be more productive at cnreauthor/cnrc.htin school and work." It applauds the "D.C. Mayor Anthony Wiiliarns yesterday asked his staff to review the city's summer feeding program for children, which has been criticized as ineffective by anti-hunger organizations," reported the Washington Post on August 12th. "Last school year, 42,2 1 0 2002 law changes in the Food children i n the District were in work with you. The United Food and Commercial Workers lritemational Union (UFCW) with 1 .4 million members, is North America's largest private sector union, and together, we can work for state-level victories* .As the recession spreads, hunger will grow. To ensure food sufficiency­ especially for children, retires, and the disabled-the food stamp program can be a lifesaver. However, a recent United States Agriculture' Department (USDA) report ·says hat four out of ten eligible recipients are not being served. As the program is 1 00% federally funded, with administrative costs · split 50/50 between state and federal governments, state dollars go a immigrants give states options to Older Americans Act were created long way. Additionally, USDA streamline operations and "quality in 1 972, authorizing special food provides funds for outreach control" measurements of programs for the elderly, it was payment accuracy. It identifies Richard Nixon who pushed for areas for further improvements in more funding. Tmoughout the in your community. A small benefit access and adequacy, such 1 970s few Americans would have investment l.n outreach pays big as elimination of the cap on the disputed the idea that the federal [the free or reduced price school shelter deduction. On the child government had a major role to (Source: "State B udget Deficits lunch] category. Last summer, nutrition front, its policy, · among play in feeding the hungry. Makes it Hard to be Optimistic," programs, further enhancing the ability to reach eligible recipients dividends in combating hunger." by Michael J. Wilson, Chief 1 4,848 children were served, a other things, supports : full ' Hunger was a problem we came decrease of 40 percent compared funding of WIC, " policies that much closer to solving in the Lobbyist, Legislative and Political with 200 1 , according to the D.C.­ will make it easier .for non-profit 1 970s,' says James Weill, Affairs Department, UFCW, president of the Food Research National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) News, July 2003 ) . Vendor.: 80 cents Printing and Production: 20 cents here our ol lar oes The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal o verhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. · Please call our office at 421-7803 for more informa­ tion about the program. Many thanks for your support. / Prepared by Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), 1875 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009;. 202-986-2200 x3016 www.frac.org �.. ,....,., ... .,.,,,.. ... · .. --._..... ·-·- --- eed Help or 557-2873 762-5660 761 -1 480 Friars Club 381 -5432 . Drop Inn Center 721 -0643 Haven House 863-8866 471 - 1 1 00 72 1 -4580 Excel Development 632-71 49 Women's Crisis 859-49 1 -3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel Miami Purchase 241 -0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381 - 1 1 71 Tender Mercies 639-7056 241 -0490 TREATMENT: Women 961 -4663 First Step Home 24 1 -2965 Full Circle Program 72 1 -0.643 Men TREATMEN , Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1 853 381 -4941 House Formed >}n 1984, The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a membership organization. Our member groups serve the homeless through emergency shelter, transitiona{ living facilities, permanent housing, medical services, social services, soup kitchens, and mental health/addiction services. The Coalition also consists of individual citizens who want to take an active role in ensuring that Cincinnati is an inclusive community, meeting the needs of all of its citizens. Join the fight to end homelessness; contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at (513) 421-7803, 1506 Elm Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 .C;rectfer Circ.ifUlQti Ceat AJ()I S\ lhe ·.,:. r- Prospect House 921 - 1 61 3 Starting Over 961 -2256 TREATMENT: Both N .A. _Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351 -0422 C . C.A.T. 381 -6660 Talbert House 684-7956 - Transitions, Inc 859-49 1 -4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-50 1 1 DIC Live-In Program 72 1 -0643 OTH E R SERVICES: AIDS Vol unteers of 42 1 -2437 Cincinnati Appalachian Identity Center 62 1 -5991 231 -6630 Beech Acres Center for Independent Living Options 241 -2600 Churches Active in Northside 59 1 -2246 Cincinnati Health Network I t I 1 Coalition for the Homeless 42 1 -7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mantal Health Access 558-8888 Point Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7 1 86 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221 -361 9 Legal Aid Society 241 -9400 Center 271 -5501 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. McMicken Dental 241 -5525 St. Francis/St.Joseph Goodwill Industries 771 -4800 Mary Magdalen House Garden St. House (Veterans) 241 -1 064 Fransiscan Haircuts 65 1 -6468 Tom Geiger House 961 -4555 Mission Joseph House 241 -2563 Homeless Mobile HOUSING: CMHA Welcome House 859-431 -871 7 Center 357-4602 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861 - 1 1 1 1 St John's Housing 651 -6446 872-9259 Salvation Army (Youth) I nterfaith 1 -888-872-9259 381 -4242 Emanuel Center Foodbank Caracole (AIDS) Hospitality Contact Center Freestore/ SHELTER: Both Anthony House S H E LTERS: Women and Chi ldren YWCA Battered Bethany House 661 -4620 Mt. Airy Center Volunteers of Amer. 381 - 1 954 please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below. (Toll Free) ,,.t"""" ...,...,,- . - 961 -0600 Community Action Agency 569-1 840 "-··· - -�� --·-··-- ..-..--, -!--.- ------------- Want to Help? If you need help or would like to help Women's Shelter ..----�'....-- 721 -48 1 1 Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily B read 621 -6364 Peaslee Neig'hborhood Center · 621 -551 4 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471 -4357 Travelers Aid 721 -7660 U nited Way 72 1 -7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helpin Women g 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-31 84 Salvation A my 863-1 445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2003 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource September 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Homeless Under Attack; Protecting People Who Live Outside Pg 2: Editorial Pg 3: Donate Pg 4: Reader Mail Pg 5: Looking Away from the Homeless Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: The Peace Village Continued Pg 8: The Lifestyles of the Rich and Less Caring Pg 9: On Getting Along Pg 10: North American Street Newspaper Association Members Gather in Quebec Pg 11: Through Our Eyes Pg 12: Midwest Rally Against Racism Held to Challenge Police, City’s Monochrome Bias Pg 13: What’s Happening with TANF Reauthorization Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Words from the Evangelist, (Perilous Times) Race in Cincinnati Pg 17: Take a Walk in My Shoes Pg 18: Bush Said…And I Say… Pg 19: FRAC News Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Steve Shockley Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Jerome Manigan Elain Coffy Elizabeth Linville Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Erickson Arts & Poetry Bias Brendan Goodwin Bush Cincinnati Elain Coffy Elizabeth Linville Evangelist Food Research FRAC Georgine Getty Jerome Manigan Jimmy Heath Mary Gaffney mental health Midwest News & Editorials panhandling Peace Village Quebec Race Racism Rally Reader Mail Steve Shockley Street Newspaper Association TANF War https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/8046db7c76c8d047894f2e20258a6a8b.pdf db67c81dc635d8b89c42bb6057ea5307 PDF Text Text Cuba in Photos p_age 12 Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �• October 2003 City Hall; Move Homeless From Under B idges! and under the bridges. Working with the police and social service homeless and advocates. agencies, many of the homeless photo's and story by Jimmy Heath have been moved into programs or On Wednesday, September housing. A temporary restraining 17th, Cincinnati City Council voted order issued by U.S. District Judge on a resolution allowing the city Susan Dlott expired over a month and police to immediately remove ago, and many of the homeless homeless individuals living under people already have left the camps. bridges and highway overpasses. Attorney Jennifer Kinsley The city has already erected no filed a lawsuit in July on behalf of trespassing signs in areas used by Don Henry, a homeless man the the homeless. city attempted to evict from Although the areas are beneath an overpass at Third Street public property, according to the under the Clay Wade Bailey city solicitor the city has the right Bridge. (See Streetvibes cover to remove individuals who pose a story, August, 2003) Kinsley, who "public safety threat to themselves continues to represent the or to the general public." Although homeless, promised to fight in loosely defined, the "safety threat" court the legality of any new city is being used by city council to sweeps. A variety of people spoke move homeless people from areas against the current resolution that might be in clear view of the during the public speaking portion general public, thereby tarnishing the city's image. of the City Council meeting. Elaine The author of the Coffey gave an emotional response resolution, Councilman Chris to the resolution, "I've been onzel, was outraged when he homeless too, and I know what it is saw a person defecating in public like. Why don't you do something while driving in his car with his about the dope dealers that are family. Monzel said more needs to loitering on my street? Why areq't be done. trespassing laws enforced against "It's a public health issue, a them?" public safety issue," said Monzel. Roger, a man who is "I just believe the current situation currently living under a bridge in in this city is unacceptable." An downtown Cincinnati told council, encampment near the Spring Grove "We are human beings, just like Avenue exit from Interstate 75 has you all." been there undisturbed for about Georgine Getty, executive five months, Monzel said. director of the Greater Cincinnati The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless said, Coalition for the Homeless has "the people who live under these been working to help coordinate bridges are among the most outreach to people living outside "We Don't Need More Laws," say :l ·t$ .. ------ ---..... 0 TRESPASSING . TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH O.R.C. 2911.21 No Trespassing sign posteinear bridge homeless encampments Roger Kiskaden addresses City Council 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 distrust 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 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 anothe,r 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 • "f"" this issue as almost one of meanspiritedness." "I don't think it is mean­ spirited at all," said Mayor Charlie . jl!JlU G Luken, m 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. 5'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. · · · , Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Ho111eless �STREETVIBES October, 2003 Page 2 ON A' SCALE OF ONE TO A HUNDRED, . HOW MUCH DO YOlJ BIS-AGREE WITH THE CITY'S TREATMENT OF CINCINNATI'S HOMELESS? ------------------------------- 1 w1u DONATE: [fil I s21 I I S4o I I s&0 I I s11 I Is111I He's only 18 months old and already he's trapped in the cycle of homelessness in Cincinnati. His mother needs an affordable place to live and a job with a living wage as she escapes a life of domestic violence. The current treatment of homeless individuals in our city means that he may never be able to live in a home of his own. There are 25,000 people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. More than one-third of those are women and children. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addressing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and coordination of services, we can end homelessness in our city. The more support we have from the community, the further our efforts reach. Please cut the coupon and pick a box. It could mean that one less child will have to live in one. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Greater Cincinnati Coalition For The Homeless ------------------------------------- �·-·· ·· ' • 4- I . •. STREETVIBES October, Editorial 2003 Page 3 Life Under a Cincinnati Bridge sometimes people react in disgust. by Jimmy Heath, Streetvibes Editor There is certainly a serious story) This, in spite of recent and successful collaborations between and hurtful disconnection between social service agencies, the dream unfulfilled; living under a the general public, politicians and Homeless Coalition, and the police bridge, in a camp on the river, or in homeless persons. to move people out from the It's truly the American I was passing through a clump of bushes near the railroad bridges in a humane manner. tracks. Not exactly the future we Fountain Square one day, and I would hope for ourselves or our observed an interaction that some · children. How and why does a We can all agree that people should not be using the young men were having with a outdoors as a public toilet, but the homeless man who had asked them continued passing of ordinances for spare change. The men person's life reach the point of shows little depth in the analyses of the homeless homelessness? What happened along the way? And why, when condition. No one should there seems to be other options have to live outside, available, would a person choose to without the simple life­ live outdoors in sustaining things, like a 10 degree weather, in the rain, the snow, exposed to shower or a stove, that we not only these cruel elements, but sometimes take for an unforgiving society? What granted. In my drives a person to live outside of the so-called social order? neighborhood of Over­ The the-Rhine, I have answers are as diverse and complex as the varied personalities that witnessed many visiting make up this sometimes forgotten suburban folks partying and ignored segment of our society, New NO TRESSPASING sign posted near former homeless encampment the homeless. There are issues of on Main Street relieving themselves in our alleys and behind our buildings. addiction and mental illness, which entertained themselves by throwing brings with it fear and apprehension some loose change on the ground, and distrust of the systems designed laughing while the disoriented man to reach out to them. Social service agencies are pushed to the breaking chased after the rolling coins. point, hard pressed to find staff and sorry for; the simple-minded men time to devote to gently persuading who entertained themselves at homeless continue to be harassed folks to come in off the street. some poor unfortunate's expense or and ticketed for the same the man chasing the nickels. And for those reasons, and · scattered on the ground and in our parking lots. They walk on Main Street, the so-called entertainment I didn't know who to feel district, with drink cups in hand, while neighborhood folks and the infractions. The middle-class There was the radio talk more, the answers are never simple. The tourists leave their drink cups gentry who live in our To bring the homeless in out of the show host who called for a weather requires an approach that "homeless roundup" to remove of grass at our community center respects the individual nature of homeless people from the city as a toilet for their pets. each person. If their needs aren't because they are "nothing but met, they may feel fearful and run. drunks and derelicts." neighborhood use the small patch Our neighbors and community and the homeless see Part of the perception Blanket solutions and ultimatums these disparities, and they are not the answer. What works for problem is driven by public understand what it means. The one, will not work for another. discussions. A Cincinnati City message to the poor is "get out!" There is a fear by the sidewalk traveling public of Councilman recently spoke in and for those spending money, it's disgust and outrage that he and his "go about your business." engaging homeless people. family had witnessed a homeless Observe the homeless man holding man defecating in public. This so much fear and distrust on the the sign at a downtown corner as Council member sponsored and part of the homeless in Cincinnati. people pass and react. You see fear succeeded in passing an ordinance Apparently, it isn't enough to be in the general public manifest in that called for the immediate only a human being. Maybe living many ways. Most commonly, the removal of all homeless persons under a bridge isn't such a bad homeless person is ignored, others living under bridges and highway idea afterall. increase their distance, and overpasses. (See this month :S cover It is no wonder that there is Vendor Code of Conduct Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct... 1. 2. Streetvibes will be distributed for a $ 1 voluntary donation. I agree not to ask for donations of more than $ 1. I also understand that I will be able to keep 80 cents of each dollar collected. Streetvibes may only be purchased from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH). Purchasing or selling unauthorized papers, or from other vendors, will result in the sale of Streetvibes will go to the individual vendor. Falsely stating intent or otherwise mis­ representing is a violation of a city ordinance and may be cause for arrest. 8. I will always present my badge when purchasing papers, and I will display my badge at al times. while vending. Replacement badges are $5 each. 9. There are no territories. I agree that I will not contest territories with other distributors. I will termination from the program. 3. I agree that I to vend after 4. I 12 midnight. 1 0. agree to treat others with respect - other ven­ I will not sell Streetvibes while under the influence strives to be a self­ supporting paper created by people who are effort, I will try to spread the word and write stories if possible. of drugs or alcohol. 6. I will not give a "hard sell" or make someone feel 11. I understand that failure to comply with any of the above statements will result in termination threatened. 7. I agree not to deceive the public by saying that I am collecting for a not-for-profit charity or that I am collecting for the "homeless" in generaL I understand that Streetvibes homeless or formerly homeless. To help in this dors, customers, and GCCH personnel. 5. not sell on private property without permission. will not ask for donations or attempt I will be honest in stating that all the profits from from the Streetvibes vendor program. GCCH reserves the right to terminate a vendor at any time as deemed appropriate. . �STREETVIBES October, Wearing Black 2003 Page 4 It Doesn't Take Much home from the welfare office. Sht by Mary Gaffney know the Lord's Prayer, or ever had no money to feed the meter for the Man in The fall season is slowly had a bible in their hands in their down near the welfare office. And approaching. In fact, by the time lifetime, but still, it is God who has that appointment could be for Black you read this, fall will be here. watched over them from the time many hours. by Gray Dog With the weather, we have had a they were born, until now. I've seen lately where the I remember when I first lot of rain all over the United Maybe some are alcoholic, City has made provisions for some heard Johnny Cash sing, The Man States. It makes you wonder; fires, etc. ·Some use profanity, have to have publicly subsidized parkin! in Black it was in 1971, in Adams storms, earthquakes, etc. and other served time in jail, and some have in the downtown area. But what County where I lived down a strange weather. It brings to mind served their country. What do they about th poor who have to attend hollow where my neighbors farmed a quotation, "Before the end of find? No family. No employment. a life-sustaining meeting and must tocacco and raised herds of beef or time, we cannot tell one season No friends that really understand walk blocks to park or have NO dairy cattle. Every wednesday from the other." them. Some of the homeless are money for parking their not-to­ night, we would gather around a During the weekend, I was not the same people they once good car. It seems if you are small, balck and white set to watch sitting and watching some birds were. Some of them have had homeless or are some category of The Johnny Cash Show. This was and squirrels. And I noticed that great disappointments in life, love poverty of needy people you are in a small farm house that had only they were gathering up leaves and and family affairs. They have stuck. recently gotten electricity and still debris. Some say these little reached a point in their life that The homeless have been had not gotten running water. Half creatures don't have much in the they just don't really care. run from one place to another. M) a dozen of us would meet there in way of brains! But whatever, they But I question is, the parlor, talk until it was time, have the knowledge to prepare for have been where do tum on the set, watch the program, the cold weather and the months to able to talk they want and then tum off the set and talk come. to them. Yes, them to go? some more. I remember a lot of The squirrels have begun to some are There are good music and a lot of good talk. carry food up to their tree shelters. bitter, and some Of course, he always wore The birds are doing the same. will not talk abandoned black, but we never questioned There was something else with you. buildings ­ why. Until the night he sang that that ran across my mind as I Remember as can't they be song. I wear the black for the poor ·observed all of this, watching these fixed up? and the beaten down, he told us, little creatures. The birds have No. Yet those livin' in the hopeless, hungry ·-t.he·m;-t.U<:1.1.-_ nests and the foxes ave ole..,.,.._ -i.-h>+-side of town. He wore black for some humans have no place to lay they are also the prisoner, a victim of the times. looking at their head. He wore black for the sick and the Ah yes, some of you you (Smile) old, for the burnt out druggies, and readers might say, "there she goes to see where projects. .for the dead in Vietnam. again. Talking about the homeless." you are coming from, and what and Yes, we have the Drop Inn And he told us he would Yes that is what I'm doing. why are you talking with them. Center, but it overflows with continue to wear the black until Be ause they are my friends and I These years I have not only needy people. And there are things changed. Things haven1t care for them. And regardless of been exposed to the homeless, but places for the mentally ill changed. The poor still suffer, the what people may say or think, they to many people who are having a homele . u h question still on prisoners still drag out their days, hard time. are children that belong to God my mind is where are the homeless the sick and the old are still left on who has seen fit to place them in A person who rkllew on to go, if they are not wanted? the sideliines of life, and we are this garden of life. welfare, knowing she had an Have you ever stopped to losing young men in a new Some will say, "What do appointment, could not handle the wonder why strange things are senseless war. expense of riding the bus to get you mean they belong to God?" happening in this world of ours? Johnny Cash wore black to Maybe they have not joined a there. The car had no gas, just When God said, "the least you do the end of his days. church or even worship, or even enough to take her there and back unto my little ones, you do unto me. " He didn't say anything about Three Boys and a Fountain age or whatever. He also said, "Love one another, as I have loved you." OK! So please remember, it doesn't take much to give a smile. If you don't want to speak, just give a smile - it won't take your strength or harm your health! For this time, may we all have peace and love for one another. It doesn't take much. Ms. Mary Gaffney is a working member ofAARP. She greets people, answers the phone and handles sales of Streetvibes from the front desk at the Greate1 Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless office in Over-the­ Rhine. · Congratulations 9l0-6 and 3Vii6 tin On Your Wedding 8/29/03 From your In the center of God's Bible School and College is a fountain that attracted the attention of Corey, JD and Jordan. The Methodist Bible School and College is located in Mt Auburn. favorite vendor Eadeae �STREETVIBES October, Page 5 2003 Bulldozing the Homeless by Elizabeth Linville, GCCH Civil Rights Coordinator On Friday, August 29•" at 11 :30 PM, Glenn Dominy and Malachi Prophet returned to their camp under a bridge near downtown Cincinnati to find all of their personal belongings destroyed. It appeared that their property had been bulldozed into nearby bushes. Further investigation by homeless advocates revealed that the camp had been bulldozed late Friday by a private company that had leased the land under the bridge from the city for Riverfest parking. Earlier in August, Glenn and Malachi started to work with homeless advocates and the police to locate individuals who had vandalized their camp. A group of men approached the bridge near Lytle Park where the two men reside and threw rocks and eggs at them and their friends. On another occasion, their belongings were set on fire and Glenn's kidney medication was stolen. While the police were not actually involved in the sweeping of their camp, Malachi and Glenn are now reluctant to work with them in resolving that and any other issues. "I trust no one dealing with thi "said Malachi after the bulldozing. Additionally, they are considering taking legal action for the destruction of their property. "We're going to try to fight this," Glenn informed reporters. While it was legitimate for the city to rent the land out under the bridges for parking, the issue is the destruction of Malachi and Glenn's property. The two men stored their belongings in the rafters of the bridge, not on the land under the bridge. The bridge and the rafters are the property of the Ohio Department of Transportation, while the land is city property. In order for Malachi and Glenn's belongings to be bulldozed, someone had to go into the rafters to remove the items. Also at issue is the fact that lawyers for the city and Don Henry, the homeless individual who sued the city regarding camp sweeps, have been attempting to reach an agreement on the amount of notice the police need to give an individual before their camp is swept. 72 hours would be the normal amount of time given for an eviction. Malachi and Glenn were given no notice. It is likely that the city had no idea that this particular camp would be swept, but they do need to take responsibility for what occurred at the hands of one of their contract employees. The day after the event, the city offered little to Malachi and Glenn. The men refused $200 from one city official, feeling that the offer was a bribe. The city of Cincinnati has a record of making life difficult for individuals who are homeless. In the past year, panhandlers have seen strict restrictions put on their activities and have been required to register at city hall in order to panhandle. Now, the city is focusing on cleaning out bridge camps. City Councilman Chris Monzel has put forth a resolution that would have the city immediately sweep the downtown area of homeless individuals without any notice. He and many city officials seem to have no concern for where these individuals would actually go once their camp is swept. Homeless advocates wonder why the city cannot focus energy on finding help for those who are homeless and solutions for the overriding problem of .homelessness, rather than making life even more difficult for those living on the streets. s� "Okay ... okay I know what your're thinking. I never should have votedfor Bush." . . . t Vendor: 80 cents Printing and Production: 20 here our ollar 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. Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-"the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education �STREETVIBES October, The Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland Page 6 2003 peace, grateful for the Peace 90 years, still full of piss and Village, the Vietnam Vets Sangha, delight at breathing in our world of also in her 20s, about whether the people of Canada, the survivors loving hope. We breathe in and immolation or evisceration would of a year in Israel and the people of out, in and out, and we see our peace beckoning us to enter? I be the best course of action in my neighborhood, Northside, breath as a force for peace in our world. Thanks to all. Who stands at the door of want to believe that there are many awakening people. Sr. Khong Cincinnati, Ohio. The words and guides, many door and gate decides this is not the best course works of Thich Nhat Hahn and keepers, many who know how to of action. Her friend goes ahead Sister Chong Kung fill the posters points during the conference about point in the right direction. This and has a dramatic impact on the with hints of peace, awaiting my our addiction to "watering only the Hahn had made several summer I met at the gate of my peace movement in Saigon. How breath to fill in their meanings. I seeds of war" and ignoring the freedom door, Chan Khong. A do we ever get inside this form of breathe in my greetings to all, I "watering of the seeds of hope." radiant woman, filled with wise and thinking and acting? breathe out my feelings of peace As I listened and drew out my own Sr. Khong's quest for and health to all. I want to breathe picture of my life, I saw the truth in the details of her work for peace, her teamwork with Thay with you all every moment, this insight and the Vietnamese children still starving. Hahn, her role in the development knowing that the feeling of peace is underdevelopment of the mental brief statements about so many of really here right now and spiritual aspects of my touch the earth with in our lives, in our connections to peace. The beauty, and allow the efforts, in our influence of the war images, of Asking us to relax, deep peace of our attempts to touch seeing my self as a "warrior" had ancestors and our peace in our own and taken their toll in my attraction to hearts to fill our others' lives, and in violence and the prevention of being. One of the our facing of the violence. ln my shadows has been highlights of the beauty of the Peace a strong pressure to heal, to grieve, week with Thay Village, namely, you. to rise up as legitimate the unique Hahn and Kong is to I breathe in our way I have survived with remnants have the opportunity teachers' joy as they ofjoy and beauty. I have done this to submerge into her prepare for some usually by hiding my healing self evening program of connection between behind the attacking self I heard, deep relaxation. what we call peace in one of the poems during the Imagine a and the work of sangha, a writer say that she, too, 1000 peace workers stretched out on the Jimmy Heath photo Dr. Steve Sunderland floor, in a dimly lit and cooled gym, listening to Khong of the peace movement and the youtli athe--out had realized that her own life was the radiance of those just no who are carrying on father, just as her civil flgh1s OOtkmoug![' for her Harriet Tubman's story, and the struggle was to make all lives sing in English, then French, then attempt to provide aide to refugees breath of McAuley's story, and the "good enough." Her struggle to Vietnamese the most beautiful before and after the peace all are work of those who continue to honor herself, in her father's eyes, lullabies. Each song opening spelled out in humble and plain counsel vets, children, adults, and .took on the clothing of heroic work another eyelid in our hearts, each prose. Here is revealed many of friends broken by the with youth and vets. "How much sound ringing a distant memory of the efforts to create and sustain a misunderstanding of personal and of life, my life,'' I wondered, "is joy, each moment of the hour, a peace movement through activist political wars. I breathe in the misdirected into camouflaging lifetime of embracing beauty, a and Buddhist principles, all the celebration of those who have peace and joyful experiences in the wave within a wave of the arms time questioning whether peace is found the friend calle peace, in the clothing of war?" and fingers of the beloved. any closer or being driven apart, mirror's reflection, in the marker Shifting to a resonance with action by action. She writes, at the on cardboard, in the computer as my peaceful experiences, in the about this most unusual teacher end of her book, this inspirational words of joy spill out their golden past and in the moment, seemed and so went to the conference message: If tonight my heart rainlets. I breath out in song with more difficult than it was. bookstore to ·buy her ceases to beat, you will see me in our Argentine friends who have my posters beginning to share autobiography, Learning true love: all these sisters and brothers. taught us that singing can bring smiling pictures along with the I wanted to find out more I found how I learned and practiced social There are those who continue my peace and with our Nigerian stories of the horrors. "Where are change in Vietnam, (Parallax Press, work for hungry children, others brothers and sisters who are my happy pictures of peace?" 1993.) This book describes in who enjoy my work of listening to working to seed the hopes of wondered as detail the struggle for peace inside the suffering of people in order to another generation that might live stream within that flowed in this of Vietnam throughout the war and help them be healed. You can see in peace, and with our dear direction. And, so I continue to in the aftermath in such amazing my smile in their look and my children and family and friends who find ways of sharing this unrealized detail, honesty, and grace as to take voice in their words. But you will have kept the breath of peace alive aspect of my inner peace, watering my breath away. Clearly, there is not see my shortcomings in them. and waving in the smoke oflsrael. these seeds, reflecting on peace and no guidebook for making peace The samsara of my shortcomings And more: please breath with me, joy in this moment, and accepting and this is as close as anything I've will end the day this body is as you inhale this letter, your that peace can now have as strong read. Very early in her life she transfarmed into ash and then peaceful side, your side that has a place as war in my pictures and decided to work for peace and becomes a flower again. .. The work just again this moment smiled at work. took herself into the heart of the I have done is the work C!f the realization that you have made everyone. It is not just my work. this village alive with your gift of to unify the diverse groups working As you read these lines and know peace, and that by making your for peace. Everywhere there is that, in a remote area of Vietnam, breath the form of your hopes, you Buddhist and non-Buddhist efforts danger. Who wants peace when children who are severely have shaped the invisible boundary, war is what people have grown malnourished are receiving some the safe and beautiful boundary of accustomed to at the governmental funds from Plum Village, you can what we embrace in our Peace level? Who can get the attention of see that act of love as the Village. In a breath, we can honor the average person and bring them collective work of thousands of those who have come home from into working for peace when all of hands and hearts. All of us, Vietnam, from Iraq, from war torn the incentives are to choose sides indeed, inter-are. neighborhoods right here, and . and work for war? There is an I am sitting surrounded by breath that sound of caring, that unforgettable discussion between my posters from the past three whistle of delight, and the wisps of Sr. Kong and a close young friend, weeks, engulfed in a moment of a breath still hanging on, at 80 and I I began to find the Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor ofSocial Work at the University of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. Sunderland also heads up Posters-for-Peace which engages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words, through the creation ofposters. �STREETVIBES October, Page 7 2003 Information Systems (HMIS), according to Wired Magazine The discovery of at least seven (www.wired.com). The cases of malaria in southeast . Department ofHousing and Urban Florida has state health officials Development insists the tracking is worried about an even wider necessary because, although HUD outbreak, particularly amQng has.given more than $11 billion the area's homeless population. over the past 15 years, no,.one has One of the seven cases is already a any idea how many people 45-year-old man, and Palm •each federally-supported programs are Cqunty health officials are trying to serving or what kind of benefits. spread the word to other poople these services are having in who spend all their nights sleeping people's lives. Some homeless outside, according to the Palm service providers and community Beach Post,. and privacy activists counter that (www.palmbeachpost.com). The the details gathered through HMIS end of last month, o cials could be used for political agendas distributed fliers in soup kitchens, that only further harm homeless shelters, and even foraged into people. These activists.believe that deep woods hunting down reports of homeless people who had set .up general data on the homeless population would be just as shop in prime mosquito breeding grounds. They are also distributing e:ffoctive as gathering sensitive personal information on in ividual 370 donated cases of the insect people. Homeless advocates also repellents Offi and Cutter. question spending a chunk of By 2004, homeless service money on a tracking system when agencies will have to start ' the money can be used to fulfill tracking the homeless people much more pressing needs. "What they serve or risk losing all of are they trying to figure out, their federal funding. Personal details like social security numbers, whether someone has a shelter: bed on the east side and the west side HIV status, and mental health of town?" asked Chance Martin, history will be recorded through the editor of the San Francisco the federal Homeless Management by Molly Rhodes · street newspaper Street Sheet, in an interview with Wired. "I really don't think there are that many people double dipping for shelter beds. There aren't enough to go around in the first place." seekers from countries like Nigeria, whose love of soccer is all that keeps them sane as they struggle to find work away from their :family and home. After a week of intense summer, they :could.feel like any competition and teamwork, Thanks to a $25,000 scholarship grant, homeless kids living around Salem, Oregon, have a chance to participate in summer camps their families could not otherwise afford, according to the Statesman Journal (news.statesmanjournal.com). The grant, from Mid-Valley Partnership of Marion and Polk Counties, made '\ possible a joint vision between the . A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village and Salem-Keizer Public Schooi Homeless Educatjon program - a chance to clown and play as-other hildren take for granted. The grant not only covers the cost of the camp but will also provide after­ school programs for homeless children. There are an estimated 1,600 homeless children in the Salem-Keizer school district. At least for a couple weeks this other kid. Austria emer.ged victorious in the Homeless World Soccer Cup, Some expressed little surprise that the host team rod over the competition, but even teams that didn't fair as well - the United S ates team placed ninth ­ enjoyed the experience and hoped to see more soccer championship§ in ye s to come. The Cup was organized by the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), who saw the positive impact that similar, smaller leagues were having on homeless people in England; breaking their isolation and giving them a goal to practice for and teammates to support them along the way. The majority of the members of Austria's team were a:ctually immigrants and asylum besting England. · Caregiving, take one transportation is often not easy or Cincinnati and Hamilton County; by John Zeh source, dealing with the healthcare (800) 606-2560 in Butler, Clinton, "Remember to take care of system, jumping through hoops just available. To relieve stress and anger, and Warren counties). to get answers," he added. For yourself first, taking your own Practical issues covered they suggested that providers: feelings and health into account," relief from stress and anger, he identify exactly what is the cause included the importance of. moral recommended turning said Betsy Needles, outreach accept one's own health arid coordinator. of CSA's Caregiver support from people who truly responsibilities over to another feelings be realistic about what one Assistance Network (CAN), understand caregivers' concerns, person and getting respite care. can and cannot do to go that extra "Otherwise there is no way you can stress relief to take care of oneself Asked for how they've handled mile for the recipient recognize the while caring for others, resources such issues, participants urged provide care for someone else." to reveal where and how to get taking a long walk in a park, sitting loved .one's abilities help recipients Some 15 seniors help from several services in the down to read a book, going out for be self-sufficient early-on join a participated in the free area networ ng with other care care group to learn how to make presentation, presented by ice cream, and playing the piano. providers. Southwestern Ohio's Catholic Enjoying music really helps, decisions more maturely sleep· '·'CAREline is your realize it's okay to feel guilty try Social Services at the Clifton agreed Pritchett, because it can Senior Center's high-rise apartment . connection to expertis , resources, and find a balance in what one's relieve the caregiver, and can calm and support," said Pritchett, from doing. the care recipient. "It's important complex in wooded north Clifton Madisonville. Physical factors "Medical research," warned across from Cincinnati State and to find what gives you peace, and Needles, "shows that caregivers outlined by Pritchett included Technical College. The session rejuvenates your spirit," said fatigue from lifting a care recipient, Needles. The presenters stressed have increased fatality rates." At offered a fresh look at the rapidly­ back injury, anxiety, becoming least 25 support groups for changing environment of that obtaining full acceptance of caregivers exist in the region, but more prone to illness (especially caregiving, with timely, relevant help from the family provider is colds), not sleeping enough, and . none are in Clifton, the reports on the latest developments important or Adult Protective neighborhood running from the unhealthy/improper eating due to in the field deemed critical by the Services may step in and place the giving care responsibilities a higher older/ill person in a nursing home, northwest edge of the University of state and federal agii:ig officials. priority than personal needs. Cincinnati's campus and Burnet CAN provides free which even government officials "Caregivers can feel Woods to the Cincinnati State want to avoid. They also outlined consultations with licensed overwhelmed, and that can lead to . why some caregivers decline taking northern campus side. The professionals to families caring for anger, resentment, and an overall loved ones with long-term, a break for themselves, saying: they presenters showed a brief clip (and frustration," said Pritchett. debilitating illnesses. . don't trust outsiders proViding help have the entire 60-minute VHS "Coupled with stress from daily Needles and CAN family outsourcing is not a tradition in the tape to show in full) from last fall's specialist Kenny Pritchett outlined activities such as a job, these family, especially among Hispanics, PBS documentary "And thou Shalt feelings can lead to depression and Honor." '.'It's really well-done," services available to caregivers in who dislike a provider coming in social withdrawal. "Complicating said Pritchett. person or via the agency's 12-hour cost can be a big issu , since adult the problems is a new stress "CARElirie" (513-929-4483 in day care centers can be expensive · · �STREETVIBES October, 2003 Page 8 Editorial Dealing with the Homel·ess under the bridges by Elaine Coffy HOMELESS, HOMELESS. I would really love to hear don't-know what it will take to fix with the Homeless Females: this; you cannot hide these Do you know? go away! A bandage will not fix single parents? (2000) The homeless are starting to are homeless to escape domestic wake up and shake this thing off, violence sititutions. 3.4% of these females are chemical Elaine Coffey alcohol dependant. committees are design to they are starting to realize that they have rights too! They are waking supposedly keep your life simple, 2.9% -of homeless females suffer safe, educational and fun. There is from Hepatitis B/C, aids, herpes, none of this going on in Cincinnati and malnutrition. that I can see. I would like to see that the In October there will be a Homeless have a shelter be put faculties opening up for the into place and be staffed in a large scale, to provide direct services. homeless that have had major Direct services are so greatly surgery needing intense needed in this area in order to supervision, patient aftercare and return these females back into are too ill to go into a shelter or afford a nursing home. This facility society as viable citizens. It is will provide the medical aftercare the season of concerns are turning into fear. The winter that the individual will need until month of 2003 are going to be his or her release from the doctors care. (Approxitmly 30 - 90 days). bitter months. There are no funds After their release from the available to the individuals needing · doctor's care where will they go? shelter. The shelters are all ready On May 21, 2003 there filll on a nightly base. H. U.D. laws were teams of advocates who are so strict, that the old saying, combed the parks, under the "TWO HEADS ARE BETTER bridges, in doorways, and alleys THAN ONE" Makes the living looking for homeless people in situation impossible without the order to gain accurate picture of treatment of eviction that causes homeless in our community. Of the the individual to return to homeless count in the Cincinnati Homelessness again. area alone, we found 193 men, I am willing to bet, if the women, and children sleeping in city of Cincinnati city council the streets of Cincinnati. could review the books and There were 1018 men, provide a way to fund a shelter women, and children sleeping in providing Continuum of Care. the shelter of Cincinnati. In our With this continuum of care, it twenty-year history; GCCH has would allow at least the females to · helped to coordinate the social self -esteem, regain motivation and services of Cincinnati to ensure that become viable citizens. we form a u fied net of support for people experiencing homelessness. The re6ult: one of the best social service networks in they support, and how will their the country. 1018 people received decisions affect you, your family or shelter, clothing, and most inportantly HOPE! They formed a plan to get out from the shadow of these individual to make the homelessp.ess so that they can decisions that will last you in you create a brighter future for affect your children, maybe your grand-children's way of life. Remember that you pay City Council to provide these main issues: Quality of Life, Safety, and J1ealth and Economics. These · this situation. That· 12.1 % of homeless females lifetime and will consequently . individuals and think that they will That 26% of females are married/ Remember that you pay transitional housing);(B) an Kentucky to Indiana.to Ohio.) I This month I would like to deal someone that you know. hotels, congregate spelters, and (homeless going back from People too! candidates stand for, what issues accommodations (including welfare with someone else), floaters Recognizing that Homeless are I strongly suggest each to provide temporary living squatters (people that are staying with theses individuals. register to vote, review what your privately operated shelter designed homeless under the bridges, the of exactly what the city should do readjusts to society, .redeem their (A) a supervised publicly or This survey did not include the from you as readers, your opinions coming int individual who has a primary nig ttime place of abode that is: themselves and their families. The shelter life is better than on the street, but I want more. We ·met the homeless. I must admit that this word needs be repeated over and over again and again. HOMELESS, While we make every effort to provide a forum for those STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not without a voice, responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. · up, voicing their options, needing services and demanding them. You cannot tum your heads and think that it will go away. Look around you the homeless are all around you if you acknowledge it or not, they are until this is taken care . going with direct services HOMELESS MEANS: Homeless person, child or youth" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:(!) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime place of abode.(2) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or (C) a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. Anytime you are not the person that the mail come in your name, the rental lease, the telephone bill, the utilities are not in your name, guess what? You Are Homeless! Don't hide the homeless, help them, and remember that the Homeless are people too.! Until next time, remember, send me some feedback, E-mail: elainetco:ffy@yahoo com Remember)" KEEP Y OUR HEAD UP, BECAUSE Y OU KNOW W HAT WILL!" Elaine Tamar Coffy (ETC) �STREETVIBES October, 2003 S U P PO RT E D U CATI O N instead of part-time, I would have By Katrina Furr-Hoffman, Women Blessing Women Toledo, Ohio an Associates Degree and I might not need assistance right now. I There are many changes would also be able to be at home that are taking place at the local when my children get off the bus and state level regarding welfare while saving additional funds reform. I am a welfare recipient from daycare. and I am also an employee for Women Blessing Women. I have been employed for Let's look at the overall picture instead of the here and now. If you want a better society 2 years without interruption. I have also that promotes a low poverty rate, been a student at the University of education is the only way. Toledo for In closing, the 3 years. When I first started my 36 . government has a responsibility months on cash assistance, I was to the poor. I think it's time to re­ pregnant with twins. I was a evaluate the objective of welfare recovering person working on reform. Is the obj ective to personal development. I was promote self-sufficiency or make informed shortly after receiving temporary cuts to the budget? signed by OTR photographer Jimmy Heath. my GED that I only had a short period of time to find employment. I wasn't employable. I lacked work ethics, skills, and the esteem that is needed to become a reliable employee. I was fortunate to find an employer who was willing to work with me, and help me build the skills that I lacked. Not all employers are patient with their employees. As a result, I have worked very hard to stay employed. I have learned new skills and abilities that promote good work ethics and maintaining employment. Although things are starting to look up, there are a number of women who struggle with the same barriers that I have faced. In the beginning of my college career, I maintained a GPA of 4.0. I now have a GPA of 3.320. As you can see, my grades have dropped dramatically. I should be given the opportunity to go to school without any added distractions. After three years of classes, I will have my first degree. It is very discouraging to go to school, build new debts, and maintain a family and excel in any area. Society is doing a great injustice by forcing single women into the workforce when they aren't ready. Give these women the opportunity to become educated. If they maintain a certain GPA and good attendance, they should meet the criteria for food stamps, cash, and medical. If l was given the opportunity to go to school first, receiving benefits until I graduated, I would receive about $4 12 in cash and $2 12 in food $624, plus stamps, totaling daycare for three children, six hours per day. I receive $4 12 in food stamps and the government pays for nine hours for three kids. If I was going to school full-time Makes a Great Gift! 18" X 24" lithograph : Washington Park, Over­ the-Rhine, Winter 1 999. Each print is individually Note: The WAGES ("Work After Good Education is Success'J Campaign of the Ohio Empowerment Coalition advocates that post-secondary education, vocational and GED education be counted as thefull work requirement of Ohio Works First recipients. Ohio Works First (OWF) is the public assistance programfor low­ incomefamilies with children in Ohio. For more informa.tion on W A GES call the Ohio Empowerment Coalition at 1­ 8 77-862-51 79. Purchase benefits the children's Literacy Through Photography program . at Peaslee Neighborhood Center in Over-the-Rhine. . Posters are $10 each, plus $3 for shipping. Send your order and check to: Peaslee Neighborhood Center Attn: Photography ·Program · 215 East Fourteenth Street · Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 or call (513) 621-5514 or visit the website for more information: www.jimmyheath. org �STREETVIBES October, 2003 To Believe Or Not To Believe Page 10 Old St. Mary's Church in Detroit's Greektown just as the news began to break concerning pedophilia in the Catholic Church. As I pondered the images on my website, I was not feeling the warmth from the previous Sunday when I photographed Holy Spirit jn Newport. The Old St. Mary's images from Detroit moved me to photograph Old St Mary 's at 13th and Clay Street in Over-the­ Rhine on Thursday August 7. I photographed one roll of Fuji Velvia slide film with images 1-22 of the church interior and images 23-37 of the exterior. At 12:08pm the sun suddenly broke through the clouds briefly as I was photographing the church's exterior for approximately one second. I felt the intense heat on my head and fortunately pressed the shutter for image number 33. I posted the image number 3 3 on my website on Thursday evening August 7 and began to receive e-mails referring to the "faces" appearing in the clouds and especially in the sunlight. I had not seen the faces, just the brilliant sunlight. I looked back at my website and also began to make enlarged prints of the original slide number 3 3 and also cropped detail images of the sunlight area. To my surprise and delight I began to see the faces also. It gave me a feeling of warmth. I continue to receive e­ mails from people referring to the­ faces in the photograph. I have enlarged and framed the image as a positive print and as a negative print and have exhibited on the comer of 13th and Clay Street three times to the delight of many who have stopped to gaze into the light. Several have seen the faces without any prompting and many have also seen them, once I begin to point to them. I am continuing my journey and am thankful for the light that cai:ne into my camera one Thursday afternoon in Over-the-Rhine. There is so much light in Over-the­ Rhine. One only has to go look for it to see it. To Believe or not To Believe. Story and photos by J. Michael Skaggs l PM on a Sunday afternoon. Not a soul was in sight. Undaunted, I Artists and writers are often spent approximately an hour . surveying the exterior and exposed taught and do best when they one roll of film. I had 37 photos produce their work based on and felt internal warmth as I intense unresolved emotions and launched a new project. feelings. I began a journey in the After seeing the slides from early 1970s as an agnostic after the shoot, I decided to place them completing a catholic education. on my website, While I have not practiced a (www.rohophoto.com) as To formalized religion, I have Believe Or Not To Believe. Upon maintained a sense of value and viewing the images onlipe, I justice for ;ill. Living in Over-the­ decided to place other images in Rhine, operating RoHo Photo . my portfolio that I had Gallery in my loft at 12th and Central Avenue and spending much photographed with religious subject matter. In 1997 and '98 I time on Main Street at Kaldi's had photographed a Passion Play Coffee House have been in Union City, NJ at the Park exhilarating experiences of enlightenment. Theater. It's the oldest continuous running Passion Play in the USA: With inspiration and However, in 1997 the play had a apologies to Shakespeare, I began Black Jesus for the first time. The a photographic journey on a role was alternated every other beautiful sunny day with bright weekend with a white Jesus. puffy clouds in the sky on Sunday I also photographed on August 3 , 2003 . I returned to the Good Friday 2001, the walking of beginning for me and the steps at the Immaculata Church photographed Holy Spirit Church in Mt. Adams with my on Washington St. in'Newport. Holy Spirit was St. Stephen's when photojournalism class that I was teaching at NKU. It was the I attended from grades 5-8 Friday one week after Timothy graduating in 196 1. Thomas's death in Over-the-Rhine I was able to only at 13th and Republic Street. In the photograph the exterior of church. sum.mer of 2002 I photographed The doors were locked and it was ,,, · "I have enlarged andframed the image as a positive print and as a negative print and have exhibited on the corner of 13th and Clay Street three times to the delight of many who have stopped to gaze into the light " "To my surprise and delight I began to see the faces also. It gave me a feeling of warmth. " �STREETVIBES October, Page 11 2003 Street Newspa­ Vendor Fe dback pers and the What customers say about our Streetvibes Vendor, North American Maryann Street Newspaper "She (the Streetvibes Vendor) was ASS'OCiation very well groomed, spoke up so that everyone could hear her. Streetvibes was one of the Keep up the good work. God has orginal founding members of the people out here who hear our North American Street Newspaper . cry! " Association. The mission of the North "Good thing we are all children American Street Newspaper of God We are called to love Association (NASNA) is to support him, love to care, to help all a street newspaper movement that people. It's a mission to help the creates and upholds journalistic and needy, etc. I get put down but I ethical standards while promoting do God's will " - BonlJi&•""'"'" ·'· self-help and empowerment among people living in poverty. NASNA "I always buy Streetvibes because papers. support homeless and very it wouldn t take much to b,e low-income people in 47 cities homeless. All it takes is to miss across the United States and the rent I always give money to Canada. street persons. " NASNA offers technical assistance to new and growing street newspapers, content sharing with the Street News Service , and an annual conference featuring skills building workshops and other topics of common interest. NASNA models itself after the International Network of Street Newspapers , which represents street papers in other parts of the globe. As a sister organization, NASNA is the only coalition that represents the street newspaper movement in North America. Visit the Website at www.nasna.org ·· · The book, Through Our Eyes, a collaboration of Cincinnati s Mother ofMercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ tion for the Homeless. . . . Through Our Eyes: Reflections on Homelessness tak s you on a experiential j ourney of lea rning by high school students as they leave their suburban comfort zones to explore the world of the inner-city homeless of Cincinnati. A collaboration of Cincinnati's Mother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ tion for the Homeless, Through Our Eyes attempts to educate other high school students and the larger com­ munity about homelessness through stories of homeless and formerly homeless individuals, reflections, art­ work and photography. The books are available from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless for DEAR R EADE RS ! Send us you r Vendo r Sto ries Do you have a favorite Streetvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about? Send us your stories or comments to: Streetvibes@j uno.com or $10 each, plus $3 shipping and handling. Make checks payable to the Greater Homeless, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202. For more information call (5 13) 42 1-7803 Help build a -powerful , resident led organizationl The Streetvibes incinnati Coalition for th epu b l i c Street & Vi ne Street B l oc k C l u bs are fig hting for the rig hts of l ow­ i n come res i dents i n Over-the-Rh i ne and they are going strong. Block c l u bs are form i ng in 1 1 7 East 12th Street Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 The GCCH would like to thank these Starbucks locations for their generous donation of coffee and pastries : 1 1 3 79 M ontgomery Road (5 1 3 ) 469- 1 1 1 1 other parts of the neig h borhood, too. 3366 E rie Avenue Cal l the Contact Center at by 381 -4242 or sto p 1 227 Vi ne Street i n Over-the-Rh i ne to learn more about how you can get i nvolved with these res i dent led organizati ons. E ast Hyde Park (5 1 3 ) 533-3 402 7896 Montgomery Road (5 13) 8 9 1 - 7740 �STREETVIBES October, 2003 Cuba, Land of Political Contrasts Photo Essay by Jimmy Heath Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to be able to j oin a group of older students and faculty of Miami University on a 1 0 day trip to Cuba. The trip was organiz d by Ross Meyer, a graduating student at Miami University, and facilitated by the Washington, DC based organization, Witness for Peace. This was a trip of a lifetime country. A million Cuban expatriates live in South Florida, many fleeing the country in the early days of the Castro revolution, others second and third generation Cuban-Americans . Cuban­ Americans with immediate family still living on the island are limited to only one trip per year, which is why many travel to Cuba illegally. At the airport in Havana, our for me; to visit a country, a mysterious introduction to Socialist society place like non other in our hemisphere, began. Our bus ride from the plane frozen in time and isolated by its took us to a dimly lit building on the politics . Cuba is the land of legend, of airport property where sullen officials salsa music and swaying palm trees, carefully went over our papers . of Revolution and Fidel Castro and bearded revolutionaries on a dogmatic quest to free the poor. from the cruel and selfish ruling class. . Cuba is an anachronism too. It is considered by many to be the last holdout of the Socialist Soviet Empire, We finally loaded our bags in another waiting bus and headed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Havana where we would be staying during our exploration of Cuba. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center is a non-governmental a remnant of the Berlin Wall. It is a organization whose main objective is grand experiment that has lasted one of accompaniment to the Cuban largest and least commercialized in Cuba. The Center focuses on nearly 44 years. It is the Caribbean's island and one of the world's last bastions of communism. The island's people and to the church community reflection and socio-theological Cuban Gothic. Jaime, neighborhood street cleaner training, popular education, relative political isolation has community service and the promotion prevented it from being overrun by of international solidarity. .tourists. Shrouded in suspicion and Under the leadership of Fidel Castro, Cuba has steadfastly resisted mystery and an almost self-imposed the outside world, especially the isolation, Cuba lies a mere 90 miles United States, and he continues to try from Florida. The average American to make it all work. But inside the knows little or nothing about the day to day life of the Cuban people and its government, yet both play a vital role Martin Luther King Center, in the Havana suburb of Mariano, it felt and sounded and looked like a third world in our world politics because of its Latin-American country. ties Cuba has with its people and our island began in 1 5 1 1 . The Spanish past. The Cuban Missile Crisis transformed Cuba into a supply base during the 60's, and the role that event for their expeditions to Mexico and played in the early stages of a Florida. As a result of savage decades-long cold war with our Soviet treatment and exploitation, the proximity to our own country and the counterparts set the stage for the Spanish Colonization of the aboriginal population became nearly extinct, forcing the colonists to depend decades-old embargo. on imported black slaves for the operation of the mines and plantations . restricted for American citizens . Between 1 774 and 1 8 1 7 the Because of the US embargo, American population increased from about citizens can not travel to Cuba, unless 1 6 1 ,000 to more than 550,000. a qualifying license issued through the rule became increasingly repressive, US Treasury Department. Many provoking a widespread movement under certain circumstances, and with Americans travel to Cuba illegally, circumventing the licensing process and entering Cuba by way of a third Spanish regime dominated Cuban political life throughout the remainder of the century. A movement during the years 1 848 to 1 85 1 for annexation of the · During the 1 830s, Spanish p among the colonists for inde endence. This movement attained particular momentum between 1 834 and 1 83 8 . the island until May 20, 1 902, when the Cuban republic was formally instituted. The Cuban constitution, adopted in 1 90 1 , incorporated the provisions of the Platt Amendment, island to the United States ended with U . S . legislation that established conditions for American intervention in the Spanish-American general Narciso Lopez. Offers by the U . S . government to purchase the island were repeatedly rejected by Spain. In 1 868 revolutionaries under the leadership of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes proclaimed Cuban independence. The ensuing Ten Years' War, a costly Cuba. U. S . corporate interests invested heavily in the Cuban economy, acquiring control of many of its resources, especially the sugar­ growing industry. The first of several serious insurrections against conservative control of the republic occurred in August, 1 906 . In the next terminated in 1 878 by a truce granting . month the U . S . government dispatched many important concessions to the troops to the island, which ·remained Cubans . under U . S . control until 1 909. In February of 1 895, mounting discontent culminated in a resumption of the Cuban revolution, under the leadership of the writer and Mounting economic difficulties, caused by complete U . S . domination of Cuban finance, agriculture, and industry, marked the patriot Jose Marti and General period following World War I . Maximo Gomez y Baez. The U . S . Economic conditions deteriorated government intervened on behalf o fthe rapidly during the administration of revolutionists in April 1 898, Gerardo Machado y Morales, the chief precipitating the Spanish-American accomplishment of which, an War. Intervention was spurred by the ambitious public-works program, was sinking of the battleship Maine in the achieved by floating huge loans harbor of Havana of February, 1 898, abroad. Before the end of his second for which Spain was blamed. An Hands of a tobacco farmer, Pinar Del Rio province American military government ruled the capture and execution of its leader, struggle to both Spain and Cuba, was eventual isolation of Cuba through a Travel to Cuba is severely Revolts and conspiracies against the term, he succeeded in acquiring �STREETVIBES October, 2003 ration of basic food. dictatorial control of the government. All opposition was brutally suppressed during his administration, which lasted until a general uprising in August Gladys Hernandez, a Cuban economist who met with our- group explains away the poverty and 1 93 3 , supported by the Cuban army, forced him into exile. A protracted begging by telling us that Machado's overthrow, with frequent and illegal schemes because period of violence and unrest followed not satisfied with what the state gives them. In Cuba, contest of 1 940. In December 1 94 1 the Cuban government declared war on Germany, Japan., and Italy; consequently it sacrifice is the order of the day. Cuban officials continue to preach the importance of the revofution became a charter member of the (UN) in people resort to subversive they are greedy - they are changes of government. Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar won the presidential United Nations and strict adherence to its 1 94 5 . tenets . But in private Fluctuations i n world sugar conversations with ordinary prices and a continuing inflationary spiral kept the political situation citizens on the street, there costs continued to rise leading to with the state imposed unstable in the postwar era. Living is a sense of dissatisfaction austerity.· Conversations unrest and political violence. · Page 13 that deride or speak against In the mid- l 950s the Batista the State are considered acts government instituted an economic of treason with severe development program that, together with a stabilization of the world sugar price, improved the economic and penalties, and many people will not talk to you, The Cuban countryside - Pinar Del Rio Province especially about Cuban politics, for political outlook in Cuba. On fear that you may be police in December 2, 1 95 6 , however, Castro, with some 80 insurgents, invaded. The disguise. Castro escaped into the mountains, we visited a rural doctor at his state­ force was crushed by the army, but On a trip to the countryside run medical clinic. We were shocked where he organized the 26th of July Movement, so called to commemorate the 1 953 uprising. For the next year by the age and condition of the medical equipment when compared to trying to do is against the ethics of diplomacy," he said. He insists that the 80,000 Americans who travel to Cuba each year, some legal, some not, are really corning to find the truth about what is going on in Cuba, and its relations to the US. Fatardo also insists that the embargo has taught the Castro's forces, Cuban people using guerrilla how to resist and tactics, opposed the how to prepare, Bush administration would have chosen to shut off the flow of nearly $ 1 billion in annual remittances Cuban-Americans send home to loved ones and dissident activists . In spite of the collapse of the USSR in the early 90's which heavily subsidized the island of Cuba, development and the tourist trade from Europe continues to be strong. · Castro has begun to create Batista government and that the and won Helms-Burton businesses to develop the tourist strengthens the problems caused by the collapse of considerable popular Law, which support. Batista eventually resigned embargo, is only and fled the country. another way to A provisional government was overthrow the . Cuban established. Castro, . government. "A although he initially new generation of renounced office, Cubans is became premier. prepared to carry Havana is the revolution," best seen by even after the wandering leisurely death of Fidel in the old city Castro, said enjoying the cafe Fatardo. Though society life much the Bush like Ernest Hemingway would have during the 1 940s and '50s. Old Havana tries its modem US hospitals - everything was worn and outdated. There was best to be a bohemian place of art and an old x-ray machine in one of the music. poorly lit rooms - it looked like it had The US embargo and lack of Cuban goods has made even small not worked in a long time. On a visit to the US Mission purchases out of reach for'most in Havana, Kathleen List, a refugee and lawyers have left their chosen the reason for the US being there is to coordinator for the mission said that Cubans. School teachers, physicians professions . The jobs pay so little in establish democracy. The embargo, comparison with the price of goods ­ she said, " . . . is used as an excuse by Instead they have taken to selling or with Cuba. " She also went on to hustling whatever they can to the describe the Cuban's as "wily," and tourists in the streets for the US dollar. that they steal in order to survive. they can barely feed their families . has been at pains to demonstrate a harder line against the Cuban government, recently amended regulations on Cuba travel actually loosen restrictions on Cuban-American travel. If U . S . policy truly aimed to economically isolate Castro's Cuba the Castro ·for everything that is wrong Posted in Havana to represent the If you wander in the old quarter of Havana, you will be United States, we visitors realized that approached by people asking for US the Mission suffered from isolation dollars . These beggars are usually_ and a serious disconnection from the children and old women - but they are Cuban people. "Cubans are happy with soap, hotel shampoo, and suspicious," she went on to say. . pens . There is obvious poverty, but no one looks ill or starving. The failing administration · For the Cuban point of view we visited with Marcelino Fatardo, a state-controlled economy still manages diplomat with the Cuban Ministry of to provide free medical care to all its Foreign Affairs . He considers the US citizens and although they must stand Mission a threat and questioned its in line; every Cuban receives a small intentions . "What outside forces are A coperative farm in Pinar Del Rio collaboratives with European industry in Cuba The economic Soviet aid, the continuing dependence on sugar, and a long-lasting U . S . · embargo has led Castro to reverse some ofthe . islands socialist policies . ln 1 992 and 1 993, the government allowed the use of U. S . dollars, authori;Zed the transformation of many state farms into serni­ autonomous cooperatives, and legalized individual private enterprise on a limited basis. In 1 994 all farmers were allowed to sell some produce on the open market. There will be an eventual lifting of the embargo. And Fidel Castro is getting on in age, now 77 years old. Analysts say the present system will fall after his death. Cuba remains a mystery in our own backyard, separated by. culture, time and politics . Time and politics seem to be all that is separating us from this important neighbor. # ,{' �ST REETVIBES October, 2003 · Art & Poe try I Bel i eve - Do Yo u Bel ieve? y Robert Savage Nati o n by .Michael Henson · Voices on the radio rumble and sting. The words seethe and spit. They punch and qig, blind as bullets. They are like small black bee·s . that rise from an underground hive. anassa I believe God made us all whether big or .small I believe in the birds and he bees I believe in trees Do you believe? I believe in all mankind Whether he can see or whether blind I'm only here for a short while · I'm ready to walk that last mile. . Do you believe? · These are the'voices of the muted heart. These are the voices of the disjointed soul. Now I repent all arrogance. Now I repent that I ever called any man fool. You are Love, You are Loved by J. D. Lyles An Eclecti c Americorps Poem Change creates the opportunity For serendipitous events. While the fluctuation of events Passes us passers-by, We, ourselves can know Only one thought ... Who am I presently? Then, the next thought... Who am I about to become? I .sit and turn into a stone And eventually the ·stone splits And a flower grows from the creVtce, The flower of my incipient being. The evanescence of our existence Becomes the bane of our present reality When once we resolve to stop listening And follow the mercurial nature of the wind. . .. .l I Don 't Know Peace , But. . . by Dr. Steve Sunderland I believe in the sunshine and the rain I believe in God's master plan I believe in whatever God does He's always true to his words Do you believe? One moment the voi es are oil. An;ther the voices are acid. Page 14 You are in fear because you are alone, But you are Loved. You have a lot of hate to hide your fear, But you are Love. You are going to form a thought that will materialize into· an action. Will this action be of hurt or Love? You are Loved. You have questions about life on earth; life after death. You are Love. You have dreams. You have goals. You don't succeed. You are loved. You have bills to pay, children to feed, You have lost your job. You are Love. Most important is to never underestimate the power of Love. I don't know who/what God is But I do know what It feels like to be with 100 Disabled adults blossoming into Peace Advocates. I don't know what peace is But I do know that Their loving signs and sounds Make me cry with joy. I don't know what compassion is If it is not 40 Aiken student leaders Finding the beauty to make A Peace House for all. I don't know what joy is But I did see it in the faces of the Peace Village youth's attempt To welcome Blacks and Jews home. I don't know what teaching is But I heard the ring of truth, compassion and love, From the lips of an Egyptian-American woman Who spoke of taking back her religion From those who sought to hijack it On September 11, 2001. I don't know what hope is But I heard it in the voice of a teenage Girl form Argentina as she made the Sounds of hearts and ears touching. l don't know what love is If it is not 100 people, so-called "disabled," Singing about and with Friends as tears of Happiness streamed down our faces. There is a peace For moments When the world sits down In front of a piece of cardboard, Markers grasped in bent fingers, And draws out the heru:t. Spi ritual Fee l i n g by Ronald English Love is feeling Spiritual Emotion, Of grief, made up of being involved in something of one's past relationships. Of understanding two people's happiness, Of doing the impossible. That means, where legends are made; Where dreams are born, To go where some men have gone before, Saying you are a man amongst men. Standing tall in a man's world, · Out of the eye of God. That means praying that you will go to heaven. For your freedom of speech, Of shattered dreams, For right to believe in whatever. Foe Mother'& salvation and Father's wisdom. That means peace and happiness of life, Of brothers respect and sisters dreams. And all, So that they will not go to hell, Because you are my brothers and sisters, Keeper of temptation. �STREETVIBE·S October, 2003 Mary Forgotten You Are Not Message From A Black Man by Sir Charles Bailey by Sir Charles Bailey The Devil sent one of his followers and Took you Mary awayBut you will never be forgotten In the hearts of millions Each day. To all my brothers and sisters Who use drugs & crack & shit How can you get what you want When you won't quit using it Though Mary your life Here on Earth was cut so very Short- and it put Tears in so many eyesBut you are really Protected Ilfill'. that you are standing By Jesus' side And from all of us who love you little MarySpread your Wings and take to The sky - You may be gone But we who love you will Never say Goodbye . ... ... ... . You blame the white man for all the Things he did and did not do But you put the drugs in your body And it is making a fool out of you I'm a black man And my life is filled with nothing but hope I might be able to achieve whatever !" want Because my body is not filled with dope But you want to sell this dope to the Brothers and Sisters Because y ou say you have no shame You let them put it in their systems And now y ou are destroying your Brothers and Sisters brain So. . . Please Quit Itl ! ! ! ! I ! Art & Poe try Shard Epi phany byjh by Robert Blanchard A bullet, a stone pierced the window. Shards, like blood, spattered on the abandoned floor, dark and dank. Puddles of broken glass on the ancient linoleum. Until another decade, until the invading rains and wind beat the room, into another kind of oppression. Of abandonment, of leaves, and failing structure, birds, bottles, rusted drain. Hope left behind, in the crumbling walls, and the echo of silent infants from the past, fall, like shards, on newly broken glass. Dawn pinked but briefly in the eastern skies, 'til it surrendered to the blue. Sleepy street lights dimmed and closed their eyes, it was the time to make it through. 4 Days to M ississi ppi by Denise Crew Tossing and turning Waiting and yearning Popping aspirin like pez calms the pain in my head The only pleasure to seek In the food I eat I can't wait for the day When pain goes away I feel so weird, so strange A little deranged Almost insane I don't understand why My heart's in my hand After all, he's just a man · Shutter Speed Texture, West End Page 15 Staccato accents bleated to traffic's roar and smoke, silencing the soft shuflle of feet. Broken men in broken shoes listened and in tum spoke, of their epiphany in the street. "I found a loaf of wheat bread," pointing to a door, "I got us some sardines to share." Here were loaves and fishes reverently eaten by these poor, in a communion of brotherly care. The day was slowly passing in its concession to the night, the world wound down still to rest. A single star was shining brightly as flowing light, surely, tomorrow, again would be blessed. Reprinted with permission of Robert Blanchard and Spare Change News, Cambridge, MA, USA. �STREETVIBES October, News & Editorial 2003 Ta ke a Wa l k i n my S h oes perspiration and diarrhea make you authentic. McDonalds. by Dan Newth That little hamster driving around for a place too eat. overtime lately. Salvation Army feeds at Several "grass roots" Well you've made it to the You're still hungry, you ask the rumor mill has been working It's 3 :30 p.m. 2 p.m. now. Head to Waterfront organizations heard comments, Park and chill out because the through the grapevine, that the mercury is at [Portland OR] City Council was you get there you see hundreds of displeased with them. It started people laying around, enj oying the after crossroads had the audacity blue sky, sunshine and easy access to hand out sleeping bags, a to drug dealers. The police know demonstration of the needs of who the dealers are but will race Portland's homeless, in front of past a drug deal if they see a city hall. Then, members of homeless person lying down crossroads addressed the City wrapped in a blanket. Heck, it's Council, presenting the radical too hot for blankets, anyway. 90 degrees. When I have a friend who thinks to-go-now feeling. Thank god for opportunity for spiritual growth. public restrooms! This is a great He'd like to extend an open time to practice the funny walk. invitation to the City Council: You know, short quick strides with Leave your cash and credit cards at the home, and spend a day and night in maximus clenched. the homeless system. You could challenge your at the Blanchet House, after that restroom or the past 45 mm tes. you may decide to purchase your lunch. Time to panhandle. Now you re mad but pou dmg on : the door and yelhng have httle Holding a sign will most likely effect other than swollen generate a visit from the friendly It was a metal door. Isn't it funny "Clean and Safe" cops. They that something air tight isn't water present an intimidating attitude tight? You feel something dribble considering that in reality they are down your leg. client's life. Subconsciously, they fuse shorten you yell out the urgent understand it is OK feeling superior need to use the damn toilet. to the client. It takes training and Suddenly, desk guy pays attention effort to maintain sensitivity to the to you. He will now be able to clients' needs. These two ain't had exercise his small bit of power by that training. "Excuse me, but I was wondering ... " and you' re cut off . "Take a number and you'll (the desk guy) exhibits so little be helped at the information compassion to another human counter," states the social worker. your way. The Adult and Family . but don't believe them. The jails shuffie, asking at offices and are full. restaurants. The most common "The numbers are in the red dispenser." And the social worker turns away. "THE BATHROOM! We can always rely on the WHERE' S THE BATHROOM!" government, can't we? Why not Your frazzled nerves have snapped. . while in the neighborhood? reaction is a scrunched up nose. Congratulations. You have managed to scrounge up a dollar, acquired a homeless aura: The just enough to get a burger at combination of "But I just need .. . " and you're cut off again. Services office is across the street. Where is another restroom? You walk around - well, more like to move along. Luckily, you have a lot of power to influence a the glass ignores you. Feeling the Desk guy sends you on uckles. They may offer you a place to stay You end up being ordered see at the reception desk through for the moment. ? druggie has been occupym the little more than security guards. know damn good and well they of being homeless - escapes you the ba hroom? Well, it s ems some immune system by eating breakfast , acknowledgement. Social workers apply for government assistance 1!' mob outside ; Salvation Army. Relief at last. You being enduring the powerlessness uscles of your gluteus Is that an ang for a few moments waiting for someone that has been homeless abdominal cramping with that got­ City Council members have an workers, you stand at the counter knock on the door and the guy you bathroom. The irony - that upon you: The-call-of-nature, right to sleep. Approaching the two social refusing you access to the A sudden urgency comes concept that people should have a Page 16 Today, you have other The·social workers have now evaluated your case and determined it looks, sounds and priorities. The pain is causing you smells like a nut. One social to walk stooped over. Your face is worker signals the security guard pale and grimaced. As you walk by while the other addresses you like a a couple of construction workers child, "Yelling is inappropriate sitting in an old Scottsdale pick-up, behavior for this office. If you will you hear the comment, "Watch the please take a number and sit down tools. There goes another junkie." you will be helped as soon as You get a feeling -it was directed at you. possible." So you enter the AF S "Can I help you?" you hear the voice of the security guard. office. About a dozen are waiting "Yes I need to know where in the lobby for their numbers to the restroom is," your voice is a come up. Three social workers are little shaky and the pain is making at the front counter, one with a you desperate. client, the other two are chatting "The clients' restroom is and j oking with each other. You closed," the guard says,'.'and we have just entered the "Client don't allow anyone under the Zone." influence to remain in this building." Berta's Art Corner You feel insulted and defensively state, "I AM NOT UNDER THE INFLUENCE!" Then you add in a subdued tone, "May I please use another restroom." The security guard shows no give. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." Just as the anger starts to overwhelm you it is replaced by humiliation. The Blanchet House breakfast has broken free in a noisy wet slide to the floor. You now have the complete attention of everyone in the room. The smell is making you feel ill, people are moving away from you. You turn and walk out the door, swearing to yourself you will never show your face in that office agam. Reprintedfrom street roots, Broken Bottle On Fence. Over-the-Rhine, 12th Street near .Vine Street Portland, Oregon. exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes .staff or the Greater Cincinnati . Coalition for the Homeless. Streetvibes �STREETVIBES October, 2003 News & Editorial · The Life Cycle of Maggots by Holly Hand "Viewer Discretion Advised. Some Scenes Are Graphic." This is the caveat at the beginning of the A&E TV channel's recent edition of "Investigative Reports" with Bill Kurtis. "Tonight we're going to be watching members of the Los Angeles Coroners Department at work. The first segment is about dead homeless persons." More homeless people die in LA, Kurtis says, than anywhere else in the US. For example, during the month before this show was taped (February) 46 homeless people died: 27 homeless men, 1 1 homeless women, and eight homeless people whose gender couldn't be determined, due to advanced decomposition. The tape shows the discovery of a dead homeless person. First the EMTs find the man partially covered with debris in a garbage dump. They call him John Doe. They pull John Doe out. The EMTs are all wearing masks over their noses to keep out the stench of a corpse rotting in the warm LA sunshine. The dead man has no identification in his pockets. · All he has in his right pants pocket is a dollar bill anq 22 cents. In his left pants pocket they find an appointment book from 1975. They wrap him up in a plastic bag and put him in an ambulance for transportation to the LA morgue. Next, the EMTs (wearing masks again) recover a thin dead woman from a deserted area under a bridge. They pull her out from beneath the sofa where she was sleeping, probably, they assume, for protection. The woman they call Jane Doe is already in rigor mortis. Rats have eaten a bloody hole in her chest and have snacked on her mouth. Jane has no identification. There's a note in her pocket, written in pencil: "I'm very sick. Please bring me some tomatoes." The EMTs wrap Jane up and transport her to the city morgue also. In the coroner's office at the morgue, the coroner does autopsies. Then he cuts off homeless people's hands to try to identify them. They've cut off Jane Doe's right hand and have sent it over to the office of the pro, a man named Martinez. The - �� National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) 1506 E l m Street Ci nci nnati , OH 45202 homelessc ivi l rights@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 problem with most of the hands, Martinez explains, showing us Jane's slightly withered hand, is that they are too dehydrated to get fingerprints off them. However, Martinez can fix this. He injects the hand with a solution of water and something else to re-hydrate it. The something else is Martinez' secret', he invented the formula and the patent is pending. We watch the hand plump up. So now with the hand re-hydrated, Martinez can get a fingerprint. To do this he cuts off the index finger, "the digit" as he calls it. He rolls the digit on an inkpad and then on the paper to get the fingerprint: (Hopefully Jane's print will be on file, although it's a long shot unless she has a police record.) Martinez also explains how he can determine how long Jane's been dead. He shows the camera a bowl with maggots in it. Maggots have life cycles and so are different sizes. Martinez can determine from how many generations of maggots are found feeding on a corpse how long the person has been dead. The segment on the homeless dead is over now and the show cuts to a comffierciaL While the commercials are on, I think about these people who died without homes in LA Then I think about how, on the opposite side of the country, in DC, the American president lives in a big white mansion. This middle aged president and his wife are wealthy and their college-going daughters will be wealthy. The president is the sop. of a president and a woman who were both born into wealth. 'We might have so1nething in your price range when the country fa lls into a rnajor depression." Page 17 These generations - grandparents, parents and children - have fed and will feed on the bodies of the men and women who die for them in their obscenely expensive foreign wars. They feed on the bodies of the men and women who work month after month, year after year to pay taxes so that the wealthy receiving massive tax cuts from the President will not have to pay taxes. They feed on the homeless, devouring money that could be used to house, feed and care for those sick in mind and body with nowhere else to go. They fed on John Doe who had only $ 1.22 when he died. They fed on Jane Doe, whose dying request was for some tomatoes. And the life cycle of the maggots continues . . . Reprinted with permission of Spare Change News, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA �#. ,; STREET V IBES October, " . " ' # I i • .. • t ,. I . 2003 Page 18 Questi o n i n g 'C h ro n i c ' H o m e l ess n ess the National Law Center on Street Roots Homeless and civil rights population, use up 50 percent of Homelessness & Poverty, the homeless shelter s rvices. On this advocacy groups are asking the National Organization for Women, analysis, the administration's policy federal government to scrap the Volunteers of America, and many Bush administration's chronic is to spend the largest money on others. homelessness initiative for more the largest body of consumers, The federal program, also effective legislation. known as the Samaritan Initiative, In a letter to the U S. thereby freeing services for According to the National Interagency Council on chronic homelessness within a Homelessness, the National decade. To date, Coalition for the Homeless, the been made available for fiscal year conclusions are flawed. The National Association for the 2003 through the Departments of , research, it says, was narrowly Housing and Urban Development, focused, and did not include and 24other national, state and Veterans Affairs and Health and families with children or local groups, say that the Human Services. The money is unaccompanied youths. It also did administration's plan is "all but available through bids by nonprofit not evaluate rural or suburban guaranteeing the perpetuation of or public housing and health areas or any service other than chronic homelessness," rather than programs. publicly funded centrally - Advancement of Colored People, · ending it in I 0 years as the plan is $ 5 million has The federal initiative Coalition for the Homeless, the research is informative but the · intended to do. The letter, defines chronically homeless an "an addressed on July 21, calls on the unaccompanied homeless individual administration to focus on the with a disabling condition who has be based on research that excludes causes of homelessness, not just its either been continuously homeless the data and experiences of symptoms. for a year or more or has had at suburban, rural, and smaller least four episodes of homelessness metropolitan areas, as well as less homelessness' initiative does not in the past three years." A traditional arenas of servi.ce address the reality of homelessness disabling condition is defined as a delivery (public schools, motels, in our states and communities," the diagnosable substance use disorder, community action agencies, etc)," letter states. "We have witnessed serious mental illness, the letter to the Interagency growth in the scale and severity of developmental disability, or chronic Council said. "Nor should homelessness among families with physical illness or disability, definitive conclusions be drawn children, unaccompanied youth, including the co-occurrence of two from this research - namely, that and other populations who do not or more of these conditions. The targeting resources toward a fit neatly into the 'chronic initiative provides that no more population that "uses up" a greater homeless' paradigm. Yet current than percentage of federal resources will "The ' chronic ifederal mandates are forcing our I 0 percent of the funds "Federal policy should not "free up" more for other communities to overlook these awarded will go to projects that populations. In the absence of any gaps and needs in favor of a will serve homeless families with a meaningful expansion of resources, narrowly-constructed national disabled family member. A disabled or in the absence of consideration priority." homeless family is defined as an of research that examines the adult person with a disabled impact of homelessness on the organizations signing on to the condition who is accompanied by populations assumed to be Jetter are the National Association at least one dependent child. unharmed by their relatively shorter Among the 27 for the Education of Homeless The administration is · housing. The NCH says there is not enough fundfrtg for permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless, or enough affordable housing for people "While supp.ortive housing is a critical component of ending homelessness for many individuals with disabilities, by itself it cannot prevent people with disabilities from becoming homeless," the letter states. " Similarly, ' discharge administered emergency shelter days. disabled people from losing their discharged from disability services. majority in need. is part of Bush's pledge to end nothing to prevent currently housed shelter stays, such a conclusion is unwarranted . " Children and Youth, the National targeting the subpopulation of Center on Family Homelessness, chronically homeless based on the National Coalition Against research that suggests that the address the underlying causes of Domestic Violence, the National chronically homeless who comprise homelessness, and therefore will do Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 10 percent of the national homeless Also, the program does not planning' is a laudable goal, but when no affordable housing exists to which people can be discharged, it becomes merely an exercise in problem management. Only a sustained effort to address the systemic causes of homelessness, including lack of adequate health care, affordable housing, and livable incomes, will prevent and end homelessness for people with and without disabilities. This is perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the "chronic homelessness" initiative: the complete absence of any discussion of poverty. To separate homelessness from poverty is to fundamentally distort its causes which is precisely what the chronic homelessness dialogue appears to have accomplished." Advocates with the homeless and civil rights groups are asking the administration to tum its attention to alternative legislation, including the National Housing Trust Fund and the Bringing American Home Act. These measures are more broad-based proposals, based on th experiences of providers and advocates from diverse geographic areas. The Bringing America Home Act, H.R. 2897, was introduced to Congress on July 2 5 by Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind. ) with nearly 30 co-sponsors. The bill features a broad range of components, from housing to civil rights. It proposes creating the National Housing Trust Fund which advocates say would secure funding to build and preserve 1. 5 million affordable homes over the next decade. Features of the bill include affordable housing, job training, civil rights protections, vo chers for child care and transportation, emergency funds for families facing eviction, living-wage guidelines, and increased access to health care. The bill has been endorsed by the U S. Conference of Mayors, which passed a resolution this year urging Congress to pass the measure. Several city and county councils also have reportedly passed resolutions in support of the act. Reprintedfrom street roots, "Me? I lost my life savings betting on tax cuts for the rich. " Portland, Oregon. �STREETVIBES October, Page 19 2003 Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Report NUMBER OF AMERICANS 60 MINUTES II: EMERGENCY USDA is accepting public LIVING BELOW THE FOOD LINES LOOK LIKE comment on these proposed rules II are creating a situation where "[s]chool finances across the until October 28, 2003. . POVERTY LINE ROSE BY SOMETHING FROM THE MORE THAN 1 .3 MILLION IN GREAT DEPRESSION (60 2002 (New York Times, Minutes II, August 27, 2003) frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi­ September 3, 2003) This story, reaired at the end of bin/wnisgate.cgi ?WAISdocID= country are teetering on Proposed rule: http :// horrendous," according to Michael Griffith of the Education Commission of the States in The Census Bureau's American August, was originally aired on 6959089235 Community Survey, released CBS News' "60 Minutes II" +O+O+O&WAISaction=retrieve recently passed No Child Left Denver. Added pressure from the September 2nd, found that the program on January 8, 2003. Since number of Americans living below the start of the economic recession COLUMN: EMPLOYMENT in several states to introduce Behind Act has caused legislators the poverty line jumped by more there has been a sharp increase in AMONG WELFARE LEAVERS proposals to opt out of the law if than 1 .3 million persons from 200 I the number of people seeking DECREASING; SAFETY-NET the costs are not fully funded by the federal government. By opting to 2002, to 34.8 million. The emergency food assistance. In PROGRAMS BETTER percentage of people in poverty Ohio, the lines at food banks are so UTILIZED (Christian Science out of the law, however, states will increased from 1 2. 1 percent to 1 2. 4 long they resemble something from Monitor, August 25, 2003) Sheila percent. The number o f children in the Great Depression. The R. Zedlewski, director of the poverty rose by 600,000 last year number of people receiving food Income and Benefits Policy Center to 1 2.2 million. For children under assistance in Ohio jumped from 2 at the Urban Institute, and Pamela 5 years of age, 1 9. 8 percent were million to 4. 5 million since 1 999. Loprest, of the Center, highlight found to be living under the Food bank officials cite the changing realities for former poverty line, up from 1 8.8 percent unemployment, housing and welfare recipients during the recent in 200 1 . This survey is different medical costs, and low-paying jobs economic downturn and how these HTML format go to: from the Bureau's Current as reasons for the increase. Many realities should affect the debate needy people are forced to stretch over TANF reauthorization. An http://www.frac.org/newsdigest/ Population Study, scheduled for release in late September, which what they have: one family buys Urban Institute survey shows that functions as the official barometer whole milk and cuts it with an tlie percentage of welfare for measuring natiOnal income and equal part water for their baby. In recipients who were in paid jobs poverty estimates. The American another family, one child's only dropped between 1 999 and 2002 Community Survey is considered to meal is the free meal she receives from 32 percent to 28 percent. be a more detailed report and through the School Lunch Employment also decreased among calculates for smaller geographic Program. Since airing the story recent welfare leavers, from 50 areas. back in January, CBS News reports percent in 1 999 to 42 percent in http ://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/ that emergency food lines in Ohio 2002. Federal safety-net programs 03/national/03CENS.html (free jumped by nearly 20 percent in the (e.g. food stamps, health registration required) first three months of 2003. More insurance) are being better utilized than 200,000 new families are by families that left welfare ECONOMIC VIEW: LOW­ standing in line for food, according between 2000 and 2002, due in WAGE WORKERS STUCK IN to food bank officials. http :// part to improved state policies that help eligible families receive also lose all federal aid to low­ income schools. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/ 3 1 /national/3 1 SCRO.html (free registration required) The web site is http:// Ben Winter (202) 986-2200 x301 9 phone (202) 986-2525 fax Email: bwinter@frac.org assistance. Compared to welfare In this Business section column, A description of the original story recipients who left the program Louis Uchitelle uses the occasion appears in the introduction to during the boom years ( 1 997 to of Labor Day to highlight the plight FRAC's State of the States of the 26 million American workers 1 999), recent leavers (2000 to report:http ://www. frac.org/html/ 2002) were more likely to return to news/022003stateofstates.htm the program or be subsi"sting in families with no employed member U.S. DEPARTMENT OF or one receiving disability AGRICULTURE PROPOSES payments. "Focusing narrowly on a cycle of poverty the new "servant RULES TO UPDATE THE class," he points out that increasing moving recipients into jobs - or off FOOD STAMP PROGRAM welfare without jobs - will divert income inequality is driving people (Federal Register, August 29, states' fixed number of welfare apart. "With so little income, too 2003) dollars away from policies that many Americans are pushed into On August 29, the U.S. help families access critical poverty, and getting out of this trap Department of Agriculture (USDA) supports and stay afloat." is increasingly difficult. " The bottom 20 percent of the work proposed to amend its regulations . by implementing two sections of force (in terms of earnings) made the Agricultural Appropriations Act only nine percent more in 2002 of 200 1 . One section raises the http ://www.csmonitor.com/2003I 0825/p09s02-coop.html STATE BUDGET CUTS, than 30 years earlier -$8.23 per maximum shelter deductions that STRAINED RESOURCES AND hour or less in 2002 compared to food stamp applicants can take PRESSURE FROM FEDERAL $7. 5 5 per hour (in 2002 dollars) or when applying for food stamps, LAW ARE HURTING less 30 years ago. Much of gain and indexes those shelter SCHOOLS (New York Times, was made in the economic boom deductions to the Consumer Price August 3 1 , 2003) period during the late 1 990s. The Index. The second section gives Many public schools across the federal minimum wage peaked at states the option of using TANF nation are "feeling battered and $7.08 an hour (in 2002 dollars) in rules for vehicle 1 968 and has· been steadily eroded worn down" by education cuts, as allowances. TANF vehicle rules are states reduce the number of by inflation. "Just restoring the often more lenient than Food teachers and close schools because minimum to its old value of $7.08 Stamp Program vehicles rules. of state-level deficits. In Alabama would also push up wages that are Both of these proposed rules will just above the minimum." http:// nearly one-third of the state's allow some food stamp recipients school systems are on the verge of www. nytimes.com/2003/08/3 1 / and applicants to receive more bankruptcy; Oklahoma City business/yourmoney/3 1 VIEW.html food stamps. Both provisions of schools are "reeling from the (free registration required) the 200 1 law are already in effect financial turmoil." The worst at the state and local level. The budget shortfalls since World War t1, Support your local ;J Streetvi bes Vendor! www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/ families, not teenagers at summer 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20009 0 1 /08/60Wmain535732.shtml jobs. Calling workers stuck in such Food Research & Action Center Suite 540 A CYCLE OF POVERTY (New of these workers are adults with archives and the latest issue in www.frac.org York Times, August 3 1 , 2003) earning $8.23 an hour or less. Most To view the News Digest · �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 YWCA Battered 872-9259 1 -888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 We lcome House 859-431 -871 7 Wo men's Shelter (Toll Free) Center 859-491 -3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel M issi on Garden St. House Joseph House (Veterans) 241 -5525 241 -0490 241 -2965 St . Francis/St.Joseph House 381 -4941 Formed in 1 984, 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 66 1 -4620 38 1 -1 954 Anthony House (Youth) Caracole (AIDS) Friars Club Drop Inn Center I nterfaith Hospital ity 381 -4242 241 -2563 Contact Center Emanuel Center Freestore/ SHELTER: Both Haven House SHELTERS: Women and Children Wo men's Crisis Mt. Airy Center Vol u nteers of Amer. Foodbank 241 -1 064 Goodwill I nd ustries 771 -4800 Fransiscan Hai rcuts 651 -6468 357-4602 761 -1 480 381 -5432 721 -0643 863-8866 Coalition for the Homeless 421 -7803 Hamilton Co. Mental 946-8600 Health Board Mental-Health Access 471 -1 1 00 558-8888 Point Lighthouse Youth Center 861 -1 1 1 1 St . John's Housing 651 -6446 Hamilton Co. TB Control HOUSING: Homeless Mobile (Teens) 632-71 86 Health Rsrc . . Center 357-4602 721 -4580 Excel Development 632-7 1 49 241 -0504 Miami Purchase OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 38 1 -1 1 71 ReSTOC 639-7056 Tender Mercies To m Geiger House 961 -4555 CMHA Health Van Legal Aid Society Madisonville Ed . Center 721 -481 1 Clinic Our Daily Bread Kids 820-2947 351 -0422 A.A. Hotline C . C .A . T. 381 -6672 Ta lbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491 -4435 VA Domici liary 859-559-501 1 : N .A. Hopeline OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of citizens. Join the fight to end Cincinnati homelessness; contact the Greater Appalachian Identity Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Center at (5 1 3) 42 1 - 7803, 1 506 Elm Street Beech Acres Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Center for I ndependent Living Northside " · 961 -0600 Community Action Agency 569-1 840 859-572-6226 Women Helping · 872-9259 (Butler County) St. Raphaels . Salvation Army 863-31 84 863- 1 445 Serenity House Day Center · 422-8555 · · C i ncin nati Health Network Un ited Way VA Homeless (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 621 -5991 , 231 -6630 591 -2246 471 -4357 721 -7660 721 -7900 Center Travelers Aid MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON 421 -2437 A 24 1 -2600 357-5720 562-8841 The Emergency Food Wom e n 721 -0643 Cincinnati is an inclusive community, C h u rches Active in 621 -551 4 Project Connect Homeless St . Vincent De Paul meeting the needs of all of its 352-6363 621 -6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center TREATMENT: Both Options & Assis. 271 -5501 McMicken Dental TREATMENT: Men Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1 853 92 1 - 1 6 1 3 Prospect House 961 -2256 Starting Over Program 221 -361 9 241 -9400 Mary Magdalen House TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961 -4663 Full Circle Program 721 -0643 D I C Live-In 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Famil i es/Singles) 423-4673 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2003 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource October 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: City Hall; Move Homeless from Under Bridges Pg 2: Donate Pg 3: Life Under a Cincinnati Bridge Pg 4: Wearing Black for the Man in Black It Doesn’t Take Much Pg 5: Bulldozing the Homeless Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: The Homeless Digest Pg 8: Dealing with the Homeless Under the Bridges Pg 9: Support Education Pg 10: Support Education Continued Pg 11: Through Our Eyes Pg 12: Cuba, Land of Political Contrasts Pg 13: Cuba, Land of Political Contrasts Continued Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: News & Editorials Pg 17: The Life Cycle of Maggots Pg 18: Questioning ‘Chronic’ Homelessness Pg 19: FRAC Report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Steve Shockley Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Jerome Manigan Elain Coffy Elizabeth Linville Berta Lambert J. Michael Skaggs Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Erickson Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Brendan Goodwin Bridges Caregiving Cincinnati City Hall Cuba education Elain Coffy Elizabeth Linville Food Research FRAC Georgine Getty J. Michael Skaggs Jerome Manigan Jimmy Heath Mary Gaffney News & Editorials panhandling Peace Village Reader Mail Steve Shockley https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/976fd6c7b1008197d2d01005e7a7bba7.pdf 04a1583d9df4f905bea30218ba3a62f1 PDF Text Text Your Progressive News $ource BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY Noven1b " Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �• re I November 2003 Standown - Reaching Out, Sharing Resources ----- Standdown 2003, Cincinnati's annual event to help homeless veterans, and other homeless people who are still struggling with life on the street, took place on September 26th. Led by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, Washington Park and the Drop Inn Center were the home base for what the National Coalition for the Homeless calls "a grassroots, community-based intervention program designed to help the nation's estimated 275,000 homeless veterans 'combat' life on the streets." Standdown is a military term that describes an action during wartime where combat soldiers are pulled out of fighting and 'stand down' to rest, relax, and re-supply. Some compare life on the streets to life in the battle fields. __--;_ Recent Standdown's have /encouraged and welcomed all homeless people providing everyone with a day to connect with a variety of services including legal services, eye care, health care, housing referrals, job counseling, social security interviews, haircuts and voter registration. Standdown was started by two Vietnam veterans, Robert Van Keuren and Dr. Jon N achison, in San Diego in the summer of 1988. The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that 100,000 homeless veterans nationwide over the years have been assisted by Standdown This year marks the eighth annual Standdown held in Cincinnati. ----- effectively. Part of the reason that more homeless veterans are not contacted during the year is a lack of trust many veterans have in the government system. Standdown · brings homeless veterans back to a system they' ve lost trust in. These services are important because many veterans arrive jobless and homeless, and there are usually problems that prevent them from achieving their goals. As a group, homeless veterans are overwhelmingly male, mostly single, generally coming from poor, disadvantaged communities. 45% of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness, and 50% have substance abuse problems. Clearly, homeless veterans face many challenges outside of their lack of hous\ng. Locally, it was estimated at Coalition for the Homeless, 40% it was determined that long-term given Cincinnati shelter were of homeless men are veterans. permanent housing, dental care, veterans. Half of those veterans Approximately 275,000 veterans eye care and child care are the one time that 70% of the men in a served in Vietnam. Many return sleep on the streets each night. greatest 'unmet needs of homeless home traumatized by the Veterans that have served in post­ veterans. experience of war, bringing with Vietnam and late Vietnam eras them mental illness, depression and have the greatest risk of. huge su cess in providing esse tial addiction. A third of these men are homelessness. 47% of homeless services to our homeless veterans. employed, generally at a temp veterans served during the A protocol must be established so agency that does not provide a Vietnam era, and 67% of them that those fighting and representing stable work structure or any served more than 3 years. Only our country in far off places, such significant hopes for the future. 33% were stationed in a war zone; as the B alkans, Afghanistan and 38% of these veterans have spent this statistic suggests that Iraq are not left ·behind as they face time in a correctional facility. An recruitment methods may have the challenge of reintegrating into overwhelming 79% of veterans been a factor. society. Too many of our veterans report using drugs or alcohol, Homeless veterans are in illustrating an enormous need for dire need of services. Veterans Standdown 2003 was a are left behind. The organizers of Standdown 2003 believe that substance abuse treatment. 50% need outreach, psychological supporting those who served reported having mental health assessments, referrals, residential· America in the armed services is a problems. treatments, and follow-up case privilege and a duty. According to the N atiorial management. In a 1 995 VA study According to the VA, there were 1 14 Stand Down events across the country in 200 1 , providing services to more than 19,000 homeless veterans. Hundreds of homeless veterans at these events are provided with a broad range of necessities including food, clothing, medical, legal and mental health assistance, job counseling and referral , and most importantly, companionship and camaraderie. It is. a time for the community to connect with the homeless veteran population and address this crisis that affects every town, city and state in this country. Professionals from a variety of fields volunteered their time in hopes of reaching them more Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Page 2 Tlie (ireater Cincinnati Coalltion for tfie JfomeCess cordia{{y invites you to tlieir 2\.nnua{ 1Jinner antf-SiCent 2\.uction . . Tuestfay, 'Dece 6er 9, 2003, 6:oop Xavier 'University Schiff Ja i{y Conference Center · For Tickets, please· send $15 to GCCH at 117 East 12th . . . Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 make checks payable to GCCH and write "Annual Dinner" in the memo Reserve a table for your church or company for $150 Sponsor dinner· for a homeless individual for $15 Donate an item for our silent auction (call Brendan Goodwin at 421.7803 with any questions) �Editorial STREETVIBES November, 2003 buddy gray; Page 3 tte Changed Lives· by Jimmy Heath Streetvibes Editor This month is the 7th You would not think at first glance that all of this would be connected to a homeless shelter in Cincinnati, Ohio. There is ,a denial in this city about the homeless, and the more hidden they are the be ter. buddy forced people to think about the homeless, and many people in local government dreaded his confrontational style. Thirty years ago, buddy gray and a group of devoted activists began picking-up homeless, and some would say hopeless drunks off the street and bringing them into their apartments in Over-the-Rhine, taking care of them as if they were family, coaxing them out of alcoholism, feeding them and clothing them. A small storefront and justice. buddy helped set up and established the vision of the Streetvibes program before he anniversary of the death of Over­ died. The Voices newspaper, the-Rhine community activist and started years earlier by buddy, dear friend buddy gray. Bonnie Neumeier and other Over­ Whenever I speak to groups about the-Rhine neighborhood activists my work, I preface the discussion was recognized as an important with how· buddy, his friends and tool for getting the word out the Drop Inn Center were about community work. When responsible for saving my life. the Streetvibes idea was born This was no small feat. I buddy knew exactly what to do. was living on the streets, caught and how to do it, and he up in the deadly grip of alcohol understood the power f getting addiction - I was depressed, lost the word out by using alternative and dead inside. My alcoholism news media. buddy gray was a was literally killing me, destroying voice for the poor and oppressed my body and my soul and my will. who fought for the rights of the I didn't care because I was homeless and the poor on many convinced that this was the way I levels. was going to die and I didn't have On November 1 5, 1 996, any choice in the matter. I was buddy was gunned doomed to die down in the Drop­ homeless, Inn Center. alcoholic and Ironically, buddy alone. was killed by a man One day I he had helped stumbled into the through the years ­ Drop Inn Center in a man who had Over-the-Rhine struggled through and another human ·mental illness, being, a staff addiction and member, took the homelessness. His time to reach out to assassin personified me. In me, they all the struggles of recognized a person buried and the people that J:iidden away in that buddy had stood up fog. I was told that for all those years. I didn't need to As news J!\.;' buddy gray and Bonnie Neumeier in protest march die, that I had a spread about choice, and that I buddy's murder, could be helped to find my way shelter on Main Street soon people in the community grieved out of the dutches of certain followed buddy and the rest of deeply for this man who death by alcohol. dedicated his life to serving the the volunteers soon recognized Those days are a hazy people. Days after his death in that m<?re than just shelter was 1 996, over 1 ,200 people from all memory numbed by my emotional needed; there also needed to be and physical condition. I was around the country came to Over­ changes in attitudes and methods given a chance in Detox, and the-Rhine for a memorial march for treating addictions, that the eventually entered the Drop Inn needs of the homeless through for buddy. Center's drug and alcohol Buddy "Stanley" Gray housing and employment and treatment program for homeless went to college in the early ' 70s training and opportunity also had men; the Live-In Recovery and became active in protests to be met. Program. The program against the war in Vietnam and This took a lot of work for epitomized buddy's vision of other radical causes. Until his many years. Buddy was creating a transition out of death, he fought against big aggressive and demanding in his homelessness, through treatment, convictions because of his business developers who wanted housing, and education for to push the poor out of the Over­ passion for the rights of folks at homeless people. The-Rhine neighborhood. the bottom of the ladder. I thought I was alone in Decade's later buddy became a Although I have a my struggle with addiction but at working-class suburban national figure in the struggle for the Drop Inn Center I met a lot of background, I have not been able human rights, justice and the people who were just like me in treatment of the homeless. Buddy to leave this small inner-city so many ways; men and women neighborhood. Through buddy and his crew were tireless in their whose lives were given up to drug efforts in finding ways to provide and all of the people that I have addiction and alcoholism, met since my modest beginnings the homeless and the homelessness and hopelessness, at the Drop Inn Center almost disenfranchised with a voice. And they were visionary. all trying to find their way out of nine years ago, I have learned and the same struggle. discovered the beauty of this Out of these humble I soon learned that at the beginnings grew the Drop Inn place, in the faces of the people and their strength in adversity. I Drop Inn Center, the value of a Center, the Greater Cincinnati human life was placed above all couldn't leave even if I wanted to. Coalition for the Homeless, and other things, and that many others other organizations supporting For me, this is where my life had come before me and had been many causes, started by buddy began again, renewed and with a given back their lives because of sense of purpose. Thanks buddy, and other volunteers, and linked this simple and just philosophy. by a single vision; human rights for saving my life. · �Page 4 STREETVIBes November, 2003 Remembering buddy gray, 1950 -1996 As we approach the seventh anniversary of our loss of buddy gray, we.pause to remember the legacy he left us. That legacy is one of social justice, of compassion for those who experience homelessness in the most affluent society of all times, of practical solutions to individual situations, and of the urgency of working together to find systemic solutions for social ills. He called us to stand firm behind our beliefs, to articulate our message to the media in one clear concise sentence, to pay attention to the politics around the issue, and to build allies before taking action. He showed us how to keep the facts, the faces, and the stories of homeless people real and front buddy and friend and center of the eye of a society, often too busy to notice. the-Rhine is one man who stands We are reminded that while heads above all others who say buddy began his work on behalf of they are for the homeless like our those who experience homelessness part-time mayor Peter Strauss. by himself in his tiny apartment on People like him are always on our Main Street(yes! on Main Street), side when it comes to election he worked always with others, time. But once in office it seems he especially with the homeless and forgets who helped get him there. their advocates. May we People like that we can do without. commemorate buddy on this We have some 40 buildings November anniversary of his loss, with 200 usable units . . resolved to continue to work Unfortunately like the toward housing for all, redoubling article says we depend solely on our efforts on behalf of individuals donations and grants, grants that who experience homelessness. May for some unforeseen reason take we pursue all avenues of advocacy their day-old time getting here. with those who make decisions on This is one reason some of those policy and funding ... continuing to buildings are empty today. No affirm and work with the Greater funding to fix them up. Cincinnati Coalition for the There was a man in the Homeless as well as through our upper east coast who had a similar many informal networks of kindred problem. His name was Mitch souls. Snyder. I'd like to think of Buddy The buddy gray Lifetime Activism Gray as Mitch Snyder of the Mid­ Awardees; Alice Skirtz (2000), west. If anyone felt more in tune Linda Howell-Perrin (2001), with the plight of the homeless, let Michelle Budzek (2002) him step forward, for in my mind there is no better person to fill those shoes than Buddy Gray. Tribute to buddy, I may not always agree with From The Past the way some things are by Marvin Schlosser, Sm.ff accomplished but at least there is Counselor, Drop Inn Center someone out there who is illing I've been living in Over­ to devote his entire life for the-Rhine for the better part of 1 4 someone who no one else gives a ' years now. I ' ve seen many, many hoot for and that's the homeless buildings tom down for parking person. My hat goes off to Buddy lots. I've even seen parking lots Gray. I only wish there were more tom up to make room for like him. Good job, Buddy. Keep buildings. Unfortunately, those it up. No one else will. buildings do nothing for people who aren't fortunate enough to buddy gray have money to rent suitable by Georgine Getty housing. Martin Luther King, Jr. Instead of the city building once said that no one can ride your low-income housing they are back unless it's bent. I never met building housing for middle-to­ buddy gray, but I've met countless upper class citizens forgetting the plight of the poor and the homeless men and women whose backs he helped straighten. people. I know this to be true Buddy gray was a dreamer. because I've seen it happen all too Buddy was also a tireless worker, many times. which is why his dream still exists Buddy Gray, who I ' ve today. Because he was a dreamer, known my entire 1 4 years in Over· .... agencies like the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, the National Coalition for the Homeless, ReSTOC and the Drop Inn Center exist. Because he was a worker, these agencies are guided by respect, empowerment and vision. Buddy set the moral tone for how to do this work and he didn't just live this morality, he passed it on to his contemporaries and to the future. I love to hear stories about buddy. My favorite stories are about the battles. Homelessness is not a pretty cause, nor is it one that everyone agrees on. When I'm stuck with a question of what to do, I reflect on our mission set forth by buddy. Like the people he met, he also gave his agencies a straight and true backbone on which to base th ir actions. Whenever I'm sitting around the table with a group of activists, homeless folks and rabble rousers plotting our next course of action; whenever someone gets that glint in his/her eye; whenever someone's back gets a little straighter; I hope that buddy is somewhere, at peace, smiling right along with us. About buddy by Bill Joiner In thinking about the period since buddy's death, it seems that much has happened, and, at the same time, not much has changed. Attacks on the homeless or those with low incomes in Over the Rhine have certainly increased, and everyone has to miss buddy's ability to fend them off. The opportunity for ReSTOC to undertake its biggest project to create low-income housing was not celebrated by the City, but was used to wrest away control of several ReSTOC properties. Those who wish to profit from OTR development have benefited from the mean spirited support of the Mayor and certain members of City Council. We have yet to see how placing SCPA adjacent to the Drop Inn Center will affect its ability to deliver services. Welfare reform has hurt many, and increased the number of women and children who are homeless. We have had riots, and drug-dealing and crime has increased without an effective police response. P rhaps most damaging, the attitudes toward the homeless, and the poor in general, seem to have hardened, and they are blamed not only for their circumstances, but for the failures of the City. What I admired most about buddy was his refusal to give up, and his willingness to wage the good fight even against overwhelming odds. So listing the downside of what has happened in the intervening years would only have increased the challenge as he saw it. And buddy left a legacy that is still meeting that challenge. The Drop Inn Center serves more people than ever. Despite the opposition from the City, and the Mayor 's grand talk of remaking OTR, ReSTOC is the only organization that has successfully done any significant restoration, and is moving along well in its project to tum a number of buildings into decent housing for low income people. The Homeless Coalition recently performed admirably in defending the rights of homeless people removed from under bridges, in standing up to the City in its attempts to restrict the civil rights of homeless people to ask for help, and continues its important work in new and better quarters . Peaslee continues to be a center for neighborhood meetings and activities, especially for young people. It now operates a much­ needed child care center. And the new project at Peaslee to teach photography to OTR children is progressing well. The Contact Center has done an excellent jo in educating the public on the inequities of welfare reform. The OTR Housing network continues its good work. And the OTR Community Council has undergone leadership changes, and yet still represents well the real people in OTR. And most important, high school and college students still flock to the Drop Inn, ReSTOC, and Peaslee and are sensitized and educated to issues that people who are homeless or with low incomes must deal with. All those organizations were buddy's response to the needs of the homeless and people with low incomes as they struggle in OTR. And the current leadership of those organizations was largely inspired by buddy, as they too, as high school or college students, became acquainted with his work. I think we all miss buddy as a friend, as a warm and sympathetic person, as an inspirational leader, and as a strategist, But I think, despite his modesty, he would have been proud of his legacy; of those who were inspired by his work and commitment, and who carry on ably what he started. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing him received a special gift, but buddy's influence, .inspiration, and dreams of a better world are still alive, and I am confident will always be, as new generations take up the challenge. �l STREETVIBES November, 2003 Page 5 Homeless Awareness Week homeJess camp was repeatedly attacked by a group of young men Quiz yourself on your knowledge of homelessness in Cincinnati over the course of a couple weeks. by Andy Erickson, GCCH Education Coordinator The young men threw rocks and eggs, and threatened the homeless National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week is November individuals while they slept. One 17 through 23. How aware are you of the homeless situation night, the youth set fire to the camp. Out of all 50 states, Ohio is in Cincinnati? Take this quiz and find out. number four in hate crimes against 1 ) Approximately how many people experienced homelessness at some point during the the homeless. year 2000 in Cincinnati? 7) The answer to question a. 30,000 7 is c. Tough approaches to b. 25,000 homelessness, like sweeping . c. 20,000 camps or making homeless d. 1 0,000 activities illegal only exacerbate 2) What are the top two reasons people become homeless in Cincinnati? the problem. When homeless a. Housing problems people go to jail for asking for 1 0 b. Drug/Alcohol abuse cents o n the street, they lose 30 c. Loss of Income days that could have been used for d. Domestic Violence getting jobs, getting housing, 3) Families make up what percentage of the homeless population in Cincinnati? getting services, and getting off a. 4 1 % the streets. When the 30 days is b . 3 1% up and they get out of jail, they c. 2 1 % still won't have a home to go to. d. 1 1 % Education is the first step 4) Children make up what percentage of the homeless population in Cincinnati? to olving homelessness in a. 50% Cincinnati. An educated public is b. 40% an understanding and c. 25% compassionate public. If you'd d. 1 0% like to learn more about who's 5) What percentage of the homeless population in Cincinnati are alcoholics or drug homeless and why, visit our abusers? website a. About 50% (www.cincy.homeless.com) and b. About 40% click on "Reports." Most of these c. About 30% statistics were taken from d. About 20% Homeless in Cincinnati, published 6) How many homeless people have been killed nationally as a result of hate crimes in 2000. You can visit the committed against them in the past four years?. National Coalition for the a. 1 23 Homeless' website b. 84 (www.nationalhomeless.org) to c. 52 learn about homelessness at a d. 29 national level. 7) Whafcan I do to help end homelessness in Cincinnati? Whether you scored high a. Stop giving to panhandlers or low on this quiz, nothing will b. Encourage tough laws that jail the homeless for quality of life crimes change unless you act upon your c. Educate myself and others by volunteering or having an awareness-raising event knowledge. Volunteer, hold an d. Sweep their camps awareness-raising event at your Here are the answers: costs continue to rise at a rate much stereotype of a homeless person, school or organization, or have a 1) Tfle answer to question while many other homeless faster than workers' pay, many speaker from our Speaker's 1 is b: 25,000. The homeless individuals do not. The public people are now just one or two Bureau give a talk to your group. population has been rising rapidly doesn't see homeless children or paychecks away from living on the One formerly homeless since the 1980's. In 1 986, the families huddled on street comers. street. individual recently told me, "When number of people experiencing Alcoholism and drug use are The vast majority of the homeless I was homeless and panhandling homelessness during the year in factors in the loss of some peo!Jle's do not live thier lives on the streets. on the street, nothing made my Cincinnati was approximately homes, but the number is small 6) The answer to question 6 day like when someone stopped to 1 0,000. This number grew to compared to those who are is a. 1 23 homeless men, women talk with me." Don't let the 20,000 in 1 993 and to 25,000 in and children have been killed as a homeless for economic reasons. homeless in Cincinnati go through the year 2000. result of hate crimes against them. Domestic Violence is the another holiday season feeling These numbers include number three cause of homelessness There have also been 89 reported ignored by the rest of us. Don't for women in Cincinnati. people who were living in shelters, let the problem of homelessness go non-lethal attacks on homeless living on the street, and people 3) The answer to question 3 individuals over the past four years. unchecked. Spend National who were "doubled-up" (sleeping Many of these hate crimes are is a: 4 1 % , as reported in a recent Hunger and Homeless Awareness at friends or family members' issue of USA Today. The perpetrated by young males who do Week working to bring awareness homes for lack of their own). We to the community and help to population of homeless families has it for sport. include those who are doubled-up been growing steadily since the those who are in need. Recently in Cincinnati, a in our counts because they don't 1 980s. have a home of their own, but also 4) The answer to question 4 because studies have shown that a is c: 25%. One in four homeless majority of those who are doubled­ people in Cincinnati is a child. up will end up on the street within 5) The answer to question 5 a year. is d, 20%. Many people believe 2) The answers to question that the homeless population is 2 are a and c: housing problems comprised mostly of middle-aged and loss of income. Since the early alcoholic males, since they're often 1980s, the homeless population has the most visible not just in public been growing largely due to but also in TV, movies and the economic factors. As housing press. They fit the public's ·- �Page 6 STREETVIBES November, 2003 The Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderlanil Last month, the State Supreme Court of Ohio decided that walking around our city with a concealed gun was illegal. One of my neighbors decided to protest this decision by organizing a march through our neighborhood on a recent afternoon. Stefanie, my wife, some other neighbors, Jeannie Smith, Wesley Foundation, and some members of Clifton United Methodist Church, joined me to protest this protest and march throughout the community. I have been in many peace marches but never one quite like this one. 40 males and 3 females, each carrying at least a holster with a gun, some with bullets and knives, walked our neighborhood while eight of us walked next to tht:m carrying posters with peace signs on them. I felt fear as we gathered. I feared that the gun toters would act up in such a way that someone would respond. I feared for the two children in the walk who joined their gun holding parents. I feared for those in my community who might be looking to make a point about how crazy "we" or "they" are. I can't remember seeing average people walking our streets with their hands on their guns and wearing their American flag hats and shirts. "It's is our constitutional right," they repeated as we walked and talked. Most of the people near me were from other Ohio and Kentucky cities and felt dedicated to supporting the protest of the court. For a while, Stef and I stood across from where the gun­ supporters were gathering. I carried a peace flag with the word, "peace," in many languages. Several young people carried handmade signs. Two young people carried water pistols. We were outnumbered. There were no police around except for the Kentucky police that were a part of the supports. And, then we were off for our walk around the neighborhood and the police; monitors from the Cincinnati Human Relations Council, and the media showed up in force. We walked for a tense hour. I tried to tell myself to be calm, to not do anything to anger anyone, and to ° look peaceful. Engaging in discussion about taking the protest out of our neighborhood went nowhere. Some people showed understanding of the panic and trauma they were causing; some said that this was "their" neighborhood because they were Americans. Some understood that this kind of protest would be unwelcome in their communities. Events were peaceful and some filled with high anxiety. No member of our community council, with the exception of Stefanie, appeared. Nor did our city council make an appearance with the exception of one individual who drove by. One of our county commissioners chose to walk with the gun supporters. None of our congress people were there either. What did I learn from this event? After I calm down, I may have something useful to say. For now, I can say that there are many people in this region, middle class, Caucasian, young and old, who are proud to wear a gun and want to keep that gun out of sight. So intense is their support for guns, they are willing to terrorize a community they do not live in nor really understand. Protesting for gun concealment raises important questions about the state of mental health of middle class Americans: are we so frightened that the major sense of security is carrying a gun? "Yes," one bright young man, in his 30s, told me: "You carry insurance, don't you? This is our insurance." I fear for our communities and our institutions if these marchers for gun concealment represent a . growing population. I was proud to be in the small group who sought to prevent this march from occurring and from sending a message that looked like it had our community's support. But I haven't had my blood pressure so high since Little Rock in the '60s. We walked with a message of p ace with some humor. I shall never forget the platoon of water pistol "soldiers" walking parallel with our visitors. Through our humor, we defused a little of the fear that was solid in our streets. I don't know if we changed any minds, started any real conversations, or protected our neighborhood. I did feel that walking for peace made the ground we all walked on holy, made us aware of just how desperate some people are in our community for some form of protection, and, just how crazy-courageous those who want peace are, too. I had the feeling that we needed a peace conference, a peace poster session, a peace feast, a way of connecting with the gun bearers that would alleviate their fears. Some one of us brought chocolate chip cookies and tried to give them out as we marched. All gifts with the exception of reaching out in peace were refused. Some of you have followed my involvement with the Veterans' Sangha that I have attended the last two Summers as part of Thich Nhat Hahn's retreats. I feel very privileged to have been a part of the discussions between vets, Jimmy Heath photo Vietnamese people, war protesters and friends of this group. This Summer some rare discussions and beautiful writings were shared. Several of the participants have given me permission to reprint their writings that were prepared just for and during this last sangha. They were difficult writings to create, read and listen to. And, I am sure that some in our Peace Village will find them difficult to read and react to. Yet, I urge you to do both. Healing Eyes The firefight had been close, fierce and deadly. Both sides now continued the battle from a slightly greater distance, leaving the space between them (No Man's Land) littered with the dead and wounded. Above the din of weapon's fire, the acrid, smoky air was filled with the anguished cries of "Doc, Medic!" I was already inside that ungodly space, between opposing forces, tending to those still alive; fully aware that I had an equal chance of dying from "friendly" or enemy fire. I slithered like a snake, on my belly along the slippery, monsoon soaked ridgeline, searching for survivors. As I pulled myself around a tree stump I recognized an FNG (f@#$ing new guy). He'd been with us less than two days; I didn't even know his name. There he was, splayed, flat on his back, · staring at the sky with the top of his head missing. His gray matter unceremoniously oozing toward the muddy jungle floor. "Surely, he's dead," I thought, but as I pressed my fingers against his carotid artery to check his pulse, his eyes rolled and locked onto mine. I was so startled I abruptly sat up, oblivious to the bullets whizzing around me. The rest of the world ceased to exist as I focused on this man. His eyes remained riveted on my own and they were speaking worlds to me. I sensed incredible pain, sorrow and fear. Additionally, he seemed to be asking, "Why?" I was acutely aware of having a dialogue. yet no words were spoken. In robotic fashion I retrieved a "Large Field Dressing" from my aid bag with the intent of somehow containing his exposed cerebellum. As I began to put the dressing in place his eyes became bright, fierce and pleading . . . screaming through the void, "Please, let me go!" His request pierced my soul, and without further thought, I slowly tightened the tie straps around his throat. Within moments his body went limp, his eyelids closed of their own accord, and I knew he was at peace. The battle continued to rage. I saved as many as possible; and when it was over ten days later there were 11 of us remaining out of an original 1 50 men. Those eyes have haunted me, resided within and become my own for the past thirty five years. I ' ve held onto all that sadness and despair. It was also carried by my father (a WWII vet) arid it emanates from many of the Vietnam vets I've encountered. Those feelings of loss and hopelessness dominated my way of perceiving the world. Throughout the past three decades the same question has plagued me on a daily basis, "What gave you the right?" I consciously, deliberately took one man's life; something antithetical tc both my morality and my mission ·_ I had gone to Vietnam for the express purpose of saving lives. How could I ever again claim to be a peaceful, non-violent person? My self-hatred exhibited itself as rage; toward others, the system, but primarily directed at myself. I was absolutely unable to develop meaningful relationships with others because I felt so unworthy. My inability to "let go" nearly destroyed me. All the self destructive behaviors in which I engaged were designed to hide from, bury, if not kill the memories. Cont. Page 7 �Page 7 STREETVIBES November, 2003 by Molly Rhodes More than 50,000 workers are expected to benefit if a proposition to raise the minbnum wage wins the approval of San Francisco voters this November. Proposition L would raise the city's minimum wage from $6.75 to $ 8.50 an hour and therefore put an additional $ 100 million into the pockets of low-wage,.often immigrant workers who keep the city running, according to the campaign website. Proponents believe the wage increase will not only help out the workers who serve food, clean offices, park cars, and guard buildings, but also benefit smaller, local businesses that these workers will have more money to support. The official campaign kicks off this month, with a fundraiser centered on a production of Joan Holden's adaptation of Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by In America, byBarbara Erhenreich. Erhenreich will also be on hand to show her support for the effort to give lowwage workers a better chance to afford the city in which they.live. According to the San Francisco Minimum Wage Coalition, even with the minimum wage increase, a full-time, full year employee would make $ 1,473 a month, compared to the average San Francisco rental cost of $ 1,554. To truly be ale to afford to live in San Francisco, an individual would have to be making $ 19,7 18 a year, or $9.48 an hour. Even a homeless guy is still a guy. And what guy doesn't like a sports lounge? It's a theory that seems to be working for a new day center in Oakland, Calif., where more than 60 homeless men can be found hanging out and watching classic pro-basketball games on leather couches as they wait to shower, do their laundry, and chat with friends. The center, which is open three days a week for five hours a day, also offers food and drink, though no alcohol, according to the Alameda Times-Star (www.timesstar.com). The idea for the center's sports theme came from Tom Abdenour, an athletic trainer for the Golden State Warriors, who was looking for a way to give back to the community and provide a service that homeless people would actually be attracted to. The CHAMPION (Care and Helping Assist Men Prosper in Our Neighborhood)·Guidance Center is run by people who are themselves homeless, with the help of staff at the Society of St. Vincent De Paul. "I can actually relax here," one center user told the Star-Times, as . he pointed to the door, "because there is no relaxing when you're out there." · Cops in Key West, Florida, had a lot of explaining . to do after they broke up a homeless camp that was legally allowed to exist. Although the city council recently declared such camps illegal, the city is careful to following rulings in other Florida cities that found it illegal to remove homeless people from camps unless the city already provides adequate alternatives for basic life-sustaining "activities"- in this case, sleeping. In a related lawsuit, a local homeless man is suing the Monroe County Sheriff's Department after he was arrested for sleeping outside, even though there no other sleeping arrangements made available to him. Key West officials are currently looking into areas where homeless people would be safe to spend the night and not at risk for harm or th ft of their personal belongings, according to keysnews.com. Canadian officials are hunting down the operators of a website that showed homeless people being humiliated for entertainment. The now-defunct site, which claimed to offer "the most offensive experience on the Web," had videos of a woman urinating into a bucket, of people kicking a homeless person, and of hot coffee being splashed on a homeless person, according to !he Montreal Gazette (www.canada.com). Homeless people said they were paid in cash or beer when they agreed to be part of the video. Investigators said it will be hard to trace the owners, as the website is no longer up and running. An audit of New York infestations, but also peeling paint and mold- yet cost as much as $3,000 a month. Much of the blame for the city's poor use of money rests at the feet of a 2000 court order that requires the city to provide same-day shelter for anyone who equires it by 10 p.m. on any given night; landlords could then charge whatever prices they ·wanted as the city was under courtorder to find an immediate placement. Now, Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to change the system to require hotel contractors to bid competitively on shelter and housing contracts. With the new bidding system, it is hoped landlords will no longer be able to hold the city hostage to _high prices while offering only sub-standard housing options. Yet some homeless advocates also worry that the new bidding system will delay shelter placement and leave some of the neediest homeless people quite literally out in the cold. A self-sufficient village for homeless people in Berkeley, California is slowly creeping toward becoming a reality for the city's growing population of homeless families. The latest hurdle for the Ursula Sherman · Village was a pair of underground storage tanks that posed an environmental hazard and had to be removed, according to the Berkeley Daily Planet (www.berkeleydaily.org). This after the site was almost shut down completely because of potential air quality risks due to the proximity of industrial centers i West Berkeley. Yet even though Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency hasn't even broken ground on a project conceived more than four years ago, the nonprofit continues to remain optimistic about the plan for a selfcontained village for 40 homeless families and 80 individuals. They already have the money to build the first phase of the project, two homes that would house about 35 families, which they hope to stait building in January. A planned community center near the site remains unfunded. In Cleveland, the fear inherent with living on the City's homeless ervice programs streets can legally protect a man found that the city often who's caught carrying a loaded misspent millions while gun in an airport. So werit an supplying substandard living argument in defense of Robert Igoe, a homeless man whose fawyers used an Ohio concealedweapons statute that says fear of being attacked while doing legal business is a legitimate defense even if you are carrying a weapon under "dangerous circumstances." loge's fear was legitimate because, as a homeless person, he is constantly subject to harassment and the threat of bodily harm; his options. In 2002, the city spent $96 million to get more than 4,000 people off the streets, often into homes that were overpriced and/or infested with rats and roaches, according to the Office of the New York City Comptroller, as reported in the Cybercast News Service (CNSNews.com). Some of the homes that were barely above tenement standards- not only "legal business" was a trip he was making to get a copy of his transcript to continue his college studies. Yet the jury rejected the defense of loge, who was arrested while carrying a loaded semiautomatic handgun at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (www.cleveland.com). "Sleeping on Public Square, OK, I can give you that - you might have reason to fear," one juror told the Plain Dealer. "But in an airport, post-9/11? There's no justification." Peace Villag_e Cont. from Page 6 None of my actions were successful; those eyes continued to possess me. The latest chapter of my journey began some sixteen months ago when my seventeen year old son died unexpectedly. My whole world changed; and doors opened which previously I'd perceived as being sealed shut. I started to nurture compassion, understanding and acceptance within my world. I realized that life is simply a lesson and I have a choice as to whether or not I learn from its experience. On some level, I had chosen to remain a victim, controlled by the past. For the first time Thay's teachings were being integrated on a visceral level. This past week I had another encounter with the nameless dead soldier. We met around 3am on a muggy night while I was walking in the woods trying to·quiet my soul. Our eyes locked and I felt myself drawn into a world far greater than my own. His sadness and despair were absent, replaced with a deep gentleness and a questioning. I breathed in deeply, focusing my awareness and the message became , clear, "You're forgiven, can you do . the same for yourself?" Today I am becoming aware of the vitality returning to my own eyes; they express more gentleness and love. I am following what my son has encouraged since he crossed over. "Dad, you need to look at the world with a different pair of eyes." · · Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. Sunderland also heads up Posters-for-Peace which engages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words, through the creation ofposters. -? �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Dear Streetvi bes ... ' I read your newspaper for the first time about a week ago. · I'm not claiming I understand all the issues involved, but I do sympathize, having gone through a similar situation myself. This is a letter or short story, if you will, that I want published. Also, keep my name out of it. Please. This was not created in my spare time for the fun of it. It was very real. In each of us, there is a search for ourselves, whether we look in a mirror or the people that we surround ourselves. Over a year ago, I made a decision to give away everything I owned, that some would say was whimsical or without forethought. I didn't understand why, until last night, that for a brief moment, my own existence no longer mattered; transcending the heavens and earth. For a long time I felt I had nothing, when I had everything. Yet in those seconds, I stood alone in front 9f my bedroom window, while smoking a cigarette; I got my halo and wings. In an instant, that moment changed my life. I saw myself as a good person who can contribute, without having the material possessions of life. It was the most difficult concept to comprehend, especially from a person who wanted for nothing, with the exception of love. I'm a whole person, for the first time, and didn't know quite know what to do, so I started writing this letter to Streetvibes. I was born to a prominent Cincinnati family. My mother was an alcoholic, who emotionally, mentally, and physically beat me. Looking to my father who blamed me for his own decisions. After a divorce, becoming a single mom, trying my best to do things .on my own, my life took a tum for the worse. I had to move in with my mother, and for independent individual such a myself, this was like being moved to a dog house. My mother hadn't stopped drinking; I didn't appreci ate it when my sister stole medication, so she could prolong her drinking ability. They hadn't stopped trying to hurt me and I'm 29 years old. After listening to my father, then my mother arid sister tell me how wrong I was for divorcing a physically abusive husband, the demands of a baby, who by the way is the best gift I ever gave · myself and love more than words could describe; the lack of family support, coming to grips with a disability, I walked out the door in June, 2002 for 4 days, because I couldn't take the public abuse, when my mother would yell "go be homeless", while I fixed my roller blades in the middle of the night. My father didn't know what to do, only "let's hear what you have to say, then I'm going to drop you off at the comer". I had lost custody of my son in the spring of 2002, had no money and no clue to where I was going. I walked and walked, not knowing where I was going, playing it off like I was trying to find a boyfriend, who I had loved very much, even though the . relationship had been over for quite some time. I had blisters on my feet, and would cry because I didn't have anyone, or implied that I should go to a psychiatric facility, because I was lost and confused. Yet in those 4 days I learned a lot and considered myself fortunate, because I got a place to sleep in someone else's apartment, having just met at a bar. Nothing happened, they were kind people, who I had forgotten to thank for a warm place to stay, a shower, and food. During one of those 4 days,. I had invited myself to the Walnut Hills fire station, doing my best impression of a lost puppy dog. They were extremely courteous, and then there was the Cincinnati Police. I was escorted to the Homeless Shelter at about 2:00 AM, where I spent the night on the floor, having missed the 7: 00 PM sign in time for a mattress pad. During the early hours of the morning, someone was thoughtful e ough to cover me with a jacket, so I wouldn't be cold. I woke up, and wandered,away in the wee hours_ of the morning'to enjoy the day. I eventually went to my sister's apartment, where I lived for a few months, sometimes sleeping on the front porch, to avoid my mother. It didn't last for long, I moved into my mother's, until her continued bullying, pushed me out the door. I'm lucky, I don't live on the streets anymore. I've moved up. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment, that has a futon pad, a space heater, a couple of blankets, While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. Page 8 Editorial · some clothing, and a refrigerator. It even has a pink bathroom, with running water. I live off a 220 volt via an extension cord, that actually is illegal. I'm really not supposed to be living there, but it's a roof over my head. My neighbors have been friendly and helpful, and without them could not have survived, not too mention a few others. During this time, I h ve gotten to see my son. We had a wonderful time, reading, playing at the park. I was lucky. I'm lucky because I can order carry out, have a place to get out of the elements, some place to call home. I can't truly say what it is to be homeless, nor could I say what is it to go without food or a shower on a daily basis, or to live in the freezing cold. I know what it's like to be alone and afraid, not knowing ' where to tum, where to go. I value my home, that little place I hope to see family and friends. I don't care what it looks like to someone else, and it shouldn't matter to you. I'm living a rich life, and if I lost it tomorrow, where would I go? Eve Prisoners A vocacy Ohio Committee 3- incinnati, Ohio. .45201 -1 146; a prisd 'r's na;n .. . and jail number i ,, c'eves1 947@ ya oo.com l� rinding\''R n-pals5 l r.peop !ocarcerated in jails; ' throughout Ohio. · �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Reflections F rom O u r Da i ly Bread and serve the food line and wash the dishes. Others who care send money to keep the lights and heat by Joeline Lecture _My friend and I have been Tuesday volunteers at a place that shows the true meaning of care and and air conditioning running to continue the comfort and . hospitality so appreciated by all. When you enter these concern; Our Daily Bread in Over­ doors, you leave the fear, worry the-Rhine. It is a kitchen that and sadness on the doorstep - and serves a hot meal to close to 400 feel welcome to share the people. fellowship of people who really do That meal depends on the care. There is no judgment, no generosity of others who care to asking why, but simply believing donate the food. Picking up the that every person present is food depends on others who care valuable. In our imperfect world to set time aside to bring it to those there are a few things we who plan and prepare the meal. understand or feel sure of - but this Serving the meal to so many in a we know; God blesses this place of few hours depends on others who goodness and all who come to care to come every week to stand serve or be served. Makes a Great Gift/ 18" X 24" lithograph: the-Rhine, Winter Washington Park, Over­ 1999 by Jimmy Heath. Each print is individually sign d by the photographer. Lost Hope that was me out there, with no By Booger Love hope of getting off of the streets, When you lose hope in life some find hope in drugs, alcohol and they hold on to it. It's hard to let go of it. The only thing they don't lose hope in is the life they live every day of drugs and alcohol. That is the only hope that we have for now. As you can see, hey, it's all the hope we got . Losing hope is bad, but you've got to have hope in something. What else can we do? Nothing. You see, we are drug addicts and alcoholics who need help . But no one will or wants to help them. Yes, they have got to help themselves before any one else can help them, but before they do that, they have to see that someone cares enough to want to help. They think that if no one else cares, why should they care. So give them that hand up because you might need that hand up someday yourself So when you see someone down, give them that hand up, o.k.? Because you might need it one day. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe by Kaniaulono Meyer So say to yourself, what if Purchase benefits the children's Literacy Through Photography program at Peaslee not having a home to go to out of Neighborhood Center in Over-the-Rhine. the cold. So look up before you Posters are look down on someone, see how lucky you are that you' re not out there yourself Take time to make time; just talk. It helps a lot. You will hear lots of stories. Some are sad. Some are bad. But that is how it goes with everyone. That's life. Ain't it true? This is part of my life story. I live a hell of a life. I am homeless in my heart and always will be. $10 each, plus $3 for shipping. Send your order and check to: Peaslee Neighborhood Center A tn: Photography Program 2 1 5 East Fourteenth Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 or call (513) 621-5514 or visit the website/or more information: www.jimmyheath. org �< . \ , } Page 10 STREETVIBES November, 2003 Pictu re the Homeless by Elizabeth Linville Picture the Homeless was founded on the principle that Unit (EAU), a key access point to temporary shelter for homeless homeless people have civil and human rights regardless of our race, creed, color or economic status. Picture the Homeless was founded and is led by homeless people. We refuse to accept being neglected and we demand that our voices and expertise are heard at all levels of decision making that impact us. We oppose the quality of life laws that criminalize home­ less people in any form by the city, state and national govern­ ments. We work to change these laws and policies as well as to challenge the root causes of homelessness. Our strategies include grass roots organizing, New York state law that all home­ less individuals be given a place in a shelter. The first stop for those from all five boroughs is the EAU, an intake center located in the Bronx. From there, families can wait until after midnight to be assigned to a temporary, overnight shelter and must the EAU, children must suffer city. This action was crucial in through arduous commutes to their moving New York's Department of schools. Additionally, the dirty Homeless Services to form an conditions and unhealthy food at Advisory. Board of homeless the EAU leave many children too individuals focused on improving sick to attend school. This survey social services in the city. has led to the following recommen­ More recently, the organi­ zation is focusing on improving the overnight placements by 6 PM; issue 10 day passes to take children In 2002, they surveyed families in to school when a 10 day shelter the EAU and released the results to placement is made; clean the the public. The survey indicated building; create a homework and EAU each day to process can take days, even weeks, and the conditions inside horrendous. accomplishments include securing a major legal victory in federal court to stop police from enforcing laws that harass homeless individuals, There is an abundance of rodents, each morning from their overnight placement to the EAU and then to school. There is no place at the EAU for families to bathe, play, do their laundry, or work on home­ work. For many homeless families, simply trying to get the assistance creating a pamphlet to educate they need is making their lives individuals about their rights, documenting the NYPD' s practice of violating the civil rights of incredibly difficult. Picture the Homeless has made great efforts to document and homeless people, and creating a change the situation in the EAU. legal clinic for homeless individu­ als. Currently, the group is fighting to improve the conditions of New York City' s Department of the Homeless' s Emergency Assistance play area; and increase the supply the EAU were, in of low-income housing in New general, not able York. to be successful In a country where home­ students. Many less individuals are often ignored, have to wait until Picture the Homeless has suc­ late at night to be ceeded in gaining the attention of sent to an over­ their city and affecting real change. night placement It will be interesting to see what and are not their efforts will accomplish next. sleep. Parents Elizabeth Linville School age children must commute York City. This organization's that children in getting enough tired children lie on the floors, and the food often makes people ill. homeless individuals living in New get children and families into education of school age children return to the the building are dations by Picture the Homeless: who are passing through the EAU. shelter. This fought many battles on behalf of tax travel in order to find housing. It is press, raising awareness across the find permanent founded in 2000 and has since with my York City has a difficult road to from al) five boroughs are placed in management and Picture the Homeless was . . . A homeless family in New located in the Bronx, and families pictu,res were then released to the work with case educating homeless people about their rights, public education, changing media stereotypes, and buiUling relationships with allies - Picture The Homeless Mission Statement. "See families in New York City. the conditions at the EAU. The No press is allowed into the build­ ing to see the reality of homeless family ' s lives, so the organization gave cameras to a family working are required to wait in line each morning at the EAU to receive a pass to take their children to school, a process which wastes time and creates unneeded stress on homeless families. Be­ War is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can invent peace with justice. Norman Cousins cause there is only one EAU, ,, __ Our New A ddress Still Downtown, still in Over-the-Rhine! G reater C i nc i n nati Coal ition for the Homeless & Streetvi bes 11 7 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (51 3) 42 1 - 7803 through the system to document cut you can afford a pool in your own backyard.,, �Page 11 STREETVIBES November, 2003 Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church was the scene of the final touch-up actress Piper Davis received from make-up artist prior to responding to the director's Th roug h Ou t Eyes Reflections on call: Lights, Camera, Action! Homelessness Photo b Jerome Manigan The book, Through Our Eyes, a collaboration of Cincinnati 's Mother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ tion for the Homeless. . . . Through Our Eyes: Reflections on Homelessness takes you on a experiential journey of learning by high school students as they leave their suburban comfort zones to explore the world of the inner-city homeless of Cincinnati. A collaboration of Cincinnati's Mother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coali­ tion for the Homeless, Through Our Eyes attempts to educate other high school students and the larger com­ munity about omelessness through stories of homeless DEAR R EADERS! Send us you r Vendor Stories Do you have a favorite Streetvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about ? Send us your stories or comments to: and formerly homeless individuals, reflections, art­ Streetvibes@juno.com work and photography. The books are available from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless for $10 each, plus $3 shipping and handling. Make checks payable to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for th.e Homeless, 117 East 12th Str et, Cincinnati Ohio 45202. For more information call (513) 421-7803 Help build a powerful , resident led organizationl Streetvibes 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 The GCCH would like to thank these Starbucks locations for their generous donation of coffee and The Republic Street & Vine Street_ Block pastries : Clubs are fighting for the rights of low­ income residents in Over-the-Rhine and they are going strong. Block clubs are forming in other parts of the neighborhood , too. 11379 Montgomery (513) 4_69-1111 Road 3366 Erie Avenue Call the Contact Center at 381 -4242 or stop by 1 227 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine to learn mo re abo ut how you can get involved with these resident led organ'i zations. or - East Hyde Park (513) 533-3402 7896 Montgomery (513) 891- 7740 Road ' �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Page 12 Ameri ca's Fam i l i es i n Red Alert by Lynn Williams Ohio Empowerment Coalition To chants of "One, two, three, four" "Stop the War on the Poor !" the Cincinnati Welfare . Rights Coalition rallied at the Cincinnati Federal Building on September 26 to urge Congress and the President to spend $87 Billion on family security programs in America. The President has proposed spending $87 Billion on the Iraq war effort & "rebuilding" Iraq. The W RC issued a Family Security Act to publicly state that America's Families are now in a Red Alert because of high unemployment, high poverty rates, lack of affordable housing, child care, and lack of health insurance. Congress should be helping families in crisis right here in America. The $ 87 Billion would go a long way to help alleviate her poem, "America Has Turned Its poverty on the Home Front. Back on the Very Poor". While At the same time that police officers across the street President Bush wants to prolong the intervention and military patrol of Iraq, he has proposed reducing programs: Medicaid funding for poor & disabled Americans, cuts in Veterans' benefits, cuts in housing vouchers for Americans, and reducing funding for child care and TANF funding. There is a "War on the Poor" right here in America Participants in the rally signed "billion dollar bills" to list what they wanted the $ 87 Billion to help provide. Carrie Eagles stated, "43 million Americans do pay for more health care in America. Ohio taxpayers will be paying $2.6 Billion of the $87 Billion. $2.6 Billion could instead provide Health Care for 1 Yi million children or 350,000 adults in Ohio. I want a say in how my taxpaying dollars are spent !" Katy Heins, lead organizer of the rally, urged people to call and write Senator Voinovich and DeWine of Ohio. "Let them know what you want your tax paying dollars to provide. Let them know what you want $ 87 Billion of taxpayer 's money to be used for. They need to hear from YOU !" She further stated, "New poverty rates have just been released today by the U.S. Census. They show, sadly, that the official of children in America in poverty is the Welfare Rights Coalition, read may not survive. Goodfolk, come together now, let us all stand hand in hand Protesting the oppression of the poor throughout our land. Our voices must cry out as one, or silenced we may be. Let us shout from every roof-top, "our children will live free. " Our children need to learn Our children need to eat. They need homes to live in They need shoes on their feet. " The Welfare Rights · up from 1 1 . 7 in 200 1 . The number Vera Zlatkin, a poet with The Contact Center and Welfare Rights Coalition crew Jails are more important, they keep the poor in line. Those people now in power have declared war on the poor; Proclaiming us the enemy of all that's rightfrom shore to shore. They even put a "Contract" out on our very lives The time has come to rally or we this country ! I want my dollar to families are truly in a Red Alert." "America has turned its back on the very poor. The people who are in control are closing every door. They took away the money to help us get back on ourfeet. They would rather see us begging for handouts on the street. As the homeless grow in number, the rich grow richer still. Our grandmas and our grandpas go all day without a meal. Jobs are disappearing; our schools are in decline. not even have health insurance in now 1 2 . 1 million. America's kept close eyes on us, Vera read bravely, her voice ringing out clear and strong with rising indignation: many of America's low-income poverty rate is now 1 2. 1 percent, Zach Fisher of the Contact Center speaks out . Coalition thanks everyone who endorsed and came out in support of the Action. For more information on how you can get involved and next steps call the Contact Center at 5 1 3/38 1 -4242 or 1 -877-862-5 179. Vera Zlatkin of the Welfare Rights Coalition National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) 1506 Elm Street Ci nci nnati , OH 45202 homelesscivi l right.s@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 �Page 13 STREETVIBES November, 2003 It Makes You . Wonder by Mrs. Mary Gaffney Being of African and Indian and hear the news too; you would suddenly stopped me and asked, be surprised what children are "Why is it so hard here, that the thinking. We like to say they are homeless were supposedly born in the children of tomorrow, but they the land of the free, home of the are also the children of today; Michael Gaffney, an Irishman, who brave, and all men are equal?" comparing the past with what is These people have no one to help going on in modem times - it make you wonder. Indian name. The name Gaffney ' came from a man of Irish descent. descent, and my great grand of her heritage, my Grand daughter I have a little hi tory of daughter, who at times comes to came to the state of South me with questions and problems Carolina. "Spartanburg District" them, I told her, or keep them with what is happening in today's was changed to "Gaffney", a little some don.'t even world, has seen and talked with the town named after him. He died like them. homeless. Since I am around September 6th, 1 854. homeless people and she spends When In his will, the slaves were some of the land time with me, I want her to know to be given a portion of the land by owners left land about the lives of different people, his wife, and during those times for some of the some who are not able to have slaves carried the names of their slaves to live on, homes or the owner, who carrying their nice things was Gaffney. owners name into that we have. My grand the future, I told First, she daughter's her that there are wanted to great great only so many know who great things that people my ancestors grandfather's can do for the were. And name was homeless. then, who are Vernon her ancestors, Gaffney. His question she had her father, father's name was can the and her great was Plea homeless find a grandfather? Gaffney. place to call their I explained Vernon got own, like what that our grandfather's Miss Mary Gaffney The next married to slave owners did Alma Bonner for their slaves? great grandfather were American­ who was also African and Indian. It makes you Indians. He also had brothers named wonder when 1 1 William Gaffney and Sherman year-olds put Then she asked how she and the family got her name. Gaffney was not an African or d these questions to Gaffney. During the long discussion you. They see Vernon Gaffney and Alma Bonner . a ney The Men of the Savage Nation by Gray Dog These are men who want '" ' very far. He lost a job he never to sound so strong and dangerous . welfare, union members, addicts, should have had doing TV football They' re pretty small people after immigrants, the list goes on. But coverage for saying something he all. Dope boys like to seem strong environmentalists, people on to sound strong and dangerous. not too far. They are not angry at never should have said. And he's and dangerous, so do school yard Teenage boys_want to sound or contemptuo s of rich people, checked into a treatment center for bullies. The dope boys rule their strong and dangerous, but these religious hypocrites, Republicans, an addiction, a reluctantly admitted comers ; the bullies rule the school are grown men. Well-paid, well­ business interests, normal people, addiction, to OxyContin and other yard. The men of Talk Radio rule regarded. They speak with white people in general. pain killers. the AM airwaves confidence, they miss no steps. Vermin. Moron, Idiot. I feel for him as I do for any No one gets over on them, they Piece of crap. Sick. Just some of addict. But he1ll not have to look take no guff, allow no the names you might lie called if for transitional housing when he1s you disagree with Michael Savage, finished. equivocation, brook no nonsense. They are the men of Talk Radio . . . I won't say I know them He1ll not have to face living probably the. nastiest of the group. His real name is Michael Wiener, on the street. He' ll not have to but his real name doesn't sound wonder who watches the kids while all -I don1t want to know them strong or dangerous, so he goes he completes his program. He' ll all. The few I know disturb me by his invented name and calls his have it tough; he' ll have a career to enough. show the Savage Nation. I don1t rebuild. But I listen. There is know what e hopes to add to our But I can1t help but something compelling about them, national discussion by labeling his so I listen. Probably too much, for opponents such names, but he the more I listen the more I am does make a dangerous sound and devoid of compassion, now he disturbed. Because, at bottom, when he escalates from calm voice asks for mercy, calls for these are disturbing people. to a rant in sixty seconds. What compassion. Okay, we can give (Going even further to the bottom, do you do with vermin? You kill that. Be' s spent years mocking the them. What do you do with crap? idea of treatment, belittling the idea · You flush it away. Is this what he of help for the addict. We can also means by a savage nation? He's already called for putting peace activists into immigrant, the union worker, the internment camps. He was fired addict the same mercy and now humbled Rush Limbaugh, j ust from his TV gi,g for wishing death compassion you expect for to name a few- all offer a steady on a caller. What else would he yourself. emotional discharge of anger and have his savage nation do? radicals, feminists, pacifists, And now we witness the downfall of Rush Limbaugh. Okay, so he hasn1t fallen (513) 621-5514 ask for it in return. From now on, North, Michael Savage, and the and contemptuous of liberals, Ci nci nnati , O h i o 45202 Rush, show the welfare mother, the Radio--Sean Hannity, Oliver of contempt. They are angry at Peas lee Neighborhood Center . 2 1 5 East 14th Street Over-the-Rh i ne addicts on his program. Merciless not here to diagnose.) all are men - white men) of Talk strong? remember the times he has mocked - I think they are disturbed, but I am These men (yes, nearly But are they really so Can it be that hard? So these are just two of the men of Talk Radio, who combine hardness and hypocrisy, who seek Empoweri ng our neighborhood children - through peace , art and educati on �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Wa r Zone A Song of Wind Ar t & Poe try Page 14 KI LLIN' T I M E Is It Enough? byjh . by Belinda Latham Submitted by Dr. Steve A cold night when the wind pulls Sunderland down the stars. We keep watch in our kitchen and Gather your daughters and sons hear Round up all your guns. the wind rattle the black branches Head down to the WalMart, of the trees. The fighting's about to start. It sets loose shingles; they sail ' . it's Killin' Time again. across the yard like black, winged Carpet Bombs birds. Chemical alarms It flaps out the jackets of old AK47's, M- 1 6's, bullets, bombs magazines and granades, and they prattle down the street. It-snows the petals from the cherry lights in the sky, little boy about to die. tree in the park Tune into CNN and bangs the trash cans over the the show's's about to begin. sidewalks. It's Killin' Time again. I think of the crows It's Killin' Time again. bobbing and h_uddled on their politician's lying, narrow perches sons and daughters are dying, and of the deer in their stands of bullet to the back of the head, willow another dream is dead. and of the refugee It's Killin' Time again. who staggers across the spine of a Who's keeping score? Balkan mountain Who's winning the war? and of the homeless Is it NBC or CNN? pressed into doorways Epiphany Is it the politician who's lying? or tunneled in the deepest by Robert Bhlnchard Is it the soldier who lays dying? chambers of the alleys, Is it the mother who sheds a tear, each of them pierced by the wind Dawn pinked but briefly the desert child who cowers in as by a nail. in the eastern skies, fear? The wind does not invade the dark 'til it surrendered to the blue. In the end does it even matter who rooms of the mole Sleepy street lights dimmed wins? with his walls, of earth and closed their eyes, or his ceiling of grass. it was the time to make it through. We're all just Killin' Time. He digs and snuffles in the dark and the wind is no more to him Staccato accents bleated than a rumor. to traffic's roar and smoke, He hears it as one, well-insulated, silencing the soft shuffle of feet. might hear a fight in the street, Broken men in broken shoes or a noise of traffic, listened and in turn spoke, or a distant war. of their epiphany in the street. But all other things of flesh shrink under the cut of the wind. If I Can Help "I found a loaf of wheat bread," They hunker down, by Robert Manassa_ pointing to a door, search out holes for hiding. "I got us some sardines to share." Possum-still, they move so little, If I can help someone today Here were loaves and fishes we would think them stones. If I can help someone who is lost reverently eaten by these poor, We listen in our kitchen, barely find their way in a communion of brotherly care. moving, If I can offer someone a helping and hope ourselves safe. hand The day was slowly passing But the Serbian wind mocks us. Somej:hing, or anything to in its concession to the night, It searches out each crack and understand the world wound down still to rest. seam. A single star was shining It whistles in the chimney like a . Things in this life aren't always brightly as flowing light, great, clay pipe. easy surely, tomorrow, again would be It presses against eacli pane of So let's stop thinking, and living blessed. glass fancy-free to tell us, how thin are these walls, Complaining will never, ever help Reprinted with permission of how near we are to naked. All you need i,s to make that first Robert Blanchard and Spare step Do I love you enough Enough to accept you not liking me Do I love you enough Enough to speak the truth Do I love you enough Enough to speak out of a pure mind Do I love you enough Enoug to accept you rejecting me Do I love you enough Enough that the word I speak will bring joy to your soul Do I love you enough Enough for you to love Around the stirring dust and broken bricks bullets fly, and men cry, Taking cover behind the wall, falling to the ground in pieces, Shattering the quiet noon, Crushing the wounded innocents, Scattering the gathered crowd, Screams of anguish, and broken bone . . . The battle rages on for seconds and hours. The quiet injured lay in wait as medics assemble the scattered remnants, and remove them from the urban neighborhood . . . Bubble Coat byjh Tiny head, poking through the padding. Arms stiff, Like a clumsy robot. Twirling about the ax.is, of chaos and shame. And acts that embarrass even a hardened man. A monster, a child, in death, even then, lost. Twirling then, about the broken axis. And always returning to the same. The shame. Like a clumsy robot. Dead. · · by Anna McCree Change News, Cambridge, MA, USA If you need a true friend I'm ready to aid you until the end Remember, all you have belongs to God He's the King of King's and the Lord of Lord's · Lost liberties, Gained generations, Restricted rights, Consuming confrontations,. Segregated selections, Integrated intelligence, Mass mutilation, Dedication deprived, Liberating leaders, Celebrated successes, of our African American Ancestors �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Art & Poe try Page 15 Lost Souls U nity A nother by David M. Meyer The more I try to be something else The less I begin to be If I would just learn how to be myself Then life I would truly see · Although people want me to be, Just what they want me to be The bottom line is what they must seek For truly I have come to learn To learn the righteous Live and the wicked bum Everlasting life for you, Everlasting life for me, The key to finishing this race Is simple unity In the Lord we are free . . .. by Christopher Moore They roam the land by day and night In no certain direction until it's just right. Very cautious and scared most always confused, In search of a friend or somewhere to be used. A home is in need but not all will be blessed. Some find shelter to the streets with the rest. Their bellies are empty in search of some food, Bodies get kicked and hopelessly abused. Age plays no favor nor does the sex, Your world too could end up in this mess. Most won't face up to it because it's not them, But sometimes I wish we were all thrown in. Then most would realize what the whole pictures about, And open their hearts to the homeless no doubt. People don't realize their blessings in disguise, If you don't help the homeless you' ll find yourself wise. Another night living on the street Strug ling to eat Lookin' for heat It's the middle of January That's an incredible feat Another night livin' in pain Robbin' _somebody, that's lame Getting in da' game Will things ever change? Nope. They still the same Another week and it still ain't easy Clothes worn. out, dirty and greasy Money ain't comin ' , dinner still measly But I ' m gon' make it through Another day, believe me From Big Ro n by Anthony Watkins I feel the need to reach to teach. Folks, I be even worse if I never spoke just choke the insight, things. I write is true but you will. Feel what I do to you true never under estimate the opposition never think folks just thinking that leads to wig splittin' , bullets spitin' at you, true, sometimes 5 just don't know what to do live for self. Move in stealing mind on my wealth breaking your health, why hurtful. Action, this is survival of the fittest mentally and physically sense I'm the one, I get animosity, hell, you won't stop me, I rise everyday like the sun. Soldiers Song by Gary Lehmann A soldiers eyes slam open interrupting the dead of the night like a bayonet in the belly. Ancient fears, forgotten features. His lady brings him water. It'll be all right now, honey." Shutter Speed Meat Celebration, Findlay Market For infor111,ation on submitting your RP �, , : art · to StkEFllFVIBES emaU ­ Streetvilles@juno.com by Jimmy Heath ( �News & Editorial STREETVIBES November, 2003 Apathy? Not Q u ite by Rod Owens It confidently declared that it would "form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessjngs of li rty for ourselves and our posterity." And with that brief utterance, We the People simultaneously willed into being both the Constitution of the United States of America and American democracy. The very foundation of the American political institution has always relied upon its citizens to continue articulating their will in the promoti<:m of public welfare. Voting is the principle avenue in which we exercise our will. When we do not vote, we become voiceless-, bound within a system where others determine our welfare and public policy and can potentially morph from the liberator of individuals and groups to their oppressor. By forfeiting the most essential privilege as citizens, we become political slaves, powerless in securing liberty for posterity or ourselves. Some critics with an eye towards the democratic health of American politics warn that many of us are losing our voice in this system. They recognize tha:t a majority of Americans between the ages of 1 8 and 30 simply do not take part in this primary aspect of democratic participation. It is a trend that has been developing over the past 40 years. They foresee this crisis as the inevitable breakdown of democracy--or is it? The imperative question is: Why aren't young Americans voting and how does this relate to record numbers of this group still engaged in community transformation? The Center for Information and Research on Civic Leaming and Engagement (CIRCLE) reveals that Americans between the ages of 1 8 and 30 are now the largest group of legal voters in the nation, and the least likely to vote. Poor political engagement among this demographic has been traced back to the 1 972 elections, when people between the ages of 1 8 and 2 1 were first eligible to vote. The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate explains that from 1 972 to 1 998, turnout by 1 824-year-olds declined by almost 35 percent. Moreover, during the November elections of 2002, with key races pending, less than 1 3 percent of young Americans were predicted to cast their votes. Even the controversial Presidential elections of 2000 saw two-out-ofthree young Americans forfeit their vote. In a report released by the Carnegie Corporation, current trends reveal that since 1 960, each new generation has voted less than the generation before. In addition, as each group of young Americans progress to higher age brackets, they still vote less than the bracket they replaced. Critics predict that we are on the verge of creating a permanent non-voting class. Though we may understand how young Americans are becoming less politically engaged, the most important consideration in this puzzle may be related to why young Americans are less active. A report complied by Harvard University's Institute of Politics exposes that young Americans' disillusionment with American politics might be having a direct impact on their democratic participation. According to the report, 64 percent of those surveyed do not trust the government to do the right thing most or all of the time. 74 percent believe that politicians are motivated by selfish reasons while seven percent strongly agree that political activity is worthwhile. Some experts point out that recent events including the Iraq War are contributing even more to young Americans' perception of the . government as corrupt, untrustworthy, aggressive, and insensitive to their needs. . .__ ....r Former U.S. Senator and sociopolitical commentator Eugene McCarthy once declared, "Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it's important." Yet, what if young Americans do understand the game to such an extent that they consciously tum from political engagement to something they feel will create the most effective change? Maybe they're tired of playing dumb and direct community action is the most fulfilling choice for them? Though young Americans may be the least politically engaged generation in recent history, they have proven to be the most socially responsible generation, committing themselves to community empowerment through service, advocacy, and activism. The Harvard report also discloses that 86 percent of young Americans agree that volunteering in the community is easier than volunteering in politics. Overall, 85 percent prefer community service to political engagement as the better way to solve important issues facing their communities. Moreover, 60 percent prefer service to political engagement as the better way to solve important issues facing the country. CIRCLE also reports that over 40 percent of young Americans are volunteering and concludes that this group is more likely to volunteer than any other demographic of Americans. Young Americans' dedication to community as their B erta's Art Cor n er Page 16 means of social transformation is evident through their work in living wage campaigns, community organizing, tutoring, working with homeless outreach organizations, protesting and demonstrating, working with health education groups, and other initiatives. Perhaps it is the personal interaction with those they are empowering that motivates them. Perhaps results are clearer and more rewarding than traditional political engagement. Yet despite these beliefs, the most lasting and effective change will come when young Americans unite their passion for community empowerment with the political institution that has power to establish the policies to support lasting change. In the end, despite the apparent inadequacies of the American political system, it is still our best means to ensure the general welfare. "Politics is one of the only ways to truly make a difference," explains Hannah Kane, a senior at Emerson College in Boston. "Though I am often disillusioned with politicians, I still believe in the American political process." Michael, a student at a local Boston college, is active in the community and also still sees the importance of democratic participation. "I think every generation is great in their own way. Today's young adults are smarter than ever before. We will face new challenges and we will meet them." Reprinted from Whats Up, Boston, MA, August 2003 2003 Cincinnati Baseball Bench, "Johnny's Bench " Artist: Frank Stanton Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. �S TREETVIBES November, 2003 News & Editorial Cincinnati A dvocates A ttend DC Conference by Georgine Getty, Executive Director, GCCH The National Coalition for the Homeless sponsored its annual conference, Bringing America Home, October 6 through October 8 in Washington, D.C. The focus of this conference was the Bring America Home Act (HR 2.897), which strives to end homelessness by providing housing for all. The Bring America Home Act starts at the grassroots and works up, instead of flowing from the top down, stated Dr. Bob Erlenbusch, chair of the Bring . America Home Campaign. The Act would provide for 1 .5 million units of housing by 20 10, quality health care access for everyone, a universal living wage, and civil rights for people experiencing homelessness. Erlenbusch went on to critique the current administration, stating that for the cost of one day of war in Iraq, 1400 low-income housing units could be built. Further, the administration has MY RESPONS ll11 L11l ES steadfastly refused to support a National Housing Trust Fund. Erlenbusch then blasted the administration's de-funding of long-term solutions to homelessness in favor of focusing on the "chronically homeless." Erlenbusch called this initiative "too limited in scope" and "watery." Phillip Mangano of the Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness disagreed with Erlenbusch on several points, stating that the administration has made chronic homelessness a priority, but has not focused exclusively on the chronically homeless. Mangano further challenged the National Coalition for the Homeless to create INQUDEO 11UDGETING. FOR EVOCATION, HOUS ING. TRANSPORTATION AND HEALTH CARE... state "advocacy councils" to teach cities how to more efficiently tap into federal dollars. He stated that he would love to see states and cities sitting at the table with the federal government and working together for solutions. Finally, keynote speaker Stuart Acuff, Organizing Director of the AFL-CIO, brought the crowd to their feet by asserting "no one has the power to deny dignity to any of God's children." He spoke of the power of people linking arms together for a common cause and how we are all in this struggle together. The National Coalition for the Homeless Annual Bringing America Home Conference will be held in Washington, DC. The conference included workshops on health, civil rights, education/child/ youth/family, economic justice, and Legal Strategies to end homelessness. Around 300 advocates from across the country attended the conference . .· ...AS waL AS NEGOTI ATING WITH STATE, LOCAL AND FEOERAL AGENCI ES. I WAS ON WELFARE AFTER MY HUS8ANO t>I Et>. Page 17 Support your local 5-treetvi bes Vendor! �STREETVIBES November, 2003 Turn ' Em O ut about who's in power if you don' t by Michelle Spatz vote. · Page 18 on his way to reaching it. Currently, about 40 of the Amid the political cynicism "It is important that we 60 residents of Dignity are challenge of finding a legitimate home address to write on their registration card. A home address of today, it is ref eshing to meet a have the homeless registered to registered voters. People living on is also required for services such as person who is optimistic, vote so that we may elect officials the streets often have difficulty the Oregon Health Plan and food enthusiastic and shows a genuine that understand and are obtaining political information. stamps. concern for our community. sympathetic to issues other than As outreach coordinator "Residents of Portland and In the past, McCarthy has those solely concerning big arranged for politicians such as of all cities need the opinions and and treasurer at Dignity Village, business and wealthy Americans," Oregon Secretary of State Bill feedback of people from diverse Tim McCarthy is such a person. he said. Bradbury and Multnomah County backgrounds, places and socio­ Commissioner Serena Cruz to economic situations to have a He speaks to students from Within Dignity Village, the elementary school to college, tent city for that is home to speak at Dignity Village about functional and just community," business groups and other approximately 60 residents, political issues and to answer according to McCarthy. Despite organizations about issues McCarthy encourages political questions. surrounding homelessness, activism. He attempts to convince Many obstacles arise, numerous obstacles, he is working to help make this a reality with the emphasizing the fact that no one is all people that their votes count however, in the effort to increase encouragement of local politicians, immune to homelessness. and encourages awareness of voter registration among the including Cruz, City Commissioner political issues. He hands out homeless. One of these obstacles is Erik Sten and Mayor Ve a Katz. cards to anyone at Dignity who is the obvious need for a home in the small town of New not registered to vote and asks address. Washington , Ohio, McCarthy said thein to simply print their riame. From the time he was a newly registered 1 8-year-old voter he has believed that it is a person's Those living at Dignity are And finally, his message to us all: "Get registered to vote. It is your duty and your privilege:" able to use the Dignity Village Reprinted from street roots, civic duty to vote. He makes the 1 00 percent of Dign_ity Village address, but those who do not live Portland, Oregon point that "you can never complain residents registered and he is well in such a community face the It is McCarthy's goal to get " B umfights" Seq uel Release is a Cause for Alarm much. You gotta see this." separate reality with fiction and in- times during filming. In the end, Attention then spread like brushfire tum has fueled youth violence. But homeless people are usually beat each other for food, beer, and to nearly every major national this video isn't fiction. Kids get the hopeless of justice or protection. money. One bloodied homeless media station and paper, and within idea that this harassment is ok, man pummels his foe into a public a week it had gained international older teens realize they probably toilet. Another homeless man tears attention as people in Europe and won' t get caught, and twenty year four yea: study ( 1 999-2002) on by Christopher Herring In front of a camera, they The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) released a out his teeth with pliers and rocks. the Middle East started placing in olds concoct projects in which they hate crimes and violence Others allow teenagers to urinate orders over the net at too can make money off of similar committed against the homeless on them and scrub them with a www.bumfights.com. Sales rose exploitations. Like the producers of and noticed an alarming trend in mop, while tied to a tree. sharply to 300,000 copies of the a new video in Canada, with a $ 1 9 .99 videotape in a few weeks, abuses. This report can be found flashy website like bumfights.com on www.nationalhomeless.org. In filmmakers from featuring these along with other merchandise called "Crazy Pricks." This video many cases, young people - in degrading and blatantly exploitive including thousands of "Rufus the includes scenes of twenty year olds some cases, packs of them - were sequences into their latest project Stunt Bum" sweaters. driving around in their SUV asking responsible for the attacks. In the Nothing could stop four released this month; "Bumfights 2 : The legal course turned out homeless men for directions, past four years 2 1 2 hate crimes and Bumlife," not even four to be more of an annoyance to the punching them, and then driving violent acts have been reported. Of misdemeanor convictions, seven filmmakers than any sort of barrier, away laughing hysterically. the 2 1 2 attacks, non-homeless felony charges, three civil lawsuits, and maybe not even that and condemnation on the floor of considering the extended media So it is no surprise that two most recent cases that occurred last attackers have killed 1 23 homeless people. The oldest seventy four years old; the youngest four the U.S. House of Representatives. coverage it gained from the eight- August involved camcorders. In Already banned in some countries, month process. As the case Chicago, four teenagers videotaped months old, homeless people have many will consider this sequel just disintegrated each step of the way; themselves beating up and urinating been p lted with paint balls, as alarming as its predecessor. charges dropped and downgraded, on homeless people. In Cleveland, beheaded, set on fire, clubbed with the four filmmakers ended up teenagers videotaped themselves 2 by 4s, doused with lye, stabbed, sentenced to a three-year shocking homeless men in their and other varieties of execution; The original, "Burnfights: A Cause for Concern," was released in the summer of 2002. It too is probation, $500 fine, and 250 genitals with stun guns. '.'I' ve never indiscriminate and vicious solely interwoven with "ruckus" of high hours of community service for .the seen anything like it in 1 8 years, ·because these people have no school kids, and shows a man homeless. I wonder if·the two except on TV," said Sgt. Ray home. setting his hair on fire; a man who would consider this sequel viable Burner, whose seen the tapes of the smokes crack and defecates on the hours. I pity the social worker that Cleveland incident. "Did you ever trend, long-awaited sequel, and the sidewalk; and a segment of a man gets stuck with these two. see the movie 'Jackass?' Well, start-ups of look-alike production that's essentially what we' re talking companies, the NCH along with about." over 400 other organizations are tying, gagging, and marking People like myself may now In response to ttiis serious sleeping homeless men. Billed as even participate in this profiteering. the star is "Rufus the Stunt Bum," Though the site said explicitly "No who voluntarily rams his head into Bum Footage," If I had learned one have a cell phone to call 9 1 1 , many Accounting Office (GAO) fast-food restaurant signs and thing it was that these kids never breaks his best friends leg in a really mean what they say. I are not considered rea onable . witnesses because they suffer from extent of violent acts against dangerous brawl. recently emailed the producers alcoholism or mental illness, police homeless people. As of now, no explaining to them that I dressed don ' t specifically track hate crimes one really knows how far this When the controversy Homeless people don't requesting a U . S . General investigation into the scope and started, its burden was of little up like a cop, tackled sleeping against those experiencing problem reaches into our culture. concern to the now millionaires of homeless people, tied them up and homelessness, and all the while But in a country where such the "fastest selling independent gagged them, kicked them a few municipalities across the country lucrative abusive business is legal, I movie of all time" according to co- times, and then painted them. I, of are passing anti-vagrancy/homeless often wonder what Howard Stem producers and Las Vegas natives course, insured them that I paid laws pushing the most vulnerable finds so shocking. Ray Laticia and Ty Beeson. each $5 and got them to sign population into the shadows and For the full report on how the film was release forms, after the attacks that isolated situations. In the case of is. In the same day I received their the original "Burnfights," no Stem exulted the movie as response: "Sounds great. Send it investigation was ever sought until "Jackass to the extreme . . . I ' m i n . By the way, show love to the a nurse had realized that Rufus · for the Homeless and can be reached at shocked and I ' m not shocked by bums. We love the bums." Hannah and his friend had been cherring @ nationalhomeless. org. Sales were steady until famed "news" radio host Howard Some say that kids can't admitted to the hospital several made, legal proceedings, and press reports visit www. nationalhomeless.org Chris Herring is a 1 9-year old Civil Rights Intern at the National Coalition �Page 19 STREETVIBES November, 2003 F RAC News USDA AWARDS $4.6 MILLION IN COMMUNITY FOOD BENEFITS REACH ABOUT food boxes went to 780,000 people can qualify through USDA to $52 MILLION (Times-Dispatch, during the fiscal year, representing accept food stamps. Being able to Richmond, VA, October 1 5, 2003) One-time disaster food stamp · a total increase of 82 percent over accept food stamps "can increase a the past seven years. Steve store's annual revenues by 5 to 20 assistance to needy Virginians Randolph, of the Oregon Food percent,'' says Terry Haan, ORGANIZATIONS (U.S . affected by Hurricane Isabel in B ank, cites welfare reform, Speedline co-owner. Department o f Agriculture, . mid-September may total about recession and middle-class worker http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/ October 1 6, 2003) $52 million (currently $45 .9 million layoffs in the last couple of years as news story.htm?i= 1 7 1 1 4 PROJECT GRANTS TO 28 Secretary of Agriculture Ann has been accounted for) when all reasons for the spike in demand. Veneman announced 28 grants localities complete their application http://www.oregonlive.com/news/ MISSOULA HUNGER totaling more than $4.6 million to processes. Electronic benefit oregonian/index.ssf?/base/ SUMMIT IN MONTANA non-profit organizations in 20 transfer (EBT) cards containing a front page/ FOCUSES ON COORDINATED 1 065873679272280.xml SOLUTIONS (Missoulian, states as part of USDA's one-time allotment have already Community Food Projects been distribut d to 1 22,000 Competitive Grants Program: households to serve people who SOUP KITCHEN IN HARLEM About 35 nonprofit agencies "These grants invest in innovative lost time from work, food, or OFFERS HEALTHIER FARE, involved in anti.,hunger efforts in community-based projects that will property as a result of the storm. NUTRITION EDUCATION Missoula County organized the also provide access to nutritious In the seven days when disaster (Columbia Spectator, Student Missoula Hunger Summit to food for those in _need,'' said food stamp claims were being Newspaper of Columbia University, discuss coordination and long-term Secretary Veneman. The accepted, jurisdictions in the October 1 3 , 2003) efforts. Participants will discuss Missoula, MT, October 2003) announcement came as part of a Richmond area received thousands The Community Kitchen of West coordinating food distribution, World Food Day Symposium in of new applications and approved Harlem in New York City, which is transportation barriers for clients, Des Moines, Iowa. World Food 90 percent of them. Richmond run by t.he Community Food collecting data and the underlying Day is celebrated every October 1 6 took 1 8,500 new applications; Resource Cet?-ter, serves healthy causes of hunger. A permanent i n recognition o f the founding of Henrico County took 6,030; meals made with a nutritious Missoula County Hunger Council the United Nations Food and Chesterfield County took 5,675; balance of food groups, has a food will be formed as a result of the Agriculture Organization. The and Hanover County took 1 ,5 80. pantry offering fresh fruits and upcoming summit and a second press release contains a list of Regular food stamp recipients vegetables, and runs a culinary summit scheduled for January organizations that won awards, automatically received replacement training program. The Community 2004. The council will address listed by state. benefits totaling more than $4 Food Resource Center tries to long term issues associated with http://www.usda.gov/news/ million. combat hunger and poverty by hunger. The summit is fun ed by a releases/2003/1 0/0358 .htm http://www.tirnesdispatch.com/ improving nutrition and access to grant from the Montana Faith­ servlet/Satellite ?pagename= nutrition. The group's programs Health Demonstration Project and OVERALL W ELFARE RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD range from food stamp pre­ Altria Corporation. Part of the SPENDING SHIFTS FROM B asicArticle&c= screeners throughout the city to Altria grant is also aimed at the CASH ASSISTANCE TO MGArticle&cid= 1 03 1 77 1 554645 _ CHILD CARE, OTHER outreach concerning nutrition development of a coalition to programs for children. improve nutrition for area seniors. SERVICES (New York Times, FOOD BANK USE IN October 1 3 , 2003) http:// http://www.missoulian.com/ OREGON INCREASES lO www.columbiaspectator.com/ Statistics complied by the U.S. articles/2003/1 0/1 1/news/local/ PERCENT IN ONE Y EAR vnews/display. vIART/2003/10/ 1 3/ Department of Health and Human news05.txt (Oregonian, Portland, OR, October 3f8a68cb3cbb8 Services show that welfare 1 1 , 2003) spending has shifted from cash According to the Oregon Food SOFTWARE FOR PIZZERIAS assistance to child care, education, Bank, demand for emergency food HELPS DETERMINE IF A training, transportation and other News Digest go to: boxes j umped by 1 0 percent VENDOR CAN ACCEPT FOOD services designed to help low­ http://capwiz.com/frac/mlm/ between July 1 , 2002 and June 30, STAMPS AND THEREBY income people get and maintain 2003, the fifth straight year of INCREASES REVENUES (Pizza jobs. Money spent on noncash Ben Winter double digit increases in demand. Marketplace, Press Release, assistance j umped from 23 percent Food Research and Action Center The number of Oregonians October 1 4, 2003) of total spending in 1 997 to 56 1 875 Connecticut Avenue, NW receiving food stamps has also The Speedline company, which percent in 2002. Sharon Parrott of Suite 540 increased by 1 2 percent over the makes marketing software for the Center on Budget and Policy Washington, DC 20009 same one-year period. Some pizzerias, touts the latest version of Priorities notes that, while the child (202) 986-2200 x30 1 9 phone 406,000 people in the state now its software by pointing out how it care, transportation and other (202) 986-2525 fax receive food stamps. Emergency will help a vendor determine if it Email: bwinter@frac.org The web site is http://www.frac.org · services now available have been a To subscribe to the weekly FRAC great help to people trying to hold down low-paying jobs, "[f]alling caseloads amid rising poverty are cause for concern." More than 34 million Americans lived in poverty in 2002, up from 3 1 .6 million in 2000. At the same time welfare t Vendor : 80 cents caseloads dropped by 800,000 people. "While cash assistance caseloads were falling by half,'' said Mark Greenberg of the Center for Law and Social Policy, "state child care caseloads were doubling, to about two million. Politically there is much more support for child care than for cash assistance." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/ l 01 1 3 /politics/1 3WELF.html (free registration required) IN VIRGINIA, TOTAL DISASTER FOOD STAMP Printing and Production: 20 here Your ol lar oes . . . The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal overhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible. Please call our: office at 421-7803 for more information about the program. Many thanks for your support. �nt to H If you need help or would like to help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Mt. Airy Center · Ip? 661 -4620 Vol unteers of Amer. 381 -1 954 SH ELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 761 - 1 480 Friars Club 381 -5432 Drop I n n Center listed below. 721 -0643 Haven House 863-8866 Women's Shelter (Toll Free) 872-9259 1 -888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 . Welcome House 859-431 -87 1 7 Women's Crisis Center 859-491 -3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel I nterfaith 471 -1 1 00 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861 -1 1 1 1 St. John's Housing 651 -6446 HOUSING: CMHA Excel Development 632-71 49 Miami Purchase 241 -0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 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 558-8888 632-71 86 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221 -361 9 Legal Aid Society 241 -9400 271 -5501 Tom Geiger House 961 -4555 Mary Magdalen House McMicken Dental TREATMENT: Men Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1 853 Prospect House 921 -1 6 1 3 Starting Over 961 -2256 TREATMENT: Both 820-2947 N .A. Hopeline A.A. Hotline 351 -0422 C . C .A.T. 381 -6672 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491 -4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-501 1 D I C Live-I n Program 721 -0643 OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati 421 -2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621 -5991 at (5 13) 42 1 - 7803, 1 506 Elm Street Beech Acres 231 -6630 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Center for I ndependent Living Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Point Hamilton Co. TB Control Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Full Circle Program 721 -0643 Formed in 1 984, The Greater 946-8600 Mental Health Access Center 241 -2965 Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Health Board 381 -1 1 71 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961 -4663 381 -4941 421 -7803 ' Hamilton Co. Mental 72 1 -8666 241 -0490 House Coalition for the Homeless ReSTOC 241 -5525 St. Francis/St.Joseph Goodwill I ndustries 771 -4800 Tender Mercies Mission (Veterans) 241 -1 064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651 -6468 Homeless Mobile 721 4580 Garden St. House Joseph House 241 -2563 Food bank Caracole (AIDS) Hospitality 381 -4242 Emanuel Center Freestore/ Homeless members SHELTERS: Women and Chi ldren YWCA Battered Contact Center Options Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621 -6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Ceinter 62 1 -551 4 P roject Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center Travelers Aid 471 -4357 721 -7660 U nited Way 721 -7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-31 84 Salvation Army 863-1 445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 241 -2600 Open Door Churches Active in Northside 721 -48 1 1 591 -2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961 -0600 Community Action Agency 569-1 840 Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2003 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource November 2003 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Standown- Reaching Out, Sharing Resources Pg 2: Home for the Holiday Pg 3: Buddy Gray; He Changed Lives Pg 4: Remembering Buddy Gray, 1950-1996 Pg 5: Homeless Awareness Week Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: The Homeless News Digest Pg 8: Dear Streetvibes Pg 9: Reflections from our Daily Bread Pg 10: Picture the Homeless Pg 11: Through Our Eyes Pg 12: America’s Families in Red Alert Pg 13: It Makes You Wonder The Men of the Savage Nation Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Apathy? Not Quite Pg 17: Cincinnati Advocates Attend DC Conference Pg 18: Turn ‘Em Out “Bumfights” Sequel Release is a Cause for Alarm Pg 19: FRAC News Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 2003 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Jerome Manigan Elizabeth Linville Linda Pearl Berta Lambert Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Advocating Andy Erickson Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Brendan Goodwin buddy gray Cincinnati Dc Conference Elizabeth Linville Food Research FRAC Georgine Getty Holidays Homeless Awareness Week Jerome Manigan Jimmy Heath Linda Pearl Mary Gaffney News & Editorials panhandling Peace Village Reader Mail Streetvibes https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/72ca3f8258b73488cb0bfff92aa0c349.pdf 6acf4ac5a4e25537f156bb4449b934cf PDF Text Text Streetvibes January 2004 Homeless Memorial Remembers Those Who Have Died in 2003 As the sun went down on December 22nd, the shortest day of the year, people gathered in Over­ the-Rhine’s Washington Park to remember the homeless who have died during 2003. Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) has sponsored National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on or near the first day of winter to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness, and to remember our friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation’s failure to adequately address the complex issue of homelessness. In an effort to maximize the impact of the day, the National Coalition for the Homeless encouraged state and local groups to join in the national event. Each year since its inception, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless has been joined by state and local groups across the nation in holding special events to honor those who have died, and to recommit ourselves to the task of ending homelessness. This year over 100 cities sponsored events which included candlelight marches and vigils, graveside services, plays and other performances, and special religious services to remember the citizens in their city who have died without a home. A short, non­ denominational service was held in Cincinnati, followed by a gathering and refreshments at nearby Nast Trinity Church. The day was gray and unseasonably warm when the small, but dedicated group of clergy, homeless, formerly homeless and members of the housed community in Cincinnati gathered around the barrel fire in downtown’s Washington Park to remember those that died homeless in 2003. Huddled around the barrel fire for warmth and as a symbolic gesture, nearly 75 people and media took pause to listen to a litany of names of those that society has forgotten. The candlelight vigil featured a reading of each of the names of the 19 homeless people known to have died this year in Cincinnati. A candle was lit in memory of each name read. Oftentimes, homeless individuals pass away with no one to remember or mourn their passing. Homeless Person’s Memorial Day seeks to remedy that by gathering family members, shelter workers, government officials and concerned citizens in a ceremony to quietly remember. In an attempt to put a human face on the problems of homelessness the Homeless Memorial serves as a reminder of the countless who die needlessly every year in this country. Advocates place emphasis on the need for affordable housing, a true living wage, and substance abuse treatment for the homeless. Women and children continue to be the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Homeless citizens, supporters go ‘Home for the Holidays’ at annual Coalition dinner can make a difference. One’s and fought his arrest” with media by John Zeh Cincinnati attorney Jennifer Kinsley had just finished her first year of law school and completed an internship at Volunteers for the Arts in New York City on a small stipend when she took the subway to the airport with her last $2.50 to fly home for a visit. Upon arriving at LaGuardia Airport with empty pockets, she got bad news: all flights to Michigan were cancelled. “I was stuck,” she told some 240 people gathered for the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Annual Dinner on December 9. “Something of a drama queen, I sat down and balled and screamed with bloodshot eyes. It was very embarrassing.” Fate and personal outreach by another traveler intervened, helping her learn lessons that have since served her well and have helped local homeless people. The first, she smiled, call ahead and confirm the flight! problem can be solved by interviews under the Clay Wade someone reaching out to help.” Bailey Bridge. “He told the Kinsley put the lessons courtroom about his friend’s death she learned to work when under a bridge and there was not a Cincinnati police threatened to dry eye in court, including the arrest people living under judge’s,” said Kinsley. bridges last summer. That “The response was “was repugnant to me,” said dramatic. A little girl stopped by Kinsley, a former public under the bridge with a pillow. defender. “Jails should not be Coalition Dinner... replacements for homes or cont. on page 11 apartments. It offended my basic notion of human dignity, human rights.” Georgine Getty, Executive Director, A member of the addresses GCCH dinner crowd progressive law firm Sirkin, Pinales, Mezibov But a greater gift was help and Schwartz downtown, from another traveler at the airport. A woman, ironically also Kinsley obtained a restraining order from Judge a lawyer from Michigan, “was Susan Dlott that forced the willing to share my misery and City to give people living give me $40. I got to go home.” outdoors 72 hours notice Her experience illustrated before they are moved, both sides of an individual’s arrested, or have their heartfelt problem and how her personal belongings trashed needs were quickly met, exactly (as they were to make way the mission of agencies making for baseball parking). up the Greater Cincinnati Kinsley credits citizen Attorney Jennifer Kinsley gives keynote Coalition for the Homeless. address Don Henry, who “stood up “Sometimes the smallest things Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �ON A SCALE OF ONE TO A HUNDRED, HOW MUCH DO YOU DISAGREE WITH THE CITY’S TREATMENT OF CINCINNATI’S HOMELESS? I WILL DONATE: $1 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 He’s only 18 months old and already he’s trapped in the cycle of homelessness in Cincinnati. His mother needs an affordable place to live and a job with a living wage as she escapes a life of domestic violence. The current treatment of homeless individuals in our city means that he may never be able to live in a home of his own. There are 25,000 people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. More than one-third of those are women and children. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addressing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and coordination of services, we can end homelessness in our city. The more support we have from the community, the further our efforts reach. Please cut the coupon and pick a box. It could mean that one less child will have to live in one. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Page 2 �Editorial Homeless News Digest STREETVIBES The Tri-State's Homeless Grapevine 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 home­ less 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 Brendan Goodwin - Administra­ tive Coordinator Andy Erickson - Education Coordinator Elizabeth Linville - Civil Rights Coordinator Mary Gaffney - Receptionist Streetvibes Jimmy Heath - Editor-in-Chief, Design & Layout Photographers Jimmy Heath, Berta Lambert, J.Michael Skaggs Cover Homeless memorial in OTR’s Washington Park, photo by Jimmy Heath Streetvibes accepts letters, poems, stories, essays, original graphics, and photos. We will give preference to those who are homeless or ven­ dors. Subscriptions to Streetvibes, de­ livered 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 North American Newsbriefs by Molly Rhodes and R.V. Murphy Homeless newspapers in Germany became prime property in late October when J.K. Rowling offered them exclusive publishing rights to the opening chapter of the latest Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, before it hits the stores in its German translation. The first chapter was printed in more than 20 street magazines in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, according to the German news corporation Deutsche Welle (www.dw­ world.de). Rowling agreed to the early taste of the book as an effort to provide a much needed boost to the homeless services and jobtraining programs the street papers support. Rowling was herself an unemployed single mother living on welfare benefits before gaining success with the Harry Potter franchise. “It was the greatest gift to us to be able to publish the chapter,” Birgit Müller, editor of Hinz & Kunzt, Germany’s biggestselling street magazine, told Deutsche Welle. The offices of Hinz & Kunzt started fielding dozens of phone calls a day from impatient Potter fans as soon as the announcement was made. “The vendors are over the moon. It will give us a massive boost.” One of the four Ohio teenagers accused of kicking, urinating on, and shocking homeless people with a stun gun in downtown Cleveland this past August was sentenced to spend the rest of the year in jail, followed by 150 hours of volunteer work with homeless service organizations. “If I could order it, I’d order no Thanksgiving dinner, no Christmas dinner while you are there,” Cleveland Municipal Judge C. Ellen Connally told Joshua Langenheim, 19, at the sentencing hearing, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer (www.cleveland.com). “You don’t deserve it.” Langenheim and his three accomplices were all caught when a video tape they had made of their attacks – which also showed them laughing at the people they were assaulting – was found in their car. The other three defendants are all minors and are currently undergoing trials in S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Juvenile Court. In his tearful read of his apology in court, Langenheim said, “I don’t know if this was the downfall… or the turning point in my life. All I know is that I look at things differently.” Poet David Fewster doesn’t paint glossy pictures of his life in his latest publication, Diary of a Homeless Alcoholic Suicidal Maniac and Other Picture Postcards. The autographical collection of poems details his life, from watching other homeless people, including one who muttered “loudly about a conspiracy theory involving George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Mariah Carey and a large buttered artichoke named Leon,” to picking up chicks at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, according to the Tacoma News Tribune (www.tribnet.com). Fewster published the book with the help of a $3,000 grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission, and doesn’t know what his next plan is for his life. “To be honest, I expected to be dead like 2 1/2 years ago,” he told the News Tribune. “I’ve obviously got a lot of problems to continue to sort out as I bop along.” For a copy of Fewster’s book, email him at davidfewster@netscape.net. Homeless people in Roch­ ester, New York are organizing. The city’s refusal to let the home­ less use vacant buildings has led to the formation of Poor People United, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Demo­ crat andCronicle.com). Last month, five members were arrested on trespassing charges for breaking into a down­ town building in an effort to publi­ cize the issue. “The county has refused to help,” said Charles Kellum, a member of the group. “That’s a human rights violation.” The group recently held a press conference in front of City Hall to draw attention to their plight. “We’re asking the commu­ nity to see this emergency,” said David Cox of Rochester, another member of Poor People United. “The poor are the ones suffering. I’m sick and tired of abstract activism for people thousands of miles away. When are we going to be concerned about our fellow Americans?” During the rally, partici­ pants held candles and read from the Universal Declaration of Hu­ man Rights, which the United Nations adopted in 1948. Some in the crowd said making those pleas was the least they could do. For the homeless, said activist Jessica Chapman, there was little else they could do. “We have only one thing left — our voices,” said Chapman, who works at a homeless shelter. A homeless man jailed for trespass made a donation in the “four figures” range to a children’s museum, according to the Ogden Standard Examiner. “Don’t let it be said that this isn’t the season to be giving,” said Ogden police lieutenant Dave Tarran. Lynn Goodwin, director of the Treehouse Children’s Museum, said she was surprised to find “a substantial amount” of money in a locked mailbox at Christmas Village near a playhouse the organization is auctioning. “We didn’t anticipate that anyone would actually put dona­ tions in the box,” Goodwin said. But last week, Goodwin found a stash of money orders that weren’t made out to anyone, so she called police. Neither she nor police disclosed the exact amount. “We thought the money may have belonged to someone else,” Goodwin said. “We thought it may have been stolen, and we thought it best to report it.” Tarran said that at the same time police received Goodwin’s call, they were investigating the source of some money orders in the same series that they found in the belongings of a homeless man who was in the Weber County Jail. The man had been arrested the night before for sleeping in a vacant inner-city home. The man said he received the money orders as payment of an insurance settlement. Police were suspicious, but an investigation of the man’s story, including interviewing the business that issued the money orders, proved he was telling the truth. Goodwin said she was told that the man wanted to rectify things in his past and wanted to make the donation to help children. “It was a very generous gift, and we appreciate it.” Goodwin said she only had one regret regarding the gift: “We do wish we knew who the anonymous gentleman was, so we could thank him.” The man told police he wished to remain anony­ mous. Page 3 Page 3 �History of Church Spans in his 3 year of service. I am Decades proud to say that in all these rd by Mary Gaffney, Member of St. years, 10 of the pastors were previously youth in the church John A. M. E. for the year 2004 and are now ministers with I bring greetings to each churches of their own. and every one of you in this first But there was a gracious month of the new year, 2004. May this year bring more love and lady minister, Rev. Sister Nina Robinson, who I can remember as happiness into your life. And to you my homeless friends, may this a young person, very close to my family, and the Rev. John Wesley year be more successful and Logan. Her work for God and peaceful in your needs and help. man was not easy, but she still My thankfulness in this maintained her faith. Now she New Year is that my God, your has gone to the Great Beyond. God, lets me see a New Year and Her church is still going strong will be able to be here to see that and there are my church, St. still beautiful John A. M. E., and gracious reached this ladies there. I 112nd year can hold anniversary. With dearly and this New Year remember the there is a long late Irene history. This Simpson, church was Maude Gray, founded in 1891 Hazel Jenkins by Rev. John H. and Phoebe Moreland on Mathew. George Street. Miss Mary Gaffney I have The name of the been a member of the Saint John church then was St. John Tabernacle A. M. E. Zion Church, Gospel choir for 57 years. Many dear ones have passed on to the until 1916. Under the leadership Great Beyond. And to the of Rev. James Foate, the name gracious ones who are still at was changed to St. John A. M. E. Saint John’s who have weathered Zion, and it moved to Barr and Mound Street, where it was under the storms, they were an inspiration to me. I say thanks to his pasturage from 1916 to 1925. Rachel Haynes, who celebrated The church began to grow. In 1935, under the leadership of Rev. her 100th birthday in October. J. L. Black it ran until 1938. St. Sister Loretta Jefferson and Sister Raynelle Mount have been loyal John Zion continued its growth and faithful members in the St. from there. Since then we have had 9 ministers. Rev. Charles H. John’s Gospel Choir for 65 years. There are faithful men too. Wilson is the current pastor, now Brother Alvin A. Walker served for 58 years in St John’s, working in Administrative Services, and was a member of the choir and a Scout Master with Troop 372 and along with Edward Jordan, was working in the Christian Education Department. These faithful ones have also gone to the Great Beyond. But with their teaching and love for the Alvin A. Walker youth, they are still there. Brother James Anderson started as a child and is still there, and has served in many capacities in the church. As I speak, I am not the only one in St. John’s to be thankful and proud of 112 years. There are generations of families still involved in St. John’s. To this we say “Blessed be the Glory!” We are looking forward to this year, reaching out to our fellow man, and growing stronger in the service of Our Lord. We Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Letter.... Volunteer Carpenter Needed! The Homeless Coalition is seeking a volunteer to build shelves and doors for closet space in our new office. We will supply materials! Please call Brendan at the Coali­ tion, 421-7803, extension 13 Story, Editorial and Art Submis­ sion Deadline for Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education The GCCH would like to thank Starbucks for their generous donation of coffee and pastries. the February 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, January 9th S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 say “Praise God from whom Blessings Flow!” St. James A. M. E. Zion Church, on the hilltop (3485 Wilson Avenue) was built with prayer by the late Reverend Nina Robinson. When the trees were cut down and the ground leveled off, Reverend Robinson and the congregation were there praying and asking God to bless the hallow ground. Everything that went into the original building of this Church was offered up to God first. Reverend Robinson is now deceased, but her vision and faith live on. She said, “I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard me cry.” To date, St. James A. M. E. Zion Church is pastured by Reverend Eleanor B. Wilson. God has been faithful to this congregation. A special program, “On the Right Track” meets every Saturday from 11:30AM to 1PM. This is a support group for recovering addicts (drugs or alcohol). The meetings are conducted by recovering addicts. Together, they reach for Heaven, knowing that al things are possible with God, if you just believe. Dear Editor, I have noticed since Alicia Beck retired from the Coalition for the Homeless that the obituary page has been missing. I say the page should be resurrected for the homeless friends of GCCH, and the low-income resident’s and supporters in the city. Sonny Williams, Over-the-Rhine resident Write Us! We’d like to hear from you.... Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition office attn: Streetvibes Letters, 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Page 4 �An update on the issue of panhandling by Andy Erickson, Education Coordinator outreach worker, has interacted with at least 103 mouth and you’re too close to a crosswalk (or people on the street, 35 of whom now have ATM, bank, or bus stop, among other things), some form of housing. you’re at risk of being arrested. From the Cincinnati Enquirer, October Back in March, Cappel’s costume and When panhandlers get arrested, most of 12th 2003: Cincinnati police arrested 55gift shop co-owner Rich Cappel said to the them go to jail because they can’t afford the year-old [name removed] Friday on Cincinnati Post, “Panhandling is probably the fine. Then they’re off the streets for a couple charges of improper biggest single deterrent to bringing people to days (30 at the maximum), and solicitation after a man asked when they get out they have just town to shop at our store.” More recently in a plainclothes officer for 10 November, Cappel talked to City Beat about the as little money as when they cents. According to police outreach program. “There’s no doubt about it,” went in. So they probably go reports, [the man] asked the back to panhandling – except this he said. “Things are going in a great direction, officer for the dime after dark which is refreshing. It’s a huge improvement time they know a little better and 20 feet from a crosswalk. from two years ago.” what they have to do to keep He is being held at the Rich Cappel sits on DCI’s panhandling from getting arrested. Also, Hamilton County Justice task force along with Police Captain Whalen, while in jail they are losing time Center on $500 bond. City Councilmembers Pat DeWine and David that could be spent looking for Under the city’s existing Andy Erickson jobs or services to help them get Crowley, homeless advocates, social workers, panhandling ordinance it is illegal and downtown business owners. Cappel isn’t out of their current situation. for anyone to verbally ask anyone else for The panhandling ordinance hasn’t solved the only one who thinks the outreach position “money, goods or any other form of gratuity” has caused a huge improvement. At a recent anything. It’s not ending panhandling, and it’s after dark or within 20 feet of a crosswalk. The meeting, Captain Whalen stated that the police not getting people off the streets. It’s just newest revision to that ordinance, passed in were “ecstatic” about the new outreach program getting people arrested and costing taxpayers 2003, bans panhandling everywhere else, too – and how much it has helped. even more money. unless you’ve got a license. About 100 One of the reasons why the outreach Not surprisingly, the ACLU recently panhandlers have been arrested since June. worker program has gotten rave reviews, while announced that it would sue the City of The panhandling ordinance is worded so the panhandling ordinance has gotten the city Cincinnati for violating panhandlers’ First vaguely that a businessman who asks to borrow sued again, is that Amendment right change from a friend for the parking meter is in the outreach to free speech. violation of the law. Of course, he would never The panhandling ordinance is worded so worker program Last year, be arrested because this isn’t the intention of the vaguely that a businessman who asks to treats panhandlers when City Council panhandling ordinance. The intention is to borrow change from a friend for the parklike humans. was drafting the make it as easy as possible to arrest the scruffyCouncilmember Pat ing meter is in violation of the law. Of registration looking people who ask you for money DeWine’s response portion of the course, he would never be arrested because downtown. to panhandlers has panhandling this isn’t the intention of the panhandling Councilmember Pat DeWine, the main been to equate ordinance, the ordinance. The intention is to make it as sponsor of the panhandling ordinance, would them with litter, Coalition for the have liked to ban panhandling altogether. But easy as possible to arrest the scruffy-looking graffiti, and broken Homeless was he knew that a ban on panhandling would people who ask you for money downtown. windows – trying to convince violate the First Amendment right to free “quality-of-life them that a more speech. “If you can’t ban it, the next best thing issues” that he repeatedly says the city needs to compassionate and proactive approach would is to regulate it out of existence,” said DeWine clean up. But you can’t throw panhandlers in help solve the issue better than the city’s during a City Council meeting on the jail like you can throw litter in the dump. The punitive ordinance. We stressed that the only panhandling ordinance. ACLU effectively said the same thing when they way to stop panhandling would be to eliminate The law does not apply to “the act of announced their lawsuit against the city. the need for panhandling. We asked them to passively standing or sitting with a sign” as long The city needs to understand that create a $50,000 position for an outreach as there is no “vocal request other than a homeless people and panhandlers are citizens, worker who could work one-on-one with response to an inquiry by another person.” If too, and they need to treat them as such. If for panhandlers to find out why they need to you’re quiet, you’re okay. If you open your the comfort of downtown visitors, city officials panhandle. The will attempt to “legislate out of existence” a outreach worker panhandler’s right to ask for a dime, what is the could then help find city saying to panhandlers? That they don’t care services that the about them or their problems. panhandler might People shouldn’t have to beg on the need to get out of street, and downtown visitors shouldn’t have to their situation. City feel distress because of the panhandlers they Council said no. encounter. These are two different groups who But another have two different needs. But the City’s organization was response to this issue has so far been one-sided: The Know Your Rights listening. Brochure is now available at the they kick the rights of the poor and homeless to Downtown Coalition’s office. The brochure is the side so that the comfortably housed can feel Cincinnati, Inc. a legal guide for Cincinnati’s (DCI), a coalition of more comfortable. homeless and covers a person’s If we’re going to solve some of the downtown basic rights when interacting with issues surrounding poverty and homelessness, businesses, thought the police, as well as some local we need to do it in a way in which all people get they’d give the laws that might be of interest to the treated with respect. We need more people to outreach worker a homeless population. If you are a jump on board with services like DCI’s outreach try. They put up homeless person or if you work $25,000 of their own program, a program that works with other with homeless people and would organizations to help people out of poverty and money to hire like to obtain free copies of the someone who could homelessness once and for all. We need to brochure for yourself or your move away from thinking that jail time is a engage panhandlers agency, please call 421-7803, or solution to panhandling. Forcing people to sit in downtown. Since stop by the Coalition office and pick jail for need of a dime isn’t going to help the city September, Brent one up. Chasteen, DCI’s new or the panhandler move ahead. Know Your Rights Brochure Available! S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Education Page 5 Page 5 �The Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland Another killing of an police “have to” do it this unarmed African American male by way, is the mantra. our police: Doesn’t that sentence The racial drive the blood to boiling? Last implications are weekend a neighbor was killed frightening: No white while eating and going in and out person has been killed by of a local White Castle. I had the police in the past few never met him nor ever seen him. years and the black citizens of Cincinnati have He was like most of my neighbors in that he went to work, had his seen the research that own family and friends, and was documents more black being pulled over by white largely invisible. I don’t know what he did to provoke 6 police police officers. Black officers to beat him senseless until leaders, largely clergy, have tried to maintain a he died. All the videos of the killing do not include what low key line toward the happened just before he tried to brutality and the pattern of violence directed punch a police officer. Our city has practiced its toward black males by our Image from police cruiser video camera. At this point Jones is subdued, on the reaction to these events and we police. Just recently, at a ground in front of car, and his breathing has stopped. large black church, I shall continue to play out the call and response of blacks and whites attended an interfaith meeting of and children who are out too late, Waiting out the monitor, to the unanswered questions. What several thousand, that called for discouraging the media from being just must not be tolerated. Last meager improvements in city is not being talked about, what month there was a funeral for Mr. a watchdog on the absence of does not seem worthy of discussion services relating to employment of Nathaniel Jones. And the city progress, placing the blame on is that the police chief and his minorities and alternative services ticks... misguided liberals, or radical for women instead of jail. The division has not taken the steps in (The name of the deceased blacks, doing nothing unless the prior months to work with our issue of police incompetence was person is the same name of one of pushed to the point of agreement for controlling police slipped under the rug. At another embarrassment, and then doing just Cincinnati and the country’s most meeting, called by a liberal force in good faith. Several distinguished jurists, Judge the barest level, are all tactics in reviews by a federal court women’s organization, to discuss Nathaniel Jones. Judge Jones was evidence in Cincinnati at this time. appointed “monitor” the lawyer for the NAACP after And so we are back at a have sharply Marshall left and responsible for flash point. Our city’s successful criticized the police pushing many of the most critical mounting of a riverboat holiday to division and the civil rights cases. He served very end the summer, coupled with the police chief for well on the federal bench, 6th upswing in fortunes of our slowly complying Circuit Court, for many years, he professional football team, added with the center of was a key part of the effort to end to by the selection of a female the agreement: new apartheid in South Africa and just president for the University of and serious training recently retired from the bench to Cincinnati, and the completion of of police officers be a private lawyer. I remember the funding campaign for our who are facing the lonely picket that I was on national museum on “the mentally ill people; outside the Federal Building in underground railroad,” have all new and better ways Cincinnati as several of us made it disguised what is rotting in of working with Cincinnati’s bowels. Well meaning clear that the police-community African-American collaborative needed to be signed, and intelligent people are so Dr. Steve Sunderland males who are and Judge Jones, coming out of the frustrated as to be incoherent. accosted by the Whatever remained of the coalition building, and giving me a smile and police; and, participating in our police-community agreement, a thumbs up. The identical name between the black ministers, the community problem solving the tone was low key, shrugging calls out to many of us who are so liberals, and agents of the local our shoulders about police meetings on a regular basis to thankful that Judge Jones has had a government, is further broken. understand the community. slowdowns, and committing to full life of justice seeking. Sadly, Racial lines have been quickly The police seem to have keep some kind of pressure on the the other Nathaniel Jones will drawn. Symbols of might over police to follow the agreement. No right are back is full sway. The heard that they were deficient in never have the opportunity for any “communicating” their reasons for police were present at this meeting. basic institutions of amelioration kind of life.) violence and so they offered a Rather than building teams have yet to enter in with anything Dr. Steve Sunderland, media blitz on what had happened, of people to successfully that supports the kind of changes professor of Social Work at even though some of the key facts demonstrate inter-cultural necessary for peace. We need an the University of Cincinnati, continue to be unclear. cooperation between the police and urban will that will work to educate is the Director of The Peace Communication with community as the community, the method of our police force in non-violent Village, a group of an ongoing way of building police and governmental methods when appropriate, limited individuals from the relationships with groups is not participation has been to violent means when necessary, and national and international part of their understanding. Police demonstrate competence in cooperative methods all the time community committed to are saying that they cannot be “running in place.” The police with citizens who want to be allies examining all issues of supervised or held accountable for chief, the mayor and the city for justice and order in our city. Peace in the world. Dr. violent responses to people who manager have all shown that if they We need citizens to stand up to Sunderland also heads up are threatening them. They are only do nothing, the problem may police terrorism and say it will not Posters-for-Peace which “trained” to act and that is be minimized and go away. Doing be permitted again. We need engages people in sufficient for their actions. Sadly, the agreement with the police and leaders in city government that are expressing their visions of our city manager, mayor and city the community may suggest that active in building bridges of racial Peace, in their own words, council are going along with this the problem, whatever that is, may harmony. Killing mentally ill through the creation of attitude on the part of the police be festering, lingering, ticking, and/ people, beating to death drug over posters. chief and the police union. The or worthy of consideration. dosing people, or, mouthy teens, S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Peace Village Page 6 �U.S. Conference of Mayors - Hunger and Homelessness indicated that requests for assistance were not Denver Mayor John Survey 2003 surveyed emergency assistance facilities Hickenlooper, Detroit Mayor met. 25-City Survey Finds Unemployment, Lack of Affordable Housing Account for Increased Needs have had to decrease the number Cedar Rapids Mayor Paul of bags of food provided and/or Pate and co-chair of the the number of times people can Conference’s Task Force on receive food. Of these cities, 48 Hunger and Homelessness, said percent have had to significantly “These survey results indicate, as limit food provided. they have in past years, that there Hunger and homelessness The survey finds that 59 is still a great deal to be done to continued to rise in major American cities over the last year, percent of those requesting emergency “These are not simply statistics,” according to the new U.S. food assistance were Conference of Mayors-Sodexho said Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, members of families Hunger and Homelessness who co-chairs the Conference’s Survey, released last month at the with children and their parents, and that Task Force on Hunger and Conference of Mayors 39 percent of the Headquarters. As the overall Homelessness. “These are real economy remained weak, requests adults requesting such people who are hungry and homeassistance were for emergency food assistance less in our cities.” employed. increased by an average of 17 “These are not percent over the past year, and simply statistics,” said Nashville address the serious issue of requests for emergency shelter homelessness in America.” assistance increased by an average Mayor Bill Purcell, who cochairs the Conference’s Task People remained homeless of 13 percent in the 25 cities Force on Hunger and for an average of five months in surveyed. Homelessness. “These are real the survey cities. Sixty percent of “This survey underscores people who are hungry and the cities said that the length of the impact the economy has had homeless in our cities.” time people are homeless on everyday Americans,” said Twenty-three participating increased during the last year. Conference of Mayors President cities reported that lack of Single men comprised 41 percent and Hempstead (NY) Mayor affordable housing was the of the homeless population, James A. Garner. “The face of leading cause of homelessness. families with children 40 percent, homelessness has changed and Other causes most likely single women 14 percent, and now reflects who we least attributed to homelessness unaccompanied youth five suspect. During this holiday include mental illness or lack of percent. season, I urge all Americans to needed services (18 cities), lowIt is estimated that recognize their obligation to help paying jobs (17 cities), and substance abusers account for 30 their neighbors in need.” substance abuse and the lack of percent of the homeless Twenty participating cities needed services (17 cities). population in the survey cities and reported that unemployment and Participating cities were persons considered mentally ill various employment-related account for 23 percent. problems were the leading causes most likely to attribute homelessness to a lack of Seventeen percent of the of hunger. Other causes most affordable housing (21 cities), homeless in survey cities are likely contributing to hunger mental illness and the lack of employed and 10 percent are include low-paying jobs (13 veterans. cities), and high housing costs (11 needed services (20 cities), substance abuse and the lack of Eighty-seven percent of cities). needed services (19 cities), and the cities surveyed expect that As need increased, 56 low-paying jobs (17 cities). requests for both emergency food percent of the cities surveyed Eighty-four percent of the assistance will increase again over reported that people in need were cities reported that emergency the next year. Ninety-one percent turned away due to lack of expect that requests for resources. Over 14 percent of the shelters have turned away homeless families due to lack of emergency food assistance by requests for emergency food resources. Over 14 percent of families with children will assistance are estimated to have the requests for emergency food increase next year. Eighty-eight gone unmet during the last year. assistance are estimated to have percent expect that requests for For families, 15 percent of the gone unmet during the last year. emergency shelter will increase requests for assistance have gone For families, 15 percent of the next year, and 80% expect unmet. Just over half the cities requests for shelter by homeless families will increase in 2004. Even with an improving economy, city officials believe that economic conditions will continue to have a negative impact on the problem of hunger and homelessness. The mayors of the 25 cities included in the survey are members of the Conference of Mayors Task Force on Hunger Streetvibes@juno.com and Homelessness. They are or Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle, Streetvibes Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, 117 East 12th Street Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, DEAR READERS! Send us your Vendor Stories Do you have a favorite Streetvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about? Send your stories or comments to: S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Hunger Survey Kwame Kilpatrick, Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, Philadelphia Mayor John Street, Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza, Portland Mayor Vera Katz, Providence Mayor David Cicilline, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, and Washington Mayor Anthony Williams. The complete survey can be downloaded at usmayors.org. Wish List... Can You Help? Streetvibes newspaper is published monthly on a shoestring budget from the offices of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Can you help us with some of the following items? * Digital Camera & Accessories * VCR for making copies of Streetvibes TV show and for educational packets * Blank VHS tapes * Desktop paper folder * Supplies (paper towels, toilet paper ) * Cleaning Supplies * Office Supplies - postage stamps, floppies, copier paper and other supplies If you can help, contact us at: Streetvibes, c/o Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-7803 e-mail: Streetvibes@juno.com Write Us.... We’d like to hear from you! Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition office attn: Streetvibes Letters 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Page 7 Page 7 �Through Our Eyes: Reflections on Homelessness Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct.... takes you on a experiential journey of learning by high school students as they leave their suburban comfort zones to explore the homeless of Cincinnati. A collaboration of Cincinnati’s Mother of Mercy High School and the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, Through Our Eyes attempts to educate high school students and the larger community about homelessness. The books are available from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless for $10 each, plus $2 shipping and handling. Make checks payable to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202. For more information call (513) 421-7803 1. Streetvibes will be distributed 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 20 cents. Papers will not be given out on credit. Old papers can not 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. Vendors must also never sell Streetvibes door-to-door. 8. Vendors must not deceive customers while selling Streetvibes. Vendors must be honest in stating that all profits go 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. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct 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. Buy Streetvibes From Badged Vendors Only! Streetvibes Vendors are required to sign a code of conduct and agree to abide by all the rules of the Streetvibes Vendor Program. If a Vendor misrepresents or breaks the rules, she/he may be removed from the Program. To report a Vendor, call 421-7803. ext. 16 Authorized Vendors always wear a Badge! Front Streetvibes vendors are paticipants in a program at the Coalition for the Homeless that allows them to distribute the Streetvibes newspaper for a $1.00 donation. The money used to purchase the paper goes to the individual vendor. Vendors are not employees of the Coalition for the Homeless. Vendors are not fundraising for the Coalition for the Homeless. Back of Badge While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Page 8 �French Lawyer; World Leaders Should Take Stand in Saddam Trial Controversial French lawyer Jacques Verges says he is willing to defend Saddam Hussein in court and, if he can, bring world leaders to the witness stand, in what could be a huge embarrassment for the United States, France and other countries. Verges spoke to last month at the end of a visit to Amman to visit the family of former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz to prepare for his defense following his surrender to US troops after the fall of Baghdad. Asked if he was also ready to defend the former Iraqi leader, who was captured last Saturday night by US troops in northern Iraq, Verges said: “If other people seek my counsel I would have no reason to refuse”. But he insisted that “all Western heads of state”, from the time of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war to the latest Iraq conflict, should take the stand when the imprisoned former Iraqi officials go on trial. “At the Nuremberg trial, the four allies accused the Nazi leaders of certain war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Verges said, in reference to the trials of leading Nazi party officials after the defeat of Germany in World War II. “Right now the former Iraqi regime is being blamed for certain events that took place at a time when its members were treated as allies or friends by countries that had embassies in Baghdad and ambassadors not all of whom were blind (to Iraqi crimes),” he said. “Today, this indignation appears to me contrived,” he added. “When we reprove the use of certain weapons (we need to know) who sold these weapons,” he said about Iraq’s past purchase of arms from France, Britain, the United States and Russia. “When we disapprove of the war against Iran (we need to know) who encouraged it,” Verges added. The United States maintained ties with the Saddam regime in the 1980s and tacitly approved the war on its nemesis, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran. Verges also slammed the UN embargo that was slapped on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990 and criticized the US administration’s backing of the sanctions, which he said caused the death of an estimated half-a-million people. “Mrs. (Madeleine) Albright once said that this is the price to pay for democracy,” he said of the secretary of state under former US president Bill Clinton. “If that is the case then it should be said as well and only then will a trial be fair. Otherwise it will be an execution of hostages,” he said of the former Iraqi leaders now held at secret locations by the US-led coalition. A quintessential devil’s advocate who has made a career of arguing what most choose not to hear, Verges, 79, has half a century of experience defending unpopular causes. His clients included the likes of Gestapo chief S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Klaus Barbie and convicted terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, alias Carlos. More recently he became vice president of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic and represented the former Yugoslav leader in a suit before the European Court of Human Rights. Tareq Aziz’s family, which has found sanctuary in Jordan, has sought his help to defend the former Iraqi official, who suffers of heart trouble and diabetes. “The first course of action I will take is to find out about his health because he is sick and has heart troubles,” Verges told AFP, adding that he has a “lot of respect” for the veteran Iraqi diplomat. Verges is also demanding that the coalition in Iraq release a “written and precise document” listing the charges they have against Aziz and all the other prisoners. “My course of action ... must benefit all the prisoners because when we solve the status of Mr. Aziz we solve the status of the others,” Verges said. Write Us! We’d like to hear from you.... Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition office attn: Streetvibes Letters 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Streetvibes: A proud member of the North American Street Newspaper Association.... Representing over 50 street newspapers throughout the United States and Canada www.nasna.org World News Page 9 Page 9 �photo by Jimmy Heath Blessed is he that considereth the poor by Vera Zlatkin There are Angels among us that we never see, For they are hid by the grime of the street, By hair that is tangled and matted, And by newspapers wrapped ‘round their feet. There are Angels among us that we never hear, For the noise and the din of the street. Their cries go unheeded, their voices unheard, “please help, we have nothing to eat.” But we go on our way unaware that we Have passed by Creatures of the Light; Without having been touched or moved to respond, We lost our blessing that night. I wrote this poem for Clara and KY, a homeless couple who died in a fire in Clifton Heights. Their bodies were found in an abandoned house where they had taken shelter from the rain and the cold. I am dedicating this poem to the people who were forced to move out from under the bridge and to seek shelter elsewhere, after the mayor declared them to be an “eye-sore.” I am dedicating it to all of you along with this prayer, Entrance to abandoned house in Clifton where KY and Clara died. Their handwritten sign welcomed everyone. “May you always be safe, and may you find the shelter you seek.” I met KY and Clara at a rally opposing the war in Iraq. We talked for a few minutes while I waited for my bus. Clara noticed that it was getting dark and she asked me if I had far to go after I got off the bus. I assured her that I would be fine. KY pointed at an alley on the other side of Calhoun photos by Jimmy Heath In Memory of Lee Scalf.... Lee passed away in December of 2003. Early in his life, Lee was a coal miner, wood and coal hauler, and at one point operated his own mining business. His skills as a carpenter, and extremely creative and competent fix-it person served him well in his work for ReSTOC, the Drop Inn Center and self-employed as a maintenance and general construction specialist. He was an avid fisherman and hunter and loved to be in the woods, mountains, country and nature. He was a big John Wayne fan and loved to read western and frontier stories. A self-declared “down home” person, Lee’s fondest memories were of fishing trips with friends and streamside meals of fresh pan-fried fish served with good conversation. Lee was a compassionate and generous person, frequently sharing his skills and financial resources with those in need. He spent much of his personal time from work tending to elderly ReSTOC tenants in Over-the-Rhine and helping them with special maintenance projects. He also S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Street. “That’s our home,” he said. I liked them immediately. I was impressed by their openness, by their obvious devotion to each other and their sense of social justice, but most of all I was impressed by the fact that even with their own struggles to simply survive, they were kind enough to express concern for the well-being of a stranger. Clara and KY (a Vietnam veteran) were good hearted people who blessed us with their presence here on earth. Please don’t let them be forgotten. I know they must have touched many lives. If you knew them, if they touched your life, tell about it, or write about it. Keep their memory alive. Send your reflections to Streevibes. Lee’s ‘famous’ ruler suspenders the Drop Inn Center recounted a spent many weekends at the Drop road trip to Mexico that he made Inn Center doing unpaid repair with Lee and some of his friends. work, and visiting with and It was a hilarious adventure encouraging residents along the fraught with arguments and path of recovery from substance mishaps. Bonnie Neumeier abuse. Lee was 12 years in brought her guitar to the service recovery from alcoholism. During for Lee and his years at ReSTOC, he A self-declared “down home” person, sang songs with the passed many Lee’s fondest memories were of audience. of his fishing trips with friends and Others came construction streamside meals of fresh pan-fried forward and skills and fish served with good conversation... shared their techniques on stories of Lee to others. and their good times together. Lee There was standing room Scalf’s family, also present at the only at Lee’s memorial service at memorial, was surprised by the Nast Trinity Church in Over-theRhine. Lee’s friends came forward many friends that Lee had made in his life and work. Lee will be and spoke about his life and their missed by everyone. relationship with him. Tom Lee of Page 10 �Coalition Dinner... a political action organization to advocate for the needs of Greater Cincinnati homeless citizens who Johnny on the Spot put up a had no voice in the halls of portable toilet.” With the court order, “people no longer have to power. It began with a coalition of 15 groups and advocates fear that they will be arrested for sleeping under a bridge,” she said. gathering to address homeless “Police must help the homeless peoples’ plight. It has grown to over 70 member agencies: person contact the Coalition, advocates for the poor and which helps solve problems with its communal approach.” homeless, homeless individuals, shelters, transitional houses, Coalition director Georgine Getty hailed Kinsley as emergency food programs, social “one of her personal heroes,” service agencies, churches, and low-income housing groups/conoting “what an incredible year this has been for (GCCH).” Getty ops. Its membership crosses all thanked Streetvibes vendors for political, social and religious lines. helping circulate 60,000 copies last year and writers/editors for Streetvibes, the region’s getting the paper rated the third homeless newspaper, covers social justice and poverty-related best in North America by the North American Street Newspaper issues once a month. Becoming a Association. vendor is one key way for Fanny Johnson (left) presents Service Provider of the Award to Annie homeless and other low-income Dinner participants Coleman applauded the ten or so vendors people to get back on their feet. who enjoyed the tasty pasta dinner It’s a hand UP for people who are at Xavier University’s plush Schiff often in a place of Family Center. “Every day you getting only a hand out, are the face of the homeless or even no hand at all, coalition,” Getty told the vendors. says GCCH’s Getty. “You piss off some public official This year’s every day.” Mayor Charlie Luken dinner was has called the monthly tabloid his underwritten by Rudler biggest pet peeve. & Associates, Sisters of Getty is proud that GCCH Charity, Xavier U’s Office of Mission and convinced the business-led Downtown Cincinnati Inc. to hire Ministry, First Step an outreach worker to point Home, First Unitarian panhandlers toward area agencies Church, Goodwill, SC where they can find help; “...part Ministry Foundation, of a philosophical shift in looking Sodexho, Lighthouse for ways to end poverty instead of Youth services, Drop mere homelessness.” Inn Center, Winton Savings & Loan, and GCCH was featured a lot Xavier University. in local and national news, “reaching 5 million, 600 thousand GCCH’s agenda for 2004 and her own people,” said Getty. recent experience show And over 30 Mother of Mercy High School students that much work Rodney Sutton (left) receives the Jimmy Render Award for Homeless Activism remains to be done, helped GCCH publish a book from GCCH Board Member Kevin Finn Kinsley said. The City with an “amazing” array of interviews, profiles, photos, is making panhandlers register or face fines artwork, and personal reflections that will help GCCH fulfill a New and even jail. “It’s an Year’s resolution, Getty said. unfair, unconstitutional (approach) to The “Through Our Eyes” paperback will be embedded in an solicitation of educational packet with handouts donations. Needs must be met. We must and a videotape to help teachers educate friends, explore systematic causes of homelessness in area schools’ families, others.” One thing is 2004 curriculum. certain, Kinsley One aim of the school outreach project is to “reduce the concluded, “As we move forward, we will perpetual violence” against homeless people, Getty said. “We do it by giving and must keep shining the spotlight on receiving together.” homeless people. There must be Cincinnati no rest until every man, woman, native John Zeh lives and child has a safe home to go in Over-the-Rhine and to.” helped write The Greater Cincinnati “Ecotactics, The Sierra Coalition for the Homeless, now Club Handbook for Bonnie Neumeier (right) presents the Buddy Gray Lifetime Achievement Award to at 117 East 12th Street in OverEnvironment Activists” Sister Mary Graff the-Rhine, was formed in 1984 as for Earth Day 1970. cont. from page 1 S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 GCCH News Page 11 Page 11 �News & Editorial Faces of Homelessness in Santa Cruz by Becky Johnson and Robert Norse WHY CAN’T THESE KIDS COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS? Santa Cruz, Ca. — When Stacie and Orley Jones arrived in their RV from Kentucky, they thought they were planning a better life for their four kids. They didn’t know how hard it would be to get housing, and wound up living in their RV much longer than they had anticipated. One day in April, social workers from Child Protective Services showed up and took all their kids. “They’d gotten an anonymous complaint that we were having sex in front of our kids and that I was smoking marijuana in front of my kids,” said Orley. “It wasn’t true, of course,” said Stacie. No such charge was ever filed against the couple and no witness ever came forward to testify against them. But their children were not returned. “CPS is trying desperately to find something to pin on this couple to justify the seizure,” reports Roxanne Acquistapace who founded “Independent Advocacy” to help people like Stacie and Orley who are caught up in a system which divides and sometimes destroys families under the guise of protecting them. During court ordered counseling, Stacie was asked to report intimate details of her sexual life with her husband, and chastised when she failed to be forthcoming. The counselor also intimated that she should leave her husband. Acquistapace was outraged. “They have no business pressuring people to make those kinds of decisions with their lives, but then they are homeless and living in an RV. They feel they have some kind of right to pass judgment on them.” Despite no charges having been filed, Stacie and Orley are being told they must wait until January to get their kids back. Judge Robert Yonts, perhaps under pressure from nervous CPS officials, issued a gag order on the couple and the attorneys, banning them from talking about the case. (The Jones had been appearing on a local radio show.) They are not allowed to bring friends and supporters into the courtroom. 4-DAY JURY TRIAL FOR A DOG ON THE BEACH When Jhon Golder took his dog onto its beach, he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. “There were two other people with dogs on the beach too.” Yet when Officer Eric Seilly ordered him off the beach, only Golder was cited. “They ran my license and a warrant for my arrest came back that I knew shouldn’t have been there,” said Golder between one of the hearings for his jury trial. “They charged me with resisting arrest and with assault on a police officer, both misdemeanors, so I qualified for both a public defender and a jury trial.” The jury found Golder innocent on the assault charge but guilty on the resisting arrest charge. The jury also was told that the original arrest warrant had been reported in error just as Golder claimed. Golder was sentenced to 60 days in County Jail, 54 days suspended, 120 community service hours, $120 restitution and two years probation. The original “dog on the beach...” charge was never prosecuted. CITY SELLS OUT SENIORS Homelessness in Santa Cruz is a direct result of the lack of affordable housing in the City. The DeAnza Senior Mobile Home Park on the cliffs overlooking Natural Bridges State Beach was one of the few such places that provide at least 198 senior households with affordable housing and rent control. But when MHC, the owner of the park sued the City for denying them a reasonable return from their asset (they bought the park in 1994 for $8.4 million knowing full well that all residents were protected by a rent control ordinance) they claimed the park was really worth as much as $80 million. The City spent about $500,000 in legal bills fighting the suits, but in August suddenly settled and on August 23rd, they voted 6 - 1 to gut the rent control ordinance. The one concession they had wrangled from MHC were 34 year leases for the current DeAnza residents only, the automatic effect was the loss of equity in their homes for most of the seniors. Critics argued that the City could win the suit if they continued. But Mayor Emily Reilly claimed she couldn’t “bankrupt” the City by defending the senior’s assets. Council member Rotkin warned the City could lose up to $16 million if it were to continue and to lose the suit. “That is highly unlikely,” argued Attorney Michael Constantine who wrote the San Mateo mobile home rent control ordinance. “At best they could get the differences in the back rent — a sum of about $1.5 million, if they S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 could win at all.” The City cited Belcher. Homeless activists are budget woes was the sole reason hopeful this victory will rein in the for the settlement. Two months police department. City Council, later (Nov.25, ’03) City Council which abolished the Citizens Police voted to spend $300,000 on golf Review Board last January, is course improvements. prone to rubberstamp every police MOVE-ALONG ORDINANCE request for increased funding and TO BE TESTED AT TRIAL authority. Steve Argue and Matt MORE HOMELESS DEATHS: Hartough both refused to move a DOMINICAN HOSPITAL political table after one hour’s time NEGLECT, DISCRIMINATION from a location in front of the CHARGED Pacific Trading Company that both Patches died late this men were boycotting. City Council summer when she sought treatment passed a Move-Along Every Hour for an infected arm four times at law along with other anti-homeless Dominican Hospital. Night after night she was turned away. On her laws last January to please merchants against the fourth trip to the emergency ward recommendations of its own she was admitted and scheduled for an amputation of her infected arm. advisory committee. Pacific Trading Company Two days later, the day before owners Carolyn and Clark Heinrich surgery, she died. Her husband Chico, claimed they kept turning not only supported these laws but played an active role in lobbying her away because they were the City to spend $7000+ to move homeless and had no insurance. On November 14th, Linda a planter railing out 8" eliminating 20+ seating spaces to Patches died late this summer when she discourage street sought treatment for an infected arm four musicians, youth, times at Dominican Hospital. Night after and homeless. night she was turned away. On her fourth Both Argue and trip to the emergency ward she was admitted Hartough were and scheduled for an amputation of her arrested and jailed infected arm. Two days later, the day before for failing to surgery, she died. Her husband Chico, comply with the claimed they kept turning her away because new law, enacted they were homeless and had no insurance. in January of 2003. BLUE LAGOON WINS Sipos was taken to the emergency room, suffering two seizures in the POLICE HARASSMENT TRIAL ambulance. The ER personnel In federal court, the owners were able to treat a third seizure she had in the ER ward. Yet Linda of the Gay-friendly “Blue Lagoon” won a lawsuit against the Santa was released in a wheelchair in the Cruz Police Department for rain later that evening when a blood test showed a trace of harassment when they sent uniformed officers into the bar with alcohol in her system. C.J., her a German Shepard police dog to common-law husband, begged the staff to admit her. sniff the customers and hang out for hours at a time. And of a police “They told her to get a bus officer in full uniform standing out in the rain in a wheelchair,” C.J. cried, sobs catching in his throat. at the front entrance with a police dog. Why did then Lt. Patricia “I woke up the next morning ( in Sapone of the SCPD do it?” their campsite) and she lay dead beside me.” C.J. is a well-known “She did it to further her career,” said Reno civil rights street musician in Santa Cruz who attorney Terri Keyser-Cooper. helped start the recent street “And she did it because she could.” performers union SAFE (Society Wells said “The City has for Artistic Freedom and denied any wrong-doing but the Expression). “For the past 5 1/2 jury has already awarded $116,000 years I woke up every morning in damages and court costs and with Linda and told her I loved her. legal fees. The combined legal I don’t know how I am going to go costs for both the plaintive and the on without her.” defense will run over a million FIRST OFFICIAL DEATH BY dollars.” On November 25th, The EXPOSURE REPORTED City Council met in closed session “Crazy Jimmy” who many to consider whether to appeal the knew on Pacific Ave. died on verdict. Patty Sapone was widely November 23, 2003 in the considered to be next in line for Pogonip. Coroners are labeling the Chief of Police in Santa Cruz, a death of James Cline Jr., age 57, as position only recently vacated by at least partially due to exposure. the retirement of Chief Steven West Coast News Page 12 �Absolute Poverty The Dominican Republic and an outsider’s point of view by Mahri Leonard-Fleckmann If I had an English dictionary with me, I would be tempted to look up the word “poverty.” From where I am right now, sitting on my porch watching the sun set through the palm trees, eating fresh cow cheese, it is hard to believe I live a poor life. When I imagine that word, I see a different world, one of hunger and thirst and dirty, exhaust-filled streets; when I imagine that word, I see a world where there is no roof over your head, nor people to care for your well-being, nor water available to drink. Yet from an outsider’s point of view, poverty does not reach an extremity far beyond this one. Families often are lucky to make 1,000 pesos a month (roughly $30). Children go without shoes, babies without diapers, adults without shirts, and in a September school panic, mothers wonder how to scrape together enough money to purchase 40 peso notebooks for their children (a little over $1). People cook over outdoor fires, houses are made of cheap wood or heavy leaves, and about half have dirt floors. Electricity is nonfunctioning, and the people feel blessed that the recent construction of a potable water system with taps limits trips to the river. Yes, it is a poor community. However, here in my small rural village in the Dominican Republic, I have quickly learned that poverty is not always so easily defined. Undeniably, the people of my community of Gurabo have very few things. They have never gone to a restaurant nor have they seen a movie. They lack the most basic health education; many do not know how to read. Their diet consists of rice and beans, and the sign of Christmas wealth is a family’s ability to roast their own pig. On the other hand, food is never lacking. Neighbors feed each other from bottomless vats of rice. In this rich land, there is an over-abundance of avocado and mango, the most expensive fruits in U.S. grocery stores. The air is perfectly clean, and children run along the dirt road with no concept of the dangers of cars or strangers. When one woman falls ill, the entire village takes care of her and her children. And you would never catch a person sleeping on the ground unless so desired. Of course, it is not all so romantic as I portray. First, remember that I live in a beautiful village and so escape the dangerous, stifling city barrio. Second, work is impossible to find outside of factories and the sporadic selling of crops, and because of this, some of the men spend their days in a drunken haze. Girls get pregnant between the ages of 12 and 14, and men beat their wives or girlfriends without second thought. Most importantly, the Dominican Republic lacks the state security nets that help those in poverty in the U.S., and the poor must rely on neighbors for food since soup kitchens and welfare do not exist. However, many of these things are universal as well. As in the U.S., people lack good healthcare and education and are often overlooked by the government. And as in all societies, poverty forms a cycle that is difficult to overcome, and families often find themselves rewriting history through the generations. Sometimes though, I wonder. Here in my village, people do not pine for American wealth. The pain of materialism does not touch their unknowing minds, and they seem to benefit from a much purer happiness found in the company of friends and the time to sit in the late-afternoon sun and visit with neighbors. Since arriving in this country one year ago, I have gone through several paradigm shifts. The first, obviously, was the severe lifestyle change between middleclass American and poor Dominican culture. The second came when I visited the poorer side pined for my simple life in Gurabo, where surprisingly, I had never of the island, the hell called Northern Haiti. While entering the been so content. So what is poverty? Dominican Republic had placed a Perhaps it is the streets of St. Louis new rung on the stepladder of my on a cold winter night, with no perspective of poverty, Haiti made chance of seeing a friendly face or my village seem like heaven. The being offered a plate of food. roads there were potholed and Perhaps it is the Dominican dusty, impassible but for the rare, Republic or Haiti, with their severe dilapidated bus system known as economic failure and non-existent the “tap-taps.” The land was hard social programs. Perhaps real and dry, and for that reason there poverty is found within the arms of were virtually no crops or food. the rich, who search for meaning There was very little water and within the material wealth of their people flocked to the almost nonexistent, drained wells. Huts were lives. Or perhaps it is none of the above or all of them combined. slapped together with cow dung, I have come to believe one and people squatted on the streets thing in the past year, which you to defecate. For every case of malnutrition found in the However, many of these things are universal as Dominican well. As in the U.S., people lack good healthcare Republic and education and are often overlooked by the there were hundreds in government. And as in all societies, poverty forms a cycle that is difficult to overcome, and families Haiti, and often find themselves rewriting history through the the little generations. Sometimes though, I wonder. Here in children held out my village, people do not pine for American wealth. their hands to you with may find naïve and romantic (you desperate hunger in their large, could easily be right): poverty is a yellowed eyes. flowing term, incapable of a After Haiti, I returned to the U.S. for a visit, and what I saw concrete definition. To me, poverty has nothing to do with there reminded me of Haiti’s monetary wealth or the access to hunger in reverse. There was no air-conditioning or heating systems. lack of food — in fact, there was Poverty is a lack of something an over-abundance. People appeared as the living dead in their much deeper, an emptiness of spirit that can be found in any culture, in manicured outfits, walking hurriedly without bothering to even any social bracket, in any economic condition. So I urge you to take a glance at the people around them. moment to redefine your own It seemed to me they were racing the clock, hungrily searching for an wealth and consider carefully where your poverty lies. unnamed happiness, buying Mahri Leonard-Fleckmann lives anything and everything. They among the poorest of the poor in were missing the beauty of the sky the Dominican Republic with the and devaluing the importance of family and friends. I felt stifled and Peace Corps. Berta’s Art Corner.... Dancing in Steel Concrete and Sky. Entrance to Ruth Lyons Lane on East 6th Street, Downtown Cincinnati. Photo by Berta Lambert S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Page 13 Page 13 �The Snag in the Sweater is Repaired Always with you, Always with me by Dr. Steve Sunderland by Brett Zwolinski I caught my sweater on a nail And it ripped. The company promised to repair it. And they did. mountains we climb and seas we traverse time we buy and life passes by in my mind there is but only one thought... maddening horror, pent up fear illusions, inebriating crimes told again and again, the story of mine whose life are we seeing? how and when did it all begin? A snag repaired. Some worker opened the Cardboard box, Took out the damaged garment, Laid it out And decided where the nail Had ripped the threads. times immemorial, death unveiled empty and bleeding, caroused and cheating Needles were on a table and One was selected. Wool was found, Matched, And then the weaving Of the rip began. to let go... Now we hold on even tighter grasp for breath of fresh air; ahhh... the spirit released... earth inhaled to our nostrils becoming one with yourself in passionate fit rage and rancor, tearing at flesh killing me softly, taking my breath The weaver may have paused. Checking for the placing of The new with the old. To see the blend. After more weaving, More checking, And more weaving Until finished. A friend may have been Invited to look At the finished sweater. New hands held the repair, And a nodding occurred. Agreement was reached That the hole, once so Clear, had disappeared into the whole, taking On a completeness, A finality, and A healing. The sweater was placed in a new box, Addressed and sent Knowing that a gift Was being offered. love is liberty, love is freedom love is mercy, love is justice Yes, I too... NOW, WHO WILL LEAD THE WAY? by Gina Miller Yes, I too have been homeless. Yes, I too have been hungry. Yes, I too have been without money. Yes, I too have been unemployed. Yes, I too have been ridiculed. Yes, I too have felt alone. Yes, I too have felt afraid. Yes, I too have thought of suicide. Yes, I too have struggled. Yes, I too have become courageous. Yes, I too have reached out for help. Yes, I too have become employed. Yes, I too have returned to school. Yes, I too have a permanent place to live TODAY. Yes, I too am willing to help other people. Yes, I too am grateful! buddy, you led the way to help the downtrodden people, who could not help themselves; Homeless, Low-Income Housing you, with “in-your-faceconfrontational-attitude” Now, who will lead the way? Earnest, you led the way with the Civil Rights Movement, bussing and discrimination, you, with your quiet & yet, steadfast attitude; Now, who will lead the way? I opened the box and Removed the sweater. One hole invisible And the sweater glowed. The Peace Village is warmer For our repairing the rips And snags of violence. No tear is too small. No thread so different it can’t be used. No holding in hands of weavers Too crippled, too new, too Frightened to seek to Make whole. At times of war, violence and fear, Weavers weave. At times of death from bullets and bombs, Weavers weave. At times when injustice had tripped the heart, Weavers weave. Strangers left the new Peace in their hands. As the light shines On our work, We place our work in The hands of those Who are weavers And we are grateful. S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 My Simple Prayer by Robert Manassa Each nite before I go to sleep I pray a prayer of my soul to keep Please protect the ones that I love Guide them and keep them And let them know that I’lll always love them so Father God – full of grace Please give me the strength to run this race At times it is almost too hard to bear But I don’t forget that you are always there You’ve been with me through thick and thin By my side you’ve always been Mac, you led the way empowered people for a peaceful planet; fought for arms disarmament, you, with your quiet voice, put up a hard & strong fight; Now, who will lead the way? All of you, were branded Radicals, Troublemakers, Renegades; All had the strength of giants; NOW, WHO WILL LEAD THE WAY? Judi Mendriski Help me to learn to love my neighbor as myself And when you’ve done all that you can do Give me a house in your Kingdom Where I can praise and serve you forever more Art & Poetry Page 14 �Winter by Michael Henson Season of silence. Snow drops through the empty halls of air. Silence builds sedimentary seam upon seam. By day, by night, the white screen falls. Tomorrow, the slush of labor. Tomorrow, the rasp of blades. Tomorrow, the clatter of silicon. For now, the loud, the hard are smothered in the fall of snow. The white mouth swallows sound. A shotgun, a man chopping wood the vigilant cough of a buck fall and die in the bonecold air. The truck that rattles the bridge floor The hish of cars on the highway A shout in argument fall and die, fall and die. All sounds rise to fall and die. A Single Woman’s Prayer Undying Love Dear God, I’ve faced another day, Praying true love would come my way. I give my cares, and woes to you. Knowing you will see me through. Praying you will send a brother, Who wants more than a convenient lover. Someone who is kind, and gentle Softly sweet, sane not mental. Someone who can see in me All the reatness that’s in me. Who will be a guiding light, When I can’t sleep late at night. Who will give me space to work things out, Whenever there is even far doubt. He who’ll be my perfect mate, I’d prefer that he be straight. Accept my strength and never fear Or cause my eye to black and tear. But most of all, before I end, Make this man my dearest friend. She speaks to me in hushed tones. I look to the heavens to seek her face. But I cannot find her. Now listen: sibilant lisp of the universe For information on submitting your poetry or art to STREETVIBES email Streetvibes@juno.com by Larry Ushby She speaks once again. I look once more to seek her... But still I cannot find her. I close my eyes and she speaks I hear her. The small, still voice says she loves me. My heart beats wildly when I hear those words That is when she gives to me her Undying Love I Hear You On the phone...all alone You had the nerve to say “I miss you in a special way” Explained all that you did today The unpacking was going well Talked about the drive from hell I thought, he is crazy He must be. “Though I’m glad he arrived safely” So you say there are plans for us. I bought a ticket for the bus Packed a bag and off I go Because I miss you- and you me so. You had so much to say About us two when times were gay, There is only one thing left to say I hear you! by Jimmy Heath Shutter Speed Street Scene, Havana, Cuba S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Art & Poetry Page 15 Page 15 �The Taxing Truth by David Bisson Lurking behind the recent string of federal tax cuts are the blueprints for a far-right-wing revolution. In a June column in the Washington Post, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform and the radical right’s antitax ringleader, laid out a program to transform our current tax system into a single flat tax on wages. Unlike Steve Forbes and others who have tried to radically alter the tax code in a single swoop, the contemporary conservative movement favors a more gradual assault. “The new Republican policy is an annual tax cut,” proclaimed Norquist, and “each of the Bush tax cuts, past and proposed, moves us toward fundamental tax reform.” When they say “fundamental tax reform,” rightwingers are talking about dismantling the progressive tax system that has facilitated social progress in the U.S for the past 70 years. They are trying to smother the widely held belief that people should be taxed at different rates based on their ability to pay. And they are proposing a change in the tax system that would hurt most Americans by shifting the tax burden off capital and investments and onto the wages of low- and middle-income taxpayers. To market what should be a wildly unpopular agenda, the conservative movement has devised an arsenal of disinformation. For three years in a row, President Bush has exploited workers’ insecurities in a stagnating economy to pass major tax breaks for his wealthy campaign donors under the guise of economic stimulus. This summer’s 2003 tax cut provides a potent example: although it was sold as a “jobs and growth” package, the bill is a targeted giveaway to high-income earners and investors who are likely to save their windfalls. Working taxpayers, by contrast, would spend tax cuts now in ways that would stimulate job creation and economic growth. The only thing Bush’s tax cut stimulates is growth in economic inequality. An honest look at the numbers reveals the tax cut’s staggering inequities. Over the next 10 years, the bill will deliver the same amount, $90 billion, in total tax cuts to the top one-tenth of one percent of all U.S households — the tiny number with yearly incomes over $1 million — as it will to the entire bottom 88 percent. Already, the Republicans’ annual tax cut strategy has had dire consequences for America’s fiscal health. In July, the Bush Administration announced an estimated $455 billion federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2003. A long-term analysis by the Center for Budget Priorities (CBPP) concludes that “under realistic projections, budget deficits will remain at or above $325 billion for each of the next ten years and total $4.1 trillion over that period.” While the Bush administration and its supporters have been quick to blame the deficits on unanticipated spending demands, the CBPP report demonstrates that federal tax breaks enacted since 2001 will, over 2003 and 2004, cost nearly three times the combined costs of combat and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, reconstruction and relief after the 9/11 attacks, increased expenditures on homeland security, and the cost of fighting terrorism worldwide. America is at a crossroads of tax and budget policy. The choices made by citizens and legislators in the near future will lead the nation down one of two diverging paths. Politicians and pundits on the right have offered assurances that the deficits are “manageable’ while advocating ever more tax cuts aimed at the Break My Fall Inn when we saw previews for the movie, “Homeless to Harvard: the Liz Murray Story”. The staff agreed to let us watch the first half, due to our bedtime. As Liz’s story unfolded, it was clear that many of the women in the room were deeply moved. Liz was just 15 when she became homeless. She had grown up with loving, but drug-addicted parents in NYC. When Liz’s mother was diagnosed with AIDS, the family broke up. Eventually, social services came and took her away from her father because she never attended school. She went to live with her mom and grandfather but ran away. The last scene we got to watch that night was when Liz’s mother died of AIDS. I thought that if I could see the rest of the movie I might be able to get out of my own downward spiral, and wrote about it on my on-line journal. Liz Murray stumbled across the post and invited me to her apartment in New York City so I could watch the second half of the movie… with her! I jumped at the opportunity and a week later I was on the bus. Liz and I hit it off immediately. We were the same age and although our childhood and homeless experiences were very different, we had a lot in common. We went out to eat, and then watched the rest of the movie. I sat next to her as I watched the story of how she rose above homelessness to get herself into Harvard University. Although she never really attended school for any continuous time, she decided to go to high school at age 17 and graduate in two years at the top of her class—while homeless. She ended up getting a New York Times Scholarship to Harvard. She is currently attending Columbia University, giving speeches about her life, and writing a book that will be out in the spring. Liz was amazed by my story. She kept telling me that I had a lot of potential. She was so positive about my situation. She kept reminding me that I wasn’t going to be homeless forever, that like her; I would have an apartment someday. I left Liz’s house determined to do something with myself, but I wasn’t quite sure by Crystal Evans It was February when I ended up homeless. But I realized long before that my life was in a downward spiral. Every time I hit what I thought was rock bottom, something else would happen and I’d fall a little deeper. I had run away from spiritual and emotional abuse at home at age 19. A few months later I ended up with a traumatic brain injury and a broken neck in a car accident. Because of the brain injury, I lost nine jobs in 16 months. I became homeless, got on my feet, and found myself homeless again seven months later. I was afraid I was never going to stand again, and that I would always be a nobody. Before ending up homeless I had goals for myself, but after living in a shelter surrounded by drug addicts, alcoholics, those with mental illness, and people dying of AIDS, I saw no hope. Most of these people had been homeless for years, and many were my age when it first happened. I was staying at Pine Street wealthy. Accepting this conservative revolution is likely to produce a fiscal train wreck that the right will use to justify elimination or privatization of social programs that most Americans want and need— namely Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The main beneficiaries of that train wreck would be large corporations that would profit from privatization of core government services, and wealthy individuals who do not depend on the current safety nets and who would keep more of their incomes under a flat tax. The remaining majority would have less job security, healthcare, and retirement security. If the right succeeds in shifting responsibility for funding social programs to state and local governments whose tax systems disproportionately burden people with lower incomes, most people would pay more taxes for fewer services. Or we can choose the other path: honoring our commitments to aging generations while investing in a future of shared opportunity and prosperity. David Bisson is an intern at United for a Fair Economy and an Economics major at the University of Massachusetts— Amherst. what. On my list of goals before I ended up homeless was to finish school. What was I waiting for? What was stopping me? I couldn’t think of anything. I already knew I could get help paying for school from MassRehab because I was disabled. I decided to apply to Harvard Extension School and go for the writing program. I’m still homeless but I am also a student. I’m in rehab at Spaulding Rehab Hospital for my brain injury. I volunteer at Ronald McDonald House and the Children’s Hospital. I keep an online journal on homelessness. I have been speaking at colleges in the New England area, and I’m applying to Harvard University for fall of ‘04. Liz Murray and I are still in contact, and she will continue to be my inspiration. I want other people to know they can rise above homelessness and get somewhere in life. Being homeless doesn’t mean your life is over. It’s simply another challenge a person must overcome, one that makes one stronger in the long run. Reprinted from Whats Up Boston, December 2003 Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Editorial Page 16 �New Budget Eliminates Mandatory NewsDomestic & Editorial Violence for our state. Services web site and search each that nearly half of the women Training Then why hasn’t Ohio adopted the of the counties for the exemptions receiving public assistance are Option More Important Than Ever by Judi Clark As all of us were working hard to save social services and education, a little known act known as the Preferred Arrest Bill was quietly abolished. This act, HB 335 signed by former Gov. Voinovich in the 1993-1994 session, made domestic violence training for caseworkers mandatory, recognizing the number of domestic violence victims seeking assistance. Enacted prior to the 1996 welfare reform bill – TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), and Ohio’s subsequent devolution of OWF (Ohio Works First) to each of the 88 counties, HB 335 was rarely enforced, as far as we can tell, once TANF went into affect. It is more important than ever for Ohio to adopt the Family Violence Option. Studies show victims of domestic violence. Abuse is a major obstacle to becoming self-sufficient. The Family Violence Option (FVO) will allow Ohio to “waive program requirements for a victim of domestic violence when complying with the requirements would make it more difficult for the victim to escape domestic violence or would unfairly penalize the individual.” What this will mean to individual counties in Ohio is an increase in the number of hardship and good cause exemptions they are allowed to give. Fewer families would be sanctioned and lose their assistance. The Family Violence Option was part of the 1996 welfare reform bill (TANF). Currently forty states have adopted the FVO. Ohio has 88 counties with 88 different sets of criteria for hardship and good cause exemptions. Go to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family (www.state.oh.us/scripts/odjfs/ hardship). It’s amazing how different each county is. We have to wonder if anyone in Columbus is keeping track of how each county is doing things. No wonder families are falling through the cracks! Many counties don’t even have specific rules for domestic violence victims. Caseworkers seem to be making it up as they go. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a protocol in place for states to use which includes training for caseworkers in screening public assistance applicants and recipients, and identifying victims of domestic violence. Caseworkers can then offer support services to families to help victims. A statewide training program in Ohio would make it easier for many counties to get training for caseworkers. Ohio could simply adopt the recommendations of HHS and not spend time developing a new plan Economic Recovery Leaves Ohio Behind November marked the national observance of Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week (November 1622), and Ohio¹s homeless organizations are focusing on the huge unmet demand for shelter in our state. “We want people to know that Ohio experienced an average increase of approximately 30% in demand for shelter from 2002 to 2003,” said Rick Taylor, Managing Director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. This data was compiled from a survey of three fourths of the shelter programs that receive funding from the State of Ohio. To respond to this growing demand, shelters and services throughout Ohio are calling on community leaders to put in place resources and policies to address the growing flood of families and individuals who are finding themselves homeless. While the economic picture for the country points to some economic recovery, Ohio is not one of the states seeing improvement. Ohio continues to see unprecedented increases in families and individuals in need of shelter. Ohio rated second to last among states in job growth from the end of 1997 through last year. Ohio Policy Matters reported Ohio lost 118,500 or one out of seven Streetvibes Vendor: 80 cents Printing and Production: 20 S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 manufacturing jobs from March 2001 to March 2003. The impact of these losses continues in September 2003 with 6,500 Ohioans running out of unemployment benefits. With loss of manufacturing jobs for 38 consecutive months, Ohio has seen huge increases in foreclosures and evictions followed by double digit increases in request for shelter “Given that Ohio lags behind all other states except Michigan in job growth and the inability for many to find jobs, it is no wonder we are seeing many Ohioans losing their homes,” said Taylor of COHHIO. Local and state advocates are asking for 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. Ohio News FVO? It’s a little tricky, but it can be done. If Ohio administered the Ohio Works First (OWF) program at the state level instead of devolving control to each county, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) could simply tell the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that Ohio will adopt the FVO. Because of the devolution of control of OWF policies to each county, it will take an act of the Ohio Legislature to adopt the FVO. This is actually quite simple, but our state legislators are trying to act like it’s complicated. Ohio Empowerment Coalition will work hard in the months to come to convince our legislators that this is not only fiscally responsible for Ohio but the humane thing to do. We urge each of you to contact your legislators and talk to them about the Family Violence Option. community discussions involving those experiencing homelessness to construct both statewide and local plans to address homelessness. Advocates are seeking help from the community, media, religious organizations and the collective talent that exists in Ohio to finally address the problem of our citizens living for years in shelters, on the streets and in abandoned housing. What is the revolution that we need? We need to dissolve the lie that some people have a right to think of other people as their property. And we need at last to form a circle that includes us all, in which all of us are seen as equal... We do not belong to the other, but our lives are linked; we belong in a circle of others. Barbara Deming The first thing to be disrupted by our committment to nonviolence will be not the system but our own lives. James Douglass Story, Editorial and Art Submission Deadline for the February 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, January 9th Page 17 Page 17 �Visit to Chrysalis by Ellen Sinis In LA, there are maps available for just about everything. A map of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard. A map of celebrities’ homes in Beverly Hills. A map of the studios where Clark Gable and Greta Garbo became legends. But one place you won’t find a special map for is the twenty block section of downtown known as skid row. In fact, not even the police seem to know who or what is there. A week-and-a-half ago, my journey through skid row began in a parking garage in which my rental car was protected from the community outside by wrought iron bars that stood two stories tall. On the sidewalks beyond the garage, I walked with my fellow visitors past dozens of people that called this street home. We saw addicts shooting up, gamblers tossing dice, and dealers making sales. But most disturbingly, we saw people who were together on the street, yet were totally alone in the world. In fact, homelessness is just as much about being alone as it is about being without shelter. It is as much about being disconnected from society, self, and hope as it is about living just to survive. After crossing the street, we arrived at our destination, the Chrysalis Center, a Taste of the Nation grant recipient. Chrysalis provides training and resources to help homeless men and women find jobs. For the hardest to employ, it provides jobs as well, through two businesses that together take in over $3 million each year. Just inside the door, we found ourselves in a serene environment. Chrysalis was closed for lunch, but as we spoke with its leaders, we could see the line of clients forming outside the door. The lunch hour concluded, and it took not 30 seconds for the room to come to life once the door was opened. In half a minute, about 25 people entered into the room with a clear sense of purpose. They went immediately to work...using the phones to make follow-up calls on applications, using the computers to look for jobs, signing up to see a case manager, and filing into classrooms. The bustle of activity stood in stark contrast to the streets outside - the positive atmosphere was almost palpable. It was clear that Chrysalis provided much more than a path to work; it provided a supportive environment in which clients where sharing positive experiences in community with one another. Chrysalis offered not just the skills and tools to be successful at work; it also offered the relationships and support network to feel successful in life. For the homeless, it is unlikely that the former will exist for long without the latter. Chrysalis uses the tagline “Changing lives through jobs.” A job is the goal for each individual, but a successful job search is the inspiration for the whole Chrysalis community. Their shared ritual provides some insight into the strength of that community. Every time a Chrysalis client gets a job, he or she is invited to ring the success bell. Standing in the middle of Chrysalis’s main room, the client rings the bell, often with tears dripping from her face. Everything in the building stops, and the cheers begin. This ritual is a simple celebration of one person’s success, and a whole community’s shared purpose. It serves as a reminder that success is possible, and helps clients know they are no longer alone. Today in LA, the police department will release its newly freed prisoners in skid row. The foster care system will drop off the children who have just aged out of its program by turning 18. These new residents of skid row will join the thousands of people living on the streets, or, if they are lucky, the thousands living in shelters. They may be offered food to satiate their hunger. But until they find hope and purpose, their hunger for wholeness will continue. I am grateful that Share Our Strength is also helping to satiate that most important hunger, replacing disconnectedness with community, and despair with success. by Kevin Smith, Aiken High School Prisoners Advocacy Committee — Ohio PO Box 1746 Cincinnati, Ohio 45201-1746, or submit a prisoner’s name and jail number at cleves1947@yahoo.com Finding pen-pals for people incarcerated in jails throughout Ohio. Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 Editorial Page 18 �FRAC News From the Food Research and Action Center FOOD STAMP PARTICIPATION INCREASES IN SEPTEMBER 2003 TO MORE THAN 22.7 MILLION PERSONS; IS ABOUT 5.8 MILLION PERSONS HIGHER THAN IN JULY 2000. (December 4, 2003) Participation in the Food Stamp Program in September 2003 (the latest data available) increased by 353,413 persons from the previous month, to 22,705,267 persons, as high rates of joblessness continued, more states improved access, and the effects of the food stamp reauthorization improvements continued to be felt. According to FRAC’s analysis of preliminary monthly data from USDA, in the last six months the caseload grew by an average of more than 281,000 persons per month. In the 12 months before that, the average was 150,000 per month. The September 2003 level of Food Stamp Program participation represented a rise of more than 2.9 million persons compared to the September 2002 level, nearly 4.9 million persons compared to September 2001, and about 5.8 million persons since July, 2000. http://www.frac.org/html/news/fsp/ 03sept.html BUSH ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERS ADOPTION OF ERADICATING CHILDHOOD HUNGER AS A MAJOR GOAL FOR 2004. (Washington Post, December 5, 2003) The Bush Administration is looking for big ideas to put on the top of its agenda for the year leading up to the presidential election. One major idea being considered is announcing that the United States will return a person to the moon. Among other ideas being considered for announcement during January’s State of the Union address: ending childhood hunger. A senior administration official said policy experts have been “going to considerable effort to see how much it would cost to attack child hunger.” http:// www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ articles/A36960-2003Dec4.html REPORT LINKS INADEQUATE CHILDHOOD NUTRITION AND UNREALIZED INTELLECTUAL POTENTIAL. (Chicago Tribune, December 2, 2003) A study that appeared in the November issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that good nutrition and schooling can lead to substantial intellectual gains in adulthood. The study examined Guatemalan women who had been given nutritional supplements in the first two years of life and schooling through the primary grades. Women who were given nutritional supplements improved their academic achievement scores significantly over women who received schooling alone. “You’re going to get quite a return on your investment if you foster education. But if you also improve nutrition in early childhood, your return will be magnified,” said Reynaldo Martorell of Emory University, author of the study. Another study of identical twins conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia showed that growing up in poverty can erase a number of points from a child’s IQ score. The Virginia study found that deleterious mental factors account for 80 percent of the decline in IQ scores of very impoverished twins. These studies contribute to a growing conviction among scientists that gene function is highly dependent on environmental conditions. http:// www.chicagotribune.com/news/ local/chi0312020135dec02,1,680344.story (free registration required) COLUMN: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HUNGER. (Seattle PostIntelligencer, Seattle, WA, December 5, 2003) In this piece, columnist Helen Thomas of Hearst Newspapers highlights that it will take more than charitable donations at Christmas to deal with the problem of hunger in the United States. The Census Bureau says 34.8 million Americans live below the poverty level. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, estimates it would cost the federal government $6 billion annually, or six cents per person per day, to expand government programs such as school lunch and food stamps to cut the hunger rate in half. Thomas points out that while many want to help the poor, others believe in survival of the fittest, such as President Reagan’s counselor Edwin Meese, who told reporters “that poverty was merely anecdotal and that people went to soup lines ‘because they don’t want to pay for their lunch.’” Writes Thomas: “Much as private and religious groups may try to provide for the poor, it is still the responsibility of this government to make sure no one is left behind in the bread line. We are our brother’s keeper.” http:// seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/ 151106_thomas05.html S T R E E T V I B E S January, 2004 WORKING PEOPLE CANNOT SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES IN AMERICA. (Newsweek, December 1, 2003) In this column, Anna Quindlen describes a new kind of poverty in America: Officials at urban food pantries note that more and more low-wage workers are coming to them for emergency food assistance. “America is a country that now sits atop the precarious latticework of myth...that work provides rewards, that working people can support their families.” “You never used to see kids at soup kitchens,” says Julia Erickson of City Harvest in New York. During the economic boom in the 1990’s, a quarter of American workers made less than poverty level wages ($8.70 an hour for a family of four) and many did not have health insurance, sick pay or retirement provisions. According to Beth Shulman, author of “The Betrayal of Work,” the bottom 10 percent of American workers earn just 37 percent of the median wage, while their counterparts in other industrialized nations earn upwards of 60 percent of the median wage. In addition, those countries provide health and child care. http://www.msnbc.com/ news/997103.asp?cp1=1 COLUMN: RECORD FEDERAL DEFICIT WILL HAMPER FUTURE OPPORTUNITY FOR TODAY’S CHILDREN. (Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2003) In this column, Ronald Brownstein makes a direct connection between the Bush Administration’s current fiscal policy, record deficits, and the costs to the next generation of taxpayers. He points out that much of the funding for President Bush’s policy initiatives, paid for by increasing the national debt, simply transfers the bill to the next generation. The administration’s tax cuts would reduce federal revenue by $400 billion per year by 2012. Meanwhile, the annual bill for many of government’s functions will increase over the next decade: Medicare will cost more than $500 billion per year, defense spending will reach $600 billion annually, and interest payments on the federal debt will climb to $350 billion. “To call this behavior a breakdown of fiscal responsibility misses its true nature. This is a stunning abandonment of generational responsibility. Washington is behaving like a father who steals his kid’s credit card and goes on a bender.” http:// www.latimes.com/news/ nationworld/nation/la-naoutlook1dec01,1,2243514.story (free registration required) FRAC News OP-ED: PROPOSED FEDERAL TANF RULES WOULD FURTHER STRAIN STATE BUDGETS, HURT RECIPIENTS. (Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2003) In this op-ed piece, Jonathan M. Stein criticizes the proposed TANF legislation now making its way through Congress, saying it would further strain state budgets by imposing stricter work requirements without providing federal funds for child care and job training. Such mandates would leave Pennsylvania and New Jersey “Govs. Rendell and McGreevey with little choice but to slash crucial services.” The proposed TANF legislation would also hurt TANF recipients who would be forced to work 40 hours a week in an economy where the average American works fewer than 40 hours per week and 2.5 million jobs have been lost since early 2001. http://www.philly.com/ mld/dailynews/news/opinion/ 7338708.htm REPORT: RECORD NUMBER OF NEW YORK CITY EMERGENCY FOOD PROVIDERS CLOSE OR RATION FOOD BECAUSE OF DEMAND. (New York City Coalition Against Hunger, November 25, 2003) Demand at New York City’s more than 1,000 emergency food providers increased faster than their ability to meet that demand, forcing 36 agencies to close entirely and nearly half of the remaining agencies to ration their food by turning away hungry people, reducing portion size, and/or cutting hours of operation. Providers that stayed open were forced to turn away almost 150,000 New Yorkers, of whom 41,796 were children —a 330 percent increase among children compared to three years ago. The New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s annual survey of New York City hunger also found that 83 percent of food pantry and soup kitchen officials said that the demand for food will increase over the next six months. “It is clear that struggling charities can no longer be the city’s first line of defense against hunger and poverty,” said Joel Berg, Executive Director of the Coalition. Press release: http://www.nyccah.org/ media/overall%20pressrelease.doc (Word Document) Full report: http://www.nyccah.org/media/ fullreport.doc (Word Document) The FRAC website is http://www.frac.org To subscribe to the weekly FRAC News Digest go to: http://capwiz.com/frac/mlm/ Page 19 Page 19 �TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351-0422 C.C.A.T. 381-6672 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721-0643 TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 HOUSING: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 Miami Purchase 241-0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381-1171 Tender Mercies 721-8666 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861-1111 St. John’s Housing 651-6446 Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 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 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome House 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 St. Francis/St.Joseph House 381-4941 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 Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living Options 241-2600 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4357 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 $1 Donation January 2004 Streetvibes BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY Remembering those who died on the streets... Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2004 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource January 2004 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Homeless Memorial Remembers Those Who Have Died in 2003 Homeless Citizens, Supporters go ‘Home for the Holidays’ at Annual Coalition Dinner Pg 2: Donate Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: History of Church Spans Decades Pg 5: An Update on the Issue of Panhandling Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: U.S. Conference of Mayors-Hunger and Homelessness Survey 2003 Pg 8: U.S. Conference of Mayors-Hunger and Homelessness Survey 2003 Continues Pg 9: French Lawyer; World Leaders Should Take Stand in Saddam Trial Pg 10: Blessed is He That Considereth the Poor Pg 11: Coalition Dinner Continued Pg 12: Faces of Homelessness in Santa Cruz Pg 13: Absolute Poverty Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Editorial Pg 17: New Budget Eliminates Mandatory Domestic Violence Training Economic Recovery Leaves Ohio Behind Pg 18: Visit to Chrysalis Pg 19: FRAC News Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 2004 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Elain Coffy Elizabeth Linville Berta Lambert J. Michael Skaggs Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Brendan Goodwin Church domestic violence Economic Recovery Editorials Elain Coffy Elizabeth Linville Food Research FRAC GCCH GCCH Dinner Georgine Getty Holidays Hunger J. Michael Skaggs Jimmy Heath Mary Gaffney memorial Ohio panhandling Peace Village Saddam Trial Santa Cruz Survey U.S. Conference of Mayors https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/a9d05912c7680d0676cf4af6e9870e57.pdf 4377fc17dfcf610befcc475ce36bb66f PDF Text Text Streetvibes February 2004 Homeless Men receive Settlement from City Of Covington by Jimmy Heath Three men met last month near the Covington riverfront levy, close to the Ohio River bank campsite they once called home. Present were their attorneys, Robert Newman and Covington lawyer Linda A. Smith. The men were among eight who sued in U.S. District Court in Covington after city workers removed their riverfront camps in April of 2002. A lawsuit was filed in federal court in May 2002 alleging the city of Covington violated the due process rights of the individuals who lost their personal property. Homeless advocates said most of the 30 men living on the riverbank were away at work when the Covington city workers removed their belongings from city property without notice. During a “sweep” of homeless camps, Covington city workers removed and destroyed property of individuals who at the time considered the Ohio River bank their home. Items such as sleeping bags, medication, tents and clothing were taken. One of the men lost a litter of kittens and family photographs. No notice was given to the homeless residents and their property was not held but thrown away. City officials, including Covington Mayor Butch Callery, described the riverfront camps as a “health hazard and an eyesore.” City crews were ordered to remove any objects that looked like housing or bedding. In June of 2002, hundreds of people, including advocates from the National Coalition for the Homeless, and the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless assembled for a Homeless Rally and March to Covington City Hall to support the claimants and to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. The march was organized by the individuals who lived on the riverbanks, the National Civil Rights Organizing Project and Northern Kentucky service providers and advocates. In late December of 2003, the City of Covington decided to settle with the claimants and on January 23rd, at the site of the injustice, the homeless campers received their settlement checks. Philip Folk, attorney Robert Newman, Delbert Thompson, Charles Singleton and attorney Linda Smith gather at riverfront campsite for press conference. Claimants Folk, Thompson and Singleton each received a check for $1,000. Each of the men received $1,000 checks, handed out by attorney Robert Newman, against the backdrop of the Ohio River where the campers once made their home. They will receive another $1,000 each later from attorneys’ fees. “There’s now a nationwide precedent that cities cannot take the property of homeless people without notice and destroy it,” said Cincinnati civil-rights attorney Bob Newman, during a press conference at the riverfront site. “It’s a fair warning I think, to Covington and any other city that homeless people are human beings just like everybody else and they have the same constitutional rights as a homeowner, so we’re very happy about that.” Annabelle and Carrie Johnson organizations and projects in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, including serving as Board President for Peaslee Neighborhood Center, and serving on the Over-the-Rhine Community Council. Carrie and Annabelle have found a personal way to stay involved through the long haul, not letting hard times deter their vision and dream for a just world. It is their willingness to listen to each other and hear the challenges that brings out their collective wisdom. They are a team of freedom seekers. Other 2004 Keep the Dream Alive Honorees included, Bennett J. Cooper, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Community Health Board, Cincinnati City Council Member David Crowley, Kameron Franklin, student and volunteer, Darlene Hicks of Unity House, Nanci J. Mays, student and volunteer, Joseph and Susan J. Pichler, volunteers and advisors, Rev. Dr. Michael and Monica J. Posey, pastor and educators, and Rev. James Shappelle, pastor of Mother of Christ Church. Keeping the Dream Alive In They have both been very Cincinnati active in the neighborhood and they continue to be advocates for basic human rights for all citizens. They have lived in the community for a long time and are well respected. While Carrie goes out in public, attending meetings and speaking for various neighborhood issues, her sister Annabelle is behind the scenes making it all possible. Carrie Johnson is a tireless volunteer for various Jimmy Heath photos St. Mark Catholic Church held the third annual “Martin Luther King-Keep the Dream Alive Celebration.” on Monday, January 19th, to honor several Cincinnatians who work for peace through example and the spirit of their daily lives. This year’s honorees included Carrie and Annabelle Johnson, two sisters who live and work in Over-theRhine. Father Paul Marshall, SM, of the University of Dayton, speaks about the spirit and life of Martin Luther King Jr. Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �STREETVIBES The Tri-State's Homeless Grapevine 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 home­ less 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 Brendan Goodwin - Administra­ tive Coordinator Andy Erickson - Education Coordinator Elizabeth Linville - Civil Rights Coordinator Mary Gaffney - Receptionist Streetvibes Jimmy Heath - Editor ­ Design & Layout Photographers Jimmy Heath, Berta Lambert Cover Attorney Robert Newman hands out settlement check to riverfront campers... photo by Jimmy Heath Streetvibes accepts letters, poems, stories, essays, original graphics, and photos. We will give preference to those who are homeless or ven­ dors. Subscriptions to Streetvibes, de­ livered 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 A New Year’s Challenge to a City by Jimmy Heath, Streetvibes Editor the mess that is caused by all of this Cincinnati continues to be a insanity. City Council produces scary place for African-Americans dog-and-pony shows for the press. and the poor. Outraged citizens and terrified Last month, Martin Luther community residents continue to King Jr. would have been 75 years cry out for something to be done. old. I wonder what he would have Some community leaders to say about current affairs in hope that finding jobs and more Cincinnati, or how things would be constructive alternatives for some different if he were still alive. The of these young men will help solve words of Dr. Martin Luther King the problems. But the lure of the continue to be prophetic. Sadly, drug trade is powerful. It pulls not much has changed for the better. While King busily toured the country trying to spread his message of hope to poor communities, the most danger he faced was not in the Deep South, but in northern cities. In later conversations King admitted that he felt real Speaking out for justice can be a lonely thing danger in Chicago during one of his visits; there was these young men out of high more anger and hatred in the north school, and out of mainstream than he had ever faced in the Deep society and into jail or death. South. There are no imaginative outlets Cincinnati’s first homicide for these young men on the street of 2004 happened in the middle of corners. We need social forces in Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine in place, and education as part of the broad daylight, in front of dozens civil rights movement. of witnesses. Somebody finally A study of the effectiveness stepped-up and identified the of Ohio public schools ranked Ohio shooter and an arrest was made. 33rd of 37 states and Washington The unacceptable state of our DC in the percentage of Africancommunity and other poor Americans who graduate. Only neighborhoods in Cincinnati says half of Ohio’s African-American something about the general public high school students condition of our society. There is graduate, while 82 percent of white something horrible going on when students graduate. Is there a murders become routine in certain relation to the drug-dealing culture neighborhoods. and these high drop out rates? The police say that over In 2003, 10 of the city’s 75 90% of the city’s homicides are homicides occurred in Over-thedrug related. Yet we continue to Rhine. In 2003, Cincinnati see the dope boys occupy our recorded its most deadly year since street corners with impunity. There 1977. 2003 was the fifth straight are dozens of so-called drug year that the city’s homicide total dealing hot-spots in OTR and other increased. The 75 murders in 2003 places in the city; everyone knows marked a 12 percent increase over where they are but the police say 2002’s 66 killings. The 75 deaths they are powerless in doing much nearly spoiled the decade’s long about it. As a resident, I feel record for homicides in Cincinnati. powerless too. In reaction to 2004’s first White people continue to homicide, some members of drive down my street in Over-theCincinnati City Council proposed Rhine, buying dope from the open more money be funneled to an antiair drug market on the corner. gang task force and a gun violence There is a perception among white education program at Children’s suburbanite drug users that Over­ Hospital in an effort to try to curb the-Rhine is the place to buy drugs. black-on-black crime and create Black men continue to kill more community policing. City each other over drug thefts and Council was divided by racial lines territorial disputes. The police over the ensuing debate. Africanarrive with note pads, body bags American members of council and crime scene tape to clean up made the proposal, which was S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 From the Editor eventually shelved. In Cincinnati, low-income neighborhood residents are among the least likely to vote. Most feel frustrated by the process, and the choices. Most Cincinnatians in general, just don’t care. A recent survey of 300 registered city voters revealed that citizens aren’t sure how to fix things. And 63 percent of voters said the city is “on the wrong track.” What do all of these statistics mean? Martin Luther King addressed the fundamentals of human devotion as a path to social, economic and relational success. As a society, we place value on certain people, those that produce, or are of the right color, or act a certain way. As a civilized society, you would think that we could do things better. We are great toolmakers, surrounding our lives with technology, yet we still haven’t figured out the simple act of getting along. We don’t always recognize the value of life in our neighbors. We don’t respect strangers. We don’t have much regard for poor children attending public schools. 40% of black children live at the poverty level; almost the same as 50 years ago. Our ability to have a conscience, a memory and the capacity to love is routinely disregarded in our modern culture over the value of stuff and our own domains. The root of criminal behavior, the low-priority given to low-income children, and the disregarding of whole neighborhoods, is our failure to focus on humanity in all our endeavors. These problems will not be solved without a human transformation - a human revolution. Education is our best hope. “Everything which is distinctly human is learned.” Genuine human community transcends all borders. It is an allembracing citizenship of people capable of creating value on a huge scale. Do we as a city have the wisdom to perceive the interconnectedness of all life and living things; courage not to fear but to respect differences and strive to learn from people of different cultures? What does it really mean when we say we want to clean up a neighborhood? What would Martin Luther King say? Page 2 �Homeless News Digest by R.V. Murphy Chicago panhandlers can receive as much as $400 thanks to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 5,000 panhandlers who claimed their civil rights had been violated when they were arrested or ticketed while politely asking for money, according to the Chicago Tribune. The case, filed in federal court in 2001 and decided five days before Christmas, focused on a local disorderly conduct law that let police arrest people on public streets for drunkenness, lewdness, and panhandling. If arrested the person could be fined up to $500. “Having a blanket prohibition like that isn’t legal,” says Mark Weinberg, one of the attorneys representing the panhandlers. “You can ask for help across the street, you can ask for the time, but if you asked me for a dollar the city could throw you in jail.” Federal magistrate Jan Nolan approved a settlement that calls for Chicago to pay $99,000 in damages. The city, which admits no wrongdoing, will also pay $375,000 to cover attorney fees and the cost of distributing the money. Not all panhandlers qualify; people who were cited or arrested only for panhandling — and not other violations — are eligible. In addition, Chicago officials revoked the panhandling ordinance last year; a spokesman was quoted as saying that “the lawsuit helped us realize that [the ordinance] was too broad and wasn’t going to be accepted legally.” There are more than 146,000 people on waiting lists for public housing in New York City and one of the largest homeless populations in the country. Therefore housing advocates are outraged at a new report from Assemblyman Scott Stringer (D-Manhattan), which shows there are more than 5,000 publicly owned apartments in New York standing vacant. According to the New York City Housing Authority, many of the vacant apartments are in buildings slated for repair. The city’s Housing Authority says it’s easier to renovate apartments when the buildings are vacant. A News 12 Report (http://tinyurl.com/2gzfd) says the average wait for public housing in the city is eight years. In the Bronx alone, there are over 1,000 publicly owned units vacant. Six police officers in Apopka, Florida, face charges for firing pepper balls into a homeless camp, according to Local6.com. An internal investigation completed last week showed the officers had violated a number of department regulations in the September incident at the camp. Former Apopka Officer Brian Davis, who is now an Orange County deputy sheriff, reportedly revealed the incident while applying for his current job. No transients in the camp were injured. Punishment for the officers has not been announced. A makeshift homeless encampment with tents made of blankets has been targeted by the city of Pittsburgh, according to PittsburghChannel.com (http://thepittsburghchannel.com/ news). City crews are posting warnings this week telling the six people living under the Roberto Clemente Bridge that they have a week to remove their belongings before the city does it for them, says Public Works Director Guy Costa. The encampment was removed in November but the occupants moved back. Under terms of a settlement in a lawsuit brought on behalf of the homeless people, the city must give seven days’ notice before clearing away an encampment, to give occupants time to move, and must store any personal belongings rather than discarding them. The bridge is a main thoroughfare to the new baseball stadium and is named for Roberto Clemente, Hall of Fame outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Clemente died on Jan. 1, 1973, in the crash of a cargo plane carrying relief supplies to those left homeless by an earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua. Some Irreverent Thoughts On Religion by Gray Dog I hear on the radio that, in Alabama, which is fiftieth of fifty states in spending on health care for prisoners, lets prisoners die of treatable cancers and other diseases because the private health care corporation in charge of prison health care wants to keep costs down. The story interviewed a man who was sentenced to two years, developed a cancer that was never diagnosed until too late, then was released. He’s now getting treatment, but he has only a thirty percent chance to live. He would have had pretty good odds if the prison doctors had diagnosed it and if they had allowed the treatments. But now he has a one in three chance to live. Pull a B&E in Alabama, you could get a death sentence. This is the same state, Alabama, where half the population is bothered by the very expensive removal of a very expensive set of stone Ten Commandments from the lobby of the state courthouse. The Ten commandments, for those of you who are heathens, is God’s list of things one should (or shalt) do or not do. These include the ever popular Thou Shalt Not Kill. Am I missing something here? philosopher. His answer, “Jesus Christ.” Makes sense. Jesus was famous for his preventive strike doctrine and for favoring tax breaks for the rich. His friends were the wealthy and powerful and he taught that “the spin shall make you free.” What would Jesus do? What would Jesus wear? How would Jesus vote? What would Jesus drive? (Okay, I think we know.) Who would Jesus kill? All the bad guys, or just the really bad ones? How would Jesus handle an aggressive panhandler? Where would Jesus hang out? Where would Jesus send his kids to school? Would he send them to a Christian academy? Another American who seemed to have taken Jesus as his favorite political philosopher was Martin Luther King, Jr., who spoke of how his commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ “led him to take a stand, not just on civil rights, but on poverty, and on war. True compassion,” he said in 1967, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard. And superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” During his election campaign, someone asked George Bush for his favorite political Jesus was the First Republican? Jesus was the First Radical? Take your pick. S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Thank You! by Robert Manassa I’m writing to say thanks to all of the many patrons who purchase Streetvibes from me. I can’t really find enough words to express my gratitude to you all. Each time I see the smiling faces coming toward me I can’t help but try to hold onto my emotions. I’m filled with lots of elation. Some of you may not take the time to talk to me, the reason for your hesitation I can’t figure. That’s not an issue with me. Each month I try, with all that’s inside of me, to compose the poems of my heart and soul. You may or may not feel me, but believe me, it’s something I know is true. The things I write about are from experiences I had in life. I hope I am an inspiration to you. I hope to reach some of you. I know I won’t reach all, though I want to. Keep on being the faithful patrons that you are. Again, I say thank you! The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. Dante It is penance to work, to give oneself to others, to endure the pinpricks of community living. Dorothy Day Streetvibes 3rd Best in North America by the North American Street Newspaper Association Story, Editorial and Art Submis­ sion Deadline for the March 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, February 12th Page 3 Page 3 �Myths breed neglect, violence against Cincinnati’s homeless should be allowed to live under by Andy Erickson get themselves out of an bridges. Respondents were asked unexpected situation. Education Coordinator Sue was in her sixties and to leave comments. These same myths also Many of the comments was a nurse for many years. A discount the many homeless few months ago she unexpectedly said things like, “They are bums children in our city. No one likes lost her job and became homeless who chose not to get an education to think of a child going and got involved with drugs, as a result. She fought hard and homeless. Therefore, many of us alcohol or crime eventually obtained housing. instead. Society The proportion of women and children in the When I spoke to her recently, owes them however, she was once again in homeless population today is larger than it has danger of becoming homeless due nothing,” and been since the Civil War era. A recent article “They are not to a job loss. She was crying in USA Today reported that families now make ‘down on their when she said, “I just want to up 41% of the homeless population in the US. luck.’ That have a place where my kids can In Cincinnati, children make up one third of would imply come visit me.” our homeless population. Despite facts like that these People often have an these, many of our housed Cincinnatians people worked image of the homeless as “bag firmly believe the myths they hear about the hard in life and ladies” or “drunken bums.” But homeless... that fate dealt the majority of our homeless them tragedy… citizens are like Sue, living in the homeless got exactly what shelters or on the streets because don’t. To admit that children are they deserved.” of rising housing costs, job loss, homeless and hungry is to admit There are many comments that we have homeless people and other economic problems. The proportion of women like this, and you can view them who need help and care from the all at http:// and children in the rest of us. The sad fact is that homeless population www.wcpo.com/ there are 8,000 children in today is larger than it news/2003/local/ Cincinnati who will experience has been since the Civil 07/17/ homelessness at some point War era. A recent homeless.html during the year. Not one of the article in USA Today Myths like angry comments on Channel 9’s reported that families the ones quoted poll even mentioned them. now make up 41% of above serve a While many people use the homeless function. If we stereotypes to justify neglect of population in the US. believe that the homeless people, others go even In Cincinnati, children homeless don’t further, using them as justification Andy Erickson make up one third of deserve help (or for hate speech or physical our homeless that they are violence. A disturbing number of population. Despite facts like beyond help), it makes it easy for comments on the Channel 9 these, many of our housed us to ignore the men, women, and website suggested that the Cincinnatians firmly believe the children who are experiencing homeless be “locked up” or myths they hear about the homelessness in our city. We can “forced to leave town.” One homeless. write them off as undeserving and person said we should “make it An online poll conducted forget about them. Of course, in illegal for them to vote.” Another by Channel 9 in August 2003 order to do this, we have to even casually stated, “Toss the bums in the river for all I care, as asked people to state whether or discount the many people like not they thought homeless people Sue, who work hard every day to long as it will improve the city visually.” At the height of the issue over the bridge encampments, when this poll was conducted, homeless people in Cincinnati frequently became victims of hate crimes and physical violence. Some were pelted with rocks, bottles, or eggs while they slept. Others’ belongings were stolen or destroyed. Some people’s camps were even set on fire. Nationally, hate crimes like these have been growing in numbers. Over the past four years, there have been 212 documented hate crimes against homeless people, 123 of which resulted in death. We need to abandon the harmful myths that we spread when we talk about homeless people. We at least owe that to the homeless children in our community, to the victims of hate crimes, and to people like Sue who have worked so hard to get out of their situation. We need to recognize that homelessness affects thousands of people every year in this city, and that harmful speech can only make matters worse. Write Us! We’d like to hear from you.... Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition office attn: Streetvibes Letters, 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Page 4 �Can You Force The Homeless Into Shelters? by Judy Newkirk The weather is bitter cold today and most people are warm inside shelter. Not Mike. He’s been sleeping in a sleeping bag on Calhoun Street in Clifton for two years now under the protection of a slight overhang in front of the Indian Krishna Restaurant. They give him a free meal every day, I’m told. I’m not sure. It’s hearsay from a couple of welldressed men down the street about a block away who told me also, “Not to worry. He’s happy there so leave him alone.” So I leave him alone, give him a dollar, tell him not to freeze to death because I care about him, and go on my way. Oh, I did get him to promise me that he would go with social workers should he feel really sick. They’ve been there before to talk to him, Psychiatric Mobile Crisis Unit, CRI’s PATH people and I got the report back from them that there’s no way to force Mike into shelter – something about Ohio’s Revised Code and that City Council vacillates on the issue. Do you suppose that maybe Mike ought to sue over the issue of neglect? Does anybody really talk to him much? One day about a month ago I did just that. Out of curiosity I asked Mike where he came from. Aliens, he said. He comes from Russia, his commanding officer is coming back, he works for the Feds, he Maybe that’s why I leave him works for the Butler County alone. Relatively speaking, he Sheriff’s department as an seems pretty cool with himself undercover cop. He once had a house in Oakley, worked on a job when he crawls out from under his tent and hobbles toward where he had to be alone a lot, Arby’s for coffee. grew up in foster care and has Well, I told you how I been in Rollman’s when it was a talked to Mike, listened to his psychiatric hospital where the talks, and that day, a few weeks doctors told him it was a DNA ago, thought he was willing to go problem. I got all this while into shelter. I waited for two sitting with him at Arby’s on hours for the CRI, PATH people Calhoun where he drank enough coffee with enough sugar packets to show up. They never did even though the two policemen who and smoked enough cigarettes to cause brain damage. “Stop aggravating me, lady! I like However the snow,” he replied....I left to go Mike is not home, where my concern caused a stupid. He wanted to be big argument with a friend who had warm. He lived in his own van after his asked me if I business failed. new of a place where they would leave him alone enough to came into Arby’s called them for me on their cell phone. It was enjoy nature. He loves the snow. He doesn’t like cults. He doesn’t voice mail. The only thing I got accomplished, according to want missionaries after him. Well, I don’t either. I’m a Mike’s next report, was to get him humanist. Mike shouldn’t have to shooed off a busy traffic area. Police had told him to leave listen to a sermon to get a free Krishna. I happened to drive by meal, to get clean clothes and a and view him in a doorway shower, possibly a shave and a haircut, to get the dirt cleaned out around the corner across the street from under his findernails, to live from Inn the Wood restaurant. It was the holiday season and no in an atmosphere where al least one was working on a phone line. there’s more mental stimulation It was raining and cold. than all day dead in a sleeping “Get in the car, Mike,” I bag. He shouldn’t be coerced to said, “I’m taking you down to the take drugs that might turn him Drop Inn Center.” into a zombie existence or even “Stop aggravating me, cause further brain damage. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. Albert Einstein Know Your Rights Brochure Available! The Know Your Rights Brochure is now available at the Coalition’s office. The brochure is a legal guide for Cincinnati’s homeless and covers a person’s basic rights when interacting with the police, as well as some local laws that might be of interest to the homeless population. If you are a homeless person or if you work with homeless people and would like to obtain free copies of the brochure for yourself or your agency, please call 421-7803, or stop by the Coalition office and pick one up. S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 lady. I like the snow,” he replied. I left to go home, where my concern caused a big argument with a friend who had lived in his own van after his business failed. He was there for a long time, even in the dead of Ohio’s winter. My friend did have a heater that would at least allow him to get to sleep until about two in the morning when he would wake up and shiver his body for enough warmth to get back to sleep. Mike has a sense of humor and is not threat to outsider. One time after the holidays when I gave him change, he asked if the red mark on my right cheek had been caused by someone hitting me with a snowball after they refused to get into my car. Yesterday, when I walked past Krishna, Mike was up and talking about Elliott Ness, the Untouchables, and I just walked away like everybody else does. But I wonder. Did socalled parents sit him down in front of the television set for long hours without speaking to him about what he’s viewing? I’ve seen it in a child when I volunteered for a very short time at LaBlonde Boys and Girls Club – the ability to get into a fantasy world and the ability to live totally in another dimension that is not the norm in our society. I think Mike needs psychoanalysis but he’ll never get it. It’s for the rich to make them even more powerful. National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 Help build a powerful, resident led organization! The Republic Street & Vine Street Block Clubs are fighting for the rights of lowincome residents in Over-the-Rhine and they are going strong. Block clubs are forming in other parts of the neighborhood, too. Call the Contact Center at 381-4242 or stop by 1227 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine to learn more about how you can get involved with these resident led organizations. Page 5 Page 5 �The Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland flower we only barely imagined. I The Peace Village joined sit on a hill, under very bright the ceremonies in Cincinnati Winter sun, the temperature honoring Rev. Martin Luther King, hovering around 17 degrees, Jr. Monday, January 19. We warmed by the knowledge that started at Fountain Square and peace is at work, both under and walked with the community to hear over the ground, reaching deeply the MLK Choir, led by Peace for sustenance, raising its arms to a Villager, Kathy Roma, and some friendly sun and moon, and wonderful talks. I used to sing in awaiting the snow and rain of the chorus and had to decide everyday. I can see my breath with whether to walk in the march or each exhale. I can feel the pulse of sing. peace as life even though I am I chose to walk and enjoy bundled up. We continue, hand to the singing from the audience at hand, season to season, signal to Music Hall. Everything was free signal, walking with and for peace. and we welcomed everyone to “What more do we need to walk with us and our beloved community. Peace Villager, Roy Jones, an extraordinary young Cincinnati artist, has shared with me his painting of the Rev. King in the jail cell in Birmingham. When I look at this fresh look at the young King, I can see both his anxiety about being in a Southern jail and his dreams for Dr. Steve Sunderland a different day. We work for this day for our troubled know about war?” This question city and world. jumped out at me as I visited and I was reminded of all I tried to see all of the “D-Day didn’t know about King’s impact Museum” in New Orleans. on the South when I visited the Obviously the work of proud Ogden Art Museum in New museum planners, the story spills Orleans. out in many directions as we easily The museum is dedicated to can see how little the US was giving a space to Southern artists prepared for the German and and it is has the best collection of Japanese war plans. Very quickly, African American art I have seen following Pearl Harbor, the change outside of Hampton University’s in the American policy and action wonderful museum. It also has a occurs as a giant war machine is great collection of non-African fueled and unleashed to American artists as well. King is a counterattack the Nazis and “Japs.” topic in many paintings and Very early in the museum we get to pictures. meet soldiers from Germany and There is a photo of Rev. the U.S. through pictures, films, Ralph Abernathy and Rev. King on and audio tapes of what it was like the first desegregated bus that must to encounter war. If this is not be seen. Their look is surprise and enough, there are veterans of the anxiety: “Were they really on the WW 2 walking and sitting bus?” throughout the floors, eager to What does our fledgling answer any question and clarify the work mean? We are a band of allreality. I asked one vet, probably in season peace planters, caring for his 80s, about the survival of those our gardens as best we can. This is thousands of paratroopers that was good work. At this time. With sent behind the lines at the very each other. We plant hoping for a start of the D Day landing. No harvest; we reap, hoping that our exhibit seemed to answer what fruit is tasty; we look into the happened to them. The vet said ground and wonder at the miracle with a gruff voice: “We lost almost of seeds and roots. “What has every damn one!” End of grown peace, right here and in this conversation. season?” we wonder. What has Each floor was filled with turned over the right amount of soil exhibits about technical prowess so that the seed took just the right and the consequences in death to root, received the nourishment these very young men. Voices of from us and the ground, and survivors were heard coming from transformed into the plant and certain exhibits, accompanied by S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 the pictures, the sad and horrible through the wounding and pictures of very young men who crippling battles. The price of were heading into what surely was stopping Nazis and Japanese a kind of hell that even the pictures policies meant nothing short of the and words and sounds of arms loss of more people than could be could not portray accurately. I was counted and, so many, that it numbed by the films of the beach seemed like a ridiculous idea that landings, with wave after wave of war would continue. The passion Allied soldiers stepping out of the of the soldiers was clear and their landing crafts (invented by and commitment to each other was New Orleans native) into a curtain made evident. Yet, it was clear that of bullets, mines, bombs and every this “great” war was fought with conceivable obstacle. And, they the very young, inexperienced, and died, in waves, in layers, in the gullible class of “warriors,” water, on the land, in foxholes, in whether they are American, sandy holes, and in the arms of English, Canadian, German, medics, other soldiers, shocked and Japanese or Italian. So many wounded or just lucky to have young people dead. found an angle that kept them safe We were in New Orleans at from the storm of killing arms. the same time that preparation was Vets of the war were taking place for the Sugar Bowl proudly everywhere, welcoming football game. Thousands of visitors, selling books and stuff in college youth, parents, alums, and the gift shop, and taking bags as we friends were walking the streets, entered. Large planes are in the day and night, celebrating in the front lobby of a very large entrance rituals of end of the season football area. A kind man takes us to the games. Here were thousands of side as we go in and says that there young people enjoying themselves, are two ways to see the exhibits, mostly men but lots of women depending upon time. He is a wearing their school colors. A kindly grandfather type, genuinely good mood was evident interested in our seeing as much as everywhere as long as you steered possible. We proceed into the first away from those “warriors” who exhibits and very quickly we see had a little too much to drink. that there is no “short” tour; rather, How many of these young men any length of time will be a test of were going off to Iraq, or our emotions and our capacity to somewhere else equally dangerous? imagine the carnage that will be Would they understand why they described. I was reminded of were going? Would I understand walking the grounds of Gettysburg, why their lives were being gambled the entrance of the Holocaust in this old and bloody game? We Museum in Washington, D.C., and are at war. Close to 500 American the Austrian Concentration camp at soldiers have been killed; close to Mauthausen: no one entering 3,000 soldiers wounded, and we would ever be the same when you were on “Orange Alert.” How left. much more do we need to know Three hours of looking and about war, the death of young men feeling were enough for my wife, and woman, and the madness of Stefanie, and I. I finished the battle? museum by going to the book store to find some publications on peace. Dr. Steve Sunderland, There was not one book on peace professor of Social Work at or the psychological consequences the University of Cincinnati, of the battles on the soldiers, the is the Director of The Peace people of the countries, and/or the Village, a group of connection of what we were seeing individuals from the to the continuation of war. In an national and international obvious way, the whole museum community committed to could have been a poster for peace. examining all issues of The death of all of these people, Peace in the world. Dr. mostly young soldiers, under Sunderland also heads up indescribable conditions, shouted Posters-for-Peace which out that this was a barbaric way of engages people in solving problems of aggression and expressing their visions of violence. What would the world Peace, in their own words, have been like if there had been no through the creation of Hitler, no military adventure by posters. Japan and no response by the Allied forces? was a question that was (Business Card Size, ad ready copy) impossible to ignore. Millions of Reach 18,000 customers per month human lives were lost. Millions of lives were broken Call Streetvibes @ 421-7803 Rent This Space! Only $25 per month... Peace Village Page 6 �How Do We Treat Our Fellow Man? by Mary Gaffney conflict in the world; low employment in the city, etc. You Happy New Year to each and every one of our readers. name it we got it! It all makes me think. Maybe you are not a bible When you see this issue of Streetvibes, it will be the second reader, but in the Book of month of 2004. Revelation it says these things will It is my prayer to our Most come to be; wars, fires, and Heavenly Father that, with His floods. It talks about flying chariots love and mercy, (airplanes). It also this year will be speaks of more peaceful and destruction by prosperous in working to help fires (terrorists). These things make our fellow man, you wonder. How especially, as you is our fellow man know, my treating each homeless friends. other, regardless I care very deeply Ms. Mary Gaffney of race, creed, or for our homeless friends. We are all his children in color? On the unemployment scene; the city, the country, it His eyesight. As I watched the flakes of makes you wonder when all of this will end. snow begin to come down today But my real issue, as you and I looked at my friends coming in from the cold for a cup of coffee know, is homelessness which I deal with every day. The question or a warm smile, I want to make these days a little brighter. I can’t answer is why there isn’t more concern for these people. I As we enter the New Year get calls from people who are it seems like there is so much We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of treat poor and disenfranchised peace that we make ungrudgingly individuals as second-hand citizens. for the cause of war. There is no Martin Luther King task that is more important or challenged us to question these closer to my heart. philosophical dilemmas in our Albert Einstein everyday lives, no matter what our life circumstance. More than 30 years after his death Martin Luther King Jr. is seen as the voice for all poor people – people left behind in the wake of economic affluence, who are stuck in low paying jobs and homelessness and poverty. After 30 years, his voice still rings true. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial March was held in downtown Cincinnati to rekindle the spirit of his work and to provide a voice to the unheard, to provide inspiration to those who have been cast aside by society’s indignities. Spirit of MLK Celebrated The tri-state’s observance of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday included many events on Monday, January 19th, the official federal holiday. A highlight of the yearly remebrance is the march from Fountain Square to Music Hall, which this year featured a performance of a requiem written by the Rev. Charles Walker, minister of the 19th Street Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Many people know first hand that the work that eventually took King’s life still goes on today. The challenges that human rights workers face now are bigger than ever. Segregation and racism still have a stronghold on African American communities. Police and City government continue to concerned about people sleeping in tents. Also, why are policemen hassling our Streetvibes Vendors and the homeless in general? It seems at this time there is no real answer. I am asked why the city leader can’t do anything. I can’t find an answer. As I sit here today with my friends, some are hurt, cold and really disgusted, with no jobs, and with families. Some have had a police record and it is still held against them, making it difficult to get services. It isn’t only men but women and families too. Not all of these men and women are addicts which is a stereotype of the homeless. I know because I am with them everyday. And believe it or not, there are many things that you can learn from these folks that will open your eyes to what is really happening. As the New Year begins let it begin with more love for our fellowman, and may there be more peace in the world. Until the next Streetvibes, be good and always remember that God loves you. Wish List... Can You Help? Streetvibes newspaper is published monthly on a shoe-string budget from the offices of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Can you help us with some of the following items? * Digital Camera & Accessories * VCR for making copies of Streetvibes TV show and for educational packets * Blank VHS tapes * Desktop paper folder * Supplies (paper towels, toilet paper ) * Cleaning Supplies * Office Supplies - postage stamps, floppies, copier paper and other supplies If you can help, contact us at: Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-7803 e-mail: Streetvibes@juno.com MLK Rally on Fountain Square S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Page 7 Page 7 �Berta’s Art Corner A Winter’s Painting, Washington Park, Overthe-Rhine, looking east at 12th and Elm Street Buy Streetvibes From Badged Vendors Only! Streetvibes Vendors are required to sign a code of conduct and agree to abide by all the rules of the Streetvibes Vendor Program. If a Vendor misrepresents or breaks the rules, she/he may be removed from the Program. To report a Vendor, call 421-7803. ext. 16 Authorized Vendors always wear a Badge! Streetvibes: A proud member of the North American Street Newspaper Association.... Representing over 50 street newspapers throughout the United States and Canada VISIT - www.nasna.org Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) Front Streetvibes vendors are paticipants in a program at the Coalition for the Homeless that allows them to distribute the Streetvibes newspaper for a $1.00 donation. The money used to purchase the paper goes to the individual vendor. Vendors are not employees of the Coalition for the Homeless. Vendors are not fundraising for the Coalition for the Homeless. Back of Badge While we make every effort to provide a forum for those without a voice, STREETVIBES and the staff of THE GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, is not responsible for statements, and do not necessarily endorse the opinions of the people whose writings are represented here. Each vendor must sign and agree to abide by the following code of conduct.... 1. Streetvibes will be distributed 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 can not 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. Vendors must also never sell Streetvibes door-to-door. 8. Vendors must not deceive customers while selling Streetvibes. Vendors must be honest in stating that all profits go to the individual vendor. S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 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. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct 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. Nelson Mandela... Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the World. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Page 8 �Making shelters safe for all Is it Worth Your Penny? by Judi Clark Ohio stands to lose apselection (beds genders How much are you willing proximately $750 million in general closer to staff may by Elizabeth Linville be better). In The National some situations, Coalition for the Homeless there are enough (NCH) and the National Gay transgender and Lesbian Task Force residents to create released an important new a wing solely for Elizabeth Linville report in December of 2003 them. entitled Transitioning Our Harassment: Shelter staff Shelters: A Guide to Making should work to address and stop Homeless Shelters Safe for harassment of transgender people. Transgender People. This guide is This should be included in written to help shelters provide safe policy. housing for transgender persons. Dress Codes: Dress code “We believe that every should not be based on gender. A person has the right to shelter and more constructive policy would that right should not be denied focus on covering of certain body because of ignorance, injustice or areas, not on wearing gender insensitivity,” said Donald appropriate clothes. Whitehead, Executive Director of Concerns of Other the National Coalition for the Residents: Some residents may be Homeless. uncomfortable and unwilling to live The following is a summary with a transgender resident. of some of the important steps the Trainings with the shelter residents guide recommends shelters enact to may be one way to deal with this protect the civil rights of problem. transgender people. Referrals: A resident’s The Intake Conversation: transgender status is confidential in Staff should talk with all potential referrals, unless they give residents about their privacy, safety permission to staff ahead of time. and any policies affecting Many transgender people transgender residents during this face discrimination in the conversation. It is important to workplace and in housing; this inform the resident about a shelter’s intolerance can increase their confidentiality policy and that chances of becoming homeless. It transgender status is a part of this. is important that shelters and other It is also recommended that intake social service agencies work to forms allow clients to describe their create a safe environment for own gender, rather than giving people of all genders. them the typical options of male, If you are interested in female, and other. reading this report in its entirety, Restrooms: Transgender you can download a copy at the people should be allowed to use Task Force’s website (http:// whichever bathrooms match their www.TheTaskForce.org). self-identified gender. Shelters should provide whatever privacy and safety alterations necessary to facilitate this. Showers: This, too, is an area where privacy is a necessity. Transgender people should use the showers that correspond to their self-identified gender. Sleeping Arrangements: This should be based on a transgender person’s self-identified gender. Safety precautions should be taken in determining the best bed to pay to keep schools open, help low-income working parents stay employed with child care services, food for the hungry, services to elderly Ohioans? Is it worth your penny? Ken Blackwell doesn’t think so. In a move that is both irresponsible and a possible conflict of interest, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is leading an effort to repeal the penny sales tax added in the last budget. The sales tax, while not the most desired way to raise revenues for Ohio, allowed us to retain many of the services and programs that were slated to be cut. Hundreds of OEC members and supporters sent postcards and made phone calls in support of increasing the sales tax if it meant keeping services. We testified in budget hearings and rallied in Columbus. We met with our legislators to let them know how important child and health care were to Ohioans. Now all of these gains are in jeopardy. revenue funds if the sales tax is repealed. All gains we made in the last budget debate will be lost. Ohio will not be able to afford to continue spending on social service programs and education without the money the penny generates. Local government funds will also be cut. That means you may not have a firefighter when you need one or the library where your child does school work will be closed. Ohioans cannot afford to sit back and let this happen. We must work hard to educate our friends and neighbors, let them know what Ken Blackwell and the anti-tax lobbies are not telling them. We have a tough fight ahead of us. Mr. Blackwell and his group of supporters have the money to pay professional lobbyists. We have only our collective voices. We used those voices effectively last spring. We need to use them once more to defeat this proposal and SAVE OUR PROGRAMS. The GCCH would like to thank Starbucks for their generous donation of coffee and pastries. Story, Editorial and Art Submission Deadline for the March 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, February 12th S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Page 9 Page 9 �People Tell George Bush “Move-On”! by Mary Burke & Dianna Schweitzer On Monday evening, January 12, 2003 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, MoveOn.org named the winner in their “Bush in 30 Seconds” campaign. A 30-second TV ad that focuses on George W. Bush’s trillion-dollar debt. America’s children was the winner in the nationwide search for the best spot to tell the truth about the Bush Administration’s policy failures. The ad also got the highest rating from members of the public, who gave it the “People’s Choice” award as well. “Child’s Pay,” by Charlie Fisher, 38, of Denver features young children working in difficult service and manufacturing jobs – washing dishes, hauling trash, repairing tires, cleaning offices, assembly-line processing and grocery checking – followed by the line: “Guess who’s going to pay off President Bush’s $1 trillion deficit?” Sean Mullaney (l) and Dianna Schweitzer thank Al Franken for his amusing participation. government and our role in the world and to create opportunities for education. The energy has a high celebratory element too, making it feel so right to sing, dance, and beat the drum for the principles of peace, democracy, and the power of people working collectively. A panel of celebrities and political experts helped choose the winners after more than 110,000 people came to the Web site www.bushin30seconds.org in December to rate the more than 1,000 ads posted. Over 2.9 million viewer ad ratings were submitted. The contest was created by MoveOn.org Voter Fund to try to make the political process more accessible to ordinary Americans unlikely to be hired to create advertising in traditional political campaigns. “This has been an amazing experience in grassroots engagement, and all of us have been thrilled to work with such creative people,” said Eli Pariser, campaigns director for the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. “These ads give voice to the deep concerns our millions of members have with the direction our country is headed.” The MoveOn.org Voter Fund is a political committee created to comply with the new federal campaign finance laws. It runs ads and engages in other efforts to expose the policy failures of the Bush Administration. More information can be found at www.moveonvoterfund.org and at www.bushin30seconds.org. As of January 22 MoveOn.org reports that CBS has refused to run the winning ad claiming it is too controversial. What is CBS’s interest in keeping this ad off the air? Perhaps more importantly, what else has CBS kept from us and who controls the mainstream media? it an un-American act, thanks in to convey both his fear of the United States as well as his love of part to the Patriot Act. The biggest inspiration and our strength and beauty. Liberty entertainment of the evening, and Cabbage was the name given to the reason for the event, were the sauerkraut during World War I, 30-second videos and their similar to our Freedom Fries and creators. The content of the ads Freedom Toast of today.) Janeane Garofalo served as the host and she was gut-wrenching, ironic, playful, edgy, sad, angry and just downright kept everyone clever. The number of entries was laughing with incredible; over 1,500 videos were her smart insight into our entered in the contest from all over the US. The entries ranged from culture, obviously homegrown and folksy especially the media. Several to very polished and professional, other celebrities with ads running the gamut making it to the top 15. including As evidenced by the videos, Michael Moore, people are angry about the actions Moby, Al of the Bush Administration Franken, John Sayles, and Julia regarding the invasion of Iraq, the tremendous deficit, elimination of Stiles environmental protections, the participated in blurring of the separation of church the event. and state, etc. However, the event It was was not so much about anger as it especially was about taking action. Taking exciting to action produces a contagious attend such an Michael Moore congratulates winner Charlie Fisher event at this energy, inspiring each of us to do what we can to educate ourselves time in our and others regarding our country, when people are attacked The evening awards gala for speaking out with voices was kicked off with the crowd of dissent. The entertainers standing for the National Anthem, and video participants were the Jimi Hendrix rendition of Star taking a chance on receiving Spangled Banner. Comedienne heat from the Republican Margaret Cho then took the stage and humorously explained why it is National Committee (or Repugnant National important to give people “too Committee as Cho called much information”, as the slogan them). Actress Julia Stiles goes. She says that it’s important acknowledged she was to speak out on issues that make fearful of participating people uncomfortable, because that’s how change is going to come knowing that she would likely be labeled as unabout. The audience was inspired by Chuck D. of Public Enemy. His American. She went on to say it is that fear that keeps music and his message brought people quiet and it is for everyone to their feet as the precisely that reason that she audience danced and engaged in a call and response. Rufus Wainright realized she must speak out. While free speech is brought a smile and recognition guaranteed in our with a sweet rendition of his song Dianna Schweitzer (left) and Mary Burke (right) congratulate finalist Ty “Liberty Cabbage”. (The song was Constitution, the political Pierce (center) of Columbus, Ohio, winner of best animation for his video environment today has made “What I been up to...” written by Wainright, a Canadian, S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Bits & Pieces Page 10 �8,00 0 HO M E LESS CH I L DRE N H AT E CRIME S IN V IS IB L NT E ME DOM VIO EST L Y LO P EM UN L TA S EN E M LN IL N IO T IC V E TY Y RT PO VE R R E G N U H ADDICTION Y ED AG TR HOM ELE SS CIN I N CIN N AT I U N N M E E ET D S SS E EL C I VO wear your heart on your sleeve I WILL DONATE: $25 $50 $75 $100 $200 $500 They aren’t your normal candy hearts. Instead of “hug me” or “be mine,” they are the many frightening messages that Cincinnati’s homeless hold in their own hearts. This year in Cincinnati, more than 25,000 individuals will find themselves homeless at some point. They are laid off their jobs, fleeing abusive relationships, battling mental illness or addicted to drugs and alcohol. They are men, women, children, families, veterans and disabled people. They are all ages, races and from many backgrounds. They are staying in our shelters, on the streets, in abandoned buildings or doubled-up with their friends and relatives. Their hearts may be broken. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addressing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and the coordination of services, we can end homelessness in our city. But we can not do it alone. We depend on the community to open their hearts. This February, please help us achieve our fundraising goal, so that we can continue our important work. Cut the coupon and pick a heart. Rest assured, it will warm the hearts of others. Send your donation to: Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 all donations are tax-deductible S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 GCCH News Page 11 Page 11 �Now at Public Library; THROUGH OUR EYES Book by Catholic high school students and Homeless Coalition by John Zeh The colorful 79-page book, “Through Our Eyes: Reflections on Homelessness,” an unprecedented exploration of issues prepared by high school students and the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), is now available at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. “This is a big step for the Coalition, to help educate more people so they can see the true lives of homeless people,” said GCCH director Georgine Getty. At a reception, she applauded the book’s creators for their “vision to shed light on homelessness and social justice outside their own comfort zones.” Homelessness issues are problems shared by “all of us,” she said. “They touch many whose lives are just like our own.” The book is available at the Main Library’s Education and Religion department downtown at 800 Vine Street and can be sent to any of its 41 branches via www.CincinnatiLibrary.org or (513) 369-6900. The book’s call number is 362.509771 T531 2003. In the collaborative, experiential learning project researching the book, students journeyed into the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood northwest of downtown to visit a homeless shelter and GCCH office. They conducted interviews to learn about the issues through the eyes of people without homes or ones who recently lacked a home of their own. The O-T-R “hood” and GCCH became their classroom, with real-world lessons. The book is to be the cornerstone of GCCH’s new, multi- media outreach effort for area educators. It is full of color photographs, personal reflections, poetry, artwork, and nine interviews conducted by some 71 Mother of Mercy students. The digest will be packaged with a videotape and supportive print material to educate students about causes and results of America’s growing homeless crisis. Kevin Pease and Serendipity Design directed design, layout, and artwork requiring “long hours to ensure that all participants had their voice represented and their vision accurately captured in book form,” said Getty. “Kevin is not your every-day graphic designer,” she added, but one on a “holistic journey, with an incredible work ethic and infinite patience.” Mother of Mercy educators Susan Straub and Kathryn Schnier were also recognized. Kara Koch, Abby Powell, and Katie Freshley were credited for their photography used in the full-color cover collage showing a child’s face, the GCCH office sign, and a member of Artists for the Drop Inn Center, one of the formerlyhomeless people profiled in the book. The cover was enlarged to make a large poster for GCCH’s Elm Street office near Music Hall. The project was funded with a $5000 grant from the Greater Cincinnati Youth Grantmaking Council, which has national support from the Corporation for national and Community Service and locally by Xavier University and the Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation. GCCH describes itself as “a unified social action group, fully committed to our ultimate goal: eradication of homelessness with respect for the dignity and diversity of our membership, the homelessness, and the community.” Its work includes coordination of services, educating the public, grassroots organizing, and advocacy. It is a member of Greater Cincinnati Community Shares, often called a grassroots, people’s United Way. GCCH was formed on May 30, 1984 as a political action organization to advocate for the needs of homeless people citizens of Greater Cincinnati who had no voice in the halls of power. It began with just an answering machine and a coalition of 15 organizations and advocates. Since then, it has grown to include over 70 agencies: advocates for the poor and homeless, homeless individuals, shelters, transitional houses, emergency food programs, social service agencies, churches, low-income housing groups, and co-ops. Membership crosses all political, social and religious lines. It directs its energy toward both meeting the immediate need for emergency shelter and transitional housing and toward providing permanent housing, jobs and health care for all. It meets monthly to share information and discuss public policy issues affecting the city’s homeless population. Journalist John Zeh experienced homelessness himself when an apartment manager evicted him before her conviction of laundering money orders that Zeh and others used for rent. He lives in O-T-R, and can be reached at johnzeh146@yahoo.com. Story, Editorial and Art Submission Deadline for the March 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, February 12th Write Us! Send letters to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition - Streetvibes 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 GCCH News Page 12 �Words from the Evangelist… Do Justice… Walk Humbly With God Micah 6:6-8 and Matthew 25:31-46 were written in different centuries and in times that were very different from our own, yet they address relationships in a way that is contemporary and real for us today. Micah 6:6-8 tells us that God is more concerned with how we treat one another, ourselves, and God than in our rituals and celebrations. The prophet Micah lived in the eighth century B.C.E. It was a time filled with personal and political excess and corruption. Micah proclaimed that individual actions and relationships could make or break the entire realm. He also pointed out that the people would eventually make loving and life-giving choices, and their world would again be filled with joy. Eight centuries after Micah lived, Jesus words in Matthew 25:31-46 echo the words of the prophet. Jesus tells us that the way we treat friends, family, and strangers is, in effect, the way we treat God. I believe the city of Cincinnati in this year 2004 can gain a lot by taking head to both the words of the prophet and Jesus. Having received the ranking of the 6 meanest city to homeless individuals it behooves us to evaluate our relationship to those individuals who are homeless. The scripture clearly tells us that what God requires of us is to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. MARCC, the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati, has made housing (and therefore homelessness) one of its two priorities for the 2004 year. They are the people of faith who th helped bring us the Collaborative Agreement and have been advocates of social justice since the riots of the 60’s. I am proud to be a part of this ecumenical effort for justice and a humble walk with God. There are many other agencies and individuals out there working in their own way to eradicate this social problem from our community. Now is the time for us to come together and stand against the personal and political corruption of our time. It is time for people of faith to come together in prayer and definitive action that promotes justice and demonstrates our humble walk with God. All are not called to be activists, but all can pray. All are not homeless, but all need affordable and safe housing. All are not unemployed, but all need a livable wage. All are not addicts and Sheltered White Girl’s Eyes Opened by Shelter by Kate Mock, Ursuline Academy Student In my world that’s enough to make headlines. Until this semester, I never stepped outside of my perfect picket fenced world. Everyone I know shares my background: decent parents, comfortable home, maybe some siblings—nothing too dramatic. It was always in the back of my mind, the fact that not everyone lives as I do, but I was too busy to prove it to myself. Ursuline Academy’s Community Service class forced me to get out there and see what I’ve been sheltered from. After learning of the different service opportunities in Cincinnati, I decided that I would work best at the Drop Inn Center because its mission most closely correlated with my own—to help those less fortunate overcome the trials of poverty and homelessness. I am passionate about providing for the less fortunate because in many cases it is not their fault that they ended up in their position. If one has excess, why shouldn’t it be given to those who have nothing? Makes good sense to me. Beginning work at the Center, I was filled with romantic notions of righting all wrongs and seeing every person immediately put into low-income housing. I imagined myself forming close friendships with every resident in the Center and touching lives irreversibly. I quickly learned that social reformation takes a bit longer than that. I didn’t have any particular view of the neighborhood or the population with which I would be working—I simply saw them as people dealt a cruddy hand in the game of life. I did get nervous when I parked my car; everyone walking by was potentially armed and ready to attack me, rape me, and run off with my car and my wallet. After the first few visits, however, I was able to ignore those ridiculous ideas and continue with business. The Drop Inn Center wasn’t like any place I’d ever been in before. The crystal-clean world of the upper middle class is shattered the second you walk through the doors. People are milling around, outside and inside; people sleep on the benches in the main room; women sit at tables all day and stare into space. These people have nowhere else to go. When I first began visiting the Center, it wasn’t so bad: a few people occupied benches, no big deal. By the middle of November, however, the main room was filled with people, and the smell was suffocating. It’s not easy to access a shower when you don’t even have a home, and the people have to wear practically everything they own, so you end up with lots of people crowded into one room, each person dressed in multiple layers of clothing, and not a single person has showered in several days. I avoided wearing anything nice to the Center, like my leather coat—not because I thought I’d be mugged, but because I felt horrible exhibiting my own affluence around people so obviously down on their luck. The atmosphere is humbling, to say the least. I regret that my job didn’t have much social interaction. I was usually stuffing envelopes in Christina’s office, or making posters in a vacant upstairs room. I suppose it’s for the best, because I usually clam up when interacting with strangers. I helped with resident surveys one day, and while I had a wonderful conversation with one resident, Lamaar, no one else warmed up to me. Obviously, they know I’m “just a volunteer” and they know that I know that they’re homeless, so it’s not like they want to S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 discuss the stock market with me. I respect that. But with that in mind, I never really knew what else to say to them, so I didn’t say much. Christina and her officemate, Lisa, were wonderful, and I enjoyed sharing office time with them. It didn’t hurt that we liked the same music while working. Tom Lee was another staff member I looked forward to seeing. I haven’t the slightest idea if he knows me, but he worked the front desk when I would arrive, and he had a wonderful charisma about him, always whistling or singing to himself. Volunteering at the Drop Inn Center taught me that service isn’t always as simple as handing a person your coat. It has to be run as efficiently as a business, and it requires many employees. Sure, you just hand out food and blankets, but that only brings temporary relief. If you want to end homelessness, you have to find jobs and housing. I was never directly involved in the advocacy program, but it was all around me. The Drop Inn Center isn’t simply about getting people warm and fed; it’s about getting to know the residents and helping them as best you can. When Tom Lee would come down with a money deposit from one of the residents, Christina always knew who the person was, and why he or she wanted money, and frequently expressed satisfaction knowing that the person finally had some. The staff doesn’t know everyone’s history or even everyone’s name, but they care. You can tell they care because they come back to work every day. It’s sad knowing that there is a limit to how much they can do. It was awful, stuffing envelopes in the office, and hearing people discuss how temperamental the grants can be, and how hard they have to work GCCH News mentally ill, but all need healthcare. When we include all in the development and growth of our city, all will benefit. As a formerly homeless individual I serve as one of the CoChairs of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and I firmly believe that people of faith can bring about major changes in this fight to eradicate homelessness from our community. However, we must first care enough to act lovingly and justly toward the men, women, and children who experience homelessness in our community. I challenge you, the reader, (a person of faith) to do justice and walk humble with your God in this year of 2004. Call the Coalition at 4217803 and learn what you can do to help. His Humble Servant, Rodney L. Sutton, Sr. The Evangelist to ensure that the money comes through. Even worse was doing resident surveys and hearing some people complain about everything the staff wasn’t doing, completely disregarding everything that had already been done. Though the work was frequently tedious, volunteering at the Drop Inn Center only strengthened my resolve to work for social harmony. I intend to continue volunteering, and possibly exploring other locations in need of assistance, such as ReSTOC and Peaslee. Seeing the little things that can be done for these organizations is inspiring, and I feel that it is my human responsibility to do as much as I can while I’m young and have the time and resources. I wish everyone could see what I’ve seen, because I don’t think homelessness is a reality to many of the middle-class. But it is a reality, and in a society where so many people live in obscene excess, it only makes sense that these people give a little back. I hope people step outside of their sheltered worlds to help this noble cause, but I hope they don’t expect to see immediate results; it’s an ongoing battle, and every miniscule step is a victory, whether or not one can see the effects. For this reason I intend to continue doing volunteer work throughout my life—it is a cause I feel strongly about, and a few months of my life is not enough. I hope to find plenty of volunteer opportunities in college, and I plan to teach music in underprivileged schools after graduating. My Personal Mission Statement; When one finds oneself with excess time, and in the position to maintain excess possessions, it becomes one’s moral obligation to share the wealth with those less fortunate in any possible way, whether large or small. Page 13 Page 13 �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. Enjoy your life and be happy. Being happy is of the utmost importance. Success in anything is through happiness. More support of nature comes from being happy. Under all circumstances be happy, Even if you have to force it a bit, To change some long standing habits. Just think of any negativity that comes at you As a raindrop falling into the ocean of your bliss. You may not always have an ocean of bliss, But think that way anyway and it will help it to come. “Doubting is not blissful and does not create happiness. Be happy, healthy, and let all that love flow through your heart.” This sentiment is not original with me. The Maharishi said it back in 1987. It was good advice then and, at the beginning of 2004, it is still good advice. May the Blessings of God be yours today and everyday. peace J. Manigan Inseparable Hearts Morning: Frost still lines the grasses, still paints the gravel of the path. My shoes scuff loudly against the frozen gravel and a thicket gives up its startled finches as I pass. Further on, the sudden, harsh, cry of a hawk. Six times, she cries Seven times Eight times Nine times, Ten! The sun strikes gold beneath her wings. by D-Von Sanders by Mike Henson Oh how I miss you on lonely days like this, What I wouldn’t do for the comfort of your hug and kiss. What I wouldn’t give for the precious gifts your heart brings, Your love is more valuable than any material things. If I was an Angel, I would give up my wings just to have you by my side. If finding happiness requires directions then you must be my guide. they can have my pride, take away my silver plates and shiny gold; all I need is you to fill the empty space that’s been placed within my soul. Oh my Inseparable Heart, I will go far beyond places, I am told no man has gone before. As long as you are there my Inseparable Heart, to hold once I open the door! S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 The Corpse of the Crow by Michael Henson This bird must have borne his body lightly, for he weighs no more in my hands than a cupful of ash, no more than a husk, no more than my mother when she died, no more than a snatch of breath. I have no fear of him now, beak or claw; he does not growl at me, nor glare with his bright black eye, nor stump in a wounded circle, single-winged, more fearful of me than of the trucks of Eastern Avenue. Yet I hold him gingerly, so light in my hands, I feel he might float off, and with respect, as if he were a chalice (though I know this is from guilt for I could not save him. Clumsy, fearful, I know I made his dying harder). Now, I admire him closely in his undiluted blackness. For there is, I think, nothing blacker than the blackness of this tar-drop eye that glints with bright liquid light. And there is nothing blacker than the blackness of these feathers. Each barbule is alive with stark, black light: the mail of the breast, the broad black oars of the wings, the curtains of the throat, the tufted crest at the peak of the skull, the quilted layers that blanket the legs, and the small, intricate feathers that guard the eye, matted by what seems to be a single black tear. And I admire the perfect machinery of the beak, milled and crafted with the clean lines of a chisel. And the black-greaved, leathered legs, jointed like a crustacean and fitted with mechanical claws. I fold him, carefully, into bullet shape and place him, for burial, in the crotch of a tree. Broken ark Bird of warning Temple of cinders Casket of the lost voice. For information on submitting your poetry or art to STREETVIBES email Streetvibes@juno.com Art & Poetry Page 14 �Walk A Little Plainer Daddy Walk a little plainer daddy, Said a little boy so frail I’m following in your footsteps And I don’t want to fail. Sometimes your steps are very plain. Sometimes they are hard to see; So walk a little plainer daddy For you are leading me. I know that you once walked this way Many years ago. And what you did along the day I really like to know. For sometimes when I am tempted, I don’t know what to do. To walk a little plainer daddy For I must follow you. Someday when I’m grown up You are like I want to be. Then I will have a little boy Who will want to follow me. And I would want to lead him right And help him to be true. So walk a little plainer daddy For we must follow you. Soldiers Song by Gary Lehmann A soldier’s eyes slam open interrupting the dead of night like a bayonet in the belly. Ancient fears, forgotten features. His lady brings him water. “It’ll be all right now, honey.” SNAKE LORD WHY? Let me tell you about this girl named Sweet and Petite From heavens above you would think She is a precious gift. But in reality, she makes me sick. See, in her mind, she says she’s a witch. But down on earth we know her as a trick. Like fire and thunder, she often makes em wonder. You know, like Stevie Wonder Calling herself Queen Bee But in reality she lied to me. She’s the devil’s child, running wild makes herself an angel to light You know, smooth, like Dolomite. But it’s out of date, she’s always late Or, her name might be Gail, she’ll put You in living hell. Post with no bail. She’s too fat, she might break her back. Thinks she goes lovey-dovey, she’ a tell-o-tubby She’ll cut you up with her eyes. You got a date with cake and can’t be late. No, in reality, she’s just a snake. Thinking that her heart is made of steel. That girl needs to chill before somebody breaks her grill. She’s bad for your health. Get that poison off your chest and leave her to rest. Lord, why did you put me here to die, to burn, to learn? Lord, why did you put me here to die, in a world full with pain? What is there to gain in this wicked game? What is there to gain when your back is against the wall, and you constantly fall, when everytime you try to get by you fall on your face? What’s left to save the human race? What is there to gain when hope is gone and you are standing all alone? To burn in hell or die in a jail cell? When pain and sorrow, and it seems like no tomorrow, thinking back to the goodness we once had. It seems to me that the worlds is so sad when everybody professes to keep it so real when it comes down face to face. They hold their head down in disgrace in this wicked place. When everybody’s puffing on so much chronic smoke, it seems that life is one big joke. When kids play with guns thinking that this is a game of fun, and money rules the world, and its war and tears, and its man that they fear. Don’t they know the Savior is near? And the heavens open up and I heard a voice say “My son, what I said will be, so always keep your faith in me.” Then I said to the Lord, “Will I drown in the sea or weaken like a willow tree?” Then in reply, the Lord said to me, “Stay strong even if you stand alone.” So my brothers and sisters, we must have hearts like steel to keep it real, looking up to God’s beautiful grace in surrounding this wicked place. Shutter Speed by Jimmy Heath Ron English, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial March, Elm Street S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Art & Poetry Page 15 Page 15 �On the Homeless Front by Israel Bayer Twenty-six years after his turbulent experience in the jungles of Cambodia and Vietnam, Timothy Buchanan became homeless. It’s been nearly 32 years of hardship and anguish for a man who left the United States and traveled 10,000 miles to fight for his country in one of the longest conflicts our nation has ever known. Buchanan was exposed to the chemical Agent Orange on more than one occasion and has post traumatic stress disorder. He talks softly when he says, “I got peppered with that stuff (Agent Orange) over and over again. “I’ve been pretty unstable, due to stress and the streets, for a long time. I’ve dealt with flashbacks and nightmares since I left that place. I just started to talk about my experiences in the mid’90s, but now that I’m ready to let it all out, rarely do people want to listen.” The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that nearly 300,000 veterans are homeless on any given night in the United States. In addition, more than a half-million veterans experience homelessness in a given year, more than a dozen veterans are homeless or have experienced homelessness at street roots newspaper. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, there is a complex set of factors contributing to homelessness for U.S. veterans. A large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with the lingering effects of posttraumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. With an estimated halfmillion who experience homelessness in a given year, the VA estimates that it reaches only 20 percent of those in need, leaving more than 400,000 veterans without services. The average time between soldiers coming home from Vietnam and then becoming homeless was about 12 years, according to Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. But “my gut instinct tells me that, because of the economy and the lack of affordable housing, there will be a significant difference in the time veterans start becoming homeless, compared to Vietnam War veterans,” said Boone. “Veterans are coming home much more abruptly than they did in Vietnam, it may be a lot harder to support your family with the economy the way it is,” she said. “We think there’s an opportunity to prevent homelessness with veterans.” Prevention starts at the Department of Defense, according to Boone, but she said it’s just not happening. Many homeless veterans and advocates in the field say veterans coming out of the military should be given the proper counseling and services needed to enter back into society. “If they would have admitted the damage Agent Orange would have done to me, and given me the proper therapy for being ‘on vacation’, if you Streetvibes Vendor: 70 cents Printing and Production: 30 cents know what I mean, then maybe I could have done better in this life. “I went as crazy as a bed bug after seeing what I saw. I was awful sick when I got back to the states, but I was no longer under any impression that we were saving the world from communism. I thought by going to war I could prove myself to be a man. I was raised on that John Wayne bull#$%@, and that’s exactly what it is — bull#$%@. “I think being homeless has a lot to do with my experience in Vietnam,” Buchanan said. “When I got back, the VA didn’t care about me. For years, I would go in to receive help and they would just call me a dope addict. I selfmedicated because of the constant pain I was in.” “I was hit four times by an AK in the first burst, and was hit once with friendly fire by the 2nd platoon as they came in from the rear. I got gangrene and then they cut my leg off a week later. “The thing that has always bothered me about all of this is that I couldn’t help feeling like the Red Coats, ya’ know,” Buchanan said. “We weren’t protecting anybody from anything. We were the invaders and we didn’t have a cause. The only cause was survival for soldiers and that’s a dangerous circumstance to be in.” According to the Indiana School of Medicine, during the Vietnam War, psychological breakdowns on the battlefield were as low as 12 per 1,000. But in 1973, when direct American troop involvement in Vietnam ended, the number of veterans with psychiatric disorders began to increase 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. tremendously. They began to show symptoms such as intense anxiety, battle dreams, depression, and problems with interpersonal relationships long after their combatant role in the Vietnam War had ceased. Some advocates believe that a more progressive system could be put into place to deal with substance abusers, especially for vets who may have come home with an addiction, like many did from Vietnam. “You shouldn’t have a system that punishes vets on the streets for using,” said one advocate who declined to be named. “It’s a system that punishes people who have seen horrific things or who may be in extreme pain for using a drug to selfmedicate. It’s crooked and wrong. Who are we to say, ‘We’re very proud you went and risked your life for your country, but because you’re a user the punishments will be prison and homelessness.” “We are seeing more Gulf War veterans on the streets in Portland,” says Don Hanson, a Vietnam vet and the career services coordinator with Central City Concern. “In some cases, Gulf War Syndrome is playing a part. Some were probably exposed to chemicals, and the VA is recognizing that more and more. There are a lot of diseases attached to Vietnam and the Gulf War.” Of the 697,000 U.S. troops who served during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, more than 100,000 have registered with the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense, saying they have health concerns. While most of these veterans have been diagnosed with a variety of conditions, more than 154,000, or about 20 percent of those examined, have undiagnosed symptoms, which commonly include fatigue, muscle and joint pains, headaches, memory loss, skin rash, diarrhea and sleep disturbances. There’s no record of how many people are on the streets from the Persian Gulf War or any other conflict the United States has been involved in. “There’s more and more people who are on the streets since the Vietnam era, and that’s probably since some of us are dying out,” says Hanson. Reprinted from street roots, Portland, Oregon, November 2003. Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Editorial Page 16 �More on Homeless Veterans by Israel Bayer News & Editorial gallon drums in which it was stored. Other herbicides, including Agent White and Agent Blue, were also used in Vietnam to a much lesser extent. Between 1961 and 1971, the U.S. military in South Vietnam used more than 19 million gallons of herbicides for defoliation and crop destruction. Several types and combinations of chemicals were used but Agent Orange was the most commonly applied, specifically between January 1965 and April 1970. Herbicides other than Agent Orange were used in Vietnam prior to 1965, but to a very limited extent. Some of the herbicides applying. Source: The Department of Veterans Affairs If the trial of Agent Orange is any measure, it could be decades before the United States and the VA acknowledge what veterans and their families say is a very real disability: “Gulf War Syndrome.” Gulf War Syndrome The VA calls Gulf War Syndrome a non-scientific label used to describe the unexplained illnesses characterized by fatigue, joint pain, skin rash, memory loss and/or diarrhea. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, panels of experts have agreed that the group of veterans suffering affected by disasters such as earthquakes and airplane crashes, The Evolution of Postand are now referred to as postTraumatic Stress Disorder traumatic stress syndrome. Post-Traumatic Stress Source: Indiana School of Syndrome is a very new term. It Medicine was only in World War I that Agent Orange psychiatric syndromes first came Thirty years after its use, to be associated with military the United States finally combat. Until then, it was acknowledged the application and assumed that such causalities potentially devastating affects of were due to cowardice or lack of the defoliant known as Agent discipline. World War I found Orange. This recognition may that the explosion of shells caused open the door to services for not just physiological damage but many veterans suffering the also symptoms called ‘shell effects of toxic exposure. shock,’ and that there was a Viewed as disability, the connection between psychological chronic and debilitating affects of stress and combat. toxic exposure to Agent Orange During World War II, can be an obstacle to psychiatric causalities increased veterans trying to Statistics on homeless veterans: by 300 percent over World War I. return to civilian life. — 23 percent of the homeless population are veterans At one point in the war, the It is also another number of men being evacuated disability that for psychiatric reasons exceeded aggravates a stable life — 33 percent of the male homeless population are veterans the total number of new recruits. and can lead to During the Korean War, a homelessness. — 47 percent are from the Vietnam era new method of dealing with In September psychiatric breakdown was 2000, VA recognized devised. Instead of evacuating that Agent Orange was — 17 percent are from post-Vietnam era affected individuals, they were used in Korea in the given immediate onsite treatment late 1960’s and — 15 percent are pre-Vietnam era so that they could return to duty as approved Agent soon as possible. Evacuations Orange examinations — 67 percent served three or more years due to psychiatric reasons for U.S. veterans who Source: National Coalition for Homeless Veterans dropped from 23 percent in World served in Korea in War II, to 6 percent in the Korean 1968 or 1969. In from the purported syndrome is used in the early years contained War. March 2001, it was ordered that probably not suffering from a greater concentrations of dioxin, During the Vietnam War, those examinations be made battlefield breakdown was as low available to all other veterans who according to the Department of single, common ailment, but rather from a variety of illnesses as 12 per thousand. But in 1973, may have been exposed to dioxin Veterans Affairs. Spraying with overlapping symptoms. occurred in all four military zones when direct American troop or other toxic substances in a involvement in Vietnam ended, Gulf War Syndrome has of Vietnam. Heavily sprayed herbicide or defoliant during the areas included inland forests near been attributed to a number of the number of veterans with conduct of or as the result of sources, including exposure to the demarcation zone; inland psychiatric disorders began to testing, transporting, or spraying increase tremendously. They radiation from depleted uranium forests at the junction of the of herbicides for military used in artillery, side-effects of borders of Cambodia, Laos, and began to show symptoms such as purposes. anti-biological immunizations, South Vietnam; inland forests intense anxiety, battle dreams, Agent Orange was a depression, and problems with and biological weapons. north and northwest of Saigon; herbicide used in Vietnam to kill The VA says that a number mangrove forests on the interpersonal relationships long unwanted plants and to remove of potential causes have been southernmost peninsula of after their combatant role in the leaves from trees that otherwise and mangrove forests Vietnam War had ceased. investigated, but no single theory Vietnam; provided cover for the enemy. appears likely to explain all of the These symptoms were The name, “Agent Orange,” came along major shipping channels southeast of Saigon. undiagnosed conditions. linked to those shown by people from the orange stripe on the 55Some Vietnam veterans In tens of thousands of get disability compensation for protocol medical examinations of Agent Orange-related illnesses. Persian Gulf veterans to date, the VA pays disability compensation VA and the Department of to Vietnam veterans with injuries Defense medical authorities say Advertise in Streetvibes! or illnesses incurred in or they have found no evidence of aggravated by their military infectious diseases beyond the Reach thousands of service. Veterans do not have to range of illnesses common in the downtown workers prove that Agent Orange caused population at large. Research each month! their medical problems to be studies now in progress will eligible for compensation. provide more scientific answers to Rather, VA must determine that this question, but no rigorous, Call 421-7803 for more the disability is “servicereproducible research to date has information about how connected.” A Veterans Services established that Gulf War Representative, at a VA medical veterans’ illnesses are caused by advertising in center or regional office, can an infectious agent. Streetvibes will work explain the compensation Source: Department of Veterans program in greater detail and Affairs for your business.... assist veterans who need help in Extra! Extra! S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Veteran News Page 17 Page 17 �The Iraqis Who Hated Saddam Hate the Americans More by Paul McGeough In Khaldiyah, it’s a war of nerves. A three-meter-deep crater marks the explosion point of a careering car bomb that the local police knew was inevitable. Just across and down a highway that cuts through this small town west of Baghdad is the home of a man the US suspects could help bring an end to these relentless attacks tribal sheik Fanar Al-Kharbit. As black smoke cleared over Khaldiyah and its dusty main street was swept of body parts, shattered glass and clothing now reduced to singed rags, locals went through the grim ritual of tallying the dead - more than a dozen policemen, at least one student from a nearby school, a fruit vendor, a few other streetstallholders and a man who worked in a nearby sewage control office. Acutely aware that he is 120 times more likely to die than his counterpart on the beat in New York, police officer Khalid Hammed said: “The best thing the US can do for us is pull out.” Like other guerilla conflicts, Iraq has become a war of attrition. Super self-protection by the Americans makes them a difficult target. So the insurgents turn more on Iraqis who are seen to be helping the US - police and security workers, the judiciary and local political leaders. The number of attacks against the US is down, but this doesn’t mean that the security situation is any less fraught. While the American forces are poised defensively, like a coiled spring, and while fear grips that portion of the Iraqi people that doesn’t necessarily support the resistance, it is impossible for the US to pull Iraq out of the social and economic chaos that makes many Iraqis hunger for what they remember as the day-to-day orderliness of Saddam’s Iraq. There is little doubt that as a sheik in the Sunni hotbed between Ramadi and Faluja, Fanar Al-Kharbit knows more than he lets on. And there’s the rub: the US has him pegged as a potential source of what it likes to call “actionable intelligence”, but it doesn’t have enough to pull him in. American tanks have rumbled into his walled compound on the banks of the Euphrates River no fewer than seven times in the past few weeks, soldiers tumbling out to rummage through his home while, he says, telling him all the time to “shut up”. The sheik is still full of hard talk, but those who know him say he is a shadow of his former self. Reputed to be one of the richest men in Iraq, he used to strut in crisp traditional dress and hobnob with the most senior elements of the regime. Saddam was a frequent guest at his table until a falling out over business in the early ’90s. Now he is ill-kempt and gaunt. “In the first few months relations with the US were friendly, but now they are trying to provoke me,” he said, pointing to the charred remains of reed beds by the Euphrates, which he said he had been ordered to burn so that his activities might be observed more closely from US observation posts. “This is not liberation, it is an occupation. People are very tired after Saddam’s three wars. I’m worried if the Americans keep attacking me, that my tribe will react - but for now I have told my people not to cause trouble.” The difficulty for Fanar AlKharbit is that in running Saddam into ground, the Americans have displayed a new understanding of Iraqi tribalism and how it dovetails with the resistance. The latest resistance attacks and US arrests - including nine who were described by the officer in charge of Saddam’s detention, Major-General Ray Odierno, as “mid-level operatives: financiers, organisers, arms suppliers” underscore the fluid structure and make-up of the opposition that confronts the US in Iraq. US officials insist that the strategic direction comes from Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri, a longserving Saddam lieutenant whose family properties overlook the farm on which Saddam was dragged from his burrow and who this week became the most senior official of the former regime still on the run. But hampered by poor communications, the evidence suggests great local autonomy and a degree of friction between several competing resistance groups with varying agendas, but all of which are bent on causing trouble for the US. There are Baath Party loyalists, some of whose ardour might be diluted by the finality of Saddam’s capture. But there are also dozens of locally run cells that claim to be vehemently antiSaddam and to be driven by nationalism and a need to protect their huge natural resources especially oil - from what they see as an American grab. Then there are the foreign fighters claimed by the US to be in the service of al-Qaeda and one of its offshoots, Ansar al-Islam. These so-called jihadists come from across the Arab world and are thought most likely to be the parties behind the wave of suicide bombings that started in the summer with the attack on the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad. Responsibility is never claimed for the bombings. The US variously lays the blame at the feet of the foreign terror groups or the Baath Party loyalists. Co-ordination between the resistance groups is little understood, but it is thought to be erratic. Now, some Iraqi villages are being encircled with barbed wire. Only those Iraqis with USissued identity cards may come and go; the relatives of suspected insurgents are being detained and, in some cases, their homes are being demolished. And the Americans are being urged to mirror the Israelis’ extensive West Bank and Gaza informants’ network, which has underpinned the Israeli campaign of summary execution for terror suspects - but which has failed to end the violence or advance the peace. After the Americans’ widely criticised decision to disband, rather than attempt to harness the better elements of the Iraqi military and intelligence services, the US now is calling for help from veterans of Saddam’s feared mukhabarat - the secret police. Also, it is trying to enlist former Iraqi servicemen into the new Iraqi army. But it has suffered a major embarrassment with the revelation that more than one-third of the first Iraqi battalion in training had gone AWOL - only days before it was to begin active service. The US now boasts that it has deployed or is training a greater number of Iraqi security forces than there are US forces in the country - almost 160,000. But they have a way to go. Apart from the campaign of fear by bombing, the police are subjected to near-ritualistic humiliation in the total refusal of city motorists and others to acknowledge their authority; they are widely accused of threatening bogus charges against motorists who refuse to offer bribes and those who are posted at service stations to control angry petrol queues often sell pole position on the queue to the highest bidder. Anger simmers at the prospect of a long wait for adequate supplies of electricity, petrol and cooking gas. If the US stays the course with its timetable for a fully elected new Iraqi government, it could be years before it can be demonstrated that Iraqis are in control of Iraq. Delays on both fronts create a perfect environment for guerilla war. Whatever he is up to, and however dispirited Fanar AlKharbit appears, it seems that the sheik wants to keep punching. Returning to his place against the wall in the pale afternoon sun, he said: “I’ve told the Americans to get out of my neighbourhood. They wouldn’t be here if I was a leader of the mujahideen. And if they keep going like this, a lot more US soldiers will die.” Prisoners Advocacy Committee — Ohio PO Box 1746 Cincinnati, Ohio 45201-1746, or submit a prisoner’s name and jail number at cleves1947@yahoo.com Finding pen-pals for people incarcerated in jails throughout Ohio. Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 Editorial Page 18 �FRAC - Food Research and Action Center News FOOD STAMP PARTICIPATION INCREASES IN OCTOBER 2003 TO MORE THAN 23.3 MILLION PERSONS; IS MORE THAN 6.4 MILLION PERSONS HIGHER THAN IN JULY 2000 (January 7, 2003) Participation in the Food Stamp Program in October 2003 (the latest data available) increased by 608,748 persons from the previous month, to 23,315,024 persons. Some of this increase was due to continuing high rates of joblessness, states improving access, and the effects of the food stamp reauthorization implementation. But a majority of the growth in October over September was in recipients of Hurricane Isabel disaster relief. Excluding states that received disaster relief and Alaska, the overall one month increase becomes 1.2 percent instead of 2.7 percent. The October 2003 level of Food Stamp Program participation represented a rise of almost 3.2 million persons compared to the October 2002 level and more than 6.4 million persons since July, 2000 (when program participation nationally reached its lowest point in the last decade). http://www.frac.org/html/ news/fsp/03oct.html FOOD STAMP PROGRAM CONTINUES TO EXPAND DUE TO USDA EFFORTS (GovExec.com, January 5, 2004) Only 62 percent of those who are eligible for food stamps currently participate in the program. When the TANF law was passed in 1996 there were almost 26 million people enrolled in the Food Stamp Program. By 2000 that number had dropped to about 17 million. Many of the people who left TANF and got jobs were still relying on emergency food assistance providers for food. Advocates, program administrators and politicians alike saw the dramatic drop in the program as a cause for concern. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working to simplify the program, improve access and fund outreach efforts. States have also been encouraged to loosen their asset requirements and ease the application process. However, some states have put cost-cutting to rein in budget deficits ahead of program improvements. “It still takes a bit of [state] money to bring in a lot of [federal] money,” said James Weill, president of FRAC. The efforts have begun to make a difference: from September 2001 to September 2003 participation jumped 27 percent to 22.7 million persons. http://www.govexec.com/ dailyfed/0104/010504nj1.htm percent). Many states have had to cut spending to reconcile their budgets. Defeat of a tax increase in Oregon will result in the “end [of] the Oregon Health Plan as we know it,” said Peter Bragdon, the governor’s chief of staff. Thirtyfour states have cut spending on Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program over the past two years. http:// www.nytimes.com/2004/01/05/ national/05STAT.html (free registration required) COLUMN: WITH CHILD POVERTY RATES HIGHER THAN MOST INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS, U.S. GOVERNMENT MUST SUPPORT NEEDY (Washington Post, December 21, 2003) In this column, Timothy M. Smeeding, director of the Luxembourg Income Study of OBESITY EPIDEMIC MAKES relative poverty rates in developed HEADLINES IN 2003, countries, points out that we still EXPERTS SAY HEALTHY have a child poverty rate that is EATING AT SCHOOLS IS significantly higher than in wealthy IMPORTANT (Post-Gazette, European nations, Canada and Pittsburgh, PA, January 1, 2004) Australia. “We in America have America’s obesity epidemic high child poverty rates because we grabbed headlines around the choose to, not because we cannot nation in 2003. The Centers for do anything Disease about it.” Control and Not only are more American Not only are Prevention children poor, many live in extreme more estimate poverty, despite that fact that lowAmerican that 60 income single mothers in the U.S. children percent of work more hours than do single poor, many Americans mothers in any other wealthy nation, are either live in putting them at risk for hunger and extreme overweight poverty, making it harder for them to ever or obese, despite the and 15 escape from poverty. “Poor children fact that percent of in France, Germany and the Nordic low-income 6- to 19countries are six times more likely to single year-olds escape poverty than their American mothers in are counterparts.” the U.S. overweight, work more which is hours than do single mothers in any almost three times the number from other wealthy nation, putting them 1980. Dr. J. Michael McGinnis of at risk for hunger and making it the Robert Wood Johnson harder for them to ever escape Foundation points out that the from poverty. “Poor children in current epidemic foreshadows a France, Germany and the Nordic future health crisis. “We may be countries are six times more likely raising the first generation of to escape poverty than their children that is sicker and dies American counterparts.” http:// younger then their parents. The www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp- sheer availability of food has led dyn?pagename=article&node people to graze throughout the day =&contentId=A16659-2003Dec19 on foods that are largely nutrientpoor and calorie-rich.” http:// AFTER THREE YEARS AND www.post-gazette.com/localnews/ $200 BILLION IN 20040101closeup0101p4.asp CUMULATIVE BUDGET SHORTFALLS, WORST MAY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY BE OVER FOR STATES, BUT OF PEDIATRICS STRESS WILL CONTINUE RECOMMENDS THAT (New York Times, January 5, SCHOOLS CONSIDER 2003) Tax revenues in most states RESTRICTING SOFT DRINK rose slightly in the second half of SALES (American Academy of 2003 for the first time since midPediatrics, Press Release, January 2001, ending three straight years of 5, 2004) In a policy statement, the budget shortfalls totaling $200 American Academy of Pediatrics billion. Slow job growth and rising recommends that school districts health costs will continue to stress consider restricting the sale of soft state budgets. The past three years drinks to prevent health problems represented a dramatic change in that result from over consumption. budget realities for many states. The Academy points to the Compared to the last recession in relationship between increased risk 1991, when states raised taxes by of overweight and obesity and 5.4 percent over the previous increased sugared soft drink year’s tax collections, taxes were consumption. They note that, as raised much less in 2003 (by 1.5 soft drink consumption increases, S T R E E T V I B E S February, 2004 FRAC News milk consumption decreases. They recommend that schools stock nutritious alternatives such as water, real fruit juices and low-fat milks to preserve funds from vending machines. In addition, the Academy recommends that soft drinks not be sold in competition with the National School Lunch Program. http://www.aap.org/ advocacy/releases/ jansoftdrinks.htm For the entire policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics:http:// www.aap.org/policy/s010119.html PRESIDENT OF CONSUMERS UNION URGES PARENTS TO CHALLENGE VENDING CONTRACTS WITH SCHOOLS, EMPHASIZE NUTRITIOUS CHOICES (Consumer Reports, January 2004) In this editorial, Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, which publishes “Consumer Reports,” urges parents to challenge soft drink vending contracts between schools and beverage manufacturers in order to emphasize nutritious choices for school children. Noting that few states have laws regulating such contracts, Guest points out that it is up to parents and individual school districts to monitor what is being sold to students while at school. http://www.consumer reports.org/main/detailv4.jsp? CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id%20= 3719159F3EB50-4AD9-4D1AB029-1C55C5888754 MODEL WORKFARE SERVICES PROGRAM IN UTAH MAKES EFFORT TO INCREASE ACCESS TO FOOD STAMPS (Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT, January 5, 2004) Utah’s Department of Workfare Services has been highlighted as a model for the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which requires all local workforce areas to develop a system to deliver federally funded employment and some public assistance programs at one location. In a report by the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Utah office was found to be a model program but still needed improvement in raising awareness of clients to public benefits available at the site. The low level of food stamp participation by clients (who are leaving the TANF program) was also shown as a concern. Since the report was released over a year ago, Utah has made efforts to increase access to food stamps. http:// www.sltrib.com/2004/jan/ 01052004/business/126235.asp FRAC’s web site is http://www.frac.org Page 19 Page 19 �TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351-0422 C.C.A.T. 381-6672 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721-0643 TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 HOUSING: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 Miami Purchase 241-0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381-1171 Tender Mercies 721-8666 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861-1111 St. John’s Housing 651-6446 Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 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 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome House 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 St. Francis/St.Joseph House 381-4941 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 Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living Options 241-2600 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4357 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 $1 Donation February 2004 Streetvibes BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY Cover Story Riverfront Campers Receive Settlement From Covington Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2004 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource February 2004 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Homeless Men Receive Settlement from City of Covington Keeping the Dream Alive in Cincinnati Pg 2: A New Year’s Challenge to a City Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Some Irreverent Thoughts on Religion Pg 4: Myths Breed Neglect, Violence Against Cincinnati’s Homeless Pg 5: Can You Force the Homeless into Shelters? Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: How Do We Treat Our Fellow Man? Spirit of MLK Celebrated Pg 8: Vendors Pg 9: Making Shelters Safe for All Genders Pg 10: People Tell George Bush “Move-On”! Pg 11: Donate Pg 12: Now at Public Library; Through Our Eyes Pg 13: Words from the Evangelist Sheltered White Girl’s Eyes Opened by Shelter Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Editorial Pg 17: More on Homeless Veterans Pg 18: The Iraqis Who Hated Saddam Hate the Americans More Pg 19: FRAC Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 2004 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Mary Gaffney Elizabeth Linville Jimmy Heath Berta Lambert Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Brendan Goodwin Bush Cincinnati Covington Editorials Elizabeth Linville Evangelist Food Research FRAC GCCH Gender Equality George Bush Georgine Getty Iraq Jimmy Heath Martin Luther King Jr. Mary Gaffney memorial MLK New Years Peace Village Public Library Religion Saddam veterans Violence https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/8288922e819012085549e1e0581e845b.pdf d2292af8daea96e1600ae9e9d6051d94 PDF Text Text Streetvibes March 2004 Radio Marathon Brings the Voices of Homelessness to with my family when I was the Airwaves car younger – I’ve never forgotten this,” by Jimmy Heath On one of the coldest days of the year, Cleveland homeless advocates spent the night outside in a makeshift booth to campaign for homelessness awareness. The Seventh Annual Homelessness Marathon aired from Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday, February 12th and ran until 9AM on Friday. The homeless and advocates brought their concerns to the public in the overnight marathon radio show heard across much of North America. The 14 hour radio broadcast originates from the streets of a different city each year. The radio broadcast - the longest regularly scheduled public affairs program in America is “the most significant media event focusing on homelessness and poverty” according to Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “Homelessness continues to be a silent issue, and we will do whatever it takes to give homeless people a voice,” founder and radio host Jeremy Weir Alderson said. “We give them the chance to tell their stories and talk about the obstacles they face. And from what I’ve seen, America does care.” As in past years, the broadcast booth was set up outside to dramatize the plight of people with nowhere to go in the cold. The St. Malachi Center on Cleveland’s west side was host to the event, providing an indoors respite from the cold, along with hot food and drinks, some of which were donated by the Cleveland Restaurant Association and other local agencies. Calls were taken from around the country; the program focused on homeless issues nationwide. The program’s goal was to generate a national dialogue about homelessness and poverty in America and to create positive momentum for solving these problems. Presidential candidate Dennis J. Kucinich called in on-air during the Marathon to express his gratitude to the work of the homeless advocates in Cleveland. “Society has an obligation to provide housing to everyone,” he said. “Affordable housing, jobs – these are things that I’m concerned with,” said Kucinich . “First thing we need is affordable housing and living wage jobs. Then we need universal health care, tuition-free college. But first we need to address immediate needs. There is a fundamental moral obligation to help people. I lived in a said Kucinich. His message to those still on the streets? “Never resign yourself to being homeless.” Kucinich sponsored a Homelessness Summit in 2003 in his home district of Cleveland. The Summit assembled advocates, elected officials, and homeless people to examine the causes of homelessness in the district and identify the gaps in services and ways to close them. Kucinich convened the Summit in response to the increasing frequency with which his constituents were contacting his office about homeless related Brian Davis, executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the services. More than 26,000 people are Homeless (left) is interveiwed bt Marathon host Jeremy Weir Alderson homeless in Cuyahoga County Homelessness Marathon. This years’ every year since its inception in (Cleveland) according to Brian Davis 1998. The first broadcast was heard Marathon was heard on nearly 80 of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for stations nationwide, and on 25 to 30 only on WEOS in Geneva, New the Homeless (NEOCH). stations carrying the Canadian York. The sixth broadcast, in 2003, There were no on-air Homeless Marathon. Visit the was heard on more than 70 stations solicitations for money as Maraththon’s Web site - http:// coast-to-coast, with another 18 “consciousness raising, not fund www.homelessnessmarathon.org. stations airing a parallel Canadian raising,” was the Marathon’s policy. “The most important thing we do is put homeless people on the air,” says Marathon producer Karen D’Andrea. “So we make a great deal of effort to get their participation, by working with shelters to set up special listening rooms, contacting advocacy groups, and making a kind of homeless people’s block party right at the broadcast site.” Many homeless people and advocates took advantage of the free call-in and the onsite microphone. The broadcast was made available free to stations via the NPR and Pacifica satellites and a Webcast. The Marathon continues to grow Fred listens to the Marathon on the radio Streetvibes Vendor: 70 cents Printing and Production: 30 cents 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. Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �STREETVIBES The Tri-State's Homeless Grapevine 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 home­ less 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 Brendan Goodwin - Administra­ tive Coordinator Andy Erickson - Education Coordinator Elizabeth Linville - Civil Rights Coordinator Mary Gaffney - Receptionist Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photographers Jimmy Heath, Berta Lambert, Curtis Proffitt Cover Homelessness Marathon outdoor radio broadcast booth, Cleveland - photo by Jimmy Heath Streetvibes accepts letters, poems, stories, essays, original graphics, and photos. We will give preference to those who are homeless or ven­ dors. Subscriptions to Streetvibes, de­ livered 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 Ohio Cities Face Common Challenges by Jimmy Heath There are an estimated 26,000 people in the Cleveland, Ohio metro-area who experience homelessness each year. Over 2,000 are homeless each night. In appearance and circumstances, the faces of homelessness in Cleveland are the same as in Cincinnati. Men and woman, families and children, all struggle to afford decent, affordable housing while maintaining a sustainable living. Women and children continue to be the fastest growing segment of the homeless population in both of these Ohio cities. Cleveland is now the home of the largest shelter in the state. 2100 Lakeside Place has a capacity of 400 persons, but more than 500 people are routinely housed there each night when the weather is bad and because they never turn people away who need help. Lack of affordable housing Ohio’s largest shelter, 2100 Lakeside Place is the major contributor to the Streetvibes newspaper nearly eight dealing with the issue of homeless population in both homelessness is education, and Cleveland and Cincinnati, and is the years ago. reversal of commonly held The Homeless Grapevine, number one cause of homelessness stereotypes. With public support, nationwide. published by NEOCH for over ten we can move the problem of years, has had a history of Spousal abuse, drug homelessness into the past. A struggles with identity and addiction and mental health issues moral and ethical change in public amongst the homeless are some of controversy with Cleveland city attitudes about the less fortunate government. the concerns shared by homeless will allow the homeless to find the advocates in both of these Ohio “Mayor White hated the dignity and the strength within paper,” says Davis. cities. themselves to realize their own Both cities “But the cops were struggle with NIMBYmuch more sympathetic potential and grace. With government support, we can begin ism, (Not-In-My-Back­ early on, especially Yard), as shelters are since the vendors police to help people find their own way pushed to the more themselves. The police out of homelessness with affordable housing, a living wage industrial and know that if there is a warehouse areas of the problem with a vendor, and educational opportunities. The visit with advocates in city - away from jobs, we will take care of it.” Cleveland last month taught me transportation and Cincinnati’s mayor Jimmy Heath that even though we share the opportunity, and people and city council detest same struggles, we also share the Streetvibes too. In the past the who do not want to come face-to­ same hopes. The common mayor has publicly derided the face with the problem of community, Americans in general, homelessness in their own paper and the vendors, but neighborhood. Cincinnatians in general continue to don’t want to see the problems of homelessness persist. The Northeast Ohio support the concept of a street Cincinnatians are paper sold by homeless vendors. Coalition for the Homeless supportive of the work that is In my travels I visit many (NEOCH), headed up by executive director Brian Davis, struggles to cities and shelters, and I am always going on to alleviate homelessness keep the shelters and advocates on struck by the similarities. Denial of in our city too, and will continue to be if they to listen to their hearts a unified course of action. the problem by government instead of the status quo. “We sometimes are kept at officials is universal. Animosity arms-length politically, but we help and hate bridge many gaps, including legal crimes against the homeless issues and grievances. All of the shelters need this collaboration,” are common says Davis. “We have one shelter occurrences. that won’t even let us in because All of these issues know we have handled some client grievances against them. This no borders. particular shelter used the cloak of The common privacy to protect themselves from struggle of the scrutiny. But we try where we can homeless to provide links in the system.” remains the Cleveland advocates also same in every boast a street newspaper, The city. Homeless Grapevine, which The helped launch Cincinnati’s own first step in NEOCH’s Brian Davis S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 From the Editor Page 2 �ON A SCALE OF ONE TO A HUNDRED, HOW MUCH DO YOU DISAGREE WITH THE CITY’S TREATMENT OF CINCINNATI’S HOMELESS? I WILL DONATE: $1 $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 He’s only 18 months old and already he’s trapped in the cycle of homelessness in Cincinnati. His mother needs an affordable place to live and a job with a living wage as she escapes a life of domestic violence. The current treatment of homeless individuals in our city means that he may never be able to live in a home of his own. There are 25,000 people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. More than one-third of those are women and children. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless believes that by addressing the root causes of the problem through education, advocacy and coordination of services, we can end homelessness in our city. The more support we have from the community, the further our efforts reach. Please cut the coupon and pick a box. It could mean that one less child will have to live in one. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Page 3 Page 3 �Homeless News Digest Compiled by R.V. Murphy A group of homeless people is seeking to get Denver mayor John Hickenlooper to create a tent city for the city’s homeless. With the help of a college professor, the group studied tent cities in Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles and presented a 39page proposal for their own to the city’s Commission on Homelessness, according to the Denver Post. A tent city is a small plot of land where people with no available shelter could sleep without fear of police harassment, bulldozers, or predators. Advocates for the tent city estimate that setting one up would cost $100,000. There is no precise census of homeless people in the Mile High City. A survey by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, an advocacy group, puts the population at about 9,700. The number of shelter beds has remained at about 1,000 since the early 1990s. Families and children are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population. The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News have both come out against the tent city idea. But surprisingly, the idea is drawing criticism from the most unlikely critics. The Colorado Coalition of the Homeless says, “the plan fails to address health, safety and sanitary issues and it doesn’t address causes of homelessness such as mental illness, substance abuse, job loss and the lack of affordable housing.” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom recently held the first of many promised meetings of his new “Homelessness Cabinet,” made up of representatives from roughly 10 city agencies wrestling with the problem. He told the San Francisco Examiner that the planned weekly, or at least monthly, meetings would “connect the dots” and provide accountability so that needed services are delivered efficiently and homelessness can be ended in the coming decade. Newsom also said he plans to save some $400,000 a year by eliminating the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness. “It’s disbanded,” he said, adding, “I’d rather put those dollars in direct services.” The mayor said he wants to create much closer communication and cooperation among the various city agencies that together spend more than $100 million a year dealing with aspects of chronic homelessness. Last week, Dallas mayor Laura Miller held a town hall meeting for the homeless, according to the Dallas Morning News. Miller wanted to hear opinions on city plans for a homeless assistance center. The city has narrowed down possible sites to three. Some homeless people and advocates are concerned that one of the sites is eight miles from downtown. “It’s like throwing a party and no one will come,” Linda Cahanin said. “They want us out of downtown. Out of sight, out of mind.” James Waghorne, president of the Dallas Homeless Neighborhood Association, said the group collected signatures asking which site homeless people preferred. The city plans to open a facility for 24 hours, seven days a week that offers restrooms, showers, laundry, drug and alcohol counseling, mental health services, child care, computer access, lockers and other services. Voters approved $3 million for the facility in a May bond election, but officials say that does not cover the cost and that they must also raise private money for the facility. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the facility Feb. 25. Hundreds of migrant workers in Merced County in California could be left homeless this summer, the county’s housing authorities have said. The Modesto Bee reports that state funding to build new migrant worker housing is in danger, and Planada’s dilapidated Felix Torres Migrant Center was in such poor condition it was forced to shut down last October and designated for demolition. Back then, the state had enough cash to build more housing. Now funding is in jeopardy, and about 400 migrants, their spouses and children could be left without a place to stay. The department had set aside about $4.1 million to build the new facility, with another $3 million promised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. There has been no official announcement to withdraw the funding, but Nicholas Benjamin, executive director of Merced County’s Housing Authority, said he believes the project won’t be funded, and that once the state funding goes, the federal money will go as well. Many migrant workers sleep in their cars. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 On a 28-degree night in February, advocates count those living outdoors. by Andy Erickson due to the cold weather. Education Coordinator The drop in the numbers On February 3, a night that from May to February is probably reached a low of 28 degrees, the also due in large part to the cold Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the weather. On a night like this one, Homeless, the PATH team, and a many people who would have handful of volunteers counted 24 otherwise slept in camps outside people sleeping outside in might have sought warmer cover in Cincinnati. The count was shelters, abandoned buildings, or conducted by the Homeless friends or family’s dwellings. Outreach Group, a coalition of Another reason for the social service agencies change in numbers that provide outreach to could be attributed those living on the to the increase in street. outreach to this The Homeless population since the Outreach Group formed summer months. last summer when Brent Chasteen, an people living under outreach worker for downtown bridges Downtown clashed with city Cincinnati, Inc. has officials who wanted helped over 40 Andy Erickson them removed. The people get some struggle resulted in form of housing just since many changes in the way the September. The PATH team and police, social service agencies, and other members of the Homeless the homeless population interact. Outreach group have also had many During the height of this issue, successes. social service providers recognized At this point, however, the the need for increased, coordinated reasons for the change in numbers outreach to those who sleep are only educated guesses. It will outside and out of sight from many take a few more quarterly surveys agencies that help homeless before patterns in the outdoor individuals. homeless population can really be The survey on February 3 is understood. One thing that the first of what will become a everyone in the Homeless Outreach quarterly effort to count those Group agrees on, however, is that living outdoors. The Homeless whether the number is 193 or 24 Outreach Group hopes that these homeless people sleeping outside, counts will help social service that number is far too many. providers better understand who is living outside, where they are 20 YEARS staying, and how the numbers tend to fluctuate. By better SERVING THE understanding the changes in this NEIGHBORHOOD population, outreach workers will be able to better serve this population. A similar but separate survey was conducted nearly nine months ago on May 21. That survey found 193 people living outside, along with 1018 people living in shelters. The recent February count did not survey shelters, but it could be assumed that the numbers would have been slightly higher than the May count, Story, Editorial and Art Submission Deadline for the April, 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, March 12th Homeless News Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Page 4 �Your Negro Tour Guide: Truths In Black And White by Kathy Y. Wilson Emmis Books Hardcover, 284 pages ISBN: 1578601436 Price: $19.99 Review by Jimmy Heath I look forward each week to picking up Cincinnati’s City Beat magazine and reading the prose of award-winning columnist Kathy Y. Wilson. Her column, Your Negro Tour Guide, is the first thing I look for when I pick up the city’s free weekly art and politics newspaper. When Kathy came to City Beat from her former job as a reporter at the Hamilton-Journal News, City Beat editor John Fox gave her a job and free reign to write about anything she wanted. And write she has! Kathy’s cutting commentaries dissect the AfricanAmerican experience from her own perspective and personal experiences, and challenges white Cincinnati with potent and biting observations of the city and its disowning of racism, classism and poverty. Each of her columns reaches into the realm of denial, rips it up, and takes to task those who are responsible. There is a softer, compassionate side to Kathy Wilson too. And there are echoes of her own life and history here; her mother and family and friends, and how they all played a part in her becoming who she is today. It is good stuff, and only Kathy Y. Wilson could pull it off. For hard-core fans like me, her best columns have now been published into a book, Your Negro Tour Guide, Truths in Black and White. Published in a limited run by Emmis Books here in Cincinnati, the book is a collection of Wilson’s City Beat articles from the last three years. In her introduction Wilson writes, “herein lies the truth. During three years I’ve gotten better at telling it – mine and ours.” Her new book is a fresh and deliciously irreverent Kathy Y. Wilson discusses her newly released book with the crowd at Joseph-Beth declaration of everyday life and politics in Cincinnati, lucidly described by a woman who knows how to get to the root of culture and relationships. Wilson is an insightful philosopher, who weaves her keen insight into words, assembling and dissecting human social behavior in Cincinnati. If you don’t know Kathy Wilson, and want to find out what all the fuss is about, pick this book up as a primer to your life, and a guide to Cincinnati in black and white. I think people who are considering the move to Cincinnati need to read this book. White suburbia needs to read this book. It is a way to learn about this troubled city from a sharp and witty, hopeful and honest perspective. There are three truths: my truth, your truth and the truth. Chinese Proverb Know Your Rights Brochure Available! The Know Your Rights Brochure is now available at the Coalition’s office. The brochure is a legal guide for Cincinnati’s homeless and covers a person’s basic rights when interacting with the police, as well as some local laws that might be of interest to the homeless population. If you are a homeless person or if you work with homeless people and would like to obtain free copies of the brochure for yourself or your agency, please call 421-7803, or stop by the Coalition office and pick one up. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) Jimmy Heath photo Kathy Wilson’s Book Brings Clarity To Cincinnati Politics 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 Help build a powerful, resident led organization! The Republic Street & Vine Street Block Clubs are fighting for the rights of lowincome residents in Over-the-Rhine and they are going strong. Block clubs are forming in other parts of the neighborhood, too. Call the Contact Center at 381-4242 or stop by 1227 Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine to learn more about how you can get involved with these resident led organizations. Page 5 Page 5 �The Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland grief train that I have been riding since the 1980s. At that time, thanks to grief organizations, Parents of Murdered Children, Compassionate Friends, a grief specialist, Ken Czillinger, and grieving parents, Rachel and Paul Burrell, we started drawing and meeting with children who had experienced a death in their lives. We didn’t know then that the pictures and music, the hugging and discussions, were working little miracles in the hearts of children, but we hoped that we were making a statement to children who were in the abyss without much guidance from parents, schools, and religious The mail brought the very good news that I will receive the Friedl Dicker-Brandeis award at the first annual teacher recognition luncheon of the Social Studies Department of the Cincinnati Public Schools. The letter informs me that Friedl Dicker-Brandeis “...was a teacher and art therapist who used drawing lessons to bring both solace and catharsis to the traumatized children in the Czechoslovakian ghetto called Terezin.” I believe that this award is for everyone in the Peace Village working with children at this time of war and violence. I share it with the whole village, youth and child, adult and senior that are making a major difference by being with children at this time in a way that heals what can be repaired, reconciles what has been shattered, and works for more peace with Dr. Steve Sunderland justice. Sitting in Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, last institutions. We called our work, “Fernside,” partly for the street that week, listening to Ambassador the Burrells picked up their artistic Kuslijugic, representative from son, David, when he was alive. Bosnia to the United Nations, I But also because we wanted to find immediately thought back to his opening statement: “We must learn a “side” we could draw and live on that connected the dead and the to remember without hating and with justice.” How are the children living. We wanted the children to and adults of the war zones to do grow up without hating their this AND HOW DO WE HELP deceased family and friends. And, THEM? I remember the faces of most importantly, we wanted the the children of the Winton Place children to not grow hating Youth Center the day of the riots themselves. Very quickly we and the day after when we did learned that our efforts needed to some posters. We pushed stretch to that place in the child’s ourselves to draw the killings that had preceded the riots and to face, heart where all of the blame and responsibility for the death had as only 7 and 8 year olds can face been lodged. Art was one great the violence that has become a major part of Cincinnati life. Many way to reach and touch. I remember a very little one, 5 or 6, posters had guns, bullets finding drawing with me about her little their marks, and blood dripping, brother’s death and coming up with splotching, and all over. The war a drawing of a “broken heart.” zone was this neighborhood and “Let’s draw a healing heart,” I not just downtown. And we drew requested and she obliged and right and talked, over and over again next to her “first” heart she drew a until one little child asked, “What picture of a heart with a band-aid are you going to do with our pictures, Puppetman?” I told him I stretched across. We both looked at the hearts and then at each other, would protect them; take them to smiled, hugged and kept on some churches that wanted to see drawing. them and to also make their own. I sense that something a little “Take good care of them,” he like this was going on with Friedl warned me, “they are us.” I have been caring for these Dicker-Brandeis in her concentration camp. I had not posters and the additional 10,000 that have been made since that time heard of her before last week and I had seen the children’s art from this and the unknown number made by camp in lots of books, a beautiful children who were part of a long S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 book by E. Markarova and R. Miller (2001) Friedl DickerBrandeis: Vienna 1898Auschwitz 1944: The artist who inspired the children’s drawing of Terezin. It exists as a very valuable look at her life and work. In a remarkable essay on what she was doing with art and children in the camps, she makes this beautiful point: “The teacher, the educator, should attempt to influence the child as little as possible. A teacher ought to be restrained to the utmost when it comes to influencing the pupils...The ideas of children cannot be directed. Not only would one rob oneself of the chance to gain access into the world of the child’s ideas, but one would lose an overview of the current degree of the child’s openness and ability and his psychological state.” The authors of the above book make the point that DickerBrandeis never mentions that war, the physical plight of the children, or any political idea in her essay. She directs her ideas to those who may be working with her and following after her in this “work.” I bow to this strength of not increasing the burden on the children of the context of their lives and wonder how she did it without losing her own spirit of hope. For this “work” is aimed at the part of our imagination in which hope and very strong emotions, including peace and justice, reside. Her insights about how to bring the “art” of the inner beauty of the child to the surface really defies words but is a beacon for those who continue the “work.” How many children (and adults) in the war zone put their heads down without the hope of peace? Drawing opens the heart a little and sometimes that is just enough to make it from one part of a day to another, as every artist knows. Another sentence continued to ring in my ears from last week’s conversations with Bob Herring, principal of Nativity Elementary. Somehow our discussion moved to the current exhibit at one of our art museums called, “the Treasures of the Vatican.” “I am not going to see it,” Mr. Herring said with the only sound of defiance I had heard from him in our discussion. He continued: “The Catholic Church is stuck in keeping up buildings, paintings, and sculpture and confusing them with the real treasures of the church, the children.” Right in the war zone of Nativity, he continues to think about the need for a “new” church that has invested in children as the “works of art” and celebrates these human creations. I heard him Peace Village speaking for many religions, many school systems, and many cities that have abandoned the children in the war zones to another sports stadium, another shopping mall, and another cut in taxes for schooling. Keeping away from Vatican art seemed a most unusual form of protest; yet, I smiled as this clear thinking educator continued to try and “draw” another picture that made sense to him and his notion of a truly caring religion. So an award will be given to our work in the Peace Village, to everyone holding a child’s hand and heart with the beauty of teaching, service, art, and the memory of this remarkable woman, alone with children’s spirits, lighting one more great candle. Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. Sunderland also heads up Posters-for-Peace which engages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words, through the creation of posters. Wish List... Can You Help? Streetvibes newspaper is published monthly on a shoe-string budget from the offices of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Can you help us with some of the following items? * Digital Camera & Accessories * VCR for making copies of Streetvibes TV show and for educational packets * Blank VHS tapes * Desktop paper folder * Supplies (paper towels, toilet paper ) * Cleaning Supplies * Office Supplies - postage stamps, floppies, copier paper and other supplies If you can help, contact us at: Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-7803 e-mail: Streetvibes@juno.com Page 6 �Cleveland Shelter for Women Re-opens; Provides Safety same room, a former has bathrooms on each floor with Suellen Saunders, the program and Support the gymnasium, on bunk beds or mats working doors. There are plans in manager, seem committed to on the floor. In 2003, Catholic by Elizabeth Linville Charities announced they were During the month of February, staff members of GCCH stepping down as the agency in charge of the shelter. Nearly a visited the newly opened year was spent attempting to find a Community Women’s Shelter in new provider to run the shelter and Cleveland, Ohio. The emergency a better location to house people. shelter had opened less than a week before the visit, and residents The chosen provider was Mental Health Services (MHS), a nonand staff were living and working profit that serves mentally disabled, in an atmosphere of slight chaos. homeless adults. Other The staff of the new programs provided by shelter, though, were the organization include enthusiastic about a mobile crisis team and providing a safe child trauma services. environment and According to MHS’s assisting women out executive director, of homelessness. Steven M. Friedman, The Elizabeth Linville the organization is Community Women’s “expanding our mission once again Shelter is a replacement for what to include all in our community was Cleveland’s only emergency who are homeless, regardless of women’s shelter, the Bishop whether or not she has a disability.” Cosgrove Center. Repeated In its first week of service, complaints had been made about the new shelter appears to be conditions in the center, which was providing a much better run by Catholic Charities. There atmosphere for the women it were allegations of drug and sex serves. Both Nickie Antonio, the abuse on shelter premises. All the new director of operations, and women and their children slept in maintaining a safe shelter and continuing to make improvements based on the needs and desires of the residents. Clients live in rooms of varying size (from 4 beds a room to larger, dormitory style accommodations). The staff is trying to place women in rooms based mainly on compatibility. This allows some women more privacy (such as those with children or mental issues), while others can take advantage of the support network and closer proximity to staff the dormitories provide. Women who had lived at the old shelter reported that they were able to sleep much better in these new environments. There is full time security placed at the shelter to help guard against the sex and drug abuse problems at the old site. At previous incarnations of the shelter, women were not permitted to shower with the door closed. Antonio reported that one woman told her that, before moving to the new facility, she had not showered in four months. The new shelter Poor to Put ‘Bushville’ Tent City at NY Convention A group fighting poverty announced plans last month to erect a tent city called “Bushville” during the Republican Party convention in August, one of several demonstrations expected in a summer of political protest in New York. The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign will put up the tents for five days before the Aug. 30 September 2 meeting, which will nominate President Bush to run for a second four-year term in the November 2 election. The group said it will also demonstrate at the Democratic Party’s national convention in Boston at the end of July, but had no plans to set up a symbolic shantytown there. “We will be marching because both Democrats and Republicans alike have failed to address our real life and death issues,” said spokeswoman Cheri Honkala. She said the political establishment neglected poor and homeless people and issues such as health care, housing and farm workers’ rights. Honkala, a formerly homeless mother in Minneapolis, Minnesota, said the group will provide “reality bus tours” in rundown areas of New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey from the tent city. She declined to disclose its precise location. The group plans a march on August 30 from U.N. headquarters to the Madison Square Garden convention venue, she said. As a prelude to the summer protests, the US led war in Iraq The Lone Ranger of Righteousness by Paul Rogat Loeb It’s my right to run. This is Ralph Nader’s core case in announcing his 2004 presidential candidacy. Yes, Nader has a legal right to do this. He also has a legal right to donate $100,000 to the Republican Party and become a Bush Pioneer. That doesn’t make it a good idea. So much of Nader’s career has been built on reminding us of our common ties. It’s not ok, he’s argued, for companies to make unsafe cars, pollute our air, or pillage shared resources. Actions have consequences, he’s pointed out with persistence and eloquence. Now, he’s taking the opposite tack, fixating on his own absolute right to do whatever he chooses, while branding those who’ve argued against his running as contemptuous censors, who “want to block the American people from having more choices and voices.” This argument would seem familiar coming from an Exxon executive. Coming from Ralph Nader, it marks a fundamental shift from an ethic of responsibility to one of damn the consequences, no matter S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 will be the focus of anti-war rallies on March 20 in New York and around the country. The date was chosen by the United For Peace and Justice organizers because it is the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. One protest will feature military families in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with the “September Eleventh Families For Peaceful Tomorrow’s” group, whose members lost loved ones in the 2001 hijacked plane attacks on America. New York activists organized one of the largest antiwar rallies on February 15, 2003, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to oppose the war over Iraq’s purported weapons of mass destruction. Weapons stockpiles have not been found and how much populist precedent he tries to dress it up with. The reasons to defeat Bush escalate daily. This regime enacts massively regressive tax cuts, wages pre-emptive wars and lies about their justification, smashes civil liberties and appoints hard-right judges to shut down any challenges, and does their best to totally destroy the union movement. They attack root structures of democracy by disenfranchising tens of thousands of Florida voters, redistricting dozens of Texas, Pennsylvania and Michigan Congressional seats in raw power grabs, and jamming Democratic the works for further improvements, such as kitchens on each floor and better meeting rooms for case management and substance abuse programs There are various approaches to assisting an individual out of homelessness. Some see providing and helping pay for an affordable apartment as the best way. Others see basic shelter that provides a safe place with access to structured programs and permanent housing as the best option. As we left the shelter that night, a woman stopped a member of our group to complain about conditions inside. She did admit, though, that it was a huge improvement over the previous women’s shelter. Shelter life is difficult and there will always be complaints. Cleveland’s Community Women’s Shelter and its staff are at least working to improve conditions. We can hope that, for some women, this facility might be the answer. more than 500 Americans and thousands of Iraqis have been killed. “The intensity of interest is different than it was before the war began,” said Bill Dobbs of United For Peace and Justice. “For months, there has been a quiet vindication of our position, but we still need to send a clear message against Bush policies.” A spokesman for another activist organization, Campaign to Demilitarize the Police, said it planned monthly demonstrations through the convention to highlight police conduct at rallies. Last month, 52 anti-war protesters sued the New York Police Department and said officers unlawfully arrested peaceful protesters and detained them for up to 12 hours after an April 7, 2003 rally, only to dismiss all the charges. phone banks in New Hampshire. They brand all who oppose them as allies of terrorism. That doesn’t even count global warming, which (as sources from Fortune Magazine to the New York Times and a Pentagon study have recently warned) now brings the potential for melting polar ice caps to shut down the Gulf Stream and plunge Europe and Northeastern North America into a man-made ice age. This election may decide the very habitability of our planet. How Ranger... cont. on page 12 Page 7 Page 7 �by Jamie Poque Ohio Congressman and Presidential Candidate Dennis J. Kucinich visited Buddy¹s Place in the inner-city neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine as part of a campaign stop in Cincinnati last month. He talked briefly about how impressed and inspired he was by the work of Buddy Gray and RESTOC and by what they have done for the Over-the-Rhine community. He said that the work done by Buddy Gray shows “the capacity for one individual to unite a neighborhood and make a difference.” Congressman Kucinich then fielded questions on issues ranging from his “Department of Peace” proposal, to a question about a possible U.S. conspiracy to blow up the World Trade Center, to economic issues like healthcare and jobs from the crowd of about fifty gathered together in the Miami Center for Community Engagement meeting space of Buddy’s Place. Kucinich also spoke about the need to “create change at the voting booth. War is not inevitable. We have come to think of it as inevitable and it is not,” said Kucinich, in reference to the war in Iraq, citing the loss of lives of both Americans in service, and Iraqi citizens. The Cleveland-area congressman talked at length about the issue of affordable housing, something especially relevant to the crowd of people in attendance, most of whom live or work in poverty-stricken Over-the-Rhine, one of the neighborhoods where many of the city¹s homeless and low-income people reside. He said that, “the government has an obligation to see that every person has a roof I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody. Benjamin Franklin Community Resource Cards Rockdale Temple has announced the release of the latest in its series of Community Resource Cards. The new one, printed in Spanish, is customized for the needs of Cincinnati’s rapidly growing Hispanic/Latino population. The tri-fold, plastic cards are funded by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a project of Rockdale Temple, in consultation with Bienstar, Su Casa and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. In addition to the Hispanic Resource Card, the Resource Card Project has also produced cards for senior citizens, the homeless, and public school and Catholic school students covering the Tri-state area. Cards can be ordered from: CC 5300 Hamilton Avenue, #210 Cincinnati, Ohio 45224 - or send a fax request to: (513) 541-0099 S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Jimmy Heath photos Presidential Hopeful Dennis Kucinich Visits Over-the-Rhine over their head.” Congressman Kucinich has faced pressure to drop out of the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination in order to allow the front runner to focus on the general election, but addressing these concerns, he said unequivocally “I’m not leaving.” Presidential candidate Howard Dean has dropped out of the race leaving Kucinch and Al Sharpton trailing far behind in third place. Congressman Kucinich also made appearances at a fundraising dinner in Clifton and at the University of Cincinnati, where he outlined his plans for affordable housing, employment and fair trade. Buddy’s Place, a project of ReSTOC, provides the Center for Community Engagement storefront to Miami University. The building also provides 20 units of housing to persons who were previously homeless. Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct All Vendors Sign and Agree to a Code of Conduct Report Any Violations to GCCH - 421-7803 1. Streetvibes will be distributed 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 can not 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. Vendors must also never sell Streetvibes door-to-door. 8. Vendors must not deceive customers while selling Streetvibes. Vendors must be honest in stating that all profits go 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. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct 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. Page 8 �The Sun Will Come Out and women who had a by Ms Mary Gaffney, determination and a faith. Some Greater Cincinnati Coalition for of their work was not easy, with the Homeless climbing and To the walking up on readers and the road of life. purchasers of I know at times Streetvibes paper, that the people welcome to the had a rough spot third month in the in their road, but year 2004! were able to go While around it, and sitting here by my now have living room Ms. Mary Gaffney caught the window, one glimpse of reaching for the stars minute it is snowing, the next minute it is raining. And before I by gaining some position in life. As I first stated, there was got up from my chair, I looked up first darkness and dreariness. and could see that the clouds Before you know it, the sun seemed to be parting, and there comes out. We all have dark was a little ray of sunshine. And before I could turn around, lo and days, but we must keep traveling. Know as you travel with faith that behold, the clouds were gone. before you know it, there is the The sun was out, bright as ever, sun shining bright. I know the with strong rays of warmth. I sun doesn’t shine bright all the began to think that this was like time. If it did, could we accept it? life, especially like my homeless friends. Oh, you might say “there Could the earth accept it? If you could take a she goes again!” Yes, because I moment and think of the life of enjoy being around them. my friends who need help. How For six years, off and on, I’ve been with them, helping them they have to accept life, good or bad. There is sometimes no work and getting to know them. And I or other things, but they try to really know them, when they are remain happy. down or don’t care or even when I always say, it doesn’t they are a little bit happy. I can still talk with them and give them cost much to give a smile, and if they approach you, take the time a smile. Some even call me and opportunity to speak to them. “mom”, “granny” or “miss”. I answer them and tell them to keep You never know what is in the future. the determination, for there’s a We are all the children brighter day ahead, if you just placed in this garden of life who keep the faith. must brave hard weather, wind, On a Thursday of last month, I was the guest at a Xavier rain and storms. Remember, for every dark cloud there is a silver University luncheon called lining. Until next time remember, “Reaching for the Stars, 2004”. God loves you and me – all races, The event honored emerging creeds and colors. Cincinnati leaders, young men Progress he came forth out of slavery like a man just woke up from sleep. by Ms. Mary Gaffney Since that length of time, The following is a speech just think how the colored race has by Mrs. Nazarine Procter, given at progressed, built churches, New Hope A. M. E. Church in Ft. colleges and organized societies. Gaines, Georgia, in 1945. We have in the State of Georgia, Man comes into this world Bishops, Presiding Elders, without his consent, and preachers, teachers, leaves it again without doctors, undertakers, his will. During his stay and many other on earth his time is positions the colored spent in one continuous man can hold not only round. in Georgia, but Let us take a throughout the United view of the path we States of America. have trodden since This view represents freedom. It had been 82 the Negro at the years since Abraham Nazarine Procter present time. Lincoln gave to the For a world his immortal proclamation, thousand years in Thy sight is but and for a time we have enjoyed yesterday. Now in conclusion, freedom, however imperfect it may members of the Church of God have been. Have we shown and society, build your hope upon ourselves worthy of it? Thanks be Jesus Christ, the Solid Rock, that to God, we are not our own when the storms of life is raging, judges. The world has set in and the foaming billows are judgment against us. We have risen dashing, we can confidentially say, since the last 82 years of our life in on Christ the Solid Rock I stand, acts, but what of the future? What all other ground is sinking sand. has time brought us to? The work of our race is Out of clutter, find twofold; subjective and objective. simplicity. From discord, Let us look at the Negro at the find harmony. In the close of the war; look at him middle of difficulty, lies walking out from under bondage with not anything in his head, his opportunity. hand, his heart, or his pocket. And Albert Einstein on the first day of January, 1963, Streetvibes: A proud member of the North American Street Newspaper Association.... Representing over 50 street newspapers throughout the United States and Canada VISIT - www.nasna.org Buy Streetvibes From Badged Vendors Only! Streetvibes Vendors are required to sign a code of conduct and agree to abide by all the rules of the Streetvibes Vendor Program. If a Vendor misrepresents or breaks the rules, she/he may be removed from the Program. To report a Vendor, call 421-7803. ext. 16 S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Page 9 Page 9 �Cincinnati Inner-city Children Share Their Lives Through Photography Exhibit A photography exhibit showing the lives of inner-city children in Cincinnati was held last month at the Kid’s Café at Our Daily Bread soup kitchen in Over-the-Rhine. Parents and teachers came to the exhibit to see the display of writing and photography created by the children. The exhibit was the culmination of a week’s long project that engaged the Kid’s Café children in photography and writing. The photos and the combined writing showed the lives of inner-city children from their own perspective. Kids were encouraged to take photos that reflected their life and surroundings, including family, friends, pets and environment. Volunteers from Ursuline Academy in Blue Ash, headed up by student Molly Berendt, organized the photography project for the children at Kid’s Café, with lessons and discussions that took place throughout the month of January. The program was designed to promote an increased awareness of life in Over-the-Rhine and also give inner-city children the opportunity to develop photography and writing skills under the teaching of Over-theRhine photojournalist, Jimmy Heath. Each child was given a one-time use camera along with a list of possible subjects to photograph. After taking all the photographs, the children were led through exercises that enabled them to express the meaning and significance of their photographs through writing. The photographs were developed and each child created a piece of art around their favorite photos to show at the exhibit. The photomontages were put into frames and displayed alongside the children’s writing exercises. “This was such a wonderful experience for these children,” says Molly Berendt, a junior at Ursuline Academy and Beth Cadle, Senior at Ursuline Academy, with Alexandria volunteer at Kid’s Café. “They had so much fun and will appreciate their artwork forever. The exhibit will be a chance for each child to display his or her photographs and it gives the public a chance to have a glimpse of a child’s life in Overthe-Rhine.” The photos, along with the children’s writings, are also scheduled to be displayed at Peaslee Neighborhood Center in Over-theMolly Berendt, of Ursuline Academy works with Nicholas, age 4 on his photography Rhine and at Ursuline Academy in project Blue Ash. Homeless Awareness Week Join the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless during the week of May 10 – 14 during our Homeless Awareness Week. All week long, fun and informative events will be held for the public. Look for more details in the April issue of Streetvibes.... Monday, May 10 – Movie Night. Join us for a showing of Dark Days, a film about homeless men and women living in abandoned train tunnels in New York City. A discussion by formerly homeless Cincinnatians will follow. Tuesday, May 11 – Homeless Civil Rights Day. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 May 10 – 14, 2004 The rights of homeless individuals are being disregarded in many cities across the US. You can help by attending this informative event and taking part in our simple, yet effective actions. Wednesday, May 12 – Book Club. Pick up a copy of The Street Lawyer by John Grisham and join us for our book club. We’ll discuss the book and how it relates to real homeless issues right here in Cincinnati. Thursday, May 13 – Armchair Advocate Day. Fight to end homelessness without leaving your own home (instructions in next month’s Streetvibes)! Friday, May 14 – Homeless Awareness Concert. Local performers will make this a wonderful closing event. Soul Mission Chorale, Winton Woods High School Choir, Stepp’n Out, and NuVue gospel singing group are just some of the performers scheduled. Bits & Pieces Page 10 �by Jimmy Heath In spite of a federal lawsuit filed against the City of Cincinnati on behalf of former tenants of Huntington Meadows and investors, the project to tear down and replace the now-abandoned housing units with new up-scale condos won City Council support. Over one-thousand units of affordable housing will be lost when the project is completed. Last month, Cincinnati City Council voted 7-1 in favor of the plan, a day after former tenants filed a federal lawsuit claiming the city conspired to evict residents to free up the site for upscale housing. The goal of the lawsuit was to stop the vote and compensate those forced out. The suit also accused Vice Mayor Alicia Reece of using her power for the financial benefit of herself, her family, and her friends. The suit said the plans to develop the Huntington Meadows site were calculated and designed to improve the value of nearby property owned by Alicia Reece’s father, Steve Reece, while harming African American females living at the housing complex. wrote, “I categorically deny these false allegations. This is nothing more than a pattern of malicious, slanderous, and false allegations filled with ‘personal attacks’ by certain attorneys designed to defame my name in the community. I will continue to fight for neighborhood development throughout our city.” “We want progress in this city,” said Jennifer Kinsley, the residents’ attorney. “What we are trying to stop is development on the backs of the residents evicted from this property.” With plans by two local churches to turn the property into several hundred houses and condos, attorneys who filed the lawsuit said a number of people stand to benefit from the deal, including the churches which planned to invest less than $500,000 of their own cash in the project. About $14 million of taxpayers’ money will be used to build the new single family houses in the Bond Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati. Jimmy Heath photos City Council Approves Plan For Huntington Meadows In a statement to Development local news, Alicia Reece But Mayor Charlie Luken vowed the lawsuit would not halt progress on the project or interfere with council’s vote. “We will not be discouraged by frivolous lawsuits,” Luken said. City Council voted to give the two local churches control of the nearly $14 million to develop the nowabandoned apartments. Until it shut down about 18 months ago, Huntington Meadows was the largest privately owned apartment complex in Cincinnati with over 1000 rental units. The tenants were evicted after the management company said residents faced the dangers of mold, sewage, asbestos and other health problems. The city plans to buy the land and demolish the Huntington Meadows apartments. The land will be turned over to the two community churches. The lots will be sold to potential homeowners and builders. Many previous city redevelopment efforts have failed. Mayor Charlie Luken said the city manager has safeguards in place to make sure the city watches how its money is spent. “I think we’ve all learned a little bit about having some confidence in the people who are making the decisions. I think for too long we just put people at desks. They just filed papers. They didn’t look carefully at things. I think with Valerie Lemmie, she’s changed all that,” Mayor Luken said. Council member John Cranley cast the only vote against the plan. Council member Pat DeWine was unable to cast a vote because of a conflict of interest. The proposal had ample support from members of the two churches involved in the redevelopment plan. Mayor Charlie Luken issued a statement that “the city intends to move forward with the housing development, and we will not be deterred by those who have no interest in helping the city and its neighborhoods.” Reverend Jordan from the Allen Temple, one of the developers, called the allegations outlined in the lawsuit “ridiculous.” DEAR READERS! Send us your Vendor Stories Do you have a favorite Streetvibes Vendor that you would like to tell us about? Send your stories or comments to: Streetvibes@juno.com or Streetvibes 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati. Ohio 45202 Aaron Raines Memorial Garden, Lower Price Hill - Photo by Curtis Proffitt S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 GCCH News Page 11 Page 11 �Haiti’s Collapse supporting and perhaps leading the current chaos. But in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of instances, it is Aristide’s own toughs who have turned against him. Someone has convinced them that he no longer represents Haiti’s future; no doubt someone with money. In a country as poor as Haiti, the man with more money to spend will win in the end (as in the favelas of Brazil and the slums of Colombia), because it is so very hard to maintain the high moral ground when no one’s paying you to do it and the kids are starving back in the village or your one-room shack. And the miserable street – with its thugs and its slumdwellers, with its students and bricklayers and flat-tire fixers and car-wash boys, with its orphans and preachers and market ladies and tap-tap drivers, with its cart-pullers and trough-cleaners, its seamstresses and tailors, its cockfighters and garbage-pickers, numbers-runners, whores and money-changers – is Haiti’s political steamroller. The gods must help the Haitian politician the street has finally turned against – nothing else will. It will be interesting to see who will reward the “resistance” for its courage, and how. If Aristide must fall, let us hope still for real, meaningful elections in Haiti, soon. But let us not expect them. Amy Wilentz, an associate professor of journalism at Columbia University, is the author of ‘The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier’ (Simon & Schuster, 1989). by Amy Wilentz The Aristide administration, which has been overthrown once already, has been egalitarian in the lives destroyed during its time: Among its dead can be counted the president’s former friends and his foes, democrats and supporters of dictatorship. Among the victims have been policemen and prisoners and politicians; rich men and poor, journalists and slum-dwellers, human-rights workers and doctors and businessmen. Almost no sector has been untouched. No one can argue that JeanBertrand Aristide’s presidency has been in any way successful other than this: It exists. He was elected in 1990 with enormous hope by an overwhelming majority in a legitimate election – and quickly overthrown by the Haitian Army and its friends. In 1994 he was returned to power through the good will of the Clinton Administration, in the optimistic expectation that he would be able to turn Haiti around. He was not able to do so for a combination of reasons, some political, some personal and most having to do with his inability to conduct a happy relationship either with the Bush Administration or with his own business and intellectual elite. Washington also cut off huge portions of aid, which cannot have helped Aristide’s standing. Still, a fatal combination of arrogance and naïveté on his part made Aristide’s difficult position much more intractable. Meanwhile, the Haitian opposition has been coddled and pushed toward the depths of intransigence by Aristide’s detractors in the US government, in both Haiti and in Washington. By now, with the country well on its way to chaos, many argue that Aristide has exhausted the electorate’s patience and must be replaced. Yet now – as he finally begins to recognize how powerful the opposition has become despite all his political jockeying and playacting – should be the time for all friends of Haiti, especially in the US government, to support Aristide’s continuation at the helm: not because he is good but because he is president. Aristide is a transitional figure and not the best of these. He is no Mandela, and he does not have the political maturity to control the violent forces that swirl through Haitian politics – no easy job. Yet the future of Haiti hinges on support for institutions and for a state based on law. As part of the unrest, a gang element managed to take over Gonaïves, one of Haiti’s largest cities – a ramshackle affair of shantytowns and gingerbread houses atop salt flats and roads made undrivable by potholes, with few enough institutions as it is. This gang, which styles itself the Cannibal Army or, in its latest incarnation, the Artibonite Resistance Front (perhaps more palatable to the international community), has burned down the courthouse and the prison in Gonaïves, released the prison population and forced the mayor to flee. Though there may be elaborate and in some cases good excuses for these actions, taken as a trend they do not bode well for the rule of law. In the wake of the Gonaïves takeover, ten lesser cities have fallen to such forces, each in differing circumstances but all motivated by encouragement from sectors of the opposition and by the sense that Aristide is about to fall. That will not be helped by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher’s hints on February 9 that a solution to the situation might not necessarily include President Aristide. Three of the towns have been retaken by the government. The numbers of Aristide’s detractors, their unwillingness to stop their protests even in the face of police brutality and killings and their takeover of Gonaïves and other towns have brought a new humility to Aristide, which sits rather uncomfortably on his proud shoulders. Still, the situation has been volatile enough to force him to make necessary concessions, under pressure from the Organization of American States and Caribbean Community, to the opposition. Because the opposition is swollen with self-importance in the wake of so many bloody victories in the countryside, it may not respond to Aristide’s eleventhhour overtures. It was not moved by a huge outpouring of support for him in the streets of Port-auPrince on the recent anniversary of the fall of Duvalier. When Aristide returned to power, he bravely disbanded the Haitian Army and then promptly permitted a kind of mass civilian militarization without insuring his continuing control over it. A remnant of the old army is Ranger... Bush’s regime with Nazis, but splintered votes can produce Terrible consequences.) Nader seems to have forgotten his own historical contribution to a different, more hopeful path, where he encouraged thousands of citizens to join in challenging illegitimate actions of power. He once recognized that progressive politics gathers its strength from the breadth of citizen movements. Now he acts, with an almost messianic fervor, a Lone Ranger intent on holding on to his own moral purity whatever the pleas of his compatriots and whatever the cost to the planet. By denying the real choices we face, he betrays the best of his legacy. Will Nader’s candidacy ultimately matter? Many of his supporters have bolted. He may not get on the ballot in every state. But if the election is close enough, his candidacy could still have a tragic impact. We all know the Florida numbers. We forget that the Nader vote made the difference in New Hampshire as well, and that him blindly. his support in states like Oregon, As we work to challenge’s Washington, Wisconsin, New Bush’s lies and to reach out to our Mexico, and even California forced fellow citizens, we can build Al Gore to divert time, money and autonomous community. We can resources away from other close connect with coworkers and races he might well have otherwise neighbors, work to unite historically won. separated progressive movements, As a leader in the keep raising core issues no matter conservative group Concerned who’s elected in November. We Women for America recently told the don’t have to be true believers. But Washington Times, the Bush ticket we’re faced with as critical a choice may be in trouble, and they need a and challenge as we’ve experienced Nader alternative “to draw in our lifetime. It’s too bad that by Democratic votes away from the prizing his own righteousness over Democratic candidate.” the risks of his actions, Ralph Nader Because the more strongly has just made that challenge a little Nader campaigns, the more time, bit harder. money, and energy we’ll all have to divert away from the prime task of defeating Bush. (Business Card Size, ad ready copy) Assuming the Reach 18,000 customers per month admittedly flawed John Kerry becomes the Call Streetvibes @ 421-7803 Democratic nominee, we don’t have to support cont. from page 7 can Nader know this and still run? He says he’ll raise the otherwise buried hard issues. He says he’ll bring disenchanted citizens back into politics. He offers Byzantine explanations of how he’ll actually help defeat George Bush by raising fresh subjects and approaches, opening up “a second front of voters against the regime,” and offering an alternative for moderate Republicans. But he can raise the issues on his own, as he has throughout his life. He can do it without his every critique of the “two-party duopoly” driving people away from voting for the Democratic nominee. He can do it without offering the illusion that a purely symbolic vote will do anything to get Bush out of office. (I keep thinking about the endless political infighting that helped Hitler rise to power, culminating in the German Communist Party’s ghastly slogan, “After Hitler, us.” I’m not equating S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Rent This Space! Only $25 per month... Politics Page 12 �Ohio Empowerment Coalition Joins in “Presidential Dialogue With America’s Families” by Lynn Williams, OEC Organizer, with background information from Center for Community Change On January 29 the Ohio Empowerment Coalition traveled 512 miles to Columbia, South Carolina, to join over a hundred other community and neighborhood organizations, in addressing the Democratic presidential candidates. This event, the “Dialogue with America’s Families” was co-produced by the People’s Agenda for Economic Justice and the Center for Community Change (www.communitychange.org) in association with radio host Tom Joyner. The Dialogue was carried live from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 pm on the largest NBC affiliate in the state, WIS-TV, as well as C-SPAN and MSNBC. Members of the Ohio Empowerment Coalition from Cincinnati, Athens, Cleveland, Dayton and Adams County, as well as participants from Columbus, Blanchester and Greenfield, boarded the bus that left from the Contact Center in Cincinnati. Most bus riders were from the Cincinnati Welfare Rights Coalition. “We want the Presidential candidates to take seriously the needs of poor families in this country. We want changes made in welfare laws that will help families get out of poverty, not throw them deeper in debt. We want answers!” stated th Catrina Weber, co-chair of the Cincinnati Welfare Rights Coalition, before boarding the bus. The Center for Community Change’s “Presidential Dialogue with America’s Families” was the grassroots kickoff for the Center’s Community Voting Project to elevate the voices and issues of low-income families through voter registration and mobilization in 2004 and beyond. Over 3000 leaders from South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Montana descended on Columbia in solidarity that poverty issues be vigorously brought to the consciousness of Presidential candidates and the public eye. All Democratic Presidential candidates except Sen. Lieberman attended the Dialogue and fielded questions. President Bush was also invited but did not attend. The Dialogue consisted of individuals directly affected by government policies on Medicaid, TANF, public education, NAFTA, immigrant policies, and the military’s occupation of Iraq. The Dialogue gave low-income people the rare opportunity to pose questions directly to the candidates. It gave unparalleled public attention to low-income issues within the context of a presidential election. After the Dialogue, participants boarded buses to rev up support for voter registration and voting in the primary Letting Rumsfeld Set the Rules by Jim Naureckas The Washington Post (11/0/ 03) described an unusual arrangement between the Pentagon and 18 local TV stations across the country: In exchange for being allowed to interview Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the stations agreed to also air interviews with three or four other Pentagon officials, like Paul Wolfowitz and Paul Bremer. One should always question when government officials dictate to news outlets how they will be covered. And particularly for local TV news, which rarely covers national politics, interviews with four or five different people giving the same point of view is a large price to pay for getting access to a public official. But Rumsfeld is not just any official; he’s an official with a clear track record of obfuscation and denying reality. To cite just one example: In a September 25 interview, a reporter from Sinclair Broadcasting said to Rumsfeld, “Before the war in Iraq... you said they would welcome us with open arms.” Rumsfeld responded with a denial: “Never said that.... Never did. You may remember it well, but you’re thinking of somebody else. You can’t find anywhere me saying anything like [that].... I never said anything like that because I never knew what would happen and I knew I didn’t know.” But on February 20, Rumsfeld was asked by PBS’s Jim Lehrer: “Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?” And Rumsfeld responded: “There is no S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 throughout Columbia. In South Carolina the primary was the following Tuesday. On the way back to Cincinnati participants on the bus spoke with enthusiasm of the event. “This was really worth while to go to. I feel that people from across the country were unified in expressing the needs and concerns of low-income people. I wish I could have taken my children because this would have shown them first hand the democratic process and what it means to be a citizen in our country. We each matter too!” stated one participant. For more information contact the Ohio Empowerment Coalition at 1877-862-5179. question but that they would be welcomed. Go back to Afghanistan—the people were in the streets playing music, cheering, flying kites, and doing all the things that the Taliban and the Al Qaeda would not let them do.” Eric Rosenberg of Hearst Newspapers (11/9/03), who pointed out this contradiction, also noted that Rumsfeld has denied statements he made concerning Iraq’s supposed “large clandestine stockpiles” of chemical and biological weapons (House Armed Services Committee, 9/18/02); later, when asked whether he had been wrong to claim that Iraq had “extensive stocks” of such weapons (Pentagon briefing, 10/30/ 03), Rumsfeld retorted: “You go back and give me something that talks about extensive stocks.... I’d be surprised if you found the word ‘extensive.’” If you can’t trust a person to acknowledge his own words, can you really trust him to accurately convey the complex reality of what’s going on in Iraq? Instead of following Rumsfeld with three or four of his subordinates, TV news should put on some independent experts who can set the record straight. (212) 633-6700 http://www.fair.org/ E-mail: fair@fair.org GCCH News To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. e.e.cummings Write Us! Send letters to: Streetvibes@Juno.com, or write the Coalition - Streetvibes 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Page 13 Page 13 �I’m Not Alone THAT’S JUST A LITTLE RUDE by Robert Manassa They seem so dreary, the problems of today They’re taking all the poor people rights away They’ve ended welfare, they’ve cut SSI, low-income housing programs are in disarray. There are no treatment centers, shelters are shuttin’ down. We can’t even sleep on park benches, even there they push us around In Atlanta, it’s really getting dark, you might just go to prison for sleeping in the park. As poor people struggle from town to town, they see new stadiums opening, and schools and churches closing down. While they use a poor man’s tax dollars to bailout S&L’S Their not building him houses, they only building jails. While the poor can help pay for battleships or other weapons of war, their told money to help themselves isn’t available anymore. While the working poor help pay farmers not to grow any food They’re the one’s who are starving and that’s just a little rude!!! I wake up this morning, singing a new song. I even took the time out to thank the Lord. I’ve been reborn There’s not a day or nite that passes me by That I don’t send up praises to the Lord on high. I know that I have all my sins forgiven me. I have my Heavenly Father above, Watching over me continuously. I never, ever worry; I don’t have to fret, I have someone walking and talking with me. He’s never left me, nor has he failed me yet, I’m not alone. Bring Our Children Home On The Brink by Vera Zlatkin by Anthony Wayne Stone to all those who cannot or will not understand me These Bones will Rise Again - until we all have homes again (inspired by traditional “them bones will rise again”) by Melissa Tuckey Over the Rhine is under attack by the rich who neglected her and now want her back. and everywhere i look i see the signs of war, led by bankers and bulldozers and greed to consume more. buddy gray was a friend of mine he was under attack for feeding the hungry and teaching them to fight back for loving the children of Over-theRhine for standing in the way while others just stood by You can kill buddy gray but not Over-the-Rhine the spirit that lives here continues to rise these bones will rise again these bones will rise again these homes will rise again these homes will rise again the sun will shine again in over the rhine again you can kill buddy gray but not Over-the-Rhine the spirit that lives here has been around a long time these bones will rise again these bones will rise again until we all have homes again until we all have homes again. In loving memory of buddy gray, may his spirit live on, always as i drink the drink that brings eternal life, i realize th ethings i’ve done to my self since i first took the drink of the dark and dead, that drove me to the brink of insanity, so that i must drink to regain my santiy, even though now, the wish for life eternal is now lost, barely holding onto sanity as i drain the life force of the immortal criminal who sought my life and wallet, and who now hears the sound of his last minutes on earth, this is the brink, and as you stare at me, i can see that insanity is even closer, for if i am to survive, one must die, you or me. In This Deadend submitted by Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan They smell your breath. You better not have said, “I love you.” They smell your heart. These are strange times, darling... And they flog love at the roadblock. We had better hide love in the closet... In this crooked dead end and twisting chill, they feed the fire with the kindling of song and poetry. Do not risk a thought. These are strange times, darling... He who knocks on the door at midnight has come to kill the light. We had better hide light in the closet... Those there are butchers stationed at the crossroads With bloody clubs and cleavers. These are strange times, darling... and they excise smiles from lips and songs from mouths. We had better hide joy in the closet... Canaries barbecued on a fire of lilies and jasmine, these are strange times, darling... Satan drunk with victory sits at our funeral feast. We had better hide God in the closet. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Someone’s heart is broken, Another daughter dies. Somebody’s father won’t come home; Somewhere a family cries. Five hundred now and counting. Today – eleven more. How many people have to die Before we end this war? Strangers in a distant land, Our children kill and die Learning hoe to hate and fear, Never knowing why. Six hundred soon will be the toll; The wounded- many more. And the number of Iraqi’s killed Is someone keeping score? A soldier draws his final breath, With comrades standing by. Along a road a bomb explodes And seven people die. One expert says, “at least three years”; Another, “nearly ten”. How long? My God, How Long! Before We bring them home again? Darkness by D-Von Sanders There is darkness on the surface of the deep But is the darkness really bad Because with light comes life then death and emotions Of pain and suffering, for the things you’ve never had So is the darkness really bad? We was born in darkness of the womb Of our Mother Earth, and we will return to Darkness Until the dawn of our new birth So is the darkness really bad? No I don’t think so Because in the Darkness there is peace From Heaven above and Hell below Art & Poetry Page 14 �Crows Awaken For information on submitting your poetry or art to STREETVIBES email Streetvibes@juno.com by Michael Henson Two crows awaken in the snow at dawn. All night, they have roosted on an iron truss of the television tower. All night, the red light at the peak of the tower pulsed in their dream like a bolus of radiant blood. Now, they shake the snow from their shoulders and stretch their wings and legs. They are cold at the claw, cold in the joints. Snow stretches all around them, caked in the branches of the trees, along the power lines, and in the untracked street. They call, they call to warm themselves, then lift from the iron roost to feel the cold air under their wings. The city roars with traffic. The cables hum with messages. Even the trusses of the tower thrum with an electric mumble. But other birds hear the call of the birds and they answer. Soon the hillside rattles with the gravel of their voices. Up in the crow-patterned air they greet and they are greeted. They call again and call again joyous, wild. Death by Detachment 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, fills the street with deadly void, inside and outside the soul, with and without spirit. Ways of My Heart by Anthony Wayne Stone when you look at my heart, please know that its shape is sharp, with the edges of a razor, quick to cut. when you look at my heart, please know that its color is still red, though it is darker than most, and yet, i’ve known darker. people are afraid to be around me, afraid of things they cannot yet see, afraid to love me, because a dark love is all i can give, and yet they refuse me, when i ask them to teach me this love that they preach to me, this love that is light to the heart, this bright love that they speak so fondly of. 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. so before you judge me, look at your own heart, and see how it grows, and tell me what it is that you find. Shutter Speed by Jimmy Heath Street Musicians, 7th and Vine Street, Downtown Cincinnati S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Art & Poetry Page 15 Page 15 �Hard-core homeless prefer the outdoors by Rachel D’Oro Ron Feldhouse draws the line at 45 degrees below zero. Then it’s time to sleep indoors. Otherwise, the 47-year-old man sets up camp in the woods outside Fairbanks, where winter temperatures can hover around minus-20 or colder for weeks at a stretch. Dealing with extreme elements is the norm for Feldhouse and other hard-core homeless Alaskans who live outdoors in weather so cold it can be easily fatal for the unprepared. “It’s a learned art,” Feldhouse said. “After a while, you just start getting used to it.” Many of Alaska’s indigent a population that’s difficult to measure - cope by drifting from couch to couch or sleeping in motels, cars, boats and homeless shelters in the state’s larger cities. But a small number say they prefer dealing with the bitter cold to following rules at shelters, which offer limited stays, forbid the use of alcohol and drugs and impose strict curfews. Ed Heeckt arrived in Alaska a year ago from Arlington, Washington, settling in Juneau where he got a short-lived job processing fish for $8.50 an hour. He stayed at the Glory Hole, a local shelter, for a week, but hated the cramped quarters. Unable to afford even the cheapest rent, he set up a hand-medown tent among spruce and alder trees at an abandoned mining site just outside downtown Juneau. In the summer, he has a perfect view of the cruise ships that frequent the Southeast Alaska town. “I can’t handle the snoring and the smelly feet of a shelter,” said Heeckt, 36. “But I’m very independent and I can survive anywhere.” Practiced campers say it’s not that hard to stay warm - it just takes a little ingenuity. They dig caves out of snow mounds, pack snow high around outer tent walls for insulation, and line inner edges with clothing. Some burrow in trash bins or curl up in doorways. On cold nights, Heeckt burns a can of gel fuel inside his tent for 10 minutes to get it “nice and warm.” He puts on layers of shirts, pants, a couple pairs of socks and a hat before diving into his mummy-style sleeping bag, which is sandwiched between a plastic foam pad and a pile of blankets. Feldhouse, who’s been without a permanent home in Alaska and North Dakota for 25 years, is a regular at several Fairbanks coffee shops. When temperatures plummet, he can be found inside long past midnight, nursing a cup of coffee before heading to his camp on his bicycle. “People ask me, ‘Don’t you get cold?’ No, not really, only when I get out of my sleeping bag,” he said. “I just don’t like being tied down. Living like this lightens the load. I don’t have to answer to anybody, don’t have bills to pay.” In Anchorage, a city of 274,000, agencies that work with the homeless estimate between 8,000 and 10,000 people find themselves without a permanent roof at least temporarily over any given year. Only a fraction end up at one of the 35 makeshift camps currently well-hidden around the city and its suburbs. The number of camps fluctuates as authorities make periodic sweeps. Many campers are Alaska Natives, said Norma Carter, social services director of Bean’s Cafe, a day shelter and soup kitchen. She knows a 92-year-old man who grudgingly moved into a subsidized assisted-living home three months ago. The elderly man, who grew up in a Western Alaska village, told Carter he misses his old life. “I think it’s a cultural thing in some cases, where people are accustomed to taking a boat up the river and sleeping on the bank, under the stars,” she said. “For others, it’s just not having money, not wanting to be found. There are different reasons why people camp.” It’s a choice for Ellamae Clark, who has camped in Anchorage for nine years. She shares a site with her boyfriend and six other men. They sleep four to a tent, which goes a long way to staying warm. Clark said they all drink heavily, so watching each other is crucial to avoid freezing to death. Clark, 43, said she rarely feels the cold, having grown up in the village of Selawik above the Arctic Circle. “I even sleep in shorts,” she said. “For me, it’s an easy life. Having a camp is harder in the summer because you have to watch out for teenagers who want to vandalize it. In the summer, it gets too hot.” Chronic homelessness is almost unheard of in rural villages, where few people are strangers. That applies even to the southwestern hub of Bethel - a largely Yupik Eskimo town of 5,900 people that serves as the regional center for 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta. “Yupik society is pretty generous,” said Bob Herron, Bethel’s city manager. “If your second cousin is in need, society out here will take care of them. You can pretty much get help.” Most of Alaska’s homeless wind up in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and other urban areas, where shelters, public transportation, job opportunities and lowincome medical care are available. Leaving the state, however, is not an option for those who can’t scrape together the price of a oneway airplane ticket to a warmer place. But many wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, said Jetta Whittaker, director of the Juneau shelter. “It’s certainly easier to be homeless somewhere else where it’s not as cold, where you can sleep under a bridge and it’s not life-threatening,” Whittaker said. “But this is their home, their community.” Streetvibes 3rd Best in North America by the North American Street Newspaper Association Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Editorial Page 16 �Towards a Justice That Lasts by Kathe McKenna The most common ingredient in justice systems is punishment. The thought is that if the person who committed the crime is punished appropriately, the victim will be satisfied. Justice, on the other hand, implies a vision where the needs of the victim as well as the perpetrator are considered. Why? Because crimes affect all of us, not just the individuals involved. The grossest example of this is the higher real estate values where the crime statistics are lowest. The principles of restorative justice speak to this breach that crime creates within the community. A commonly cited example of this manner of dealing with crime is the story of a teenager who robbed a local tire store. As a second offender, the young man was at risk of time in jail where, everyone agreed; his chances of becoming a more serious criminal were greater. A mediation between the thief and the older couple who owned the store was arranged. Step one was for the young man to learn about the impact of his crime. The immigrant couple described the effect on their tentative financial survival, but also the fear that hampered their continuing work. The sentence agreed to by both victim and perpetrator (as well as the courts) was for the young thief to volunteer in the shop. This enabled him to repay the victims financially. It also taught him the workings of a business; knowledge he shared with his peers. What began as restitution grew into a mentoring relationship and then a part-time job for the youthful offender and a new engagement with local teen-agers by the owners of the store. This may seem an easy situation, but there are incidents of rape victims and their rapists who have successfully (and voluntarily) completed the process. It is important for victims to confront their attackers and to articulate the harm they have suffered. And how liberating it is when true remorse is the result. If the victim remains merely a witness or, worse, an observer of the court system dispersing punishment, there is little movement away from being just a victim. Even in capital cases, victims’ relatives will often describe the empty sense of relief or closure when the murderer is executed. In the soup kitchen where I work, guests are often ex-offenders. An infraction of the common rules of courtesy that we have all agreed upon results in a person being barred. This expulsion is first and foremost done to cut through the explosion. It gives the one acting badly and those affected by his behavior an opportunity to breathe deeply. The offending party is invited to a meeting of those who experienced the incident, not for the purpose of receiving his punishment, but to explain what happened from his perspective and to hear the impact of his actions on both staff and other guests. Sometimes there is someone to whom an apology is owed and this must be done. If there appears to be genuine comprehension of the problems inherent in one’s disruptive behavior and a willingness to do better in the future, the guest is welcomed to return. This is so much more fruitful than just imposing a certain number of days out depending on the severity of the outburst. When only punishment is inflicted, there is no opportunity for reflection on alternatives, never mind remorse. Sometimes a guest who has committed a violent act refuses to meet with us. This is always an indication that he is not yet able to address his own behavior. Often men request a time-measured bar rather than engage in such selfexploration. The invitation to begin to develop even this small step in selfawareness is a gift we offer to our guests. For many, it is the first time they have been given such an opportunity. It requires much more from the staff than meting out a sentence. But the effort, time, and healing brings attention to one’s unconscious habits—the first step in changing behavior. Such changes then affect the larger community, and justice is truly served. Reprinted from the January 2004 issue of Whats Up, Boston. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Berta’s Art Corner “Genius of Water” - a 9 foot bronze statue stands above other statues illustrating the uses and need for water. The 43 foot tall “Tyler Davidson Memorial Fountain” was bought in Munich, Germany by Henry Probasco as a memorial to his brother-inlaw, was erected in 1871. Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. Ralph Waldo Emerson Editorial Page 17 Page 17 �Nathanial Jones: The Question Remains by Brian Garry Would cops have administered mouth to mouth resuscitation if it was their wife or mother or child, lying on the ground, not breathing? If you will, remove from your mind, the badges and police uniforms - forgetting the color of the people involved. Imagine six men, bludgeoning one man to death with metal poles. The man on the ground lies dying, moaning, begging for his mama...his last word…. mama…... What do you see? Is it just? Is it fair? Is it a destiny that you would wish upon any one? Rich white man from Indian Hill on the ground and six low income black men brutally beating him. What would the police response to that situation be? Would it have been different than how they have treated the beating of Nathanial Jones? Medical attention was never received The Republican controlled coroner’s office allegation that Jones was on PCP is questionable at best. Information came out that he was “on PCP” before the coroners report came out. Then on Tuesday the coroners report coincidentally matches the previous unsubstantiated allegation. Fishy. “What’s the problem here?” That’s a damn good question. That is the question that the second officer asked upon arrival to the White Castle the evening Nathanial Jones was murdered by the Cincinnati Police. I’ll tell you the problem. The problem is with the police attitude. They don’t value black people’s lives. They value animals over black people’s lives. They can chase around a 1,200 pound, wild, rambunctious cow for two weeks but they can’t chase a black man a round a parking lot for 20 minutes without killing him. They even built the cow a stable, had 24 hour watch, and brought him bales of hay to eat. They also had tranquilizer guns ready to shoot the cow. Guilty of being happy and then encountering the Cincinnati Police: What happened between the last picture of him on the surveillance tape in the front of White Castle to when the second cop arrived and he was on the other side of White Castle? Which cop hit the remote and turned the camera back on? Why is this not revealed in the video tape? The tape does not show an officer that was not involved in the struggle? Who could have possibly used the alleged remote? I interviewed two male mental health nurses concerning the treatment of Nathanial Jones. When asked if Nathaniel should have died, both said “no.” When asked if they had restrained someone of Nathaniel’s size before, both said “yes.” When asked if they would have been able to apprehend Nathaniel both, said “yes.” When asked if they could restrain someone of Nathanial’s size without killing him one said, with jest, “it’s very rare we have to kill our patients” and the other said, satirically, “well I would hope we wouldn’t kill someone.” I then asked the nurses to comment on the behavior of the police. One nurse stated “It takes us 10-15 minutes to calm them down but the police don’t seem to have the patience to do this.” The other cited special training provided by the Ohio Mental Health Department called Crisis Intervention Services. “We have special holds and maneuvers that they teach us, to make sure the patient is safe…You think that when a patient begins to get quiet, that he is calming down, but often it is because he can not breathe. We always make sure the patient is safe.” What if the police had waited for the force’s mental health specialist to arrive? Those cops that killed Nathaniel were not trained to deal with Nathanial Jones and therefore should never have engaged him. What if the cops had just walked away? So what, a guy is enjoying himself at White Castle? Since Nathanial was not committing a crime, the cops should have just left and Nathanial would be alive. There was no evidence that he was a danger to himself or anyone else. So, it was really a matter of ego that Nathanial Jones was killed. If Nathaniel had lunged at me, I would have backed up and moved to where he couldn’t hit me. How would those officers have treated him if he were white? Anyone would try to get up if they were being beaten with metal poles. We must step up the fight. Our tactics up to this point have been ineffective. Citizens of Cincinnati, our brothers and sisters, are still being murdered, whether by bullets or choke holds or being whacked to death. Remember, police, you are a Public Servant. Which one of us is the public and which one of us is the servant. If what we’ve seen on that tape is “official police policy,” then the “official police policy” is wrong. If it is “police policy” to savagely, and in a Neanderthal like manner, bludgeon one of our citizens to death, then that policy must go. If it is part of “police policy” for six men with clubs to take out their repressed anger and frustration on a defenseless, unarmed, sick person who was in need of medical attention, then our “police policy” needs serious revision. Clubbing him, like a group of cave men would club down a buffalo. Getting back at them with every swing, every punch, every beat down. It seems that their clubs, their phallic symbols, are making up for their inadequacies. Something just seems backwards. An occupying force of renegade cops is ruling our city, while our government officials sit back and wring their hands. Not one of our city government officials has even had the balls to acknowledge to us that what happened that night “was wrong”. If they need a pair, then I’ve got an extra set they can borrow. our city council doesn’t run the city; the cops and rich people do. We elect City Council members who don’t represent us. We call protests and fifty people show up. We have become numb to the police murdering our people because it has become so common place. The time has come for “We the People” to stand up and take the bull by the horns. This is our city, we’re gonna take it back. Crying is not enuf. Talking is not enuf. We will win this battle. We will bow to no one. We are not afraid of Lukkken. We are not afraid of Strike-her or Fangman. We don’t fear death. We are not afraid to die. We will charge, we will nonviolently storm city hall and take over. We will win. They will turn and run. Our principles of equality and peace will live and their principles of oppression and greed will die. They will not hurt any of us ever any again. Fight back. Walk Tall. Join the resistance. We are courageous, powerful resisters. We, the poor people and black people are uniting under one banner and saying No! to cops who brutalize and those who allow cops to brutalize. Ain’t no power like the power of the people cuz the power of the people don’t stop! The question remains: “What’s the problem here”? Streetvibes Vendor Sonny Williams and his daughter Sara Streetvibes exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 Editorial Page 18 �FRAC - Food Research and Action Center News FRAC RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT BUSH’S FY 2005 BUDGET PROPOSAL, AND RELATED BUDGET STORIES (FRAC News Alert, February 5, 2004) The President’s Budget Proposal fails to provide new investments to increase access to the federal Child Nutrition Programs. This omission is particularly glaring given the US Department of Agriculture’s stated goals in the Budget of reducing hunger, combating obesity, and improving nutritional status. A spate of recent studies have shown that the best way to accomplish those goals is to reach more children and families with the benefits of the federal nutrition programs. http://www.frac.org/ html/news/2005budget.htm BUSH ADMINISTRATION DEFENDS LONG-TERM BUDGET CUTS IN PLAN TO CUT THE DEFICIT IN FIVE YEARS (Washington Post, February 6, 2004) A computergenerated Office of Management and Budget (OMB) estimate highlights the continued spending clampdown and budget cuts to domestic programs in the “out years” that would have to be achieved in order to meet the Bush Administration’s goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009. Such sustained spending cuts to domestic programs (e.g., lowincome education, child care, job training) would represent an unprecedented shift in federal priorities and would be the first sustained rollback in federal spending since the 1930s. The document’s tables are normally part of the Budget but this year, according to Richard Kogan of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, OMB “took extra pains to hide them.” The administration cautioned that no budget decisions have been made beyond 2005 and also took issue with the interpretation of the long-term budget that shows declines in spending on domestic programs for low-income people: “This administration has done a lot for low-income people,” said OMB spokesperson J.T. Young, citing increases in food stamp participation and the recent Medicare prescription drug plan. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/articles/A173152004Feb5.html The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that the President’s budget would make the nation’s fiscal problems worse; and that the deficit-reducing proposals are disproportionately tilted against lower- and middle-income families, while affluent and powerful constituents are essentially given a free ride. http://www.cbpp.org/22-04bud.htm he Children’s Defense Fund says the Bush Administration’s budget proposal presents a reckless plan to expand tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the most vulnerable Americans including 12.1 million children who live below the poverty line. http:// www.childrensdefense.org/ release040202.php the end of June. Only 1,000 jobs were created by the economy in December and 2.8 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past 41 months. Congress voted in 2002 to give unemployed workers an additional 13 weeks of benefits and extended the program twice. But it expired just before Christmas. Congressional Republicans said another extension wasn’t necessary because job growth was near at hand. http:// www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ articles/A617152004Jan29.html?nav=hptoc_b Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis: http:// www.cbpp.org/1-29-04ui.htm REPORT FINDS HIGHCALORIE, LESS NUTRITIOUS FOODS ARE MORE AFFORDABLE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE (Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2004) Low-income people tend to choose more high-calorie, low-nutritious foods because they provide more energy for the dollar, researchers have concluded. “Energy-dense foods composed of refined grains, added sugars or fats may represent the lowest-cost option,” said Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington. For low-income people, choosing these kinds of products “may represent a deliberate attempt to save money,” he said. The report also found that women from food insecure households were less likely to get enough fruits and vegetables and, on average, weighed about 10 pounds more than women from food secure households. “People know what food costs. Parents know they are buying enough to make their kids and themselves not hungry, but they know they are not getting a totally balanced diet,” said Jim Weill, FRAC’s president. http:// www.latimes.com/news/ nationworld/politics/wire/sns-apfood-for-the-poor,1,3891154.story (free registration required) IN-DEPTH EXAMINATION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL AND SMALL-TOWN POVERTY (Amber Waves, U.S. Department of Agriculture, February 2004) This article discusses how rural counties with high poverty rates differ across racial and demographic lines. Comparisons are made among and between high-poverty counties populated by African Americans, Hispanics, Whites, and Native Americans. Of the 444 non-metro counties classified as high-poverty counties in 2000 (based on 1999 income), three-fourths reflect the low income of racial and ethnic minorities and are classified as Black, Native American, or Hispanic high-poverty counties. Some high-poverty areas have low labor force participation rates and could benefit from job training and job development. Others have a high share of female-headed families with children, and programs that provide child care and secure child support would help defray child care costs and open up employment opportunities. http://www.ers.usda.gov/ Amberwaves/February04/Features/ Anatomy.htm RECORD-HIGH 375,000 JOBLESS WORKERS LOSE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN JANUARY; 2 MILLION WILL LOSE THEM BY JUNE (Washington Post, January 30, 2004) An analysis of Labor Department statistics by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that 375,000 jobless workers, the highest number for January in the three decades the statistics have been tracked, will have exhausted their unemployment benefits in January. About 2 million additional jobless workers will exhaust benefits by S T R E E T V I B E S March, 2004 REPORT: NEARLY 1.2 MILLION OHIOANS EXPERIENCE FOOD INSECURITY (Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, January 31, 2004) A report by the Children’s Hunger Alliance entitled “Hunger in Ohio: The State of the State 2004,” shows that nearly three-quarters of a million Ohio residents experience food insecurity during an average month. “These families live on the verge of hunger and are often unsure how they will be able to afford their next meal,” said William Dolan, CEO of the Alliance. Some 129,000 additional children and 180,000 adults experience the worse condition of hunger. The Alliance recommends that Ohio change its food stamp FRAC News requirements and allow recipients to show eligibility once a year instead of every six months. Last year, more than $100 million in federal food stamp funds were left unused by potentially eligible people in the state. The Ohio Department of Education is also working to expand School Breakfast Program participation through initiatives like “breakfast in the classroom.” http://www.cleveland.com/news/ plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/ 1075545104213372.xml. For the full Children’s Hunger Alliance report: http:// www.childrenshungeralliance.org/ Hunger%20Report%20files/ Ohio2004.pdf EDITORIAL: OHIO CHILDREN MUST RECEIVE FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE MEAL BENEFITS THEY ARE ELIGIBLE (News Journal, Mansfield, OH, February 4, 2004) This editorial urges the Ohio community to do more to find a way to get free and reduced-price meals to school children who are eligible for them. Calling the situation where low-income students miss meals while at school “needless hunger,” the editorial points out that students who are hungry have trouble focusing on their classes. Free and reducedprice school meals must be available to eligible students in a discreet manner to alleviate stigma, outreach must be performed to alert parents to the resources available, and summer meals must be made available at sites that encourage participation and provide food as well as activities. http:// www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/ news/stories/20040204/opinion/ 347678.html ACTIVISTS URGE WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATORS TO PASS ANTI-HUNGER BILL (Associated Press, January 30, 2004) Anti-hunger activists urged Washington State legislators to support proposed legislation that would simplify the Food Stamp Program and require schools to offer free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs. House Bill 2769 would make free and reduced-price school meal programs mandatory, expand summer food programs, extend food stamp benefits for five months to people leaving the TANF program, and simplify the food stamp process so that recipients would only have to report changes in income that make them ineligible. http://www.kgw.com/ sharedcontent/APStories/stories/ D80CRGEO0.html Page 19 Page 19 �TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351-0422 C.C.A.T. 381-6672 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721-0643 TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 HOUSING: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 Miami Purchase 241-0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381-1171 Tender Mercies 721-8666 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) 357-4602 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861-1111 St. John’s Housing 651-6446 Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 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 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 St. Francis/St.Joseph House 381-4941 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 Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living Options 241-2600 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4357 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 $1 Donation March 2004 Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless “Homelessness Marathon” hits Ohio Airwaves BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY Streetvibes Serial Number � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2004 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource March 2004 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Radio Marathon Brings the Voices of Homelessness to the Airwaves Pg 2: Ohio Cities Face Common Challenged Pg 3: Donate Pg 4: Homeless News Digest On a 28-Degree Night in February, Advocates Count Those Living Outdoors Pg 5: Kathy Wilson’s Book Brings Clarity to Cincinnati Politics Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: Cleveland Shelter for Women Re-Opens; Provides Safety and Support Poor to Put ‘Bushville’ Tent City at NY Convention Pg 8: Presidential Hopeful Dennis Kucinich Visits Over-the-Rhine Pg 9: The Sun Will Come Out Progress Pg 10: Cincinnati Inner-City Children Shar Their Lives Through Photography Exhibit Pg 11: City Council Approves Plan for Huntington Meadows Development Pg 12: Haiti’s Collapse Pg 13: Ohio Empowerment Coalition Joins in “Presidential Dialogue with America’s Families” Letting Rumsfeld Set the Rules Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Editorial Pg 17: Towards a Justice that Lasts Pg 18: Nathaniel Jones: The Question Remains Pg 19: FRAC Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 2004 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Mary Gaffney Elizabeth Linville Jimmy Heath Berta Lambert Curtis Proffitt Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Brendan Goodwin Cincinnati city council Cleveland Curtis Proffitt Dennis Kucinich Editorials Elizabeth Linville Food Research FRAC GCCH Georgine Getty Haiti Huntington Meadows Jimmy Heath Justice Kathy Wilson Mary Gaffney memorial Nathaniel Jones New York Ohio Over-the-Rhine Peace Village Photography Presidential Election Radio Washington Post https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/bf7a26f633262f050c13593529a23908.pdf 093dcd7d75849e538c12eb3a5b2eece8 PDF Text Text April 2004 ~----------~~~~~~ . VI Protesting the Iraq War - Around the Globe, Millions Gather on One-Year Anniversary Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide rallied March 20 against the war in Iraq. Hundreds gathered in downtown Cincinnati on the one-year anniversary of the American-led invasion. There were over 300 events in the U.S and protests in more than 60 countries, In more than 600 cities and towns around the world, people took to the streets to say yes to peace andno to pre­ emptive war and occupation, calling for an end to the occupation oflraq and President Bush's foreign policies. Hundreds of thousands of activists al.so raised their voices at rallies in London, Cairo, Tokyo and other cities in Europe,Asia and e lsewhere. in the United States, Chicago police in full riot gear lined downtown streets as thous ands of war opponents marched about two miles to the city's Federal Plaza. The Rev. Jesse Jackson told Chicago demonstrators to express their opposition to the war by voting against President Bush In Europe, one of the biggest protests was in Rome, where up to 300,000 marchers jammed the streets. Protesters demanded that Italy withdraw its 2,600 troops from Iraq. And in London, two protesters climbed the Big Ben clock tower. Early Saturday morning, the two anti-war demonstrators weari}\g climbing notable protests included a 100,000 person march and rally in New York City. The event was peacefu~ unlike a demonstration one year earlier that drew 100,000 people and produced several clashes between demonstrators and police. An event in held in San Francisco was attended by more than 50,000 people. In Crawford, Texas, where President George Bush owns a ranch and often vacations, 1000 protesters converged to repudiate his militaristic policies and call for a diversion of the billions of dollars that are being spent on war to domestic programs like schools, health clinics, housing and homelessness. Military families and veterans led a protest that drew 1500 to Fayetteville, North Carolina, outside the Fort Bragg military base. gear scaled the Big Ben clock tower at the Houses of Parliament and held up a small bannerthat read "Time for Truth" before coming down several hours later. (The Big Ben stunt sparked concerns about ,,.,.-7,. security around the cap ital's landmarks, which is supposed to be at a high level to guard against a possib le terrorist attack) London's Metropolitan Police estimated that some 25,000 people took part in the rally between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square in the center of the British capital. In Cincimati, hundreds ofprotestors story andphotos by Jimmy Heath met downtown at Cincinnati's Fountain Square to join the March and Rally Against 'VVar and Occupation. The message cb.lring the event in downtown Cincinnat i was that even though rally organizers support US troops, they do not support US policies that sentAmerican troops into Iraq. The war in Iraq has claimed the lives of two tri­ state residents - over 500 American soldiers have died since the invasion, and I 0,000 Iraqis have been killed in the conflict. Banners listing the names of individual soldiers who have died in Iraq were disp layed on Fountain Square. The rally program included a series of speakers, a memorial to those who have died in Iraq, and a short march followed by another gathering on FoW1tain Square. Rally participants marched around the block to the Federal Building and then back to Fountain ,,, i- . ' :::.. Square while pounding on drums and chanting anti-war slogans. Although police estimated the crowds ize at 250, organizers say the numbers were much closer to 800. Over three do:z.en groups were represented at the rally. The collaborative effort was intended to give strength to individual organizations participating in the event. " Each person at the rally represents someone else who could not be here," says Sister Alice Gerdeman CDP, of the Intercommunity Peace andJustice Center and coordinator of the event. "I was pleased with the spirit of the participants, and with the energy generated by this event. The real measure of success will be when people take this energy and are able to change policy," said Gerdeman. (For more information call the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center at (513) 579-8547 �STREETVIBES The Tri-State's Homeless Grapevine 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 home­ less 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 Streetvihes 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. GCCHStaff Georgine Getty - Executive Director Brendan Goodwin - Administra­ tive Coordinator Andy Erickson - Education Coordinator Elizabeth Linville - Civil Rights Coordinator Janice Faulkner - Receptionist Mar y Gaffney- Receptionist Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photoi:raphers Mary Burke, Anthony Dent, Jimmy Heath, Be1ta Lambert Cover Iraq War protesters march in Cincinnati, March 20, 2004 - photo by Jimmy Heath Streetvibes accepts letters, poems, stories, essays, original graphics, and photos. We will give preference to those who are homeless or ven­ dors. Subscriptions to Streetvibes, de­ 1ivered 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://bomeless.cinci.com STREETVIBES Reader Mail My daughter and I go to Findlay Market almost every Saturday. We have met two very nice vendors there that we talk to every week. One is Julie and she tells us about her new grandchild and we give each other a hug. She always has a smile for everyone. The other vendor is Robert Manassa. He is always very nfoe and tells us when he has a new poem in the Streetvibes. We have quite a collection on our refrigerator. He always has an uplifting message. When we don't see them we look for them. We feel like they are our friends. Inge & Sandy Seybold Greetings, Over the last 25 years of my adult life, I have been homeless about 10 years. Sometimes it was by choice, but quite often by necessity, so I have a pretty good feel about the issues involved. Whether it be poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism, fear of the authorities, or any other reason, homelessness has become a cancer in our society. As a spiritual man, my life revolves around helping others better themselves, and any contribution to your newspaper may help achieve that for some people. Please add my name to your mailing list, and if possible, I would like to submit some articles for your consideration. Unfortunately, I am not able at this time to send either money or stamps to help defray your costs. Hopefully, my future submissions will help counter that problem. Gary Hallford California State Prison Vacaville, California Mr. Hallford will be placed on our mailing list. Unfortunately, we don 't have the resources to fill all subscriptwn requests from Prisoners. Ifyou would like to sponsor a prisoner for Streetvibes, subscriptwns are $25 per year. If you like, you can designate a prisoner or we willpick one for you - editor. Dear Streetvibes Community: After more than 1 Y2 years paper and continue to educate as the Administrative Coordinator others about the pressing problem at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition of homelessness in Cincinnati. To for the Homeless, r have decided to the vendors- you are the heart of move on. I' ve decided I wanted to this program and I have enjoyed getting to know each of you. You try life in a new city and was offered a great job in Boston always liven up the office and provide great insight into the coordinating a fair trade program for an organization that works in El development of this program. Best Salvador. So as I begin to wrap up of luck to all of you and thanks for your dedication to my business here and pack up my the Homeless apartment, I keep Coalition. finding myself To the reflecting on my time donors, funders, here at the Homeless members, Coalition. As the supporters and all Administrative the homeless Coordinator, I was advocates of always the guy in the Cincinnati: Yours back of the office is not an easy job in sitti ng in front of the this city. I am so computer all day - I proud of the Brendan Goodwin would tell people diversity in our membership and that I had the boiing job at the Coalition, but I really supporters-it truly represents a have loved every minute of it. I am strong grassroots effort of endinae continuously amazed at what this homelessness and is unique to this small organization has been able to city and this country. Thank you, accomplish throughout its history, thank you, thank you for your but especially in the past year. donations, volunteer work and There are so many people to say support of the work of the goodbye to and to thank that I Homeless Coaljtion. In a city that think I have to break it into groups. continues to crimjnalize and shun To the Streetvibes those experiencing homelessness, Community: Thank you for your your efforts and your voice are support of this newspaper- I hope what is making real, systemic that you take the time to learn more change in our community. about the program so that you To Over-the-Rhine: This neighborhood has been my place of understand exactly how you are affecting people's lives through work as welJ as my home for three your support. Additionally, I hope years now. Thank you for welcoming me into your you take what you read in this April, 2004 Streetvibes Vendor Comment Cards She [Streetvibes vendor] was very well groomed and spoke up so everyone could hear her. Keep up the good work. God has people out here who will hear our cry l I always buy Streetvibes 'cause it wouldn't take much to be homeless. AH it takes is to miss the rent. I always give money to street persons. Streetvibes is a great tool for those who need money for food, etc. All the vendors I have met were polite and never pushy. ~ Write Us! We 'd like to hear from you.... Send letters or ·} f, comments to: \ ~, Streetvibes@Juno.coni, ,,. or write the Coalition office attn: Streetvibes Letters 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 ' , commLtnity full of history, struggle and activism. I am proud to have been a resident of th is neighborhood that never gets the respect it has earned. You, my neighbors, have taught me so much about life-its struggles and its rewards and I will continue to look for neighborhoods as diverse and rich to call my home. To the staff of GCCH: Thank you for the support, the laughs, the crazy made-up games that we played to relieve stress and for your un-ending dedication and compassion. I will miss coming into the office on a Sunday afternoon to finish up some work and finding half of the staff is there as well. I have never worked with a more talented, fun (and funny) staff before. Thank you for your friendship and I look forward to continuing to support your work here at the Homeless Coalition. l just realized that the only other time I have contributed to Streetvibes in the form of an article, was my introduction Jetter when 1 first started. You have seen me behind all of those fundraisinae ads each month asking for you to attend an event, or buy our book, or donate money, so this is a little different. BUT .. . in the true spirit of my job at the Homeless Coalition, I have to do it one more time .. . please go to page l1 of your Streetvibes and show your suppo1t through a financial donation. Thank you again, everyone. I will miss you all and l wish you the best in your work in the future. Sincerely, Brendan Goodwin Page 2 �Lesson on Vine Street ordinary as to slip easily from memory, others so extraordinary as a bright, bittercold day to stay in mind for a Jong, Jong in C incinnat~ some winters ago. I time. And I have carried the image saw a woman and four children of this woman and these children. almost photographically. for over gather to cross at Fourteenth and Vine. Around them were the traffic two years now. They stay with me. in motion on Vine. the traffic at rest in part, I suppose. because of a on Fourteenth. the vigilant and little riff of drama between the reposed dope boys leaning against woman, who was tipsy. and the oldest of the children, a girl with a the boarded windows of the pool hall the walkers with their canes or proud. wary eye. The woman was white. the their strollers or their bags of children were black, and it seemed groceries. Around them all was a maze of brick and neon, the woman was an interloper in this scene. She looked like someone's signboards, walk lights. glass. vinyl p lywood. chrome. paper. grandmother. but she did not look like theirs . And the oldest girl asphalt, plastic. and. in the path of who may have been twelve. was a passing truck, a p Jume of diesel smoke descending. clearly in charge. She had the smaller children linked. hand to The comer of Fourteenth and Vine in Cincinnati is a busy hand. lined up at the curb like marchers. They were packed. corner. one of the busiest. at the heart of the ghetto that erupted in identically. in bright insulate d coats. Apri l 2001 in response to the hooded. bundled. and immob ilized like fine china packed for shipping. police killing of Timothy Thomas. Thomas, an unarmed Black man They were bright -colored beauties, admirably protected and prepared wante d fo r traffic offenses. die d for the bitte r cold air of Vine just a few short blocks away in an alley off Republic Street. a darker. Street. quieter place where you will see But the woman was bare­ fewer people. But at 'Fourteenth handed. dressed shabby, out of and Vine. at any hour of the day or season and out of fashion in a night, it is not at all uncommon to camel-colored cloth coat with a see women and children and all kerchief knotted at her chin. Twenty years ago. she would not manner of people crossing or waiting to cross. many of them so have looked out of place. for she by Gray Dog On would have looked like many Vme. Some of them are the major. get-in-the-news terrible, but most women among the thousands of are the small usual. almost Appalachian migrants who shared this neighborhood with growing manageable, easily unnoticed sort numbers of African-Americans. of terrible. Two blocks down She reminded me of women I have seen in coal camps. or in country Fourteenth is Washington Park stores, or outside storefront School; two blocks up Vine Street is Saint FrancisSeraph. Qiildren churches on Wednesday nights are on these streets much of the after services. These are knotty. ti me. And it seems to me a terrible strong-minded. sharp-tongued women, hard-scrabble matr iarchs, thing that a childshould witness. the moral and emotional centers of day after day, such physical and struggling displaced families. They moral damage. such a daily are woman of great density. The corner ofFourteenth and Vine in made solid by Cincinnati is <t busy corner, one ofthe grief and wisdom. busiest, at the heart ofthe ghetto th<tt But this erupted in April, 2001 in response to the woman had lost police killing of Timothy Thom<tS.. . that soIidity; she had not that focus. disillusionment in which She was the center. it seemed. of nothing. She teetered unsteadily to matriarchal figures are made either the right, then back to the left, tlien pitiab le or fearsome by addiction, men drift hollowly toward the next again to the right as she leaned fi x. young men waste arrogantly on toward the youngest child. the wide .eyed one, and extended a the comers, the young women shaky hand to take him by the become young mothers become mitten. For a moment. the old prostitutes . woman wobbled. and it seemed she This of course is not the might mislead this wide .eyed one whole story of Vine Street. I have fr iends up the street who are a into the teeth of the traffic . hard-working, church-going family The girl. from her end of the line, watched with a dubious eye. Gray Dog,,,, Many terrible things happen cont on page 7 at the corner of Fourteenth and Because over 8,000 childen in Cincinnati are without a home every year. Homeless Awareness Week May 10 -14, 2004 Schedule of Events Gtealer ] Cincinnati Codition For 1heHomeless Monday, May 10 - Join us for a screening of Dark Days, an award-w inning docume ntary depicting the lives ofh omeless me n and women liv ing in abandoned train twme ls in New York City. A d iscussion by forme rly h omeless Cinc innatians will follow. 7 -9pm at Ka ldi's Co ffee House (12 04 M ain Street, Over-the-Rhine). Tuesday, M ay 11- H omeless Civil Rights D ay. The rights of homeless individuals are being disregarded in m any c ities across .the U.S. Cincinnati h as been ranked the 6th Me anest City for its treatme nt of h ome less in div idu als. Help us spread aware ness t o combat the criminalization o f h omelessness. M eet us at the G CCH o ffices on Tuesday at 11 :30 am (117 East 12th Street). Wednesday, May 12- Book Club. P ick up a copy of The St reet Lawyer by John Grisham and join us for our b ook c lub . We ' ll d iscuss the book and how it re lates t o re al homeless issues right h ere in Cincinnati. 6 :30 - 8:3 ~m. Meeting Room 3A at the Cinc innati Pub lic Library (800 Vme Street). Thursday, M ay 13 - A rmchair Advocate Day. Fight to end homelessne ss without leav ing y our own h om e. Educate yourse lf and others by s urfing the internet and letter writing. Visit ww w.nationa lhom ele.ss.org, www.hom eless.cinc y.com and othe r we bsites to fm d out h ow y ou can become involve d. Write le tters t o the e ditor, coWlCihnembers and state re presentatives stressing the need for a fford able hous ing to e nd homelessness. Friday, Ma y 14 - The Homeless Aware ness Music Extravaganza! Enj oy the S oul Mission Chorale, W inton Woods High Sch ool Choir, Stepp' n Out and Nu-Vue, Jake Speed and other gre at performers. 7 - 9pm at Christ Emmanuel Christian Fellowship (2324 M ay Street in Walnut Hills). All events are free and open to t he public. For m or e information, call the Homeless Coalition - 421-7803 STREETVIBES April, 2004 Page 3 �April, 2001 Did Cincinnati's Civil Unrest Change City Politics? story and photos by Jimmy Heath 19year-old Timothy Thomas was wanted o n misdemeanor arrest warrants and running from police in Over-the-Rhine on S aturday, April 7th, 2001 when he was shot by a C incinnati policeman. Police O fficer Stephen Roach, who had never fired his weapon on duty, shot a nd killed Thomas in a dead-end alley off Republic Street. Thomas appeared to be reachi ng for h is waistband during a confrontation with the policema n in the alley, accordi ng to ea rly police Man on 12th Street with picture ofMal,colm X and Maron Luther King III. reports. Timothy Thomas was the fourth black man killed by Cincinnati said Rev. Damon Lynch IIL pastor of Over-the-Rhi ne's New Prospect police si nce November of 2000, and the fifteenth such victim since Baptist Church, referri ng to the latest shooting death. Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, who denounced 1995. Tho mas was the father of a three-month-old son. participants as "law-b reaking thugs who should be prosecuted This month is the third anniversaiy of the shooting of Thomas. His death fueled nearly a week of civil unrest and rioting in uiban vigorously," an nounced he was indicting 63 people arrested o n felony C incinnati. charges, ranging from aggravated rioting, breaking and entering, Violence erupted on Monday, April 9th. 2001 following a police weapons possession, inducing panic and other misdemeanor offenses, news conference about the Thomas shooting. Angry residents crowded such as resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Cincinnati City Hall targeting their rage All of these events led the evening news programs - the against the Mayor, C ity Council men:bers, and violence. the fear, the images of rampaging "thugs" and buming police representatives. The protesters filled the dumpsters. The media continued to descend on the scene to reco rd the counci l chambers, some standing on tables and mayhem throughout the week - eventually the whole world knew what was going on in Cinci nnati. chairs screaming at city leaders, almost preventing them from leaving during the th ree­ Local and nationally recognized civil rights activists came to hour confrontation. Over-the-Rhine calling for peaceful discussions and an end to violence Thomas's mother, Angela Leisure, took on the streets. It made for good TV and painful politics. The death of Thomas was the shot heard around the w orld, with Cincinnati suddenly the podium at one point and demanded an explanation for the shooting of her son. "You thrown into the international spotlight. His death was a rallying point 'Timothy Thomas took h im from his family and his so n and we for national discussio ns o n police violence, poverty and racism. want to know why. And don't get me w rong, even when you tell me why, it's not going to make it better." The lack of answers fueled additional anger and frust ration in the assembled crowd and the waiting comm.mity. That evening, (Monday night) after a makesh ift march from City Hall hundreds of angry protesters assembled outside police headquarters in downtown C incinnati. Police in riot gear and on horseback sprayed the crowd with a chemical irritant and fired at the protesters with beanbag shotguns. A brick was thrown, breaking the glass front door of police headquarters. Ten arrests were reported. The rioti ng became more serious Tuesday afternoo n and evening as crowds took to the streets agai n. Clothing shops, restau rants and convenience stores were bro ken into and looted. The fire department stayed busy putting out building and garbage can fires. Most of the unrest was focused on the downtown, West E nd and Over-the-Rhine neighbomoods - some of the poorest communities in the city. C incinnati NAACP President Norma Holt Davis said the fatal shooting of Thomas by a Cincinnati police officer lead her to only one co nclusio n. "It appears the police force has declared war on African-Americans," she said. " Fifteen black males have died at the hands of C incinnati police in the past six years. Before the Protestor confronts Cincinnati policeman on Central, Parkway, Over-the-Rhine. healing p rocess can ever finish, the w ound reopens," STREETVIBES April, 2004 Civil Unrest Page 4 �When protesters first took to the streets, the events in Cincinnati were put in the context of a "race riot." However, when the discussions turned to racism, the frustration of the oppressed and the poor, the g leam of the story started to wear thin. A lot of people on the streets saw themselves as fighting the oppressor white society which is not quite the same as fighting against white people. Is it possible that Timothy Thomas would have never been shot in the first p lace if he had been white? Nearly 800 people were eventually arrested for violating the four-day curfew imposed by Mayor Charlie Luken when he declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, April 12. Over 1,000 people attended the funeral on Saturday, April 14 for Timothy Thomas at New Prospect Baptist Church in Over-the­ Rhine. More than a funeral, it was a media and political show-and-tell event. The Mayor was there and so was the Governor of Ohio, along with other political bigwigs and throng,s of reporters. Following the service, mourners joined with hundreds outside the church and marched peacefully through the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood where Thomas was shot. Some 1,000 people of all races participated in the march. Conspicuous ly absent from the march were the politicians. Politically, nothing much has changed. The poor neighborhoods, predominately African-American communities, still feel the frustration of being black in a white dominated City Hall and police force. Some inner-city residents are just as frightened of the police as they are of the drug thugs and street-comer-gangsters Many of the thugs and looters, who were "vigorous ly" prosecuted three years ago have long-since been released from j ail after serving out their sentences, only to return to the street filled with prison-anger and resentment. Many businesses in Over-the-Rhine, even after three years, continue to struggle with the stigma of the event with many fearful Ms. Fa1111y SWvall, from her apartment at 15th md Republi.c St.reel, money-spending white suburbanites staying away from the downtown Over-tlie-Rlut1e. Her raisedftsl, she later I.old me, wru- 11ot a11 act of area in droves. def11111ce, bllt ofresolve a11d delerminaikm. People frequently ask me if things in Over-the-Rhine have returned to normal. Sadly, things have slowly returned to the same as how tenuous the relations are between the police and the African­ American community. And it reveals dissatisfaction in the areas of before- if "normal" is a war zone, a crime zone, and a drug-filled education, jobs and economic opportunity, housing and community zone. The most obvious thing is the slow and agonizing lack of leadership. Wtlh this crisis has come the opportunity for improvement. progress in community and police re lations. Although the police have Cincinnati must make rea l changes in each of U1ese areas if the city is adopted less lethal methods for subduing suspects (they are now armed to grow beyond the turmoil of that fateful week three years ago. with the recently approved Taser stun guns), the sense of isolation and Many Americans, particularly white Americans, are quick to lack of communication dominates the relationship betwe.en the police deny race as the primary motive in almost any negative act against a and the community, even to this day. person of color (unless the person committing the act is wearing a The police division's leadership has been criticized as white sheet). Police brutality cases are just a symptom of the illness. Cincinnati city government continues to struggle with the ' distasteful' unresponsive and uncaring. It is simplistic to dismiss the deaths of black people at the hands of police as unfortunate and unavoidable symptoms of poverty and racism, confronting the issue.with window dressing, sound bites and half-hearted attempts at reconciliation. In aspects of police work. The police must come to understand the frustrations and fears that these incidents engender in the communities Cincinnati government, denial may be the most serious affliction. • it patrols. Even more significant from the perspective of black Cincinnatians is that no city police officer has ever been convicted of a killing. (There has been only one reprimand.) Sadly, all that makes the.news is the drama of life on the streets in the inner-city. We don't often hear the stories of the families and the senior citizens and the majority of residents in Over-the-Rhine and other poor Cincinnati neighborhoods that are law-abiding and working hard to support their families - trying to build something for themselves and their neighbors. V./e only hear the horror stories of shootings, robbery and drug dealing. The drama that feeds the evening news is taken as truth by middle-class Cincinnati. Even in the face of overwhelming historical precedent, American denial about the role that race or racism plays in these, and similar events, remains strong. Despite repealed warnings from civll rights leaders and black police officers in Cincinnati, the police department's official response was that the shootings must be considered individually rather than as a pattern. Tragic as the death of Mr. Thomas was, the rioting that swept the city was about more than the loss of one young man. It was about the deep rifts that Oiildren <»1 Vine Street, last s11111.rner. separate citizens and city government. It shows just .. - STREETVIBES April, 2004 Civil Unrest Page 5 �A similar path of ignorance invo lves Jewish by Dr. Steve Sunderl<uzd education about the uniqueness of being a Jew and the similarities, Teaching and Leaming in a roots, a nd connections to Minefield Christian history. Jewish The reactions to the education of Christianity and movie, 'The Pass ion of the Christian education of Jewish Christ," have been and cont inue religious complexities is almCIS't to be remarkable, a nd not only in non-existent. How many the press and our letters. Many educators are realizing that a large Christians u nderstand why so me Jews cont inue to have faith in and impa-tant part of Western education has bee n poorly done, if religious values? Being a Jew is a complex hu man act ivity that can done at all. Just recently, many te defined a nd d iscussed if there educators acknow ledged that we is an interest and if there can be a knew almost noth ing about Islam form of respect and welcoming. and that it was time to begi n to How many Christia ns have place ourselves into curricula into Jewish synagogues ventured studies and experiences in to learn about the roots of their mosques, along w ith talking to !mans a nd others interested in teaching about this great religion and its many interpretations around the US and the world. This educational e ffort has teen thr illing for many of us w ho have teen conscious of the impact of ignorance king transformed into e ducation about religions in the daily life of learners and Dr. Steve Sunderland wors hipers in our faith in Judaism and/or just to midst. ience the critical and exper What many of us have not realized, unti l this movie revealed defining holidays of Jew ish people? How many Jews have it so sharply and painfu lly, is that feel "invited" in observing in a there are also e xplosive reactions non-religious way the Easter to being a Jew and teing a experience? The absence of Christian based o n ignorance. As educators, many of us have taught comfort in e xploring these major faiths adds to the fr iction in our about intolerance a nd avo ided religious communit ies, lays the certain negat ive themes in groundwork for perpetual Christian history and docu ments misundersta ndi ngs, a nd conti nues and their p owe r in the formation to explain why simplistic of Western attitudes toward generalizations, often offensive people who believe and don't and v iolent, persist amongst many telieve in Christianity. It has Jews a nd Christians about each teen an u nwritten law that other and each other's religious Christian brutality and Chr istian teliefs. examples of heroism and Where there is ignorance tolerance be slighted and even of basic human a ctions, we can ignored, especially in p ublic expect the creation of stereotypes education. that keep people "content" in their What has also been lost rxejudice. Where bias is a cted and avoided has been an upon in the form of friendships understanding of the values of denied, e mploy ment lost, or Christianity, the reasons that many negat ive acts going u nchallenged, people have teen draw n to this the reality of peace is last and we faith and the meaning of te ing a are all wa lking on a "minefield." Christian in the be.>t ofsen.res. Our "=vivaI," many of us Educators do not know how to telieve, is determined by holding teach about faith and spirituality onto our prejudice a nd keeping without fearing that the close "to our own ki nd," hopi ng "teachin~" will be interpreted as that our group can protect us. proselytizing. As a result, the Know ing that courage to venture basics of Christia n life, the ways the holidays define and illu minate too far away may w ind up in pain faith, and the ultimate concerns of and wounding, or worse, keeps many people from any form o f a Christ ian believer are j ust movement. Many leaders outside the general education of reinforce this situation, retelli ng most people. The Peace Village STREETVIBES Apri/J 2004 know either what is reing sa id and/or what to say in return. This is the rea lity that many of us are in because this is often the first peaceful discussion with others who may d iffer from our bel iefs. Asking questions that commun icate our interest, our confusio n, and our feeli ngs of being in some danger can be asked in w ays that promote peace and friendship if we ask ourselves, if we can, "Just how am I aski ng this question?" O ften many of us change a question into a statement, and may slip into this form and need to be self-caught, if we can. Questions to and w ith each other are steps in the minefield. When we see ourselves e xploding and others Listening 'Kith tlze Ears of exploding. we need to stop a nd <l Peace Friend - Discussions of pause, repair, address the wounds, this movie in general and and prooeed w ith caution. Christian and Jewish religion in I love reading letters from specific has worked best when the my old students remind ing me of liste ning assumes an attitude of what ki nd o f teacher I was. I peaceful frie ndliness. I try and wince when I read them, knowing what I left out, or chose to avoid start by alerting us to the tecause of my fear, or, what I was minefield of not hearing what is ofte n said, teneath the words and j ust ignora nt about that would in the words, and not heard have made a differenoe. Most of because our e ars are stuffed with. us as teachers are learners, riding our tongues read ied to respond. the waves of the u ncertain and The listening that I am reaching e njoying the ride toward glimpses for may not involve a n immediate of. u nderstandi ng in the eyes of our stude nts, friends, and co­ response; sometimes going around a circle and just teachers. We return to teach ing introducing one's self from a faith and learning tecause we have position is e nough to unclog our faith in the co nnection between ears. Somet imes we test listen education and peace, just as we when some one who has teen or is search the Scriptures tecause we frighte ned has a chance to spea k have faith in the connection to with support of the group, w ith peace that arires in the beauty of a phrase. Now, we stand o n a the stated realization that the group supports their right to say different ground, perhaps a what has hurt or frightened them . minefield, and we are called to Listeni ng to these words, in make the connections again. peaceful attitudes, often allows Shalom, Salaam, Pa z. others to join in and s hare what Dr. Steve Sunderland, they might have been hidi ng in professor ofSocial Work at fear. Whenever this form of the University of Cincinnat~ disclosure happens, it is often is th e Director of The Peace useful for the people who didn' t know that such feelin~ of fear Village, a group of individuals could exist, to make stateme nts of from the national and not know ing. Peaoe Friends do international community not wa nt to cover up their feel in~ committed to examining all or their areas of not knowing issues ofPeace in the world. people and there can be fruitful Dr. Sunderland also heads up ti me used to listen to just the Posters-for-Peace which themes o f fear and support. stories of the.re who have been "blown up" by trying to as k about the best path toward safety and freedom . Many people choose to be a 'by-stander" in the minefield, choosing to wait for others to lead or protest the conditions. Some people refuse to accept the conditions of immobility and seek to find new grou nd for j ourneyi ng to safety. Ste p by step, we can = these .people moving toward knowledge, risking that each step can be followed by the.re behind with safety. I wa nt to write about an e ducational process that helps us move together, with safety, with guidance, and with the faith that through e ducation an important new experience of peace can be ach ieved. Quali.J:y QriestWns are Acts- of Peace <uzd Not War ­ engages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words, through the creation ofposters. S ometimes it is shocking that people feel so deeply and so differently about their rel igions and the religious Only $25 per month ... beliefs of Call Streetvibes @ 421-7803 others. Some people have (Business Card Size, ad ready copy) never heard Reach 18,000 customers per month! such remarks and do n' t Rent This Space! Peace Village Page 6 �Proposed federal funding will devastate voucher program by Elb;abdh Linvilk The Federal Budget for 2005, released by the Bush Administration in Febru3!}'. calls for huge cuts in the funding for housing vouchers. The voucher program. which is commonly referred to as Section 8, allows families to move into rent al housing and pay 30 percent oftheir inccme for rent, while the government subsidizes the rest. The city ofCincinnati has nearly25,000 individuals experiencing homelessness each -year. Currently, there are only around 7,000 vouchers available through CMHA. This new budget will hurt the program in a variety of ways: it will reduce the number of households that will be assisted by a voucher, it could increase the amount of rent tenants are required to pay, and it may force housing authorities to shift their assistance to higher income families. This budget will result in the loss ofapproximately250,000 vouchers nationwide. In Ohio, we will lose 12 % of our vouchers. This means a cut of I0,340 frcm the 85,300 vouchers in use today. It currently takes some households over a -year to receive a voucher. With the new cuts. the time on a waiting list could drag on even further. In addition. the budget proposal calls for policy changes in the administration of the vouchers that cou ld damage the program even further. Public Housing Elizabeili LUtvllk Authorites will be given flexibility in determining how to administer the voucher program. In order to administer the program. the budget proposal will allow them to eliminate the requirement that tenants pay no more than 30% of their income for rent. Increased rent could force families to live in overcrowded, substandard housing or to tum to the shelter system for housing. Another change the HousingAuthorities may have to m3ke because of the budget cuts is to focus the voucher assistance on higher income families. These families would require less fmancial assistance than lower income households. 'What dces this mean for Cincinnati? The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently released this information. As of July of2003 , Cincinnati had 7 ,375 vouchers. The proposed cut will decrease voucher funding by .$5,062,417. Ifthecuts are made by eliminating available vouchers, 894 would be lost. If they are made by increasing the rent burden to voucher holders, the annual rent would increase an average of $672 foreach household. There is a growing housing crisis in this country. Over 2 million households utilize housing vouchers across the country. 40% ofthe individuals utilizing vouchers are elderly or disabled; the majority of the rest are low-income families with children. According to a recent survey of Ohio shelters, there has been a 30% increase in the need for shelter. This number will likely increase even further with these budget cuts. The current administration may think that they cannot afford to continue to fund this program, but can the elderly, the disabled and children afford to lose this housing assistance? If you are interested in helping raise awareness on this is.sue, go to www.cohhio.org to send an alert to your representatives in congress. National Homeless Advocate Censored by Assistant Secretary of HUD Donald Whitehead, the first formerly homeless African. American Executive Director for the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). was barred from a HUD meeting, on Tuesday March 16th, in which he had been invited to spe3k on the Continuum of Care consolidation plan. Senior members of the Department's national office elected to censor Mr. Whirehead, asking him to leave the meeting. NCH provides a wealth and diversity of knowledge that represents a perspective shared by many in the advocacy world, but not by HUD. NCH has been highly critical ofHUD's controversial Chronic Hcmeles.snes.s Initiative as well as their proposed FY2005 budget that seeks to eliminate 250,000 section 8 vouchers, due to the detrimentaleffect these programs and cuts will have on the growing numbers o fh orne less children and familie.s. NCH joined in a letter signed by other prcminentnational, state and loca l advocacy groups including. NAACP, National Organization of Women, Volunteers ofAmerica, and Child Welfare League of America raising concerns regarding HUD's present position on the provision ofhorneless assistance funds. The fact that Donald Gray Dog... . and loud music, and in a thousand other turnings frcm her path. So she had aver<; adult duty and she would have to answer to someone if anything went wrong. She was wise to be W3!}' of such a wcman. It seemed at that moment, delerence, fear, anger, suspicion, and deftroice all warred within her as she studied what that unstable woman might do next. And that is all I can tell you. 'What more do I know of them? Nothing at all. I had a task tefore me at the time. I jaywalked past them to the hardware for a pound of nails and I did not look back. I stood in line to pay my money and didnot think, as I think now, that I had witnessed a mcment of afflicted grace. What do I mean by calling such an ordin3!}', fragment of living by such a title? Only this We make a misl3ke ifwe look for sanctity and respectability only in the Mother Teresa mode. We make another mistake ifwe see in the failures of a place like this comer only failures. There is tote foundherescmething ofsanctity and something of failure in almost evetyone. This toddling. someone's­ grandmother-looking wcman has. I think, a sad, unknowable story. It would seem her grandmother brain h3s been unmoored by cheap wine or maybe OxyContii). Her addled angels have failed to protect her ro1d she has been marked and shamed in ways I cannot know. Perhaps, in the way of the intoxicated, she hoped, in that bright and penitential day, to bring herself a moment of resurrected wholeness. Perhaps she was trying awkwardly to do right, a saintly inebriate, blind guide, unprotected protector, a broken Bodhisattva, a being holy and deluded in a place where even blessedness is lhctured. We here, after all, to do such kindness as we can. We are here to guide each other through perilous crossings. But the corner of Fourteenth and Vine is a place of conflicted blessings. \'k are wise to be wary ofeach other. The corner of Fourteenth and Vme is a sad place, full of wounded people. But there is brightness, even sanctity, a grace in affliction, even here. cont. from page 3 with no pull toward any of this. In the streets around, there are a numter ofhalfway houses, treatment centers, and transitional housing units where the work of recovery hums along. There are innocence and strength in these streets. but they are in the background, and quiet. Little of this is out on the street; none of it is as vivid and compelling as what is out on the corner where damaged and corrupted life staggers, weaves, toddles, struts, pimp walks, and cruises by at every hour. This girl, with her defiant, almost adolescent eye, had a task: to weave these children from one place to another through the color and danger of the street. And was that damaged woman one of their dangers? Thegirlseemed to think so, and she knows her world much betterthan I. She knows her world much tetterthan a child should know it. There are dro1gers in the dope boys, in the traffic, in the sexual predators cruising day and night, in the distractions of neon STREETV/BES April, 2004 Whitehead, one of the nation's most well respected homeless advocates, was denied the opportunity to address advocates who are designing a plan to address hcmeles.sness in the DC Metropolitan area is surprising. Whireheadsaid, "If we are to move focward, and achieve notable progress in our goals for strengthening the social fabric of America, this type of censorship must end." 20 YEARS SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Empowering our neighborhood c hildren through peace. art and education Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Page 7 �by Adam Holdorf, Patty L<me Three 11-year-olds got caught up in a lie that sent a homeless man to jail fo1· eight months. According to the Contra Costa Times, the girls didn't want to get in trouble for being late to school, so they covered it up by saying they were attacked by a homeless man in a park in Garden Grove, California. Eric Nordmark, a 36-year-oldself­ described nomad, was jailed for eight months on assault and child molestation charges be fore one of the girls finally ca me forward to say she and her friends made up the story. Nordmark maintained his innocence while in j ail and recalls his incarceration as " very terrifying." While Nordmark says he doesn't hold a grudge against the girls, he has not decided on whether he will sue them or the city. The girls are be ing referred to Juvenile Court. A federal class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of homeless children and their parents says that welfare programs in Suffolk County, NY, move homeless children from school to school, and schools resist enrolling and busing them. The suit claims local schools are failing to provide homeless children with suitable clothing shoes, b ooks, food, and transportation to enable them to attend school and is "depriving homeless children of a chance for a better future," according to the New York Times. The state receives millions of dollars in federal aid to educate the home less, according to advocates. The suit also addresses a prerequisite for school requiring proof of a permanent address for school enrollment, which "results in children be ing turned away at the school house door," say the plaintiffs. The suit seeks compliance, not monetary damages. Eight homeless veterans received full military honors at a special fwieral service held outside San Diego. According to theSan Diego Union Tribune, local Vietnam veterans,members of the 82ndAirbome, and e'•en Pearl Harbor survivors came to show respect for their military ''family" •some serving as honor guard, others as pallbearers. 1!1e number of home less veterans dyrng in the re gion has increased, although no one knows why. The Homeless Veterans Burial Program gave more than 80 homeless veterans dignifie d services and funerals over the last several years. Other cities have similar programs. '1 think we all fear dying alone," says Al Pavich, president of the Vietnam Veterans ofSan Diego. He attends many of these memorials and tells the lJnion­ Tribune that his organization offers treatment, job training. and counseling to homeless veterans. An estimated 270,000 ve terans are homeless. The health ofsome homeless workers in Florida may have been put at risk when the owner of a downtown St. Petersburg building hired them for a demolition job. The Tampa Bay Tribune reports that county officials may levy more than $15,000 in penalties against the owner, who is accused of hiring a number of homeless to remove crumbling asbesto.s pipe insulation without proper safety precautions. Asbestos can cause life-threatening problems, including cancer or scarring in lung tissue. Regulations require that workers wear protective clothing and treat asbestos before stripping it off pipes. 0 fficials discovered the violations last year while inspecting the apartments. Dignity Village, the 60­ person tent city placed on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, was designated a legal campsite by a four·to·one vote of the Portland City Council on Thursday, February 26. According to KOIN-TV (koin.com). the new legal status gives the camp the right to stay at its current site next to the Portland Airport. In public testimony before the council's vote , homeless residents of the tent camp .spoke out in its favor; before the camp, " when I became homeless, I went into the woods," said village treasurer Tim McCarthy. '1 was a ll alone - this was the first chance I had to be around other people in the same s ituation." Campers have requested a 10-year lease on the city-owned land they currently inhabit, which is also used as a leaf­ recycling yard; the council will respond in a few months. The delay in the lease negotiation "made it possible .. , for the council to skirt the [issue of the] inadequacy of the site," charged the Oregonian in an editorial, "and its own ethical responsibility to clean it up ifthe city intends to become > the camps sponsor.» Story, Editorial and Art Submis­ sion Deadline/or the May. 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Fridav. April 9th v . Support your local Streewibes Vendor! Yourvendorkeeps70 cents ofevery dollar..... WLO;]L&' l sing the song ofhope, wishing for peace and Ju1pp iness. Of spiritual feeling and IU1pp iness. For God's wisdom and Salvation, kindness and freedom ofprayer. And in the minds and hearts ofmen, they dre<1m ofbrothers <1nd fathers and ofson :S­ respect. Honoring hum<1nity is to be tile keeper of Lbve, and to redeem yourself of temptation ofsin. To renew the soul of d<1mn<1tion, so they be right, and of Heaven. l:tj Ronald English, Streetvibes Vendor Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and offat will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be UJl inseparahle part ofour being. Mahatma Gandhi You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. Indira Gandhi �Keep The Faith and Never Give Up through his biography, but his teaching. I sit at my desk as usual, His story is not only about his biographical talking to my friends, the homeless, who I am around r-----:::~=:::---i life, but about life through faith every day - it seems today that some are in God and His heavy laden, down unchanging with personal hand. Suffering problems. Thinking through cancer that they may have and radiation found a job or a therapy over the place to stay, they im!I0"-....;;;;....1 years has not sometimes feel Ms. Mary Gtiffney stopped him from defeated when things don't come through. accomplishing his goals. He earned his Doctorate of Education I talk to my friends about this person who I am now going to from theUniversity of Cincinnati, speak about. This gentleman I along with his wife, Monia Posey, have known since a young child. who also received her doctorate. He was reared in church - St John They hope to start a charter school A. M. E. Zion Church. He is for urban children. known all over the city and in every For it is said, "I can do all neighborhood. He is Reverend Dr. things through Christ, who Michael Posey. strengthens me." He has been the pastor now As I close this for this for many years at the church. 'vVith month -to my friends, the readers hope and faith In God he has and especially the homeless accomplished many things, not only children; never say '1 can't do." !if by 1l4ary Gtiff1iey you say that, have you really kept the faith? It is said that before His word falls, heaven and eaith will pass away. As we enter the Lenten season and celebrate the sacrifice of his death and raising, like the blooming of the flowers and trees, we celebrate new life for the coming new year. The ultimate measure ofa person is not where one stands in moments ofcom­ fort and convenience, but where one stands in times ofchallenge and contro­ versy. Martin Luther King, Jr Buy Streetvibes From Badged Vendors Only! Streetvibes Vendors are required to sign a code of conduct and agree to abide by all the rules of the Streetvibes Ven­ dor Program. If a Vendor misrepresents or breaks the rules, she/he may be removed from the Program. To report a Vendor, call 421-7803. ext. 16 The GCCH would like to thank Starbucks for their generous donation of coffee and pastries. Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct All Vendors Sign andAgree to a Code of Conduct Report Any Violations to GCCH- 421-7803 1. Streetvibes will be distributed 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 sellingStreetvibes. 2. Each paper purchased from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) cosls 30 cenls. Papers will not be given out on credit. Old papers can not be traded in for new papers. 3. Streetvibes may only be purchased from GCCE;l. Never buy papers from, orsell papers to other vendors. 4. Vendors must not panhandle or sell other items at the same time lhey 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 infiuence. 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. Vendors must also never sell Streetvibes door-to-door. 8. Vendors must not deceive customers while selling Streetvibes. Vendors must be honest in stating that all profits STREETVIBES go 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. 9. Vendors must not sell papers wllhout 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. 10. Streeh1bes vendor meetings are held on the first weekday of the month at lpm. 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. 11. Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct 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 ofGCCH, and must be surrendered upon demand. April, 2004 ''Judge Palntc.r's book is already a classic in its field." 40 Rules fr>r the Art of Legal Writing Pl' rfixl 801m(f - l 34 J.unJycc &. f.imJ~·u; ri""" C>iv1<ln11 o1 r~A t'1m..d 1ing lr1<:. 24-19 l',1u•vit•w A\'Cnue Cinnnn.1ti, (lh1(l-l!'ill 'I JOM!ph P 1Cmi.1m, D1:an Co lh.-gc u1 L,rn university ot dn~matt pngt·~ l - 9 wplto!i l .5-1 1"~ -t 1 41• !>.~1 1 ilo21 .9~ -t ~ $21).\1~ ,..., JO t1t 111 0 ~ 'Sl'I ~. 1.40 ... ~ t ltl(I ~ti . $2)93"" ~·1.d rnr <»pt"" n1 TH'E I FGAI WRffEJ( Ch.."C'\. lor _ _ _ _ _ cn.:l1>e!4!J Nnmr U t1 Page 9 �Out With The Old, In With The New.... story and photos by Mary Burke In February, a three story brick building at 302 Mulberry Street in Over-the-Rhine was demolished. Earlier in the week several bricks had fallen off the building onto the street and sidewalk below, which might have prompted the owner or the Cincinnati Building Department to take action. According to the Hamilton County Auditor, the building was constructed in 1875. Douglas M. Spitz is the owner. County records show he purchased the then 122-year-old Before.... building on February 27, 1997 for $12,000. Simultaneous to this demolition, five new townhouses are being constructed at 126 through 134 Mulberry, just a block west of 302 Mulberry Street. The townhouses are listed for sale at a price range of $209,900 - $259,500. Each townhouse boasts a view of the city and brick & stone facades. The brick walls at 302 Mulberry were 3 bricks thick and the building, now demolished, provided a view of the city. After.... 5. Single Family Homes . City Vlews Open Floor Plans Two Car Garages Will Customize Several Floor Plans Two and One Holl Baths lox Abated Q11,i/i1_1 /311i/t llJ 1·111cJ111!/ /l•,11/1 I C¢1 f 01 )\)IC ij • MICHAELSWEENEY· ~e , . .c,.,01111.t 241 3400 00 Vine)1ard* lf(>l1E.I. le•. For Free Pre-Approvol Contact: Joanie Rees TravisArd 563-2021 521-1653 New condo up the street National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) We'd like to hear from you.... Send letters or comments to: Streetvibes@Juno.com~ or write attn: Streetvibes 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 STREETVIBES · •;, 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 April, 2004 Sensitivity to the immense needs ofhumanity brings with it a spontaneous rejection of the arms race, which is incom­ patible with the all out struggle against hunger, sickness, un­ der-development and illiteracy. Pope John Paul II Page 10 �Mother's Day is May 9. Whetl'er she is a mother, a grandmother, an aunt, a wire, or a.s;ster, Motl'er's Day is our chan:e to show the special women in our lives how much they really mean to us. Mother's Day is also a chance to honor tl'e spirit of motherin~ Mothers are there to make sure we are clotl'ed, clean,fed,safa, and warm. They are tl'ere to tuck us in and kiss away tears. They are there to read to us, to listen, and to steer us down the right path Nationally, 3.5 million people experience horrelessress over tl'e course of a year. Homeless families make up over 40% of that population. lhisyear in Cincimati alore, over 5,000 families and over 8,000 children will experien:e homelessness. The above drawing was created by Asherah, age nine. She was one of many participants in our Mother's Day card contest for homeless youth. Children across Ohio participated in tl'e comest. Asherah was a resident ofthe SalvationArrey Family Shelter in Cincimati at the time she drew this picture. Her family is one of 5,000 in Cin:innati that will experience You can honor your mother by helping the families who need it tl'e most. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Horreless has been working for 20 years to eradicate horrelessness in Cincinnati. "vVe firmly believe that by coming together as a community, we can reach this goal. Please help us as we work to erase homelessness from the childhoodrremories of 8,000 kids in Cincinnati this year. r--------------------------------------------------, I By sending this corqileted form along with your donation, Asherah's Mother's Day card will be sent to the person you de.s;g­ lnate below. The card will inform the recipient that a donation has been made in his or her name to tl'e Coalition for tl'e Home­ lass. Donor's narre, address, and phore number N arne and address of the person to whom we should address tl'e card Who should the donation be placed in honor ofAn memory of! Who should we say the card is from? If you would lika the card sent to an additional person, please indicate on another sheet of paper 1he same information as above. Send this form along with your donation to: 'The Greater Cincinn:ali Coalition for tile Homeless, 117 East 1 ZSlred, Cincinn:ali, Ohio 4520Z ~--------------------------------------------------4 STREETVJBES April, 2004 Page 11 �Family Violence Option Campaign Builds Momentum by Lynn Williams well over halfofthe women receiving welfare have experienced OEC Organizer physical abuse by an intimate partner at some point during their From Rep. Jean Schmidt; adult lives, with as many as 30 "!wish the Family Violence Option would have been percent ofthese women reporting in place when !was going through abuse in a current relationship. a domestic violence crisis. It Many ofthese women want would have helped me get my life to escape the cycle ofabuse, to begin anew, and yet they find back together much sooner, " stated Catrina Weber, a member of difficulty in doing so because of the Ohio Empowerment Coalition requirements on our state welfare Steering Committee who spoke at system. ln the coming months I the OEC's Press Conference held at the Statehouse on February 17'» plan to introduce legislation that The Press Conference was held to will allow Ohio to adopt the draw public attention to the need Family Violence Option. This for the Family Violence Option in permits the waiver ofrequirements Ohio. Rep. Jean Schmidt, who has for a victim ofdomestic violence agreed to introduce the FVO when complying with those legislation, was unable to be requirements would make it more present due to campaigning in her difficult for the victim to escape domestic violence or would Distric~ but she released a public unfairly penalize the individual. statement for the Press Conference. Her aide, Ben Additionally, the bill will Larocco, was present to read Rep. address the need for a state system Schmidt's statement as fol/,ows: that will screen victims of domestic "The effects ofphysical, violence and refer them to mental and emotional abuse affect appropriate counseling and supportive services. Al/,owing hundreds ofthousands offamilies these individuals to escape the each and every year, sadly many in Ohio are included in that count­ environment ofabuse is essential and those are the ones we know in their return to healthy, fully about-likely hundreds more productive citi<Pts. silently endure this trauma, hoping I look forward to working with all involved on this one day for a glimmer ofhope. It is my intent to try to help legislation and I am honored to be these victims- victims ofabuse and involved in the effort to break the neglect, ofphysical battering and chain offamily violence in Ohio." emotional conflicts - victims The Press Conference through no fault oftheir own have followed a day long Presidents Day become part ofa destructive cycle Training to build media skills of that tears away at the very heart leaders from the OEC. The leaders offamilies today. then participated in the Press Conference the next day. Groups I am told that currently included Appalachian People's Action Coalition (APAC) of Athens; Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor (STOP), Cleveland; Empowerment Center of Greater Cleveland; Community Organizing Center, Columbus; Cincinnati Welfare Rights Coalition; Miami Valley Full Employment Council, Dayton; Bethany House Family Shelter, Cincinnati; Drop-Inn Center Full Circle Program, Cincinnati; and endorser group Action - Ohio Coalition for Battered Women, Columbus . The FVO is a state option that the Federal welfare law, otherwise known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or TANF, permits states to implement to protect domestic violence victims who apply for public assistance. Forty states, including Ohio's neighbors Kentucky and Indiana, have ah'eady adopted the Family Violence Option. Many studies have shown that domestic violence is prevalent in a majority of families who apply for public assistance. (Source: Welfare Information Network) As many as 60% ofwomen receiving pub lie assistance have been domestic violence victims as opposed to 22% in the general population. (Source: "A Review of Research on Welfare and Domes'tic Violence," Journal ofSocial Issues, 2000) The Family Violence Option will: o Ensure that public assistance recipients are screened for domestic violence by tJ:ained caseworkers Possible House Hearings on Exempt Status for 501(c) Groups Know Your Rights Brochure Available! In a March 2 speech to the Federation ofAmerican Hospitals, House 'vVays and l\i.Teans Committee Chair Bill Thomas (R-CA) said he wants the committee to investigate the benefits tax exempt groups give taxpayers, and consider whether more specific requirements shoold be imposed in exchange for exempt status. A committee spokesman said nothing has been scheduled. Thomas' speech raised the issue ofsimilar activities by nonprofit and for-pro.fit entities, such as credit unions and banks, saying, "Frankly there's been a lot of activity over the last decade in the tax-preferred area - the 501(c)(3)s, (c)(4)s, (c)(6)s - that requires a broader examination of just what is it the taxpayers are getting for their money." He said the issue was raised recently in a dispute between the American Hospital Association and the Department ofHealth and Human Services over hospital charges to uninsured patients. A committee spokesman said the scope of any inquiry would be broad, and not confined to credit unions and hospitals. Rent This Space/ (Business Card Size, adready copy) Reach 18, l.XX2 customers IDer month Only $25 per month. __ Call Streetvibes @ 421-7803 STREETVIBES April, 2004 o Make support services available to recipients o Allow recipients affected by domestic violence to be eligible for exemptions .from welfare time limits and work requirements by participating in alternative programs to help put their lives and the lives of their children together. "Right now there is no requirement that domestic violence victims who apply for welfare in Ohio will receive suppot'tive services to assist in overcoming this barrier." "Some counties provide a lot of help, but unfortunately, other counties do little or nothing. The FVO would improve this situation by requiring counties to assist domestic violence victims," said Katy Heins, Director of the Contact Center. The Ohio Empowerment Coalition is urging the Ohio Assembly and Governor to protect domestic violence victims in Ohio by adopting the Family Violence Option. A statewide Mobilization Conference/Lobby Day will be held on :tvlay 6 at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 125 E. Broad Street, in Coltunbus tocontinue mobilizing on the FVO Campaign. For more information about the Conference and/or the Family Violence Option Campaign call the Ohio Empowerment Coalition at 1-877­ 862-5179. Rep. Jean Schmidt may be contacted at 614466-8134 or ·write her at 77 South High Street, Columbus, 43215. The Know Your Rights Brochure is now available at the Coalition's office. The brochure is a legal guide for Cincinnati's h omeless and covers a person's basic rights when interacting with the police, as well as some local laws that might be of interest to the homeless population. If you are a homeless person or if you work with homeless people and would 1ike to obtain free copies of the brochm·e for yourself or your agency, pleasecall 421-7803, or stop by the Coalition office and pick one up. Politics Page 12 �Manifest Destiny by Adam Holdorf, Real Change newspaper UC Berkeley International Studies professor Chalmers Johnson has been a Cold Warrior for much of his career. When the Soviet Union crumbled, he expected the United States ­ declaring itself the winner of the US-Soviet face-off - to pack up its Cold War military outposts, consummate its nuclear disarmament treaties, and devote itself to peacetime pursuits. Appalled by U.S. foreign policy in the 1990s, he began to wonder: had America's arms race against the Soviets masked some more fundamental purpose? The result of those musings was his 2000 book, Blowback: the Costs and Consequences of American Empire, which ignited a brush fire among foreign-policy wonks over to what degree U.S. citizens are endangered by their country's foreign policy in places such as the Middle East. Then came September 11, 2001. People asking "Why do they hate us?" had, in Blowback, an answer. The network of American military bases on every continent except Antarctica; the secret and not-so­ secret wars which have taken civilian lives from Panama to the Philippines - the price of American hegemony, he had warned, is terrorism against its citizens. Now, writes Johnson in The Sorrows of Empire, "it no longer seems necessary to issue warnings; instead a diagnosis, even an autopsy, may be more appropriate." The American Empire - the military's untempered and untethered operations, the Bush doctrines of "preventive war" and unilateralism - is all about us. And no regime change in the White House will make it go away. "A revolution would be required," he writes. But Johnson finds hope, too - in the millions of marchers who opposed the Iraq War; in the anti­ globalization movement that debuted in Seattle in 1999; in the vehement disagreement of 30 percent of the American public to our nation's policies. RC: You have said that you began thinking of the United States' foreign policy as one of empire when you visited Okinawa. Johnson: I was invited by the governor of Okinawa, the poorest, most southerly island of Japan, after the incident of September 4, 1995, in which two Marines and a sailor had abducted, beaten, and STREETVIBES raped a 12-year-old girl. The When George Bush says we nuclear weapons [with regard to Iraq]. are the greatest force of good in Pentagon would have you believe Third, a tradition of deceit the 1995 rape was a single, unusual history, or when he says "You're incident. The truth of the matter is either with us or against us," which by the government in speaking to is a line Lenin liked too, but it the public. I would cite above all that the rate of sexually violent February 5, 2003, when Secretary crimes in Okinawa leading to court actually comes from the Bible ­ we're talking about a passionate martial is about two per month. of State Colin Powell sat in the One of the things I remember most ideological error that is leading us United Nations Security Council into, my opinion, very very vividly is the locals' deep and and issued a long statement that, as we now know, was an utter tissue dangerous straits. abiding belief that they were being Security of Defense victimized by both the Japanese of lies. Our Secretary of State has Rumsfield in October said that "we simply no credibility left on earth. government and by the Pentagon. Fourth, bankruptcy. The island was essentially a military don't have a metric" - his phrase, meaning a measure - we don't have Everyone knows what is happening colony between 1945 and 1972. The Japanese government, which to the American federal deficit; it is a metric for whether we are wishes to have the alliance with the succeeding against terrorism. But I catastrophic. As Herbert Steinman, who was once Chairman of the United States but does not want to think we do have a metric: in the have American troops located very eight years between 1993 and Council of Economic Advisers once close to its own citizens, essentially 2001, including the attacks of 9111, said, "Things that can't go on forever don't." Whatever you dumps them all in the equivalent of Al Qaeda carried out five major think of the Constitution, I Puerto Rico. bombing incidents around the guarantee you an economic crisis is My first in reaction was that world. Since that time, in just two something that everyone will have Okinawa must be exceptional. As a years, down to including the to come to grips with when it suicide attacks in Istanbul against result of studying American bases around the world, I concluded that the British consulate and the HSBC occurs, and it could happen at any Bank, Al Qaeda has carried out 17 time. the real tragedy of Okinawa was not that it was unusual or atypical ­ major bombings. The situation of RC: You're saying that the fault it was far too typical of the sexually terrorism is clearly worse now lies deeper than with the current violent crimes, environmental since 9/11, and reveals the administration. Do you see hope pollution, noise, bar brawls, drunk inappropriateness of an overly for change in your lifetime? driving accidents that are militarized response to terrorist Johnson: I think it's perfectly associated with our overseas bases. incidents. possible to imagine the removal of President Bush and his RC: Are there lessons for our RC: You say it would take "a administration. He seems well on occupation of Iraq in this? revolution" to return to some of Johnson: It's really interesting how the principles that were his way toward discrediting himself. But no matter who much the American press has tried expressed in the Declaration of replaces him, we'll have enormous to suggest that our bringing Independence - a declassified difficulties standing up to the democracy to Japan under General CIA budget, for example. Is it vested interests of the Pentagon, MacArthur after World War II is a too late for the democratic the intelligence agencies, and the model for our activities in Iraq. principles that founded our military-industrial complex. If you I've wanted to always say that if republic? you believe that, then you've got to The Pentagon would have you believe the 1995 rape was a leave Okinawa single, unusual incident. The truth of the matter is that the entirely out of the rate of sexually violent crimes in Okinawa leading to court discussion, because the last martial is about two per month. One of the things I remember thing we ever did most vividly is the locals' deep and abiding belief that they was bring were being victimized by both the Japanese government and by democracy to the Pentagon ... Okinawa. It's certainly a place Johnson: That's what we're going where no one thanks the United ask me right now whether I think that's going to happen, I'm sorry to to find out, in a very short period States for its presence. say I really don't. I think the polls RC: Your very first quote in The of time. My last chapter called "The Sorrows of Empire" has a strongly suggest that 70 percent of Sorrows of Empire is President Bush saying "Our nation is the the public endorses the Bush discussion of four main sorrows. Administration and the war policy; One is perpetual war: Bush and greatest force for good in Cheney have mentioned between history." You trace that 30 percent is adamantly opposed. 50 and 60 nations on earth that And 30 percent in a country as big sentiment back to Woodrow Wilson and his League of as the United States is not a small they would like to bring about number. Nations, and show it's led many a regime change through preventive One of the things that war. leader astray. Where did we go Second, the end of the appalls me about the current wrong this time? Republic, in the sense of the political situation is how none of Johnson: The United States has hollowing out of the Constititution: the Democrat [presidential made potentially a fatal mistake James Madison, easily the most candidates] seem to be offering an after the demise of the Soviet important author of the alternative to what American Union in 1991 in starting to Constitution, declared that the behavior in the world should be. convince itself that it is a new None of them have any real single most important article in it Rome. That we are a colossus afoot in the world, no one can was that the right to go to war had criticism of the size of the Defense possibly resist our military power, budget, the amount of money to be in the hands of those elected by the people, never in the hands of spent. Some of them - that is, we are beyond good and evil, we a single man. In October 2002, our most of them - voted for war do not need friends. We begin to sound like the Roman Empire, Congress voted to give that power powers to be transferred to the to a single man when he felt like it, President [in the case of Iraq]. which of course was a military on his impulse, including the use of dictatorship. April, 2004 GCCH News Page 13 �Spring Within These Walls .... by Michael Henson First hints: A red haze among the maples. A great clutter of branches thrown down by a storm. A row of daffodils that raise their baffled heads out of the cold beds of the garden. The light, stretched back by the black fingers of the trees at the horizon, stretched back by the rooftops at the head of the alley, ekes out the lingering days. The winter rains become the spring rains, cold and persistent. The rivers rise to their banks; they darken with silt. They boil coldly in their drive to the Gulf bearing downstream anything loose in their path. Then, a day that ignites green fires at the tips of the sycamores. A day when the earth shimmers with a dim mammalian pulse. After the million deaths of winter, partisan births, clandestine cadres, in tens and twelves, here, and here, and in the hedges. Everything swells. Everything grows more numerous. New hungers arise, some small as the belly of a vole, some neatly small as thought. Others large as a field of wheat. Still others larger than we dare name. Everywhere the hungers assert themselves. They stretch among the root hairs in the compost. They call from the nests tucked in the branches of the cedars. They quiver on the dark floor of every pond. They weep themselves known in the houses of the poor. by Reenie Ware Gadsden Correctional Facility, Quincy, Florida I've developed a relationship with God; I've put all my trust in Him, It is God, and only God who can help me conquer sin, We're all God's children and we all fall short, Only God can judge us for He truly knows our heart. I've met different people from all walks of life, We're all fighting sin, to stop doing wrong and instead do right. I've learned to care, love and respect myself, I've learned that I am more important than anyone else. I've had a chance to realize just how valuable my life is, A chance to realize it's not better to receive than give. Give to one another because it is the right thing to do, To give to those who are less fortunate than you. I've lived, I've learned and I've changed for the better, I've learned that change brings on new challenges. Within these walls is not where I want to be, However, within these walls is where I've regained my sanity. Tell Me Who? by Robert Manassa Who woke me up this morning? Who stops my heart from yearning? To do the things I know is wrong Who keeps me safe from all harm? Tell Me Who? Who puts shoes on my feet? Who gave me food to eat? Who stops me from living a life of crime? Who keeps me in check, walking a straight line? Tell Me Who? Some may say it's Emanuel, The man who met the woman at the well, I need to find an answer soon, Before I'm met with doom Tell Me Who? CHILD OF THE UNIVERSE We See You by Merry Ferrell Hey you, standing over there. On every corner, everywhere. Dealing drugs to your family and friends, Give your brother a hit, he'll never quit. Can't you see, they are losing their mind? Her looks are gone, his teeth are missing. They've lost their hope and dreams and their Homes. You think you're Kool. I know you are a Fool. I tried it once, I tried it twice. I don't like it. You say you are looking for the ultimate high. You'll never find it, you will slowly die. The Crack drug slowly eats you from the inside out. The dealer eats your money and leaves you alone. No love. No joy. He's gone. God held my hand and He held on tight. He showed me what was wrong and what was right. I'm never alone. He shares my Home, my Dream my Joy, my Life. I firmly believe that mother universe will provide all that I am in need of to sustain this life of mine. Each of us can harness the talents and energies to accomplish everything we set for ourselves as a goal. We are each in the space and place we belong in. Where we are and where we are headed is already pre-destined. It has been determined by the seeds we have sewn in this life and by those of the past. Its success depends on how well we attend to the crop we have planted within us. when in doubt we must speak truthfully...... .in all matters love every one with a open hand ...... even when it is painful to do so ..... .look into tomon-ow and do what is for the good of all ...... .including you Great care should be taken of what you manifest. Do not speak or act anything negative into existence ... Knowingly refrain from these activities. STREETVIBES April, 2004 Art & Poetry Page 14 �Always with you, Always with me Brick by Brett Zwoli11ski byjh mountains we climb and seas we traverse time we buy and life passes by in my mind there is but only one thought .. madden ing horror. pent up fear illusions, inebriating crimes told again and again, the story of mine whose life are we seeing? how and when did it all begin? lt is the famous bricks, pinning our hopes to cold concrete. broken glass. and scattered dreams. Because. it is real, it.becomes a triumph, breaking the calm with deliglltfulsounds and hope from a child's vo ice. ti mes immemorial, deathunveiled e mpty and bleeding, caroused and cheating Please understand my fear I' m the only one standing here When I woke up. I didn't know what to do f do remember I prayed to you This time and place is new to me There's no instruction for me to see Please God can I hold your hand At least I won't be lonely as I stand My feelings and goals are hard to do But God. deep in my heart, there really for you Their paths you make and choices you give Are.those that I chooe to live You are my master, I am your servant I seek you. l submit to you Even without you in my view With your grace and mercy everyday l can face fear and doubt in every way As everyday goes past My faith in you. I know will last Thank you God in every way Thank you God just for today to let go ... Now we hold on even tighter grasp for breath of fres h air; ahhh... the spirit released... earth inhaled to our nostrils becoming one with yourself in passionate fit rage and rancor, tearing at flesh killing me softly, taking my breath love is liberty, love is freedom love is mercy, love is justice Sendyour poetry to Streetvibes 117East12th Street, Cin, 0 45202 lt is, because there is a dream. cloaking the desperation with denial and a foolish dance, tapping the broken concrete, like a broken hammer. lt comes to us, because it never dries your eyes, but breaks your heart There is enough pain to consume your spirit. And then it dies because the ancient mantra fortifies the dreadful discourse, allowinghumans to pass in the street, asleep. Gregory Payton _____ ,,_ ' r:..f_ _:__ by Jimmy Heath ..........=.......,...---· • Window Jesus, Over-the-Rhine STREETVIBES April, 2004 Art & Poetry Page 15 �Spinning the Past, Threatening the Future fusl within themselves. Pl:llilical aphorisms don' t Perhaps such steeliness has been almost ooilerplae in gal any more c oganl: "Who oonlrols the post cont ras the history; excuses for ~gressive future; who cont ras the present w ar have never been hard to come oonlrols the past." by. Jn this c ase, no amount of Georga Orwell's famous gaopdilical analysis - from media pundits, acaiemics and observation lJ"'S a long way toward e xplaining why- a full other commentators - CC1Uld year after the invasion of Iraq ­ really do more lo shed light than the m edia battles oorer prewar lies the l ight bulb comprehension that lhese people in c harge h:rl from are so ferccioos i n the United lhe o utset macre the determination Slates. Top oimini.stralion officials are going all out to that war ii would be. airbrush yeslen:lay's creceplions on So, e very attemp t al civic l:ehalf of lcdays. And tomorrow's. engagamenl and demonstrations The future they want most against the war £ enario was, in effect, trying to impede '1eaiers" to conlid starts on Election Day. And with scarcely seven months who h :rl already gone aroond the bend .A very big berrl. One of the to g<> in the presid2nlial American m ass media taboos was campaign, the past that Bush officials are most eaga to obscure lo serious!y suggest the possibility that the Joi of them - Bush, is their own record. Jn late 2IXl2 and e arly last year, wheneorer the Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and, yes, drive to war hit a bump , they I'bwall - were, in lheir purs uit of w ar on Iraq, significantly maneuvered carefully to keep the w~ car<Nan moving ste.adil y deranged. Wetting b a:;k from their forw ard. There was no doobt; they conclusion of war's necessity, lop were a hard.driving bunch. The Bush aiministraliono fficials ­ mo.st powerful .oi.u :rl of the Bush with assistance from many foreign-policy team rano n the reporters and pundits - were fuel o f certitucre at such a reading t he c alendar backwazds, prodigious rate that e""' their hell-bent en gaiting lhe i nvasion uncrerway well before the e>.treme momentum had momentum ­ mayte, in p art, because their heal of summer. lives' trajectories seemed to T here was ilio pdilical cremand it. War h:rl been declared weather lo be naoigated. Though by Nomum,Sclomon, powerful than munitions." L ater, m uch mare susceplibbo lo any and all words were to be m anipulation than the four vasll y outma1ched by the big guns se..ons , the electoral storms trained on lrtq. would be starling for the 2004 One afternoon, 14 mcnlhs prasidenlial contest, and a secured ago, inside a little shop in v ictory o<rer Iraq well in aiv ance Baghdad's crowded souk, a young seemed aivisable. boy sat behind an old de.sk, l:row n The pea:;e-saeking e yes wicre, quielly wat hing his pretense w as dripping with father unfurl carpets far polenlial charaie in the moolhs before t he c us\\:l:ners, and I woncrered: «Will invasion. Journalists kepi wriling my country's missiles kill you?" and talking about the chances of Key questions of the past war as though Presid2nt Bush are also crucial far the future. For instance, c an the United Stales h ain't alreaiy m aie up his mind lo o rd2r ii. Yet w hat Bush said in c redibly wage a " war on public w as e xa:;lly opposite to terrorism.. by engaging in warfare reality- a «one.eighly."When that terrorizes civilians? he t alked about preferring lo find Clo... lo 10,000 lrtqi an <eceptabbo alternaliva lowar, c ivilians haoe died because of the he was det>rmined lo bypa.<s and war during the past year. destroy every allernati"8 to w... Does the mix of mendacity R alional arguments would and deadly violence from the Oval not Work lo forest all the Office really strike against terrorism . or does ii fuel terrorist presidential order to unlea.sh the Pantagon. Despite the obstacles, cycles? which included vital a:;livism arrl Arrl, i n the realm of news p rotests for pe.,e , the c hief media, how many journalists are execuli"8 easily gpt to have his willing and able to go beyond war - the best kind, to be fought reliance on official sources and endUied on! y by others . e nough lo bring us truth about lies that result in creath? Eighteen months agp, looking out at Baghdad frcm an Nonnt0t Solhrrt.on wrU s a: upper story of a hot>!, I thought of sy»dicatetl colllmn o n mdiaa>>i poleics. He is co-avthor (weh something Albert Camus once w rote. « And henceforth, the only Reese Et!ich) of' Targa Iraq: What the N ews M edia Didn't Tell honorable course will be lo sl ake everything on a formidable Yoa," pablishetl in 2003 by g amble: that wards are more Co >Uxt Books. story, Editorial "A1aybe we could get a betrer pricejor 1he car ij'we hired a real estate agent." and Art Submis­ sion Deadline/or the iWav. 2004 edition of STREETVIBES is Friday, April 9th Streetvibes exists as a f orum for the expression of the •·iews a11d opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions exp ressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes sta or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeles-s. STREETVIBES April, 20-04 Editorial Page 16 �have allocated an entire ly Buy Me Love manufactured romantic symbo lism of"reality" te levision, but the cyberspace? Why are we so profits are undeniable. Te levision accepting o f this marketplace of networks don' t have to pay to these objects. human product? According to one by Hannah Kane Stranger still isthe fact that study, conducted by Andrea Baker enormous sa Jaries to reality The Beatles proclaimed in 1964 that money can't buy me te levision "stars;•and .advertisers we buy into the diamond industry's of Ohio University, Lancaster, the love. J-Lo echoed that S€lltiment in messages about the relationships are anxious to get the attention of average commitment time for 2001 when she argued that love between men and women and couples who meet online is theyoung demographic that has latched onto the genre. In fact, the accelerated- they tend to fall in don't cost a thing. In 40 years, pop money. The diamond industry's advertising is unabashedly sexist, love and marry within a year to a popu larity ofthese shows have music has maintained its belief in year and a half. As is the case with c aused executives to rethink the the sacredness oflove. Love is heterosexist, and materialistic. sO!llethingthatshouldn' tbe Feminist, GLBT, and anti­ many other new technologies, we way television is made. Reruns are purchased. It should remain consumerism movements, however, can' t get enough of those gadgets, out, new "casts" are in. And this have failed to prevent diamonds , a inventions, and inn ovations that means there will be no shortage of untainted despite our culture of frivolous luxury, from somehow capitalism and commodification. help us to maximize our time. Why "reaf' television love stories for us But love has fallen victim to glittering their way into mainstream should it be any differentregarding to gossip about, or to participate in our quest for love? the same consumer culture that consciousness. Perhaps the true for those who are inclined. turned religion into glow-in-the­ irony of the diamond industry is the So, if anyone is looking to An even more recent prove the Beatles wrong, there is a fact that, despite c'laims that "a addition to the love industry dark Jesus keychains and major diamond is forever," diamonds can arrived with the reality television deP3ftment store sales that wealth ofevidence to point to that commemorate formerly religious boom of the past several television supports the theory that love is in fact be shattered, chipped, holidays. discolored, or destroyed. seasons. Picking up where "Love indeed for sale. Nowadays, one can There's more to peddling Love is the final frontier in Connection" and "'The Dating buy love via romance novels, love love than just diamonds. Game" left off, hit shows like "The Before song c ompilation albums, dating the war between what we hold you even consider giving or sacred and what we are willing to Bachelor:· "The Bachelorette," services, personal ads, lingerie, manufacture, brand, and bargain wearing a ring, you have to find the "Joe Millionaire," "Average Joe," romantic comedy films, sex toys, for. And the truth is, it's a losing right person.And the masterminds "B!ind Date," "Elirnidate," "Who magazines, and more. And that behind internet dat ing want to help "Wants to Marry a Multi­ doesn' t include the abundance ofe­ battle. Millionaire?," "Who Vtants to solicitations that appear in our In a world of internet dating you. For a fee, services like and television marriages, love is match.com and love.com will allow Marry My Dad?," (are you inboxesevery day, inviting us to becoming decidedly less romantic. you to enter your specifications and exhausted yet'!) are changing the grow, augment, join, and other less-than-pure verbs , all of which But we first took the he art out of find the perfect mate. If you're the way America dates. Dating is no love long ago. In 1948, De Beers longer a private affair between two will make us more attractive to type ofperson who already knows what you' re looking for (no taller people, as millions of viewers tune others. For those of us looking for told us that a diamond is forever and we , blinded by the 14 sparkly than 6' 2" , no shorter than5'10"; a more conventional form of love , in each week and discuss around carats of a history-making PR perhaps 'Ille can find comfort in J­ the water cooler the next day. brown eyes, please; smokers need campaign, agreed. not apply; wanting to adopt Dating is no longer a personal Lo's heartfelt lyrics-provided, of In 1888, De Beers children), then you might as.weII matter as some shows give the c ourse, we can get past the glint viewing audience the power to speed up the Darwinian process from her $3 million 6.1 carat Harry Consolidated Mines, Ltd. was created to capitalize on the and get on with the virtual determine the romantic fates of the Wmstonpink diamond engagement lovelorn. Dating is no longer ring. enormous diamond mines that had matchmaking. recently been discovered in South romantic as cameras zoom in on HatZJtah is a senior at This is more than a niche Africa. Before 187 0, diamonds first kisses and microphones market - some people are getting Emerson Co!kge, and doesn't rich off of other people's desire for arnplifythesweetnothing,s. No, were truly a rare commodity; the watch as much TVas one might only known sources were in the romance. Singles looking for love dating is not what it used to be. assume. Reprinted from the riverbeds in India and the jungles of spent over .$300 million on online Reality television has made it Febmary 2004 issue of Vl'hat's personal ads in 2002. weird, perverted, voyeuristic, Brazil. After the South African Up, Baston. mines were discovered, De Beers Why are people so willing cynical,clicM, and profitable. to put themselves on sale in People question the reality quickly monopolized the g loba I industry and organized a massive advertising campaign in an effort to maintain the now mythical perception that diamonds are precious and scarce, and thus maintain a high market value. Much has been written about "conflict diamonds" or "blood diamonds;' detailing the horrific labor and human rights abuses that characterize the diamond industry. Despite the controversy, 85 percent of American women own a piece of diamond jewelry. The industry's advertising campaigns consistently and effectively portray the diamond as themostmeaningfulexpress ion oflove and devotion. Considering the fact that diamonds serve an entire ly utilitarian purpose (industrial precision-cutting) and have little intrinsic monetary value, and that the diamond industry has managed to maintain its extraordinarily high prices all these A wire wall Sculpture, 1821 Race Street, Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine years, it's a.Jmost bizarre that we Berta's Art Corner STREETVIBES April, 2004 Editorial Page 17 �Handling of Huntington Meadows a Crime by Brian Garry "high level." It's the black church against the black people. It's the black church against poor people. Where were those churches during the whole scandalous, criminal, and planned closing of Huntington Meadows? This community of people surrounded their churches. The churches should have stood up for the residents. Search the newspapers and see if there are any quotes from these pastors (Ed. Note; The former Huntington Meadows housing complex was closed last year and low-income tenants were moved out. New condominiums are planned with neighborhood churches taking the lead in development of the site.) In Huntington Meadows we have black on black crime on a "standing up for" their defenseless neighbors in need. Now the churches are pawns in the hands of politicians and "developers" that are part of a racist and classist plot to rid the city of poor and black people. Our city council said that they "had no money" for the former residents, yet they have 13.5 million to wreck it down and build expensive single family houses? The closing of Huntington Meadows was criminal, as will come out the in lawsuit filed in federal court. The deal with the churches developing the area is hypocritical at least. These churches did not stand up to fight the immoral closing of Huntington Meadows and they are now reaping the benefits ofthis hideous mass eviction. Show me a quote from that time period from one of those pastors advocating that the people not be kicked out of their homes. The church should protect the rights of the poor, not stand on their backs to climb up the economic ladder. A Broken Promise: the limits of work in the new economy by Timothy Harris A recession, the old joke goes, is when your neighbor is out of work, but when you lose your own job, that's a depression. So what happens when one in four full time workers often has to choose between rent, food, and utilities, and at least that many more are excluded from the economy altogether? That's when the joke really stops being funny. Two recent books offer an fresh look at the demise of the American Dream. Beth Shulman's The Betrayal ofWork examines the trend toward low wage work and how all of us, in the long run, pay the hidden costs. Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses, which describes the growing equality gap, the burgeoning prison state, and the system of workfare, is more ambitious but ultimately over-reaches. Its critique of neo-liberalism offers less of a unifying theme than a long list of things we' re against. It is this tone of "we leftists" against the world that undermines this book's appeal. The Betrayal ofWork, on the other hand, begins with the common sense notion that a fair day's work should draw a fair day's pay. While this hasn't been the case for at least two decades, the problems of low wage work, says Shulman, go far beyond the minimum wage. Benefits in the low wage service sector are mostly non­ existent. The work is often demeaning and dangerous with management by intimidation being the norm. There is little to no flexibility to deal with sickness, childcare, or family problems. Little training or chance for advancement is available. Shulman brings what could be a dry policy discussion to life with by allowing three workers to speak for themselves. Single mom Linda Stevens once dreamed of being a business lawyer, but now stmggles to raise a daughter while working full­ time in a food court and part-time as a clerk. "I work hard," she says. "I take care of my customers. But I feel like I'm being stabbed in the back. The owner keeps telling me that we are family. But this is no way to treat family." Janitor Flor Segunda supports a disabled husband who is only able to work occasional day labor and three children on $6.00 an hour. She has worked for the same employer for six years. Bob Butler sharpens knives at a poultry processing plant. At $8.20 an hour, he is one of the factory's most highly compensated workers. "They care about the chickens more than us," he says. The Betrayal ofWork makes three arguments for a more just economy: Low wage work is not just somebody else's problem. We all pay because society subsidizes low wage industries by picking up the social costs of widespread poverty. Similarly, we all benefit by low wage work in ways that are deeply unfair. A moral society does not maintain cheap prices in the midst of affluence at the expense of the most desperately poor. Finally, bad jobs do not have to remain bad jobs. The manufacturing sector was filled with lousy jobs as well before organized labor created the 40-hour week, benefits, and the family wage. There is no reason, she argues, that the service industty cannot be unionized as well. In fact, this is the only strategy likely to yield results. The service sector needs to organize, and the more privileged middle-class needs to move beyond single-issue fragmentation to support the stmggles of the working poor. The alternative is a never-ending race to the bottom in which we all lose. Keeping Up With The Dow Joneses documents a divided society as well, where the growing gap between rich and poor is buttressed by a system geared to profit for the few at the expense of the many. Author Vijay Prashad unites the attack on organized labor, the expanding prison-industrial complex, and the rollback of welfare that was completed under the Clinton administration under the rubric of neo-liberalism. The book veers from the overly general to the weirdly specific. For example, Prashad takes the militant Kensington Welfare Rights Vendor: 70 cents Printing and Production: 30 cents Union to task for not having a "program for the transformation of the state." This sort of sectarian squabbling, however well meant, is probably interesting to a couple dozen people, and no one - outside of those few who have actually used the phrase "this historic juncture" in the course of casual conversation - cares what they think. Real social transformation requires a broad­ based movement that has appeal beyond the left ghetto. If practical program is what you're looking for, Shulman offers specifics. Where Prashad merely instmcts us to "build socialism," the final chapter of Betrayal of Work offers a "Compact With Working Americans." This includes policy recommendations as broad as strengthening the right of workers to organize and as specific as expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. While much of the platform goes well beyond what mainstream Democrats would now support, it's amazing what can happen when enough people shove hard in the same direction. Reprinted from Real Change 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 exists as a forum for the expression of the views and opinions of our readers and supporters. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Streetvibes staff or the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. STREETVIBES April, 2004 Editorial Page 18 �FRAC-Food Research and Action Center News One of the most disturbing and extraordinary aspects of life in this very wealthy country is the persistence of hunger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports, based on a national U.S. Census Bureau survey of households representative of the U.S. population, that in 2002 , 11.1 percent of all U.S. households were "food insecure" because of lack of resources. Of the 12.1 million households that were food insecure, 3.8 million suffered from food insecurity that was so severe that USDA's very conservative measure classified them as "hungry." Since 1999, food insecurity has increased by 3.9 million individuals: 2.8 million adults and more than one million children. In 2002, 34.9 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity, compared to 33.6 million in 2001 and 31 million in 1999. See FRAC's analysis of and a link to the full report: Household Food Security in the United States, 2002 Definitions: What Do Hunger and Food Insecurity Mean in the United States? Very simply, hunger is defined as the uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food. When "hunger in America" is discussed, people are referring to the recun-ent and involuntary lack of access to sufficient food due to poverty or constrained resources, which can lead to malnutrition over time. In some developing nations where famine is widespread, hunger manifests itself as severe and very visible clinical malnutrition. In the United States hunger manifests itself, generally, in a less severe form. This is in part because established programs help to provide a safety net for many low­ income families. While starvation seldom occurs in this country, children and adults do go hungry and chronic mild undemutrition does occur when financial resources are low. The mental and physical changes that accompany inadequate food intakes can have harmful effects on learning, development, productivity, physical and psychological health, and family life. STREETVIBES New phrases have emerged over the last two decades to describe the widespread but less severe hunger problems we typically face in the United States. Food security is a term used to describe what our nation should be seeking for all its people ­ assured access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life, with no need for recourse to emergency food sources or other extraordinary coping behaviors to meet basic food needs. In a nation as affluent as ours this is a readily achievable goal. EDITORIAL: EFFECTS OF FOOD INSECURITY ON PATIENTS (American Academy of Family Physicians, March 1, 2004) In this editorial David H. Holben of Ohio University College of Health and Human Services and Wayne Myles of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, discuss the role physicians can play with patients who may suffer from food insecurity or hunger. The editorial suggests ways in which physicians can determine if a patient experiences food insecurity or hunger, the effects food insecurity and hunger have on health and development, and which federal food assistance programs physicians can refer patients to if a patient is thought to be experiencing food insecurity or hunger. http://www.aafp.org/ afp/20040301 I editorials .html#3 TEXAS AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT REVAMPS RULES ON WHAT FOODS SCHOOLS CAN SERVE TO STUDENTS (US A Today, March 4, 2004) The Texas Depaitment of Agriculture released new regulations for school food service to reduce the fat and sugar content of foods eaten by students at school. The regulations include limiting the number of times foods such as French fries ai·e served, limiting portion sizes (e.g., 12 oz limit on soft drinks), and the sugar/syrup content of foods such as flavored milks and canned fruit. In August 2003, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs banned "foods of minimal nutritional value" from Texas elementary schools and during lunch time at middle schools. The new rules will affect some 4.2 million school children. These regulations will go into effect in August 2004 at schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program and After School Snacks. http:// www.usatoday.com/news/health/ April, 2004 2004-03-04-school­ nutrition_x.htm The link to the regulations is: http:// www.agr.state.tx.us/foodnutrition/ policy/food_nutrition_policy.pdf BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS GROW, PREPARE OWN MEALS (New York Times Magazine, March 7, 2004) On the campus of Mm.tin Luther King Jr. Middle School, in Berkeley, California, students grow and prepare their own school lunches, getting a "seed to table experience" that reinforces the connection between the earth and the food we eat. The program is part of the "Edible Schoolyard" program inspired and led by Alice Waters, organic chef and owner of Berkeley's Chez Panisse restaurant. Waters hopes that these predominantly low- to middle-income students will learn about the food they eat and consume more fruits and vegetables. http:// www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07 I magazine/07WATERS .html (free registration required) REPORT FINDS THAT PUBLIC ASSISTANCE DOES NOT COVER BASIC EXPENSES FOR MICHIGAN FAMILIES (Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, MI, March 8, 2004) A study by the Michigan County Social Services Association, designed to measure the buying power of people receiving public assistance, found that families enrolled in TANF and food stamps ended up about $900 short each month when trying to cover basic expenses. These expenses include rent, utilities, food and transportation. The 2004 Market Basket Survey found that a family of three needed to pay $1,733 in basic expenses each month, more than twice what the average family receives in benefits. http://www.mlive.com/news/ statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-3/ 1078440003205080.xml NORTHWEST INDIANA FOOD PANTRY OFFERS ETHNIC FOOD CHOICES, SERVICES TO SPANISH­ SPEAKING CLIENTS (Times, Munster, IN, March 11, 2004) The Village Food Pantry in Valparaiso, Indiana staited a weekly Spanish Food Pantry on Fridays in order to assist Spanish­ speaking clients by serving them staple foods from their native countries (e.g., pinto beans, rice, com flour and jalapenos). The Spanish Food Pantry also assists FRAC News families in obtaining benefits like food stamps, health care and other services. The food pantry is also working to translate its client paperwork into Spanish. The first Spanish Food Pantry night was attended by 21 percent of the pantry's regular clientele. http:// nwitimes.com/aiticles/2004/03/ 11/news/porter_county/ fa546ff4355c93318625€Je540006re04.txt NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE LABOR COMMISSIONER URGES LEGISLATORS TO RAISE MINIMUM WAGE (Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, March 9, 2004) Labor Commissioner James Casey tried to salvage a bill that would increase New Hampshire's minimum wage to $6 an hour, pointing out that, at $5 .15 per hour, the state's minimum wage is at least $1.10 below all other states in New England. Casey said that an increase would be "the right thing to do, the compassionate thing to do." He also noted that no other New England state "has reported higher unemployment as a result" of a minimum wage increase. An estimated 31,000 workers in New Hampshire earn minimum wage. http://news.mainetoday.com/ apwire/D8 16E9GG2-67 .shtml WISCONSIN FOOD PANTRY SEES INCREASE IN NEEDY PEOPLE (Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI, March 8, 2004) The St. Vincent de Paul Society food pantry in Madison has seen a significant increase in the number of needy people. The number of clients at the pantry has increased 35 percent in one month and more than 20 percent over the previous quarter. According to society director Ralph Middlecamp, the reasons for the jump in need are because many people who were working two jobs to get by have lost one in the slow economy, and an increasing number of Chicago residents ai·e moving to Madison. "Chicago is undergoing some hard times economically, and the city is also tearing down some of its housing projects," Middlecamp theorized. http:// www.madison.com/archives/ read.php ?ref=wsj : 2004:03 :08:345387:FRONT To subscribe to the weekly FRAC News Digest go on the web: http://capwiz.com/fraclmlml. Ben Winter Food Research and Action Center (202) 986-2200 x3019 phone (202) 986-2525 fax Email: bwinter @frac.org Page 19 �$1 Donation Need Help or Want to Help? Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 Ifyou need help or would like to help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below. SHELTER: Both Anthony House 357-4602 (Youth) Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 861-1111 St. John's Housing 651-6446 ~~fulle~RS: Women and YWCA Battered Women's Shelter 872-9259 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-566 O Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717 Women's Crisis Center 859-491-3335 HOUSING: CMHA Excel Development Miami Purchase OTR Housing Net. ReSTOC Tender Mercies Tom Geiger House SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 St. Francis/St .Joseph House 381-4941 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 Formed in f984, 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 (518) 421-7808, 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 ~ Greater ,Cincinnati Coalition For The Homeless a 721-4580 632-7149 241-0504 369-0004 381-1171 721-8666 961-4555 TREATMENT: Men Charlie's 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Both NA. Hope line 820-294 7 AA Hotline 351-0422 C.CAT. 381-6672 Tai bert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721-0643 OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living Options 241-2600 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Co mm unity Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless. 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 rvlcMi cken Dental Clinic 352-6863 Our Daily Bread 621-6864 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless. Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4857 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless. Families/Singles) 423-4673 treetvi BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY I Who Would Jesus t Bomb? Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2004 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource April 2004 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Protesting the Iraq War- Around the Globe, Millions Gather on One-Year Anniversary Pg 2: Reader Mail Pg 3: Lesson on Vine Street Pg 4: April 2001 Did Cincinnati’s Civil Unrest Change City Politics? Pg 5: April 2001 Continued Pg 6: The Peace Village Pg 7: Proposed Federal Funding Will Devastate Voucher Program National Homeless Advocate Censored by Assistant Secretary of HUD Gray Dog Continued Pg 8: Homeless News Digest Pg 9: Keep the Faith and Never Give Up Pg 10: Out with the Old, In with the New… Pg 11: Mother’s Day Pg 12: Family Violence Option Campaign Builds Momentum Pg 13: Manifest Destiny Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: Editorial Pg 17: Buy Me Love Pg 18: Handling of Huntington Meadows a Crime A Broken Promise: The Limits of Wok in the News Economy Pg 19: FRAC Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 2004 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Andy Erickson Brendan Goodwin Mary Gaffney Elizabeth Linville Janice Faulkner Jimmy Heath Berta Lambert Mark Burke Anthony Dent Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Erickson Anthony Dent Arts & Poetry Berta Lambert Brendan Goodwin Cincinnati Editorials Elizabeth Linville Federal Funding Food Research FRAC Georgine Getty Huntington Meadows Iraq Janice Faulkner Jimmy Heath Mark Burke Mary Gaffney Peace Village Protesting Reader Mail Vine Street https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/2807aa64cf08c68cdc5c1640a0686402.pdf eae6f63f35372906b8224580daa03f4e PDF Text Text July, 2004 STREETVIBES photo by Jimmy Heath Developers Fast Track Their Plan for Over-the-Rhine The Drop Inn Center at Elm and 12th Street, Over-the-Rhine, is a target for removal from the community by developers Streetvibes Investigation Last month, the private development group 3CDC (Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation) undertook a lightning-fast public relations campaign to get approval for their development plans around Washington Park. 3CDC Executive Director, Steven Leeper, and assistant Kathy Schwab attended meetings of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati Public School Board committees and other business and stakeholder groups presenting a Powerpoint presentation of a redesigned Over-the-Rhine. After the Cincinnati Planning Department was eliminated in December of 2002, the decision was made by city leaders to privatize city planning. For that reason, Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) created in July of 2003. Much about the organization is available on their website, www.3cdc.org. Joe Pichler, former Chairman of Kroger, was placed in charge of the Over-the-Rhine Working Group, tasked with revitalizing the area, especially around Washington Park. They spent some time looking for a full time director. On January 30th of this year, Steven Leeper was hired. Leeper has the Drop Inn Center.... Cont. on page 10 McCrackin celebration builds on his legacy, calls citizens to action by John Zeh photo by Berta Lambert Some seven years after he died, the Rev. Maurice McCrackin’s fervor for social justice was commemorated as activists marched from Washington Park in Over-theRhine to a Unity Day festival at the west end’s Laurel Park June 12. The day’s theme was “No to war in Iraq — No to the war on the poor in Cincinnati,” naming greed and concentrated wealth as enemies of the poor, said organizer and former Cincinnati City Council candidate Brian Garry. “Mac Day was a wonderful event. The organizations, food and entertainment were diverse like McCracken’s struggles,” Garry told Streetvibes. “The march was one of the best I’ve been to. Residents and activists and church people came together to stand up for the rights of lowincome people, it was truly a beautiful sight. We need to join the white and black activist communities to present a comprehensive vision of Cincinnati that is not just a response to city council,” he said. “We need to take the lead.” Collaboration among various groups is important, according to Vera Zlatkin, several housing projects and the White House, McCrackin another McCrackin Day one planner’s proposed closure threatened to starve to death if organizer. “There are many the city tore down the Milner of the Drop-Inn Center as groups who are working to do evidence that the city is waging Hotel downtown. Garry notes something, but they don’t have a war against the less-affluent. that city officials went to the power because they’re so Despite organizational and McCrackin’s bedside and small,” she said. “If we can institutional hurdles, Zlatkin is bring them together, we all will promised to find homes for the optimistic about preserving the homeless and mentally ill have a louder voice.” historic Park, but concedes that The cheerful atmosphere displaced by the demolition. activists may be fighting a The activist started eating was an appropriate losing battle against increased again, but the city reneged on commemoration for a minister gentrification. who became the “conscience of its pledge, Garry charged. “We have to be able to “Hopefully, the Rev. Mr. the city,” Garry told reporters. reverse it,” she said. In 1979, McCrackin was McCrackin can be a inspiration for activists today to be willing “Sometimes I feel like all us imprisoned 111 days for to put themselves on the line little groups are standing with refusing to testify against two hammers and a chisels for what they believe in,” said escaped felons who had hammering away against a huge Sister Helen Cullen, another kidnapped him. He had been wall. And there are bulldozers McCrackin Day organizer. arrested numerous times for Growing gentrification in coming at us. We are trying to anti-war protests and actions Over-the-Rhine is driving out fight a battle with hammers and against poverty and racism. In chisels and they are coming the homeless and poor, Zlatkin 1990, at the age of 85, he said, noting the closing of after us with bulldozers!” scaled the White House fence protesting the first U.S. war against Iraq. Every time police encountered McCrackin, the minister went limp. As an ardent pacifist, he fought the system any way he could. McCrackin founded Camp Joy, a camp for poor innercity youth, and helped desegregate Coney Island. A few years after the protest at People’s March on Central Parkway, Downtown Cincinnati 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 Elizabeth Linville - Civil Rights Coordinator Janice Faulkner - Receptionist Mary Gaffney - Receptionist Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor, Layout and Design Photographers Jimmy Heath, Berta Lambert Cover Veterans Section at Spring Grove Cemetery 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 Greed Transcends Compassion politics of poverty keeps the by Jimmy Heath middle-class fixated on each It’s been said that a society can be judged by how it other while burying the silent treats its less fortunate citizens. majority behind a curtain of Market forces and development shame, bureaucracy, and suspicion. The politics of drive our avaricious city poverty squashes dissent with government, and anyone who injustice and denial and lack of gets in the way of this access. Those who vocalize “progress” is pushed aside. their discontent, especially The truth again reveals itself in the continuing battle to people of color, are dismissed and disrespected and always get rid of the Drop Inn Center homeless shelter in downtown’s ignored. Parading low-income Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. citizens in front of the public Developers and City leaders who care little about the clients and claiming them as participants in the process using the Drop Inn Center are merely pinpoints and focused on their “vision” marginalizes those of how the neighborhood people. Community should look. These participation in plans perpetuate the discussions is used to stereotypes, and belittle legitimize the process those who are struggling that ultimately destroys to get back on their feet. Jimmy Heath them while lending Meanwhile, little effort credibility to a flawed is made by the City to address the root causes of homelessness. and one-sided process. The persistent growth of All they know is they don’t like our urban poor suggest that how it looks. poverty is neither an economic When you think of the aberration nor a reflection of people who use these services in Cincinnati - those who are on the morals of 34 million poor adults and children in this the bottom of the economic country - or the millions who ladder - you can’t help but wonder what is wrong with this border on poverty. When you read between city. Cincinnati’s homeless are the lines you will find that it’s least able to defend themselves; really all about getting rid of least likely to be able to the Drop Inn Center and places exercise even basic political power. It’s maddening, horribly like it; a strategy hidden under a plan for revitalization and cruel and sad at the same time. development of the Over-theThe exclusion of poor Rhine neighborhood. people from official policy Plans are being made for discussions continues to be an important factor in the failure of the land occupied by the Drop Inn Center by people who don’t the City to alleviate poverty. even own the property. The The politics of poverty in this power of capitalism reigns City has followed a fairly straight trajectory - provide and above everything else, sometimes even above decency concentrate power into the and compassion. hands of the privileged few. It’s not just about the The politics of poverty value of the land that the Drop uses covert, subtle means to Inn Center has occupied for project a façade of almost three decades. It’s about accountability while making deals behind closed doors. The the ugliness of homelessness. It’s about fear and racism. It’s about being greedy. It’s about perception and ignorance and power. Personally, I can’t think of a better use of land than for helping people get back their lives. The Drop Inn Center revitalizes human beings. Right in the heart of what we proudly refer to as the richest nation on earth, poverty and powerlessness are flourishing. The signs are unmistakable: the United States of America is in a state of decay hidden beneath layers of fresh paint and drywall and upscale urban development. During the 1960’s there was a great deal of optimism about the prospect of eliminating poverty forever. In the last three decades much money has been spent on social programs, but the poor have not disappeared. We attempt to clamp the lid down on seething inner-city discontent by keeping fragments of hope alive, while requiring the ruling elite to cede none of its power. The public has begun to believe that there is no solution to poverty; that places like the Drop Inn Center breed poverty. It’s all a big lie, of course. We’ve been brainwashed into thinking there are no answers because the real long-term solution to poverty lies in empowerment of the poor, which threatens the power monopoly of the privileged class. If you get in the way, watch out! The Drop Inn Center is again faced with one of its greatest battles. This drains resources, time and energy from people whose work would be better spent helping folks get their lives back. Meanwhile, City leaders look for ways to make the problem invisible, by trying to push it out of sight. GCCH Welcomes New Staff Member I’m from Indianapolis Dear Streetvibes Community, which isn’t too far away, I have been and I recently finished here in Cincinnati for school studying Nonabout a month now, profit Management. I do and I guess its time I have work experience at introduce myself. My various social service name is Allison Leeuw, nonprofit organizations, and I will be the new ranging from large Administrative Allison Leeuw organizations such as the Coordinator at the Zoo, to smaller domestic Greater Cincinnati violence shelters and agencies Coalition for the Homeless. I am educating “at-risk” youth. I hope not from around here… but I am these fundraising and social service getting settled here in Cincinnati, experiences will help me to and at the Coalition. I am thankful accomplish my work here. for the friendly welcome I have I suppose I will be spending thus far received from my co­ workers, and community members a lot of time here at the Coalition office behind the computer, or on of Over-the-Rhine. Streetvibes the phone trying to raise money for our cause. I will be writing grants, increasing awareness, and I hope to attract new donors to the Coalition. The problems that cause homelessness in our community run deep, and we need a deep coalition of support to eradicate this poverty. I am sure I will come across challenges from a variety of sources during my time here. Yet I have already seen dedication and passion for social justice here in this community; and I am inspired. I do hope to be out and about as well and I welcome any visits or suggestions from the Streetvibes Community. Stop by the Coalition, or drop me a line at allisonleeuw@yahoo.com. �36% of Cincinnati’s homeless once served our nation Who are the Homeless? Why are so many of our honored veterans on the streets? What can YOU do to help? I WILL DONATE: $20 $40 $60 $80 $100 $150 There are 25,000 people in Cincinnati that experience homelessness each year. Who are these individuals? 36% of the homeless on the streets of our community are veterans, yet only 13% of Ohio’s population are veterans. Why are so many of our past veterans living with no home? Here at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless we are working to end homelessness for ALL individuals through education, advocacy and coordination of services. We are looking to find systemic solutions and real change that goes farther than the generous services our kitchens and shelters provide. This summer we are honoring past heroes, celebrating our freedom, and hoping for an end to the struggle over seas; let us not forget those who struggle here in our community this very day. Please consider a tax deductible contribution today and help create positive change in your city. Send your donations to Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Streetvibes Page 3 �One year ago homeless stopped city from sweeping camps by Andy Erickson Education Coordinator arrived, displaying a temporary restraining order against the police, and a lawsuit against the city filed on Henry’s behalf. The reporters swarmed her. She and Don Henry spoke in a circle of cameras. The lawsuit filed against the city charged that the city had a pattern and practice of violating homeless people’s civil rights. Reporters scribbled in their notebooks. The people living in the camp cheered. Nearly a year ago, a group of homeless men and women stood up to the city’s threats and prevailed. Led by Don Henry, homeless folks living at the foot of the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge in Cincinnati protested the city’s orders to Don leave or be Henry’s camp arrested for wasn’t the only trespassing. The one that had been city gave a 72­ given an eviction hour deadline – notice. Four 1:00 on Friday, other camps were July 18, 2003. also told they had They gave no to move out by Andy Erickson indication of that Friday. where Henry and These camps were his bridgemates should go. clustered together on the other The residents of the side of downtown. The earliest camp chose to protest the city’s eviction would take place at actions. They started their 9:00. protest at 1:00 on Thursday, 24 That morning, before I hours before they were told to went to Don Henry’s protest, I get out. They marched along drove to these other camps to the intersection of Third Street see if anything was happening. and the Clay Wade Bailey The first person I saw was a Bridge. They carried protest cameraman. He wasn’t with the signs that read, “Don’t hide the press. I asked him who he was, homeless. Help them.” but I don’t remember his A lot of press came out response – a film student, I for the event. It was a good think, from one of the local story. Microphones were universities. He was filming interviewing and cameras were Robert, the one person who had filming all day. What would not yet moved from his camp. happen when the deadline The cameraman left soon after I arrived? Would the police spoke with him. really come? How many people I knew Robert. I had would they arrest for met him before, and he trespassing? News outlets remembered me. He was polled audiences: should people worried and said he needed my be allowed to live under help. He had to be out by downtown bridges? Audiences 10:00. He knew the deadline were split. Lots of people were was looming and he feared watching. being arrested. He had found a As the deadline grew new camp on the riverbank, but closer, the atmosphere grew couldn’t move all of his things increasingly more intense and by himself before the deadline. more exciting. The numbers of He showed me where he homeless people picketing stayed – under a small bridge grew. Social workers arrived, with barely even enough room helping many people get into to sit upright. I’ve never really services they needed. People gotten used to seeing the camps who had heard about the that some homeless people live protest on the news drove to in. To see one is to see the the camp to donate food, home of someone who’s all but drinks, and support. There given up. They’ve taken the must have been 100 people few things they have left from there, all waiting for the life and moved them underneath deadline and wondering what a bridge. It makes you wonder would happen when it struck. what had to happen to lead After a long, 24-hour them here, and why there’s so protest, the deadline came – many of them. Everyday people and went. No one came to drive over these streets arrest the so-called trespassers complaining about the cost of on Friday, July 18. Instead, gasoline while their fellow attorney Jennifer Kinsley citizens try to make homes Page 4 photo by Jimmy Heath Help GCCH find footage of protest The camp and protest sign under the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge beneath their exhaust fumes… Robert was convinced that if we stuffed my car full of his things, we could do it in one load. He was almost right. We had fill up his shopping cart, too. Robert tried to give me directions to his new camp. I didn’t understand. Finally he just told me to follow him. He grabbed his shopping cart and started pushing. I drove slowly behind him. He pushed past the US Bank Arena, past the Great American Ballpark, past construction sites and parking lots. One person told him to get the #$@* out of the road. Most people just stared. I helped Robert move his stuff into his new camp along the river. An officer drove by. I thought he might stop, but he just kept on going. Robert thanked me and I drove to Don Henry’s camp. When I got to Don’s camp, I noticed that some of the people who had been evicted from the camps near Robert’s were marching now with Don Henry. That cameraman was there, too – the one who I’d seen with Robert earlier that morning. He filmed Don’s protest the entire day after leaving Robert’s – from the early-morning pickets to Jennifer Kinsley’s arrival and the announcement of the lawsuit. I sometimes wonder who that cameraman was – and if he ever did anything with the footage from that day. If anyone knows him, please tell Streetvibes him I’d like to see it. I bet it would make a pretty good film. After Jennifer made her announcements and Don signed some legal documents; after the press vans were packed and driving back to their stations; after the social workers left feeling good about a victory; a few of us stayed behind and helped Don clean up his camp. He’d fought a good fight that day and won. Now he could rest in his own bed, in his own camp, and no one – not the police or the politicians – was going to make him move. We shook hands, congratulated Don and the other campers, and prepared to leave. We were heading to our cars when we noticed two men in the parking lot across from the camp. One had a camera in hand. Georgine Getty, the director of the Coalition for the Homeless, walked over to them and asked them who they were. They were from the Black United Front. They explained that they were just there to keep an eye out for Don. They were concerned about his safety; worried something might happen to him now that all the press cameras were gone. “We just want to make sure no one tries to bother Mr. Henry tonight,” they told Georgine. She cites that as one of the more touching experiences she’s had working here. They were there as neighbors, watching out for the people in their community. Protest.... cont. next page �Hate Crimes still a major issue for the homeless by Elizabeth Linville dangerous state in the country On June 15th, the for people experiencing National Coalition for the homelessness. Although there Homeless released its annual was no ranking this year, Ohio hate crimes report still figures Hate, Violence and prominently in this Death on Main report. In 2003, Street USA: A there were 7 Report on Hate separate incidents Crimes and in the state Violence Against resulting in 7 nonPeople lethal acts. Experiencing Nationally, there Homelessness. The were 9 deaths by Elizabeth Linville report is a hate crimes and 61 compilation of data collected non- lethal acts. from news reports and homeless The report also focuses shelters on the number of on hate speech against homeless homeless victimizations that individuals. In Cincinnati, this have occurred in the past five was seen with the “Derelict years (1999-2003). Round-Up” done by 700 WLW In 2002, the report DJ Bill “Willy” Cunningham. ranked Ohio the 4th most His radio show broadcasted Protest.... Don eventually got his own apartment. Social workers were able to work with him because they knew where he was living and they had gotten to know him personally. It takes time to get someone into housing after they’ve been living on the streets. Trust has to be built, services need to be available, and the individual needs to be ready. When cities perform sweeps, camps get moved out of sight, campers learn to hide, and social workers have more difficulty finding people who need help. In order to end homelessness, we need to work on its causes. In order to help individuals, we need to meet them where they’re at. Moving a homeless man from a bridge to the riverbank won’t solve his problems. I like the way Don put it: “Don’t hide the homeless. Help them.” A year ago this month, a lot of people heard that message – and I think a lot of people understood. Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! from a bus that was used to take homeless people from the downtown area to be dropped off in the suburbs. When the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless called to protest, Cunninghan’s response was to scream “go to hell” and hang up the phone. Nationally, a new genre of “Bum Videos” has gained popularity. In the past four years, five different videos have been produced; each shows homeless people who have been coerced to perform dangerous stunts for money, alcohol, or food. These videos exploit the individuals used in the taping and encourage viewers to behave in an outrageous manner towards homeless individuals. In Cleveland, for example, four teenagers attacked five sleeping homeless men with a stun gun. They also kicked them and urinated on them, all while videotaping the attack. In this case, the offenders were arrested and charged with assault. In many other hate crimes cases, the attacker is never found or the crime is never reported. In a hope to obtain more information on this disturbing trend of violence against individuals who are homeless, the National Coalition has requested a General Accounting Office Investigation of the issue. Hopefully, a study such as this and the recently released report will bring more awareness to the problem and help determine ways to stop the violence. The Cicadas and the Homeless was good. With this she then by Mary G. Gaffney turned her attention to a When June arrived we question about the homeless. were greeted with the famous Sometimes she comes to the and exciting visitors who come Homeless Coalition with me to our section of the United States every 17 years. The visit and she has met some of the homeless who brings hysteria to come to the the young and old. office. It is all the talk She during the few watches weeks they are television and here, and then they hears the will be forgotten news about until 2021. Cincinnati It makes building and you wonder how remodeling they fly, this blind everywhere. friend, with pretty Her questions wings of black and Miss Mary Gaffney are, “What gold, some with about the homeless, where are different colored eyes. they going to live?” Some of I watched as they the plans they have for these crawled out of their shell, after struggling and making their way projects include removing the out of the ground, with the help homeless. “You tell me, grandma, of the rain. and they tell me in Sunday This whole affair makes school and church that we me stop and think how these should love one another and creatures will return to the care for our fellow man. God ground as fertilizer when they loves us.” die! First of all, my When my greatgranddaughter is 11 years-old. granddaughter asks a question; when she looks me in the eye, I We can never say that our little ones aren’t paying attention to never know what might be us, or television. You’d be coming. Sometimes she asks surprised at what they see and me about the bible. Her recent hear, especially when they are questions were about the talking about news on the Cicadas. television. For example, the When Noah was told by God to build an Ark and gather Washington Park issue, and how the area might be developed. up two of every animal, male She has also seen the and female of each species, with Drop Inn Center and she knows the impending destruction of that this is where some of our the world by flood, her questions was, “Did this include homeless friends stay. With development plans being talked the Cicadas?” about for that area, she worries I could not specifically answer that question but I know about where the people are going to stay. The foxes have that everything that God made Streetvibes holes, the birds have nests. But some men have no place to lay their head. Some of the people have jobs, but they also may be dealing with physical or mental problems. When you sit down at your dinner table, or when you go into your living room to watch television or you go to your bedroom for a nice, peaceful rest think of our friends who are not that fortunate. Until next month, remember God loves us all, regardless of who we are, our background, or our circumstance. 20 YEARS SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Page 5 �Homeless News Digest compiled by Patty Lane s Streetvibes ibe Streetvibes Vendors are required to sign a code of conduct and agree to abide by all the rules of the Streetvibes Ven­ dor Program. If a Vendor misrepresents or breaks the rules, she/he may be removed from the Program. To report a Vendor, call 421-7803. ext. 16 etv Page 6 Buy Streetvibes From Badged Vendors Only! get bogged down.” Cullen says the financial requirement is a violation of the Charter of Rights. He hopes to raise the money, but is also considering a legal challenge to have the election law declared unconstitutional. Polling stations will be set up in Calgary, Canada to allow the city’s homeless to cast their votes. “For most of our people, walking half a mile or a mile to get to a polling station becomes an impossibility,” Debbie Newman tells the CBC. The director of program services says they need to take services to their clients. Four years ago, Elections Canada changed its rules, allowing the homeless to use shelters as their permanent address. But while homeless voters could register during the last election, they still had to find the polling station in their area. Shelter resident Peter Savage says he’ll vote. “There area people who are here for a short time, like myself,” he says. “And they care. We care.” About 850 people stay at the drop-in center every night. An Arizona woman is working to make sure Father’s Day is not so hard on some area homeless men. Laura Borgeson is director and events coordinator of the Shoebox Ministry in Scottsdale. She’s heading a drive to fill 600 lunch box tins for homeless men for Father’s Day. With the help of a network of donors, she collected close to 2,000 items to fill purses for homeless women on Mother’s Day. But, she tells the Arizona Republic, men are harder to please. She’s come up with a list that includes baseball caps, aftershave, small tools, cologne, deodorant, work gloves, watches, and sunglasses. Borgeson’s mother started the ministry in 1988, and while she says there is food, shelter, and medical assistance, there are no personal products. The group started out delivering 30 shoebox toiletry kits; now they are up to 7,500 to 61 agencies. e Str An annual count of homeless people in and around Denver, Colorado finds there are fewer people homeless but 43 percent of them are children. According to the survey children represent a growing percentage of homeless people living in motels, emergency shelters or other temporary housing in metro Denver. The count also found 60 percent of all homeless people lived just outside of Denver. While the number of homeless in the county is down this year, the survey revealed 8,668 people are homeless, 43 percent of whom are under the age of 21. “Some of the homeless children live in cars at night. Some are in shelters. Some of them are in schools, but don’t know if they’re going to be at the same school the next day,” Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative president Tom Luehrs tells the Denver Post. The survey also counted 2,442 people in transitional housing, where they may remain for six months to two years. Luehrs says housing costs and unemployment remain the leading cause of homelessness. Homeless advocates say while the overall count of homeless people may be lower, their requests for help from homeless women and families are not. A recent community march in Raleigh, North Carolina focused on ending homelessness. The rally came a day after city leaders announced their own 10-year plan to end homelessness. Supporters of the plan tell WRAL-TV of Raleigh-DurhamFayetteville that the city’s 10­ year plan is a progressive commitment, but critics say 10 years is way too long. The plan consists of two points: focusing on sources of hardship like domestic violence and drug abuse, and allocating more money to shelters. “The situation is much harder today because a lot of jobs are going overseas, and mass immigration has taken a lot of entry-level jobs,” homeless Vietnam veteran Ritchie Hammond tells WRAL. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker remains optimistic the city can actually end homelessness. “It’s an attempt to try and solve the problems of the homeless person,” Meeker said of the plan. Aboriginal housing advocates from across Canada met in Winnipeg recently to search for solutions to homelessness. Native leaders say the number of aboriginal people in Winnipeg has increased over the past decade and it hasn’t helped that 10 years ago the government stopped investing in programs that built low-rent homes for urban aboriginals. “Because of the lack of housing in Canada, the lack of social housing, the lack of affordable housing, it’s very frustrating for them,” says Larry Wercherer, who runs an emergency shelter. He tells CBC that waiting lists for existing properties have long caused an increase in the number of native people living in motels, shelters and on the streets. A random sample of around 350 homeless people found that over 75 percent of those in shelters, requiring intervention or on the streets were aboriginal people. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Canada, the city of Ottawa will receive $17 million toward ending homelessness as part of the National Homelessness Initiative started in 1999. The money will be granted over two years. “Canadians coast to coast have identified homelessness as a major concern,” Defense Minister David Pratt told the CBC. Funding to continue the program was allocated in last month’s federal budget, but it requires a locally designed plan. The city of Ottawa did approve a plan that includes $11 million for capital development projects, $4 million for services preventing homelessness and aiding the homeless, and $2 million for research and working with other local service providers. Residents in Louisville, Kentucky are mourning the death of a homeless man who was savagely attacked in April. WAVE 3-News reports Clifton Agnew died from his injuries last week. Police say two men beat, stabbed, and sodomized Agnew as he lay sleeping in an alley. The suspects are in custody. The attack left Agnew in a coma for several weeks. When local homeless advocate Kaye Thomas learned what happened to the man, she visited him in the hospital and encouraged others to send him get-well cards. Thousands came in and Thomas spent hours reading them to him. One read, “The word homeless is not your identity, that may be how you live but that’s not who you are.” Services were held at the church where Agnew ate lunch almost everyday. From the pulpit at his funeral, Thomas spoke one more time to the man who touched so many lives. “The Kentucky School for the blind sent you a card, written so sweetly in Braille,” she read. The 53-year-old man was buried at Resthaven Cemetery. A homeless man who says he is the voice of the poor is running into an election roadblock in Canada. Daniel Cullen of Kelowna, British Columbia, wants to run as an independent candidate but doesn’t have the $1,000 dollars required by Elections Canada. The homeless man is broke and is panhandling to raise the money. “The people I do know don’t have the money. The people who have the money don’t know me,” Cullen tells the CBC. “There has to be a barrier,” says Liberal Party candidate Vern Nielsen. He says Cullen has a valid point, but adds that the deposit is not unreasonable. “We could potentially have 100 people all running as independents, and then the whole process would Support Your Vendor �A King Without a Throne ­ Interview With Washington Park Tent Man, King DaviyD Former Washington Park resident, DaviyD Interview by Georgine Getty Where have you been staying the last month? Washington Park. I’ve been there since the 6th of May. I was in jail for two weeks for a ticket from 2003 (driving without a license) and I got out on the 6th of May. I didn’t go to Washington Park with the plan of building a hut. I’m a man of God, and when I was locked up for 14 days, I didn’t get any visits and God took care of me the whole time. So you built a hut? Right. When I got out, I was walking and meditating on the Most High throughout the city and God showed me pieces. I just started picking up pieces and taking them back to my spot in Washington Park. When I got them all together I realized ‘oh my God!’ I can build a roof over my head. I moved here in 1994 and I know I’ve helped many people in this city. I’m not from this city or state. I have no relatives here. Do you still have your hut? No. By the grace of God that hut stood for 25 days in Washington Park. On the first of June, the police came and took my house away. It wasn’t a hut to me, it was my house. I slept in my house while it stormed and the wind blew. I was dry and my house never blew down. I’m an individual who built his own house. There are people who sleep here in this park, well, I’m going to build a roof over my head. Where are you staying now? I’ve been sleeping on benches (in Washington Park) ever since they took my house away. What are your plans? Well. I’ve had some time to think since they’ve taken my house away and I have some questions. What was their intent of taking my house away? If you are people who fight for justice, righteousness, you are strength for the meek . . . what were you thinking when you took my house away? Because photo by Jimmy Heath now I sleep completely outside since you took my house away. I’m still sleeping there. Many people are sleeping there on blankets. What do you think about Washington Park being redeveloped? Why are you developing it? Are you doing it to help these people who obviously need help? If this is our city and this is supposed to be one of the top 10 places to raise a family, then why are we not as a family of Cincinnati helping the less fortunate of the city? No matter where we are, we are a family. If there is a part of the family that is not getting along with another, then we have a problem. If there is a part of the family that is trying to hide another part that maybe doesn’t look so shiny, and they’re just trying to hide and cover it up, then that’s a problem. What would you like the readers of Streetvibes to know about you? I need the readers of SV to spread the word about what’s going on to the rest of Cincinnati. I am a pure man of God. I am not here to stereotype the truth. I am not here to categorize the truth with religion. I live upon every letter, every dotted “i” and crossed “t” of the word of God. For my life, it is His will, and not mine. What does the Word of God mean to you? Liberty, wherever I go. It allows me to not have to prove myself to no one. I can be me. I can be the image and likeness of God without being influenced by the ways of the world. I started my life as an orphan. I lived in many foster homes. I didn’t grow up in church, but church was in me. I got adopted when I was 7 years old. I’ve been from coast to coast, north, south, east and west. I’ve lived in Europe and Korea. I’ve adjusted. I got in the flow instead of forcing something. Did you go to Europe and Korea in the army? Yes. How long were you in the army? Approximately 6 years. I had secret clearance. I was an avionics electronic aircraft repair man. I left with an honorable discharge. From there I trained in marketing and managed many restaurants. I’ve been a teacher everywhere I’ve been. I had a year of college. I’m very “above average” when it comes to society’s vision. I know I can go get a smashing job somewhere. I have come to choose God, so I don’t live on my own accord. God says “a righteous man’s footsteps are ordered by the Lord.” And the footsteps that I have taken in the past few years have not been through my own consciousness but because God ordered them and I chose to do His way. Can you tell me what you saw in prison? When I was locked up, I saw my future. I saw myself perishing when I saw all them young boys around me. For whatever reason, they’re choosing to do what they’re choosing. No one if offering them any type of positive future. We lock the youth up and that’s it. Some of those young boys in there are not criminals. Maybe they did a crime or were around the wrong people because they wanted to be a part of something but so. many of them I talked to you could tell the criminal thing was not in them, it wasn’t in their hearts. They’re just doing what’s all around them. We need to find out who’s redeemable and who can be saved. Programs need to be implemented to re-direct lives. Bond should be contingent on it. Help them see positive options and directions. That would be a wonderful program. This is not just for the younger crowd, but the elders also. I ran into some older people and kids too who couldn’t read. Nobody’s taking care of them. When you’re 5, 6 or 7, you want to learn. When you’re 9, 10, 11 and no one’s told you anything yet, you’re going to move with whatever seems to be moving. They don’t have no choice. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Any final comments? I beseech the people not only in this city but around the world that if you have any righteousness in you concerning God, the only way wickedness can triumph is for righteousness to absolutely do nothing and I’m begging those of the righteous status to please stand up and become one and let’s begin to change what God sent us to change. What was in the beginning so shall it be in the end. Hello, my name is... For over three weeks DaviyD was living in a home of his own construction in Washington Park in the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. Following the police protocol established after the bridge sweeps of summer, 2003, DaviyD’s home was removed. DaviyD is an established sight at Findlay Market, where he plays the Jymbay, an African Drum, for his many fans. He is a veteran who was released from service after six years with an honorable discharge. He is also the father of two, a daughter, age 8 and a son, age 6. DaviyD started his career as a supervisor in marketing. After his release from the justice center on May 6, he found himself with no place to go and built a make-shift home in Washington Park. Recently the victim of violence (in late March, he was shot on 14th and Vine and he was assaulted one month ago on Elm Street) and medical problems (he suffered three strokes in 2001). DaviyD is currently working with a local outreach worker to achieve housing and self sufficiency. Streetvibes Page 7 �The Peace Village annual summer session course on, “Social Work and Peace.” The course looks at how issues of peace can be emphasized in the practice of social work professionals. The Peace Village Project: “Ending Hunger in the Peace Village,” is being organized with 11 area high school teachers and students plus support from the UC Peace Village student organization. The Wright State University Peace Village, Dayton, Ohio is being formed with students and faculty from the school of social work and other areas of the university. One organizing meeting has been held and there are plans to see ways of moving to projects. by Dr. Steve Sunderland For the past months, a group of undergraduate and graduate students, led by graduate student, Guneet Aulakh, from India, have been meeting about improving peace at the University of Cincinnati. An official university student group has been formed, officers elected and several projects launched. “A Tunnel of Oppression,” an exhibit with other students about areas of oppression in the world was featured for a week during the University’s WorldFest programs. Out of these efforts, and weekly planning sessions at the Wesleyan Student Foundation, thanks to the generosity and leadership of Wesleyan staffer, Jeanne Smith, a set of activities for the coming year are in stages of planning including: a student to student support program that will link Dr. Steve Sunderland an international I have been encouraged student with another university by Dr. Carl Brun, chair, student; a monthly or bi­ department of social work, monthly international music evening to share different forms WSU, and his wonderful class to take the step into creating a of music; a monthly or bi­ peace group. The students monthly international peace movie showing, accompanied by know that Carl has opened a door of opportunity to them and discussion groups; and, they enter, wary and delighted, participation in a universitya chance to join a serious peace wide hunger program to raise movement. food and money for our The Peace Village Cincinnati food store for the Newsletter continues to be sent poor and homeless, the Free out each week plus a monthly Store. column in Streetvibes, the Raymond Walters newspaper of the Cincinnati College, University of Homeless Coalition continues Cincinnati, has a group of to be published. Content of the faculty and students that have participated in a second annual, both publications involves activities in the Peace Village “Peace Conference.” Faculty from the vantage point of many have also opened their classes authors. to poster sessions on peace in I continue to marvel at the academic areas of English, the editor of Streetvibes, Jimmy sociology, history, and Heath, and his quiet dedication communications. and commitment to his readers The leaders of this gang and to all homeless people. His of faculty, Helen Kegler and last issue had his article on Grace Auyang, have now been honoring a deceased homeless joined by another group of person. Jimmy reminds us of faculty eager for the next step. the radical changes needed to One faculty member, Maria Damos, and I are plotting to use welcome our “strangers” into our homes and hearts. poetry for peace; Grace is There is nothing more already into peace work with expansive of hope than working her sociology students, and with teachers and their students others are pioneering curricula of peace. Gently, simply, and innovations, too. with a grace, the posters begin University of to color in a different world, a Cincinnati’s school of social work will be offering the second powerful world shaped by Page 8 respect and compassion, and these very young people, in a very short time, find their voices. You must meet these “teachers,” these gems of civility and humor, and see them “shining’ in their classrooms. One teacher, Craig Rush, keeps asking his students to keep making the UN laws relevant to the students’ world. Another, Steve Elliot, muses with his students about the reduction of all problems to “simple black and white, the good guys and the bad guys.” Indonesian Peace Project is continuing with follow-up program plans based on two meetings with peace makers from Indonesia who have visited the Peace Village in Cincinnati. The visits were under the supervision of Ohio University’s South East Asian Program. Religious tensions between Christians and Muslims may be one focus as well as other concerns about promoting peace. Northside’s Second Annual Peace Makers Dinner is being planned for the fall. Last year over 100 neighborhood peace makers were honored with a dinner and music. This year our community has been faced with another set of challenges to our peace and the community has ably responded, albeit with the causalities of horror that continue to plague communities serious about living in peace. Plans are being made for the third annual vigil and Interfaith Walk on September 10th and September 11, 2004 in memory of those who died and those who worked for peace in the rescue effort. Last year’s event taught us a great deal about what we needed to hear and say about justice and peace and the old team, led by Mira Rodwin, is reuniting to make another expression of respect. Peaslee Community Center Freedom Murals have developed in 8 inner city agencies in Cincinnati in cooperation with the Peace Village and tile artist, Suzanne Fisher. Working initially with posters depicting the relationship of the concept of freedom and their agency, staff and clients create puzzle pieces out of posters until there is agreement about what the major theme is and how it can be converted to a large tile mural to adorn the outside of the building. The final murals are “signs” of “safe houses,” places in Over-the-Rhine that community residents can receive care and a new perspective on community Streetvibes development. These are many of the projects underway. I have not included the wonderful work of Hans Klee, Munich and Harare, founder of Global Friends, to make the links with the Peace Village strong and creative. Amos Hopkins joins Binny Singh in India in a great chance to build a foundation in three of Binny’s schools. I hope to hear more from them and others in Israel, Argentina, and Nigeria about what is happening in their Peace Village efforts. I have also omitted from this letter the beginning planning for interfaith discussions with Jewish and Christian youth, thanks to the help of Barbara Dragul, Ed Irvin, Steve Elliot, Daniel Septimus, and Sam Joseph. In sum, the work of peace, in peace, for peace is obviously the work of many hands and hearts, some new and some old. We touch each other, heal with one another, find a laugh and a tear along our paths, and stand in awe of how beautiful our friendships have become as the way of peace. We are not blind to what is happening in our little world as new stories of bloodshed and worse appear. Yet, my old friend and Vet for Peace, Paul Davis repeatedly reminds me that we are a force for and with peace, carrying a message to young and old, here and there, that is no more than our own steps, our own heartbeats, and our own connections to each other and the world. The larks parked for the moment in the nest outside our door are long gone, flying now on their own power. Tuesday Henson is walking the walk of a one year old who feels at peace, trusts the ground she totters on, smiling all the time. The Peace Village is as much her and her future as anything and it is our combined work that will make it a future of some peace. I thank everyone mentioned, hinted at, unmentioned, and tottering toward our golden image of peace. Dr. Steve Sunderland, professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, is the Director of The Peace Village, a group of individuals from the national and international community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. Sunderland also heads up Posters-forPeace which engages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words, through the creation of posters. �The Fourth Annual Public Forum on Homelessness THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE: Living and Acting with HOPE in Difficult Times Wednesday, October 13, 2003 8:30am to 5pm Franklin County Veteran’s Memorial Wayne Brehm Room300 West Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio Presented by The Columbus Coalition for the Homeless In Partnership with The Greater Cincinnati Coalition or the Homeless, Otterbein College, The Columbus Metropolitan Area Church Council & The Interprofessional Commission of Ohio Featuring PAUL LOEB as keynote speaker This forum will focus on advocacy, through the work of volunteers and professionals, for the needs of marginalized people - particularly those who are very poor and often homeless. The attendees will hear presentations by one of the country’s leading proponents of citizens living, acting and working for a more justice and equitable society for all people. “Paul Loeb brings hope for a better world in a time when we so urgently need it.” ­ Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity Goodbye, Cicadas! For more information about Paul, see www.paulloeb.org “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” — John F. Kennedy “More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars — yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt “There must be, not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized peace. — Woodrow Wilson Streetvibes Page 9 �photos by Jimmy Heath Drop Inn Center.... Cont. from page 1 reputation for being a power broker and deal maker. His previous job was in Pittsburgh where he worked to develop stadiums and housing. There are mixed evaluations of his success, according to editorials from Pittsburgh. Leeper started his work in Cincinnati on April 1. One of the first things he did was to commission a study of Over­ the-Rhine by Manhattan based designers Beyer, Blinder and Belle. Their study looked at the Washington Park Area, including placement of schools in the area. Unfortunately, not many people knew of their efforts and the firm only received input from a small group of area developers and business leaders. Nevertheless, the plan was completed and, on May 26, a high level meeting including School Superintendent Alton Fraily, top area CEO’s, representatives of the new Arts School and 3CDC meet to officially unveil the new proposal. It included changing the placement of two area schools, an expansion of the park and a new housing development. A 90-day time frame is given for approval by School and City bodies. After approval by this body, on June 2, the plan was released to the media, coordinated by 3CDC. Within a two week period from June 7 to June 18, presentations are given to many decision making bodies including the Cincinnati School Board, Cincinnati City Council, Washington Park School Parents and the Cincinnati Planning Commission. The public was given no notice of 3CDC’s attendance to any of these meetings. As a result, public comment was very limited. In the midst of this process, some participants in the 3CDC process expressed willingness to talk about concerns of homeless agencies. It is said that board members have expressed willingness to have discussions about the issues of safety and homelessness. However, others, including Leeper in his comments to City Council, were unsure why community groups were so concerned. One of the parties who has concerns is the Drop Inn Center, especially it’s Page 10 The Nannie Hinkston House and Drop Inn Center Transitional Housing; corner of 12th and Elm Streets, Over-the-Rhine Transitional Housing Program. The 18 units that house sober graduates of their treatment program are shown as being taken for a new school in 3CDC’s plan. Members of the Transitional Housing group attended a school committee meeting on June 10 th, but the plan was not up for discussion at the time. Transitional Housing residents in attendance were concerned about their buildings being taken without adequate replacement. They also regretted not having any input into the planning process. Drop Inn Center representatives passed out information about their project including the fact that it is a sober residents with drug testing and a counselor on site and that it is a historic mixed-use building, with community serving businesses on the first floor. They hope to be included as the plan moves forward. On one hand, leaders like Cincinnati Councilmember Jim Tarbell expressed hope that the developments proposed by 3CDC will stimulate a major change in Over-the-Rhine and boost homeownership and property values. However, the Homeless Coalition, community residents and others continue to be very concerned about the impact these developments may have on shelters and housing, as well as the future of neighborhood schools. Pat Clifford, Director of the Drop Inn Center, said “Our vision is to have a successful, truly mixed income, multi cultural area in Over-the-Rhine where people are accepted and encouraged to grow. The first thing we need to do is develop trust. I fear that this quick timetable for approval with limited public input and sketchy details will only serve to erode people’s trust and put the neighborhood in further jeopardy.” From left; Elizabeth Linville, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homelsss; Debra Brundidge, DIC Counseling Coordinator & Pat Clifford, General Coordinator of the Drop Inn Center at Cincinnati Public School Board meeting. Streetvibes �Planning For A Place Where We Belong by Mary Burke I feel so used and discarded after reading the “Washington Park plan unveiled” in the June 1 edition of the Enquirer. And then to read on June 10th that the 3CDC plan for the schools had been approved by the Board of Education. I just feel sick. I along with over one hundred people participated in a threeyear long process to develop a plan for OTR. The city provided consultants, staff overtime and other resources to this plan that admittedly was hurried to an uncertain finish. We had hope that the implementation phase would allow us to work out the difficult issues that were missing from the plan. Important issues like how public dollars will be invested to support the plan and how we can invest simultaneously in our dying affordable housing stock and the thriving market housing. We knew that the market housing demand for subsidy would drown out the affordable housing need for sustainability. Our sense that the “market” would consume huge amounts of public dollars was proven out by the $2 million dollar public subsidy to the private condo development at the Kroger Garage and the $6 million dollar subsidy to the parking garage itself. In addition, along with about 50 other people I engaged with the Cincinnati Public School process where consultants and architects were hired to facilitate a planning process for neighborhood schools. We spent our time and energy and more importantly invested hope for something better in OTR. We earnestly engaged in a process. We believed we could help shape the future. Then 3CDC arrives on the scene and with the click of a mouse a PowerPoint slide eliminates our work and their new plan is unveiled. Not only were our plans disappeared, so were our local institutions and housing. My hope in our system of governance and civic life was further diminished. I feel like dropping out. I find cynical people funny but I don’t want to be cynical. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and complain. I want to participate in the civic life. Maybe that’s what makes me feel sick. Groups like 3CDC stomp on people’s fire. We do burn with the hope of inclusion and real democracy and there is truly a visceral response when we are negated. Hopelessness moves in quickly. Then there are the shootings and the killing. We feel we have no power to effect systemic change that could address the reason young men kill each other. We feel excluded. We are excluded. Fortunately there are people like Bonnie Neumeier, Damon Lynch, and Eileen Cooper Reed, and writers like Alice Walker. They pick-up people like me and re-ignite our fires. With them we can come to believe that there can be another way and together we can create it. So I hope to stay tuned for the rest of the story. Ultimately the anger and despair will be transformed to hope and action. We will find a way to include all people in our future. We will find a way to peace. We will find a way to transform our government and civic life so that people rule and corporate interests do not. And, we shall not be moved. Or to be more precise, The Drop Inn Center shall not be moved. Shelter Programs Critical to Support of Homeless Veterans Who are homeless veterans? The U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says homeless veterans are mostly males (2 % are females). The vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged communities, 45% suffer from mental illness, and half have substance abuse problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, or the military’s antidrug cultivation efforts in South America. Forty-seven percent of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam Era. More than 67% served our country for at least three years and 33% were stationed in a war zone. How many homeless veterans are there? Although accurate numbers are impossible to come by... the VA estimates that more than 299,321 veterans are homeless on any given night. And, more than half a million experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of every four homeless males who is sleeping in a doorway, alley, or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served our country ... now they need America to remember them. Why are veterans homeless? In addition to the complex set of factors affecting all homelessness … extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care … a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. A top priority is secure, safe, clean housing that offers a supportive environment. Doesn’t the Department of Veterans Affairs take care of homeless veterans? To a certain degree, yes. According to the VA’s 1997 report, in the years since it “began responding to the special needs of homeless veterans, its homeless treatment and assistance network has developed into the nation’s largest provider of homeless services. Serving more than 100,000 veterans annually.” With an estimated 500,000 veterans homeless at some time during the year, the VA reaches less than 20% of those in need. What services do veterans need? Veterans need a coordinated effort that provides secure housing and nutritional meals; essential physical health care, substance abuse aftercare and mental health counseling; and personal development and empowerment. Veterans also need job assessment, training and placement assistance. What seems to work best? The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are community-based, nonprofit, “veterans helping veterans” groups. Programs that seem to work best feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are succeeding at bettering themselves. Because government money for homeless veterans is currently limited and serves only one in 10 of those in need, it is critical that community groups reach out to help provide the support, resources and opportunities most Americans take for granted: housing, employment and health care. There are Streetvibes about 200 community-based veteran organizations across the country that have demonstrated impressive success reaching homeless veterans. These groups are most successful when they work in collaboration with Federal, State, and local government agencies, other homeless providers, and veteran service organizations. Veterans who participate in these programs have a higher chance of becoming tax-paying, productive citizens again. For More Information log on to http://www.nchv.org 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.... 1. Streetvibes will be distributed go to the individual vendor. This program has helped 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 can not 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. Vendors must also never sell Streetvibes door-to-door. 8. Vendors must not deceive customers while selling Streetvibes. Vendors must be honest in stating that all profits 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. 9. 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. 10. 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. 11. Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct 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 organisation, 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 Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half. ­ Gore Vidal Editor: a person employed by a newspaper, whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed. - Elbert Hubbard Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock. - Ben Hecht People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news. - A. J. Liebling �Why are NA Meetings Important To Me? by Antonio Reed Why are N.A. meetings important to me? I struggled for the longest time with drug addiction. It took so many things from me over the years: my family’s trust, I lost many friends and women who were involved with me. It took me a long time to see the destruction that drugs caused in my life and in the life of others: 3 of my children - Antwan LaMarr Robinson, Elijah Ishmeal Reed, Dontonio Devontae Reed are permanently committed to Children Services and my only daughter, Antoinieshia Trynce Reed, I’m fighting to get custody now so I can be a part of her life. My oldest son, Antonio LaMote Reed, Jr. stays with his mom. I can see him, but drugs took me from being a father to my children. N.A. Meeting is just like Chemo treatment is to a person who suffers with cancer. It don’t cure the disease that I suffer from, but it does arrest it. Knowing from my past, if I don’t stick with N.A. Meetings, I run the risk of returning to active drug use again. N.A. meetings are like insulin is to a diabetic. If they don’t take their shot, they run the risk of going into a shock. N.A. meetings is like a kidney to the person who needs it to continue living. N.A. meetings are like a breath machine to someone who can’t take a breath of life without it. N.A. meetings are like the umbilical cord attached to the fetus whose life depends on it for its nourishment while in the mother’s womb. When I came to the place I’m at I had nothing at all left in me, not even the will to go on living. I lost my self-respect, self-worth, morals, a woman who I really loved - but it turned out I loved drugs more, to the point where I no longer knew how to treat her and she left. I had self-hatred, guilt and shame running wild inside of me. I felt abandoned, not loved by myself or others. But N.A. Meetings changed me a lot. Where else could I go and be dealing with something inside my head and question God about it? Inside my heart I felt hopeless about the situation and the answer came to me from God through someone at the meeting who had been through what I’m now dealing with. And by doing the right thing for the right reasons, things got better for them. By me hearing that, it gives me hope that the same thing can happen to me. There is a spirit in N.A. meetings that I personally can say is God. It doesn’t matter about age, race, sexual identity creed religion or lack of religion. There is only one requirement for membership ­ that is having the desire to stop using. That’s it. I listen. I learn from others who are just like me. While I have not regained a lot of things I have gotten myself back - and the belief that things will be OK for me. The three most important things in life right now are: first, God, second, staying clean no matter what happens third, the program of N.A., because without it, I would return to using and I wouldn’t be accountable for nothing. N.A. saved my life. “Urban Plunge” Students Experience Life on the Streets by Lindsay Dalmolin St. Edward’s University sophomore Kacy McCoig had what every college student dreams of for spring break; a free plane ticket to Cancun, paid in full by her own mother. McCoig declined. She and four other St. Edward’s students had already made their own Spring Break plans. They wanted to be homeless for five days on the streets in Austin. McCoig joined Shyda Hogue, Robby Haddad, Paul Hagey, and Stephanie Daniel on the streets through Urban Plunge, a program St. Edward’s Campus Ministry offers students as an alternative spring break. Anna Aldave, the programs founder and director, also accompanied the students for their five days on the streets. From 5am till late evening, they learned how to cope as a homeless man or woman would. The group ate at soup kitchens and churches, tried panhandling, attended “church under the bridge” (a worship service beneath I-35), built friendships with others living on the streets, and slept at Central Presbyterian Church downtown at night. “Slowly you start to realize the rhythm of the homeless life,” Hagey said. “The food, being out all day and not having a place to really sit down and relax, it wears you out. You get caught in the rhythm, and it’s hard to get out because you’re tired and you’re hungry.” The experience was made more trying by citizens of Austin and some of the homeless themselves. On the streets, they received dirty looks and rude comments from people in passing. When panhandling, they felt worthless and ignored. Some of the homeless felt that the urban plungers were usurping resources devoted to them. But not all of homeless felt that way about the two year-old program. Most of the men and women living on the streets they met were extremely friendly and helpful and understood why the group was out on the streets. McCoig was overwhelmed by the advice from the homeless. “They would tell us which churches and soup kitchens offered the best meals.” The non-housed even shared personal stories from their lives. When walking downtown back to the Presbyterian Church, a fiftysomething year old homeless man named Mark ran up to the group. He’d seen them on the news earlier that morning and wanted to share his story with them. He was homeless because his medical bills had escalated out of control. As a veteran, he was unable to pay for housing on top of his treatments for cancer, as he had just recently been diagnosed. He was college-educated, a Christian, and trying to get off the streets. “These guys (the homeless) are the best spiritual teachers I have ever seen,” commented Aldave. “I feel so very loved and accepted by these people. That’s the thing that my mind cannot even comprehend, and that’s the thing that will have me doing this as a spiritual discipline probably for the rest of my life.” Aldave started the Urban Plunge program a year ago at St. Edward’s. The idea stemmed from a 1-day street retreat she attended that was hosted by a group called the Faithful Fools from San Francisco. Aldave, a campus minister, was so blown away by the experience that she brought a similar program to the Austin area. The goal of the program is to build a bridge between the housed and non-housed and to show compassion for those without homes. Recruiting students to apply for the Urban Plunge program is not easy. Most of the students who apply are the ones who really have a desire to do it. McCoig wanted to do it to get away from the mundane day-to-day life, and she knew that Urban Plunge was her opportunity. She might not have had the sunny white beach and beautiful ocean, but her time on the streets have given her more perspective than a pretty little island ever could. “I thought it would be a life-changing experience, and that’s what it has been,” said McCoig. Reprinted from Austin Homeless Advocate, April 2004 News From The OHIO EMPOWERMENT COALITION The Family Violence Option Campaign (renamed the “Safe and Stable Families” Campaign) has persuaded Rep. Jean Schmidt of Loveland, Ohio to introduce the FVO policy as a bill: H.B. 481 HB 481 has been assigned to the Ohio House Health Committee. Since the Ohio Assembly adjourned for the summer on May 27 , we don’t expect any action on it until September when the Ohio Assembly returns to Columbus. However, over the summer, the Safe and Stable Families Campaign will definitely be active! Summer will be a golden opportunity to meet with state representatives to educate them th on the bill and its importance. The plan will be to get the bill heard in September with public hearings, but we must work hard over the summer to make sure the committee chair & committee members believe this is a very important bill that must be prioritized. Many other issues are clamoring for their attention. Streetvibes The Safe and Stable Families Campaign also needs financial support to get HB 481 passed by the Ohio Assembly. Campaign contributions can be sent to Contact Center, 1227 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH 45202. For more information or to endorse the Campaign, call the Contact Center at 513/381­ 4242. Page 13 �No-name Poem A Servants Prayer by Steve Kors III by Robert Manassa Coke is white and grass is green. But I liked to drink Because it made me mean. Heavenly Father up above Please protect the ones I love. Guide them and keep them and let them know that I’ll always love them so. I drank from the left And drank from the right. I drank all day. And drank all night, I drank in the sun, I drank in the rain. I would get burned Or soaked with no pain. I have a shot of Beam In that stinky bar. Feels like a wet dream, Then I have to find my car. I’m sending up this prayer, down on my knees Father God – all of my sins, forgive them please I’m not to proud to beg I’m standing on my last leg. Precious Lord – please continue to hold my hand I need your help and grace to help me stand I need you not only for a day If these words are wrong in any way Then Father God – teach me how to pray When I was drinking I got real numb! The Dayton police Knew I was dumb. I was real dirty. I had lost my pride... Sometimes I would wake up, And wish I’d died. I was like a fish. I thought I drank well. But it all turns out I was a cracked bell. The devil had owned me To where I was beat. I lost all my family. And lived on the street. I have a new family who helps me stay dry And when I’m with them I sometimes cry. Now that I’m sober And all is well I found Jesus Christ who keeps me from Hell. Across the Park by Michael Henson Confusion, fear and lies; What good can come when people die? Red Blood spilt On barren land To complete an alchemical plan, Red Blood to Black Gold, Deviously poisoning, polluting, choking our Heart. Men tortured, defiled, dishonored by their Brethren, Captured on film, a permanent bruise Not to be overlooked. Truth and honor wither away; They know they do not belong. Boundaries grow hazy Accompanied by roles: Who the victim? Who the villain? Both? Neither? For what purpose and to what end? Why fight a war Paid with lives Only to gain confusion, fear and lies? Zach Chotzen-Freund of Santa Barbara, CA, examined in this excerpt the esprit that leads 17-year-olds to sign up for war. Fittingly, he’s 17. Across the park I see a woman and she is dancing down the sidewalk. There is too much of her and everything movable is moving but she is graceful and her step is slow and smooth. A set of headphones nestles in her braids and I do not know what she hears among the evening traffic of West Eighth Street. She steps and stops rocks forward at the neck pecks at the air with her hand She steps and stops rocks forward at the neck pecks at the air with her hand steps stops rocks pecks to the music that is wrapped around her head until she sees that I am staring and she stops. I am in awe of her but she does not know that so she stops her dance and slowly walks her sidewalk until she thinks I may not hear. And then she sings. Off now, children! Off to war! Kill in your country’s name! For murder on behalf of kin is what allows our boys to win And rest someday in cherished lore. So off now, off to war! Off now, children! Off to war! Make your fathers swell with pride! For though you’re young, they love to hear that you’re a splendid bombardier And dodge death like a matador. So off now, off to war! Off now, children! Off to war! Bring smiles to your mothers’ eyes! They hate to lose you, sure that’s true, but if flags of red, white and blue Are at your funeral, souls will soar. So off now, off to war! Page 14 Streetvibes Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ Streetvibes@juno.com �Unwritten Beatitudes The Cold Within by James Patrick Henry Six humans trapped by happenstance In black and bitter cold Each one possessed a stick of wood Or so the story’s told. Their dying fire in need of logs The first woman held her back. For of the faces around the fire She noticed one was black. The next man looking cross the way Saw one not of his church, And couldn’t bring himself to give The fire his stick of birch. The third one sat in tattered clothes He gave his coat a hitch. Why should his log be put to use To warm the idle rich. The rich man just sat back and thought Of the wealth he had in store. And how to keep what he had earned From the lazy shiftless poor. The black man’s face bespoke revenge As the fire passes from his sight. For all he saw in his stick of wood Was a chance to spite the white. And the last man of this forlorn group Did naught except for gain, Giving only to those who gave Was how he played the game. Their logs held tight in death’s still hands Was proof of human sin. They didn’t die from the cold without, They died from the cold within. 1. Blessed are the ignorant for they shall be taught. 2. Blessed are the humble for they shall be made proud 3. Blessed are the blind for they shall see 4. Blessed are the falsely accused for they shall exonerate 5. Blessed are the losers for they shall be triumphant 6. Blessed are those in tribulation for they shall experience bliss 7. Blessed are those in debt for they shall be forgiven 8. Blessed are those in prison for their minds shall be set free 9. Blessed are the addicted for they shall be made whole 10. Blessed are the impaired for they shall renewed 11. Blessed are the pacifists for they shall honored 12. Blessed are the powerless for they shall overcome 13. Blessed are the scared for they shall no longer doubt 14. Blessed are those who serve for they shall be served 15. Blessed are the undesirables for they shall find acceptance By Club Quaker, Youth Group of Eastern Hills Friends Meeting: Jeremy Coppock, Nathan Coppock, Daniel Coppock, Daniel Montgomery, Grace Montgomery, Matt Whispe, and Jamie Pogue. Knock the dust off your boots, my boy, It’s time to ride again. The frontier has gone restless now And we must crush this rebellion. . . . These people understand only violence, So let’s give it to ‘em now. We’ll ride ‘em down like Cherokee; We’ll trample ‘em like Pueblo. These savages are ruthless; They understand no law. So we’ll pick up our Peacemakers, And shoot ‘em like Choctaw. . . . Rally round the flag, my boy, And grab your rifle, too. The Red Man’s turned Brown, my boy, And there’s a lot of peacemaking to do. Megan Foley, a 16-year-old from Long Island, focused like many on the ambiguities of a war that was supposed to enhance moral clarity. Reprinted from Street News Shutter Speed by Jimmy Heath Street Musician, Main Street, Over-the-Rhine Streetvibes Page 15 �An Icon, and Then He’s Gone by John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times Beijing - For many foreigners, he is Tiananmen Square’s most recognizable figure, outshining even Chairman Mao Tse-tung - whose body still lies in state at a far end of the vast public space. Just after noon on June 5, 1989, the day after Chinese troops stormed the square to brutally crush a student political uprising here, a solitary protester engaged in a modernday David versus Goliath showdown: Clutching nothing but two shopping bags, he stood his ground before a column of oncoming tanks on the adjacent Avenue of Eternal Peace. Captured by newspaper photographs and cable news footage, the tense standoff lasted several minutes, a seeming eternity to onlookers waiting for the tanks to overrun the man, before he was hustled from the scene by onlookers. On the 15th anniversary of the government crackdown in which hundreds, perhaps thousands, were killed, this lone dissenter’s story remains the most enduring mystery of the violent confrontation. No one knows whether he’s dead or alive. Chinese activists and government officials say they aren’t even sure of his name. “For me, he represents the unknown soldier of the Chinese democratic revolution,” said John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, a San Franciscobased human rights group. “What’s so strange is that his act of bravery was conducted in plain view of the world. But other than seeing his act, we know so very little about him.” The British tabloid Sunday Express shortly after the incident identified the man as a 19-year-old named Wang Weilin, the son of Beijing factory workers. But activists question the accuracy of a reporter they say did not visit China and relied on telephone calls to supposed friends of the man. In 1999, on the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, Chinese leader Jiang Zemin was asked what had happened to the mystery man. He responded in English, “I think never killed.” Jiang said government officials conducted their own search for the protester, checking morgues, prisons and computer registers, but could not find him. But they could get no Page 16 China has never acknowledged that civilians died in the bloodshed. help from Chinese citizens As for the lone protester, themselves: No one in the activists hope he has survived, country has ever seen the but fear the worst. images. In fact, no ordinary “Either he’s been killed Chinese beyond the protesters already or he’s still in some and soldiers involved even black hole in a Chinese prison,” knows of the standoff. Even said Sharon Hom, executive today, Chinese can’t see the famous photograph, even on the director of the U.S.-based group Internet. Attempts to download Human Rights in China. “If he is alive and free, a man willing the picture are blocked by the to stand in front of a tank would government. have come forward by now and On the eve of the not stay silent. This is not anniversary this week, Tiananmen Square was crowded someone who is just going to disappear.” with thousands of tourists and Human rights activist locals milling under floodlights Xiao Qiang calls his inability to - presumably watched by locate the protester one of his plainclothes policemen. most frustrating Brigades of failures. Xiao bicyclists was studying passed on Just after noon on June 5, abroad at the the crowded 1989, the day after Chinese University of boulevards troops stormed the square to Notre Dame that when the surround the brutally crush a student Tiananmen square, and political uprising here, a crackdown a group of solitary protester engaged in occurred. old women a modern-day David versus He watched drew a curious Goliath showdown: Clutching coverage of the chaos on crowd as nothing but two shopping television, they including the exercised to bags, he stood his ground footage of the the beat of a before a column of oncoming drum. tanks on the adjacent Avenue protester’s standoff. Two Yet of Eternal Peace. days later, he several returned to people China and spent three months nearby said they had never there to be with his countrymen heard of the tank man or his at a difficult time. moment of fame. “This incident changed “I’ve never seen him,” my life,” said Xiao, who later one man said. “Was he worked as executive director of Chinese?” For the rest of the world, Human Rights in China. During 12 years in that job, he twice the image remains an icon of thought he had found the freedom. The protester has Tiananmen protester. shown up in a Wim Wenders Once, in 1993, an movie, and his image has been Australian lawyer called to say reproduced on posters and Tshirts. In 1998, Time magazine that a man claiming to be Wang proclaimed him one of the 20th Weilin was seeking political century’s top 20 revolutionaries, asylum there. Xiao telephoned the man and determined that he whose “moment of selfwas an impostor. transcendence [was seen] by Four years later, a group more people than ever laid eyes in Texas called to say that it had on Winston Churchill, Albert found the protester, who was Einstein and James Joyce seeking asylum in the United combined.” States. Again, Xiao talked to Some believe the man the immigrant, who became endured months, or years, of elusive about details of that day. political reeducation. Others Then he disappeared. say he was hunted down and The man-tank showdown executed. came after months of Human rights activists demonstrations in Tiananmen say that 50 to 100 people were Square by students decrying executed in the wake of the such issues as government Tiananmen Square crackdown ­ corruption, lack of free speech some for crimes as simple as and high unemployment. burning a police motorcycle or, As tens of thousands of in one case, taking a photograph troops from the People’s of the tanks in the square. In Liberation Army converged on addition, 15,000 to 20,000 the square and surrounding people were detained. areas for cleanup after the first The activists say 99 still day of attacks, a slender man remain in prison for their seemed to appear out of actions during the protest. Streetvibes nowhere. As cameras rolled, he positioned himself in front of a column of 18 tanks. Not far from the spot where in 1949 Mao proclaimed China “a people’s republic,” the man gamely stood his ground. The lead vehicle stopped, spewing exhaust, then moved to the right and left to avoid the defenseless demonstrator. Each time, he stepped up to remain in its path. At some point, he shifted both shopping bags to one hand. Then he jumped onto the tank and appeared to say something to its driver. “I remember him screaming down the tank hatch at the driver,” said Jeff Widener, at the time an Associated Press photographer, who shot several images of the standoff from a sixth-floor balcony of the nearby Beijing Hotel. “I think the guy was majorly angry and wasn’t thinking straight. I was just waiting for him to get blown away.” Mickey Spiegel, China specialist at Human Rights Watch, who still hangs a poster of the face-off in her New York office, said, “Nobody even knows that much.” But Human Rights in China’s Hom believes that another symbol of defiance has been overlooked: the tank driver. “Both the man in front of the tank and the soldier inside are worthy of our attention,” she said. “Inside, you had a soldier who was obviously not following orders for not running the man down, someone who was probably later harshly disciplined. He obviously saw it as wrong to run over an unarmed man. Although the man who defied China’s military might be missing, his legacy remains. “The whole [Tiananmen Square] incident was a public relations disaster for Beijing, the effects of which continue to this day,” said Richard Baum, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA. “It has cost the Chinese government enormously, not just in terms of sanctions and abuse accusations abroad, along with U.S. congressional votes against renewing China’s mostfavored-nation status, but in the government’s reputation as being the Butchers of Beijing.” Activists say the world can thank a man on whose identity it can only speculate. “He was just an average guy who decided that he’s had enough,” said Widener, now a photographer for the Honolulu Advertiser. �Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace. But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas. When you get to my age, if you get to my age, which is 81, and if you have reproduced, you will find yourself asking your own children, who are themselves middle-aged, what life is all about. I have seven kids, four of them adopted. Many of you reading this are probably the same age as my grandchildren. They, like you, are being royally shafted and lied to by our Baby Boomer corporations and government. I put my big question about life to my biological son Mark. Mark is a pediatrician, and author of a memoir, The Eden Express. It is about his crackup, straightjacket and padded cell stuff, from which he recovered sufficiently to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vonnegut said this to his doddering old dad: “Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is.” So I pass that on to you. Write it down, and put it in your computer, so you can forget it. I have to say that’s a pretty good sound bite, almost as good as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” A lot of people think Jesus said that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, 500 years before there was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ. The Chinese also gave “Blessed are the peacemakers” us, via Marco Polo, pasta and in the Pentagon? Give me a the formula for gunpowder. break! The Chinese were so dumb they There is a tragic flaw in only used gunpowder for our precious Constitution, and I fireworks. And everybody was don’t know what can be done to so dumb back then that nobody fix it. This is it: Only nut cases in either hemisphere even knew want to be president. that there was another one. But, when you stop to But back to people, like think about it, only a nut case Confucius and Jesus and my son would want to be a human the doctor, Mark, who’ve said being, if he or she had a choice. how we could behave more Such treacherous, humanely, and maybe make the untrustworthy, lying and greedy world a less painful place. One animals we are! of my favorites is Eugene Debs, I was born a human being in 1922 from Terre A.D. What Haute in my Human beings are does “A.D.” native state of Indiana. Get a chimpanzees who get crazy signify? That commemorates load of this: drunk on power. By an inmate of Eugene Debs, who died saying that our leaders are this lunatic asylum we call back in 1926, power-drunk chimpanzees, Earth who was when I was nailed to a only 4, ran 5 am I in danger of wrecking wooden cross times as the by a bunch of Socialist Party the morale of our soldiers other inmates. candidate for fighting and dying in the With him still president, conscious, they winning Middle East? Their hammered 900,000 votes, morale, like so many spikes through 6 percent of his wrists and the popular bodies, is already shot to insteps, and vote, in 1912, pieces. They are being into the wood. if you can Then they set imagine such a treated, as I never was, the cross ballot. He had like toys a rich kid got for upright, so he this to say dangled up while Christmas. there where campaigning: even the As long as there is a lower class, I am in shortest person in the crowd could see him writhing this way it. As long as there is a criminal element, I am of it. As and that. Can you imagine people long as there is a soul in prison, doing such a thing to a person? I am not free.” No problem. That’s Doesn’t anything entertainment. Ask the devout socialistic make you want to Roman Catholic Mel Gibson, throw up? Like great public who, as an act of piety, has just schools or health insurance for made a fortune with a movie all? about how Jesus was tortured. How about Jesus’ Never mind what Jesus said. Sermon on the Mount, the During the reign of King Beatitudes? Blessed are the Henry the Eighth, founder of meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. Blessed are the merciful, the Church of England, he had a counterfeiter boiled alive in for they shall obtain mercy. public. Show biz again. Blessed are the peacemakers, Mel Gibson’s next movie for they shall be called the should be The Counterfeiter. children of God. And so on. Box office records will again be Not exactly planks in a broken. Republican platform. Not One of the few good exactly Donald Rumsfeld or things about modern times: If Dick Cheney stuff. you die horribly on television, For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us. never mention the Beatitudes. And what did the great But, often with tears in their British historian Edward eyes, they demand that the Ten Gibbon, 1737-1794 A.D., have Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course to say about the human record so far? He said, “History is that’s Moses, not Jesus. I indeed little more than the haven’t heard one of them register of the crimes, follies demand that the Sermon on the and misfortunes of mankind.” Mount, the Beatitudes, be The same can be said posted anywhere. about this morning’s edition of “Blessed are the the New York Times. merciful” in a courtroom? Streetvibes The French-Algerian writer Albert Camus, who won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, wrote, “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.” So there’s another barrel of laughs from literature. Camus died in an automobile accident. His dates? 1913­ 1960 A.D. Listen. All great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light Brigade. But I have to say this in defense of humankind: No matter in what era in history, including the Garden of Eden, everybody just got there. And, except for the Garden of Eden, there were already all these crazy games going on, which could make you act crazy, even if you weren’t crazy to begin with. Some of the games that were already going on when you got here were love and hate, liberalism and conservatism, automobiles and credit cards, golf and girls’ basketball. Even crazier than golf, though, is modern American politics, where, thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative. Actually, this same sort of thing happened to the people of England generations ago, and Sir William Gilbert, of the radical team of Gilbert and Sullivan, wrote these words for a song about it back then: I often think it’s comical how nature always does contrive that every boy and every gal that’s born into the world alive is either a little liberal or else a little Conservative. Which one are you in this country? It’s practically a law of life that you have to be one or the other? If you aren’t one or the other, you might as well be a doughnut. If some of you still haven’t decided, I’ll make it easy for you. If you want to take my guns away from me, and you’re all for murdering fetuses, and love it when homosexuals marry each other, and want to give them kitchen appliances at their showers, and you’re for the poor, you’re a liberal. If you are against those perversions and for the rich, you’re a conservative. What could be simpler? Page 17 �FRAC News director of Army Emergency Relief, says families qualify for Blueprint to End Hunger benefits as soon as they enter Unveiled on National Hunger service. Spiegel says states Awareness Day (National Anti- nationwide have been asking Hunger Organizations, June, 3, the Department of Defense to 2004) Thirteen organizations explain how military families that comprise the National Anti- can access such programs as Hunger Organizations (NAHO) food stamps and the Women, unveiled a new “Blueprint to Infants and Children nutrition End Hunger in America.” The programs. “I think the stories of NAHO Blueprint recommends families being in need are pretty programmatic investments and striking,” said Ellen Vollinger improvements in the national of FRAC. “Now more than nutrition safety net to halve ever, we must make sure as a hunger and food insecurity in community that the families of the US by 2010 and to end both these troops are taken care of by 2015. It outlines strategies here on the home front,” said to improve benefit adequacy Mayor of San Jose, Ron and access in the Food Stamp, Gonzales. child nutrition, WIC and emergency feeding programs. One in Four Workers Live at “Our nation has the tools and Federal Poverty Level resources to end hunger. Our (“Working...and Poor,” Blueprint offers a realistic plan Business Week Online, May 31, for achieving that goal,” said 2004) Twenty-eight million NAHO Chairperson H. Eric working Americans, or one in Schockman. four workers between the ages of 18 to 64, make less than Hungry Children More Likely $9.04 an hour, putting them to be Sick and Hospitalized below the federal poverty level (“Kids who go hungry likely to for a family of four. The loss of land in poor health,” Boston white-collar jobs offshore has Herald, June 1, 2004) Infants produced headlines; less and toddlers who do not get publicized are the problems of enough to eat are more likely to the working poor, such as get sick and be hospitalized, unpaid sick days and jobs with according to a recent study no benefits. For those on the published in this month’s edge of poverty, one event such Journal of Nutrition. Children as a stalled car, can lead to up to age 3 with limited or being fired or financial ruin. A uncertain access to nutritious 2003 study by the Federal food are 90 percent more likely Reserve Bank of Boston found to be in only fair or poor health that in the 1990s, the chance a and 30 percent more likely to poor person would remain poor be hospitalized. John Cook, increased compared to the lead author of the study, said 1970s. “If current trends poor nutrition harms children persist, a greater and greater by weakening their immune share of wealth will keep going systems and ability to learn. into the hands of the few,” said Co-investigator for the study James Sinegal, CEO of Costco Carol Berkowitz said that the Wholesale Corp., who worries nation’s health care costs may that lack of mobility will be higher because so many destroy initiative among the eligible children do not actually working class. Families who go receive food stamps and then just beyond a poverty-level are more likely to become sick wage by earning $7 to $10 an enough to require hour, can become ineligible for hospitalization. vital assistance such as food http://news.bostonherald.com/ stamps, child care assistance, national/ and the earned-income tax view.bg?articleid=30098... credit. Says Ron Haskins of the Study available at: http:// Brookings Institution, “For www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/ them, Horatio Alger does not abstract/134/6/1432 apply.” Food Stamp Demand Surges Among Military Families (“Hungry U.S. families can’t be defended,” Oregonian, June 2, 2004) Demand for food stamps among the families of national guardsmen and reservists skyrocketed several hundred percent from 2002 to 2003. Col. Dennis Spiegel, deputy Page 18 Revised Food Pyramid Will Recommend More Fish, Fiber, & Exercise (“Rebuilding the pyramid,” Cape Cod Times, May 28, 2004) The food pyramid, the federal government’s guide to healthy eating, is undergoing revision. Federal advisors will recommend Americans eat more fish, fiber, and fewer refined grains such as white bread. The U.S. Department of Agriculture asked its Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to change the pyramid’s focus from maintaining a healthy diet to losing weight. In addition to dietary changes, the committee recommended 30 to 60 minutes of vigorous exercise for adults most days. California: Bill Approves $7.75 Minimum Wage, Governor Likely to Veto (“$1 increase in state minimum wage gets Assembly OK Governor, against more regulatory burdens on California businesses, likely to veto bill,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 28, 2004) A bill in California’s Legislature would raise the state’s minimum wage by $1, from $6.75 to $7.75 in 2006. However, Governor Schwarzenegger would likely veto the bill if it came before him. California’s minimum wage is currently the lowest on the West Coast. In order to match the purchasing power of the state’s minimum wage in 1968, it would have to be $8.92 an hour today, according to labor officials. “In my [district] nobody can live on anything less than $15 an hour. That’s why many wage earners have two jobs,” said Assemblyman Manny Diaz (DSan Jose). New York: Food Stamp Use on the Rise (“Food stamp use on the rise,” The Journal News.com, May 27, 2004) In April, 17,322 residents of Rockland County received food stamps, an increase of 18.6 percent since December 1999. A county official said the last time demand was so high was in 1992. Recipients such as Yajaira Rodriguez calls the benefit “a blessing.” Carmen Loras, of the Community Action Partnership in Haverstraw, notes that two years ago three people a week visited CAP for food stamp information. Now 15 people a week come in. A majority are Spanish-speaking. Food stamps, however, only provide poor families with some support. They also rely on food pantries and soup kitchens, particularly at the end of the month, when food stamp benefits have been exhausted. Arizona: Number of Hungry Arizonans Growing (“Number of hungry Arizonans growing,” Arizona Republic, May 30, Streetvibes 2004) Doris Campbell is among an estimated 630,000 Arizonans struggling to put food on their tables — “food insecure” under federal definitions. Campbell has been relying on the senior lunch program for 10 years to get a consistent, nutritious meal. Arizona’s rate of food insecurity in 2000 was 12.5 percent, compared to 10.8 percent nationally. Food insecure households include working poor families, senior adults, people with physical and mental disabilities, the unemployed, the homeless, and immigrants. Ginny Hildebrand, executive director of the Association of Arizona Food Banks, encounters people who have part-time jobs, seasonal work, or service-related work, all paying salaries too low to meet a family’s basic needs. New York: Rewards of a 90­ Hour Week: Poverty and Dirty Laundry (“Rewards of a 90-Hour Week: Poverty and Dirty Laundry,” New York Times, May 31, 2004) Laundromats in New York City employ thousands of “wash and fold” workers to do customers’ laundry. The majority of these workers are paid less, often much less, than the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour and speak of abusive, sweltering work conditions. Inriqueta G. works 70 hours a week and earns $350 in cash, $400 less a month than what she would earn if she were paid the minimum wage plus overtime. Many of the workers are immigrants. “Life is a lot more difficult here than I thought,” says Piedad G. “Sometimes I think I was crazy to come here. This is a country with a lot of opportunities, but in order to take advantage of those opportunities you have to suffer a lot.” To subscribe to the weekly FRAC News Digest go to: http://capwiz.com/frac/ mlm/ For questions, comments, and news tips, please contact: Helen Yuen Food Research and Action Center 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 540 Washington, DC 20009 (202) 986-2200 x3019 Email: hyuen@frac.org �Bush Campaign Seeks Help From Thousands of Congregations by David D. Kirkpatrick, The New York Times The Bush campaign is seeking to enlist thousands of religious congregations around the country in distributing campaign information and registering voters, according to an e-mail message sent to many members of the clergy and others in Pennsylvania. Liberal groups charged that the effort invited violations of the separation of church and state and jeopardized the taxexempt status of churches that cooperated. Some socially conservative church leaders also said they would advise pastors against participating in such a partisan effort. But Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the Bush administration, said “people of faith have as much right to participate in the political process as any other community” and that the e-mail message was about “building the most sophisticated grassroots presidential campaign in the country’s history.” In the message, Luke Bernstein, coalitions coordinator for the Bush campaign in Pennsylvania, wrote: “The Bush-Cheney ’04 national headquarters in Virginia has asked us to identify 1,600 `Friendly Congregations’ in Pennsylvania where voters friendly to President Bush might gather on a regular basis.” In each targeted “place of worship,” Mr. Bernstein continued, without mentioning a specific religion or denomination, “we’d like to identify a volunteer who can help distribute general information to other supporters.” He explained: “We plan to undertake activities such as distributing general information/updates or voter registration materials in a place accessible to the congregation.” The e-mail message was provided to The New York Times by a group critical of President Bush. The campaign’s effort is the latest indication of its heavy bet on churchgoers in its bid for re-election. Mr. Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove, and officials of Mr. Bush’s campaign have often said that people who attended church regularly voted for him disproportionately in the last election, and the campaign has made turning out that group a top priority this year. But congregation is disseminating advisers to Mr. Bush also the information, however, the acknowledge privately that issue is more complicated. If appearing to court socially the congregation had a table conservative Christian voters where anyone could make too aggressively risks turning available any information off more moderate voters. whatsoever without any What was striking about institutional responsibility or the Pennsylvania e-mail oversight, then a member might message was its directness. be able to distribute campaign Both political parties rely on literature without violating tax church leaders - Africanlaws. But very few churches American pastors for the have such open forums, Mr. Democrats, for example, and Potter said. “The I.R.S. would white evangelical Protestants ask, did the church encourage for the Republicans - to urge this? Did the congregants church permit to go the polls. And in The campaign’s effort is this but not other the 1990’s, the latest indication of literature? the Christian Did the Coalition its heavy bet on church in any developed a way support reputation as churchgoers in its bid this?” a political for re-election. Mr. Mr. powerhouse Bernstein, the by Bush’s top political e-mail distributing message’s voters guides adviser, Karl Rove, and author, in churches officials of Mr. Bush’s declined to that alerted comment. conservative campaign have often Mr. Schmidt, believers to said that people who the campaign candidates’ spokesman, position on attended church said the esocial issues mail message like abortion regularly voted for him only sought and school disproportionately in the individual prayer. But volunteers the Christian last election, and the from among Coalition was the “friendly organized as campaign has made congregations,” a nonpartisan, turning out that group a not the endorsements issuetop priority this year of the any oriented religious lobbying and organizations or groups. voter-education organization, “The e-mail is targeted and in 1999 it ran afoul of to individuals, asking federal tax laws for too much individuals to become involved Republican partisanship. in the campaign and to share The Bush campaign, in information about the campaign contrast, appeared to be with other people in their faith reaching out directly to community,” Mr. Schmidt said. churches and church members, “Yesterday, a liberal judge from seeking to distribute campaign San Francisco overturned a information as well as ostensibly nonpartisan material, partial-birth abortion ban which banned that abhorrent like issue guides and procedure. That is an example registration forms. of an issue that people of faith Trevor Potter, a from across the United States Washington lawyer and former care about.” chairman of the Federal He said that the Election Commission, said the Pennsylvania e-mail message campaign’s solicitation raised was part of a larger national delicate legal issues for effort. The number of congregations. “If the church is doing it, congregations mentioned ­ 1,600 in just one state ­ it is a legal problem the suggests an operation on a vast church,” Mr. Potter said. “In scale. the past, the I.R.S. has sought But even some officials to revoke and has succeeded in of some conservative religious revoking the tax-exempt status groups said they were troubled of churches for political by the notion that a parishioner activity.” might distribute campaign If a member of the Streetvibes information within a church or at a church service. “If I were a pastor, I would not be comfortable doing that,” said Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. “I would say to my church members, we are going to talk about the issues and we are going to take information from the platforms of the two parties about where they stand on the issues. I would tell them to vote and to vote their conscience, and the Lord alone is the Lord of the conscience.” The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State, argued that any form of distributing campaign literature through a church would compromise its tax-exempt status. He called the effort “an absolutely breathtakingly large undertaking,” saying, “I never thought anyone could so attempt to meld a political party with a network of religious organizations.” In a statement, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, a liberal group, called the effort “an astonishing abuse of religion” and “the rawest form of manipulation of religion for partisan gain.” He urged the president to repudiate the effort. In a statement, Mara Vanderslice, director of religious outreach for the Kerry campaign, said the effort “shows nothing but disrespect for the religious community.” Ms. Vanderslice continued: “Although the Kerry campaign actively welcomes the participation of religious voices in our campaign, we will never court religious voters in a way that would jeopardize the sanctity of their very houses of worship.” How many congregations or worshippers will choose to cooperate remains to be seen. In an interview, the Rev. Ronald Fowlkes, pastor of the Victoria Baptist Church in Springfield, Pa., said he had not seen the email message but did not think much of the idea. “We encourage people to get out and vote,” Mr. Fowlkes said, but as far as distributing information through church, “If it were focused on one party or person, that would be too Page 19 �357-4602 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 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth) SHELTER: Men City Gospel Mission 241-5525 Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 St. Francis/St.Joseph House 381-4941 Mt. Airy Center 661-4620 Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 SHELTERS: Women and Children YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 Bethany House 557-2873 Salvation Army 762-5660 Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 If you need help or would like to help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below. OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati 421-2437 Appalachian Identity Center 621-5991 Beech Acres 231-6630 Center for Independent Living Options 241-2600 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Emanuel Center 241-2563 TREATMENT: Both N.A. Hopeline 820-2947 A.A. Hotline 351-0422 C.C.A.T. 381-6672 Talbert House 684-7956 Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In Program 721-0643 TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 TREATMENT: Women First Step Home 961-4663 Full Circle Program 721-0643 HOUSING: CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 Miami Purchase 241-0504 OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 ReSTOC 381-1171 Tender Mercies 721-8666 Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Dana Transitional Bridge Services, Inc 751-9797 Caracole (AIDS) 761-1480 Friars Club 381-5432 Drop Inn Center 721-0643 Haven House 863-8866 Interfaith Hospitality 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center (Teens) 961-4080 St. John’s Housing 651-6446 Need Help or Want to Help? MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 New Life Baptist Mission (Soup Kitchen) 896-9800 Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 Freestore/ Foodbank 241-1064 Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental Health Board 946-8600 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van 352-2902 House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. Center 271-5501 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids 357-5720 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food Center 471-4357 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 July, 2004 Drop Inn Center Fights for its Home Cover Story Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Homess Vets Continue to Pay - Page 11 The Price of Freedom BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY STREETVIBES $1 Donation � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2004 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource July 2004 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Developers Fast Track Their Plan for Over-the-Rhine McCrackin Celebration Builds on his Legacy, Calls Citizens to Action Pg 2: Greed Transcends Compassion Pg 3: Donate Pg 4: One Year Ago Homeless Stopped City from Sweeping Camps Pg 5: Hate Crimes Still a Major Issue for the Homeless Pg 6: Homeless News Digest Pg 7: A King Without a Throne- Interview with Washington Park Tent Man, King DaviyD Pg 8: The Peace Village Pg 9: Public Forum on Homelessness Pg 10: Drop Inn Center Continued Pg 11: Planning for a Place Where We Belong Shelter Programs Critical to Support of Homeless Veterans Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and Streetvibes… Pg 13: Why are NA Meetings Important to Me? “Urban Plunge” Students Experience Life on the Streets News from the Ohio Empowerment Coalition Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Pg 16: An Icon, and Then He’s Gone Pg 17: Cold Turkey Pg 18: FRAC News Pg 19: Bush Campaign Seeks Help from Thousands of Congregation Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 2004 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Andy Erickson Elizabeth Linville Janice Faulkner Mary Gaffney Jimmy Heath Berta Lambert Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alison Leeuw Andy Erickson Berta Lambert Bush Drop Inn Center Elizabeth Linville Food Research FRAC GCCH Georgine Getty Hate Crimes Janice Faulkner Jimmy Heath King Daviyd Mary Gaffney McCrackin Ohio Over-the-Rhine Peace Village Students veterans