9 10 291 https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/5885c09ee5e55de5954c9973c141f4d5.pdf 11f3771b83486313a9c3d0683d1dc780 PDF Text Text August 2005 STREETVIBES “Outsider Art” Provides a Voice Ron English, a resident artist of downtown Cincinnati, knows the power of his craft and the effect it has on people who view it. “My hand just starts to move and I don’t know if I am in control of it. It’s like a dream” says 50 year-old English. Ron, a Streetvibes vendor and talented artist, is like many low-income artists in Cincinnati who struggle to find an outlet for their voice and art, while making some spare change on the side. Ron collects scraps of cardboard and paper to create his portraits with pencil and pastel. The drawings he creates are stunning images of the way he sees the faces of people. (see cover) The development and recognition of so-called “naïve” art has a long and quirky history, populated by interesting and sometimes startling characters. Most of these artists are untrained in conventional art forms and use the tools of art as a way to sound their voice and experience. Some of these so-called “outsider” artists express themselves as musicians, spokenword poets, writers and painters. Peaslee Neighborhood Center, in downtown Over-the-Rhine, collaborates with musicians and artists in order to bring art to local lowincome people and children. Peaslee has worked with a professional artist from the Cincinnati Art Academy to create mosaics for public display, and there is a current project to involve aspiring neighborhood artists and children on mural projects. Also in Cincinnati, Vulcan’s Forge, a project of the Recovery Initiative, focuses on the positive and creative aspects of individuals and is a support system and a source of inspiration for low-income and mentally challenged people. The Recovery Initiative believes not only in Vulcan’s Forge but also that the process of recovery is closely linked to artistic expression. A number of studies have indicated a higher incidence of artistic expression among persons with mental illness when compared with the general population. Due to society’s marginalization of certain groups and the stigma Ron English associated with mental illness, clients of these programs have few ways to express themselves. Vulcan’s Forge and other programs represent a rare Dr. Hans Prinzhorn collected thousands of works by psychiatric opportunity for participants to not only enhance their own individual recovery patients and his book, “Bildernerei der Geisteskranken” (Artistry of the but dispel public misconceptions about persons with mental illness. Mentally Ill), published in 1922 became an influential work amongst Surrealist The list of programs in Cincinnati goes on. Yet this “outsider” art and other artists of the time. remains ‘out’ of mainstream art circles. The development of the awareness of forms of creative expression that exist outside accepted cultural norms, or the realm of “fine art,” began “Art” Cont. on Page 2 with the researches of psychiatrists early in the 20th century. Lessons from London Bombings show right was right all along, pundits say Many pundits insisted that “partisanship” should play no part in the discussion of the July 7 terrorist attacks in London. But it seemed like business as usual in the right-wing media—as commentators used the attacks to score political points for their side and promote their pet agendas. On Fox News Channel’s Special Report (7/7/05), Jeff Birnbaum seemed hopeful that the attacks would mean a rise in the polls for George W. Bush: “I think that there has been a plunging poll rating for Bush’s policies in Iraq and even for the president’s job performance overall, in part because the American people forgot that there really is a war on terror, or they didn’t believe Bush’s oft-repeated reminders from the stump that, in fact, we were in war and we had to act that way. I think this will—it takes away all of the credibility problems that the president has been having. And popular support, I think, will begin to rise for him again.” Birnbaum’s co-panelist, Bill Sammon of the Washington Times, agreed: “I think the entire conversation changes now. You know, we were talking about Gitmo and whether the prisoners had sufficient comforts.... That debate is obliterated. And now we’re back to, guess what? Good and evil. I mean, this is what Tony Blair, and Jack Straw, and all these people were talking about. They’re talking about using words like wicked and evil, the words that Bush was mocked for using by his detractors when 9/11 happened. But that’s where the conversation’s back to. We’re not talking about global warming. We’re not talking about Gitmo. We’re back to the basics. We are at war.” Oddly, Birnbaum’s response to that was to predict a dip in partisanship: “I think, in fact, partisanship, at least in the short run, will be diminished.” That would be true if one were defining partisanship merely as criticism of Bush, since praising Bush and criticizing his “detractors” is apparently not partisan. Fox panelist Fred Barnes made that point even clearer by noting an exception to the non-partisan trend: “Not for Jane Harman,” Barnes interjected— referring to the Democratic Congresswoman who had suggested that the war in Iraq was not making the U.S. or its allies safer. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough seemed to declare (7/7/05) any and all criticism of the White House unacceptable: “Earlier today, you had Hillary Clinton, senator for New York, coming out and actually criticizing George Bush, criticizing our government, saying that we’re just not spending enough money on counterterrorism.” The clip that followed was a dry recitation of federal domestic security budgets cuts— hardly an unimaginable topic for discussion after the London attacks. Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity also lamented that the left had dared to criticize the Bush administration (7/7/05): “I have felt at almost every step of the way from the very beginning, they have often undermined the president’s war on terror. And they have accused him of targeting civilians for assassination, accused him of starting a war for political gain, accusing him of being responsible for torture policies when no such thing came true. It seems like they’ve always looked to politicize it, which has hurt our effort to unite and combat this.” “Lessons” Cont. on page 5 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. All profits go directly to the vendor. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a group of shelters, agencies and individuals committed to ending homelessness in Cincinnati through coordinating services, educating the public and grassroots organizing. GCCH Staff Georgine Getty - Executive Director Allison Leeuw -Administrative Coordinator Andy Erickson - Education Coordinator Rachel Lawson - Civil Rights VISTA Kate McManus - Civil Rights VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photographer Jimmy Heath Cover Mural by Ron English, on display at the Contact Center, Over-theRhine 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 The Atomic City of Cincinnati by Martha Stevens We will remember for a long time the deaths of innocent Londoners on July 9, victims of the Iraq war. Some Americans also remember each August 6 the attacks on innocent civilians by our own country. This August marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The U. S. targeted city streets, and many thousands were instantly incinerated. Counting the deaths from the lethal fallout on the outskirts, over 200,000 were lost. We have not had an atomic bomb dropped on Cincinnati — exactly — and yet we have the distinction, among U. S. cities, of having fellow citizens die from atomic fallout. In the 60’s a basement chamber in our teaching hospital was turned into an effectual bomb site. Radiation was beamed at “Art” Cont. from Page 1 One artist who was particularly affected by the works Prinzhorn presented was Jean Dubuffet. Together with others, including Andre Breton, he formed the Compagnie de l’Art Brut in 1948 and strove to seek out and collect works of extreme individuality and inventiveness by creators who were not only untrained artists but often had little concept of an art gallery or even any other forms of art other than their own. Raymond Thunder-Sky, who displayed his work art BASE Gallery in Over-the-Rhine, was already famous, at least from one side of Cincinnati. Few knew his name, but he was a familiar figure to most persons employed downtown in the past 30 years. He was a shy, quiet, rotund man carrying a toolbox, wearing a hardhat, dressed in what seemed to be an endless array of outlandish clown costumes, each with a proper ruffled Elizabethan collar. Some called him the construction clown. You could see the construction clown wherever a new building was going up or an old one was coming down. Wherever the city’s skyline was changing, the construction clown would be there. It turned out he was making detailed drawings of what he was seeing, vividly depicting cranes and beams and riveted joints with bright markers he carried in his toolbox, adding captions to explain what was being demolished and what, exactly, would take its place. Raymond’s work epitomized Dubuffet’s concept of Art Brut, or “Raw Art.” His art was in its “raw” state, uncooked by cultural and low-income cancer patients by the U. C. College of Medicine with funds from the U. S. military. Of the 90 patients exposed, over their whole bodies or sometimes half their bodies, 21 died within about a month. Doctors wanted to find out whether troops caught on the edges of a nuclear blast could fight on, whether a pilot could still fly a plane. Death from radiation is not easy. Those who died vomited up their insides for up to 48 hours, felt like their skin was on fire, became mentally confused. Their immune systems were destroyed, and “they went steadily downhill,” as the doctors often put it, and succumbed in the end to infection. Certain patients were already in a dying state when exposed and were the most abject victims of all. An African-American woman named Katie Dennis lived only seven days after her radiation. She was 52 with four daughters still at home. The nurses on her floor wrote that before radiation, she was weak and lethargic, mostly sleeping when pain was not too severe. When they rolled her into the radiation chamber, she was so frightened of the huge machine there that she was administered shock treatment before her radiation could take place. Afterwards, her pain continued and she bled from the rectum; the next day she vomited “thick dark brown material” and complained all night of pain in her leg. On day seven she had a fever and constant pain. “Her eyes roll back in her head,” they wrote, and she could barely respond to her name. Later that day Katie Dennis died. Surely we don’t want to set off a nuclear war. Yet we read that our government is not reducing its arms but busy creating new, more “usable” nuclear weapons. Why is it, we must ask ourselves, that the U. S. does not cooperate in arms control. artistic influences. Dubuffet’ built up a vast collection of thousands of works - works which bore no relation to developments in contemporary art and yet were the innovative and powerful expression of a wide range of individuals from a variety of backgrounds. Today the increased awareness of all these forms of expression has led to a network of small organizations in both Europe, the United States and Cincinnati, devoted to the preservation of such works and the support of their creators. The diverse influence of all these forms is now apparent in the work of an increasing number of “trained “ artists who have turned their back on changing trends and fashions to try and form a truly singular reality for themselves. Michel Theo, Curator of the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, France has written the following: ‘“Art Brut”, or “outsider art”, consists of works produced by people who for various reasons have not been culturally indoctrinated or socially conditioned. They are all kinds of dwellers on the fringes of society; homeless, low-income, or otherwise displaced by “conventional” society Working outside of the fine art “system” (schools, galleries, museums and so on), these people have produced, from the depths of their own personalities and for themselves and no one else, works of outstanding originality in concept, subject and techniques. They are works which owe nothing to tradition or fashion.” A firm distinction should be made between “art brut” and what is known as “naif art”. The “naif” or primitive painters remain within the mainstream of painting proper, even if they fail to practice its style. However, they accept the subject and even its values, because they hope for public, if not official recognition. “Art brut” artists, on the other hand, make up their own techniques, often with new means and materials and they create their works for their own use, as a kind of private theatre, like Cincinnati’s Ron English, who gathers his art materials and ideas from the street. These artists choose subjects which are often enigmatic and they do not care about the good opinion of others, even keeping their work secret. People have come to use the phrase Outsider Art to refer to the creative work of artists who are selftaught and/or those who, for a variety of reasons, are what would be considered impervious to being taught how to make art. The innocent, the self-taught, the visionary, the intuitive, the eccentric; the schizophrenic, the developmentally disabled, the psychotic, the obsessive, the compulsive. No matter how powerful and true an artwork might be, if concern for fame, cleverness, or creativity is as important a motivation for creating the work as is personal discovery and expression, then the work will be contaminated with a kind of cultural poisoning and it will not be Outsider Art. Now, as we recognize and lionize the creative individuals who are making this body of work we call Outsider Art, we run the great risk of turning what is so wonderfully outside into just another segment of the mainstream inside. 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 �Homeless News Digest illnesses while trying to cross the desert are counted separately. In North New Jersey, Stella Souhlakis, before she was committed to Bergen Regional Medical Center in February, she used magic marker for eye liner. Compiled by Jimmy Heath She wet her pants. She has a child “I daydream a lot, she never sees. Some homeless worrying,” Reg said during an In Tucson, James Huggins, 59, facilities won’t accept her. “If interview at the Uptown Salvation spends his days in city parks. she [goes] to the Bergen CAP Army shelter where he’s been His cart carries mostly old food Shelter on Kansas Street [in staying with his mother and two and a bag of aluminum cans, Hackensack], they’ll put her out siblings for the last month. “I was which he sells. within a day or so, for bedwetting,” worried about getting a home and At least two local shelters said Robin Reilly, a longtime coming back with my family.” are bending the rules to keep the homeless advocate. For two years, suburban more vulnerable homeless out of the Souhlakis is among the homeless families have had Project hard-core homeless, as some call blistering sun. REACH to fight for their children’s them. Many suffer from mental Marlene Moreno, outreach education. worker for Travelers Aid Society, illness or addiction. In Director Diane Nilan and drives a truck into washes in the Hackensack, the number is growing her small staff would contest school - just as the region’s overcrowded early mornings bringing water and districts that denied enrollment to sunscreen to the homeless. services become less available. homeless students based on The heat is “more Four of these people, in permanent residency requirements. fact, have died this year. After years dangerous than last year” for Last month, the Illinois State in the streets, many of the homeless homeless people, she said, because Board of Education killed the “it has been so hot for so long,” have deteriorated to the point Aurora-based program supported referring to 36 straight days of where they can no longer sustain by federal funds. Oversight was 100+ heat in Tucson. The streak themselves. transferred to regional education likely will last, according to the It’s no longer just a offices. National Weather Service. problem, some say. It’s a crisis. “We had great cooperation Not all vulnerable homeless people Public officials and mental from the huge majority of are willing to go indoors, however. health advocates and professionals superintendents and school On Jan. 31, 2000, the city are wrestling with the question: districts, but there were also made it illegal to sell or give away What are we going to do about superintendents who were not food in city parks without a permit Souhlakis and the growing number happy that the law forces them to from the city Parks & Recreation of New Jersey homeless just like accept these students,” Nilan said. Department and approval of the her? Last year, Project REACH Pima County Health Department. “I don’t want to do another helped 350 homeless children with The ordinance makes it more funeral,” said Reilly, who gave the families, and 20 homeless teens, get eulogy for William “Magoo” difficult for church groups and others who want to give food to the into schools. Schmidt in April, saluting the city’s homeless who congregate in the so-called mayor of the homeless. In Phoenix, a record heat parks. Food now must be wave so far has led to the deaths “prepackaged by the In Philadelphia a of 18 people, most of them manufacturer.” Reenie Ochoa, a homeless naked man who homeless, leaving officials parks & recreation administrator, commandeered a police car and scrambling to provide water and crashed it on Market Street said neighborhood groups shelter to the city’s transient complained that homeless people during a Tuesday afternoon rush population. brought trash, debris and “some hour has died For the first time in years, criminal activity” to city parks. The There are homeless people city also modified drinking fountains homeless shelters opened their in Philadelphia who think that so the homeless can’t wash clothes doors during the day to offer incident is giving them a bad respite from the blistering sun, in them anymore, she said. reputation, and they say there are a which has delivered above-average lot of homeless people who are not Huggins said he hopped a ride on a freight train and arrived in temperatures every day since June bad people, they’re just down on 29. Police began passing out Tucson four years ago. He lives a their luck. Robert Anderson was thousands of water bottles donated eating dinner at Chosen 300 vagabond life even though he has by grocery stores, and city officials Ministries. It’s an organization that lung disease and has to use an set up tents for shade downtown. inhaler to help him breathe. provides prayer and meals for “I don’t know why I’m not During the hottest part of people, mostly men, with no homes. burnt to pieces,” said Chris Cruse, the day, he sleeps under a tree in a Anderson says he slipped 48, after taking refuge in a shelter. city park, he says. into drug addiction and while he’s Fourteen of the victims now clean, establishing himself is In Chicago, almost 9,000 were thought to be homeless. difficult: “I made some wrong “Most of us just run from students are homeless. For choices — and the choices I made air-conditioned box to airmuch of the last two years, Reg have affected me greatly.” Benton, a soft-spoken 12-year-old, conditioned box, so it’s hard to Brian Jenkins is executive imagine how omnipresent the heat bounced among his grandmother’s director of Chosen 300: “The only really is for the homeless here,” said difference between us and them is house, his dad’s place and two Phoenix police Sgt. Randy Force. homeless shelters with his mother. that we’re about one and a half In all of last year, the state Few people knew he was paychecks away from being homeless — his clothes were clean, Department of Health Services homeless ourselves.” documented 34 heat-related deaths his hair groomed. But the signs This man who asked to among Arizona residents. were there. His grades slipped. remain anonymous says a domestic The number of illegal He stormed out of class one day. situation put him in the street. But immigrants killed by heat-related He even threw a chair in anger. you wouldn’t know it by looking at Streetvibes him: “I got a teamster’s job, so I’m not your average run-of-the-mill don’t-wanna-do-nothing type of individual.” Now he’s struggling to save for his first and last month’s rent and a security deposit: “I just looked at an apartment. It’s a thousand dollars a month.” For decades, panhandling and homelessness have been as much a part of the San Francisco landscape as the bridges and fog. But now the nation’s “Homeless Czar” is looking toward the Bay Area for possible solutions to America’s homelessness problem. In 2002, an estimated 8,640 homeless people were residing in San Francisco, often living in such decrepit conditions that their existence threatened the city’s tourism industry. However, the situation has improved. According to a study conducted by the city earlier this year, the number of homeless in San Francisco dropped by around 28 percent. City officials have attributed the reduction to a series of new programs. “Historically, [San Francisco] had the worst street homelessness problem in our country,” said Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “But it’s had some of the most innovative ideas.” The city replaced welfare handouts with initiatives such as the controversial “Care not Cash” program, which provides housing and other support services; and “Project Homeless Connect,” which enlists corporate volunteers to help the homeless find jobs. The greater involvement of the business community and the public is one of the challenges around our country,” said Mangano, a former music agent who was appointed by President Bush in 2002. That’s why ‘Project Connect’ is so important. It brings the business community and the public into that larger partnership with government to get the job done.” “It’s not only the individuals we’re serving, it’s the people that are helping serve those individuals whose lives are changing because thousands of them now feel empowered and part of the solution,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Mangano said that he has begun putting together an interagency council from several local, state and federal agencies to study success stories like San Francisco to help develop a national strategy to combat homelessness. Page 3 �Kansas: School-age Children Line Up in Bread Lines Hungry school-age children stand in bread lines every week in Wichita, KS, in what has become “a tradition of summer.” “You see more and more every year,” observed Wendy Glick, who runs the Lord’s Diner, which offers free supper to all who need it. “Families come in. You can tell they’ve never done this kind of thing before.” Glick says hundreds of children show up. Poor children, who stop receiving their two free school meals per day in summer, look elsewhere for food. Clinton Moss, the new director of the Bread of Life food pantry, reported that when she “drove to the pantry at 7:30 this morning, we already had families standing in line.” The pantry opens at 10:00 a.m. .But while summer food sites in neighborhoods can be more convenient than a pantry, participation is low. The Wichita school district gave out a total of only 41,000 breakfasts and 61,000 lunches over the entire 2004 summer, while 26,426 Wichita children a day qualify for free school meals. New York: Encouraging Future Success of Homeless Children Show your The Parent-Child Home Program of Eastern Suffolk BOCES has the nation’s first mobile early childhood outreach program to serve homeless families who live in shelters and other emergency housing arrangements. The first strategy the program uses for children in at-risk families is to reduce hunger and improve access to health care. The program, serving 5,000 children in 145 support! Get your STREETVIBES sites nationwide, is designed to prepare T-Shirt Today! children for school and help them overcome language and literacy barriers. Lack of Affordable Housing and Shel­ ter Demand is Major Homeless Problem in Ver­ mont (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes In Rutland, Vermont, homeless shelters are experiencing an unusually high demand this summer. Occupancy usually declines in the warmer months when homeless people move to campgrounds and other outdoor areas to live. The Open Door mission in Rutland and Burlington’s Committee on Temporary Shelter has been full for more than a month. Officials are reviewing their records to see what is driving the increased need. Rita Markley, head of the Committee on Temporary Shelter, says she’s seen a rise in the number of women who are homeless. She also has noticed a trend in the number of people who have been laid off from full-time jobs. A shortage of affordable housing also is the major problem �Two Homeless Men Burned in Prague by Jarmila Pribylova Prague, Czech Republic – Two homeless men were recently set on fire and severely burned while sleeping in public. On a night in early June, an unknown person poured oil over a homeless man sleeping on a bench and set fire to him. The victim tried to run and find people to ask for help before he collapsed. He suffered third-degree burns on most of his body. His injuries were so severe he has not yet been identified. His health state is critical. One day later, an unknown person doused and set fire to another homeless man, a former vendor of the street paper Novy Prostor who fell asleep in a tram. The tram driver used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire and called an ambulance and the police. The driver said he noticed a person run away when the tram stopped. The victim is now hospitalized with severe burns covering 20 to 25% of his body, including his left hand, belly, back, face and neck. Although the crimes are nearly identical and were committed within 24 hours of each other, police are not certain if these cases are connected. The Czech Police have recently recorded an increase in attacks against homeless people. In some cases, offenders threw flammable bottles into shacks or shelters where homeless people were sleeping. Last year groups of muscular young men routinely attacked homeless people with baseball bats. Jakub Chudomel, a therapist who works with Novy Prostor, sees these new attacks as an extension of a disturbing trend: “Violence against unarmed, defenseless people (i.e. a sleeping homeless person) is an expression of pathological violence. Verbal attacks against the homeless can be explained by a hidden fear of getting into a similar situation. Harassment and attacks by skinheads always act together, in group.” But Chudomel sees these current cases as something different, more disturbing: “Pouring a flammable liquid onto a sleeping person is something else. The offender is most probably a sadist who is also timid and introverted.” Chudomel speculates that this attack suggests cowardice, quiet aggression, and possibly sexually explained pyromaniacal tendencies. “The offender,” he said, “is a monster dangerous to his surrounding.” Chudomel predicts that if the offender or offenders are not caught, similar attacks will likely follow. Since the attacks, homeless people living in Prague are frightened and cluster together at night so that some of them can always stay awake and guard the others. Edited by Paula Mathieu, Spare Change News, Boston Reprinted from Novy Prostor instead of fighting the war of our lifetime. But, while the rock stars preach, our enemies scheme. While movie stars practice politics, suicide bombers plan on how to kill the most innocent people with a single blast. You know, our leaders may ignore antiterrorism at G8 conferences these days, but, of course, that suddenly changes when the first reports of explosions come in. Then, suddenly, that idiot Bush starts looking a little bit better than the likes of the Chiracs and the Schroeders standing next to him. And Tony Blair, well, he suddenly seems to have a more realistic grasp on global realities than, say, Bob Geldof.” Scarborough added: “We’re not a serious people. Some concern themselves more with terrorists’ rights than civilization’s future. Reporters work overtime demeaning the very troops who protect our land. And rock stars replace grim Cassandras, like Bush and Churchill, as the prophets of pop cultures. The results are almost always disastrous.” This lecture comes from a cable news host who has devoted much of his program in recent weeks to the search for Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teenager missing in Aruba. “Lessons” cont. from page 1 While Hannity was lamenting such “politicization,” he was also practicing it: “And doesn’t events like this actually prove that the president is actually right, inasmuch as we knew Saddam used chemical weapons and biological weapons against his on his own people. We knew he wouldn’t abide by the cease-fire agreement or the U.N. resolutions.” Other outlets found it an opportune time to promote White House policies. The Washington Times editorialized (7/8/05): “The London attacks, like the train bombings last year in Madrid, required a high degree of coordination and detail, suggesting a plot planned well in advance. And yet here we are arguing whether to dismantle key provisions in the Patriot Act.” On the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page (7/8/05), Daniel Henninger seized the moment to back the White House’s candidate for U.N. ambassador: “If the U.S. Senate wanted to send a signal of resolve and seriousness to whoever bombed London, Democrats would join with Republicans their first day back to dispatch proven anti-terror warrior John Bolton straight to the U.N. They won’t. They’ll keep playing political fiddles while London burns.” Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly was more hopeful that the London killings would change the minds of those he disagrees with. “My first thought was AlQaeda trying to disrupt the G-8 summit in Scotland,” explained O’Reilly (7/7/05). “My second thought was now maybe Europe will wise up. The terrorists are the evildoers, not the USA.” (In contrast, Fox’s Brit Hume said his “first thought” when he heard about the attack was: “Hmmm, time to buy” stock market futures—Media Matters, 7/7/05.) When O’Reilly wasn’t criticizing the governments of France and Germany for being soft on terrorism, he was blaming the press: “The anti-American press both here and in Europe is actually helping the terrorists by diminishing their threat.” To make his point even clearer, O’Reilly asked one guest, “Have you read The Guardian lately? I mean, it might be edited by Osama bin Laden. I mean, that’s how bad that paper is.” O’Reilly seemed to almost be blaming the victims, wondering why Islamist terrorists would even bother attacking Europe: “What good does it do to Al-Qaeda to alienate Europe when Europe has basically been, not on their side but certainly putting the U.S. as the big villain and de-emphasizing, as I say sanitizing, what Al-Qaeda has done. What good does it do AlQaeda to alienate, you know, the BBC and all of these major organizations that have basically not dealt with the threat in a realistic way?” O’Reilly’s guest, Steven Emerson, expanded on that: “In certain respects, BBC almost operates as a foreign registered agent of Hezbollah and some of the other jihadist groups.” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough similarly lamented the lack of seriousness about terrorism: “We stop listening to the warnings of the Churchills and the Bushes and, instead, we focus on speeches by rock stars and by Hollywood actors. When our world leaders get together, they focus on global warming and the causes of the moment, Streetvibes Page 5 �Firecats Review movie. It looks terrible with the Legally Blond lady, but Napoleon Dynamite! Fire Cat Magenta: I read the book, it was cute. Fire Cat Blue to Fire Cat Clear: You’re going to see March of the Penguins, aren’t you? Fire Cat Clear: I probably will. So disappointing. Fire Cat Magenta: It looks good. Fire Cat Magenta: He used to Summer Movies make good romantic comedies. Fire Cat Chameleon: Plus you Fire Cat Blue: I so want to see can listen to Morgan Freeman for The Devil’s Rejects – scary, scary. Fire Cat Blue: No such thing! two hours. Fire Cat Chameleon: High I also want to see Charlie and the Fire Cat Black: Morgan Freeman Fidelity. Chocolate Factory. Johnny is pretty sweet. He was in Fire Cat Lavender: I’d like to Depp’s big shiny teeth – scary, retract my recommendation for Batman. He’s been doing some scary. real duds lately but Batman was Fire Cat Magenta: The rest of the Must love Dogs. good. Fire Cat Blue: No going back summer looks like crap. Fire Cat Magenta: He said he now - and High Fidelity sucked! Fire Cat Clear: What about The only did it because he got a lot of Maybe I’m too old. March of the Penguins? Fire Cat ?: I saw Barton Fink last money. Fire Cat Blue: No! Fire Cat Black: Oh, I wish I night. Fire Cat Chameleon: I want to Fire Cat Blue: I love that movie! didn’t know that. Hey! This is see the new Batman movie but I Were you so not expecting that one random, but people are boycotting read, you know, literature. Spielberg and War off the Worlds scene? I wasn’t. Fire Cat Magenta: You can do because Tom Cruise is so psycho. Fire Cat Black: What is that? both, I do both. Fire Cat Lavender: How is he Fire Cat ?: It’s those brothers. Fire Cat Chameleon: But I’m a psycho? Fire Cat Blue: The Cohen snob. Fire Cat Black: He’s just so Brothers. Fire Cat Black: It’s too much Fire Cat Lavender: Can we note psycho – he’s against all drugs. work to be a snob. something in the review about Fire Fire Cat Lavender: We should Fire Cat Lavender: Must Love make our own Fire Cat religion. Cat Chameleon’s weakness as his Dogs, but I’m so kidding. It’s a Fire Cat Clear: Wait, so we OCD disorder? romantic comedy. boycott Spielberg until he stops Fire Cat Black: Oh my god! Fire Cat Black: With John using Tom Cruise in his movies? Napoleon Dynamite is in some new Cusack? Fire Cat Black: I guess so. Fire Cat Clear: I can do that. Conclusion: 7 out of 8 Fire Cats agree – go see Devil’s Rejects 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 Thanks to a Volunteer Bush’s War Machine Must Be Held Accountable by Ms. Mary Gaffney To my Streetvibes friends, who each month are so kind and thoughtful by buying the paper that helps support low-income people and homeless individuals and families, thank you again. And to a most gracious and beautiful person by the name of Susan Smith, thank you. As a volunteer Miss Mary Gaffney here at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Each Wednesday, she brings in food and pastries to serve to our guests here at the office. As a tradition, people patiently wait for her arrival at the office. She brings in not only pastries, but full dinners and beverages for everyone who visits. The staff and everyone want to thank Susan Smith for her generosity and concern for her fellowman. by Sierra Black The Downing Street Memo tells us only what we already know: that the Bush administration planned, well in advance of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, to invade that sovereign nation and overthrow its legitimate government in the interests of “regime change” – otherwise known as the desire to see a friendlier leader controlling the vast oil resources of Iraq. What makes it so special then? Why all the fuss and bother? Why are we hearing the word “impeachment” and the word “Bush” in the same sentence now when other damning testimony has failed to elicit such a strong response? Many critics of the Iraq war have pointed to the Downing Street Memo as the “smoking gun” in the increasingly damning case against the Bush administration and the lies it told this country in the run-up to war. The key phrase seems to be, “The intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.” Richard Clarke and Paul O’Neill have both been lambasted in the media for asserting what the Downing Street Memo proves: that the Bush administration had made a firm decision to attack Iraq and forcibly remove Saddam Hussein from the seat of power by flexing the military might of the world’s one remaining superpower. The memo explicitly states that at the time of the writing, in July 2002, “military action was now seen as inevitable.” Susan Smith Page 6 The memo goes on, famously now, to discuss the plans being made to sell this war to the world. A military coalition had to be built to share the costs and casualties, and a legal excuse had to be created for the sake of the world court, of which Britain is a member. The United States, having disdained the world court, was much less concerned about the legal basis of its actions. It seems that in our modern age, there’s an obsession with the paper trail. These pieces of paper replace the reality of civic action and a tough press corps willing to follow not only hard leads but also hunches. The Downing Street Memo merely confirms what the American public has known all along. If the memo itself was a secret, the policy certainly wasn’t. It was clear all along that the Bush administration and hawks in Congress wanted war, and they were willing to go unusual and probably illegal lengths to get it. The press played nice with an administration, seen as sacrosanct after the horror of 9/11, and the public went along for the ride. As the Minneapolis Star Tribune stated in an editorial following the revelation of the Downing Street memo, “President Bush and those around him lied, and the rest of us let them. Harsh? Yes. True? Also yes. Perhaps it happened because Americans, understandably, don’t expect untruths from those in power.” It’s an explanation the administration is perfectly happy with. While failing to respond to John Streetvibes Conyers’ demand, backed up by the signatures of 100 of his congressional colleagues and over half a million American citizens, for a formal explanation of the memo and it’s implications for America’s foreign relations disaster around Iraq, the Bush administration has blithely suggested to reporters that the memo is simply business as usual. They know what we know, that there’s nothing new to see here, and that they won’t be called to account for it because we are too afraid to confront our political leaders during wartime. This war will not end, however, until the criminals who started it are forced to account for their actions, in a court with more authority than the informal court of world opinion, where Bush and his cronies have long since seen their reputations hung for their offenses against not only the accepted standards of legal behavior of one country toward another, but their simple disrespect for the intelligence of the people they lie to on a regular basis. Only when we truly hold this war machine accountable for its actions can we hope to see a significant change in policy and a return to peace. Sierra Black is a Spare Change street newspaper columnist and a regular contributor to “What’s Left,” a weekly radio program on WMBR 88.1 FM. Her website is www.sierrablack.com. © Street News Service: www.street­ papers.org �They Died for Their Country by Paul Rogat Loeb “They died for their country,” read the white granite memorial in the Concord, Massachusetts town square, honoring local men who died in the Civil War. Newer headstones mourned Concord men who gave their lives in other wars — practically every war America has fought — belying the recent baiting of quintessentially blue-state Massachusetts as a place whose citizens lack patriotism. I was in town, on the first anniversary of Sept 11, speaking at a local church that had lost one of its most active members on a hijacked plane, a man named Al Filipov. It was clear then — and clearer now — that these honored dead would not be our nation’s last. I thought of Concord when George Bush urged us, this past Memorial Day, to redeem the sacrifices of our soldiers in Iraq by “completing the mission for which they gave their lives.” But what if this mission (which will, of course, claim more lives) itself is questionable, and founded on a basis of lies? Forty-eight Concord men died in the Civil War, which the memorial called “the War of the Rebellion.” They indeed died for their country, turning the tide at battles like Gettysburg and helping end the brutal oppression of slavery. The World War II vets, listed on a nearby plaque, helped preserve the freedom of America — and the world. We owe a profound debt to the farmers and artisans who won our freedom in America’s Revolution, and whose sacrifices were marked, a few miles away, with an exhibit on the battles of Lexington and Concord. It’s easy for those who have lived through too many dubious wars to forget the power of their sacrifices. But not all the Concord deaths served such lofty purposes. Three Concord men died “in the service of their country” during the Spanish-American war. This war of empire took 600,000 lives alone in our subsequent occupation of the Philippines and our suppression of the first Asian republic, prompting Mark Twain to suggest that the Filipinos adopt a modified version of our flag “with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones.” Five Concord men died in Vietnam joining 58,000 other Americans, one to two million Vietnamese, and four million who died after we overthrew a longneutral Cambodian government and paved the way for Pol Pot. One died in our 1965 invasion of the Dominican Republic, which helped prevent the return of a democratically elected president and installed a corrupt oligarch who would rule for nearly three decades. The American soldiers who died in these wars were as brave as their compatriots in the Civil War or World War II. They undoubtedly had as much integrity in their personal lives. But their courage and sacrifice made the world neither safer nor freer. Since my visit to Concord, the memorial has added another name, a 25-year-old first lieutenant, killed a month after our forces rolled into Iraq in March of 2003, around the time that Bush spoke under that “mission accomplished” banner on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln It’s tempting to assume that all the sacrifices of our soldiers are worthwhile. But mere courage guarantees no inherent moral rightness: German and Japanese soldiers fought bravely in World War II. The September 11 hijackers were willing to surrender their lives to murder 3,000 innocent people, including Al Filipov, whose widow would initiate the peace and justice lecture series where I spoke. Even when we’re told our soldiers are fighting for freedom, we have to look at the broadest consequences of their actions. For instance, an international Pew Center survey right after our Iraqi invasion found that we’d so embittered the Islamic world that majorities to near-majorities in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt now said they trusted Osama bin Laden “to do the right thing in world affairs.” They now viewed him as a hero, not a murderer. Unfortunately, those who initiated the Iraq war now use each additional American death to justify the need to stay. If we challenge this war, we’re told we’re being disloyal to the troops, undermining their resolve and disdaining their sacrifices. We heard this as well during Vietnam, after which the media rewrote the history of the antiwar movement to imply, through images like protestors spitting on soldiers, that those working to bring the troops home were their enemies. By time the first Gulf War began, these images were omnipresent. Even young anti-war activists told me, “We won’t spit on the soldiers this time.” Yet when sociologists Jerry Starr and Richard Flacks, who worked extensively with Vietnam vets, tried to track down the story, they couldn’t find a single incident of a vet who said he was actually spat upon. And when syndicated columnist Bob Greene invited responses on the subject in a column that reached 200 papers, he found only a handful. The power of such useful myths may erode as military families and veterans play an increasingly visible role in the current antiwar movement, though veterans and families played a key part in the Vietnam-era peace movement as well. Every time I’ve marched against this war, I’ve ended up next to someone carrying a picture of a relative in uniform, a son or brother, husband, nephew, or niece, often someone facing the involuntary servitude of being unable to leave the military long after his or her original service term had expired. But unless we can convince our fellow citizens to separate the lives of the soldiers from the policies that place them in harm’s way, they’ll continue to be held hostage to the choices of leaders who are insulated from the human costs So let’s remember the debt we owe to those who have died for freedom as well as those who risk and sacrifice in the name of protecting us all. But not all wartime deaths advance human dignity, and not all sacrifices are worthwhile. If those who die for a worthy cause are indeed heroes to be honored, those who send our brave young men and women to die in wars of empire and dominion squander their courage, their trust, and ultimately their lives. To use their losses to justify further needless deaths is to betray the best of what the soldiers enlist to protect. For not all of America’s wars have been worth dying in, nor are those we now fight. Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, winner of the Nautilus Award for best social change book of last year. He’s also the author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time and three other books. This piece originated on www.TomDispatch.com See http://www.theimpossible.htm for more on Paul’s work. Am I the Cause of Homelessness - a personal reflection by Susan Smith I am not an absentee landowner who makes money by profiting from poorly maintained housing and I don’t shop at certain big box retailers known for low prices and low wages. I also tip very well in restaurants. After all, most of us that work get paid whether we’re nice that day or not. Lawyers get paid even if they lose and the client goes to jail. Restaurant staff, however, must depend on there being enough customers who feel generous enough to tip them to make enough to live. I have been wondering lately whether my buying habits contribute to homelessness in this country as well as poverty throughout the world. I like to shop for the bargain stretching my dollars so I can buy more. As I have talked to many of my friends I’ve found they do the same thing. By careful shopping we can have items A, B, C, and D, rather than having to make a choice. These are rarely necessities in life such as food, but perhaps another pair of shoes when I already have a closet full. I am able to do this if the prices are low enough. But careful shopping is not the only component of a bargain. The item must also be produced for a lower cost, and it is this that makes me think I am contributing to the homeless problem. I can remember a time when people looked for the ‘Made In USA’ slogan. Now we manufacture very little in this country and many people seem to believe that products manufactured in other countries are not only cheaper, but better. These American made products seemed to last at least as long as the items we buy today whether they be toasters, refrigerators, shoes, or cars. Many of these manufacturing jobs are now done off-shore, not, I suspect, because they make better products, but because wages are lower. In order for me to get a bargain on that pair of shoes I really don’t NEED, they must be produced cheaper. By my looking for that bargain am I in a sense not willing to pay the wages for someone in this country to manufacture them? I think so. Many of you may counter this with the fact that we are creating jobs in poor undeveloped countries where the cost of living is lower. This may be true, but if the wages paid are so low that these people are kept in poverty, I don’t think I’ve helped them very much. Let’s face it – the reason I want cheap shoes, grapes, bananas, coffee and electronic products is not to help poor people in other countries, it is because I am greedy and want more. I don’ think I should have to take all the blame for my greed, however, because I am bombarded by countless images every day that I not only want these items, but need these items. This product or that product will make me Streetvibes smarter, sexier, happier, and more loved. I don’t suppose it is because these are things one must look inward for instead of outward. This thought may be anti-capitalist. I live surrounded by greed and have been greedy myself. Not only have I contributed to the suffering of others but also to the destruction of the earth. In ‘The Earth As It Is,’ Leonard Buff asks, “Is it possible to live in peace and happiness when you know that twothirds of human beings are suffering, hungry and poor? To be human we have to have compassion. This solidarity is really the defining factor of our humanity and is gradually being lost in a culture of material values. It’s not only the cry of the poor we must listen to but also the cry of the earth. The earth and human beings are both threatened. We must do something to change the situation…” Page 7 �Japan: Vendor Profile He is from Ikeda city in the Mr. Kazuhiro Tomizawa. 46 years old, selling Big Issues in Sakai,Osaka. has been selling them from the first edition, which makes his sales career one of the longest in Osaka. His sales pitch is Nakamozu station, which is at the south end of the Midosuji subway line. He used to sell at the Yodoyabashi business area, but his sales amount was decreasing there because there were many other Big Issue sellers. There are many sellers around Osaka station or around Namba. He thought, “I must go south from Tennoji if I want to sell more.” He decided to take up this sales spot far from central Osaka. He has been selling Big Issues at Nakamozu for six months. His sales pitch is at Nakamozu station the south end of the Osaka subway line where it connects to overland line. During the morning rush hour many office workers hurry by. “They pay me while they are running so that they won’t waste even one second. The customers remember me standing here for a long time. Some customers come within the first three days of the publication date of each issue, “ he said. He says that he sells fifty or sixty copies per day in the first week of the publication dates. north of Osaka Prefecture. He is the first son of a dry cleaning shop owner and he has one younger brother. He inherited his parent’s business and rented it out, but he had to close the shop five years ago because of the bad economic situation. He sold his house three years ago and became homeless. He saw a leaflet about Big Issue sales at Osaka station and he thought, ”I have to do something about my situation.” He decided to become a Big Issue seller. He commented, “I didn’t have any experience of working in another place. I don’t like working under other people and I don’t like having my time controlled by others.” This interviewer was impressed by his well-pressed checked shirt and told him that it suited him. “Well I am the son of a former dry cleaning shop owner,” he laughed. So far he hasn’t found the sales work hard. He says, “It is fortunate that from the first time there have been a lot of customers.” Mr. Tomizawa took care to answer each question sincerely. He said he does not like talking about himself, but he had accepted this interview. “My customers say that they would like to see me on this page (“From The Streets”, a page for a vendor story) soon. I guessed that my turn would come some day so I readily agreed to be interviewed. I hope my customers will be pleased,” he smiled shyly. One of the benefits of selling Big Issue is to meet many kinds of customers. He is happy that he has increasing opportunities to exchange pleasantries with many people. This interviewer asked him how he maintains good relations with his customers. He answered, “I do nothing special except to make sure I receive the money and give the correct change.” This is the essence of good business practice and he carries it out perfectly. Another point is that he has small change prepared. He always prepares thirty one hundred yen coins. There is a convenience store near his sales pitch and he goes there to buy drinks when he has some 1000 yen bills he needs to break. He has no particular plans for his future. “It is quite difficult for me to have a dream…” he murmured. He went on, “I dare to say that I would like to take a leisurely trip somewhere. I don’t like airplanes. I’d like to take a relaxing train journey somewhere in Japan. A hot spring resort would be nice where I could totally unwind.” He sometimes talks to his brother over the phone. ”My mother is somewhere in Osaka. I’d like her to see this page. There have been some good times in my life. The shop which we ran was ranked first or second place in Ikeda. These days the cleaning shop business is facing difficult times.” Now he is planning on saving money but, smiling wryly, he added that that would be difficult to do. He said that many sellers had to quit the work, but he would like to continue it as long as there are customers, “So I will not give it up,” he said. He spoke lightly but his words showed his strong will to continue this work. Reprinted from The Big Issue Japan © Street News Service: www.street-papers.org Got The Vibe? Former Mayor, Qualls again a frontrunner as head of Morning Glory ride She was the president of the by John Zeh With fellow guy and gal pals on the right track, sister and former Mayor Roxanne Qualls will help benefit the region’s Sierra Club chapter at its annual Morning Glory Ride on Sunday, August 7. The popular eco-event will begin at 6 am at Sawyer Point, the Queen City*s downtown riverfront park. Participants will ride a new route after a vegetarian breakfast prepared by Wild Oats Natural Marketplace in Norwood. Qualls was elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1991, and won most votes in the 1993 race, making her mayor. Her involvement in the Queen City and the surrounding area has been quite extensive. OKI Regional Council of Governments, director of the Cincinnati Citizen Action and its Toxic Action Project, owner/manager of Crafters painting and remodeling company, executive director of Women helping Women, director of the Northern Kentucky Rape Crisis Center, community coordinator of the Northern Kentucky Senate on Aging, and honorary chair of the Sister Cities Association. Folks able to volunteer for the ride should contact steve@steverindsberg.com or call him at 513-621-9136. Volunteers get a free breakfast. To register to ride, or to learn more, go to:http:// www.morninggloryride.org 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 Page 8 This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. Streetvibes �Talbert House’s Turtle Creek Center & Director honored with services that meet and exceed Best Warren. TCC clients begin to Halfway Houses, during the state awards Practice standards. As a re-entry support their families, pay court costs ceremony. “Because of the passion certified program, the Turtle Creek Center is a great place for an offender to begin his journey home, and stay home for good,” said Linda Janes, Chief of the ODRC Bureau of Community Sanctions, during the 13th Annual Clifford Skeen Awards ceremony. Turtle Creek, a 72-bed halfway house, opened in January 2003 as an alternative to incarceration for low-level adult male felony offenders for 15 Southwestern Ohio counties: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Highland, Miami, Pike, Preble, Ross, Scioto, and and provide restitution to their victims through employment. WARREN COUNTY—Talbert TCC creates a “step-down” House was honored to receive two from prison so inmates will have a awards from the Ohio Department of greater likelihood of successfully re­ Rehabilitation and Correction entering their community and become (ODRC) at a July 14 awards contributing members of society. ceremony in Columbus. The Turtle From July 2004 to June 2005, 73 Creek Center (TCC), located in percent of TCC clients successfully Lebanon, won the 2005 Clifford completed the program, a rate well Skeen Award in the Halfway House above average for halfway houses. category, and Mary Spottswood, Throughout her 26 years of Talbert House Director of Regional experience, Spottswood, a Maineville Corrections, won a Professional resident, has demonstrated her Achievement Award. commitment to the fields of chemical “In a very short period of dependency and community time, Turtle Creek Center has indeed corrections. Spottswood started at made great strides, providing quality Talbert House in 1990 as the director of the Substance Abuse/Mental Illness (SA/MI) program and has been the Director of Regional Corrections since 1996. She served as president of Ohio Community Corrections Association and has a bachelor’s in Psychology from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in Public Administration from Xavier University. She was named Talbert House Employee of the Year in 1999. “She is the Talbert House accepts the 2005 Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction consummate (ODRC) Clifford Skeen Award in the Halfway House category for its Turtle Creek professional at work,” Center (TCC) and a Professional Achievement Award for Mary pottswood. Pictured said Alicia Handwerk, left to right: Jennifer Burnside, TCC manager; Reginald Wilkinson, ODRC ODRC Deputy director; and Mary Spottswood, Talbert House Director of Regional Corrections. Administrator of Health Care Victories In Ohio State Budget by Lynn Williams, Ohio Empowerment Coalition Organizer The Ohio Empowerment Coalition, united with the Ohio Family Coverage Coalition, is resting briefly after a long & arduous Spring “fighting” to get basic health care programs for Ohio’s low-income adults back in the State Budget. We succeeded in getting a “mixed-bag” of victories. We must remember that all of these programs are just a tip of the health care system that should be available for Ohioans & all America. Just the fact that oftentimes state legislators seemed completely indifferent to the fact that there are people in our Society without basic health care, completely appalls us. Then, too, we were happily surprised by State legislators who were willing to go out “on the limb” to offer amendments on DMA and Parent Coverage, including Sen. Thomas Neihaus, Sen. Joy Padgett and Sen. Robert Spada. Of course some legislators never needed convincing as they already supported health care for the poor. Sen. Mark Mallory and Rep. Catherine Barrett are among these, and many thanks to them. Please bear in mind that the Governor, the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate did not vote to restore the Disability Medical Assistance (DMA) program in the State Budget. It took a small committee of House/Senate leaders, the “the conference committee” to partially restore the Disability Medical Assistance Program. The DMA program is a last thin thread safety net for medication dependent adults with income of $115 or less per month. (We won’t soon forget, Governor Taft, of your plan to cut off health care to the very poor & disabled, while giving millions in tax breaks to the top 1% wealthy!) We asked for $141 million to fund the DMA program; $60 million was approved. Ask yourself whether this is really a victory. Parent Coverage for working parents above 90% of the Federal Poverty Level was definitely not a victory; it was eliminated. So much for all the talk about successes of welfare reform if you make more than $14, 481 a year and have a family size of three. Families who had received welfare and along with welfare, Medicaid coverage for their families, are told they are “doing the right thing” by working, but may become completely destitute if a health care crisis hits and they lack health care insurance. We all know horror stories about this, that sadly, are reality, and directly affect members of the Ohio Empowerment Coalition. The policy as it is now punishes anyone who has earnings above 90% of FPL if they lack health care coverage on their jobs. The Good News is that partial dental and full vision programs for adults on Medicaid were restored in the State Budget. At this point, it looks like only emergency extractions will be covered in dental care. Streetvibes and dedication she has toward advancing community corrections, she is always participating in endless meetings, workgroups and always challenging herself and others to push the boundaries just a little further.” The Clifford Skeen Award is given by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to demonstrate commitment to community corrections as a viable alternative to incarceration. The award was first presented in 1993. The award is given in honor of the late, eight-term Ohio Representative, Clifford Skeen, who sponsored the Community Correction Act passed by the Ohio Legislature in July 1979. The purpose of this act was to reduce the number of non-dangerous offenders being sent to state prisons. Talbert House won its first Clifford Skeen Award in 2000 for its halfway house programs in Hamilton County. “We are honored that Talbert House received both these prestigious awards. Turtle Creek Center and Mary Spottswood are invaluable to our mission and both exemplify why Talbert House continues to be a state and national leader in the area of community corrections,” said Neil Tilow, Talbert House president. Since 1965, Talbert House’s mission is to be a progressive, multi-service, community-based nonprofit agency. Talbert House serves a broad population and develops and delivers services in mental health, community corrections, substance abuse and welfare-to-work. These services have two basic purposes: to improve social behavior and enhance personal recovery and growth. The Governor had proposed completely cutting off these programs to adults on Medicaid. This is not everything we wanted, but it does show the power of people working united together to get health care saved in Ohio. Any look at what the current health care system in America is charging can make a healthy person’s blood pressure soar. Thousands of dollars per year can be charged for life-saving treatments, such as kidney dialysis. A heart attack can cost $25,000 in medical bills, the bill alone enough to bring on a second heart attack. America has the most technologically advanced health care industry in the world and yet we have 45 million uninsured people in the U.S. That is the real immorality. Do we value human life or not? The State Budget is not the end all. For more information or to learn how you can get involved call the Ohio Empowerment Coalition at 1-877-862-5179. Page 9 �Homeless Man Gives to Haiti’s Children by Eric Alan Barton Somewhere down a maze of rutted dirt roads in a rundown Port­ au-Prince neighborhood, past the red gate that keeps out the armed thugs, and through a courtyard of packed gravel, a 23-year-old guy from Broward County, Florida steps through the doorway of the sanctuary he created. Aaron Jackson looks out of place at first. A white kid with a black ski cap, baggy jeans, and oversized white undershirt, he seems a better fit for the Aventura Mall than this concrete home in Haiti. But then he’s overtaken by a swarm of kids. As they tug on his hands, crawl onto his back, and jump into his arms, it suddenly seems as if there’s no place he belongs more. “They love to be picked up,” says Jackson, his eyes as blue as Easter eggs and his brown hair a messy mop that matches an untrimmed beard. “They love any attention you can give them.” He sits down in a folding chair, taking two, then three of the kids onto his lap. They steal his hat, and the boys wrestle for it, the oldest, 7-year-old Ritchy, soon wearing it proudly. The kids pat his hair like they’re petting a dog. “It’s soft,” 5-year-old Rico whispers in Creole. Jackson flips him over to tickle his stomach, and as Rico screams with laughter, Jackson points out the boy’s belly, which looks as bloated as an overfilled balloon. “See?” Jackson says, touching Rico’s belly button, which sticks out like a hitch-hiker’s thumb. “He’s still got this big tummy. The worms do it. Even though they’re gone, it takes months for his stomach to go down.” Eventually, the worms might have killed Rico. Back in January, Rico and his 7-year-old sister, Minouche, were living at a Port-auPrince orphanage. It had run out of food and had no medicine to treat parasites that Haitian children regularly catch from drinking and playing in puddles. When Jackson took the siblings from the orphanage, he gave them a remedy that costs about 5 cents in the United States, a pill that wiped out the worms in one day. Now, Rico has added weight to bones that once showed through his skin, and he’s rarely without a smile across cheeks that have become almost plump for the first time in his life. Rico and Minouche Morena joined five other children who share the three-bedroom home Jackson rents in Port-au-Prince. After traveling to Haiti a half dozen times over the past two years to hand out medicine and food to the poor, Jackson opened the makeshift orphanage in December. He pays for it by scraping together donations from family and friends, and by using almost every dime of money he made as a golf caddy. Jackson’s commitment to the orphanage has cost him nearly everything. He wears secondhand clothes, has a car that no longer runs, and owns almost no personal possessions. Last year, when money G8 – The Basic Facts With words like G8, GCAP and white band floating around the media, it’s little wonder some of us are a little confused about the global events that took place last month. What is the G8? The G8, or the Group Of Eight, is comprised of seven of the world’s leading industrialized nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the USA – and Russia. It began life in the early 1970s when an oil crisis and global economic recession prompted financial officials from France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA to meet to discuss what to do. In 1975 it was agreed that such meetings would be held annually, attended by the heads of states of the six countries. The group was known as the G6. When Canada joined in 1976 it became the G7, and with the addition of Russia, the G8. The G8 has no official headquarters or permanent staff, and the presidency of the group rotates between the member nations annually. What is the G8 Summit? Page 10 The G8 summit is the annual meeting of the group and is used predominantly to discuss providing a stable framework for global economic growth. Topics of discussion at past summits have also included global security, peace in the Middle East, the redevelopment of Iraq, and global warming. Although the G8 can form and suggest policies, it is up to the individual countries whether to adopt them. Why did this year’s G8 Summit take place in Scotland? Each year, a different member of the G8 is president and this year is the turn of the UK. As part of a country’s presidency, it plays host to the summit and Tony Blair decided to hold the UK’s summit in Gleneagles, Scotland from July 6 to 8. What did the G8 discuss? The talks themselves are secret, but we do know that Tony Blair, who headed the summit, wanted to focus on climate change and issues facing Africa. We also know that environment secretary Margaret Beckett, has pledged was tight and he either had to give up the orphanage or his own place, he moved out of his apartment. He now sleeps on the floor of a homeless shelter. Meanwhile, he’s building a school in southern Haiti and has plans to open a health clinic on the northern coast. And even more ambitious, Jackson has handed out 20,000 deworming pills since he began his efforts in Haiti two years ago. “I know it sounds crazy,” Jackson says, “but I want to deworm every person in Haiti.” Few places need the help more. Just a two-hour flight from South Florida, Haiti is the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, where most get by on $1 a day and only one in five has a job. The seemingly endless political unrest has led to the murder of more than 700 people in the past eight months, and a kidnapping epidemic has escalated to the point where armed thugs snatch up to a dozen people a day. On a recent trip, Jackson traveled the war-torn city of Port-auPrince to hand out medicine and food in the corners of the city where few foreigners venture, where people live in squatter villages built from scraps, and where the strain between residents and thugs seems ready to explode. Those who accept his donations have no idea that, back in America, Jackson is hardly better off himself: homeless and often penniless. Jackson sits on the mattress he sleeps on at a Hollywood, Florida homeless shelter. £50,000 to sustainability projects in Africa to offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by ministerial motorcades, flights and accommodation. Why is there so much anger and protest surrounding the G8? The countries in the G8 are often seen as acting only in their own interests and those of big business, rather than thinking of the millions of people who are kept in poverty by the trade barriers they set. Campaigners want them to keep issues such as fair trade, global debt and global poverty to the fore when making decisions. What is the Make Poverty History Campaign? Make Poverty History is a global campaign that was launched on January 1 2005 with the aim of eliminating poverty across the world. It is supported and funded by more than 200 charities, campaign groups, religious and faith groups, trade unions, politicians and celebrities – a coalition known as the Global Call To Action Against Poverty. It believes that economic policies, rather than natural factors, are responsible for world poverty, and hopes the UK presidencies of the G8 and the Streetvibes European Union will encourage people in the Western world to take action. How can governments help? Firstly, they can introduce ‘trade justice’ – that is, ending export subsidies that damage the livelihoods of poor rural communities across the world; introducing laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment; and fighting for rules that ensure governments, particularly those in poor countries, can choose the best solutions to end poverty and protect the environment, even though these might not always be free trade policies. Secondly, they can drop the debt. GCAP believes the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries should be cancelled in full, by fair and transparent means so that poorer countries can instead concentrate on helping their own people. The members of the G8, excluding Russia, have just pledged to cancel the debt of more than 30 countries – but campaigners say this does nothing for at least 40 other countries that also need 100 percent debt relief. �For the eight years that the kids,” says Briski in a hybridised followed her first trip to Calcutta, British-US accent. “I was Briski doled out love and concentrating on my own compassion. Beyond teaching the photography – the women and the children composition, color and depth environment – but the kids were by Ghiti Loebenstein in weekly photography workshops, Zana Briski, director of Born constantly fascinated by my camera, she tended to their welfare and and after the first trip I thought I into Brothels, spent eight years steered many of them away from an would teach them.” teaching, filming and helping to care almost-certain future in prostitution. When she returned to for the children of Indian prostitutes. “The kids are hungry to learn Calcutta, she brought gifts of point­ In the heaving rickshaw of and-shoot cameras. For much of the and share and express themselves. Calcutta’s red-light district rests the They had an awful lot of fun,” she next eight years, the city became her underbelly of India. The dilapidated says. Despite their youth, they also home. “India is a very different place; neighbourhood is cramped with grasped the significance of being able people, but there’s more than just dirt I call it Planet India,” she says. “But to record their lives on film. “Their at the same time, I felt at home there. and decay in her streets. Packed with Living in the red-light district was not pictures have now been seen around a light-fantastic of coloured saris, easy in terms of health, danger, sleep the world, so it’s very empowering spilling water, strewn shoes and the or food but it was also such an honor for the children.” perennial dance of bodies ducking Initially focused on teaching to be included in a world that most and weaving through the day, the photography, people don’t brothel-lined streets are also a Briski started have access to. I photographer’s dream. “Living in the redfilming Born Into This visual maelstrom caught have undying light district was not Brothels soon respect for these the eye of US-based photographer after beginning women and Zana Briski in 1998. She had no easy in terms of her work with the children.” obvious ties to India, and says her health, danger, sleep kids. “I was Born and decision to go there was “karmic… I or food… I have really impressed raised in London, felt called.” Calcutta’s brothels are Briski moved to filled with the children of working undying respect for by them, and I knew I needed to New York 15 women, and it was the bright-eyed these women and document what years ago to wonder of these kids that eventually children.” was going on,” captured her attention. Struck by the study she says. “I had squalor of their circumstances, Briski photography; apart from the time in Calcutta, she never even picked up a video camera spent eight years tutoring them in before, but I went back to the US photography and encouraging them to has lived there ever since. Talking about the comparisons between her and bought [one].” get an education. east and west homes, she quips that Although an amateur Her experience is filmmaker, Briski obviously has a documented in Born Into Brothels, an “New York is just another brothel.” But she sounds decidedly weary. photographer’s eye. Whereas visuals exquisite but heart-wrenching film cousually take second place to content directed by Briski and her compatriot Whether this exhaustion is from the flight she got off just moments before in documentary films, Born Into Ross Kaufmann. Created completely out of circumstance, the film went on our interview, or from the years she’s Brothels is composed of vibrant, vital imagery. It was the only creative devoted to the lives of the Calcutta to win multiple festival accolades children, is hard to say. “It’s affected outlet that Briski allowed herself including awards at Sundance, me in every way. It really took over during the eight-year project, as she Sydney and the 2005 Academy my life, and it wasn’t really anything I all but abandoned her own Award for Best Documentary. “I planned to do, I’m just recovering.”. photography. “There was no way I never really thought of working with The Angels of Calcutta could teach the kids, take care of them and [still do] all the rest of it, so now I’m really dying to get back to [photography]. Really, that’s what I do and who I am.” Determined to help redirect the course of the children’s lives, Briski threw herself into finding schools for them – a difficult task considering most schools refused to admit prostitutes’ children. Despite Briski’s near-perfect success rate, by the film’s end all but two of the children had voluntarily left or been taken out of school. Briski’s work has continued since the film’s release. The two kids that stayed in school are now both fluent in English and one of them will soon be attending high school in the US. Briski is planning to build a school in Calcutta and now presides over Kids With Cameras, an organisation set up to empower underprivileged children from all over the world by teaching them photography. In light of her exuberant commitment to a cause that she stumbled upon, it’s hard to discount Briski’s allusions to a fated calling. “On my second trip to India I was introduced to the red-light district, and that was that,” she says. “I had a very personal response to it, as if I recognised the place. I usually say I was an Indian prostitute in a former life…” If that’s the case, Born Into Brothels is a gallant demonstration of karmic duty. For more info on Kids with Cameras, visit www.kids-with­ cameras.org Reprinted from The Big Issue Australia. Selling Spare Change in a Heatwave by Edward Larsen I’m a vendor and now current writer for Spare Change Street Newspaper. I am happy to say it’s finally summertime and also one of the best times of the year for vendors to sell papers – unless of course, the weather gets too hot. Today I would like to share with you what it’s like to sell SCN. It is a full-time job for myself – and perhaps other vendors as well. On average, I work about 40 to 50 hour per week, and to be honest it’s the best job I have ever had. On an average day, I travel about 30 minutes to an hour on the T, depending if the T is running on time, to buy papers from the SCN office on Mass. Av e. just outside of Harvard Square, in Boston I have to get there at some point during my selling day, but certainly before the offices close at 5 p.m., but I normally try to get there between 2 and 3 p.m. I usually buy about 100 papers for 25 cents a piece, and that number usually lasts me about two to three days. On a typical day, I can sell around 60 newspapers. From June 10 to 12 was the first official heat wave of the summer, with temperatures well into the 90s and high humidity. I’m a very pale person, which means I really feel the heat and humidity like most people do, plus I get easily burned by the sun. I also have a chronic medical disability – Chrone’s disease and colitis, as well as an ostomy. On Saturday, despite the heat, I went to work. Sales were slow because of the transition in temperature, and people were hot and irritated. I went to one of my usual spots, the corner island of Cambridge Street, across from the MBTA near the medical complex. Very few people stopped to talk to me. Everyone was in a rush to get inside the favors of air conditioning. I had been selling the paper for more than two hours and had maybe sold, if lucky, 10 newspapers. The heat was starting to make me dizzy, so I decided to take a break, hoping for a better time later. I decided to ride the T, hoping for some air conditioning and a place to sit for a few hours. When I got on the Red Line to ride between Braintree and Alewife, I was disappointed that the temperature in the train was barely any cooler than outside. The AC was on but just not working well, and all the hot bodies soaked it up pretty quickly. But at least I was sitting for a bit. I pulled out my Walkman from my bag and tried to listen to the radio. I like to listen to Air America or the college music stations. I never listen when I sell – that would be disrespectful – only when I’m resting. Many people on the train looked unhappy and hot – small kids fussing, families with irritated looks, people coming to or from work, looking hot and tired. At one point the AC vent from above dripped some runoff water onto my head and the heads of a few other passengers. The others seemed disgusted, but for me that day, the dirty water was the coolest and best blessing. I savored it. Getting restless, I went back to my spot to try to sell for a few more hours. I pulled out all the stops. I refer to men who walk by as “young fella” and the women as “kiddo.” I think these are friendly terms, but still respectful. A lot of Streetvibes older people like to be called young or kiddo. I worked for several more hours but sold only another 10 papers. Despite the poor sales, I decided enough was enough and to call it quits around 8 p.m. By this time I was dehydrated, felling intoxicated by the sunburn. It was too hot to eat. I divorced myself that day from my typical appendage, a bottle of coke or Pepsi, and opted for Gatorade, water and juice. I walked down to the Charles River (on the Boston side) and drank my liquids while sitting on a bench and watching the evening lights come on. There I crashed my head and tossed and turned from the mugginess and stickiness. Occasionally, spotlights from the police or patrol boats on the river would shine into my eyes. With my jacket for a pillow, I tried to get a few hours sleep and hoped to do better selling papers the next day at the Gay Pride Parade. Edward Larsen is a Spare Change News, Boston vendor. His e-mail address is scnvendor@hotmail.com. 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 go to the individual vendor. 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 (70 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 30 Cents Printing and Production: 30 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 Just how many poor people are there in the world? 852 million people are hungry, up from 842 million a year ago. In the developing world, more than 1.2 billion people currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the poorest 48 nations (that is, a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined. The developing world now spends £13 on debt repayment for every £1 it receives in grants. Seven million children die each year as a result of the debt crisis. 40 million people across the world are infected with HIV or AIDS. 104 million children don’t go to primary school, and 860 million adults (most of them women) cannot read or write. �Obese Soldiers Jeopardize National Security (’Military Says Obese Recruits Put Nation at Risk) Overweight recruits are becoming a national security issue. Nearly two out of 10 men and four out of 10 women of recruiting age weigh too much to meetArmy recruiting standards. In addition, those who become soldiers often gain weight, because all branches of the military have many sedentary jobs. AnArmy nutritionist said: “This is quickly becoming a national security issue... We’re going to have a harder time fielding anArmy.” Many already in the military who were required to shed pounds by their supervisors resorted to potentially harmful remedies such as rubber suits, appetite suppressants, laxatives, and induced vomiting. Edible Schoolyard Comes to the Capitol (“Keep These Kids From Eating Veggies? Try.” The New York Times, July 6, 2005) Alice Waters, the “queen of California cuisine,” has declared “all­ out war on the burger-and-soda school lunch.” She initiated her first battle against unhealthy eating in Berkeley, CA by creating a one-acre garden at a local school in 1995. As part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, she planted a vegetable garden on the National Mall, about 80 by 120 feet, to send her antiburger message to legislators, parents, and kids from the nation’s capital. Ms. Water plans to further promote her Edible Schoolyard concept and grow vegetables at 16 more schools in Berkeley, providing nutritious lunches for more than 9, 000 students. She hopes that it will be a pilot for the nation, citing Brillat­ Savarin’s maxim that the destiny of nations is dependent on how they nourish themselves. “We’re going to show a whole generation of kids how to cook and how to eat, and our country will be the beneficiary,” Ms. Waters said. Pennsylvania: Proposed State Budget Would Cut Food Charities Funding by 14 Percent The ACLU Probes FBI on Freedom Issues TheACLU has launched a probe to expose and prevent FBI spying on people and groups simply for speaking out or practicing their faith. As a first step, the ACLU and its affiliates have filed Freedom of InformationAct requests in more than a dozen states. Although the FBI has refused to turn over most of the files, the ACLU has obtained evidence that confirms the FBI and local police, working through Joint Terrorism Task Forces, are spying on political, Cold Homecoming by Cydney Gillis A dirty little secret is finally out: While George W. Bush has (“State considers cutting food aid for been waging war inAfghanistan and Iraq, he’s been cutting medical the hungry,” Post-Gazette.com, July services for the veterans coming 2, 2005) home. ` The state senate adopted a Or, at least, grossly budget plan from the governor that underestimating how many veterans might push more people over the would need — and be entitled to edge into hunger. If approved, the — medical services from the plan will trim $2.4 million from the State Food Purchase Program, which Department of Veterans Affairs. Last month, in a major blooper for translates into a 14-percent cut in the Bush Administration, the VA funding for local food assistance charities. Last March 500 pantries revealed it had budgeted for serving reported a 23-percent increase in 23,553 returning veterans in fiscal people using their services. For 2005 — far short of the 103,000 needy rural areas, where state funding now expected. accounts for nearly half of the food The VA said the number inventory, the proposed plan will was based on figures from 2002, dramatically curtail the frequency of when the U.S. was supposed to be food distribution and the amount that out of Iraq in six months. It’s an is provided. Pennsylvania Hunger error that’s put the VA’s Health Action Center’s Sue Mitchem said: Administration $1 billion short this “Sadly, the last resort for families with year — with estimates it will be hunger is about to be weakened.” $2.7 billion short in fiscal 2006. Last month, led by Washington Democrat Patty Murray, the U.S. Senate voted an emergency supplement of $1.5 billion for VA. The House followed with a bill authorizing $975 million. While the two bills wait to be reconciled — Congress is in recess this week — Sheila Sebron and the veterans she works with continue to wait for services. Sebron is a volunteer advocate with the National Association of Black Veterans. During her service in the Air Force between 1977 and 1984, she was injured in an auto accident — an event that left her knees permanently blown. When she’s in pain, Sebron sometimes suffers flashbacks of the accident — a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder for which the mother of two says she had to fight the VAfor treatment. Like the Vietnam War, waves of combat vets are now “Don’ t Leave Home Without t...” I Streetvibes environmental, anti-war and faithbased groups. The ACLU thinks the public deserves to know who is being investigated and why. They have sued the FBI and the Department of Justice to get those answers. ACLU clients comprise advocates for causes including the environment, animal rights, labor, religion, NativeAmerican rights, fair trade, grassroots politics, peace, social justice, nuclear disarmament, human rights and civil liberties. When the FBI invades the privacy of political and religious groups in the name of fighting terrorism, theACLU believes that these acts are abuses and threats to our trust and freedom. returning home with PTSD, Sebron says — only to face long waits for help, if they can get any at all. At the Seattle VA, which is $11 million in the hole this year, Sebron says there are currently 18,000 people enrolled. Their wait for an appointment can range from five months to one year, depending on their disability rating. The higher the rating, the quicker the service. Sebron, who’s lower on the list but suffering from depression in the wake of losing a loved one, has had an appointment for a mental consultation she needs bumped back twice in the past two months. And that’s for a veteran with a disability rating. Sebron says anyone not currently in the system is out of luck. A current hiring freeze at the Seattle VA, which is leaving vacant positions open for now, is only making the situation worse, she says. “The reality of an exploding body and the mistakes — that you intended to kill the bad guys and it turned out to be a family in a house. They didn’t have time to process it.” The flashbacks, Sebron says, are like having images of memories superimposed over events happening in the here and now — something she describes as surreal. Despite the reports of long waits for service and care, Megan Streight, a spokeswoman for VA’s Northwest Health Network (which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska) says facilities in the region have actually had a drop in demand over the past few months — and that the VA is mostly meeting its guidelines of providing all eligible veterans with an appointment in 30 days. Reprinted from Real Change News Page 13 �He’s There by Robert Manassa I want to tell you a story - it won’t take long. You may have read about him in a book or even in a song. this man turned water into wine, Get ready people, to share in his glory divine This man was hung on the cross one day Not even one word he had to say He didn’t even fight nor did he fuss To stay there on the cross, that was a must So when your so-called friends let you down just look toward heaven’s way for a true friend Jesus – he will never-ever let you down Remember he won’t fail you – He’s always around Broken Glass by Evanne Fisher I’m so Angry I slam the door The glass breaks. It falls to the floor Like sleet from the sky. Like the shattered pieces of my life, The broken glass lies at my feet As I look down, I see all of my hopes and dreams Splattered there amongst The glistening pieces of glass. I reach down to pick up the pieces of my life, The glass cuts my hands, Blood everywhere Dripping Flowing into the vast darkness They All Asked about You by Michael Henson I went down to the city of lights, they all asked about you. The preachers, the sellers, the man with pale flowers, the police gliding by in their big white cruisers, they all asked. The prostitute sighing her continuous sigh, the girl with one eye bruised, the children of the cobbled alley, the postman with the heavy news, they all asked. They all asked about you. I went down to the city of sea, they all asked about you. The mussels and starfish, the sharks and the barnacles and the otters in their castles of kelp, they all asked. The fishermen winching at their sodden nets, the women stitching at the shore, the cold gulls above them, screening the sands, and the briny things clustered in the scuds of foam, they all asked. They all asked about you. I went down to the city of oblivion, they all asked about you. Someone mumbled through an opium haze. Someone muttered through an alcoholic mist. They all asked. The boy lowered his bag of glue and the crackhead his pipe of dreams. The needle-freak set down his shivering spike and a girl let smoke drift from her mouth. Each addled neuron knew your name. They all asked. They all asked about you. Where I’ve chosen to live. I went down to the city of poets, they all asked about you. In iambics and sestinas and in yawping free verse, they all rhythmically asked. There was one who risked all for seven broken lines, one who stood coughing in an empty tower, one who built pyramids of abstract syllables, and one whose voice was a broken trumpet. All of these and a chorus of lyrical Greeks, they all asked. They all asked about you. Don’t be sad or start to cry. Don’t think to hard or wonder why. Just walk with me for just one mile, and at its end I’m sure you’ll smile. Then I went down to the city of earth, they all asked about you. The ants and the centipedes, the pill bugs and slugs chewed out the words with their loamy mouths. Mute as the mole in their vegetal manner, they all asked. Even the dead, in their earthen cathedrals, lit their dark candles and chanted for you their continuous psalm. They all asked. They all asked about you. I was lying on a torture rack and a friend was lying on one close by. We were trying to carry on a civilized conversation, but it was rather difficult as two employees of the place were giving the two of us their full attention. Their supervisor came in. He cussed them up one side and down the other telling them what a mess the place was, how they were getting blood all over the place and how they weren’t following proper protocol. He told them that if they didn’t straighten up that he’d see about having one of us on the racks switch places with them. I said, “No way! A, these working conditions are deplorable, B, you treat your help like crap, and C, I know damn well you don’t pay union scale. by Jba The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from off the goose. The law demands that we alone When we take things we do not own But leaves the lords and ladies fine Who take things that are yours and mine. The poor and wretched don’t escape If they conspire the law to break; This must be so but they endure Those who conspire to make the law. The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common And geese will still a common lack Till they go and steal it back. —Anonymous Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Page 14 Streetvibes �One check away Why is there so much month left at the end of the money? James Chionsini twinkling stars cant keep you warm when your sleeping in the park till he break of dawn newspaper pillow and a plastic tarp watching for the pigs that come out after dark lost your job got jacked and robbed your landlord said that’s not my prob doctor bills kill you can’t afford the pills now you’re shaking heart breaking drink as much as you spill waiting on the first to quench your thirst alleviate the discomfort of an asphalt earth trying to find a shelter to get some rest but nowhere seems safe without a knife proof vest by JH Who is the man that staggers in the park? The old man, with gray hair… The poor gentleman that lives in a flea-bag hotel. The man that reminds me of my father, my dad… He’s tall and thin. Had an egg-sandwich for breakfast. In his tiny room, downtown. if you could just get back to square one start to heal the disease that’s got you on the run feeling invisible going insane scowls and nightsticks fall like rain This thin man, this papa, the gray-haired guy, staggers in the park, on a brutal, hot day… The homeless by Don Foran Ten men clamber out of the creaking van, Their sweaty bodies meeting a kiss Of cool night air. They drift, silently, sullenly Toward the darkened church. Mattresses lie, two or three to a room, Along walls decorated with children’s Drawings and almost casual crucifixions. Carl, Eddie, Jake and the others Throw their worn packs and bags Onto the makeshift beds, and John, It’s always John, is first to ask If he can have his sack lunch now, Not in the morning as we had planned. “Sure,” I say, almost as anxious as he To assuage this remediable hunger. Several echo John, and soon all Are feasting on pb and j; apples, celery, And other healthy fare remains on the table, But they’re happier now, even communicative. One thanks me for setting a new pair of white socks On each mattress. Another offers a juice cup To a friend. “Lights out!” Rick calls at ten, And no one argues, no one hesitates. Sleep Knits once more the raveled sleeve of care, Obliterates the hurt, soothes the jangled nerves. Tomorrow will be another day, Another cheerless day embroidered With small triumphs, fragile dreams. Harold Suicide I want to swim with the fish For all eternity Or I could fly with the birds Up in the sky so high I could also go to the doctor And get these pills filled All I would have to do Is take them all I could park my car in the garage And let the carbonmonoxide take me I could huff on house hold cleaners And let the fumes consume me I could overdoes on acid And get a trip before I die I could stand in a pit of fire And smell my burning flesh Or maybe jump off a building With the wind rushing past me I will do it today Or maybe I will wait till next week............... In The Darkness Hiding in the darkness of the night, This is how I’ve been forced to live my life In the blackness I conceal, All my problems that are real Afraid to let my feelings show, Afraid to let anyone know The pain I have been forced to endure, Is not as easily hidden as before As the problems continue to grow, I contemplate just letting go He sits on the bench, with his counterfeit friend, and he falls on the ground, with the heavy limpness of a cruel torture. On the asphalt, in the shade of the trees, this old man falls. The deception of life, and the deny of death. I feel the spirit of this man, myself, on the ground, the hot, cruel asphalt… I want to go home A place where I can be me Where warmth envelopes my soul when I open the door A place where I can be free. I can’t wait for you to love me Lord In a tangible physical way Your arms wrapped around my aching body Taking my pain and grief away I have never felt safe here Never feel like I belong I’m weary and I’m tired but I’ll keep plugging along. I just want to feel a piece of your love here In someone close to my heart but I keep getting disappointed The hurt pierces like a dart I know I’m not perfect Lord but please teach them your grace I’m so tired and weary of falling on my face. Please put it in their heart to share your love with me so I can taste just a little bit of what is meant by “free”. This is a battle I can not win, So why should I bother to post-pone the end Streetvibes Page 15 �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 Outsider Art Cover Story BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY August 2005 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 2005 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource August 2005 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: “Outsider Art” Provides a Voice Pg 2: The Atomic City of Cincinnati Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Vendors Pg 5: Two Homeless Men Burned in Prague Pg 6: Bush’s War Machine Must Be Held Accountable Pg 7: They Died for Their Country Am I The Cause of Homelessness-A Personal Reflection Pg 8: Japan: Vendor Profile Former Mayor, Qualls Again a Frontrunner as Head of Morning Glory Ride Pg 9: Talbert House’s Turtle Creek Center & Director Honored with State Awards Health Care Victories in Ohio State Budget Pg 10: Homeless Man Gives to Haiti’s Children G8- The Basic Facts Pg 11: The Angels of Calcutta Selling Spare Change in a Heatwave Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Obese Soldiers Jeopardize National Security The ACLU Probes FBI on Freedom Issues Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource August 2005 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Andy Erickson Rachel Lawson Kate McManus Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Ron English Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF ACLU Alison Leeuw Andy Erickson Art Arts & Poetry Bush Cincinnati Georgine Getty Haiti Homeless News Digest Japan Jimmy Heath Kate McManus Mary Gaffney Mayor Melvin Williams Peace Village Pennsylvania Prague Rachel Lawson Ron English Soldiers Susan Smith Talbert House Turtle Creek Center https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/185c033b6fa2e1729c5353b12972535d.pdf 51512b77db42fb945254790463240fe0 PDF Text Text September 2005 STREETVIBES Day Laborer for a Day by John Lavelle photos by Jimmy Heath It’s 4:30 in the morning, and I’m cutting through Washington Park on my way up to the corner of Liberty and Elm. Most people up at this hour in Over-the-Rhine are not going for a morning jog, dressed in their monochromatic American Eagle sweatsuit with matching headband. I am no exception to the norm, sporting my finest blue jeans, flannel, and horribly mismatched brown plastic bag from Kroger. Like many homeless individuals in Cincinnati, I have gotten up this early to try to find work at one of the many temp agencies in the city, all for the purpose of better understanding what it is like to be homeless and have to work day labor. Day labor and temp agencies offer anyone who shows up to their labor halls a chance at performing unskilled labor for a daily check. The work is generally the dirtiest, most dangerous, most arduous, and most undesirable work there is. For a person experiencing homelessness, this is often the only option for solid work. Unfortunately, as one of the new civil rights advocates for the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, I have heard I return at a quarter till noon to find a sizable group already numerous accounts of the civil rights and labor violations enacted by some huddled in the shade around the locked up labor hall. It’s the hottest day of these agencies. I figure that the next best thing to talking to day of the year so far, with the temperature in the middle nineties; I didn’t laborers is being one myself, if only for a day. So today I seek my fortune bring any water with me, and I’m really starting to worry about the fact at one of the most controversial labor halls: One Force/Labor Solutions. that there is no water fountain in the waiting area. I arrive at the labor hall a little after 4:30am and join the handful of A half-hour later two guys open up the place, and I repeat the people sitting on the curb by the building, waiting for the hall to be morning’s sign up routine. Another hour and a half of sitting and waiting opened. At 5:00am, a middle aged woman arrives and opens up the goes by before I notice one of the supervisors looking at me. “Hey place. We enter and put our names down on the sign in sheet, then sitting Archie, come here,” he says. “Let me see your ID.” I’ve been called a and waiting in what looks like seating ripped out of an old movie theater. lot of names in my day, but this is a first for “Archie.” I comply, showing The inside looks like a converted body shop, with two large him my driver’s license and waiting patiently. After a few minutes, he garage doors and a front counter that is six feet off the ground, placing the hands it back to me. “You wanna go to Crisco?” I have no clue what exactly he’s talking about, but I decide to play it cool: “Yeah, sure. I can supervisors in a significant position of power. There is no water fountain do that.” He pauses a second and responds simply, “Okay, we’ll see.” and the bathroom is locked up tight. I don’t inquire about a key. On the As I sit down, I can’t help but wonder why I, a new guy, was singled out back wall is a list of shelters and food pantries. The agency is obviously from the relatively large group of around thirty people. Racism is a aware that most of their workers are homeless. common complaint of day labor and temp agencies; I look around and Over the next hour and a half, more workers trickle in; many of notice that I am one of two white guys in the waiting area. them have return tickets from the day before, meaning that they are the Finally at 2:35pm, almost three hours after I arrived at the labor first picked for work. The rest of us are to be picked on a first-come­ hall, one of the supervisors calls out a list of names. Miraculously, my first-served basis, or so I think. Several buses come by around 6:15 and 6:30, and a list of names is called out for work assignments. Yours truly is name is called. We line up to go through the dispatch office, where we submit ourselves to a mandatory breathalyzer test and are given safety not called. The chosen ones are dispatched on the buses to their sites. equipment: a hard hat, safety By 7:00am, almost goggles, rubber steel-toed boots, everyone is gone from the waiting Kevlar gloves, and an orange vest. area, save those of us who had As I get on what very well shown up first at 4:30. When Jesus could have been the same school said that the last shall be first and bus I rode in elementary school, I the first shall be last, I don’t think realize that I hadn’t inquired as to that this was what he had in mind. where I was going. Day laborers I ask the lady in charge, and she are rarely told of their work says that there’s no more work; I assignments or how much they will should try back at noon for the next be paid; from what I understand, shift. asking doesn’t usually get you It is not uncommon for day much of an answer, anyway. laborers to wait two or three hours My answer comes when and not get any work. Those with the bus pulls into the Rumke return tickets get first crack at the Recyling Plant on Spring Grove ongoing jobs, and preferential Road in St. Bernard: I will be treatment seems to be the norm One of many Temp Labor operations in downtown Cincinnati picking through trash. We arrive among many labor hall supervisors. around 3:00pm and spend an hour in a dingy break room waiting for our Also, the word on the street is that One Force/Labor Solutions has been shift to start. There is a men’s and a women’s restroom – although both particularly dicey with their clients, so they’ve been losing contracts left and right. This means fewer jobs for those that show up. My morning has are flooded – as well as two water fountains. The city has declared a heat emergency, so I hydrate myself as best as possible. been wasted, and I am no closer to gaining work or a paycheck. I guess I’ll just come back at noon. “LABOR” Cont. on Page 8 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Andy Lawrence - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photographer Jimmy Heath Cover Day labor office on Liberty and Race street, Over-the-Rhine 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Connections by Monique Solanki Human equality is probably something most of us generally agree on. Many societies and religions are based on these principles. After all, irrespective of the age, sexual orientation, race, or socio-economic status of a person, we all share the same basic human qualities - we breathe air, eat food, and have dreams and feelings. Talk to most people and they will agree that all people are equal. But how many of us really abide by these principles? Many times, people forget this idea of equality. One place where this is perhaps most evident is by the way homeless people are alienated in our society. They are people with their own personalities and individuality, their own beliefs and likings, and yet they are so often looked upon as dirty and the scum of society. The truth is that most of us choose to ignore the very existence of homeless people instead of realizing that they could really use our help. How many people like to go out of their way to give extra change to a person who would consider those few coins a necessity? Who knows, those few quarters could buy a coffee. Better yet, a hash brown. A few quarters under the backseat of your car might mean nothing to you, but they could go a long way toward quenching someone’s thirst or feeding someone’s hunger. On a recent trip to San Francisco, I traveled with three big­ hearted people to prepare lunches and share them with the homeless. We used the lunches as an excuse to reach out to those in need - to hear their stories. One man we spoke with named Charles turned out to be a very interesting and wise person. We handed Charles a lunch and he accepted it thankfully, shifting his alcohol to hold onto his blankets and lunch, while standing in a green Billabong sweatshirt. Send your letters or comments to Streetvibes, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com Initially, he appeared skeptical with our questions. He seemed a little distrustful and a bit hesitant to answer, perhaps thinking there must certainly be some hidden motive behind this act of charity and friendliness. Soon, he let his guard down when we casually asked him, “What makes you happy?” The expression on his face seemed to say, “These people really do care.” What I realized when speaking with Charles is that homeless people are used to being ignored. They live life everyday being smirked at. To them, it’s just a fact of life and nothing more; but it obviously is hurtful. Probably as a homeless person, Charles, like so many others, is used to being treated with indifference; he is used to being stereotyped, ignored, objectified, and unseen. No one likes to be looked at as an unwanted being, but social differences have a way of highlighting it repeatedly. At first, Charles said nothing makes him happy- a knee-jerk pessimistic reaction I thought. Perhaps he was being a little cautious about opening himself up to strangers. As our conversation with him began to take on a more friendly demeanor, he changed his mind and said, “God makes me happy, because God gives knowledge.” After maybe 20 or 30 minutes of chatting, it occurred to me that Charles was not just some man on the street. He wasn’t just some bum. He was both an artist and a clever, insightful man. Just as some of us have hobbies, like collecting or playing basketball, Charles has his own hobby, or more so, a gift. He passionately spoke to us about his drawing and sketching skills. However his deteriorating eyesight prevented him from pursuing his ardor. He told us how he spent time with learned artists - guys that went to college and studied art in depth. But they all admitted their art didn’t come When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor. Basil the Great close to the art of Charles. “They drew from the head; they’d draw what they see,” he said; “My art comes from the heart.” When we asked him where his art was, he told us it was in a gallery and said that his drawings would “blow you away;” drawings of slaves, children, and themes of prisons. They even amaze him. He can’t believe that he had created pieces so moving. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to check out the gallery. He told us more about his artistic abilities and at one point he added that he only drew when he was on drugs. We asked him if he had tried drawing without the influence of drugs, and he shook his head saying that he was “too distracted with the stuff on the streets to draw well.” It generally takes some kind of an incident, meeting, or event to take place before a person really understands equality. When the subject is brought up, many people think of race or sex; but rarely do they think of status, when really that’s one of the most important issues, especially in big cities like San Francisco. Luckily for those on the streets, San Francisco is at least a little more accommodative toward the homeless in contrast to Beverley Hills, which shuns homelessness. Not everyone has reached that understanding, and frankly, many people probably won’t. But it just takes a small amount of people to make a difference in someone’s life. Charles was probably relieved, if not happy, that regular people took the time to talk to him, shake his hand, and listen to him (as well as offer him lunch). This experience was not just about giving out lunches, but also about understanding another person on a personal and equal level. Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! 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 �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath According to recent news from Washington DC, that “vagrant” in the subway may not really be a homeless person. The government says he may be a terrorist in disguise. An e-mail message from the U-S Attorney’s Office in Washington warns that some terrorists may be posing as street people to conduct surveillance of buildings and mass transit stations for future attacks. The e-mail stresses that there is no known threat of an attack. However, the message says homeless people tend to go unnoticed, particularly in mass transit systems. Police, fire and emergency personnel are advised to be aware of any vagrants who look unfamiliar or out of place — in a recent case in Somerville, Massachusetts, a police officer in became suspicious about someone dressed as a street person and discovered a passport from the Middle East or South Asia and a checkbook with a questionable address. McMahon, Community Human Services’ outreach coordinator. In Williamsburg, VA, from January to May, 85 homeless people asked Williamsburg-area organizations for help finding a place to stay, according to a census released last month by the Salvation Army’s Williamsburg chapter. That doesn’t include women and children who may have stayed at the battered women’s shelter Avalon, said Salvation Army Capt. Greg Shannon. He is working with United Way of Greater Williamsburg and Avalon to compare records of people requesting help, which may raise the total number of homeless people, he said. Of the 85 people already counted, more than a third - 34 ­ were single males. Children age 18 and younger accounted for the nexthighest number, 32. There were 19 adults with children and 17 single women who requested help, according to the census. Indianapolis police last month were investigating the Eastside shooting death of a Community leaders homeless man. concerned about the number of Andre White, 45, was homeless people on Pittsburgh pronounced dead last month at streets are urging the city to Wishard Memorial Hospital. Police establish an “engagement said White was one of several people center,” a concept that has who were fighting about in the 3300 reduced homelessness in Philadelphia, Columbus, Ohio, and block of East Michigan Street. other cities. Police in Muskegon are The engagement center, investigating the death of a where homeless people could be homeless man. housed and receive medical care, The man’s body was found social services and other assistance, last month, behind a shed in the 900 is proposed as part of Allegheny block of Spring Street, in Grand County’s 10-year plan for ending Rapids, Michigan. chronic homelessness. Police say 48 year-old Homeless shelters already Wilmer Martin had several injuries, exist, of course, but those shelters which lead them to believe he was don’t address all of the needs of killed, though they won’t be sure until street people. an autopsy is completed. Many homeless people, especially those who have mental In Long Beach, CA illnesses or abuse alcohol or drugs, downtown business owners want avoid staying in the shelters, feeling police to do something about the they are unsafe or have too many rules, said Bill McBride, an outreach homeless population. “I’m frustrated,” said Dr. case manager for Community Human Erwin Burke, who runs a chiropractic Services, an Oakland social service office on Central Avenue. agency. “We’ve been begging and Besides developing the pleading for 10 years and nothing center, advocates hope to move homeless people quickly into housing, happened,” he said. “It affects my with appropriate case management or business.” Burke voiced his concerns other services. They also want to during a Downtown Business improve coordination of outreach teams and compile better data about Improvement Area meeting at the Tracy Community Center. people living on the street, said Mac Joining Burke in his cry for help were other merchants who said that homeless people hanging around town scare away their customers. “We have merchants that have been dealing with it for years,” said Shawn Perry, manager of The Great Plate Bar & Grill on Central Avenue. “It’s doubled, if not quadrupled, in seven years.” Some DTBIA members said that homeless people should be arrested for loitering, but city officials disagree. “Standing around a half-hour talking isn’t loitering,” said Ellen Gripp, city housing and redevelopment manager. She said a person would have to be committing another crime, such as drinking in public or panhandling, to get arrested. Some merchants were upset that representatives from the Tracy Police Department, who had been invited, did not attend the meeting. In a later interview, Police Capt. Mike Maciel agreed with Gripp. “There are homeless people downtown,” said Maciel. “Is there a homeless crime problem? No. “They’re not accosting people. We can’t attribute thefts or vandalism to them. The crime may be drinking in public at times or perhaps trespassing.” Maciel said police would beef up their downtown presence. “We can and will step up activities and have the (Volunteers In Police Service) go down there more frequently,” he said. Gripp admitted that the problem would not be resolved overnight, but she said the merchants were taking their first steps toward a resolution. Jim Decker, downtown revitalization coordinator for the city, told the attendees to work with code enforcement and police. Decker said he’s found from talking to homeless people downtown that many enjoy their lifestyle of drugs and alcohol and being on the streets. Many of those who call the streets and alleyways of downtown their home are often seen hanging around the outside of Westside Market on Central Avenue. The store has become a gathering place for the homeless and a popular place to purchase alcohol. “The issue is not the people, it’s the lifestyle,” Decker said. “They need to know the lifestyle is not acceptable downtown.” Homeless people could not be found downtown an hour after the early-morning meeting. However, on Grant Line Road near the shopping centers, a homeless man was holding a sign that read ‘Please Help! Homeless & Hungry. Willing to Work!’ Streetvibes Michael, a 36-year-old former auto mechanic, said that although he spends his day standing at the street exit of Wal-Mart holding a sign asking for money, he would rather be working. “The majority that do this are on drugs and alcohol,” he said. “I’ve got friends like that… but I don’t drink. I don’t use dope.” Michael, who has worked off and on the last three years, said he once earned $38 an hour. Now he lives on handouts from passing motorists. In Atlanta last month about 200 people crowded into a City Council meeting on a proposed panhandling ban after homeless people and dozens of their advocates spent the night on the steps of City Hall to show their opposition. Lisa Borders, the City Council president, had to shush the crowd to start several hours of public comment on a resolution that would make it illegal to beg for money near downtown hotels or tourist sites. Among the first to speak was Elisabeth Omilami, who spent the night outside She pleaded tearfully for the council not to pass the ban. ‘’The ability to ask for alms is a Godgiven ability. You can pass laws to protect trees, but what about human beings? God help us!” Omilami said. Although there were some supporters of the ban, most of those who attended the hearing were from groups of activists for the homeless and civil rights organizations who appeared at previous meetings to oppose the measure. A vote on the proposal was delayed last month after a contentious meeting that included shouting matches and hissing from critics. The council was to debate the issue later yesterday, but it was unclear when the panel would vote on it. William Fox, 57, who is homeless, said before the session began that he never panhandled, but that ‘’forcing people not to panhandle is taking away their rights. It’s not American.” Downtown business owners say aggressive beggars are keeping people away from the central business district. Last month, Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus, who is bankrolling the $200 million Georgia Aquarium being built downtown, threw his support behind the ban, saying the success of the attraction depends on it. But advocates for the homeless are instead pushing for affordable housing and a living wage for the city’s homeless population, saying people who cannot care for themselves have a right to ask for charity and should not be criminalized. Page 3 �Youths sought in beating of homeless man Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES T-Shirt Today! (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes by Christine McConville, Police have launched a search for a group of youths who, they say, beat and seriously injured a homeless man last month in South Boston. ‘’We don’t know who did this,” said Lyndia Downie, executive director of the Pine Street Inn, the shelter in the South End. ‘’But until these people are found, we want people to be especially careful,” Downie said. The injured man, whom police would not identify because he was a victim of a violent crime, was taken to Boston Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He was upgraded to serious condition, said Officer Michael McCarthy of the Boston Police Department. Word of the assault spread quickly among the homeless, who have been on alert after several recent beating deaths in the community. A 32-year-old homeless man who was outside the Pine Street Inn said violence is a fact of life among the homeless. Downie agreed. ‘’It’s a violent life on the streets,” she said. As police searched for the attackers, officers said that one of the city’s most violent homeless men, Dennis Connolly, was probably not involved. Connolly is known as ‘’The Stomper” by police and the homeless because of his alcohol-fueled assaults. ‘’There’s no connection,” McCarthy said. Connolly has spent most of the past year behind bars. He went to jail in October after Kenny Kane, 48 and homeless, was savagely beaten in a public alley between Newbury Street and Commonwealth Avenue. Kane died from his injuries, but police were able to gather only enough evidence to charge Connolly with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, his foot. Connolly was jailed until late July, when he pleaded guilty to that charge in Boston Municipal Court. Prosecutors requested a 2 1/2-year sentence, but the judge sentenced Connolly to nine months, the time he had spent in jail waiting for his trial. He was set free. A few weeks later, on Aug 13, Steven Neiber, another homeless man, was found dead outside St. Anthony’s Shrine in downtown Boston.. McCarthy said police have not established any link between Neiber’s death and Connolly, but they are still investigating. �wish I had known more and had realized that I was no different than has always been what I wanted to the person before me. In college, I do, but my time working at the gained more exposure to Coalition has only reinforced my homelessness and learned more passion for social justice and my about the realities of homelessness. It desire to use a law degree to work was this that led me to a year of against injustice. service and the Coalition. This year My time at the at the Coalition Coalition has allowed has been one of me to talk and interact the most with a wide variety of enlightening and people on a daily interesting years basis. Our afternoon of my life so far. receptionist, Melvin, I lived in a pretty might refer to me as homogenous “Quiet,” but I’ve had suburb between plenty of Cleveland and conversations in the Akron for most Kate McManus office, out in of my life. I say Washington Park, and it was homogenous because almost everywhere in between with many everyone who lived there was white individuals. Through research, and upper middle to upper class. I discussions, and these conversations, had very little exposure to poverty or I have learned about myself, homelessness. In the limited homelessness, major issues homeless instances when I did encounter individuals face on a daily basis, the homeless individuals, I was so politics of Cincinnati, and all the ignorant about homelessness that agencies and individuals who work unfortunately, I probably tried to hard every day to help the homeless ignore the situation. Looking back, I and low-income individuals in It’s Time to Say Goodbye by Kate McManus When I signed up for my year of service through AmeriCorps, I remember thinking, “A whole year… I’m going to be in Cincinnati for a long time and I’m going to learn and accomplish so much while I’m there.” Well, I was right about learning and accomplishing a lot, but a year ended up not being much time at all. I cannot believe that a year has passed so quickly. I feel like I’ve only been at the Coalition for a couple months at the most. But unfortunately, it has been my time at the Coalition has come to an end. I’ll be starting orientation for law school at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law a mere three days after my final day at the Coalition. Over the next three years, as I continue my education, I hope to continue volunteering in one of the shelters in Cleveland or doing pro bono legal work. My eventual goal is to focus on public interest and civil rights in my career as a lawyer. This Adieu their current situation, they would demand and expect nothing less than the utmost respect, as they should. by Rachel Lawson Unfortunately, just because “sometimes/when i wake up/in the morning/and see all the faces/i just you demand to be treated the same as others, does not mean that the rest can’t/breathe” (*Nikki Giovanni). of society feels the same way. I A year ago, I entered the learned how hard it is to receive a doors of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, unaware job, even if you only have a felony and you served your time 20 years that I would meet individuals who would not only change my outlook on prior. To the rest of the world, my own life, but change my housing proprieties, and job sites, that perspective of Cincinnati politics, felony is all that matters. I suburbanites, drug learned that even if you dealers, case once owned multiple managers, etc. houses and cars legally, if To sum it up, you have a drug addiction I received a reality that disables you, the rest check. From the of the world is not silent warriors at the sympathetic to whom you Drop Inn Center to once were. the individuals under Rachel Lawson Fortunately, I had my the bridge who are share of positive and reassuring quite content to hang out under the stories that encouraged me, even on clear sky, one cannot help but to respect and understand that there is a the most depressing days. Such as world most Cincinnatians’ have never the elderly gentleman that was barred from every shelter, who one winter heard or even thought of. day basically ran to the welcoming It’s very easy to lump arms of the PATH Team and is now homelessness into one ugly category sitting watching television in his own and avoid eye contact with the apartment. panhandler in Clifton or call up your Then there is the loyal local shelter because you want redhead who encountered major someone to come and pick up the fumbles throughout her life but who is items you’ve deemed worthy of now standing strong and determined donation. It’s extremely difficult to look to reach almost two years of sobriety. In a way the individuals that I individuals directly in their face, and have encountered have been role empathize with their situation, and at the same time, provide a voice to the models for me, teaching me patience and determination. voiceless. The most education I Threw these experiences I learned while working at the have gained an even greater Homeless Coalition came from the appreciation for those that have not individuals who took the time to sit and a regret for those that have. To down and let me enter their worlds have sometimes means that you don’t with the understanding that despite understand “why everyone doesn’t just get a job” or that you assume all panhandlers are homeless. I wouldn’t trade this year and the experiences I have had for the world. Even on the days that I stood in Washington Park and it seemed that the only guarantee in some individuals’ lives was homelessness, I learned to “breathe” and think that if that appeared to be the only guarantee, I would simply have to ignore that and look for another option. Streetvibes Cincinnati. It’s been a lot to absorb, even over a whole year, but I’m so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to talk to me or explained something that was going on in the City. And I know it’s cheesy, but I just want to let everyone know that this past year has meant so much to me and I’ve learned so much from all of you. Keep fighting the good fight and I know you will accomplish so much. I’ll work hard in law school so I can rejoin the fight stronger than ever. Thank you all for everything and I hope I’ll see you all in the future. To the rest of the Firecats: You guys are great and I’m so glad you let me join up and use my superpowers for good rather than evil. I’ll miss you and all the good times, big projects, heated discussions about blogs and Council, and, yes, even fundraising Wednesdays. Keep on keeping on and don’t forget to keep me in the loop about what’s going on in Cincinnati and with all of you. And one final thing – Extreme HoCo: It goes there… (Although the purpose of this article is to say “goodbye”, I will be starting graduate school at the University of Cincinnati, so I will be basically right around the corner and I look forward to seeing and hearing from everyone in the future.) * For further information about Nikki Giovanni or to read more of her writings please visit http:// members.tripod.com/~Raincloud771/ htm/nikki.htm. Page 5 �Our City’s Janitors Deserve Respect Cincinnati Financial Corporation: Tell Jancoa to respect janitors As support grows for Justice for Janitors throughout Cincinnati with janitors and the community, one janitorial contractor remains opposed to change Jancoa Inc. Recently, Jancoa Inc has gone as far as replacing 18 janitors at Cincinnati Financial Corporation because they participated in a delegation and a legal unfair labor practices protest. Jancoa’s actions are not isolated. Throughout the year, Jancoa has faced: 4 pending Unfair Labor Practices charges under the National Labor Relations Board for firing union activists, threatening newly hired employees who participate in Justice for Janitors, not permitting a female janitor active in the campaign to return to work from her maternity leave, and threatening to change workers into independent contractors in a effort to skirt labor & safety regulations. 6 Department of Labor charges for failure to pay overtime $5,000 in OSHA safety fines Says Marisol Morales, a janitor at CinFin for three years, “I’ve been proud to clean the Cincinnati Financial Corporation building. All I want is to be treated with respect, like a human being. But Jancoa would not do that and when we spoke out, they kicked everyone out. This is the real Jancoa. This is why Justice for Janitors is so needed.” Cincinnati should not be a place where people are punished for exercising their rights. Get active and urge Cincinnati Financial Corporation to address Jancoa’s actions. Visit http:// www.cincijanitors.org and learn about The Problem with Jancoa. Fast-Food Chains More Common Around Schools Do Fast-Food Chains Cluster Around Schools?” A Harvard School of Public Health study of 2002 data on 613 fast-food restaurants and 1,292 public and private schools in Chicago showed that nearly 80 percent of the city’s schools had at least one fast-food restaurant within a half mile of them. The number of fast-food outlets less than a mile from schools was at least three times what would be expected from a random distribution of fast-food restaurants. Previous research has shown that on a typical day, about one third of young Americans eat fast food, consuming more calories, fats and The End of Summer Brings Hope by Ms. Mary Gaffney And to the people who Greetings to my homeless purchase the paper each month friends and especially to the patrons from our vendors, thank you and who purchase papers from our may God forever bless you. Streetvibes vendors each month. Without you the paper would not I hope you have exist and my friends had a happy and would be deprived of blessed summer with the financial help they vacations and family. receive as a vendor. To my homeless As it was said, “the friends and vendors of birds have their nests, Streetvibes, I know that the fox has its den, you are doing the best but the son of man Miss Mary Gaffney has no place to lay his that you can. And as the leafs begin to fall head.” and the squirrels begin to prepare Remember, God loves you for their winter homes, my prayers regardless of your condition the each day are for my friends. problems you may have had in your There are only three months life or what you are now going left to the year! through. Don’t give up; the sun is coming up over the hill. Money read and are interested in by Linda Corey Streetvibes. God bless the vendors Money isn’t everything. I of Streetvibes, the editor and all of have no money, but I am still happy. the readers and writers. I have money to pay my bills and the dollar does not go very far. The bible says that money is the root of all evil. I remember holding a sign and being homeless; money was very hard to get. I now sell Streetvibes. I have met a lot of people who have Linda Corey 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 Page 6 sugars than when they do not eat fast food. McDonald’s Corp. spokesman Walt Riker said McDonald’s locates its restaurants “in high-traffic areas like every other business, to serve customers. It has nothing to do with schools.” The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/ 9053465/ Harry’s Story Harry was 19 years old and seemed to have it all. He was a commodities clerk for an internationally-known financial services provider. He rubbed shoulders with high-level traders on Wall Street. The generous pay helped fund Harry’s college education. Then some of Harry’s friends started cutting classes to drink. Drinking soon led to smoking pot. When a downturn in the stock market caused Harry’s job to be eliminated, he started taking more and increasingly powerful drugs to escape his disappointment. “I can’t explain it because I have a good family, I’m somewhat educated and I’m a man of reason.” Harry said. “I had a tough battle to come to terms with the fact that I was out of control.” Harry ended up working for the New York City Human Resources Administration in the shelter system. When his drug habit became too powerful to manage, he entered a residential treatment program in Harlem. But he left after six months to move in with a woman he met there. They found an apartment and she continued to get high, while Harry struggled to stay clean. “We really didn’t know who God was. We just wanted to do things on our own,” Harry said. “Out of white-knuckling it, I stayed sober for a year and eight months.” Then he succumbed to temptation and started getting high again. “It came to the point where God Streetvibes 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 allowed me to go down so I could humble myself so I could really hear Him,” Harry said. “So I started getting high and I eventually lost everything.” Harry ended up living in the city shelters while he was also working there. “There’s no real help there,” Harry concluded. “They’ll let you fend for yourself.” At some of the shelters, he said, there are 1,200 beds on a single floor. It’s crowded, noisy and the homeless are treated like numbers, not humans. Through the city shelter system, Harry found out about The Bowery Mission Transitional Center on Avenue D. He entered the residential program there but found out he wasn’t ready yet. Harry started taking drugs again and was eventually asked to leave the program. But he couldn’t forget a conversation he had with a staff security person there. Finally Harry concluded, “I need God. There’s no other way of doing it. I’ve tried everything else.” When he surrendered himself to God, Harry decided to go to The Bowery Mission, where he knew he could tackle the root of his problem, which was spiritual. “The drugs and alcohol were just manifestations of the deeper problems that I had,” he said. His long-range goal is to combine his management and counseling experience to find a job. But he wants to make sure he has a solid foundation before he makes a decision about a career. “I need God. There’s no other way of doing it,” Harry said. “There’s no other way. I’ve tried everything else.” �Know Your Rights Brochure Available! Over-the-Rhine resident Berta Lambert (left) and fellow protester from Australia. Both traveled a nuclear protest walk from Oak Ridge TN to New York City. (750 Miles plus) 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. Healthier School Lunches Compete with Junk Food in School Vending in à la carte lines, with baked goods, services division for the Vista Machines and Stores Health Movement Has School Cafeterias in a Food Fight Chicago is one of many school districts that started replacing high calorie foods and drinks in vending machines and cafeteria à la carte lines. Washington, D.C. students will see good-for-you foods in vending machines for the first time this fall. But other schools still offer sugar-loaded vending in addition to cookies and candy sold at school stores by school fundraising groups. A Pennsylvania State University study of 228 schoolfood service directors in that state showed that high school students are surrounded by fattening and sugary foods, and not just from vending machines. The study found hamburgers, pizzas, and sandwiches to be the most popular french fries, and salty snacks close to the top as well. Some school administrators fear losing income from vending machines that supports many students’ activities. However, when Philadelphia schools instituted a nosoda policy in July 2004, it hardly affected revenues from vending, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools received an increase of $400,000 by selling water, milk, juices, and healthier snacks. Enid Hohn, director of the nutrition Unified School District in San Diego County, says “it is ridiculous” that she serves healthy food in the school lunch program and 10 feet away the school is selling unhealthy food. But she forecasts that in 10 years schools will look back and say: “Can you believe we used to sell that junk to our students?” http://www.usatoday.com/news/ health/2005-08-21-junk-food­ cover_x.htm 1,100 Affordable Housing Units Created in Boston by Jill Furumoto In Boston, nearly 1,100 units of affordable housing have been produced since the city began its second major housing initiative two years ago, according to a City Hall report. More than $13.9 million had also been raised for new affordable housing developments. The initiative, Leading the Way II, aims to preserve 2,100 units of affordable housing and raise $25 million by June 2007. Around 1,400 families and individuals who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless have also been housed. “The Leading the Way II strategy is so important because we need to continue to address the cities housing needs by building more housing and preserving what we have,” Mayor Thomas Menino said in a statement. “We need to keep moving forward so that working families, the elderly and other residents have access to housing they can afford.” According to the report, 5,400 total units of housing had been permitted as of June 30, putting the city over 400 units ahead of schedule to meet its 10,000-unit target in two years. A prior plan, also named Leading the Way, permitted 7,900 units of housing over three years. “[The program is] not just about creation and preservation; it’s also keeping people in their homes and working to steer people away from predatory loans so they can keep their homes,” said DeWayne Lehman, spokesperson for the city’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND). Leading the Way II followed the original housing strategy put forth by the mayor in 2000. The first plan called for the city’s housing agencies – including DND, the Boston Housing Authority and the Department of Inspectional Services – to create the new housing and increase the supply of affordable housing. Following the plan’s completion, the second was launched in 2003. “This is the first time the city has set very clear plans and goals to work on housing issues,” Lehman said. “The [first] Leading the Way plan was the mayor’s way of keeping the agency focused on the goal of housing. The second one was launched to keep that focus. It is a motivator to keep everyone’s nose to the grindstone. You won’t see this kind of work in a lot of other cities.” Despite the achievements of Menino’s plans, some advocates for the homeless state that recent federal cutbacks have worsened the housing situation in Boston. “The problem with subsidized housing is that there is not enough of it,” Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless Associate Director Leslie Lawrence said. “There is a need for more federal funding for public housing, which serves the lowestincome people.” According to other advocates, there are no easy solutions. Boston Housing Authority spokesperson Lydia Agro said in an interview that “the subsidized housing system is a very complicated system. There are many types of housing that receive funding from different sources. The federal funds for Streetvibes Section 8 vouchers are frozen, and it looks like they will not be re-instated in the foreseeable future.” The waiting list for public housing re-opened on July 11 and will remained open until July 29,” Agro added. “During this time, all names [were ] put into a pool and a random lottery will determine their placement on a waiting list.” There are many different eligibility requirements and prioritizing factors that determine where someone is placed on a list. Meanwhile, in an interview with Boston’s Spare Change Street newspaper, a Section 8 recipient who wished to remain anonymous said his wait for housing was too long. “I am an elderly and disabled individual, and I eventually connected with the HomeStart agency, which helped me find housing,” the person said. “The wait was long, but I am happy to have a place to live and no longer be homeless.” Reprinted from Spare Change News. © Street News Service: www.street-papers.org Page 7 �“LABOR” Cont. from Page 1 By the time our shift starts at 4:00pm, I have waited well over four hours for the opportunity to be on the clock. I am assigned to the paper line with Tasha (her name changed for this article), where I stand beside a conveyer belt, picking out cans, bottles, plastic bags, and foreign objects from the tons of paper products that drift by. The work is dirty and smelly, despite the gloves and the industrial fans at our station. Mounds of cardboard caked in mud and Godonly-knows-what are the most prominent hazard, along with broken glass bottles and heaps of unused Arby’s coupons. After two hours of work on the paper line, I’m starting to feel a little faint, not so much from the odiferous fumes of wet, decomposing paper products so much as from dehydration. The work is not incredibly taxing, but the hot and humid weather has left me sweating buckets. To my relief, we take a break a little after 6:00pm. All the workers congregate in the break room, where we are given free bottles of Gatorade by the Rumke staff. I load up on Gatorade and water before we resume work after a fifteen minute rest. Once back on the line, we get barraged by a particularly nasty load, leaving my arms coated with a fine, black layer of dirt, dust, and glass particles. Tasha and I converse a bit, and I learn that she has worked temp labor at Rumke on and off for six years; for that reason she is often put in charge of new workers and special projects. That doesn’t sound like temporary work to me. Interestingly enough, we spend much of our time working alongside permanent employees of Rumke. The day and temp laborers, however, do not enjoy their higher wages and health benefits, despite the fact that they often engage in the same work. While sweeping up before the shift ends at 9:00pm, a few of the workers ask me if I plan on coming back tomorrow. I say, “We’ll see,” knowing full well that I’ll resume my normal day-to-day projects with the Coalition come morning. They just laugh and remark, “Yeah, we know what that means.” I feel the privilege that I was born with burn inside of me. It hurts more than usual as we file out at 9:00pm. The bus is surprisingly on time – definitely not the norm from the comments of those around me – and we make our way back to Over-the-Rhine as the sun disappears. Checks are distributed during the ride, causing spirits to lift a little. “Man oh man,” remarks a guy sitting next to me, “that break was one for the record books.” I ask him: “Why’s that? With the free Gatorade and all?” “No,” he replies, “we ain’t never got no break before.” I get back to my apartment a little before 10:00pm, exhausted and dirty. I’m the last one off the bus, except for a guy who is continuing to the One Force/Labor Solutions Covington office to work the third shift. I had been at “work” for ten hours, but only engaged in five official hours of paid labor. Such is the nature of day and temp labor. For my efforts, I was paid $32.50, or $6.50 an hour – not bad by day labor standards. Minus $3.17 for taxes – I kept as much as I could for myself – puts me at $29.33. But here’s the kicker: they take out $5.00 to pay for my transportation to and from the work site. That docks me down to my final paycheck total of $24.33 for five hours of labor (in which I invested five additional hours just to have the “opportunity” to work). But wait, there’s more! It is One Force/Labor Solutions policy to deduct for safety equipment rental that should have cost me an additional $3-4. For some reason I wasn’t charged, perhaps because one of the supervisors liked me or felt bad about calling me “Archie.” I should also factor in the fact that most day and temp laborers do not have bank accounts and must cash their checks at places that charge at least a dollar or two. Many labor halls cash checks, but charge outrageous fees. It is also not uncommon for labor agencies to provide a lunch to workers and charge – again, sometimes OVERcharge – for that meal. Realistically, my final pay could have just as easily been well below $20. That’s for ten hours of my time, not including the time I had spent fruitlessly waiting for work in the early morning. Many of these pay deductions, conditions, and overall practices are illegal in some states. Legal or illegal, they still prey on vulnerable populations and expedite the cycles of poverty and homelessness. These types of work with these types of conditions and these types of wages are not a sustainable way of living. No one can support themselves, let alone a family, on so little money for so much time and effort. And even if there was enough affordable housing in Cincinnati – there is a severe shortage in Cincinnati and Hamilton 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 Page 8 Streetvibes County – working day and temp labor would not even pay for it. The time has come to change this. Stay tuned. Keep your eyes on future Streetvibes for more information and developments on day and temp labor, as well as how anyone can take action. Interested in getting involved in improving day and temp labor conditions? Do you work day labor and wish to file a grievance or help organize? Contact the Cincinnati Fair Day Labor Advocates: Don Sherman @ Cincinnati Interfaith Center for Worker Justice (513)621-4336 or John Lavelle @ GCCH (513)421­ 7803. �y gn b enport i s e v D a Da i n o T Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �Our first effort is focused on September 11. Many students can remember where they were on that sad day. by Steve Sunderland This year, an interfaith The summer is rapidly group, Jewish, Catholic, expanding to its last few days. I hope Moslem, Unitarian you have had a chance to recharge faiths, will be holding a your batteries. I am still savoring special meeting to each day and feeling that just a little discuss what we can do longer is necessary. to “build bridges of The Peace Village enters hope and another year with you. I am so understanding” in the Dr. Steve Sunderland pleased to be continuing to offer wake of September 11 peace programs that open doors for and all that has mosque to UC, with stops at religious our community. I expect that my happened. On September 10th, institutions and the fire house along move to the College of Education will Saturday, we will be meeting at the the way. add some joy to our work. This year Clifton mosque for a discussion at It would be great for you and the Peace Village continues to work 7pm and then moving to the Clifton your students to attend any and all of on “Peace and Hunger” programs, United Methodist Church for a these events. There is no charge; you “Interfaith understanding” programs continuation of our discussion, can stay as long as you like, and you and on tsunami relief efforts in 8:30pm-10pm. Then, On Sunday, can call me at 513.919.2538 for any Indonesia. I am open to work with September 11, starting at 1pm at the questions. We expect to have all of you on these and related Clifton mosque, we will be having our university students and faculty as well programs. third annual Peace Walk from the as others interested in thinking about The Peace Village and healing from the legacy of September 11. I am working on the final details of a Peace Certificate program for students and faculty involved in service education and reflection activities. I will be back to you with the final version later this Summer. I look forward to seeing you in this important year of peace and justice. In peace and gratitude... 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 interna­ tional community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. Sunderland also heads up Posters-for-Peace which en­ gages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words through the cre­ ation of posters. FRAC Food and Hunger Report Food Stamp Ban for Certain ExOffenders Contribute to Recidivism (“US Churches Try to Help Exprisoners Stay Straight,” alertnet.org, August 8, 2005) According to the Department of Justice, of the 600,000 Americans released from prison each year, two-thirds return to confinement within three years after their release, which costs the country billions of dollars. Supported by President Bush and federal dollars, state and local authorities have increasingly relied on churches in dealing with this problem. One Washington, DC faithbased program for former prisoners has not yet resulted in decreasing recidivism. Other factors make it even harder for ex-felons to stay out of trouble than in previous years. For instance, the 1996 welfare law banned anyone convicted for buying or selling drugs from receiving food stamps or cash assistance for life. Tania’s story As far back as I can remember, I wanted to leave home. Eventually, I left when I was 14. Ever since then I have looked after myself and paid my own way. I am determined my baby son will have a better start than that. For the past six years, since I was 19, I have had sole custody of my sister, who was eight when she came to live with me. Often looking after her has been tough in many ways - including financially. When I contacted Hanover, I Page 10 In Indiana an Editorial Says Cuts in Number of Social Service Sites Will Hurt LowIncome People (“Don’t Sacrifice Service,” southbendtribune.com, August 7, 2005) Indiana FSSA Secretary Mitch Roob plans to reduce the number of state employees working at Medicaid, food stamps and cash welfare application centers from 2,500 to 500 and keep open between 18 and 40 centers out of an existing 107. The Secretary reasons that regional FSSA offices will be supplemented by intake processors at health care clinics and other service providers. This editorial says that Roob’s plans might harm low-income people. “The neediest people . . . are the ones with the greatest mobility limitations. . . . [For food stamps,] it will be accessibility rather than eligibility that determines whether some people get needed nutritional help.” While supporting measures to improve social service efficiency, the paper says accessibility to help had just moved back to Melbourne and was staying with my sister and her three children. Two families living in a small house was really difficult and I knew I had to move, but I had no idea where to go. Luckily, Hanover helped me move into a transitional house and I am now on the waiting list for an Office of Housing property. It is a relief to know that when I get stuck the staff at Hanover will always help me. For instance, when I first moved into this house I had no money and my case for those in needs must not be sacrificed. In the District of Columbia Combined Application for Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Cash Assistance Offered (“DHS Streamlines Eligibility for Medical, Food, and Cash Assistance,” dchunger.org, August 5, 2005) The Department of Human Services released a new, simplified “Combined Application for Medical, Food Stamp, and Cash Assistance” to make it easier and faster for Washington, DC residents to apply for these services. The new application is available in English and Spanish, with the cover page also featuring messages in Amharic, Chinese, and Vietnamese. The new form also grants DC residents the right to self-declare bank assets less than $1000 instead of imposing a requirement to obtain a bank statement, for which banks charge a fee. Here in Ohio, School Uniforms and Supplies Too Costly for practitioner, Louise, gave me money so I could buy food. Another time, when I urgently needed clothes, Louise organized a small loan for me, which I have now paid back. Hanover was also really helpful with my sister. They paid for some of her school textbooks, which I couldn’t afford, and another time they helped with some transport costs for her. I don’t think she would still be at school if Hanover hadn’t helped. I have always hated to ask for help, but at the moment there is just no other way. Streetvibes Students (“Basic School Supplies too Costly for Many Northeast Ohio Students,” cleveland.com, August 7, 2005) Some Ohio kids will go back to school in designer clothes and with new laptops, but not the children of Northeast Ohio parents who live at or near the poverty line. Shoes and Clothes for Kids, a local nonprofit that helps disadvantaged families with school supplies and uniforms, reports that they have never received so many requests for aid. Nancy Stroman of East Cleveland Neighborhood Center says, “I have families with both parents working and they’re still struggling.” Families who don’t get aid may end up going without new uniforms, and their children risk being suspended for not adhering to the dress code. Prepared by Food Research and Action Center, 1875 Conn. Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202-986-2200; www.frac.org Let us plant dates even though those who plant them will never eat them. We must live by the love of what we will never see. This is the secret discipline. It is a refusal to let the creative act be dissolved away in immediate sense experience, and a stubborn commitment to the future of our grandchildren. Such disciplined love is what has given prophets, revolutionaries, and saints the courage to die for the future they envisaged . They make their own bodies the seed of their highest hope. Ruben Alves, Tomorrow’s Child �Speaking Truth to Roberts absolute right to do so. The belief line on critical votes. But if they that a president can do whatever he by Paul Rogat Loeb really demanded moderate chooses links this nomination, the From the moment the John appointments, or stood firm against Downing Street Memo and Roberts nomination was the “nuclear option” power grab Plamegate in a common matrix of announced, the media called it a unaccountable power. done deal. NPR and the New York that threatens to end the filibuster, Roberts could certainly be Roberts is also disturbingly Times gushed over his humility, defeated. Whatever the final vote, loyal to dubious corporate interests, humor, and congeniality. With offering a critical perspective gives or at least to principles that allow Roberts’s belief system barely us the chance to help frame how these interests to run roughshod mentioned, you’d think Bush had Americans view this administration over ordinary citizens and just nominated Mister Rogers. and what we can expect from future communities. He argued that In the wake of this media lifetime appointments to a court private individuals could not sue the love fest, I keep encountering that’s our final arbiter of rights and federal government for violations of people who oppose everything governmental power. Settling for environmental regulations like the Roberts has stood for, but see no removal of mountaintops by West use in trying to stop what seems his an appointment as regressive as Virginia mining companies. He inevitable confirmation. But we can Roberts invites Bush to nominate someone still worse for next round. supported the rights of developers make a powerful impact by raising to ignore the Endangered Species the discomforting truth that Roberts Challenging him draws a line and invites our fellow citizens to stand Act. He denied the rights of may be closer to a smiling Antonin up in other ways to this immensely workers injured over time as part of Scalia. However the Senators their jobs, supported criminal vote—and it’s not foreordained, the destructive presidency. How has a seemingly nice contempt fines to force the end of a more we raise key issues and man like Roberts supported a strike, and helped a major car principles, the more they’ll echo politics of contempt for the voice of manufacturer avoid a recall of down the line around future anyone but the wealthy and dangerous seatbelts. nominations and policies. powerful? In a time when the Bush Then there’s Roe vs. Wade. Roberts is being hailed as administration acts as if granted the People of goodwill can disagree the brilliant Harvard lawyer who divine right of kings, it’s troubling about abortion, but overturning that gets along with everyone. He’s that Roberts defended Cheney’s decision would devastate the lives conservative, but reasonable. He right to refuse to name the of women forced to bear unwanted doesn’t froth at the mouth. He corporate participants in his secret children. Roberts has already barely barks. Unlike Bush’s three energy policy meeting. He advised argued, as Deputy Solicitor most recent Appeals Court Jeb Bush on the 2000 election, and General, that “Roe was wrongly appointees, he hasn’t led a right wing ideological charge. He’s being denied being a member of the ultra­ decided and should be overruled.” conservative Federalist Society, Pat Robertson endorsed him as one praised as a nomination Bush then turned up on the Society’s of his top favored choices. In the should be proud of. Washington steering committee. words of Tony Perkins of the ultra­ We need to tell a different conservative Family Research story, and do our best to get it into He’s argued that the Voting Rights Council, Bush “promised to the media, the arguments raised by Act can only be violated by nominate someone along the lines of our elected representatives, and the intentional discrimination, saying laws that incidentally discriminate a Scalia or a Thomas and that is awareness of our fellow citizens. are ok. Most damning, Roberts exactly what he has done.” The actual outcome will probably just ruled that if this administration It’s tempting to decide that depend on a small group of Republican “moderates,” who tend wishes to exempt someone from the Roberts is the best we can get, so Geneva Convention and we should simply accept him, lest to briefly question about Bush’s international law, they have the we get someone worse. But that policies and choices, then toe the traps us in a continuous cycle of lowered expectations, until we accept anyone short of Attila the Hun. I’m not expecting Bush to nominate the next Thurgood Marshall. Even Sandra O’Connor, who everyone now praises, helped put Bush in office to begin with in a decision blasted by legal scholars for its contempt for constitutional precedents, including claims of the participating justices to support states rights. Given the Republicans’ current power, another O’Connor may be the most we can expect, but we have no obligation to accept a candidate as problematic as Roberts. Instead of caving to fatalistic acceptance, we need to approach this nomination as an exercise in truth telling. We can talk, to whomever we have access, about what Roberts represents, and what a court in his image would mean for America. We can lobby our Senators to draw the line, knowing that the more they do, the more the media will question. We can hold up a vision of how America could be, while describing how profoundly our heritage of liberty and justice is being attacked. And then we can keep on, whatever the immediate result, so that we will not be faced with another Justice Roberts ten years down the line. Paul Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of fall 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, and of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time See www.paulloeb.org What Price is Marriage in the Welfare Law? by Vera Zlatkin, written as representative of Contact Center, Cincinnati Welfare Rights Coalition tvib es Streetvibes money could be better spent on other programs for the poor; programs such as jobs, housing, or child care for poor parents who are working or in school. We also fear that women living in abusive relationships will be coerced into marriage by significant financial incentive making it even less likely that she will be able to leave her abuser. 60% of women living in poverty have been subjected to domestic violence as adults. For these women and their children, marriage may not be the best solution to economic insecurity. ee factor in determining the eligibility of a person or family to receive federal assistance. More than thirty years ago, the Supreme Court held that discrimination against unmarried families is an unconstitutional denial of the equal protection of the laws. (New Jersey Welfare Rights Organization v. Cahill, 411 U.S. 619 (1973)) We are also concerned about the cost, especially at this time when our economy is in such dire straits. The budget bill that cleared the Senate includes $593 million in direct federal aid to the District of Columbia. S. 1446 sets aside $1.5 million a year for marriage development accounts. In addition, the federal government is already spending over $100 million overall on unproven marriage promotion programs. We feel that in this time of deficits and budget cuts, this Str The bill, S1446, introduced by Senator Sam Brownback, which includes a “Marriage Development and Improvement” program for the District of Columbia, we believe, discriminates against single parent families. This program would create Marriage development accounts to low income couples who set up savings accounts to buy a home, send a child to college, or start a business. The government would provide a lifetime payment of $9,000 per couple, which they would have to withdraw within three years and they would have to be married by that time. Single, childless residents of the District of Columbia, who have undergone job, education, and financial counseling, and are between 16 and 22 years of age, may also receive a federal payment of up to $4,500. Single people with children, however, are totally exempt from this program. I am wary that once Marriage Development Accounts are established in the District of Columbia, they will “spread” to other states. Indeed the Federal government is sending a “go light” to marriage promotion policies in the federal welfare law currently being debated in Congress. Some states, such as West Virginia, already financially reward single moms if they get married. Though we are in favor of assistance for low- income parents, we strongly feel that low- income families which are headed by single parents should not be discriminated against by the Federal Government. Marital status should not be a Support Your Vendor Buy Streetvibes 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 go to the individual vendor. 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 (70 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 30 Cents Printing and Production: 30 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are. In every child who is born, no matter what circumstances, and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again: and in him, too, once more, and of each of us, our terrific responsibility toward human life; toward the utmost idea of goodness, of the horror of terror, and of God. �Cincinnati and Other Cities Tackle Chemical Transportation Security Fears over a train tanker leak combined with anger last month when Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken revealed a dangerous, leaking train tanker had been parked along the tracks for nine months. “There is a scenario where there [was a possibility of] an explosion and a dangerous chemical called styrene would be released,” Luken said after spending the morning at the scene with officials. The chemical’s smell lingered over a large part of the city’s east side. But simply smelling the styrene, which was leaking from the tanker, won’t harm you, EPAofficials said. “You can smell styrene at one part per million. So, you’re going to smell it before it has any health effects,” said EPAofficial Heather Lauer. The tanker car, which caught fire last month, had apparently been parked along the tracks for about nine months. A spokesperson for Ohio CitizenAction pledged to investigate the incident. A spokesperson for Westlake Styrene, the Texas-based company that owns the chemical inside the tanker, said that he didn’t know the tanker was sitting on the tracks for so long. “There is a system in place and it’s somewhat dependent upon the rail lines that transport this material,” he said. The material was supposed to be taken to Queen-City Terminal where it would have been “off­ loaded” and stored for future use, the spokesperson said. When a freight train accident took eight lives in South Carolina earlier this year because of unsafe and uninspected train cars carrying toxic materials, it heightened concerns about chemical security in our trains and trucks. Cities across the nation have begun addressing serious deficiencies on this so-called “homeland security” issue because the federal government has done little. Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Baltimore are all considering legislation to mitigate the risks of shipping hazardous materials through their heavily populated centers. In 2004, the District of Columbia became the first U.S. city to pass legislation banning hazardous shipments passing through its city limits destined for other locales. The DC Court of Appeals has since stayed the DC ordinance, following a challenge by the Bush administration and the rail industry that argued the legislation violated constitutional provisions dealing with interstate commerce. The Department of Justice asserted that rail security is the responsibility of the federal government and that local Another Vendor Attacked by Carrie Briffett Early in the morning on Christmas Day 1999 a Big Issue street paper vendor was sleeping on some steps when four drug addicts, armed with hammers, smashed in his skull. They had hoped he would have plenty of money on him from Christmas sales of the magazine. They got away with £4.50. (less than $15.00 dollars US) The vendor in question managed to crawl covered in blood onto a main street, where CCTV cameras picked him up, before losing consciousness. Miraculously he survived and is now speaking out about his ordeal. It was however a long, tough recovery. “Part of my skull splintered into my brain and damaged my cerebral cortex [which in part controls movement and sensory functions]. It took me nine months of speech therapy and physiotherapy to walk and talk again because my brain was so badly damaged,” he says. “When the camera picked me up an ambulance and the police turned up right away but I didn’t regain consciousness for 10 days. I had to have 56 operations on my brain to repair it.” His movement is still affected. “My legs are knackered and my circulation is messed up – one arm is cold while the other is hot. I have to stretch all the time to get my legs to work properly. It takes 20 minutes to get them to work in the mornings after I wake up so I can support myself and I have to do exercises that I have been shown,” he explains. The street culture is one of not ‘grassing’ and to do so can mean being ostracized. Consequently the vendor did not press charges against his attackers. And since that time he has been a victim of more attacks. Three years ago he was sleeping in the side doorway of a church and one Sunday morning three drunken students poured petrol on him and his friend, and set him alight causing third degree burns to his chest and back. “They were only arrested for common assault,” he says. “It took me six weeks in hospital to recover. The police arrested them with a jerry can in their hands and they had video evidence. The church was well funded and had cameras set up.” “Someone attacked me only last week – I was kicked in the ribs and they tried to rob me,” adds the vendor, who has been homeless since he was 16 and is now in his mid­ government has no authority in the matter. The DC government is appealing the court ruling. Despite the court decision, several cities are moving forward with their own chemical security legislation. In Baltimore, City Councilman Kenneth Harris sponsored legislation very similar to the DC ban. On May 9 in Cleveland, City Councilman Matthew Zone, introduced an ordinance, which would prohibit rail shipments of hazardous materials through the city unless the fire chief issued a special permit. Several years ago Cleveland adopted restrictions on truck shipments of hazardous chemicals. AChicagoAlderman, Ed Smith introduced legislation to reroute hazardous material shipments around the city. However, the measure was defeated in the Transportation and Health Committee due to opposition from rail corporations. After fear surrounding the London train bombings, the bill was re-introduced and is back in committee, with city officials optimistic about the legislation’s chances for passage. In Boston, City Councilmembers Stephen Murphy and Jerry McDermott recently cited federal inaction and the availability of alternative routes as key factors for submitting chemical transportation legislation. Their bill would prohibit hazardous material shipments within a 2.5 mile radius of Copley Square, a central urban location in Boston. The ordinance is now being considered by the city’s Government Operations Committee, whose members include both Murphy and McDermott. Local safety officials have repeatedly expressed safety concerns resulting from hazardous materials passing through transit systems. These concerns garnered national attention this year when two freight trains carrying hazardous chemicals collided in Graniteville, South Carolina. The resulting spill, which killed nine and injured some 250 others, was the nation’s worst from a train crash since 1978. In the South Carolina incident, a manual track switch was left in the wrong position causing a moving train that was supposed to stay on a main line to collide with a parked train on a sideline. The 11,500 pounds of chlorine released by the collision created a gaseous cloud that hovered over the city through nightfall. Residents used towels and blankets to seal off doors and windows and prevent the greenish-yellow gas from entering their homes. Official clean-up efforts focused on the chlorine release, due to its potentially deadly effects on respiratory and nervous system function; however, the hazardous chemicals cresol and sodium thirties. “Members of the public were walking past and shouted at him and he ran off.” Despite all that he has been through he still has compassion and sympathy for the victims of the Brazil attacks and murders. “What do their government stand for?” he asks. “To allow that is just brutal.” If you see good in people, you radiate a harmonious loving energy which uplifts those who are around you. If you can maintain this habit, this energy will turn into a steady flow of love “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes Page 13 �Forgiven Sins On State Avenue by Mike Henson At the corner, near the Mexican store, I see a poor, staggering prostitute. (I do not call her that but that is what people call her.) She has just stumbled out of some maniac’s car and her body is bent leftward in a stumbling, distorted manner like a bow or an arc bent perhasps by the moons of heroin or by the prodding of crack cocaine or by the distortions of her labor serving men in the cramped front seats of cars. She has a name, tatooed at her neck like a shackle and her teeth are gone clouded and gray and there is to her something so twisted and damaged and childlike and holy and pitiable that I cannot understand how any man would want to have her. But the men do have her. Again and again I see them leave her on the street near the Mexicn store in her little shackled body bent and staggering as if one side drives her perpetually forward and the other drags back like a child tugged down the street by an impatient hand. by George E. Herrell I had rubies, diamonds, pearls and yet I felt that I was poor for knowing not my Fathers love I felt I needed something more HOMELESS He sits alone, covered in dirt. Begging for help, as people walk by like he’s not even there. He replied back to the ones who did notice. I had dreams once too, but lost them in a flash. I was once like you, thought I new it all, thought I was on my way to success, but everything went wrong fast, before I could stop it. But the people just stared and laughed. But in spite of all the nasty comments, he just answered back as gentle as can be, and said, you judge me now, but on day you will be judge too, and said a pray for the ones who judge. One day and old man dressed in rags had asked me for a meal I held on tightly to my bags for fear my treasures he would steal I gave the poor man food and clothes and a coat to keep him warm I looked into his smiling eyes then saw he wore a Crown of Thorns! He held out wounded, bleeding hands and said, “child lay your burdens down” Take off your shoes and walk with me for now you stand on Holy Ground I learned a valuable lesson then as he led me thorough the Pearly Gates ask forgiveness for your sins if you heart is true it’s not too late! The homeless by Don Foran Ten men clamber out of the creaking van, Their sweaty bodies meeting a kiss Of cool night air. They drift, silently, sullenly Toward the darkened church. Mattresses lie, two or three to a room, Along walls decorated with children’s Drawings and almost casual crucifixions. Carl, Eddie, Jake and the others Throw their worn packs and bags Onto the makeshift beds, and John, It’s always John, is first to ask If he can have his sack lunch now, Not in the morning as we had planned. “Sure,” I say, almost as anxious as he To assuage this remediable hunger. Several echo John, and soon all Are feasting on pb and j; apples, celery, And other healthy fare remains on the table, But they’re happier now, even communicative. One thanks me for setting a new pair of white socks On each mattress. Another offers a juice cup To a friend. “Lights out!” Rick calls at ten, And no one argues, no one hesitates. Sleep Knits once more the raveled sleeve of care, Obliterates the hurt, soothes the jangled nerves. Tomorrow will be another day, Another cheerless day embroidered With small triumphs, fragile dreams. Homeless by Octavia I am hungry and cold I wonder will I get a home I hear my family laughing I see food on the table I want a nice little home I am hungry and cold I pretend to sleep in a bed I feel warm covers I touch the bed I lie in I worry will I ever get a home I cry because I don’t have a home I am hungry and cold I understand I don’t have a home I say I will get a home I dream to have a home I cry because I have don’t have a home I try to visualize a home I hope I get a home I am hungry and cold He’s Sweet, I Know by Robert Manassa There’s no money in this world that can compare To all of the things he is willing to do do your burdens will Isn’t He (God) amazing In what He can do? Whatever He has done for others, He will do for me and you You may be rich and you may be poor Whatever the case may be His love, His kindness and mercy He will always’s show Thanks be to God for what ho has done for me I was once blind, but now I see A walk with God, I’m sure you’d like to see Page 14 Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Streetvibes �by William Moore “DEAR JUDGE” ORDER IN THE COURT, I’VE BEEN ORDERED TO COME TO COURT ­ IT’S THE 3RD TIME, I’M BOUND TO DO SOMETIME ­ FOR AN OPEN CANTAINER, SLEEPING IN THE PARK AFTER DARK. AN OPEN - CANTAINER A HUNDRED AND SOMETHING DOLLARS ­ ”DEAR JUDGE” HOW CAN I PAY THIS WHEN I DONT HAVE NO JOB”? BOY, WHOS THE ONE GETTING ROBBED? One check away by James Chionsini twinkling stars can’t keep you warm when you’re sleeping in the park till he break of dawn newspaper pillow and a plastic tarp watching for he pigs that come out after dark lost your job got jacked and robbed your landlord said that’s not my prob doctor bills kill you can’t afford the pills now you’re shaking heart breaking drink as much as you spill THE PLACE WHERE I LIVE!!!! I wake up every morning to a new day. I wonder will I ever find my way. My daughter will be four on the next day. I wonder will we have a place to stay. waiting on the first to quench your thirst alleviate the discomfort of an asphalt earth trying to find a shelter to get some rest but nowhere seems safe without a knife proof vest The notice to vacate came the other day. It says we have to leave by monday. I don’t know what to do or what to say. I want to live here, I want to stay. if you could just get back to square one start to heal the disease that’s got you on the run feeling invisible going insane scowls and nightsticks fall like rain I’m tired lord of being without. My children need a home no doubt. A notice to vacate, disconnection on the phone here and the lights. I just want to scream and fight. Why is life so hard to live? Why do people take and not give? Why is it so hard to keep the place where I live? For what ever wrong I’ve done please lord forgive! Ground Zero As you certainly know by now, public awareness of the issues behind the war and the political corruption in this country is becoming mainstream. Last month, 1600+ cities held candlelight vigils in support of Mrs. Cindy Sheehan’s “ground zero” camp outside the President’s ranch in Texas. (For two weeks while he was on vacation, the President declined photo by (c) 2005, Sam A. Marshall her request to meet with him and Worthington — was pretty explain the contradictions behind the substantial, with about 150-200 Iraq invasion. But during his people in attendance. Although all four corners were full of people, I vacation, he had two hours of free time to ride his bike with bicycling could of course only get three corners champion Lance Armstrong. into the frame at any one time. But all four were pretty evenly distributed. Anyway, as I was in Columbus all week for work, I had And the reaction from passing the opportunity to attend one of nine motorists — lots of honking and vigils, and I took a few photos waving — showed strong support for myself. As you can see, this one — this gathering. in the north Columbus suburb of Sam A Marshall Streetvibes Page 15 �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 Day Laborer For a Day Cover Story BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY September 2005 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 2005 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 2005 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Day Laborer for a Day Pg 2: Connections Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Vendors Pg 5: It’s Time to Say Goodbye Adieu Pg 6: Our City’s Janitors Deserve Respect Fast-Food Chains More Common Around Schools Pg 7: Healthier School Lunches Compete with Junk Food in School Vending Machines and Stores 1,100 Affordable Housing Units Created in Boston Pg 8: “Labor” Continued Pg 9: Standdown 2005 Pg 10: The Peace Village FRAC Pg 11: Speaking Truth to Roberts What Price is Marriage in the Welfare Law? Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Cincinnati and Other Cities Tackle Chemical Transportation Security Another Vendor Attacked Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September 2005 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Andy Lawrence John Lavelle Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF affordable housing Alison Leeuw Andy Lawrence Boston Cincinnati FRAC Georgine Getty Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Marriage Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Monique Little Peace Village Schools Standdown Susan Smith Transportation welfare https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/1b0c226d2a76b2337128fdaefe2720c9.pdf 3cc7dae1bd98aaba76336075dfa42581 PDF Text Text October 2005 STREETVIBES Standdown Serves Record Number of Homeless People by Kelly Carr “Standdown” is a military term that refers to a time of rest for armed forces in combat. The grassroots initiative aimed at meeting the needs of the homeless veterans’ crisis, Stand Down, originated in 1988 by two Vietnam veterans Robert Van Keuren and Dr. John Nachison. Since 1988, Stand Down events have gained popularity throughout the United States. In cities like Cincinnati, Stand Down services have expanded to include low income and other homeless populations in addition to homeless veterans. This year, Cincinnati’s Standdown was September 16th, from 9am to 2pm in Washington Park. The event offered free food and services to an estimated 600 participants. Many social service providers, event organizers, and participants had positive responses to what might be one of the best Stand Down events Cincinnati has seen in years. This year’s Standdown was exceptionally successful Participants received information about housing, Social Security, legal assistance, and information about chemical addiction and mental health. There were opportunities for participants to receive blood sugar screenings, blood pressure checks, haircuts, dental care, clothing, hygiene products, and immediate medical treatment if necessary. A variety of services in one central area made it easy for an individual to have all their needs met in one place. For example Jimmy, a participant, needed mental health assistance, legal assistance, and housing; usually would have spent an entire day or more contacting all the agencies necessary to serve him. However, because of the variety of social service providers at this year’s Standdown, Jimmy could conveniently see each agency just tables away. “I think this is one of the best Standdowns in years,” says David Knoll, Organizing Committee Chairman. “We’ve had a record number turnout of social service providers and I hope that the participants take full advantage of the social services available here today.” Not only did they take advantage of the social services but they also took advantage of the boxed lunches, complementary gifts, disco music and corn-hole. Low income and homeless persons were making connections and telling heart felt stories as they were leaving. Participants had good things to say about the event Edward had this to say, “This year was the first in fifteen years that I have been homeless again and today was the first time in ten years that I cried. I’m speechless. I’m looking at a two bedroom on Monday and their helping me to get furniture. I am speechless.” Participants were being matched with the services they needed all day. Goodwill was taking job applications and a few individuals actually had employment lined up for them by the time they left. One participant had this to say as he played a quick game of corn-hole, “I think it’s great y’all out here helping the community. Y’all are helping me. I’m meeting with a worker next week to see about getting me some housing. I think this here is wonderful, helping people get what they need, y’all should have this twice or three times a year ‘cause people need this all year.” He stopped playing for a minute to show off his gifts and he seemed genuinely tickled with his hygiene bag and new tooth brush. Another participant had this to say as he shyly danced to D.J. Andy Glover’s electric slide, “I’m glad that this is here and that workers are checking on people. I was pretty excited when they told me my blood pressure was just fine and you know what? I’m having a good time, a good time.” Stand Down Saves Lives Some participants had no idea they were in such poor health. Talk around the blood pressure and blood sugar screening tables made that obviously clear, as people were checked and then taken to the Cincinnati Health Network’s medical van for immediate treatment. For example, one individual’s blood sugar was 422 high and another individual’s blood pressure was 170 over 140; both were immediately taken to the med van for further examination and treatment. Lynn Kilbane, a service provider with Hamilton County TB control noted, “There are a lot of people here today that either need immediate medical attention or need information on attaining medical treatment. Also, this is an opportunity for service providers to get a real sense of the homeless population’s needs. We have veteran workers, retired nurses, and nursing students volunteering and learning more about better ways of caring for Cincinnati’s homeless.” “Cornhole” at the Standdown photo by Kelly Carr Now more than Ever An estimated 25,000 Cincinnatians qualify as homeless and those are individuals who are catalogued in Cincinnati’s Homeless Management Information System; that does not include individuals who have yet to contact a shelter for assistance. This year at Standdown it was easy to see the rise in low income and homeless populations, as the 550 lunch boxes were quickly distributed and more than fifty others stood waiting and wanting “We were short of lunches, meaning we were a hundred over last year’s count of five hundred participants. That’s 600 hundred folks waiting in line for a hot meal,” says Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless’ Executive Director Georgine Getty. Scores of participants received services, treatment, and information. Some folks danced and played games while more were arriving as the event closed down. The event only lasted from 9am to 2pm and there were complaints from individuals who missed the event because they were just returning to the shelter from day labor agencies. One day labor worker threw his hands up asking, “You’re leaving? I just got here. What did y’all do today? Are you coming back tomorrow?” Unfortunately that day labor worker will have to wait ‘til next year for another Standdown event. Until then he and others will go agency to agency for the variety of services they need and hopefully he and others will feel just as satisfied even without the electric slide or the corn-hole. DJ Andy Glover serves up music at the Standdown Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless �Streetvibes Day Labor Follow-Up by John Lavelle 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Andy Lawrence - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer In the Streetvibes article from September, titled “Day Laborer For a Day,” I alluded to the lady that I worked with at the Rumpke Recycling Plant named Tasha (her name changed for the article). She had done temp labor for several years, working at Rumke on and off for six years or so. Two Streetvibes readers inquired as to why she was not hired permanently by Rumke. I do not know for sure, but I can speculate numerous reasons based upon the way many day and temp labor agencies operate. First of all, it is often simply cheaper to hire day and temp laborers through an agency. They are paid less that way, and the employer does not have to provide any health care or benefits. As stated in the previous article, the jobs contracted to labor halls tend to be the toughest and most undesirable employment that there is (such as picking through trash). High turnover rates can result in a constant flow of expensive hiring and training, a human resources nightmare. By contracting through labor halls, employers “outsource” much of their human resources burden. I am not aware of Tasha’s full employment history, and although it seems that she is a very reliable worker, some laborers may not be or may not be able to be so reliable. For example, if a full-time employee of a business such as Rumke does not show up or calls in because of child care problems (or any myriad issues), that business is without that employee for the day. By contracting though a labor hall, a business is assured that it will always have enough workers on hand. With many unskilled jobs, it is not a matter of having welltrained, skilled laborers, but simply having enough hands to do the job. The problem does not seem to be day and temp labor itself, but rather the poor way in which it is operated. Both employers and workers have a need and a desire for this type of labor. However, some people are left with no other options than temp labor and therefore no other options than poor wages and often abusive practices. That’s bad for workers. Furthermore, that’s just bad business. We are in the process of gathering more information about the problems with the labor halls, and we are researching the legality of overall practices and individual anecdotal occurrences. Regardless of whether or not some agencies are “breaking the law,” many are violating basic human and civil rights, continuing the cycle of poverty. On a final note, thank you Mary Jo and Eugene for your kind letter and great questions about day and temp labor. It gives me great hope to see such interest. If you have worked day and temp labor and would like to file a grievance, please contact John Lavelle at the GCCH: 513.421.0117 x18. We hope to soon establish some ways that all concerned citizens can take action. Stay tuned. Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photographer Kelly Carr, Jimmy Heath Cover Standdown at Washington Park, Over-the-Rhine 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Letter from a Reader Dear Mr. Lavelle We’ve often been curious about what life is like for temporary industrial workers, [cover story, September Streetvibes] and now we know – the third world is right here. Thank you for your interesting and informative piece, But, we wonder, why isn’t Tasha hired by Rumpke? And, exactly how are these labor places breaking the laws and what can be done to fix it? We’re sure we’ll find out in your future pieces. We look forward to reading more of your articles in Streetvibes. Mary Jo and Eugene Spiegle National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week November 16­ 22, 2005 The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is seeking willing participants to organize sleep-outs/shanty­ towns and/or food/clothing drives for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Below you’ll find a brief description of the event. Co-sponsored by: National Coalition for the Homeless and National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness Each year, one week before Thanksgiving, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness co­ sponsor National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. During this week, a number of schools, communities and cities take part in a nationwide effort to bring greater awareness to the problems of hunger and homelessness. Schools and/or Facility members interested in participating are asked to contact their local representative. Cincinnati: Kelly Carr, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 513-421-7803 ext.11 This hand helped take care of four kids of my own, five grandkids and their mothers. It also provided for them as they grew up, it protected them from all harm and also helped them understand what it meant to have some kind of training for the future. — James M. 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 �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath In Indianapolis, on the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi, the City-County Council voted 22-6 to deny approval of a project on Indianapolis’ Near Southside. The new Care Center shelter for homeless women and children. It did not receive much media coverage and hardly seemed to make a ripple in our collective consciousness. In a week during which Indianapolis and the nation poured out their hearts, homes and money to the newly homeless from Katrina, we did not support a shelter for our homeless women. In 2004, Horizon House, the day services program for the homeless, served 4,414 individuals; 1,217 were women, a large majority of whom stay overnight at the Care Center. It’s a vital partnership that keeps many women from staying on the street at night or finding inappropriate housing options. Last year, Horizon House served 16 percent more individuals than the year before; 1,955 were newly homeless. This year will see a similar increase. Hundreds more of Indy’s own citizens live in poverty and are constantly on the edge of homelessness. The need for the Care Center and other shelters is increasing rapidly. In England, the movie production of Southland Tales just gets weirder and weirder. First it brings us images of The Rock making out with porn star Buffy, and now word comes that it somehow involves a massive encampment of homeless people. Lots and lots of actors were hired to play the homeless, complete with “dirt” on their faces and “rags” to wear. Meanwhile, cops surrounded the area to make sure that the actual homeless were unable to scavenge any scraps from the set. Nice. While some actually buy the excuse that the union contract probably had something to do with hiring professionals to pretend to be homeless, it seems like the situation could have been handled with just a little more delicacy. You know, like maybe without security chasing the homeless away from movie garbage that they might be able to use. When thousands of unexpectedly homeless Hurricane Katrina evacuees flocked to Dallas last month, their plight immediately overshadowed a long-standing debate over how to care for the city’s resident homeless population. On Nov. 8, Dallas residents will vote on whether to approve Proposition 14, which would authorize $23.8 million in bonds to fund the creation of a full-service homeless assistance facility. Early voting begins Oct. 24. But residents supporting or opposing the proposition acknowledge that acts of nature have temporarily muted their advocacy. “The storm, yes, it’s slowed us down. We’ve kind of taken a back seat,” said Larry Hamilton, who owns a Dallas real estate development company. He organized the Heart of Dallas Partnership, which opposes a homeless facility built at the City Council’s location of choice, in the southeastern corner of downtown. Council member Angela Hunt, who supports building the center on the southeastern downtown site, said, “The entire city has been focused on the Katrina effort.” But expect the quiet to soon cease, both sides say. The Dallas Citizens Council and the Greater Dallas Chamber are planning to produce brochures supporting a homeless assistance center, Mayor Laura Miller said. The chamber, for its part, just organized a homeless assistance center task force that plans to work in support of Proposition 14 immediately, spokeswoman Jo Trizila said last month. He was found unconscious on a bench on Upperhead Row in Huddersfield town centre by police last month. He was taken by ambulance to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary but was dead on arrival. A pathologist carried out a post-mortem examination and certified the cause of death as a chest infection and chronic alcoholism. Police have revealed that he suffered face and head injuries when he was pushed off a seat in a bus shelter on Westgate in Huddersfield town center. He was taken to the casualty department at the Infirmary suffering from cuts, grazes, bruises and swelling. He was allowed to leave after treatment. In Michigan, about 175 dogs and cats displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina will get new homes in the Grand Rapids area. An anonymous donation of $30,000 was used to charter a plane and fly in about 90 dogs and 60 cats that arrived early Thursday. They were transferred in their crates to the Humane Society of Kent County, where veterinarians examined them. Meanwhile, 26 dogs arrived by trailer Mackenzie’s Animal Sanctuary near Ionia County’s Lake Odessa. “We are going to find them good homes,” Jen Azza, director of Mackenzie’s, told the press. The animals are to be housed at the sanctuary for at least three months while their owners are sought. Erik Bauer, the shelter’s general manager, said reuniting dogs with their owners will be hard because the animals had no identification tags. Most of the dogs and cats flown to the Humane Society of Kent County will be housed in a garage area. Ten dogs and five cats are to be transferred to the Capitol Area Humane Society in Lansing. After they are treated for any medical conditions, every effort will be made to find the pets’ owners, said Karen Terpstra, executive director of the Humane Society of Kent County, which is in Grand Rapids. The animals will be scanned Again in England, a to see whether they have been homeless man died a week after implanted with identifying he was the victim of a microchips. Their photos will be motiveless attack in posted on the Internet. Huddersfield town center. Terpstra said they will be The 60-year-old man’s kept at the Grand Rapids shelter death is not linked to injuries he until Sept. 30 and then placed in suffered when he was shoved off a foster homes until Oct. 15. After seat, but police are anxious to catch that, the cats and dogs could be put his attacker. up for adoption. The man - who has not She was confident that her been named - shuffled along using a organization will find homes for zimmer frame. them all. Streetvibes In Cedar Rapids, Iowa the head of a federal homeless agency says Iowans would save money by preventing homelessness instead of reacting to it. Philip Mangano is the director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness. He visited Cedar Rapids this week and told Mayor Paul Pate that cities spend far more money hospitalizing and jailing the homeless than it would cost to fix the problem. One study found that taxpayers spend 100-thousand dollars a year on each homeless person for emergency room visits and jail stays. Pate says he wants Cedar Rapids to join about 70 other cities in developing a ten-year plan to ease homelessness. He says the city has 400 to 500 homeless people _ many of them facing drug addictions and mental illness. The plan would include community treatment teams and permanent housing programs. A plan to count the number of homeless youth in the Las Vegas area on October fifth is being postponed. No new date has been set by the groups organizing the effort. Volunteer training that had been scheduled today, tomorrow and next Tuesday and Wednesday have also been postponed. The project is a cooperative effort by the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, Saint Jude's Ranch for Children, Girls and Boys Town, West-Care Incorporated and the research firm Strategic Solutions. Organizers are promising new survey and training dates soon. Children of the World Children of the world today See how they play every way Growing ghetto poor and stay Wealthy in their own sweet way Children of the world today Jumping rope play their own sweet day Let us pray in our only way Let us be what was today — Gerome Barksdale Send your letters or comments to Streetvibes, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com Page 3 �Still Covering for Wal-Mart ABC report has no space for critics ­ from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting - www.fair.org Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES T-Shirt Today! (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes In an August 10 action alert, FAIR wondered if ABC’s reporting on corporate giant Wal-Mart was improperly influenced by Wal­ Mart’s status as a major advertiser on the network’s news programming. While ABC failed to answer FAIR’s charges, a September 20 World News Tonight report on Wal-Mart’s business practices in China once again suggests favoritism toward the network’s sponsor. Anchor Charlie Gibson began by mentioning the “kind of gold rush” happening in China, where companies “from the U.S. and beyond position themselves to grab a piece of the fastest-growing market in the world.” Gibson then turned to ABC colleague Bill Weir to show “how Wal-Mart is changing the way the Chinese shop.” Weir started in a more traditional Chinese market—”there isn’t a refrigerator in sight”—in order to contrast that kind of old-fashioned thinking to Wal-Mart: “While hundreds of millions of Chinese still shop in places like this, more and more are being lured by the siren song of onestop shopping.” Weir highlighted singing Wal-Mart workers and the “brightly-lit aisles” where “China’s exploding middle class is discovering the novelty of free samples and a wide selection of everything.” After one customer touted Wal-Mart’s stores (“It’s big, it’s clean...and you feel good here”), ABC turned to its next source: Wal-Mart Asia CEO Joe Hatfield. (“Talk about price conscious,” he says of his customers.) The only other source in the report was Jim McGregor, identified simply as the author of “One Billion Customers.” (His role as senior director of Stonebridge International, “a global business strategy firm that helps U.S. and multinational companies... seize business opportunities worldwide,” was not mentioned.) McGregor enthused about the new efficiency Wal-Mart has brought to the Chinese economy, saying that Wal-Mart’s suppliers had to “clean up their act to compete.” ABC’s Weir also praised Wal-Mart for that efficiency: “While Wal-Mart has changed the way people shop, they’re also changing the way suppliers think.... Many manufacturers were shocked to learn that if they want their products on these shelves, it’s not who you know, it’s what you know about keeping costs down.” If ABC were open to presenting critics of Wal-Mart’s business practices—who aren’t hard to find—viewers might have heard a different perspective on just how Wal-Mart is “keeping costs down. Many critics charge that Wal-Mart’s practice of pressuring its suppliers to meet unreasonable price goals results in serious labor abuses. Other outlets, like PBS’s Frontline (11/ 16/04) and the Los Angeles Times (11/24/03), have managed to present that case. And a recent lawsuit filed against Wal-Mart by the International Labor Rights Fund charges that the company maintains relationships with abusive suppliers in a number of countries—including China. Similar complaints have been levied for years by academics and advocacy groups like the National Labor Committee. But ABC apparently had no time for critical commentary about a prominent advertiser. �on the slow-burn disaster that’s been hitting America’s poorest communities hurricanes acts of God, but Katrina by Paul Rogat Loeb for decades. The wealthy and was a level 1 storm, the lowest, until We’re told the 9/11 attacks comfortable could evacuate New blistering temperatures in the Gulf of changed everything for America— Orleans and did, though their lives Mexico supercharged it to level 5. that they ushered us in to a new and were severely disrupted. But in one The storm’s virulence was likely more dangerous world, where we of the nation’s poorest cities, vast could no longer afford old illusions. If related to global climate warming, numbers of citizens had nowhere to we take its full lessons, the disaster of much like the recent forest fires that go, no transportation or money with Hurricane Katrina challenges us even ravaged Southern California, floods which to leave, and no friends or that covered much of Bangladesh, more profoundly. relatives with extra space to house and European heat waves that killed The 9/11 attacks were them. They are the people left 35,000 people two summers ago. horrific, wrenching for the global desperately trying to get out, while Ironically, Mississippi Governor community that witnessed them, the helicopters and resources of a Haley Barbour played a key role, as devastating for those who lost loved third of the Louisiana National Guard an energy lobbyist, in convincing the ones and friends. But for most in are deployed in Iraq. And they will be New York City, life quickly resumed, Bush administration to break its the ones most damaged and most campaign promise to support limits although with an overlay of loss and forgotten when the floodwaters on the carbon dioxide emissions that fear. Although the deaths in New eventually recede. fuel global warming. Orleans were fewer, most of the city We’re told we had to change This disaster was fueled by is now largely a wasteland. Its in the wake of 9/11 or face future residents are exiled from their homes, more than global climate change. terrorist attacks. I suspect there will Engineers and software writers talk of still be more attacks on American often losing everything they had. It’s “common mode failures,” where one soil, following London and Madrid, an open question whether most will ever be able to return to resume their mistake magnifies another and the and that our Iraqi invasion makes this cumulative impact is greater than all work, their lives, and their far more likely. But it’s also probable contributions to a culture that’s given the separate parts. The New Orleans that unless we change, New Orleans levees might never have been so much to the world. To rebuild will not be the last of America’s great breached had the Bush administration cities to collapse in desperation and New Orleans so it becomes more than just a raunchier Disneyland with not reversed Clinton administration ruin. Immediate relief efforts are policies prohibiting development of better music is an undertaking unlike critical, but we also need to address coastal wetlands that once buffered any our nation has ever undertaken. root crises: global warming, runaway 9/11, we were told, required the impact of storms. The levees development, deterioration of critical might have been buttressed and Americans to place unprecedented infrastructure, and a malign neglect repaired had the administration trust in their president and his that leaves more and more Americans responded to a 2001 FEMA study advisors, and to scrap longstanding poor and desperate. warning that a hurricane striking New rules of international law and A year ago, the world’s Orleans was one of the three most domestic liberties. It justified a second largest reinsurance company, likely disasters in the U.S. But instead Swiss Re, warned that the economic preemptive war against Iraq and of honoring the Army Corps of Bush’s reelection, despite all his costs of climate-related disasters failures. Of course it might never have Engineers’ request to strengthen and threatened to reach $150 billion a renovate levees and pumping stations, year within ten years. We’re already occurred if the US hadn’t supported the Bush administration cut the flood bin Laden to begin with, or if our seeing storms of exceptional virulence control budget of the New Orleans policies hadn’t so embittered the accompanying the heating of our Corps of Engineers by $71 million, Islamic world that a small number of oceans by a single degree. Given that men were willing to murder thousands 44 percent of its budget. They New Orleans may cost as much as needed the money for the Iraq war of innocent people. But we’d all $100 billion, what will be the level of and to give $130 billion a year of tax agree the attacks had a profound cuts to a tiny group of wealthy global impact. Americans. So what are the lessons of Finally, this catastrophe built New Orleans? We may call 9/11 In New Orleans destruction as global temperatures continue to increase? The development patterns that destroyed Louisiana wetlands are being repeated throughout America, with the support of an administration intent on removing all limits on private economic activity. The aging levees are part of a deteriorating national infrastructure that will take billions of dollars to address. The poverty that leaves people helpless to respond to disasters of whatever kind continues to grow, accelerated by government policies that transfer resources away from the poorest. 9/11 may have indeed changed our world forever, though the brief window of real discussion it fostered quickly closed, and we were left with false myths about how the only way to view the situation was as a war between ultimate good and ultimate evil. We now have a chance to heed the lessons of New Orleans and Katrina, with consequences potentially far worse than 9/11 if we don’t. We can start conversations, in every corner of our country, about the disasters lessons and causes, and how to move forward in a way that honors the exiled and addresses the disaster’s complex roots. We can call for accountability, from our media and political leaders. We can treat this tragedy as a call to commitment in a way that too few of us did after 9/11. It’s up to us how we respond to the power of its warning. Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of fall 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. See www.paulloeb.org A Call to Greater Cincinnati Poets For the 2006 annual Book of Poems and Drawings on Peace and Justice 1) Call for poems from any poet from the Greater Cincinnati area 2) Poems to relate to themes of peace and justice 3) Poet may submit up to 3 poems 4) All submissions will be considered. The editors will be looking for quality, inclusiveness, and appropriateness to the themes of peace and justice. 5) If space becomes limited, priority will be given to poets not published in previous books 6) Poems selected will be illustrated in B&W by Greater Cincinnati artists (one drawing per poet) 7) Poems and illustrations will be printed in For a Better World 2006, a book to be available April, 2006 8) Book will be launched and available for sale at SOS ART 2006. 9) Poets included in book will be invited to read their poems at SOS ART 2006 10) Proceeds from sale of book will finance publication of future similar books to accompany annual âœSOS ART events. (Note: this is the 3rd annual book) 11) Submission deadline: February 3, 2006 12) Please send submissions in full text and as a Word attachments by e-mail or by US mail (on a floppy disk) to: Saad Ghosn (saad.ghosn@uc.edu), 216 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, Oh 45229 Streetvibes Page 5 �No Room at the Inn Dear Friends of have no place to lay his or her Streetvibes: without your support head. As usual, my mind is on some of our vendors would not New Orleans and the families have food and clothing and who are homeless from the support. Katrina storm. This is a I have been blessing in disguise. approached so many September dawns and times on my way fall begins. The leaves home on the Metro will begin to turn and bus and asked why I the flowers will drop talk so much about their seeds, to be the homeless in my planted later. The monthly article. animal’s fur will begin Miss Mary Gaffney Most are very nice to grow thicker for the people. cold days ahead. My answer to them is that An old childhood saying: the homeless are God’s children the fox has a hole and the bird too, and I will remind them about has a nest, but so many of us Mary and Joseph in the Bible. Paul Allen’s Other Yacht by Paul Rogat Loeb In the wake of the New Orleans disaster, I thought of an article I read about Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen’s other yacht. The 300-foot Tatoosh carries a 30­ person crew, two helicopters, a swimming pool, a spa, a private movie theater, six other surface boats (including a separate 54-foot racing yacht and two Hobie catamarans) and a submarine. Reading about the Tatoosh and a third yacht just slightly smaller made me wonder about Allen’s yacht of choice. Did it have two swimming pools? Four helicopters? Twelve other on-board boats? And what was Allen doing with two yachts, when he could only ride on one at a time? Allen bought the Tatoosh in 2000, when it was America’s second largest. Three years later, he added the Octopus (aptly named for a Microsoft man), enabling him to leapfrog the founder of Victoria’s Secret to own the largest yacht in the world. Itself since surpassed by the yachts of Oracle founder Larry Ellison and the ruler of Dubai, the Octopus is 413 feet long, with seven decks, a 60-person crew including several former Navy SEALs, seven other on-board boats, a basketball court, the obligatory movie theater and swimming pool (just one?), and two submarines, one of which can stay two weeks on the ocean floor. Allen also owns a third megayacht it turns out, plus two personal Boeing 757’s, in case one is in the shop. We know Allen is unimaginably rich, so maybe his yacht collection comes as no surprise. But the Republicans are talking about permanently ending the estate tax in the new Congressional session. Our leaders are already lavishing more and more gifts on those who already have more than they can ever use, even in the midst of crises from the Iraq War to the New Orleans Page 6 disaster, to the shifts in global warming that, by warming the ocean, turned a routine hurricane into a cataclysmic one. Allen’s yachts remind me of our choices about what we value. As former Congressman Ron Dellums once said, you can tell a nation’s soul by the state of its budgets. Time and again we have the chance to house people, feed them, give them health care, affordable education, and a decent chance in life. Or to invest in renewable technologies to head off future climate-related catastrophes. Or at least to rebuild critical infrastructure and restore dignified lives to the wounded and displaced when tragedy hits. Each time we’re told we don’t have enough resources. Yet in the richest country in human history, we make it a point, at every turn, to help those of vast wealth accumulate more and more. Recently I saw a $3 million Brentwood house being torn down so someone could build one on the same lot worth twenty million. I’ve seen comparable extravagance throughout the country, combined with massive cuts in practically every program that serves the needs of ordinary citizens. The super-rich get infinite breaks with nothing asked in return, while more and more Americans struggle just to survive, even in the absence of unexpected cataclysm. The proponents of ending the estate tax warn of devastated small farmers and businessmen, though they can’t come up with a single case of a family farm that’s gone under in recent years as a direct result, and the handful of affected family businesses could be addressed with modest increases in the exemption level. Evidently it’s far more salable to couch these and other regressive cuts with salt-of­ the-earth images than those of Paul Allen on his yacht or Paris Hilton in her gilded video playpen. So many times they were turned away while looking for a place to take care of Mary, because of their looks, their poverty or what they were wearing. There was never room at the inn. But a man with no room but for a stable full of smelly animals offered that space to them. A child was born and at the end of this child’s life he was hanging on the cross between two thieves, eventually to rise up again. What would our lives be without this? It doesn’t hurt to respect other regardless of who they might be or where they have been That’s why I thank the people who buy Streetvibes – it is helping those without. Yes, I am very fond of the homeless. Sometimes they are hurt, and angry with problems. They always speak to me with respect and I return the respect. If I get to the office late they will be waiting. And sometimes they will be at the bus stop waiting. If I have packages, they will help carry them. Some have my home phone number. If I am out of the office they will call to check on me. When I was in the hospital they called me with concern. So it pays to treat people as you would like them to treat you. We are all God’s children in this garden of life, regardless of race, creed or color. Remember, until next month, be good and kind, for He loves you, and so do I. We might remember Dwight Eisenhower’s famed words: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in a final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed— those who are cold and not clothed.” So is each massive regressive tax break. Permanently ending the estate tax will cost the public another trillion dollars over ten years. But we were already making things far worse before the ending of the estate tax. The top 5% of Americans now get $110 billion a year from Bush’s tax cuts, with most going to the top 1%, during a reign that’s cut child abuse prevention, community policing, AmeriCorps, low-income childcare, health care, housing, and even support for military families. Because payment of Social Security taxes is capped at $90,000, and because capital gains taxes have been cut to a maximum of 15%, self-employed carpenters making $30,000 a year already pay a higher percentage of their income than do Paul Allen and his cofounder Bill Gates. In Seattle, where I live (and in whose suburbs Allen and Gates reside), the public paid $300 million to subsidize a football stadium for a team Allen owns, and the City Council has just allocated $50 million to fund a milelong streetcar connecting downtown with Allen’s cluster of biotech companies. Meanwhile the high school my son attends recently had to lay off 11 teachers. We should debate where our government should spend the revenue it takes in. But we also need to discuss where it gets this revenue, and how to share the burden equitably. As Bill Gates Senior wrote, in opposing the estate tax repeal, “Our society has facilitated wealth-building by creating order, protecting freedom, creating laws to govern property relations and our marketplace, and investing in an educated work force. What’s wrong with the most successful people putting onequarter of their wealth back into the place that made their wealth and success possible?” That’s one key argument: those who have the most benefit infinitely more from the institutions of our society than do those who have far less. The other argument is the concept of enough, where we question whether our most important social priority really is to do everything possible to enable a tiny few to buy as many yachts and $20 million houses as they please. Do we really need to help Allen be able to fly 500 of his closest personal friends wherever and whenever he chooses on his two 757s? We might remember that there are more important goals to support with common resources, and more important things to live for. Streetvibes 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 �Goodbye, Coalition A Woman’s Touch violence, poverty, and prisoner reentry. The report was a challenge to all cities to To the people who address these issues. It echoed frequent our lobby, to the the sentiments of homeless vendors of Streetvibes, to the advocates from across the people I’ve worked with who nation. live under bridges and in our Because of the work of local shelters, to the staff of the Coalition for the Homeless, these advocates, we are seeing city officials turning now to to the Coalition’s member options that address the causes organizations, to the teachers and students I have worked with, of homelessness, rather than relying upon band-aid to the Firecats and approaches that often the Ohio Coalition of result in jail time for Homeless Advocates, homeless people. to the National There is still a Homeless Civil very long way to go Rights Organizing in order to eradicate Project, and to the homelessness. And people at the Andy Erickson while advocates in National Coalition recent years have for the Homeless: I made significant advances want to thank you all for your toward that goal, they need guidance, kindness, openness more help to make it happen. and confidence. Many legislative and economic It has been a pleasure working with all of you over the trends will have to be stopped and reversed. It will take much past three years. It’s time and effort, but it’s a continually impressive to see necessary goal to achieve. the many people who are There are 3.5 million people working together – not just in experiencing homelessness Cincinnati, but across the during just one year in these nation – to eradicate United States, and one-third of homelessness from every them are children. That’s 3.5 hidden corner of our million reasons to get involved. neighborhoods, cities and Homeless advocates states. rightfully aim for a time that is To the readers of Streetvibes, I would like to tell 100% free from homelessness – a day when all of the citizens you a little about the work that of our country are provided these advocates are doing. with the basic needs of life, They are causing some including housing. There is no important things to happen. acceptable number of homeless Because of their work, people. It’s a shame that we cities across the US are allow any of our neighbors live recognizing the importance of on the streets. increased services for people As I leave the Greater experiencing homelessness. Cincinnati Coalition for the More and more, officials are speaking out about the growing Homeless, I feel in my heart problem of homelessness – like that the work the Coalition is doing is some of the most mayor Bill Purcell of important work to be done in Nashville, who stated, “These are not simply statistics. These this lifetime. Thanks again, everyone. I feel privileged to are real people, many are families with children, who are have worked alongside you. I know you will be successful in hungry and homeless in our your mission. cities. Unfortunately…we are still far short in meeting the challenges of our neediest citizens.” Mayor Purcell is the cochair of the US Conference of Mayors Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness, which Support released a report in December Your citing as major causes of Vendor homelessness the lack of affordable housing, the lack of Buy Streetvibes treatment services, low paying jobs, unemployment, domestic from Andy Erickson by Joanne Zuhl Str ee tvib es lonely in a lot of ways, too. Yet I can’t connect to a guy yet. I have Pushing a stroller, one trust issues. So I come here all the woman can’t get through the time.” crowded room, so she calls for her Grochowski was abused by playing children to come closer to her husband, evicted, and ended up her. Another woman helps carry the on the streets where she was then toys the children are using over the attacked by other men. At Rose heads of the chatting masses to the Haven, she says she feels safe. She other end of the office, past the has bonded with friends there and seated women sipping coffee and has applied for Section 8 housing. reading books. She hands off the “I’ve been homeless for about five toy and settles back down for a years now off and on. But I really back rub from another women who feel in my heart I’m on the right hasn’t missed a beat in a path now. I’m waiting for housing.” conversation with two others as “This is where everybody they grabbed a few seats among the meets,” said another woman who throng of people, all of them didn’t want her name used. “The women, who come daily to the ladies get together and we just chit sanctuary of Rose Haven. chat and talk and get into groups For all the activity and and go off and do things together. noise, the room is inviting, filled This is pretty unique. This is a very with the conversation of women of unique spot.” all ages and abilities who come here She became homeless about for some respite from the street. two months ago, and has bounced About 85 percent of the women around in and out of temporary who use Rose Haven’s services are shelter. She started coming to Rose homeless when they walk in the Haven because it was one of the door. The others are near to it. few women-only service providers They come here to use the phones, she could find. If Rose Haven receive one-on-one counseling and wasn’t here, she said, “I’m afraid basic health care, attend the women would probably go crazier workshops and look for resources. than they already are.” Most importantly, they come here For all the women in the because it’s safe. office, there are always three more; “I come down here three homeless victims whose periodically just to get moral names have survived their deaths. support,” said Donna Drew who Lilla Moler, 28, Stephanie Russell, stepped outside Rose Haven’s 26, and Alexandria Ison, 17, were crowded office on Third Street. found strangled to death in Forest “I’m homeless right now. I’ve been Park in 1999. Their deaths raised on the streets almost four months. awareness of the plight of homeless But I get my apartment this week women and spurred efforts to and the support here helps me to develop emergency shelters for get out there and do what I need to women on the streets. A small do.” plaque, created by a woman to Rose Haven sees an honor their memory, hangs in the average of 86 women every hall at Rose Haven. It states simply, morning, Monday through Friday, “No woman should be homeless.” each of them, like Donna, looking “Our first year we had two for the strength and confidence to women in their late 60s come in. do what they need to do. They had been on the streets for Advocates at the center help the three or four days. I think it was women connect with emergency because one of their husband’s had shelter, housing, health care and died. They were on the street and it other services. It is often a struggle, was winter and it was cold. We put the staff says, with fewer and fewer them in a comfortable chair. They resources left available for had cold, cold feet, and we put emergency shelter specifically for their feet in warm water. And I women. Rose Haven’s clients are walked in and they asked if I was in all victims of extreme poverty, but charge, and they had tears running many are also living with the other down their face and they said, ‘We fall-outs: domestic violence, drug thought we’d never be warm again,’ and alcohol addictions, prostitution, and, ‘Everybody’s being so nice to and increasingly these days, human us.’” And we were able to get them trafficking. into a winter shelter. And they were “I came here because it’s a just weeping. Nobody should be on women’s place,” said Yvonne the streets, but our seniors? Come Grochowski, who is homeless. “It on. We have people in their 80s makes me feel like a person and I coming in here,” says Sister Cathie get to interact with women. I never Boerboom, Program Manager, really had girlfriends. So I’m really Rose Haven. Streetvibes Page 7 �Mississippi high court declines to hear man’s appeal in death of homeless man The Mississippi Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a Gulfport man sentenced to 15 years for his role in the beating death of a homeless man. Roy Charles Schankin was sentenced in 2003 in Harrison County. He had been convicted of manslaughter in the 2000 death of Claude E. Cochran, 57, of Sylacauga, Ala. The state Court of Appeals in March upheld Schankin’s conviction. The Supreme Court on Thursday denied Schankin’s request to hear his appeal. Schankin was the second person convicted in the death of Cochran, who fell into the Mississippi Sound after a beating on the old Courthouse Pier. Cochran died two days later. Schankin and William “Lee” Cobb originally were charged with murder. Cobb pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in 2002 in exchange for testifying against Schankin. Cobb was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The beating, Cobb testified at Schankin’s trial, was over a fight the previous night, when Cochran allegedly assaulted Cobb and robbed one of his friends. Cobb testified that he obtained the metal pipe from Schankin for protection, then beat Cochran with it and rolled him off the pier. Homeless Who Am I? Your sister or brother, your Mother or father, your daughter or your son. I am homeless. Black or white, red or brown, I walk the streets all day looking just to make it. Through the day people look at me and stand back to their friends and talk about me, about how I look and how I smell, never knowing the real person that is inside of me. As you watch your TV and play your tapes, I try to stay warm on very cold days. When you are warm in your home, I am homeless. As you sleep at night in your nice warm bed I am trying to sleep anywhere I can: rooftops and doorways, park benches and so on. — “Homeless” National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) Got The Vibe? 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 Berta’s Art Corner This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. Time, Shadow of bricks, Peaslee Neighbor Center Page 8 Streetvibes �Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �need in our city and the Gulf region. Immediately, almost every hand went up and we began to hear by Steve Sunderland the stories of what is The September Crisis: The going on in each school disaster on the American Gulf to raise money, food, Coast has caught so many by water, and support for surprise. No plan for caring the citizens of evacuation of those in greatest need Louisiana, Mississippi, has happened. The city of New and Alabama. Dr. Orleans is almost empty of Donna Mayerson Dr. Steve Sunderland everyone who wanted to go; spoke eloquently of the perhaps thousands are remaining need to recognize Cincinnati’s and due to a commitment to their city. Northern Kentucky’s needs as well. “Duckie Regatta” on the Major issues of hunger, thirst, But the momentum is clearly aimed Cincinnati’s waterfront on Labor housing and health care have been at using New Orleans as an Day when 80,000 rubber ducks so brutally handled that the stress of opportunity for both service and were released to race. Each duck viewing the abandoned is beyond learning. The youth of Cincinnati, raised about $5.00 for the words. What is necessary to say is no matter what our problems, are FreeStore, our local and regional that the poor and those living on saying: “We can help!” food bank. Students and faculty fragile existences has dramatically I was honored to talk with from the Peace Village helped with increased in every major American these teachers, many active the removal of the ducks following city, Cincinnati especially. Now, members of the Peace Village. I the race. we need to take this insight and see saw Gina Keith of McCauley, Now, we are aiming for our how we can productively help both Melanie Brinkman of Mt. Notre second annual conference on Peace our cities and the Gulf area. Dame, Craig Rush of Shroder, and and Hunger. This will be on Last month, at a meeting at several others as well from Aiken, October 22, University of the Mayerson Teacher Institute, 60 Moeller, Roger Bacon, Cincinnati Cincinnati’s African American teachers from schools all over Hills Christian Academy and many Center, 9-1pm. Teams of students, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky from schools I have had no contact faculty and members of the joined Steve Elliot, master teacher with in our programs. FreeStore will meet and hear what of service learning, and me for a I spoke about the Peace worked last year in our gathering of discussion of service learning and Village Peace and Hunger program. resources for Thanksgiving and the crisis of facing those in greatest Our year has begun with a great Xmas. Please contact me if you are The Peace Village interested in attending. You can reach me at 513.919.2538. I also spoke about the connections between what we have learned from September 11, 2001 and the New Orleans disaster and invited the group to bring teams to our 4th annual commemoration of the September 11 attack. All of these programs of reflection are open to the public and you are strongly urged to join us, share your voices and deep feelings about what has and is happening to our country and our world. We, in the planning groups, have felt that our small efforts to make peace, be peace, and create chances for people to express themselves are essential parts of showing continued concern for justice and 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 interna­ tional community committed to examining all issues of Peace in the world. Dr. Sunderland also heads up Posters-for-Peace which en­ gages people in expressing their visions of Peace, in their own words through the cre­ ation of posters. FRAC Food and Hunger Report Study: Food Programs Help LowIncome Children Maintain Normal Body Weight; Do Not Contribute to Obesity. (“Obesity Rate for Low Income Children Not Higher,” newsdesk.umd.edu, September 14, 2005) A new University of Maryland study found that America’s lowest income children do not have a higher rate of obesity than higher income children. Federal food programs, such as the food stamp and national school lunch and breakfast programs do not increase the incidence of childhood obesity in households below the poverty line. Researchers wanted to explore whether media reports that portray spreading childhood obesity as a result of too much food provided by food programs are right, since evidence of that might result in program cuts. “We wanted to find out whether there is a relationship between family income and a child’s being overweight and whether participating in federal food programs is associated with child overweight, ”said Sandra L. Hofferth, professor of family studies at Maryland, who co-authored the study. Children from the poorest families were found to Page 10 benefit from the food programs. Children who eat school lunches maintain a normal body weight, whereas those who do not eat school lunches weigh less than normal. Children from families with incomes just over the poverty line – the near poor – are most at risk of being overweight, but school lunch participation was not the determining factor. “In addition to school food programs, these children in near poor or working class families may have more money to spend on food in school vending machines or the snack bar,” said Hofferth. In contrast, highincome children were less likely to be overweight, which suggests that more food expenditures most likely lead to higher quality of food rather than quantity. The study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Disaster Might Help Convince Congress Not to Reduce Assistance to Poor (“Hurricane May Help Advocates Protect Medicaid, Food Stamps From Planned Cuts,” mlive.com, September 10, 2005) A coalition of Michigan anti-poverty groups urged lawmakers not to allow the proposed food stamp cuts. The antihunger advocates say that the Katrina disaster has shown how essential safety-net programs – such as food stamps and Medicaid. “As we look at dealing with a disaster like Katrina, we see people fleeing to all parts of the country who have no income and no food,” said Terri Stangl of the Center for Civil Justice in Saginaw. “This is a bad time to be looking at cuts when we see that this kind of program can make a huge difference.” The advocates hope that refugees in camps across the country will be their allies in the battle to preserve – if not increase – funding for social programs. “Now there is a human face on poverty that people can relate to,” said Marianne Udow, director of the Michigan Department of Human Services. “The priorities in the budget that the president proposed and Congress is considering are not aligned with helping those most in need.” http://tinyurl.com/an4tk Will President Bush Seize Moment and Attack Poverty Rather Than Cut Taxes for the Rich? (“The Other America,” msnbc.com, September 10, 2005) Streetvibes In this Newsweek piece Jonathan Alterwrites that Katrina may offer a chance to make Washington think harder about why parts of the country seem like the Third World. While, over the past four decades, Social Security has eliminated most poverty among the elderly and food stamps mostly have eliminated severe hunger, poverty in America has gotten worse for three years in a row. The primary economic problem is not lack of jobs, but low wages for workers of all races: “For the poor, the idea of lowwage jobs’ covering the basic expenses of living has become a cruel joke.” Another problem is racism. Yet leaders in Congress give priority to estate tax repeal and are set to slash food stamps by billions, yet keep subsidies to wealthy farmers intact. Katrina could change these politics, which is not good news for those who want to reduce the government to the point where it can be, in Grover Norquist’s words, “strangled in the bathtub.” Katrina also gives President Bush an “only-Nixon-could-go-toChina” opportunity to seize the moment and undertake a correction that might change the lives of millions of poor people. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9287641/ �Community Leaders Take Responsibility by Oren Elow Black boys in Massachusetts are dropping out and away from high school and represent the highest percentage of suspensions in middle school and the largest percentage of preschool expulsions. Black boys in Massachusetts represent the single largest percentage of youth in school suspensions, expulsions and the Department of Youth Services. Foster care and the Youth Services Department appear to be the “feeder system” for the state correctional system for black men. Black leaders recently gathered together at the Fourth Annual 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference at the Hynes Convention Center, which State Senator Dianne Wilkerson and Representative Byron Rushing convened to ask the question, “What do you think is happening to our black boys and what can ‘we’ do about it to turn it around?” The conference theme this year was The Pampers to Prison Pipeline: The Ms. Education of Black Boys in Massachusetts. This was just a fragment of the issues that would be discussed over the next two days. But because of my grandson graduating the next day from Holy Cross Cathedral High School, I could only attend the conference on one day. But by attending both functions, I had the opportunity to get two different narrations. From the 21st Century conference came questions: What is wrong with out public school system? Are white women teachers, who make up 80 percent of our public school teachers, capable of teaching black male youths? And what to do about the deadly, violent crimes in the streets, especially in the urban cities? At Holy Cross Cathedral the next day, the atmosphere was much different from that of the 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference. Here at the graduation ceremony, no one asked why our children couldn’t learn, or whether or not white female teachers can teach black and Hispanic male students. What was going on in this great Gothic cathedral were applauds, standing ovations and shouts coming from the audience of 600 proud parents, relatives and friends cheering as each graduate got up to receive their diplomas. “That’s my boy! Hey, man! I see you!” shouted a proud father from the audience. Here the leaders and teachers of the school praised the graduates, who were mostly black and Hispanic, for the hard work they’d done over the years to complete high school. At the Hynes Convention Center, the leaders and the audience were struggling with what to do for their youths who weren’t graduating high school and why were there so many black children in special educational classes. There were many questions posed by the audience to the sitting panel at the 21st Century forum. Panelist Minister Don Muhammad, of Muhammad’s Mosque of Islam, began by asking, “Why are our black boys so angry? And most of us interpret this anger to be against society, and against white people. But the truth of the matter is that they’re angry with us.” Applauds – and a few “Amens” sounded from the audience of about 500. “Oh yes, they’re angry with us,” the minister continued. Now his voice was coming from his stomach and not his head. “They’re angry at their mothers who gave them television as a babysitter; they’re angry with their daddies for impregnating their mothers and leaving them. Oh yes, they’re angry; they’re mad at the world, and angry with themselves. And if we don’t do something, we’ll continue losing our black boys to street gangs, prison, death.” Minister Don also stated that 69 percent of black children in America’s homes are reared only by a mother. He also went on to say that the black problem lies with some of the neighborhood black leaders who are doing their own thing. “No one is working together; they don’t want to play team ball. They all want to be superstars and celebrities.” The panelists – whom also included guest speaker Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, an educational consultant; Dr. Deborah Stith, a Harvard professor; and Rev. Eugene Rivers, an old guard and who was one of the first community activists in the late ’80s to work the streets to help with the youth problems – now understand that in order for the community to develop fully, they as leaders and the community must now stop putting all the blame on The Man and put it where it belongs, back in the community. “We must take on the responsibility of seeing to it that our children are brought up in a decent environment,” Rev. Rivers stated. How to do this? The panelists suggested that community organizers get involved and that individuals who aren’t involved in community organizations get involved for this objective. In fact, they’re calling on everyone to take part in this issue. They’re calling on the lucrative black folks that have moved out of the city and into the suburbs to come back into the city as volunteers to help inner-city youths. With this kind of attitude coming out of the conference hall, things should only get better for the black youths in Massachusetts. As for the 57 Holy Cross graduates, they’d done their thing and were now looking forward to higher things, like college and higher education, while the kids in the streets were dying from lack of love. After the graduate ceremony ended and everyone had gathered outside, I had the honor of interviewing Jorge Castellanos, the student-graduate speaker who impressed the entire church with his speech on school ethics and the esteem of learning at Holy Cross Cathedral High School. I wanted to meet and interview this bright young man because he was smart, articulate and a potential leader. Thus I found him surrounded by a jam-packed crowd outside the church. And here’s what he had to say when I asked him, “What do you think is the difference between the young men and women who are graduating here today and the many young men and gang members who have given up on school and are unwilling to learn?” “Well,” Jorge said, standing tall with chin up in his black cap and gown, “basically, we’re the future, and the future depends on the youths. And those who are graduating got to get out there and give good names to our communities and the minorities out there. Our neighborhoods don’t have good names. So, that’s what I’m trying to do, set an example for my brother,” who was standing at his side, “and all my siblings. And for everyone that is young.” “What do you think of the teachers here?” “Well, you know, they’re good teachers and very supportive. I’m glad I came to this school, or else I couldn’t have done the things I’ve done. Without them I wouldn’t be going on to college.” “Most of the teachers here are white women,” I said. “Yes.” I then asked Jorge, did he believe that white female teachers can teach, plus understand the problems both black and Hispanic students confront each day in the city streets? “Yeah,” Jorge said. “I think they’re great teachers. And, like I said, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be standing here today. And about our problems – yes, I think they try hard to understand what they don’t already know. They’re not prejudiced at all.” No matter how different these two narrations, they’re both about moving forward. One is about accepting responsibility for the modification of the missing education of black boys. And the other is about moving on to high education. Both are a sign of growth and change. Streetvibes Homegrown homeless go begging Mary lived in a Cutlass Sierra with three grandchildren for six weeks. Today, they live at The Crossing, Denver Rescue Mission’s transitional facility for homeless families. Mary and her grandkids need help. If they had come from the Gulf Coast to Denver, they’d be getting it. Instead, they have languished for two months in a small room as Mary searches for full-time employment and works temp jobs to pay the rent. Mary is not a victim of Hurricane Katrina. She’s a victim of compassion fatigue. “I went to several agencies,” Mary said. “They had no housing. I don’t why they had no housing, then, Katrina happens, and you throw the doors open. If the housing is here now, it was there then.” She feels for the hurricane evacuees living in a dormitory at Lowry. She knows they didn’t choose to be victims of the country’s worst natural disaster. But she also knows she didn’t choose to be homeless with three grandkids. She’s not whining, just making a point. When resources are available to offer jobs and health care and apartments with a year of free rent to evacuees from New Orleans, Mary asked, “why isn’t it offered to women and children who are already on the streets?” Coloradans will answer the question as they follow up on their generosity for Katrina victims. Advocates for the homeless hope folks continue to donate money, time and services to local charities. “We certainly have seen people come out in massive numbers (to help hurricane evacuees),” said John Parvensky, president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “It’s more than we see in response to the day-to-day concerns. To some extent, we grow numb to the ongoing pain in our community.” We judge needy neighbors in ways we would never judge hurricane victims. People “can see themselves in the same situation as Katrina victims,” Parvensky said. These same people see the local homeless as ne’er-do-wells on the street by choice. Fact is, Parvensky said, most people become homeless through no fault of their own. They lose a job. They get sick. She is the face of the Denver homeless we don’t want to see. We prefer the faces we can 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (70 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �Feel Safe or Be Safe? by Suhith Wickrema no squeegee men and panhandlers, dope peddlers will stop selling dope, Cincinnati has a real battle for gang-bangers will stop shooting each Mayor this election and the issue of other and men will stop raping women. public safety has dominated the Even discredited theories take twenty political discussion. Three of the years to come to Cincinnati! candidates have announced their Mr. Pepper’s plan to decrease Public Safety plans. Let’s examine the violent crime rate in Cincinnati is to their proposals. have zero tolerance for “quality of life Mr. Pepper and Mr. Winburn concerns” such as “noise graffiti and tout the “broken window” theory litter.” He makes an obligatory mention popularized by John Q. Wilson and of treatment, but no mention of George L. Kelling who wrote, in increasing treatment slots. He claims 1982: “one unrepaired broken that Cincinnati is “under staffed when it window is a signal that no one cares comes to its police force.” and, breaking more windows costs Mr. Winburn promises to nothing.” increase the Cincinnati Police When it comes to policing Department by 200 officers at a cost of theory this translates to zero tolerance $8.5 million. He also promises to build for “quality of life crimes.” This was a new jail. He does not say how he is the rational used by New York City going to find the money for these Police Commissioner William Bratton projects. Although Mr. Winburn claims in the 1990’s to start arresting minor that he will fight violent crime from “all lawbreakers such as “squeegee” men directions and angles” he does not and panhandlers. address treatment. Mr. Pepper and Mr. Winburn would have us believe that if there are Mr. Pepper and Mr. Winburn cite New York City as a model in reducing crime –– is it the best model? During the same period when New York City took this approach and coincidentally saw a reduction in crime rates, San Francisco took a different approach –– alternative sentencing and community involvement –– and saw a larger decrease in crime rates than in New York City. From 1995 to 1998 San Francisco’s violent crime rate went down 33%. NY City’s violent crime rate went down only 26 % in the same time period. While claiming that the CPD is understaffed, both candidates have omitted some interesting figures about the CPD compared to other cities: Cincinnati has 31 police officers per 10,000 residents while San Francisco has 29, Louisville has 27, Columbus has 25, and Lexington has 19. The salary of an entry-level officer in Cincinnati is $37,487, in Columbus it’s $30,480, in Lexington $30,274, and in Louisville $27,689. (All figures are for the year 2000) Mr. Mallory is pushing boot camps to fight crimes. Boot camps may satisfy the punitive instinct in most of us. Boot camps by themselves are purely punitive and have not shown to be effective. However, Mr. Mallory does include the after care component for boot camps that have shown to reduce crime. Having a parent in prison is a strong predictor that their child will end up in prison. Apolicy that promises to lockup people will only increase the prison population. It will not reduce crime. It will not reduce the number of victims. The ‘Lock them up’ mentality makes most of us feel safe. It does not make us safe. So, think before you vote! It is time that we got smart on crime! Anti-racism workshop organizers hit by Hurricane Katrina by Adam Hyla Its offices were flooded, its computers destroyed, its reams of paper records dissolved in the waters of Lake Pontchartrain. Its director had to fly back to the city in the face of the hurricane to extract his family; his 80-year-old mother was lifted out by an evacuation team, dangling from a helicopter. And the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a national organization which conducts seminars on reversing the effects of racial bias, was located in the eye of a disaster — one that lifted back the curtain veiling social inequities for millions of Americans who have never been to an anti-racism workshop. The destruction of the national headquarters “has tragic significance,” says Daniel Buford, head of the group’s satellite office in Berkeley. “Our archives, print and electronic, were completely destroyed. We have been documenting racism in the United States and New Orleans for over 25 years. So it’s a tragedy on the organizational level.” And on the human level, too: “knowing your friends, people you loved had to get out of town with just the clothes on their back.” One of those people is organization director Ron Chisom, 64, whose days are now spent finding food, shelter, clothing, and a home for his mother. “You never think it’s going to happen to you,” says Chisom. And at the same time, you do; Chisom recounts how family and friends remember the flooding of the mostly African American Ninth Ward after Hurricane Betsy tore through the city in 1965, killing 75 people. Just like today, racism played a role then, he says. “There is such history and such a cultural dynamic” to racism, he says; it manifests itself differently everywhere, but it’s always the same thing. The People’s Institute has trained an estimated 5,000 people in Seattle alone in a two-day “undoing racism” workshop that tackles the malingering 500-year-old struggle with racial inequality in North America. It asks participants to take an expansive view of race in American life: it’s the system, not the people, which perpetuates inequality. No matter how healthy the relationship between individuals of different races — or, as Chisom says, regardless of “how people feel about somebody” — people of color have a very different experience with civic agencies and power centers from hospitals to high schools, bus systems to banks. Workshops trainers offer a historical analysis of how race difference were enshrined in law, provide examples of institutional racism in everyday life, and then invite participants to turn such situations into opportunities for action. The trainings continue in cities across the country, including Seattle. Satellite offices are set up here and in New York andAtlanta. Trainers will be paid for their work; Chisom says the organization is raising money to continue payments for home-office staff — who, Buford says, are displaced to seven different cities. “We’ve reverted back to our roots of being a network organization, not hierarchical or top-down,” says Buford. “Diaspora is an appropriate term.” The group is also calling for a reconstruction with justice: a living wage paid to residents of the Gulf Coast, rebuilding communities of their design. Buford says what’s happened to their home base validates the organization’s teachings.“The slow federal response, the slow state response, the unwillingness to spend money on the shoring up of the levees, it comes from an essential fact: they do not value the lives of the people who make up the majority of New Orleans, who just happen to be of African descent.” More information: www.pisab.org. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. — Martin Luther King, Jr. Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory. — Norman Vincent Peale Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit. — Norman Vincent Peale “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes Page 13 �CHILDREN ENGAGING COMPASSION is a project of S.O.S. Art and Peaslee Neighborhood Center. Over the course of a week, children worked with artist C. Pic Michel and writer Andrea Nichols (WWF(a)CF) to learn about values of compassion, caring, sharing, free giving, respect and appreciation of others through the creation of art and writing. The purpose was to help instill these values and make them tangible and actively present in the children’s thinking and behavior. S.O.S. Art is an organization that promotes social/political expression. Peaslee Neighborhood Center is a peaceful place where Over-the-Rhine residents create and participate in dialogue based educational programs that foster creative expression, self-determination, personal voice, and social change. Women Writing for (a) Change Foundation’s mission is to foster a healthy writing community where the words of women and girls from all walks of life are nurtured, developed, and celebrated. Funding for the foundation is provided by the City of Cincinnati, the Ohio Arts Council, the Tomcinoh Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and theManuel D and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation. Character Development of “THE KINGDOM OF PEACE” A Book By Children from Peaslee Neighborhood Center in Over-the-Rhine All of the characters and events in the story were determined by the children. Guided by prompts, the youth focused on specific qualities as attributes (citizens, heroes, adversaries) of peace and used words, clay, and crayon colored drawings to define and develop their story. These are the characters from their story. The project was funded by The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Summertime Kids grant, the Fine Arts Fund, and Women Writing For (a) Change Foundation, with an in-kind contribution from C. Pic Michel to photo document, design and organize a book. THE KINGDOM OF PEACE An Enchanting Tale of the Qualities of Peace from Children at the Peaslee Center in Over-the-Rhine Once upon a time Miss Evil and Mr. Anger fulfilled their plan to destroy the Kingdom of Peace. Miss Evil invited all of the townspeople to a party that wasn’t really a party. Her party was actually a war. They also invited the Prince because they really wanted to lock him in prison because they knew he would do anything to save the Kingdom. All they had to do to trap him was to tell him that they didn’t like him over and over and pretend that they weren’t really going to invite him to they party because once they did this, he turned into a beast called Mr. Death. Mr. Death bit a lot of people before they locked him in the prison. Lots of the townspeople lost their lives at Miss Evil’s party that was really a war. While Miss Evil was hosting her so-called party, Mr. Anger destroyed the rest of the town. He cut the ropes to the bridge across the river so no one could get out. He kicked in the doors to homes and let dogs loose to eat everything up. All of the blue and red houses were knocked down into piles of rubble. The people tried to fight back but Mr. Anger turned the sun into fire and the thunder into rocks and they came down out of the sky to destroy everything in their way. Mr. Anger even turned the buildings into robots that smashed cars. When Mr. Anger and Miss Evil were finished the only thing left in the Kingdom of Peace were busted windows, and dead trees. Everything fell into a pile of rubble and the Prince was locked in prison. At the top of a hill on the other side of the river, Ms. Kindness and Mr. Forgiveness surveyed the damage. They felt sad for their Kingdom and had to do something to save it. Mr. Forgiveness reached in his pocket and found love and Ms. Kindness pulled some sympathy out of her purse and they began their job of fixing the kingdom. They cleaned up the rocks and stacked them in the river for people to climb on so they could get out and Ms. Kindness used her helping rope to rebuild the bridge. Mr. Forgiveness put the fire back in the clouds and gave it back to the sun. Mr. Forgiveness knew how to use rain to cleanse and put out fires. He used the old wood from the bridge to get people out of the water and to rebuild their houses. He cut down the dead trees and planted new ones. Mr. Forgiveness used lots of love to rebuild the castle. The bricks were made out of generosity and sympathy. Ms. Kindness and Mr. Forgiveness loved everyone they came in contact with to nurse them back to health. As they walked through the town loving everyone and putting lotion on their hurts they found the key of kindness to get the Prince out of prison. On their way to the prison they bumped into Mr. Anger and Miss Evil. Mr. Forgiveness forgave them right away and Ms. Kindness wished that they could have lots of friends. They invited Mr. Anger and Miss Evil to their car for a ride and to give them a drink of magic water that had flowers of truth in it. Ms. Kindness grew these flowers in her garden, and they always made people nicer. Mr. Anger took a drink and turned into Mr. Generosity and went to help rebuild the castle. Miss Evil took a drink and turned into Ms. Humor and went to plan a real party. When Ms. Kindness and Mr. Forgiveness used the key of kindness to let Mr. Death out of the prison, his first words to them were “Thank-you.” They said, “You’re Welcome.” He immediately turned back into a prince. They promised to always make him feel better whenever he felt sad so he wouldn’t turn into a beast again and all three of them helped Mr. Anger and Miss Evil stay good by respecting them and being nice to them. They all worked together to make the Kingdom better. That night they got to have a real party at Ms. Humor’s house and she served them coffee and everyone told jokes. The End Mr. Forgiveness Forgiveness wears pants and suit. On Mondays he wears a white tuxedo. On Tuesday he wears pink roses. On Wednesday he wears a tie with wheels. On Thursdays he wears grey dress clothes, and on Fridays he wears a black tuxedo with a white rose in the pocket. He is very tall. Forgiveness is giving. When you bump into him he listens when you say you are sorry. He drives people home, and helps kids cross the street. He helps moms with their babies. He wants to tell everyone to stop fighting and be friends. If husbands and wives fight he takes them to anger management. He might take kids to the principal’s office. He carries love in his pockets along with sunshine, clouds and rain. He carries a badge and tells people to give things back. He helps the poor with his money, and he donates it to Food For Thought. His house doesn’t have blinds because when people look in he forgives them. He has a big front door with no lock. It is brown because it is his favorite color. Forgiveness is friends with Miss Kindness, Ms. Truth and Mr. Tolerance. His boss at work is Ms. Patience. His enemies are Mr. Hate and Mr. Anger. (But he forgives them too) Page 14 Streetvibes �Miss Kindness Kindness wears gold bracelets with red hearts, and diamonds. She wears lucky boots because she loses things. She doesn’t hurt animals and gives back things that are lost. She takes care of hurt animals and braids people’s hair. Kindness would marry Kindness and Truth. She sends money to the president and to the needy. Kindness carries sunshine, love, tolerance, feelings, humor, sympathy, truth and generosity in her purse. Kindness is there for everyone when they are hurt. She puts lotion on ashy skin, builds poor people homes, and helps Africans get food. She can sense when people are in need. Her flowers are while and red roses made in her garden. She gives them to mothers and for birthday presents. She builds mansions for the homeless. She is 31 but you can be kind no matter how old you are. She is happy and smiles. Kindness plays with both boys and girls and protects them and keeps them safe. She makes all their hurts feel better. She helps kittens out of trees. Kindness sounds like tapping feet, beautiful singing, running water, the ocean and the seashore, the wind, whales singing, and dolphins singing. She gives people rides to work when their cars are broken down or when it rains. She wishes for everyone to have friends, for everyone to help everyone, and for kids to have good grades. She has a special ball to bounce mean people back into the river. She can see through walls to keep us away from thieves. Kindness is friends with sympathy, beauty, and honor. Her enemies are evil and disrespect. Mr. Death He needs to be forgiven. He didn’t get forgiven. He hurt a woman. He bit Mrs. Kindness, Ms. Truth and Mr. Honor. He like humans to eat and God told him not to and if he stops he will turn into a king. He has an angry face because he did not get forgiven. He has a sad face because he doesn’t get invited to parties because he is mean. People hurt his feelings. He’s trying to be nice like a prince to get invited to the party. He turns back into a beast when people tell him they don’t like him. His house is a half house and he lives downstairs. His money is under his house. His house has white walls with blood red designs Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Streetvibes Page 15 �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 October 2005 Cincinnati Serves Record Number of Homeless People Standdown 2005 Cover Story 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 2005 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 2005 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Standdown Serves Record Number of Homeless People Pg 2: Day Labor Follow-Up Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Vendor Pg 5: 9/11 In New Orleans Pg 6: No Room at the Inn Paul Allen’s Other Yacht Pg 7: Goodbye, Coalition A Woman’s Touch Pg 8: Mississippi High Court Declines to Hear Man’s Appeal in Death of Homeless Man Pg 9: Xavier University Cintas Center Pg 10: The Peace Village FRAC Pg 11: Community Leaders Take Responsibility Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Feel Safe or Be Safe? Anti-Racism Workshop Organizers Hit by Hurricane Katrina Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 2005 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Andy Lawrence John Lavelle Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alison Leeuw Andy Lawrence Cincinnati FRAX Georgine Getty Homeless News Digest Hurricane Katrina Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Mississippi Monique Little New Orleans Peace Village Standdown Susan Smith Wal-Mart https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/74b3bcc609cc679a9bf26ad75db64d38.pdf b4225bbf560b30122db75a68d0031321 PDF Text Text November 2005 STREETVIBES Just Add Affordable Housing – For a Greater Cincinnati by John Lavelle On September 13th, voters in the city of Cincinnati voted overwhelmingly to nominate Cincinnati City Councilman David Pepper and State Senator Mark Mallory for the November 8th general election’s mayoral ballot. Each candidate is considered a moderate Democrat, so it will be up to each of them to distinguish themselves from each other. With both candidates receiving almost an equal number of votes, citizens expect a close race focused on the issues. Certainly, two issues on Steetvibes readers’ minds are the topics of homelessness and affordable housing. Let us take a brief look at the platforms and records of the two candidates: David Pepper When approached by the Affordable Housing Advocates earlier in the year about meeting to discuss the issues surrounding affordable housing, both candidates were eager to do so. AHA talked with David Pepper back in January, educating him on the purpose of AHA, the history of affordable housing in Cincinnati, and the current housing and wage crises. They expressed a desire to see stronger leadership and a David Pepper better relationship with citizens who all too often are unaware of their options and caught up in city bureaucracy. Pepper was receptive to the discussion and listened very openly. Certain parts of his platform reflect this, addressing the need for a living wage and more affordable housing. On his website, Pepper discusses his record on encouraging economic growth, stating that “key tasks remaining on this agenda include a comprehensive effort on affordable home ownership” (davidpepper.com/record.php). He makes mention of “affordable housing” many times throughout his “Neighborhoods Plan,” particularly on page 27, where he acknowledges citizens’ problems with the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority and demands greater accountability from their leadership so that residents can be better served. It should be noted as well that Pepper supports merging different subsidized housing programs in one entity (instead of both CMHA and the county, for example), a position not supported by many affordable housing advocates who feel this may limit choice for consumers of public housing. Under the “Economic Plan” on his website, Pepper states that the city must encourage employers to pay a living wage with benefits, reaching out to ex-offenders and highschool dropouts (page 32). Pepper has a history of active engagement with groups such as the Society for the Advancement of Reformed Felons (SARF) and has been very supportive in assisting this population into stability. Not all is peaches and cream with Pepper, though. In May 2003, he voted in favor of the panhandling ordinance, ardently supporting its subsequent renewal in 2004. The panhandling ordinance requires the registration of panhandlers who must then carry a license to panhandle, legislation that homeless advocates condemn as a violation of both the 1st Amendment and individual civil rights. Pepper talks affordable housing and living wage, but does not go much further in his comprehensive plans than quick mentions. Hopefully the coming month will shed more light on his stance on these important issues. Mark Mallory Mallory met with the Affordable Housing Advocates in early August, discussing his own thoughts and ideas. During the meeting, he expressed an interest in infill building and policy that mandates that a certain percentage of housing be affordable; this is a platform long shared by affordable housing advocates. He specifically noted Potterhill Homes – a company that makes high-quality, affordable modular homes – as an example of a great option for affordable home ownership. He was also interested in more accessible housing for those in need of assisted living. Furthermore, Mallory agreed with AHA that resources be focused on the needs of renters and rental properties, recommending that emphasis be placed on treating citizens who rent as assets to the city. Finally, Mallory supported restoring the city planning department, the lack of which has frustrated advocates and developers since its dissolution. During that meeting and throughout his campaign, Mallory has stressed strong leadership and sustainable solutions to the city’s numerous problems. He appears to look beyond the surface of Cincinnati’s problems. Being able to look at the systemic problems is key to addressing a major issue such as homelessness. Mallory speaks for himself as having this capacity and the necessary leadership to boot. He cites his ten years of leadership in the state capital as evidence. In 2003, Senator Mallory worked with the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio to successfully restore $4.7 million in Emergency Shelter Grant funding and $5.5 million in Transitional Housing funding to the state budget. All that was necessary was a call to Mallory, who quickly understood how many people depended on this funding and was able to do the Mark Mallory necessary politicking to restore it within a week. Overall, it seems that each candidate would be able to have a profound effect on the city, given their qualifications and platforms. On November 8th, the citizens of Cincinnati will have the chance to decide who will lead the city for the next four years. Ohioans Need a Raise! by John Lavelle Did you know that Ohio is one of two states – the other being Kansas – with a state minimum wage below the federal level of $5.15 per hour? That’s right, Ohio’s minimum wage still remains at the level at which it was set in 1990: $4.25/hour. Some 500,000 Ohioans work for this minimum wage, the majority of them women. Most are not even the stereotypical minimum wage workers: 15 year old high school students flipping burgers for gas money. It is estimated that around 71% of these minimum wage workers are over the age of 20. Currently, there is a campaign to put a referendum on the November 2006 ballot that Email: homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com would raise the state minimum wage to $6.85/ or Phone: 513.421.7803 x13. hour, indexed to increase every year with inflation. Not only would this effect minimum wage workers, but experts expect the increase to raise pay for all low wage workers (the “rising tide lifts all boats” theory). In order for the referendum to appear on the ballot next year, proponents must collect 322,899 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters prior to August 10, 2006. Volunteers will be out at polls on Election Day, November 8th, Some 500,000 Ohioans work for minimum soliciting signatures and raising awareness. If wage, the majority of them women. you are interested in volunteering in the coming months, please contact John Lavelle, Civil Rights Advocate at GCCH, and will connect you with organizers. 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Andy Lawrence - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Jimmy Heath 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Victory Won for Human Service Provider Community and the People they Serve by Georgine Getty October 19, Cincinnati City Council unanimously voted to restore Human Service funding to over 50 local agencies serving low income and homeless individuals in Cincinnati. They also voted to restore the Human Service Advisory Committee (HSAC) process. For over 20 years, human service agencies have received 1.5% of the General Fund. This funding goes to myriad groups working with senior citizens, people with disabilities, homeless individuals, families and youth. For the duration of this funding allocation, the HSAC has been the vehicle that recommends how funding is allocated. This volunteer committee evaluates all applications for human service funding and rates them based on their effectiveness at meeting the needs of vulnerable populations. In November of 2005, Mayor Luken and City Manager Valerie Lemmie cut human service funding to zero, stating that human services were not core city services and that they did not warrant city support. After an overwhelming response from citizens (over 300 people showed up to testify in favor of human service funding at each of the public hearings), Council restored partial funding at a rate of .06%. Some of this funding did not come from the General Fund, but was rather siphoned off of CDBG funding, dollars used to create fair, accessible and affordable housing. Many agencies received no funding at all and were forced to lay off employees, end programs or close their doors altogether. The “1.5% Coalition” consisting of agencies affected by these cuts as well as concerned citizens and faith groups, formed in December of 2005 to work to restore city funding to human services. They also focused on restoring the HSAC process of allocating funds, determining as a service community that this process was fair and objective. The three-party motion to restore funding was put forth by Crowley (D), Smitherman (C), and Monzel (R) on October 12 and was referred to Finance Committee, with support from Reece, Cole, Pepper and Malone. It states: * We acknowledge that that the needs of our citizens go beyond just safety, peacekeeping, and sanitation. Therefore, we are making a commitment to continue our long and proud tradition of providing support for Human Services in the City of Cincinnati. * We have a Human Services Policy that prioritizes funding based on the severity and urgency of various problems. These priorities include helping to fund programs for people who are homeless, atrisk youth, and citizens with disabilities. * Last year due to budget constraints, the Mayor and City Manager proposed eliminating the 1.5% earmarked for Human Services. Fortunately, Council was able to make some budget adjustments in order to restore half of the original amount. We want to send a clear message that funding Human Services is a priority, and that we support the restoration of the full 1.5%. The human service community commended the passage of these motions. In a letter recently sent to Council candidates, signed by over 35 executive directors of local human service agencies, the case was made for restoration, illuminating four key benefits of city funding: * It leverages millions of state and federal dollars to benefit Cincinnati. It is estimated that agencies leverage $4 from outside sources for every dollar invested in them through city funds. * Homeless, sick, victimized, hungry, hurting and often hopeless people get the help they need to move forward with dignity and hope * It alleviates the problems of caring for indigent, abused, mentally ill, and sick from the city. * Social services agencies collaborate, share resources and work for lasting and systemic change. Mayor Luken, however, was unhappy with the decision, stating that he wanted to go on record as opposing the approval of these motions. National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week November 16­ 22, 2005 The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is seeking willing participants to organize sleepouts/shanty-towns and/or food/ clothing drives for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Below you’ll find a brief description of the event. Co-sponsored by: National Coalition for the Homeless and National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness Each year, one week before Thanksgiving, the sponsoring co-sponsor National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. During this week, a number of schools, communities and cities take part in a nationwide effort to bring greater awareness to the problems of hunger and homelessness. Schools and/or Facility members interested in participating are asked to contact their local representative. Cincinnati: Kelly Carr, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, 513-421-7803 ext.11. 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 �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath A 37-year-old Boston homeless man was shot to death as he stood on the steps outside a Roxbury apartment Friday night, less than a day after he was released from jail. Jose Gonzalez had just rung the doorbell to Beverly Julien’s second-floor apartment on the 2900 block of Washington Street when he was shot in the chest, according to Julien, who described herself as an acquaintance of Gonzalez’s, and a Boston police officer familiar with the case. Julien said she normally looks out her front window before deciding whether to open the door, but she thought it was her boyfriend ringing so she went straight downstairs. She was at the top of the stairs when she heard the shot, she said. She cracked her door open, she said, and saw Gonzalez lying on the steps. She ran back up to her apartment and dialed 911, she said, keeping her eye on Gonzalez from the window until police and paramedics arrived at around 9:40 p.m. “I kept watching his chest and his belly” for signs of life, she said. Julien lamented that if she had looked out the window she might have caught a glimpse of who killed Gonzalez. In Coquitlam, BC Canada, homeless men in the Tri-Cities may face a tougher time getting a bed in a shelter this winter Salvation Army has had to cut back the number of temporary beds at its New Westminster shelter from about 30 to 20 to meet building codes and a spokesperson said he won’t know until later this fall whether he will be able to accommodate more Tri-City homeless people when winter sets in The Army currently picks up about four men a day from Port Coquitlam and drives them to the New West shelter and back. That number usually increases to about seven men in winter, although some people are turned away But Capt. Dave MacPherson said he’ll only be able to accept more homeless if requested to by the Fraser Health Authority and some longer term renters move out of the building “We’ll take as many as we can,” he promised Sally Ann, which used to rent space in New West’s Garfield Hotel, is now buying the building to knock it down and build a permanent facility. The Army is working with the Royal City to refine details for the project, which is expected to cost about $8 million, including land costs, and is getting support from provincial and federal governments. The army also runs the 10­ bed Stevenson House, for a total shelter bed count of 33, of which four are set aside for Tri-City people Sally Ann is also working with Tri-City churches to come up with a strategy for taking in local homeless if temperatures drop below -4 C Last year’s plan to house local homeless on mats on a church floor fell through, so the Salvation Army let them stay in the basement of its New Westminster church Still, there are never enough beds and last year the Army turned away 10 homeless a night, MacPherson said Last spring the Salvation Army closed its PoCo office after plans for a shelter, second stage housing and services fell through. In Austin Texas The Cantu/Pan American Recreation Center in East Austin looked like it was set up for any trade show last month. Booths advertising various services enticed participants with free T-shirts, nonprofits were collecting signatures and the line to get in snaked around the corner. But this was a different kind of convention. Everyone was there to help the homeless get back on their feet in some way. For the past six years, Stand Down Austin has helped homeless veterans. A “stand down” is a military term for a retreat. Now, the nonprofit is reaching out to all of Austin’s homeless community. It’s organized as a one-stop-shop with a number of different services and organizations, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, American Red Cross, Health and Human Services, Caritas of Austin, Mobile Loaves and Fishes and The Salvation Army. “This is for homeless individuals where they can come access many resources in one day, versus having to do that over the course of weeks and sometimes months,” chairman Andrew Miller said. The one-day event allows the homeless a one-stop shop to have all their needs met. Men and women received food, clothes, haircuts, health care, employment assistance, ID badges, legal counseling, pet vaccinations and housing assistance. Many of Austin’s homeless population aren’t looking for a handout, but a hand up. Alice Cooper wants to help the hungry men of London, even if they don’t want pizza. According to the U.K. website Playlouder.com, Cooper is pitching a reality TV show in which he will save a homeless man from the streets of London. “It will be about a guy who is sleeping in downtown London and life is totally gone for him,” Cooper reportedly said of his new show. “He’s just a bundle of rags. We find out how he got there and reconstruct his life. That would be great TV.” Apparently Alice will search the gritty parts of London for the “right type” of homeless man. Maybe he means the kind who wears ghoulish makeup, likes to play golf, and wants to open sports bars, just like Alice. After wrapping up a U.S. tour, Cooper heads to England for the month of November, ostensibly to tour, but perhaps to pound the pavement in search of the right “derelict.” In Alexandria, Va. Fran Becker used to daydream about how she’d spend a million dollars to fix up the homeless shelter she runs in Alexandria. Now, she gets to turn her dream into reality. A family that made its fortune in the Alexandria real estate market gave Becker one million dollars six months ago. Carpenter’s Shelter currently offers classes, counseling, tutoring and similar programs. Becker tells The Washington Post that the bequest will help her expand these programs, transforming the shelter into a comprehensive center of learning. So far, the money has been used to set up a scholarship program for clients who want more education. The shelter also has been renamed the Hubert N. Hoffman Junior Center for Homeless Families, after a member of the family that established the Hoffman Family Trust. In Bagley Twp., Michigan, police responding to a complaint of cats and dogs being Streetvibes kept in a rented storage unit on Old 27 South suspect the owner of those pets is a homeless man who also may have been living in the storage unit. State Police troopers from the Gaylord post removed two dogs and cats from the storage unit off Old 27 south of Gaylord after MSP troopers received anonymous information the domesticated animals were being kept in one of the units. Investigators indicated the 43-year-old Gaylord man who had been renting the storage space since Sept. 25 also may have been living with his pets. Although a report of the incident has been turned over to the prosecutor for review, investigators indicated they did not believe the man would be facing charges of animal cruelty. According to the MSP incident report, investigators could hear dogs barking from inside one of the units when they arrived at the scene. After opening the locked door, troopers found two German Shepherds and two cats inside the storage unit, which was reported to have had an overwhelming odor of urine and feces. Bowls of water and dog food were found inside the building, as was a couch with blankets and pillows. In Huntsville, Alabama a man Eugene Mercer, 58, described as mentally ill and reportedly armed with a knife, was shot and killed last month by police. Police searched for an escaped Madison County jail inmate and came upon Mercer’s campsite under the Interstate 565 overpass. The escapee, Bobby Ray Bickers, 36, later was captured. Police spokesman Wendell Johnson said he wasn’t sure if the city’s mental health officer had been called to help deal with Mercer. “It might’ve all happened too quickly for that. We won’t discuss further details until all of the facts are known,” Johnson said. Sherry Birney, a chaplain advocate for Huntsville’s homeless, said she had met Mercer many times at his campsite. She said when he became frightened or distressed, he would become aggressive in his speech. “He isolated himself under that bridge for years,” she said. “Herman isn’t the first and he won’t be the last paranoid schizophrenic person living on the street that police will have to deal with.” She said officers need training in how to deal with the mentally ill. “Rather than shoot him, why not back away or call the mental health officer or at least get the police dog to tend to him?” she said. Page 3 �Santa Rosa, CA council weighs homeless crackdown Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES T-Shirt Today! (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes Homeless encampments along the rail corridor and creek beds of Healdsburg are a public nuisance, police say, and the city should adopt stricter laws that will help kick people out. Over the last year, Healdsburg has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people living on public and private property where uncontrolled cooking fires, trash and the lack of sanitation are taking a toll, Sgt. Kevin Young said. At one of the most popular transient haunts on Foss Creek, firefighters have been called to extinguish numerous blazes. Last year, a homeless man died of alcohol poisoning, Young said. “The human waste and garbage we find down there fills dump trucks,” Young said. “Some of the camps are unbelievable.” Police are proposing an addition to the municipal code to make overnight camping in makeshift tents, hammocks or in cars an infraction punishable by a $100 fine, Young said. A second offense could lead to 30 days in jail. Advocates for migrant farmworkers ­ among the largest group of illicit campers - said that a more rigorous law would not solve the problem of homelessness. Nancy Palandati, an attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance in Santa Rosa, said people would merely sleep elsewhere. She said Healdsburg and other Sonoma County cities should follow the lead of Napa County, which provides housing during the harvest that draws thousands of people, many without homes. Threatening workers in the region’s key industry with fines or jail is wrong, she said. “On the one hand they say you can come here and work,” Palandati said. “But you can only seek work in this way. And by the way, once you’re done with work, we don’t want you around.” The city has been working on its overnight-camping law for several years, trying to resolve issues connected to homelessness, public safety and litter. It cleared a portion of the Russian River bank near Memorial Beach in recent years and has battled dumping on many public easements. Now, much camping appears to have moved to the rail corridor near Grove Street. There, in blackberry brambles, homeless people have erected shelters with plastic sheeting and wood floors. They wash clothes in a shallow creek and keep a small vegetable garden. Bicycle frames, old couches and beer cans litter trails. City Manager Chet Wystepek said it is illegal to camp without a permit, but the proposed law defines certain illegal activities, giving police clearer enforcement authority. For instance, it describes camping paraphernalia like bedrolls or cots, and specifies banned activities such as cooking or digging. �Katrina uncovers the forgotten queues at America’s soup kitchens It is a little past noon on a sweltering day a short ride from downtown Detroit, one of the last gasps of summer before the brutal Michigan winter settles in. Already the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, run by friars from a nearby monastery, is winding down. People tend to get in line for food early. A couple of dozen people, largely but not exclusively African Americans, finish their lunches in a clean but spare dining hall. A large wooden cross is propped up in one corner and photographs on the wall show the facility during the depression. This is a rough neighbourhood. Alison Costello, the former fine-dining chef who manages the kitchen, keeps her eyes fixed ahead of her on her way home to avoid looking too hard at the drug houses that line the street. Many of the people at the tables have the worn appearance of the chronically poor and homeless, others are younger and wouldn’t attract glares; many have lowpaying jobs and simply struggle to make ends meet, part of a swelling class of the working poor. The soup kitchen serves around 800 people daily for lunch. The summer months are the busiest. In the winter, numbers thin. Some regulars find places at shelters and would rather go hungry than lose them. Others have no proper footwear and risk frostbitten feet if they do make the trip. “I drove in here yesterday and I saw all these people streaming in to the soup kitchen, and I thought ‘there is so much suffering in this city’,” said Brother Jerry Smith, who runs the soup kitchen. “I see the abandoned buildings and factories on a massive scale. I have to keep looking for signs of hope. Sometimes it’s pretty demoralising.” This is the America most don’t see. It has taken a catastrophe to rekindle the national debate on poverty in the US. The wretched images of the poor left to struggle on the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, with no means of escape, provoked widespread shock. But the conditions exposed by the hurricane are not confined to the south. After barely registering as an issue for a decade, poverty is back on the political agenda. We had all seen the evidence of “deep, persistent poverty” on television, President Bush said in an address after the hurricane struck; poverty that “has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America.” According to the US census bureau, poverty has been on the rise for the past four years, despite a robust economy. The number of people living in poverty increased last year to 12.7% of the population, some 37m people, the highest percentage in the developed world. Since Mr Bush took office an additional 5.4m have slipped below the poverty line. In 1970, the rate was 11.1%. Almost 8% of white people are classified as below the poverty line and almost 25% of African Americans. “Katrina merely blew the mask off the face of poverty,” says Agostinho Fernandes, president of the Gleaners Food Bank, which supplies food to soup kitchens and emergency food services in the Detroit area. “Why did it take a disaster for our leaders to respond?” In Detroit, 34% of the population live in poverty, including almost half the children under 17. In the neighbourhood of Highland Park, once the home of Chrysler and now all but abandoned, shops are boarded up and the bones of burnt out buildings haunt the streets. Local community workers are fighting contractors from other parts of the city using its streets to dump rubbish. Detroit’s population has plummeted from 2m to 950,000 in the past 50 years, largely because of white flight to the suburbs after race riots in the 1960s. There have been cuts in police and fire departments, the city is crimeridden and schools are a shambles. The Capuchin Soup Kitchen has become accustomed to dealing with the mentally ill after budget cuts caused the closure of local mental health facilities. Community workers are sceptical about whether America will see another “war on poverty”. “What the president says doesn’t mean much to me,” says Genevieve Clark at the Hunger Action Coalition in Detroit. “He is speaking for the moment to make people feel warm and fuzzy today and then he will move on to something else.” There is perhaps good reason for cynicism. Items on the agenda in Washington include the extension of tax cuts on investment income and repealing the estate tax, both aimed at the wealthy. Also proposed are tens of billions of dollars of cuts to services like food stamps, federal student loans and Medicaid, the health insurance for the low-income Americans. The president’s vow to pay for reconstruction in New Orleans without raising taxes means further services are likely to be cut. Democrats have also attacked the Bush administration for suspending the minimum wage requirement for companies working in the hurricane-hit region. The minimum wage of $5.15 an hour has not in any case been increased since 1997: adjusted for inflation it is at its lowest level since 1956. Rarely, if ever, has poverty continued to rise so long after the end of a recession. The median Streetvibes household income in the US has stagnated for the past five years at around $44,400, the longest period on record. Globalisation is forcing US companies to keep prices low to compete and many manufacturers are closing factories and shifting production overseas: 2.7m industrial jobs have been lost since 2001. Many of those workers are moving into lower-paid service jobs. Unions are weak. The pressure on wages at the bottom is creating a new class of the working poor. Valerie Bland, 33, a single mother, fills a supermarket trolley at a food pantry in Detroit run by a local community group called Focus:Hope, which also provides training to get people back to work. Her job as a nursing assistant doesn’t pay enough to cover the bills and buy food for her infant son. “I would be struggling without this program,” she says. “I am still penny-pinching but this takes some of the stress away.” Welfare to work reform in the 1990s tilted benefits in favour of people with jobs, leaving a less effective safety net. Healthcare costs continue to rise at doubledigit rates. The numbers without any kind of health insurance grew last year to 45.8 million people. Yet the rich continue to get richer. For the first time in the census, the top 20% of earners in the US took over half the total income. The bottom 20% took just 3.4%. Only the top 5% of households enjoyed real income growth during the year. A recent survey released by market research firm TNS said the number of millionaires in the US has reached a record 8.9 million, rising for the third successive year. Mr Bernstein says: “With the Bush re-election, it’s hard to make a case that there is a high political cost to ignoring or even exacerbating our poverty problem. Inequality promotes greater inequality because once you have disenfranchised a generation then their progeny is facing ever higher barriers and it’s that much tougher to get out.” The question for many is how long poverty will remain a topic in Washington. Katrina made New Orleans a magnet for charity. “It slammed the door shut on us,” says Mr Fernandes at Gleaners. “Organisations like ours were feeding the impoverished in the south before the storm; we were feeding them through the storm; and we are feeding them after the storm.” Page 5 �Valuable to The Family walking the streets for place they can by Ms. Mary Gaffney call home. disappointed, with outfull Greetings to my readers and time employment. Some stop here purchasers of Streetvibes each for coffee and warmth; others nap. month; and to my homeless friends, On Special Wednesday, a especially those in Over-Rhine, some wonderful lady; Susan of the residents at the Smith, visits us and Drop Inn Center, in brings a most delicious vacant buildings, dinner with all the hallways and allys. trimmings. And she While sitting here brings, on Thursday’s at my desk as usual, my and sometimes mind turns to Monday, loaves of Thanksgiving and Miss Mary Gaffney bread which my Christmas and families homeless friends are gatherings and dinners. Here at the Coalition, on my desk, is very grateful to receive, and will say Thank You. This makes you think; in a bucket of chicken, or sometimes, all of the stress and strain of their day, seafood. During the holidays, there is a they take the time to greet you and roomful of family who has shelter and thank you. Thank you Streetvibes a way to prepare their food. customers, for supporting my But what about the ones who homeless friends with your purchase. have no home. They will eat if they Until next time. can eat at regular places, but are Senate Plan to Cut Food could have meant a loss of benefits Stamps Dies Senate Republicans have dropped plans to cut the popular food stamp program, as the chamber’s leaders scrambled to assemble a $35 billion spending cut measure to implement the budget plan it adopted in April. After protests from Agriculture Committee members Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and James M. Talent (R-Mo.), panel Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Gad.) dropped more than $500 million in food stamp cuts from a farm and food subsidy measure that came in to a committee vote in October. The cuts for 300,000 working families benefiting from more generous eligibility rules in some states. The development on food stamps illustrates the political sensitivity of the upcoming debate over the spending cut bill, which would spread the $35 billion in cuts over five years. Various House and Senate committees are conducting behind-the-scenes talks to devise spending cut plans to implement the budget. The conservative-dominated House plans to up the ante to $50 billion in cuts as it votes as early as tomorrow to revise the budget. The Senate has no such plans. A Call to Greater Cincinnati Poets For the 2006 annual Book of Poems and Drawings on Peace and Justice 1) Call for poems from any poet from the Greater Cincinnati area 2) Poems to relate to themes of peace and justice 3) Poet may submit up to 3 poems 4) All submissions will be considered. The editors will be looking for quality, inclusiveness, and appropriateness to the themes of peace and justice. 5) If space becomes limited, priority will be given to poets not published in previous books 6) Poems selected will be illustrated in B&W by Greater Cincinnati artists (one drawing per poet) 7) Poems and illustrations will be printed in For a Better World 2006, a book to be available April, 2006 8) Book will be launched and available for sale at SOS ART 2006. 9) Poets included in book will be invited to read their poems at SOS ART 2006 10) Proceeds from sale of book will finance publication of future similar books to accompany annual âœSOS ART events. (Note: this is the 3rd annual book) 11) Submission deadline: February 3, 2006 12) Please send submissions in full text and as a Word attachments by e-mail or by US mail (on a floppy disk) to: Saad Ghosn (saad.ghosn@uc.edu), 216 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, Oh 45229 Page 6 Mark Your Calendar Invitation to Justice Watch Dinner Justice Watch Saves Lives and Money Saturday, November 12th, 2005 5:30 PM Keynote Speaker G. Michael Payton, Esq., Executive Director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission St. Joseph Parish Hall, corner of Ezzard Charles & Linn Streetvibes For more information please call 241-0490 Tickets are $25 each, or $160 for a table of ight Across the country, more than 600,000 prisoners are released each year. A medium Security inmate in a conventional prison costs taxpayers about $25,000 per year and %67 return to a wasteful life of crime and prison. Justice Watch offers residential support to men coming out of prison would otherwise be homeless. A Justice Watch resident costs only $2,250 to house and only %13 return to a wasted life of crime on the road. Nearly One Third of Food Stamp Recipients Lived in Rural Areas; Cuts Would Harm Rural Poor A new analysis by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire shows that 22 percent of Americans and a full 31 percent of the nation’s food stamp recipients lived in rural areas in 2001. Three in five rural residents who received food stamps lived in the South. “Many of America’s rural families struggle to make a living,” said Cynthia M. Duncan, the director of The Carsey Institute. “In these rural communities, as in many of our cities and suburbs, food stamps provide crucial supplements to low income families’ budgets.” In 2001, 7.5 percent (4.6 million) of all rural residents received food stamps, compared to 4.8 percent of residents of urban areas. Nevertheless, 10.6 million rural residents were living in poverty. The lower number of food stamp recipients indicates that many eligible people did not participate in the program. Among other important findings, children accounted for 43 percent of the rural population that depend on food stamps, but only one fourth of rural residents. The Carsey analysis stresses the importance of Streetvibes food stamps to rural America and says that Congressional cuts would likely have significant adverse effects on the lives of poor rural Americans. 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 �75% of American Workers Lack Decent Wages and Benefits Interview with a Streetvibes Vendor Alford-44- from Columbus, OH tvib es The beverage industry will soon start a multi-million dollar ad campaign to publicize its new policy on soft drink sales in school vending machines. Pilot TV commercials will feature parents talking about the policy. Susan Neely, president of the American BeverageAssociation (ABA), said that the ads are designed to raise awareness about the industry’s efforts “to contribute to the larger societal challenge” of childhood obesity. This year, many state legislatures considered, and in some cases passed, legislation banning or restricting soft drink sales in schools. The newABApolicy allows diet soft drinks in middle schools, and up to 50 percent of vending slots in high schools to have carbonated soft drinks. The Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration to require the beverage industry to put a health warning on sweet carbonated soft drinks. “Neely is no stranger to issue campaigns,” reads this Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s story. ee Soft Drinks in Schools: Beverage Industry to Promote Its New Plan track. Today, he sells between 15 and 40 papers a week, for which people “very generously” contribute between 5 to 10 dollars each. What isn’t spent on rent gets invested back into more papers, keeping his business moving. When asked what he’d like to say to the public, Alford said he’d like the paper to get everyone’s support, specifically support in providing new and improved shelters for the homeless. The shelter situation as it stands now is not adequate to house the 150-200 homeless Cincinnatians per night that frequent them. Alford’s success is a great example of the difference a little bit of support can make. Through the sales of Streetvibes alone, he was able to make a living for himself with the help of a program that has aided many in getting on their feet. Your support through the purchase of this paper is greatly appreciated, and makes a real difference in reducing homelessness. of good jobs would have fallen 25 to 30 percent, despite large increases in the capital stock per worker and significant technological progress over the period. Moreover, the decline in the underlying ability of the economy to create good jobs is likely an underestimate since this calculation does not control for the larger capital stock or technological advances, both of which should have made it much easier for the economy to produce good jobs. The study also found that 26.6 percent of the workforce is in a job that pays poorly and offers neither health insurance nor a pension. This is close to the share of Americans in bad jobs in 1979 (27.9 percent). “How Good is the Economy at Creating Good Jobs?” was based on analysis of data from the March Current Population Survey (CPS). It is the first in a series to explore recent trends in job quality in the U.S. economy. Str by Neil Maclean Every day at 11AM, at the corner of 7th and Vine a smiling face greets me. I know him only by his first name, Alford, but his story is one of courage, determination, and strength. It is a story I am proud to tell. For the past 3 years now, Alford has sold Streetvibes newspapers on that same corner, in front of the CVS. It is a venture that’s enabled him to move from sleeping on the streets, and shelters, into his own apartment in College Hill. Alford’s story is one that is painfully familiar and a lesson for many of us. His story is an illustration of how a simple twist of fate can put any one of us on an unexpected path. After a car accident left him unable to drive his cab, Alford found himself homeless and wondering where his next meal would come from. It was only after he found Streetvibes that Alford was able to get his life back on Only 25.2 percent of American workers have a job that pays at least $16 per hour and provides health insurance and a pension, according to a new study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The report, “How Good is the Economy at Creating Good Jobs?” found that between 1979 and 2004 the share of American workers in good jobs remained unchanged at about 25 percent, despite strong economic growth over that period. (The report defines a “good job” as one that offers at least $16 per hour or $32,000 annually, employer-paid health insurance and a pension.) In the last quarter century, the U.S. workforce has become older, more experienced and better educated, but 75 percent of workers are still struggling in jobs that do not provide health insurance, a pension and solid middle-class wages. “The U.S. economy has failed to convert long-term economic growth into better jobs,” said John Schmitt, CEPR economist and author of the report. “Despite huge improvements in the average educational level our workforce, most American workers still don’t have a job that pays a decent wage and provides health insurance and a pension.” Since 1979, inflationadjusted GDP per person increased 60 percent, but the percentage of workers in good jobs remained unchanged at about 25 percent. If the workforce had not experienced dramatic improvements, the share Support Your Vendor Buy Streetvibes “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes Page 7 �Bush Must Keep His Promise to America of Bold Action to Address Poverty Hurricane Katrina swept America’s hidden problem of poverty into public view. Those with means by and large had hightailed it out of New Orleans before the storm hit, leaving the poor, the elderly and the infirm to cope with the subsequent floodwaters as TV cameras rolled. Their desperate plight seemed a metaphor for the needy in America - left stranded to fend for themselves amid a tidal wave of want and poverty while the more fortunate cruise to safety. A new report from The Brookings Institution reinforces the notion that many a city, Milwaukee included, can see themselves mirrored in New Orleans. The report notes the similarity among Milwaukee, New Orleans and some other big cities in the concentration of poverty. The report serves as a reminder that, in a speech from New Orleans on Sept. 15, President Bush had promised the nation “bold action” to tackle poverty, which, he said, “has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America.” It’s now four weeks later, and that bold action has yet to materialize. Instead, cruelly, Congress is talking of moving in the opposite direction, cutting programs for the poor to pay for hurricane relief. His chief tactic to date - tax cuts mainly for the wealthy - has not worked. The ranks of the poor have widened under that policy. His strategy should include breaking up concentrations of poverty, which lead to bleak neighborhoods where commerce struggles, job opportunities shrivel, crime rises, mental and physical health suffers, schools deteriorate, housing decays and hope shrinks. Before the hurricane, some 38% of New Orleans’ poor residents lived in poor neighborhoods - the second highest share in the nation. In Milwaukee, which ranks ninth on the chart, 27% of poor residents live in such neighborhoods. The 1990s did see a marked reversal in the concentration of poor people. Bush should strive to build on that trend. Among the report’s recommendations Bush should adopt ­ • Expand the federal Section 8 program, which gives the poor vouchers to use for rent in private dwellings. • Push a program encouraging tax credits to builders of affordable single-family homes. Bush has actually proposed this program. Trouble is, he hasn’t pushed it. • Aim federal affordable-housing funds at low-poverty neighborhoods. • Expand the earned income tax credit and link the amount to housing costs. Simply, Bush must keep his promise to America of bold action to address poverty. In Spirit Though you don’t live next door, though you’re five states away, You’re still here in my thoughts every week, every day. When events of the day cause this soul to despair, just the sound of your voice makes them easy to bear. When I don’t have the luxury of feeling your soft touch or taking in your scent, which I appreciate so much, I need only look back at the times we have had to wonder if I’ve any right to be sad. You’re truly a blessing. I want you to know that I care for you deeply, wherever I go. - Benjamin Heller ­ Got The Vibe? 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 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. Page 8 This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. Streetvibes �Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �Habitat for Humanity chapter raise awareness about Pov­ erty and Homelessness to people about Habitat for Humanity. The group raised about $200, one-third of which will go to More than 20 University of local a local Habitat affiliate and the Idaho students experienced “A Night additional two-thirds will go to Without Comfort” last month at Habitat’s hurricane relief, Peton said Friendship Square in Moscow. The event began on a Friday Students from the UI campus eveninng and ended at 4 a.m. chapter of Habitat for Humanity spent Saturday when cold winds and few a night on the streets without people forced volunteers to pack up accommodations talking to passersby and head home, she said. about their organization to raise “A lot of people don’t know community awareness and provide exactly what Habitat is, so we get to educational information about poverty inform them a little bit,” Habitat housing issues and homelessness. Treasurer Levi Carter said. “Standing out here makes Habitat for Humanity is an you think about what people without international nonprofit organization any housing would do,” said Rosanne that works to eliminate substandard Peton, president of the Habitat housing and homelessness. chapter at UI. Volunteers and “partner Students spent the night families” work together to build or around an informational table, talking renovate homes. Materials are by Jason Moll provided by individual and corporate donors. Mortgage payments go into a revolving fund that is used to build more houses. “It’s a hand up, not a hand out,” said Anne Buike, the group’s adviser. “We work in partnerships with families.” The Moscow chapter of Habitat for Humanity recently purchased a piece of property for development and is waiting for proper permits before moving forward. The event was coordinated with National Make a Difference Day Saturday, a day when people are encouraged to go out and make positive changes in their communities. “I think this is awesome,” said passerby Rober Revich, a UI sophomore in electrical engineering. “I was kind of involved with something like this back at home.” Peton said the group saw peak traffic between 9 and 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. The campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity at UI was formed by students in 2003. It received its official charter from Habitat for Humanity International in 2005. “I think we accomplished our goals,” Peton said. “A lot of people came by to ask questions or give donations.” The group raised more than twice what they expected. “This is a great place for people to get a little bit of information out,” said passerby Mike Hudson, a Moscow community member. “Moscow may be the most giving little town in this area.” Senate Fails Again to Raise Minimum Wage Senate proposals to raise the minimum wage were rejected last month, making it unlikely that the lowest allowable wage, $5.15 an hour since 1997, will rise in the foreseeable future. A labor-backed measure by Sen. Edward Kennedy would have raised the minimum to $6.25 over an 18-month period. A Republican counterproposal would have combined the same $1.10 increase with various breaks and exemptions for small businesses. The Kennedy amendment to a spending bill went down 51-47, and the GOP alternative 57-42. Under a Senate agreement, they would have needed 60 votes for approval. Kennedy, D-Mass., said Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the depth of poverty in the country and he pointed out that a single parent with two children working a minimum wage earns $10,700 a year, $4,500 below the poverty line. He said it was “absolutely unconscionable” that in the same period that Congress has denied a minimum wage increase, lawmakers have voted themselves seven pay raises worth $28,000. But Republican opponents, echoing the arguments of business groups, said higher minimum wages can work against the poor if they force small businesses to cut payrolls or go out of business. “Mandated hikes in the minimum wage do not cure poverty and they clearly do not create jobs,” said Sen. Mike Enzi, RWyo., who offered the Republican alternative. Kennedy noted after the vote that three of the four Republicans who supported his amendment, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island are up for re-election next year. “Candidates that are out campaigning know the power of this issue,” he said. The fourth Republican supporting Kennedy was Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. White House spokesman Scott McClellan, asked about Kennedy’s measure, said President Bush “believes that we should look at having a reasonable increase in the minimum wage. ... But we need to make sure that, as we do that, that it is not a step that hurts small business or prices people out of the job market.” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said minimum wage workers “deserve a pay raise “plain and simple,” no strings attached.” “It is appalling that the same right-wing leaders in Congress who have given themselves seven pay raises since the last minimum wage increase have voted down the modest minimum wage increase proposed by the Kennedy amendment,” he said in a statement. Enzi’s proposal would provide tax and regulatory relief for small business, permit tips to be credited in complying with minimum wage hikes and expand the small business exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act. It also would have put into law a “flextime” system, opposed by organized labor as an assault on overtime pay, under which workers could work more in one week and take time off the next. Both proposals, amendments to a fiscal 2006 spending bill, needed 60 votes to pass. Kennedy, who has campaigned relentlessly for a minimum wage increase, picked up Unusually High Summer Demand for Shelter In Rutland, Vermont, homeless shelters were experiencing an unusually high demand during the summer. Occupancy usually declines in the warmer months when homeless people move to campgrounds and other outdoor areas to live. The Open Door mission in Rutland and Burlington’s Committee on Temporary Page 10 Shelter has been full for more than a month. Officials are reviewing their records to see what is driving the increased need. Rita Markley, head of the Committee on Temporary Shelter, says she’s seen a rise in the number of women who are homeless. She also has noticed a trend in the number of people who have been laid off from full-time jobs. A shortage of affordable housing also is the major problem. Lack of affordable housing contues to be a barrier for poor people, the results which is becoming homeless. Federal guidlines are that housing should not cost more than one-third of your housing. Streetvibes one vote from the 46 votes for a similar measure in March. Last month he modified his proposal, which originally called for a $2.15 increase over 26 months, in hopes of attracting more Republicans. The first minimum wage of 25 cents an hour was enacted under President Roosevelt in 1938. Congress has since voted eight times to increase it, including under Republican presidents Eisenhower, Ford and George H.W. Bush. Congress approved the last increase in 1996, with the second stage, boosting the rate to $5.15, taking effect in 1997. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level, including Washington State at $7.35, according to the Labor Department. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two: Ohio and Kansas are below; and six do not have state laws. Also, Sens. Jack Reed, D­ R.I., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, proposed adding $3.1 billion to the administration’s $2 billion request this year for emergency heating assistance for low income families. “We’re about see a second tidal surge from Katrina and Rita,” with rising energy costs, Reed said. The Peace Village by Steve Sunderland The Peace Village will be back next month �FRAC Nutrion and Food Report categorical eligibility (“Cat El”) for During the week of October Temporary Assistance for Need 3rd, Senate Agriculture Committee Families (TANF) households to those Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) announced proposals to cut spending that receive TANF cash payments rather than services only. The cut is for food stamps, conservation and part of the “Budget Reconciliation” commodities programs but package that the Chairman postponed an October 6th planned announced in preparation for an mark up until the week of October October 6th markup that has been 17th; USDA reported on food postponed until on or about October stamp caseload increases for July 2005; state food stamp directors held 19th. The FY 2006 Budget Resolution directs the House and their annual meeting in Greensboro (NC); western states representatives Senate Agriculture Committees to cut testified about priorities for the 2007 $3 billion in five-year spending from programs under their jurisdiction. Farm Bill at a USDA Forum in The House and Senate Budget Oakland (CA); and many people hard hit by Hurricanes Katrina and/or Committees have until October 26th to act on packages that combine the Rita sought nutrition assistance. recommendations from Agriculture Outlook: Members of and other authorizing committees. Congress will be home for a district The House Agriculture Committee work period for the Columbus Day has yet to announce its reconciliation week. Anti-hunger advocates and plans. allies are planning visits and calls to In explaining his package to urge Members of Congress to nutrition advocates and other abandon budget reconciliation and stakeholders at a meeting on October instead broaden relief for those in 5th, Chairman Chambliss did need. A Senate Agriculture underscore his support for the Food Committee mark up of the FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation could occur on Stamp Program and his intention to hold the Food Stamp Program cuts October 19th—right on the heels of to his proposed level. The the October 17th and 18th National Chairman’s package also cuts Call-In Days that FRAC and allies conservation and commodities and are sponsoring to protect the Food extends a dairy program. Stamp and other human needs Nonetheless, the Chambliss programs. Astonishingly in the wake package of nutrition and other cuts of Hurricane Katrina, conservatives proved so controversial that the may seek even deeper budget cuts October 6th mark up was cancelled than set under the FY 2006 Budget less than 12 hours before it was Resolution passed this spring. slated to start. AP reports, “Democrats are fighting attempts to Senate Agriculture make cuts in food stamps and Committee Chairman Saxby conservation programs at a time Chambliss (R-GA) has proposed cutting food stamp spending by nearly when people are coping with hurricanes and drought. ‘Right now $600 million over five years by the difference between life and death adopting the Administration’s FY for many Americans is the food stamp 2006 Budget proposal to limit start the day….Congress established the school breakfast program with a program,’ said Sen. Max Baucus, Dpilot project in 1966 that provided Mont. ‘We should not, we cannot, free or reduced-price meals to cut the very nutritional programs that children from low-income families. are literally saving lives.’” Some school systems began offering a free breakfast to all of their students “The Coalition on Human as long as 10 years ago, according to Needs, as the broad alliance calls the nonprofit Food Research and itself, sent a letter Thursday to all Action Center, a D.C.-based members of the Senate and House organization that works to eradicate urging them to ‘oppose cuts in hunger in the United States. Medicaid, Food Stamps, and other (Source: “Breakfast at school,” by vital assistance that would lead to Kathryn Sinzinger, Common reduced help for low-income people, Denominator, 10/3/05, posted at and to focus instead on policies that http:// will help people move out of poverty.’ www.thecommondenominator.com/ Spurred by conservatives lead by 100305_news1.html). Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chairman “Many children in Evanston of the House Republican Study schools jump-started their weeks Committee, Republicans are with milk cartons and sack coalescing behind spending cuts to breakfasts. On Monday, Evanston/ pay for hurricane damage. In a Rose Skokie School District 65 expanded Garden speech this week, President the School Breakfast Program into Bush said federal relief should be six schools: Chute and Nichols accompanied by cuts and that he middle schools and Dawes, Kingsley, would work with lawmakers to Lincoln and Park elementary schools. identify offsets. Conservatives have Oakton and Washington elementary identified increased Medicaid coschools already had the program…. payments, Medicaid block grants, Recent studies support Krugly’s and increased Medicare premiums as observation that students who eat potential offsets. On Wednesday, breakfast perform better in school. House Budget Committee chairman Breakfast has been proven to Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) suggested an increase a student’s ability to focus across-the-board 2 percent cut on all and it decreases behavior problems in discretionary spending. the classroom, according to a USDA Beginning today, all students study. According to the 2004 School enrolled in D.C. public schools can Breakfast Report Card prepared by get a free breakfast if they show up the Food Research and Action for school 30 minutes early. That’s Center, 7.1 million low-income the word from school system officials, children participate in the School who say the ‘universal breakfast’ Breakfast Program. That was a 5.2 program is being launched with the percent increase from the 2002-2003 hope of replicating results of school year.” numerous studies that show academic Prepared by Food Research and achievement improves, tardiness and Action Center, 1875 Conn. Ave. truancy rates drop, and student NW, Washington, DC 20009; 202­ behavioral problems decline at 986-2200; www.frac.org schools that feed their students to Book Review: Destination Nowhere by John Siscoe The destination of choice is Molvania, a little-known and overlooked country in Eastern Europe. It is, among other things, the world’s number-one producer of beetroot and the birthplace of the whooping cough. The population staggers about, half-nauseated by industrial fumes while in the bleak countryside a band of famished goats (and criminals) rove at will. The food is inedible, the folk dancing interminable, the local customs unspeakable, and civic discipline invisible. Here is a country with no past worth remembering, a present to be avoided and a future — perhaps it’s best not to speculate about the future. In any case, a visit to Molvania will make your present woes seem paltry indeed. I was all set to pack my parody of the excellent but bags until I realized that relentlessly perky Lonely Planet Molvania does not exist. Guides (or anything by Rick However the authoritative (and Steves): “Tourists tend to be a only) guidebook to Molvania little wary of Western Molvania, does. Comprehensive, up to date, perceiving it as little more than illustrated with alarming an arc of polluted factory towns photographs and detailed maps, full of high-rise tenement housing Movania, A Land Untouched by and even higher crime rates. Modern They are of Dentistry Molvania: A Land Untouched course, contains all by Modern Dentistry right.” that you Every Written by Santo Cilauro, Tom could ever traveler’s Gleisner and Rob Sitch stand to heart must know about Overlook Press: a Jetlag warm to a Travel Guide this country where Paperback, 176 pages, $13.95 preposterous the eternal yet oddly flame at the plausible country. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Created by three burns only from Tuesday to Australians, Molvania (a Jetlag Saturday, where the famous Travel Guide) is a pitch-perfect revolving restaurant (Gastrodizzi) Streetvibes can take up to six months to complete a rotation, and where municipal buses “run frequently and can be hailed by simply waving your hand or, during peak periods, a small handgun.” Then there’s the dining experience at the renowned Tzoyczec Restaurant, where “you can sit in the garden and order roast suckling pig or lamb. Of course you’re unlikely to get it, as the place only does buttered rolls.” No, it’s too tempting to go on quoting from this superb parody. Better that you check it out yourself. For me, I haven’t laughed so hard since I lost my traveler’s checks in Ljubjana and had to walk all the way back to Trieste. In the rain. This is a wonderful book. 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (70 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �New Orleans. Create a tour with high-profile experts on global warming, the politics of by Paul Rogat Loeb infrastructure, America’s economic audiences that would have been far series of interconnected questions: What are the costs of neglecting and radical divides. Include voices more resistant just a few months As the New Orleans America’s core infrastructure, like from the city and those now exiled. disaster recedes from the headlines, before. But like the post-9/11 the Bush administration’s $71 Challenge Americans to think again reflection, this newfound concern citizen activists face a choice. We million cuts in the budgets for about why the disaster happened, won’t continue automatically. It can focus exclusively on other maintaining and repairing the and what how we can best proceed needs a context in which to bloom. newer issues. Or we can work to levees? How do we challenge a in its wake. After 9/11, author Vicki make the disaster one of those key pervasive cronyism, where being We could also use the wake Robin and some colleagues created turning points with the potential to the friend of a top Republican up call of the disaster to take a what they called “conversation transform American politics. fundraiser places similar approach with one of the cafes” (www.conversationcafe.org), If we think back to the 9/11 the former head of the International most difficult challenges it raises-the which brought together people of attacks, which have shaped Arabian Horse Association in impact of global warming. differing beliefs to reflect on how to American politics ever since, a brief charge of America’s national Focusing just on that one move forward from the tragedy. window of critical reflection opened disaster responses? What are the overarching issue, we could hold Though their outreach was relatively up in their immediate wake. Middle high-profile local forums about the East experts critical of U.S. policies limited, the cafes offered a powerful hidden costs of choices of destroying swamps that traditionally increase in extreme climate events experience for those who had op-eds in our largest like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, acted as buffers to tropical storms? participated, and a model to build newspapers and appeared on How do we address America’s droughts and forest fires; about on. Imagine if we extended these network TV. Ordinary citizens widening economic and racial impacts on public health through the conversations on a broader scale, mourned the victims, while asking migration of disease-carrying divides, embodied by those left mixing brainstorming, exchange of what would make the attackers so behind in the rising floodwaters? insects like the mosquitoes that perspectives and emotional embittered they’d be willing to How do we rebuild a devastated carry West Nile virus; about the sustenance. In a time when it’s easy murder 3,000 innocent people. New Orleans in a way that it won’t impact on agriculture of changing to feel overloaded, paralyzed with The next day, when I spoke about just get flooded again, while weather patterns. These could “compassion fatigue,” Robin sees a possible root causes, with even honoring the right of return for feature scientists, journalists, chance to create “containers where more frankness than usual, at a religious leaders, businesspeople those outside the sleek tourist people can grieve, process, see community college in the zones? like alternative energy experts or overwhelmingly Republican suburbs deeper truths, have new creative At what level of disaster do we representatives of insurance ideas.” just north of Dallas, the companies increasingly hit by take seriously the costs of global Another model comes from response was amazingly receptive. warming, and begin joining other climate-related property casualty community discussions that But by a few weeks later nations in acting on it? Can we do losses. The goal would be to use transformed Nebraska’s tax codes visible public questioning had any of this while giving $120 billion the window of concern opened by forty years ago. In the early 1960s, largely ceased. Most Americans a year in tax cuts to the wealthy and Katrina to foster serious discussion a group of University of Nebraska accepted the Bush administration’s fighting a $100 billion-a-year Iraqi in communities that aren’t normally economists used the University’s definition of a war of absolute good exposed to it. war? And how can we keep our versus absolute evil. John Ashcroft statewide network of adult hope for change alive in a time of Finally, we can complement education extension offices to warned that anyone who disagreed so much disaster and human pain? local conversations with organize workshops, county by was an “ally of terrorism.” The coordinated national discussions. The US has never faced the county, where people could discuss space for reflection had closed. comparable destruction of one of As David Disregard Kellick writes different ways to make a highly New Orleans has revealed our major cities, so we’re all in new in The action http:// regressive state tax system more far too much about the cost of this www.thenation.com/doc/ territory. We need to resist Bush fair. The existing system had long administration’s priorities to administration proposals to lift 20051024/kallick), New York City weighed disproportionately on similarly strengthen Bush’s current wage and environmental citizen groups came together in the standing. Republican cheerleaders family farmers and low-income wake of 9/11 to create the Labor protections, give no-bid contracts residents. Now, involving local are trying their best to spin its to companies like Halliburton, and Community Advocacy Network to organizations such as the Farmer’s lessons as a mandate for even pay for rebuilding by slashing other Rebuild New York (LCAN). Their Union, Farm Bureau, and the greater mistrust of all government, members met among themselves to social programs like Medicare, as if our sole hope lies in survivalist Grange, the economists invited Medicaid, child welfare programs, determine their joint priorities, then people to see for themselves how a individualism. But no matter what and student financial aid. But if pushed, with some success, for range of approaches would affect they do, the legacy of this disaster more equitable directions for post­ we’re going to have a chance of them and their neighbors. “If creates a political liability for this succeeding in offering more 9/11 reconstruction. (Their people just really had a chance to administration, proactive alternatives, we’ll need to suggestions for the displaced Gulf look at the numbers,” one of the highlighting their lack of sound Coast communities are available at involve some of those ordinary and faculty members recalls, “we felt environmental policies and support often apolitical Americans who www.goodjobsny.org) Major they could come to an intelligent for critical infrastructure, their watched in horror as the labor, environmental and social decision. But they had to have a replacement of experience with justice groups could similarly meet floodwaters rose. context to analyze the system, and political cronyism, and their and talk out issues like where to this seemed a perfect use of heedlessness of America’s growing We could complement the generate the funding for educational networks that were economic and racial divides. The reconstruction, how to balance more intimate discussions with already in place.” danger is that the disaster’s most visible public forums. During the protection against future floods with The workshop leaders far-reaching lessons will be quickly height of the nuclear arms race, rebuilding the devastated pursued their task without laptops, forgotten, as the voices of the city’s communities, how give displaced Physicians for Social Responsibility computerized spreadsheets, exiles grow quiet and fresh crises scheduled multi-day forums residents the maximum possible interactive Websites, or any of the and issues dominate the news. throughout the country to focus voice. The more we can clarify our other tools that would now make a We can change that by own priorities, the more effectively public attention on the nuclear comparable process far easier. But helping our fellow citizen’s wrestle threat. They involved a variety of we can articulate them to others. participants examined who was with the legacy of the disaster while If we reach out broadly getting a free ride, how to make the high profile speakers, including it remains strong in common enough, progressive activists Nobel laureates, talking about the system more equitable, and the memory-to give it its due as one of impact of the nuclear arms race wouldn’t control the direction of the likely results of specific policy those iconic moments with the attack from every perspective they resulting conversations, but we’d changes. Local and statewide power to transform political life and could muster—the likely immediate have a chance to talk to others of media amplified the debates. It individual hearts and souls. For death toll in the wake of a nuclear differing views and reflect on our took a half-dozen years of follownow America is still wrestling with attack, technological escalations own. From my experience, the up education and debate, but what happened and why, with what that were reducing the margin for disaster has opened up a space Nebraska finally passed a far more it will mean for those now exiled, human error, the arms race’s where citizens ordinarily resistant to progressive graduated income tax, with how the disaster affects our economic cost, and alternatives for key questions about our nation’s which a Republican governor common future. From my own de-escalation. The events direction are suddenly far more signed into law. recent talks in the heart of red state mobilized large numbers of citizens receptive. Whether that opening The issues embodied in America, the disaster has led many and got major media coverage leads to a new wave of citizen Katrina’s destruction of New to begin to rethink core wherever they were held. They engagement or closes with Orleans are more difficult than a assumptions about this country’s played a significant role in distraction and time depends on the single state’s tax codes, but could priorities. Through the lens of New challenging the arms race. We opportunities for reflection and be addressed through a similar Orleans, I’ve been able to raise all could adopt a similar model around participation we can create. process of discussion exploring a sorts of challenging issues to Hard Conversations About the Big Easy Streetvibes Page 13 �A Broken Heart by Booger Love Up Life’s Hill with my my little Bundle When your heart is broken it leaves you sad and crying day and nightly when you love by Emily Dickinson Up Life’s Hill with my my little Bundle If I prove it steep — If a Discouragement withhold me — If my newest step Gone you walk around all alone with en empty heart as everybody can see your eyes Older feel than the Hope that prompted — Spotless be from blame Heart that proposed as Heart that accepted Homelessness, for Home — It has happened to me Happen to you from sunup to sundown, broken hearts Comes around every day it leaves you sad in every way, when you heart breaks Who Goes Home? G.K. Chesterton In the city set upon slime and loam They cry in their parliament ‘Who goes home?’ And there comes no answer in arch or dome, For none in the city of graves goes home. Yet these shall perish and understand, For God has pity on this great land. The Shearers by Henry Lawson No church-bell rings them from the Track, No pulpit lights theirblindness— ’Tis hardship, drought, and homelessness That teach those Bushmen kindness: The mateship born, in barren lands, Of toil and thirst and danger, The camp-fare for the wanderer set, The first place to the stranger. They do the best they can to-day— Take no thought of the morrow; Their way is not the old-world way— They live to lend and borrow. When shearing’s done and cheques gone wrong, They call it “time to slither”— They saddle up and say “So-long!” And ride the Lord knows whither. And though he may be brown or black, Or wrong man there, or right man, The mate that’s steadfast to his mates They call that man a “white man!” They tramp in mateship side by side— The Protestant and Roman— They call no biped lord or sir, And touch their hat to no man! Men that are men again; who goes home? Tocsin and trumpeter! Who goes home? For there’s blood on the field and blood on the foam And blood on the body when Man goes home. And a voice valedictory . . . Who is for Victory? Who is for Liberty? Who goes home? Swim at Your Own Risk The roses beauty by Jesse James by Booger Love I brok a a thousand hearts with this smile, baby But I broke my own, so many times, I can’t count. So I stay alone. Otherwise it’s pain, and suffring for you. You’l pray for rain, But it comes up Blue If you want to take a chance, just remember, I warned you. You beauty is in your smile. It shows in your eyes and when people see you they They turn their faces to the west And leave the world behind them (Their drought-dry graves are seldom set Where even mates can find them). They know too little of the world To rise to wealth or greatness; But in these lines I gladly pay My tribute to their greatness. Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Page 14 when she is far away her beauty is here to stay it doesn’t do away the beauty is deep in you heart, it shines in your eyes when you smile, it glows like They carry in their swags perhaps A portrait and a letter— And, maybe, deep down in their hearts, The hope of “something better.” Where lonely miles are long to ride, And long, hot days recurrent, There’s lots of time to think of men They might have been—but weren’t. will know that you are the beauty of the of the rose and they see it everyday even Streetvibes the sun and moon the beauty of the rose will forever shine in you �by George Ferrel Broken Glass Bless me, my father, help me to grow Don’t le me go astray Thru your Divine wisdom, help me to know Your way to Judgment Day by Evanne Fisher I’m so Angry I slam the door The glass breaks. It falls to the floor Like sleet from the sky. Like the shattered pieces of my life, The broken glass lies at my feet As I look down, I see all of my hopes and dreams Splattered there amongst The glistening pieces of glass. I reach down to pick up the pieces of my life, The glass cuts my hands, Blood everywhere Dripping Flowing into the vast darkness Where I’ve chosen to live. I have no need of riches My treasures come thru you Thru life’s pitfalls and ditches Help me know what to do In The Darkness Hiding in the darkness of the night, This is how I’ve been forced to live my life In the blackness I conceal, All my problems that are real Afraid to let my feelings show, Afraid to let anyone know The pain I have been forced to endure, Is not as easily hidden as before As the problems continue to grow, I contemplate just letting go This is a battle I can not win, So why should I bother to post-pone the end Shutter Speed Lead me to those whom I may help and those who might help me With love and understanding that is beautiful Open my eyes to see And in those times I’m tempted Forgive me should I fail Make me from Satan’s grasp exempted On Angels wins to Sail! by Jimmy Heath Where Are We Going? by Michael Henson I do not know, but there are children on the road. Some bear weapons, sleek in the barrel, solid in the stock. Some bear books. Some bear empty bowls. As they march, they grow and some grow tall and they have the strength of the willows that lean over the river and some grow frail as the cattails that line the ditch. We plod along with our housey burdens and the children run ahead and some run into the long distance remote and indiscernable as dust. Others run for a span. They drop to the side of the road. They watch us from the willows with their solemn saucery eyes. They want to know, Where are we going? Abandoned building on Race Street, Over-the-Rhine Streetvibes Page 15 �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 363-1060 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 November 2005 Happy Thanksgiving From the Homeless 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 2005 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 2005 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Just Add Affordable Housing- For a Greater Cincinnati Ohioans Need a Raise! Pg 2: Victory Won for Human Service Provider Community and the People They Serve Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Vendors Pg 5: Katrina Uncovers the Forgotten Queues at America’s Soup Kitchens Pg 6: Valuable to the Family Senate Plan to Cut Food Stamp Dies Pg 7: 75% of American Workers Lack Decent Wages and Benefits Pg 8: Bush Must Keep His Promise to America of Bold Action to Address Poverty Pg 9: Xavier University Cintas Center Pg 10: Habitat for Humanity Chapter Raise Awareness About Poverty and Homelessness Senate Fails Again to Raise Minimum Wage Pg 11: FRAC Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Hard Conversations About the Big Easy Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 2005 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Andy Lawrence John Lavelle Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF affordable housing Alison Leeuw Andy Lawrence Bush Cincinnati Columbus FRAC Georgine Getty Habitat for Humanity Hurricane Katrina Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Minimum Wage Monique Little Ohio Peace Village poverty Santa Rosa Schools Senate Susan Smith Wages https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/2d24a43b74bc48afc72afe2d1b9c5d3b.pdf 4548fe2167aac151925a7c6b2b5434e7 PDF Text Text December 2005 STREETVIBES woman direct her question to me and what was it about that Kroger she disliked so much. Was it the selection or the poor lighting, or simply as she asked “the people asking for money outside?” Yes, I would not direct my distaste for SHOP... Cont. on Page 10 photo by Kelly Carr walked out of the store thinking about the interaction. I admit the Kroger on McMillan has no by Kelly Carr selection and the building could use a facelift but I was waiting in the checkout line at I would not direct my distaste for that particular Kroger when this bubbling smiling white lady in a Kroger on the folks loitering outside. So I fur coat bounces up to me with a beaming smile wondered why did this wealthy looking white and asks, “Don’t you just hate this Kroger?” Looking around to see whom she is talking to, I realized she was addressing her question to me, the only other white woman in the store. The Kroger she was referring to is on McMillan Avenue by Peebles Corner and I was a bit taken back by her question. She asks, “Did I scare you?” I said no, but mentioned I didn’t understand her question. She then asks, “Well, don’t people ask you for money outside?” Was she referring to panhandlers? I was immediately disturbed, considering how well she was dressed and considering her disgusted facial expression as she asked the question, I was offended. I replied, “No one has ever asked me for money outside, but corporations ask me for money everyday. I feel harassed more so by advertisements than panhandlers and I would rather give an individual a couple dollars than support the exploitation of millions for cheap plastic crap.” The well-dressed white woman did not say anything to me after that and I Shop This Extreme Poverty and Homelessness in Nicaragua by John Lavelle There’s a sign on a wall just off the road as you near La Chureca, the municipal garbage dump in Managua, Nicaragua, in the heart of Central America: it reads “Prohibido Botar Basura – Alcaldia de Managua” (“It is prohibited to litter – Mayor of Nicaragua). After my friend Bill points it out to me we cannot help but chuckle a little bit. That very street is lined with massive amounts of garbage, mainly the result of being jettisoned off the trucks meant to contain it as they enter the dump. We walk down a couple of streets in the northwestern edge of Barrio Acahualinca, the impoverished neighborhood that borders the dump, taking a look at where people live and the high volume of trash and sewage running down the middle of the street, just trying to observe and soak in the atmosphere. Finally, we decide to head over to the entrance of the dump, not really knowing what to expect, but hoping for something to grasp on to. There are pockets of gangs that periodically occupy the road as we pass; I thank God that Bill, my six foot, nine inch compañero is accompanying me. Then I wonder why fear is my natural reaction. After all, I am not entirely familiar with their situation; why do I automatically assume that I am in some kind of danger? Have I already judged them and deemed them a threat to me based upon the fact that they have little money, look differently than I do, and gather together on a street corner? Isn’t that the very reaction to the people in the inner city of my home, a reaction that I have come to greatly resent? Being consciously aware of this, I try to look at the situation from a new perspective. We stop at the top of the hill leading down to the dump, unsure of how to continue or if doing so would even be a good idea. Bill and I make small talk with the guys our age, who are throwing rocks into a mango tree, trying to prematurely jar loose a few pieces of fruit, a few pieces of food. They seem pretty friendly and just carry on with us, asking us the usual questions as we exchange similar small talk with them. This is where Juan enters my life. We are talking to the security guard about his work there and his perceptions, when a young man, a resident and worker in the dump by his appearance, offers to show us around. In response to our glances of uncertainty, the guard assures us that the dump is safe – easy for someone with a double-barrel shotgun to say – and we begin to follow our new compañero to the entrance of the dump. After introducing himself as Juan Francisco, a worker in the dump Nicaragua Cont. on page 8 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Andy Lawrence - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Kelly Carr, Jimmy Heath, John Lavelle 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Neighborhood Schools, Children and Citizens The idea of a new arts school than building a new structure in an Need Respect located close to Music Hall in Over­ undesirable area. Relocating the the-Rhine came from Erich Kunzel, by Jimmy Heath conductor of the Cincinnati Pops The Cincinnati Public School Orchestra and a longtime supporter board is wasting millions of local of SCPA. taxpayer dollars on Over-the-Rhine Meantime, there continues to public school relocation and land be backing by supporters and 3CDC purchases. to move the SCPA nearer to Music The latest plans call for Hall, which is pushing Washington streamlining and Park Elementary reconstruction of Overfurther away from the the-Rhine neighborhood Washington Park/ schools as part of a plan Music Hall area of restructuring headed 3CDC has said it will up by the non-profit help provide a new Cincinnati Center City location for Development Washington Park Corporation (3CDC). Jimmy Heath School south of Over-the-Rhine Liberty Street on schools need attention and our property now occupied by 22 children deserve state-of the-art buildings known as Mercer facilities. But there are problems and Commons. Police reports show that continuing conflicts. Recent plans call the Mercer Commons area is one of for another school for Washington the worse for crime. But Steven Park Elementary but not at its Leeper, CEO of 3CDC, says that he planned location on the south side of is not sure that this is a fact. The Washington Park in OTR bordering police reports for the area show Central Parkway. Last year otherwise. The stats show that this designers/architects had come up area is much more dangerous and with a plan and detailed drawing of crime ridden than the present location the new school on Central Parkway, in the Washington Park area. but now, thanks to 3CDC, this plan is Another problem with these shelved and the study has become plans, say parents and neighborhood wasted money. residents, is that all of this has gone There is over $30 million on behind closed doors, with no dollars going into the new School for public input about the future of the the Performing and Creative Arts, schools and opportunities for our (SCPA) now located in the old kids. Walter Reinhaus, president of Woodrow School on Sycamore in the OTR Community Council said, the eastern area of Over-the-Rhine “To do this right, CPS has got to now known as Pendleton. involve more voices than just 3CDC The private money raised will and they haven’t been, especially go toward the development and since they decided not to pursue construction of a combined home for fixing up Rothenberg.” the School for Creative and Presently, the old Rothenberg Performing Arts (SCPA) and Schiel School, just north of Liberty, stands Primary. The facility for 1,350 vacant. The school is quite students would include improved substantial in size and has the ability classrooms, and specialized space for to provide adequate parking. There practice, performances and displays. is room for a green space and there is The new building would replace a playground and basketball court SCPA on Sycamore Street, now nearby. serving grades 4-12 and located in The historic Rothenberg Over-the-Rhine, and Schiel, now School would require extensive rehab serving kindergarten through third but it would be cheaper for taxpayers grade and located in Corryville. school to the Mercer Commons area, as proposed by 3CDC would require the demolition of 22 historic buildings, most of which are housing, in addition to the construction cost of a new school building on the site. Rehabbing the old Rothenberg School would save taxpayers an estimated 8 to 20 million dollars. There is no reason that an historic building like the now-closed Rothenberg School should go undeveloped and made into a stateof-the-art facility for Over-the-Rhine children. But the Cincinnati School Board has committed itself to the 3CDC plan of relocating the school to the Mercer Commons area and has no plans for Rothenberg School. They are not concerned about the demolition of historic buildings and apparently no concern for the spending of taxpayer dollars. The CPS has already committed nearly 4 million dollars to the Mercer Commons relocation plan. The buildings were bought from John Barrett, Chairman of Western & Southern and a 3CDC board member. The current plans for Over­ the-Rhine schools is bad for taxpayers, bad for the neighborhood and bad for our kids. Certainly, they are not listening to the citizens – the parents of our neighborhood children. Ken Jones, an architect & OTR resident says, “They sold it [Mercer Commons] to the school board for $4 million claiming that’s the amount of money they had in it. Well that may be what they had in it, but it didn’t add anything to the value of these buildings, so in my estimation the school board paid more than it’s worth.” Pendleton residents say the school board is making bad decisions about a school relocation that will drastically change the neighborhood, ignoring citizen inputs and conducting private negotiations with private groups behind closed doors. Write Jimmyheath@yahoo.com The now abandoned Rothenberg School on Main Street in OTR 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 �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath Madison’s newest print publication, Homeless Cooperative, has been available for about a month, its vendors working from the corners of various intersections along State Street. The paper has received quite a bit of press attention, a testament to the promotional efforts of its creators to build community awareness about their project. A Madison ordinance, passed just three months ago, essentially precludes legal panhandling in downtown pedestrian areas. There is also a rigorous regulatory system in place which restricts street vending in high-traffic downtown areas to “handmade goods.” How, then, are Homeless Cooperative hawkers able to legally distribute their paper on State Street? The panhandling ordinance was sponsored and shepherded through passage by downtown Madison Ald. Mike Verveer, who doesn’t think the ordinance “will come into play at all.” However, the city’s vending ordinances for State Street and other areas of the Mall Concourse specify that the sale of only handmade items is allowed (per a specific set of licensed conditions). According to Warren Hansen, the city’s street vending coordinator, the Homeless Cooperative doesn’t fit. “A newspaper is not a handcrafted item; it’s mass produced,” Hansen says. Hansen points to an email he sent two months ago about this issue as the best synopsis of the city’s regulations. It’s a response to a question from a State St. patrol officer regarding the legalities of selling the Homeless Cooperative on the street. “What most of our officers try to do is to try to remind people of what the ordinances are,” says MPD Capt. Mary Schauf of the Central District. “The reality is that we all have times when sometimes it’s nice to get the helpful reminder from the officer or whomever. Obviously if the behavior continues, the expectation would be that the officer takes an enforcement action. The officers have the discretion to give a warning, but in the long run we have an expectation that the public complies with our ordinances.” Beyond the regulatory specifics, Mall Concourse vendors need to be licensed by the city, as well. And “to my knowledge,” the organizers of the Homeless Cooperative “have not applied for a license,” Hansen says. Mel Motel, one of three editors in chief at the Homeless Cooperative, says the group that organized the paper “had a couple meetings with Warren Hansen. We ascertained that since we have ‘$1 donation accepted’ on the banner, as long as vendors aren’t saying anything explicitly” about selling the paper, it would be no problem. It appears, then, that the city is treating the Homeless Cooperative in much the same way as the Socialist Worker and street musicians. But will the typical State St. pedestrian view it similarly, given the marginalization of the homeless? What if someone claimed “donation accepted” is tantamount to panhandling? The Dallas City Council postponed a vote last month to hire an architectural firm to design the homeless assistance center that voters just approved. Mayor Laura Miller asked the council to delay the vote because homeless czar Mike Rawlings had to go out of town and could not attend the meeting to answer questions about the project. The council scheduled a Dec. 5 briefing on the proposed $1.6 million contract to hire Camargo Copeland Architects of Dallas to design the facility in the southeastern part of downtown. Council member Bill Blaydes said Tuesday that he would not support the contract because he wants the council to move the project out of downtown. The council voted on the downtown location in April. Council member Mitchell Rasansky said he wanted to move ahead now that voters approved $23.8 million in bonds for the facility on Tuesday. “We’ve come such a long way on this. I’d hate to see it postponed more,” he said. Ms. Miller agreed. “We’ve got to get this moving forward,” she said. In Chicago VA officials estimate there are 93,000 homeless veterans and Illinois has the nation’s third-largest population of homeless vets, about 20,000. A lot of them are there in Chicago. Last month, officials from several veterans’ organizations were trying to get as many as they can to the Chicago Armory at 1551 N. Kedzie. In Las Vegas area homeless people were offered a range of free services - from medical and dental checkups to haircuts, legal help and voter registration. The annual one-stop event was called Las Vegas Stand Down for the Homeless. About 200 volunteers, more than 40 social service agencies, and doctors, nurses and medics from the Nevada National Guard were on hand. Judges from several local jurisdictions also were there to hear misdemeanor cases and process warrants for nuisance crimes like trespassing and loitering. The event was organized by the Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition. Event Chairman Brian Brooks says he thought drew as many as one-third or more of the valley’s estimated eightthousand homeless. In San Francisco John Panzer, once homeless, sat in his room in the Empress Hotel in this city’s seedy Tenderloin district with the prince of Wales and the duchess of Cornwall, who have several homes. Talk turned from the plight of the homeless to fear of flying. “Are you going back today?” Panzer said he asked the couple. “Camilla said ‘Yes, and it’s a long flight, and I really don’t like to fly,’ “ said Panzer, 42, a former fundraiser for nonprofits who fell into the grip of crystal methamphetamine and lost his home and his job. “I said, ‘Charles, put the lady on a boat.’ He tapped me on the arm and said, ‘Well, we had a boat, but they took it away from us.’ “ Panzer grinned, still savoring his surreal moment as he stood under the awning of the Empress Hotel, so nattily dressed in a dark suit and tie that some reporters had initially mistaken him for part of Charles’ entourage. “Here I am, formerly homeless, a recovering drug addict, chatting with the prince and the duchess,” Panzer said. On a crisp sunny Tuesday, Charles and Camilla finished the West Coast leg of their eight-day American sojourn with a visit to the hotel, a 90-unit facility where subsidized rooms as well as on-site medical help and counseling have been made available to those leaving shelters. After an hour long morning visit with residents, the couple left San Francisco with their 16-member entourage and some members of the British press on a chartered 757 jet. It’s unlikely that Charles and Camilla, who spent the previous two nights staying at the Fairmont Hotel, had any encounters with San Francisco’s truly homeless, who can be aggressive panhandlers. (An anti-panhandling initiative that outlaws the practice in certain areas passed here in 2003.) About 6,200 people here are homeless, according to Trent Rhorer, director of the city’s Human Services Agency. Prince Charles, who heads up the Prince’s Charities, a collection of 16 nonprofit organizations, has been involved in issues of homelessness and has encouraged businesses to take a role in helping the homeless transition into the work force. The prince “wanted to see a cutting-edge place” designed to help the homeless, said Marc Trotz, director of Housing & Urban Health for the city and county of San Francisco. New York City and state officials announced last month that they had committed $1 billion to build subsidized housing with on-site social services for the mentally ill and other populations at risk for becoming homeless. The money will be spent over 10 years and will go toward building or renovating 9,000 apartments in the city alone, officials said. The announcement, coming one day before Election Day, appeared timed to benefit Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has been aggressively wooing liberal supporters of his Democratic rival, Fernando Ferrer. (Bloomberg won the reelection to Mayor.) Nevertheless, the size of the commitment earned it praise from advocates for the homeless and for subsidized housing across the country. “There has never been this huge an agreement,” said Carla I. Javits, chief executive of the Corporation for Supportive Housing, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, Calif., that provides seed grants and technical assistance for supportive housing projects nationwide. “This really leads the nation, and we hope it will inspire others.” Streetvibes In the last two decades, supportive housing has come to be seen as a cost-effective and humane solution to keeping mentally ill and disabled people off the streets. In 1990 and again in 1999, New York City and New York State teamed up to provide money for such projects; permanently subsidized housing that includes services like mental health and drug counseling. Together, those agreements created 5,300 apartments citywide, and private-sector and other efforts added about 15,000 more. These apartments have been central to controlling homelessness in the city, advocates say, but they still do not nearly meet the demand. In June 2004, the mayor promised to reduce street homelessness by two-thirds, in part by building 12,000 additional units of supportive housing. At the time, the mayor found money for 3,000 new units; with this plan, he would fulfill his pledge. Advocates for the homeless praised Mayor Bloomberg not only for the size of the new commitment but also for its inclusive nature. Previously, supportive housing has been for single mentally ill people. The new agreement opens such housing to other vulnerable populations, like youths who are getting too old for foster care and families with one mentally ill parent. On any given day, nearly one thousand people in Sioux City, Iowa have no place to call home and until now there haven’t been any fundraisers in Sioux City supporting homeless shelters and homeless services. But homeless services have helped people like Jerri Anderson get back on her feet. Today 49-year-old Jerri Anderson lives on her own but that wasn’t always the case. Back in 1992, Anderson was suicidal and found herself homeless after the emergency shelter she stayed in closed their doors. “I didn’t have anywhere to go so I went back to Shesler Hall in 1992, if they hadn’t taken me back I don’t know where I’d be,” Anderson said. Shesler Hall is a home for women with special needs. A home that helped Anderson back on her feet. “Being there from ’92 to 2003 enabled me to be on my own now,” Anderson said. While Shesler Hall helped Anderson gain her independence nearly 1,000 Sioux Cityan’s find themselves homeless, some without anywhere to go, except the cold. Kip Aaleta, area homeless person, added, “It was real hard, I didn’t know what to think, there’d be nights I’d wake up shivering and I didn’t know what to do.” Bob Fischer of Wayzata, Minnesota doesn’t believe anyone should be forced to sleep outside in the winter so he came up with Bob’s Sleepout. “Bob’s Sleepout is an event organized about 10 years ago to bring awareness and get people involved around the affordable housing and homeless plate in the Minneapolis suburbs,” Fischer explained. The way Bob’s Sleepout works is people camp-out one night during the winter to get a glimpse into what homeless people endure on cold nights and money is raised to help homeless people through free-will donations. Page 3 �Public protest leads to u-turn on vendor’s ban from shopping center Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES T-Shirt Today! (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes by Carrie Briffett A popular Big Issue vendor banned from selling the homeless magazine at a south Wales shopping precinct has been allowed back into the center, after protests from local residents. Howard Brown had been vending at Bethel Square shopping center in Brecon for two years when the manager told him he could no longer sell there because it was “private property”. But local residents were so outraged at the decision that they began writing to their local paper, The Brecon And Radnorshire Post, and boycotting the shop at the center of the incident in protest. Brown said the dispute began last month when the center’s manager asked him to move because the bakery Greggs had objected to him selling outside its shop. But when Brown moved further down the arcade, half an hour later the manager approached him again. “He said he thought we had come to ‘an amicable agreement’. And I said, ‘We have. I’m not outside Greggs.’ He told me it was private property and to leave.” When The Big Issue contacted John Michell from King Sturge, which manages the Bethel Square shopping center, he said that the manager of Greggs had complained because of concerns that customers would be hindered from coming in and out of the shop door due to Brown’s position. But Michell added that Brown is welcome to sell inside the center anywhere where he wouldn’t be an obstruction. He said: “Only if someone is being offensive or dangerous, affecting a health and safety issue like obstructing fire exits, would we move them on. W e certainly would not have any policy against The Big Issue. In fact we encourage all sorts of local charities and so on in our centers. I would say categorically that we wouldn’t issue instructions to one of our managers to remove a vendor.” And many residents will be glad to hear that. One letter printed in the paper called Brown “unfailingly courteous” and added: “Should you choose to publish the names of the businesses who have objected to Howard’s presence we would be grateful.” Another reads: “Much as I enjoy the excellent selection at Greggs, I have decided to take my business elsewhere and hope that other customers do the same, hopefully then, the management of Greggs will see sense, apologise to Mr Brown and ask him to return.” During the dispute, Brown vended opposite the center and said that although it had not affected his sales, it meant he had no shelter from the rain and cold weather. He said: “Lots of people came up to me and said how petty it was – even people who don’t buy the Issue. My sales even picked up for a couple of days, although they are back to normal now. “I have a good rapport with the customers and even people who don’t buy the magazine. And I would like to thank those people who have written in support.” Dave Ormonde, vendor service worker for The Big Issue Cymru, added: “I’m glad that common sense has prevailed. This has shown how popular Howard is in Brecon and the good will its residents show The Big Issue. It seems one complaint was just taken too far and it should never have been a problem.” �Diamond in the Rough, a Story of Mother Who is Homeless back right before I was thrown out of all time low, I was miserable because my baby Daniel James and that’s but Hopeful the program. I could not take care of my kids the when I went to see him for the first by Janny Castillo In early 2000 I was living in a three bedroom subsidized house in Antioch. I was deep in my addiction then, cooking and selling crank. The money was good and Christopher, my 5 year old had pretty much everything he wanted. I was pregnant with my second child. My friend who was also using asked me to move in with her so she could help me stop. It didn’t work; I continued to use and on April 28th baby Jordan was born with drugs in his system. At the hospital, Child Protective Services (CPS) took him away from me. When I was released I had to lie to my older son Christopher. I told him his brother was sick and that he had to stay in the hospital. When I was pregnant with Chris, I was able to quit using until he turned 8 months old. I was very naive about my disease; I told myself that I needed the drug to lose weight only to get heavily addicted again. I was devastated and full of guilt. CPS allowed me to have supervised visits with Jordan once a week for one hour. To get Jordan back, they told me I needed to get on ACCESS; a waiting list for residential programs. I entered into a drug rehab program. I was very scared, the whole drug rehab program was new to me and I had no idea what people were talking about. I was there about 45 days. It was a rollercoaster ride of getting up at 6:00 am, doing chores and talking about my addiction all day. The light at the end of the tunnel was getting Jordan I had been assigned to escort way I was supposed to, providing a resident to court. She came back stable housing was always on my intoxicated and with a bottle of mind. It was so hard at the shelter; it alcohol. I was exited from the was like reaching a new kind of program for non-compliance. No bottom. The kid’s play area was a one had told me I had to follow folks litter box for stray cats. Ninety to the bathroom. I tested clean but I percent of my AFDC check went for still had to rent and other leave. I dues. My kids It was so hard at the shelter; it was remember how and I lived off painful it was of $100 a like reaching a new kind of bottom. to have to put month. The my son in the The kid’s play area was a litter box for shelter car that was provided one taking him meal a day and stray cats. Ninety percent of my away from me they had to AFDC check went for rent and other again. I broke feed 100 down women and dues. My kids and I lived off of $100 a emotionally. children. We From were subjected month. The shelter provided one meal there I went to to selling candy another a day and they had to feed 100 women to make residential money for the program called and children. We were subjected to shelter. If we Walden didn’t sell, we selling candy to make money for the House. were written Thankfully, one up. shelter. If we didn’t sell, we were of my friends I couldn’t was there and take it, the written up. helped me stress of living through it. The in this program was a little better; it taught environment was too much, I started me how to use recovery tools to stay to use again and moved into my clean. After 30 days CPS returned sister’s house. I had no choice, we Jordan to me. I successfully moved back to the shelter and after completed the program on awhile to back again to my mother’s. November 25th, 2001. That same Christopher was emotionally day I was able to pick up my older devastated; changing schools and son, Christopher. friends constantly was taking a We moved in with my mother tremendous toll on him. for a while but her apartment was too In October 2002, I found small so we had to go to a shelter in myself pregnant again, still using and Baypoint. My self esteem was at an living in a motel in Pittsburg with Christopher. Jordan was living with his father who had taken custody of him. Motel living was difficult; the rooms were full of other addicts. I never knew when my son’s next meal was going to come from. Welfare paid the rent for only 4 weeks. I could not see myself bringing another baby into this life. I made plans to give my baby up for adoption. I had a family picked out who could not have kids and could give him everything I couldn’t. My third son was born on July 1st 2003. He tested positive for drugs and had to stay in the hospital for the first 8 days of his life. For the first four days he could not be held because he was on an IV and in an oxygen hood to help him breathe. I had not had any prenatal care and his condition was a direct result of my use. I didn’t want to see him because I wasn’t going to keep him; I was scared of becoming attached and not being able to go through with it. I called the adoptive parents who told me they could not adopt him because they did not follow up with their attorney. Alone in my room I sat thinking, at 2:35 pm, I named Streetvibes time. I touched his little hand and caressed his foot. I knew then that I was going to keep him. I ended up back in CPS court who assigned me to yet another 90 day residential program. I had to complete the program if I wanted to have my baby returned to me. On July 21st I was arrested for being under the influence of methamphetamines. I was booked and fingerprinted and was released under the supervision of a friend. I was so scared and ashamed that I stayed away from my mom and son for four days. I realized I could not live like that any more. On August 25th 2003, I stepped into the beginning of my new life; I became a resident at the La Casa residential program in Martinez. It was hard being at that program knowing my son was less than 8 blocks away but it also made me stronger. I loved it at La Casa; finally I began to understand what people had been saying about recovery. I don’t know if they said it better or if I was finally able to listen and understand. Things began looking up. La Casa gave me something none of the other programs gave me. They gave me HOPE. I was assigned a great counselor who understood me and helped me to heal. Everyone who worked there was in recovery and I related to them all. They give me a sense of peace and strength that had been missing in my life. December 5th at 3:05 pm, Daniel James was returned to me. I waited 5 months and three days to hold my child in my arms and I vowed then it was for good. I moved to a transitional house in Richmond that was on a dope track but I did not use. Through my therapist I applied for a transitional house with BOSS which is where I am now. Daniel could not sleep in Richmond and suffered daily with asthma and colds. The first night we stayed in Berkeley he slept all night, and since being here, his health has improved dramatically. Christopher is allowed to spend weekends with me and I am able to visit Jordan often. On Thursday, April 21st I celebrated 21 months clean and sober. I have been asked to chair a meeting in a local detox center where I will share my story with beginners. I feel good about myself but I know I still have a long way to go; the difference is that I am not turning to drugs any more, instead I have hope. Mother to mother: “It took me a long time to realize that using drugs is not a way of life. I share my experience to offer you a sense of hope. I feel your pain, I know your hurt but in recovery there are always happy endings.” Page 5 �New Year Brings Hope Street Citizens around to simply avoid the…sound by Ms. Mary Gaffney Year. Things will be better in 2006. Greetings to all of you who As you begin a new way of life and have purchased Streetvibes in the to those who may vary off the path, 12 months of 2005. I bid you a Merry Xmas and a successful New get back on the path and you will find the door of Year in 2006. As you success opening for buy this little paper each you. month, maybe you did Think of the Christ not realize that the Child as we celebrate $1.00 bill helped to His birthday each feed an empty stomach, year. Mary and keep a roof over Joseph were homeless someone’s head, etc. Miss Mary Gaffney and denied a decent Regardless, it helps. room. There was no To all of you, room at the inn. A dirty stable was my homeless friends, my best His shelter. He could have been wishes to you in the coming New better over this ordeal. He went through His birth and all the ordeals 20 YEARS of his life. Even carrying His own SERVING THE cross to Calvary. But still He did NEIGHBORHOOD not know malice at the end. He did all this to save us. My homeless friends, there is a brighter day ahead. Keep the faith and keep on walking on. Remember, God loves you. The Homeless Man by Angela C. Empowering our neighborhood children through peace, art and education Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 A homeless man Scavenges In trash barrels And envies People who look down on him With scorn As they hurry home To their evening meals. He crouches In a rat infested corner, Content to be with creatures That don’t cringe At the sight of him. (513) 621-5514 A Call to Greater Cincinnati Poets For the 2006 annual Book of Poems and Drawings on Peace and Justice 1) Call for poems from any poet from the Greater Cincinnati area 2) Poems to relate to themes of peace and justice 3) Poet may submit up to 3 poems 4) All submissions will be considered. The editors will be looking for quality, inclusiveness, and appropriateness to the themes of peace and justice. 5) If space becomes limited, priority will be given to poets not published in previous books 6) Poems selected will be illustrated in B&W by Greater Cincinnati artists (one drawing per poet) 7) Poems and illustrations will be printed in For a Better World 2006, a book to be available April, 2006 8) Book will be launched and available for sale at SOS ART 2006. 9) Poets included in book will be invited to read their poems at SOS ART 2006 10) Proceeds from sale of book will finance publication of future similar books to accompany annual âœSOS ART events. (Note: this is the 3rd annual book) 11) Submission deadline: February 3, 2006 12) Please send submissions in full text and as a Word attachments by e-mail or by US mail (on a floppy disk) to: Saad Ghosn (saad.ghosn@uc.edu), 216 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, Oh 45229 Page 6 by George Herrell “Private Property, No Trespassing,” was the sign that greeted me at the door, however, it was raining, it was late and the fact that it was “cold” made sleeping under the bridge where I’d spent the previous night out of the question. Besides, the building had been vacant for years. And so, ignoring the sign, I entered and sought out a place to dry off and get some rest. There was no heat but the shelter from the rain and chilling wind came as a welcome relief. Empty beer and wine bottles as well as newspapers spread out in several areas to serve as padding on the concrete floors told me that I wasn’t the first person to seek shelter here, but for the time being I was alone. Soon the silence and relief combined with exhaustion lulled me into an almost comatose sleep. Does that sound like a passage from some fictional mystery novel? Well, on my behalf, as well as thousands more like myself, I wish to God it was. For us, the desperation of homelessness is only too real. Not knowing from day-to-day how or when you’ll eat or where you are going to sleep. So often, people take those basic ‘creature comforts’ for granted. For a homeless individual, going a day without a meal is not unusual and often the closest thing we can find to a comfortable bed is a park bench. Sounds delightful, huh? Of course, there are homeless shelters and soup kitchens, but only too often, the number of those in need exceed their capacities and unfortunately, those numbers are growing. Often people think of the homeless as being lazy or illiterate, but in most cases nothing could be further from the truth. Many of us are merely victims of circumstance or have simply made poor choices in the past. Some suffer from mental disorders or chemical dependency. I’ve met homeless individuals who are highly intelligent. I myself am only one semester away from having my associates degree in business management and culinary arts and was a Dean’s List student in college. I’m a hard worker and I take great pride in a job well done. I’m a poet who has aspirations of publishing a book of my works and yet, I’m homeless all because I made some poor choices and as a result, I’m now a recovering addict, an exfelon who happens to also have both physical and phsycological limitations. When I was younger, I used to shun those people who slept on park benches or in doorways along the streets, who always seemed dirty or were always begging for change. I often found myself avoiding eye contact or walking the long way Streetvibes familiar? There’s a saying that goes, “There but for the grace of God go I”, and I’m here to tell you that there’s truly no better teacher than experience. I’m a Streetvibes vendor and whenever people pass by I’ll greet them, at times they’ll simply look at me then look away. Sometimes they won’t even bother to look; a lot of times they refuse to even acknowledge my greeting, often appearing annoyed; they often seem afraid of what that acknowledgement might cost them. Don’t get me wrong. I realize that no one person can help everyone that the meet who’s in need, but it doesn’t always have to be ‘monetary.’ Sometimes a cordial greeting of a few words of encouragement will do wonders. Thank God for those caring individuals, such as Mr. Randy Sandler of the Cincinnati art Galleries, Mr. Terry Peirano, motorcycle officer of the Cincinnati Police Department, Brother Al of St. Francis Seraph church, just to name a few individuals always willing to offer a helping hand. Yet, the question which stands out foremost in my mind is why is it that large metropolitan cities with their billion dollar stadiums, five star restaurants, hotels, museums, etc, have such a problem housing their underprivileged citizens? As I walk around the city of Cincinnati I see a multitude of empty buildings just rotting away. Those whish are eventually renovated become condominiums, office spaces, (as if we needed more), etc. If they’re good enough for those uses, couldn’t a few of them be used to shelter those who have no place to call home? This is the season that we celebrate a homeless family, their child being born in a manger in a stable among the farm animals because there was no room for them anywhere else. The gifts we share are meant to represent the gifts given to that family by the three wise men who were foreigners to that land. All I’m asking is that when you’re out purchasing and delivering your gifts this season, take a moment to take a look around you and when you see those who are less fortunate than yourself, give them the gifts of love and understanding, a kind word, a smile, a moment of acknowledgement. Moreover, offer them the gift of hope. Authors Note: I wrote this story on 10/27/05, just after seeing my daughter born in University Hospital Labor and Delivery ward. I wish the world were full of more people filled with the compassion that I’ve seen in the people who work there. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them and to wish you all a safe and very Merry Christmas! �way in which certain War Made Easy things areThehammered on: that’s a Internet can be sort of a big cul-de­ sac. The capacity to reach beyond tipoff. We’re in the agenda-building that circle, even if it’s a big circle, is by Timothy Harris period with Iran, not intensively, but limited. There can be a very delusional quality to the Internet. it’s there. We need to look at the Propaganda. The word When it comes up against the tone and the frequency of brings to mind Soviet-era broader society, it doesn’t apparatchiks, deep in the bowels of references to “how there’s a bad the Kremlin, writing the “news” for country out there doing bad things,” compete. MoveOn has three million members, and that’s the good Pravda. Things are different here. If how intolerable it is. news. But it’s also the bad news, RC: I think it was Jacques jubilant Iraqis tear down a statue of because three million isn’t that Saddam Hussein in the aftermath of Ellul who said that the voice of many. It makes people feel good to “liberation,” every broadcast outlet propaganda is indignation. see stuff they agree with in their Solomon: Yeah. There is in the country can be counted on to inbox, but that’s not enough. this kind of moral high ground that air those moving images again and RC: It seems that there’s is postured upon by the mainstream again, completely of their own pundits quite often. Certainly by the this comfortable narrative that you volition. President and Vice President. It’s a can choose to believe and be part And when that image is of the mainstream. It’s very holier-than-thou, kind of “we’re staged by U.S. Psy-Ops seductive, I think. good, they’re bad, and because (psychological operations) Solomon: It’s a numbing they’re so evil we need to take personnel, that story will break as process, and the anesthetic has a action.” well, but with a much smaller lot of political utility. It’s been said RC: One reading of your megaphone. If you really want to that those who believe absurdities book might be that the people are know what’s happening, the simply easy to manipulate — that a make injustice possible. So that information is mostly available. handful of tried and true techniques there’s the layer of illogic that, you That’s the good news. know, “there are weapons of mass have worked very well for a long The bad news is that the destruction — oh, there aren’t, but time and probably always will. But major media are willing you seem a little more hopeful than it doesn’t matter.” Or, “Oh, well collaborators when it comes to the there wasn’t a connection to 9-11, that. Why? selling of war. Norman Solomon’s but just for good measure, we may War Made Easy: How Presidents as well go to war so that we don’t Solomon: Well, if we can and Pundits Keep Spinning us to have another 9-11.” analyze the scam, we can take Death (Wiley, 2005) is a sobering And then there are the emotional away some of the power, and that analysis of how we are moved to was really, in many ways, the basic walls that are refurbished constantly war. In 17 chapters with headings by the news media. You know: reason I wrote the book. I think like “America is a Fair and Noble mystification perpetuates deception. here’s a war, cut to a commercial. Superpower,” “This Is About Here’s a war, we’re telling you It does. It’s not like these people Human Rights,” and “They Are the what a war is, when actually we’re are geniuses. They just have some Aggressors, Not Us,” Solomon just giving you video images that basic techniques down in terms of explores our recent history from messages that are put out. In many convey almost nothing about a war Vietnam forward to reveal how compared to what it is. There are respects, the messages can’t stand media and government work the layers of information blockage, fear, the light of day if there’s a critical myth-making machinery to vantage point that can be brought to paralysis, and psychological simultaneously appeal to our best bear. So I think that as powerful as numbing that add up to a fantasy and worst instincts. version of war. We don’t know shit the war propagandists are, they’re Real Change caught up to also vulnerable to being debunked if about war, even though ever since Solomon when he was in Seattle 9-11 there’s been a constant flow we can directly challenge their this month speaking at the Elliott of war coverage. techniques. Bay Book Company. RC: One theme of your RC: Part of the problem is Real Change: I think a lot book is that a common thread in of Americans would be surprised to that powerful media interests often American warmaking has been an have the same perspectives and hear that they live within a expansion of empire. I’m reminded interests as powerful corporate propaganda system since, as you of Thucydides, where Pericles talks interests. Is media reform here say, the very thing that makes it so about how the demands of empire really possible, or do we simply effective is its invisibility. What are are difficult, but once held, need to build other alternatives? some of the red flags that people Solomon: Well, I think we dangerous to let go. Athens thought should look for? of itself as a benevolent empire as Norman Solomon: Well, the need to build alternatives and well. What would letting go of that directly challenge mainstream terrain is filled with red flags, but mythology, and that claim to media. We need to raise the we take them for granted. That’s empire, really mean for America? question, “Why the hell isn’t this part of the challenge. War What would that look like? information in the mass media?” I propaganda is indistinguishable Solomon: It would be a don’t think we know the limits of from routine news coverage. The redefinition of who we are, in terms essence of propaganda is repetition, creating a more democratic media. of self-concept and certainly We need to find out what’s and we live in a state of media possible, but there are pretty severe behavior. If you have your boot on siege. I think that as human beings somebody’s neck, over time there we tend to respond to what’s in the institutional constraints at a daily is — consciously or not — a real newspaper or a large network. atmosphere. It’s a sort of a disincentive to taking your boot off. RC: Some people argue constant ambient noise that makes that the Internet has the potential to They might be in a position to lash war drums sound normal as time back. You know, what’s implicit in goes on. And I think part of what’s rival television’s power to shape so much media coverage is that important in response is to see how public debate. Do you agree? Solomon: Like any medium, might makes right. And when manufactured these messages are, you’re in a country that has the that they’re not simply the result of the Internet has its limitations. Pentagon behind the policy, that’s a When you look at examples of people looking out for our best pretty comfortable position to take. Internet activism, like MoveOn, or interests. Empires don’t have limits, even the even the Dean campaign, the Streetvibes U.S. empire in 2005. And frankly, I don’t think it’s a moral constraint that is keeping the U.S. out of even greater horrific military action. There are the realities of finite numbers of troops and capacity to wage war. RC: My sense is that, despite everything, the war in Iraq has become very unpopular. You hear talk now of having reached a “tipping point.” What do you see? Solomon: Well, the war is simultaneously unpopular and quite viable politically. The Vietnam War went on for years and years after it had become quite unpopular. There were more people saying they were against it — even saying they thought it was immoral, according to some polls. And yet the momentum is very difficult to stop. And that’s where the cowardice of members of the Senate, for instance, comes into view. I mean, I live in California, and people who live in Washington, as well — we have senators who are appalling in their refusal to deal with this war. Feinstein and Cantwell and Murray are all making a lot of humanistic noises, having a kind of a liberal constituency to some significant degree. And yet, it’s perceived as easier to not push the envelope. And so there’s a lot of huffing and puffing about tactical issues on the war. Meanwhile, we have a military budget of, ballpark, half a trillion dollars a year now. We have a country being bled, literally and figuratively, and there’s very little leadership coming from people in public office. I think that progressives are too nice. Why are we letting these senators off the hook? It’s almost like we’re not existing in our own historical period and taking responsibility. We’re in Groundhog Day in many respects. I do a lot of talk shows and occasionally some people say, as though it’s a profound comment, “Well, you know, Iraq is not Vietnam.” And I say, “Okay, Iraq is not Vietnam, but the United States is the United States.” Norman Solomon is executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, which “makes frequent communication possible between independent policy analysts and working journalists. IPA promotes the inclusion of perspectives that widen the bounds of media discussion and enhance democratic debate.” www.accuracy.org Reprinted from Real Change News Page 7 �Nicaragua Cont. from page 1 Dear Friends: I have just received a letter from Dr. Lawrence E. Carter, Jr., sanitation workers having sex with of twenty-one years of age, he Dean, Martin Luther King, Jr., prepubescent girls and paying them International Chapel, Morehouse proceeds to give us the tour of the entire dump: the neighborhood that with nothing more than bottles and College, that I am to be a recipient cans. has no name, the massive mounds of the “Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award. To say that the situation in of garbage, the workers, the The award will be presented at the La Chureca is desperate would be people, his life. National Underground Railroad As we start walking around, an understatement. It is a dire Freedom Center Museum’s awards example of a neglected people I notice that Juan has several ceremony “celebrating the showing living in extreme poverty. Perhaps homemade tattoos on his body, of the Gandhi, King, Ikeda: A the saddest aspect of the situation is Legacy of Building Peace” most likely the result of gang activity. I ask him if he feels secure that the majority of the workers in exhibition on Thursday, December the dump are children. One image living in the dump. He responds 1, 2005, 11:30am-12:30pm. that stays with me is the sight of a that the gangs are generally non­ Dr. Carter writes, in part: violent, and since there is little drug child of five years old or younger “The award will be conferred upon rummaging through piles of broken or alcohol activity – no one has you for your distinguished money for either – there is not much glass, learning from his mother commitment and leadership of which ones can be sold and which violence or theft. The main drug American education for peace. I problem involves the “gluesniffers.” ones are to be discarded. would also like to recognize you for The sights at the dump are Mothers will often give their young your extraordinary effort for healing intense and filled with emotion. The and building community on the heels children cheap jars of glue when people on their hands and knees they cannot afford food because it of the civil unrest in Cincinnati.” digging for unsoiled cans. The is an inexpensive way to get high I am both surprised and honored to older men fighting with cows over a receive this award. and get rid of hunger pains. However, it expedites malnutrition, newly discovered pile of rotted In peace, tomatoes in a mound of garbage. destroys their development, and Steve Sunderland, Director, The boys in the barrio running up to Peace Village creates painful addictions. us with smiles on their faces, simple We walk among the shanties, and Juan explains that the tops in their hands, and discolored growths on their skin. Their hair dump is where you go when you straight blond, discolored from the have nowhere else to go. There, natural black because of their you can live off the land, picking extreme malnutrition. The young through the trash for income and child hunched in a doorway with a sustenance. Many sell what they jar of glue raised to her nose and find: cans, bottles, glass, wire, mouth. She looks me in the eye batteries, and even used toilet and asks me questions that I cannot paper. They sell them to the hear and don’t know the answers sanitation company for meager sums; a three foot tall bag of clean, to. I cannot help but see clear glass might sell for around 8 parallels to the systems of poverty córdobas, or 50 cents American. and homelessness that exist in the Most residents of the dump United States: people on the edge rummage for discarded food, their of society, governments that brush main source of nutrition, as well as the vulnerable aside, and the the main cause of disease. ghettoization of races and classes. Children born into this poverty begin picking through trash This article is an abridged version of a longer and more in order to support their families thorough paper written by the between the ages of 5 or 7. Juan author... tells us how young girls are For a free electronic copy, immediately thrown into please email John Lavelle at prostitution. The most stomach churning stories he recounts involve homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com. Cold Weather Upon Us: This past month has seen our first taste of really cold weather. We cracked the 200 persons served level last month and eventually reached 239! It’s also becoming more crowded in our lobby during the day. However, volunteers have been helping to keep spirits up by hosting activities, bringing in plants and serving extra snacks. Please Support Our Funding Drive: Thirty-five percent of the Drop Inn Center budget is generated by donations during our Annual Holiday Drive. If you believe in what we are doing, please help show your support by contributing to the drive at any amount you are able. We rely mainly on many small donors to help us make it through. Join in yourself by sending a check to the below address or donating online at www.dropinn.org under “Donate Online”. Thank you in advance. Drop Inn Center 217 W. 12th St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 721-0643 Got The Vibe? This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. Page 8 Streetvibes �Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �SHOP... Cont. from Page 1 that particular Kroger toward the folks asking for money outside. I would direct my distaste toward Kroger. Because I think it is economically racist of Kroger to provide predominately white suburbanites with a respectable building and broad product selection while neighborhoods like Corryville and Camp Washington have a Kroger of lesser quality. So, if she had asked, “don’t you just hate this Kroger?” without the statement about panhandlers, I might have said yes, but she did and I thought the question to be racist and gross. I know flower boxes on Vine Street and art on the Metro Buses does not change the fact that people are suffering economically and a better Kroger won’t change the perceptions of some of our neighborhoods. However people, all people, disserve respect and quality goods regardless of the neighborhoods’ demographic. And I do not mind loiterers or panhandlers: what bothers me are corporations like Kroger who provide the least quality of service for poorest neighborhoods and all the other corporations that do not pay their workers a livable wage. More so, what I find upsetting are rich racist bigots treating the poor like criminals who deserve less. Maybe this weekend I’ll panhandle outside the Hyde Park Kroger, cause don’t you just hate that Kroger? The Digital Dump based BAN. “We’re talking by Rosette Royale about carcinogens. We’re talking One man’s junk, the old about birth defects. We’re saying goes, is another man’s treasure. But when that one man talking about issues that are long­ term, that will persist and affect is the developed world, and another man is Nigerian, the junk the people on the ground for a — a seemingly never-ending flow long time.” And that’s the place where of largely inoperable computer the majority of e-waste resides: parts — becomes nothing more on the ground. The report details than toxic waste. piles of computer monitors, hard How much junk are we drives, and keyboards piled in talking? Every month, it’s unlined and unmonitored estimated that 400,000 dumpsites in Lagos, oftentimes computers or monitors arrive in situated near groundwater. Nigeria, with upwards of 75 Leaching from this digital detritus percent of these electronic is barium, émigrés far beyond beryllium, the point of repair. “We shouldn’t cadmium, lead, and Combine all this disproportionately mercury, all of electronic waste — burden anyone which are well or e-waste, for documented in their short — and you because of their toxicity to humans. currently have a race or ethnicity Most Lagotians, one-square-acre or status in life unaware of the mass of toxic trash with toxic toxic chemicals’ that towers 300 presence, attempt feet, rivaling the pollutants. If to eradicate this height of the Statue waste happens electronic eyesore of Liberty. And here, if we enjoy by periodically yet, except for the the product here, burning the eNigerians who waste. That glance at it every and it becomes action, the BAN day, most of the waste here, let’s report notes, world may not deal with it at makes a number of even know such ehome.” the chemicals even waste exists. more hazardous. That While “The Digital Dump” unknowing has come to a definitive end, however, thanks to may be news, the issue of toxic trade and BAN’s opposition to a recent report entitled “The the practice are not. BAN is the Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use primary watchdog group for an and Abuse to Africa.” Released international treaty called the late last month by the Basel Basel Convention on Action Network (BAN), the 43­ Transboundary Movement of page report is unflinching in its Hazardous Wastes and their assertion that the developed Disposal. Since its ratification in world’s desire to get rid of ewaste at low cost is amounting to 1992, Gutierrez says166 the highest of costs for the people countries have agreed to Basel Convention tenets. “Surprisingly, of Nigeria, especially for citizens the United States is the only in its largest city, Lagos. developed nation that has not “E-waste is toxic waste,” ratified it,” says Gutierrez. says Richard Gutierrez, toxics Agreeing to the convention policy analyst for the Seattle­ Page 10 “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” means agreeing to an amendment that stipulates, in effect, that a developed nation shall not send its hazardous waste to a developing nation. Since the U.S. hasn’t ratified the convention, it is free to send hazardous waste to any poor country it chooses without legal ramifications, a practice borne out in the fact that 45 percent of Nigeria’s e-waste comes directly from the U.S. (Europe accounts for another 45 percent; the remaining 10 percent hails from countries such as Israel and Japan.) For the U.S., ratification equals responsibility, says Gutierrez, “and right now, they don’t see that it’s profitable to be responsible.” Instead, the U.S. and others in the developed world tend to cloak their irresponsibility with claims of altruism. “A lot of e-waste is entering Africa under the guise of reuse and bridging the digital divide,” he says. With responsibility lacking on the federal level, Gutierrez says that it’s up to the states to take charge. Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation program director Suellen Mele says the process has already begun. Mele says that her organization has been working with the Department of Ecology, local green groups, and even companies such as HewlittPackard to craft a bill that centers on a concept called product stewardship. The concept binds manufacturers of products to accept financial responsibility for the recycling of televisions, desktop computers, and laptops at end-of-use, when consumers bid outdated electronic goods adiós. “There’s just a much better way of dealing with an old computer or TV. than shipping it to a developing country,” says Mele. The proposed bill, she says, will be presented during the state’s 2006 session, which begins in Jan. In Gutierrez’s eyes, such state initiatives place power firmly in the hands of U.S. consumers, while protecting citizens of foreign lands. “We shouldn’t disproportionately burden anyone because of their race or ethnicity or status in life with toxic pollutants. If waste happens here, if we enjoy the product here, and it becomes waste here, let’s deal with it at home.” Reprinted from Real Change News 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 Streetvibes �Florida: Thousands Hit by Hurricane Wilma Rush for Emergency Food Stamps (“Florida Food Program Attracts Thousands,” msnbc.msn.com, November 9, 2005) Tens of thousands of Hurricane Wilma victims in Florida applied for emergency food stamps last week. At the Orange Bowl, the line in the hot sun stretched for blocks. People actually ran to get in line, some of them pushing baby carriages, as officials started taking food stamp applications in Palm Beach County. “What’s striking is these are people who normally aren’t considered poor enough to qualify for food stamps but who now are in serious trouble.” Flora Beal of the Florida Department of Children and Families says, “This is for those people who because of the hurricane have had their financial stability pretty much destroyed.” Jenny Gonzalez, a teacher’s aide with three children whose home was damaged and who applied for food assistance for the first time in her life, is one of those people. “To recover has been really hard after the storm, so it’s really great that they are helping us,” she says. State officials report the emergency food stamp program is expected to help four million Floridians. A qualified single person is given a $152 one-time debit card that can be used at select grocery stores, and a family of four gets about $500. Op-Ed: Reducing Poverty Starts with Halting Tax Cuts for Wealthy and Preserving Programs for Poor – Not the Other Way Around (“Poverty Rising under Bush; Will He Really Take Action?” lsj.com, November 6, 2005) Donna Rich Kaplowitz, Community Advisory Board member to the Lansing State Journal, writes that President Bush “has lavishly promised to rebuild New Orleans and even acknowledged that poverty in the U.S. ‘has its roots in a history of racial discrimination.’” This acknowledgement is belated but welcome. The number of Americans below the poverty line decreased by 2.29 percent annually during the Clinton administration, but has increased by 4.33 percent annually in the Bush years. The poor have gotten poorer, but the rich have gotten richer. Even in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration intends to finance $70 billion in tax cuts, half of these for the wealthy, by borrowing and by cutting programs for low and moderate-income families. If the president “were truly committed to reducing poverty in the United States, he could begin by halting his tax cuts for the wealthy, and ending programming cuts for the poor.” http://tinyurl.com/eyeq2 Federal Government Must Attack Child Hunger (“Vermont Children Need Security of Food,” burlingtonfreepress.com, November 9, 2005) There are 55,000 adults and 21,000 children who are food insecure in Vermont, according to USDA. Since 1999, the number of Vermont households unable to provide food for their children has doubled. The state has experienced the largest increase in the number of households with the most severe category of hunger of any other state in the last six years. Robert Dostis of the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger says, “people’s income is not keeping up with their expenses and they are averting food money to heat, rent and other things.” Many households are living on the edge, with parents who cannot afford adequate diets and skip meals to allow their children to eat, Dostis noted. It is a sign of deep poverty when children go without food at home and rely largely on breakfasts and lunches at school. To alleviate this situation, this editorial in the Burlington Free Press urges to reject the House of Representatives’ cuts to the food stamp program; to increase funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Plan; to provide nutrition education in schools; and to ensure that all 40,000 eligible Vermont students receive free school and summer meals. http://tinyurl.com/d8u8u More Than a Million North Carolinians Are at Risk of Hunger (“Poverty Continues to Rise in North Carolina,” rdu.news14.com, November 4, 2005) Poverty continues to spread in North Carolina. State food banks describe this as a situation “quickly becoming a crisis.” North Carolina ranks ninth in the nation for food insecurity. More than a million North Carolinians are at risk of hunger. “One-point-two million people statewide live below the poverty line . . . so it really could be someone next door who needs food assistance,” said Lindsey Graham, a representative of North Carolina food banks. http://rdu.news14.com/content/ your_news/raleigh/ ?ArID=76610&SecID=17 Report: Capital Gains Tax Extension Would Overwhelmingly Benefit the Rich in Every State (“IRS Data on the Capital Gains Tax Cut in Each State ,” cbpp.org, November 7, 2005) While making a decision about the reconciliation tax cut bill in coming weeks, Congress will focus on whether to extend the reduction in the capital gains tax rate that was enacted in 2003 and that is set to expire in 2008. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities published the IRS data table, “The Distribution of Capital Gains Tax Cut Benefits in 2003, by State,” to show who would benefit. The table shows the percentage of tax returns filed in each state that reported incomes of less than $50,000, and the percentage of tax returns from households with income above $200,000. The data also displays the proportion of the total tax savings from the capital gains rate cut that was received by each of these two income groups. In 2003, 70.7 percent of all filers in the nation had annual income below $50,000, but this group received only 3.2 percent of the benefits from the capital gains tax cut. In contrast, those with incomes above $200,000 represented 2.0 percent of all filers, but received 80.5 percent of the capital gains tax cut benefits. http://www.cbpp.org/11-7­ 05tax.htm Georgia: Signs of Tension between Katrina Evacuees and Local People in Streetvibes Need in Atlanta Worry Charities (“In Wake of Katrina, Some Local Poor Feel Shunted Aside,” ajc.com, November 6, 2005) Sixty-three-year old Mary Berry became homeless when her lease ran out and a car accident left her without transportation. Her placement in senior citizen housing was delayed, and she had to spend weeks sleeping on friends’ couches. Berry asked for help from more than a dozen charities, but was told that many of them were helping only Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Homeless and needy people interviewed around Atlanta “say they’re angry the evacuees are getting the kinds of help they’ve requested for years, but been denied.” They point to longer lines and closed services. They say Katrina victims are showered with sympathy and help. “It’s unclear how much the efforts to help evacuees have made life tougher for the local needy. Numerous agencies and charities say a boost in donations and volunteers have let them serve both populations, but for some longer lines.” Several local service providers say the majority of needy and homeless people have not been hurt by the evacuee relief efforts. People are still getting their food stamp and welfare benefits, and most of the homeless can still stay at a shelter if they want to. But some providers see why tension between the evacuees and local needy persons has grown. Philip Bray, president of the Safe House Outreach in Atlanta, says some days have been so crowded that some people left without getting food. The charities in Atlanta worry that the evacuees from afar may, in the long run, when special help ends, join the city’s chronically poor and homeless. “They’re going to see what it’s like to be in Atlanta with no public housing and no affordable housing to replace that, and minimum wage at $5.15 an hour,” said Elisabeth Omilami of Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless. “In the long-term, we will find out what the commitment really is . . . How do we really feel about the poor?” http://tinyurl.com/ct5xb The Peace Village by Steve Sunderland The Peace Village will be back next month 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (75 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �The Real Rosa Parks African-American activist in Atlanta named Sonya Tinsley, “when people by Paul Rogat Loeb Women’s Political Council distributed who work for social change are We learn much from how we present the initial leaflets following Park’s presented as saints—so much more our heroes. A few years ago, on arrest. Without the often lonely work noble than the rest of us. We get a Martin Luther King. Day, I was of people like Nixon, Randolph, and false sense that from the moment they interviewed on CNN. So was Rosa Robinson, Parks would likely have were born they were called to act, Parks, by phone from Los Angeles. never taken her stand, and if she had, never had doubts, were bathed in a “We’re very honored to have her,” it would never have had the same circle of light. But I’m much more said the host. “Rosa Parks was the impact. inspired learning how people woman who wouldn’t go to the back This in no way diminishes the succeeded despite their failings and of the bus. She wouldn’t get up and power and historical importance of uncertainties. It’s a much less give her seat in the white section to a Park’s refusal to give up her seat. intimidating image. It makes me feel white person. That set in motion the But it reminds us that this like I have a shot at changing things year-long bus boycott in tremendously consequential act, along too.” Montgomery. It earned Rosa Parks with everything that followed, Sonya had recently attended the title of ‘mother of the Civil Rights depended on all the humble and a talk given by one of Martin Luther movement.’” frustrating work that Parks and others King’s Morehouse professors, in I was excited to hear Park’s undertook earlier on. It also reminds which he mentioned how much King voice and to be part of the same us that Park’s initial step of getting had struggled when show. Then it occurred to me that involved was just as courageous and he first came to college, getting only a the host’s description—the story’s critical as the stand on the bus that all ‘C,’ for example, in his first standard rendition and one repeated of us have heard about. philosophy course. “I found that very even in many of her obituaries— People like Parks shape our inspiring, when I heard it,” Sonya stripped the Montgomery boycott of models of social commitment. Yet said, “given all that King achieved. It all of its context. Before refusing to from responses to talks I’ve given made me feel that just about anything give up her bus seat, Parks had been throughout the country, most citizens was possible.” active for twelve years in the local do not know the full story of her Our culture’s misreading of NAACP chapter, serving as its involvement. And the conventional the Rosa Parks story speaks to a secretary. The summer before her stripped-down retelling creates a more general collective amnesia, arrest, she’d had attended a ten-day standard so impossible to meet; it where we forget the examples that training session at Tennessee’s labor may actually make it harder for us to might most inspire our courage, hope, and civil rights organizing school, get involved, inadvertently removing and conscience. Apart from obvious the Highlander Center, where she’d away Park’s most powerful lessons times of military conflict, most of us met an older generation of civil rights of hope. know next to nothing of the many activists, like South Carolina teacher This conventional portrayal battles ordinary men and women Septum Clark, and discussed the suggests that social activists come out fought to preserve freedom, expand recent Supreme Court decision of nowhere, to suddenly take the sphere of democracy, and create banning “separate-but-equal” dramatic stands. It implies that we act a more just society. Of the abolitionist schools. During this period of with the greatest impact when we act and civil rights movements, we at best alone, at least initially. And that involvement and education, Parks recall a few key leaders—and often change occurs instantly, as opposed had become familiar with previous misread their actual to building on a series of oftenchallenges to segregation: Another stories. We know even less about Montgomery bus boycott, fifty years invisible actions. The myth of Parks the turn-of-the-century populists who as lone activist reinforces a notion earlier, successfully eased some challenged entrenched economic that anyone who takes a committed restrictions; a bus boycott in Baton interests and fought for a public stand, or at least an effective Rouge won limited gains two years “cooperative commonwealth.” Who one, has to be before Parks was arrested; and the these days can describe the union a larger-than-life figure—someone previous spring, a young movements that ended 80-hour work with more time, energy, courage, Montgomery woman had also weeks at near-starvation wages? vision, or knowledge than any normal Who knows the origin of the social refused to move to the back of the bus, causing the NAACP to consider person could ever possess. This security system, now threatened by a legal challenge until it turned out that belief pervades our society, in part systematic attempts to privatize it? she was unmarried and pregnant, and because the media tends not to How did the women’s suffrage represent historical change as the therefore a poor symbol for a movement spread to hundreds of work of ordinary human beings, campaign. communities, and gather enough which it almost always is. In short, Rosa Parks didn’t strength to prevail? Once we enshrine our heroes make a spur-of-the-moment decision. As memories of these events on pedestals, it becomes hard for She didn’t single-handedly give birth disappear, we lose the knowledge of mere mortals to measure up in our to the civil rights efforts, but she was mechanisms eyes. However individuals speak part of an existing movement for that grassroots social movements out, we’re tempted to dismiss their change, at a time when success was have used successfully in the past to far from certain. We all know Park’s motives, knowledge, and tactics as shift public sentiment and challenge insufficiently grand or heroic. We name, but few of us know about entrenched institutional power. fault them for not being in command Montgomery NAACP head E.D. Equally lost are the means by which of every fact and figure, or being able their participants managed to keep on Nixon, who served as one of her to answer every question put to them. and eventually prevail in mentors and first got Martin Luther We fault ourselves as well, for not King involved. Nixon carried circumstances at least as harsh as knowing every detail, or for harboring those we face today. people’s suitcases on the trains, and uncertainties and doubts. We find it was active in the Brotherhood of Think again about the hard to imagine that ordinary human Sleeping Car Porters, the union different ways one can frame Rosa beings with ordinary flaws might founded by legendary civil rights Park’s historic action. In the make a critical difference in worthy activist A. Philip Randolph. He prevailing myth, Parks decides to act social causes. played a key role in the campaign. almost on a whim, in isolation. She’s Yet those who act have their No one talks of him, any more than a virgin to politics, a holy innocent. own imperfections, and ample they talk of JoAnn Robinson, who The lesson seems to be that if any of taught nearby at an underfunded and reasons to hold back. “I think it does us suddenly got the urge to do segregated Black college and whose us all a disservice,” says a young something equally heroic, that would Streetvibes be great. Of course most of us don’t, so we wait our entire lives to find the ideal moment. Park’s real story conveys a far more empowering moral. She begins with seemingly modest steps. She goes to a meeting, and then another, helping build the community that in turn supported her path. Hesitant at first, she gains confidence as she speaks out. She keeps on despite a profoundly uncertain context, as she and others act as best they can to challenge deeply entrenched injustices, with little certainty of results. Had she and others given up after her tenth or eleventh year of commitment, we might never have heard of Montgomery. Parks also reminds us that even in a seemingly losing cause, one person may unknowingly inspire another, and that person yet a third, who may then go on to change the world, or at least a small corner of it. Rosa Park’s husband Raymond convinced her to attend her first NAACP meeting, the initial step on a path that brought her to that fateful day on the bus in Montgomery. But who got Raymond Parks involved? And why did that person take the trouble to do so? What experiences shaped their outlook, forged their convictions? The links in any chain of influence are too numerous, too complex to trace. But being aware that such chains exist, that we can choose to join them, and that lasting change doesn’t occur in their absence, is one of the primary ways to sustain hope, especially when our actions seem too insignificant to amount to anything. Finally, Park’s journey suggests that change is the product of deliberate, incremental action, whereby we join together to try to shape a better world. Sometimes our struggles will fail, as did many earlier efforts of Parks, her peers, and her predecessors. Other times they may bear modest fruits. And at times they will trigger a miraculous outpouring of courage and heart—as happened with her arrest and all that followed. For only when we act despite all our uncertainties and doubts do we have the chance to shape history. Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of fall 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, and winner of the Nautilus Award for best social change book of the year. His previous books include Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. See www.paulloeb.org To receive his monthly articles email Page 13 �Me!! My Life by Robin Remy by Janet Sharp Me (Mother) Through my addiction I Manage to be a Mother and only by the grace and mercy of God I made sure of the essential things In my sons’ lives in order for them (1) to become men, and (2) to be able to survive. My life always changes, New details to find out, Family secrets known and unknown, My temper to keep under control. Find a way to hide from the world, Learn to listen more and talk less, Find a way to keep my mind active. Me (Friend) I’m a good listener. I have very profound advice. Always willing to share even my last. I must have been a good friend, Because my friends have been with me for the last 30-40 years. So much to do, So little time, Finding some balance in my life. One of these days I’ll find that balance. When, I don’t know. Me (Robin) I’m a giving person. I’m a no-nonsense person. I’m very strong with inner strength. I have a lot more to give from my spirit and my soul. Feel Blue by Toni Bell I feel blue. . . not like the bright pretty sky. I feel blue like the dark blue sea. Oh God, Thank You by Karen Bowman For saving me when I did not know how to save myself. For rescuing me from the grip of crack, from the grip of a rapist. For jamming the gun that was placed at my head. For keeping me alert after the blow that was placed to my jaw. For protecting me on the nights I walked through alleys And abandoned houses looking for a place to sleep. For directing me to N Street Village and placing the right People in my life. For being on earth as you are in heaven. For loving me, Oh God, Thank You. There is a rumble in me, Not a rumbling like a raggedy car, But a rumble from a distant storm waiting to erupt As soon as it arrives. I yearn to blossom like a flower When it blooms, releasing my Petals and fragrance through all My spiritual rooms. I want to bloom away the gloom That sometimes invades my soul. I want to be free to be me. by Booger Love Under an Azure Blue Sky Listen to your heart, it knows right from wrong let it guide you through all the wrong in your heart life that makes you sad and cry, listen to your heart by Andrea Hayfile Under an azure blue sky That’s so clear, not a cloud in sight I stand With the white sand hot beneath my feet Sand so fine, so soft, so clean And with the smell of the ocean All salty and sweet I think How there is such perfection in this Moment and I marvel at the beauty of this place. But, as I listen to the crashing Sound of the waves as they Find their way to the stony shore That waits My spirit is not safe. I am uneasy As uneasy as the furious ocean waves And with the rise and fall of each Sound, I long for peace and I search my soul and pray That one day I will become as marvelous as this place. . . Page 14 it will make you strong, happy everyday it won’t let you go astray, so listen to your heart everyday, listen to what it has to say, for you to do want to be sad and blue? listen to your heart, let it guide you, listen to your heart, it will make you strong listen to your heart, there are so many people Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Streetvibes will lead of astray. Your best friend can be your enemy, listen to your heart, it knows right from wrong, let it guide you, listen to your heart it will make you strong, look inside yourself and listen, listen to your heart. �Jonah in Nevada Day Walk by Michael Henson by James Morrow He did not go to Nineveh. He went instead to the west. When the bus broke down outside of Reno, he took that for a sign and hitchhiked into the city. Two beers, four beers, he watched the work of the strippers. Six beers, eight, he had become such a curse a pair of bouncers grabbed him at each arm and launched him into the street. Ten beers, a dozen and he was swallowed by oblivion and lay cramped in the belly of amnesia for three days. He woke in the desert with the sun straight above him like a spike. His skull was drumming and his mouth was caked with salt. His backpack had been stolen and some fist had gifted him with bruises above his eye and in the arcades of his ribs. His face and arms were blistered by the withering sun. He stared at the empty road and tried to conjure which way would take him back to where he had derailed. Aching, broke, and splitting with thirst, he could not then discern the working of the unreadable winds of Mercy. What now? he thought. What now? Off in the distance, jackrabbit small, a car shimmered toward him. - Daylight holds less mystery than nights beneath the moon but the sun holds inspiration and openers and light that ends too soon. The light of the sun is always now, the moon’s always secondhand it seems nighttime mysteries grow large like a retelling of a retelling. A new song is possible everyday although the night is not Evil as all things are neutral even unto the human will. Much to grow into to seek the sun when one has been one with the night to turn away from closeted secrets and walk once more in the light I never before found daylight to be so great and profound wonderful to be beneath the sun after so very long underground. A Poem by Brenda Lee It’s felt in the heart It’s felt in the soul It seems like everything’s under control It feels so good It feels so nice It feels like everything is as smooth as ice But then one day When it falls apart That’s when God will mend your broken heart. At the age of 15, Brenda s boyfriend was jumped by a group of boys on his way to her house. She felt responsible and was filled with guilt. Her cousin trying to make her feel better introduced her to drugs. Putting Down Roots by Terrance O. Edgar Sr. Let us rejoice at this breaking of the earth to build upon this ground that will house many. Shutter Speed by Jimmy Heath May all that will live here when complete live in peace and fellowship as one community. May the children that will play children’s games be safe from all negative vices that plagues so many of America’s town and cities. Putting down roots that will be a home to the homeless once housed. Housed for it is a right of all upon this earth to have a roof over their bodies. The cold, the rain, the heat the streets should not be conditions for one to be placed in without a home. Putting down roots so that memories can be made so that they may be remembered, of all the ones that will live here when the time arrives. Putting down roots, the roots that will bring forth branches and leaves. And as we are all that tree, it’s limbs, it’s leaves, it’s roots. Putting down roots. Kweisi Mfume - former CEO of the civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He stepped down from his NAACP presidency in January, 2005. In April 2001, Mfume visited Over-theRhine neighborhood of Cincinnati after the city’s civil unrest . Streetvibes Page 15 �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 241-5525 Mission Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House 241-2965 (Veterans) St. Francis/St.Joseph 381-4941 House 661-4620 Mt. Airy Center Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 SHELTERS: Women and Children YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 1-888-872-9259 (Toll Free) 557-2873 Bethany House 762-5660 Salvation Army Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis 859-491-3335 Center 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 421-2437 Cincinnati Appalachian Identity 621-5991 Center 231-6630 Beech Acres Center for Independent Living 241-2600 Options Churches Active in 591-2246 Northside Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 381-4242 Contact Center 241-2563 Emanuel Center TREATMENT: Both 820-2947 N.A. Hopeline 351-0422 A.A. Hotline 381-6672 C.C.A.T. 684-7956 Talbert House Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In 721-0643 Program TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 921-1613 Prospect House 961-2256 Starting Over TREATMENT: Women 961-4663 First Step Home Full Circle Program 721-0643 HOUSING: 721-4580 CMHA Excel Development 632-7149 241-0504 Miami Purchase OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 381-1171 ReSTOC 721-8666 Tender Mercies Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Dana Transitional Bridge 751-9797 Services, Inc 761-1480 Caracole (AIDS) 381-5432 Friars Club 721-0643 Drop Inn Center 863-8866 Haven House Interfaith 471-1100 Hospitality Lighthouse Youth Center 961-4080 (Teens) St. John’s Housing 651-6446 Need Help or Want to Help? MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 863-1445 Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door 868-3276 Pantry New Life Baptist Mission 896-9800 (Soup Kitchen) Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673 Freestore/ 241-1064 Foodbank Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental 946-8600 Health Board Mental Health Access 558-8888 Point Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile 352-2902 Health Van House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. 271-5501 Center Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental 352-6363 Clinic 621-6364 Our Daily Bread Peaslee Neighborhood 621-5514 Center Project Connect, Homeless 363-1060 Kids St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food 471-4357 Center 721-7660 Travelers Aid 721-7900 United Way VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping 872-9259 Women December 2005 Happy Holidays! 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 2005 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource December 2005 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Shop This Extreme Poverty and Homeless in Nicaragua Pg 2: Neighborhood Schools, Children and Citizens Need Respect Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Vendors Pg 5: Diamond in the Rough, a Story of Mother Who is Homeless but Hopeful Pg 6: New Year Brings Hope Street Citizens Pg 7: War Made Easy Pg 8: Nicaragua Continued Pg 9: Xavier University Cintas Center Pg 10: The Digital Dump Pg 11: Florida Thousands Hit by Hurricane Wilma Rush for Emergency Food Stamps Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: The Real Rosa Parks Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 2005 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Andy Lawrence John Lavelle Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alison Leeuw Andy Lawrence Florida Georgine Getty Government Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Monique Little Nicaragua Peace Village poverty Protests Rosa Parks Schools Susan Smith War Wilma Rush https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/7ef9f591b2214fcf1df6d00e4a1ae9df.pdf 2517ad2dabee7a6e44234eeb171fc26e PDF Text Text January 2006 STREETVIBES Cover Story Homeless Remembered on Winter Solstice ecumenical prayer service was held in Over-the-Rhine’s Washington Park at dusk. Supporters gathered around a warming fire in a barrel to remember those who have passed. In an effort to maximize the impact of the day, NCH, the GCCH and the NHCHC encouraged local Lighting of the candles in and statewide organizations to hold memorials of their own. Last year, over 100 cities across the nation, from Detroit to Seattle to Washington, DC, sponsored events to honor those who had died and to recommit to the task of ending homelessness. This year, cities across the nation sponsored events, which included candle light marches and vigils, graveside services, plays and other performances and special religious services. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton all held candle light vigils, encouraging all to attend. For over 20 years, concerned citizens, religious persons, students, homeless advocates and people experiencing homelessness have gathered on the Winter Solstice in December for National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. In Cleveland, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) in conjunction with Care Alliance held the 19th Annual Candlelight Vigil. The vigil took place at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Meal Site on West 38th and Bridge Avenue. Last year in Cleveland mourners gathered at the 18th annual candlelight vigil at St. Patrick’s Church to remember and read the names of the homeless men and women who died in Cleveland over the past year. The 15th annual Teach In was set to follow in January 2005, to raise awareness about homelessness and honor the memory of homeless people who have died. In Dayton, advocates gathered at Courthouse Square at noon on December 21st for a reading of the homeless individuals’ names that have passed away. Gathering in front of the fire barrel, Washington Park Each year since 1990, on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, (GCCH) and the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) along with numerous other homeless organizations around the country sponsor the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day to bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember our homeless friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation’s failure to end homelessness. Homeless Memorial Day is also a chance to mourn the national tragedy of homelessness in general and bring awareness to the suffering of the 25,000 men, women and children who experience homelessness each year in Cincinnati. “It is great to see the community pull together to help provide relief for the people experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati,” stated Georgine Getty, Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, “it’s just unfortunate that we have to meet on such somber terms. It’s a tragedy that people continue to die homeless.” This year’s event was held Wednesday evening, December 21st in Cincinnati’s Washington Park. Dozens of people listened as the names of the deceased were read aloud. An Cincinnati’s Washington Park Last year in Austin, Texas for the eleventh year in a row, mourners held a Sunrise Homeless Memorial Service at 6:57 a.m. on November 14. Men and women met at the Homeless Memorial Plaque and Tree of Remembrance to sing, salute homeless veterans, and listen to several speakers. The House the Homeless Curtis Ray Wilson Compassion Award, given in honor of a homeless man who died in Austin earlier that year, was presented to Detective Lisa Morrill. Sara Hickman sang several songs, including “What if God Was One of Us” and “I Wish You Well.” In Indianapolis, Indiana, the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention and The FaithCEP cosponsored a memorial to commemorate the 22 homeless men and women who died in Indianapolis in 2004. Mourners created a large sign to memorialize the deceased, while several homeless and formerly homeless speakers spoke to the large crowd. Volunteers blew out one candle as the name of each homeless person was read. Dan Shepley, director of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, noted, “I think it throws a spotlight on the fact that homelessness is a life or death issue.” 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Andy Lawrence - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Jimmy Heath 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Each One, Touch One asked if they had any questions and the ones they asked were not only intelligent, some of them were quite challenging. Monique Little, the education by George Herrell coordinator for the Homeless “Each one, teach one,” the Coalition had accompanied me to the saying goes. Well the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless event and several times I has taken that idea to a whole new had to refer to level with their “Outreach Speakers her for Program.” assistance in This program enlists individuals who are either presently or answering the questions after formerly homeless to speak to civic which I groups, sharing their stories and discussing the issues faced by today’s dedicated both the questions homeless population. and answers to I was recently honored with memory. This the opportunity to speak to a group was definitely a of very civic minded young men and women at Shroder Paideia Academy “sharing experience” and I must say that the experience where everyone was one I’ll never forget! The young people to whom I learned something. spoke had set up a “shantytown” at George Herrell I had the school and were actually planning shared the on spending the night in it. As I experience of being an absentee shared my story I looked in the eyes of those youth and I could clearly see father with a problem of addiction the heartfelt interest and compassion. and after the lecture one young lady approached me with tears in her eyes This was my very first and shared with me that her father engagement for the Homeless was also an absentee father who had Coalition’s Speakers Program and suffered with addiction. She said my I’m not sure what I expected. All I talk had given her a whole new can say is that if there are more youths out there like those to whom I outlook and left her with the hope of spoke, then there is still hope for this re-establishing an active father/ daughter relationship with him. A country! young man said that he had thought After I told them my story I the issue of beating homelessness was cut and dry – “Get an income, get a place to live.” However, now he knew that the problem for some was much more complex. When I talk about my experiences I’m always very open and honest; I pull no punches and I make no excuses for my own plight. I believe that the only way to educate and to work towards a solution is to keep it real. Although I much prefer speaking to youth seeing that they are our future, the speakers program is open to all civic groups regardless of age, and never will pass up an opportunity to share or to learn. after lecturing I always encourage individuals to share their experience with family members and peers. That’s how wisdom is spread! For more information about the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless’ Speakers Bureau, please contact Monique Little at (513) 421-7803, extension 14. Bagel Dude particular day the guy behind the counter informed me that he would give me the bagels, since the store was closing early and they would soon be thrown out. In fact, he told me, I could have all the day old bagels. I obtained a bag and took all the bagels, and there were still bagels left over. I rearranged the contents of my backpack, stuffing bags of bagels between manila folders, and still there were bagels. I rearranged the contents of the bagel bag, again, and miraculously managed to rescue every last bagel. Walking down the street, I remembered the humble, saint-like example of Bagel Dude. Let me be like him—! I thought, looking for hungry people in need of bagels, but the homeless and street youth culture is not so deep in Minnesota as in Seattle...the cold winter kills social roots, yearly. So I thought that I would give the bagels to my classmates at The Humphrey Institute, leaving them in the lounge with a note. But the by John Hoff He would come, you see, with gifts of free bagels, walking down the street handing out this manna. The cult was only known among the street youth until court battles against the Sidran No Sitting Ordinance accidentally revealed its existence to the outside world. Questioned at length about rational reasons for sitting on the sidewalk, a homeless youth confessed...she would wait, sometimes, looking for The Bagel Dude. Like a figure from scripture, he was described as a “Good Samaritan” whose mission, certain evenings, was to walk down University Way, handing out bagels. Sometimes he would take a while to arrive, and then the youth would wait, congregate, peel eyes and divide up the turning of heads down various directions of the street. You see, Bagel Dude didn’t want to cause a commotion and blow his corporate connection to the Big Rock Doughy Mountain of excess bready largesse. So he would appear quietly, in different spots along University Way. And when he would be maddeningly late in coming (like the Messiah) the youth would, only half jokingly, put all fingers of both hands together in a big thick “O” shape, making The Sign Of The Bagel Dude. “Bagel Duuuuuuuuuude,” they would say, making the sign above their heads and rocking, eyes closed momentarily. “Bagel Duuuuuuuude.” I had not thought about The Cult Of The Bagel Dude for many years, until one recent Sunday when I was in a bagel shop in Dinkytown, which is kind of like University Way, only it’s in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I now study Public Administration at the Humphrey Institute. Rather than paying through the nose to have somebody make me a bagel sandwich at the shop, I prefer to buy a bag of day old bagels, a tub of salmon cream cheese (private homage to Seattle, which will always be, at some level, my home) and make my own sandwiches while messing around on wireless internet. But this Bagel Dude cont. on page 9 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 �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath Of all the handwritten signs carried by all the homeless people in Santa Clara Valley, near San Jose California, Cornelius Van Der Vies might have the most original: “Donation for Engine,” his says. The engine belongs to his 1986 Volkswagen van, which is parked on Bassett Street, about five blocks from Cornelius’ regular haunt outside a San Jose office building at Market and Santa Clara streets. And yes, it’s got a problem: The engine needs replacement. If it dies, the van might be towed, leaving Cornelius and his dog, Boo-Boo, with no place to sleep. “If I had an engine that ran good, I’d get around,” he says wistfully. Ah: Another Christmas pitch. Another tear-jerker. The difference in this story, however, is that Cornelius — everyone uses his first name — has a legion of friends in the eight-story office building who have already raised $700 for his engine. If homelessness has a hierarchy, the 66-year-old Cornelius might be a count. Every weekday, he sits with Boo-Boo on a low stone wall facing Market Street, sporting a trim gray beard and an American flag in a star-studded cap. “Hi, sweetie,” he says to a passing woman. She smiles, not seeming to mind the flattery. “He’s pleasant, he’s not aggressive, he doesn’t panhandle you,” says Jim Sunseri, an attorney in the building, called the Entrepreneur Center. “If you didn’t know he was homeless, you wouldn’t guess. Everybody in the building loves him.” Day Shelter and Resource Center opened in February, 825 people — none counted twice — have sought assistance. Records show 440 were men and 385 women — 256 were children younger than 17, said Rita Arancibia, community development manager. In addition to reaching more homeless people, Clarksville’s event will unify the Community Service Providers to End Homelessness and bring in new agencies and departments, said Lorraine Pratt, executive director of the United Way. “The more we work together, the more we find out what the issues are (for those who need housing),” Pratt said. Coalition members plan to distribute fliers throughout the city to make sure Clarksville’s homeless know about the event. Planners are hoping for participation from about 20 agencies, including the Department of Human Services, the Health Department, the Adult Literacy Council, Centerstone mental health services and the Adult Literacy Council. Arancibia said Project Homeless Connect is helping the group expand its reach. “It’s really opened our eyes to the gaps,” she said. “We’ll see what kind of a response we get — getting the word out will be the challenge. In San Francisco, additional emergency shelter beds opened last month as part of the city’s annual program to provide homeless people with a warm place to sleep during the winter months. The program, scheduled to operate through the end of March, provides an additional 260 In Clarksville, Tenn, one emergency beds in the city, bringing of the challenges to serving the the total to 1,731, said Trent Rhorer, homeless is to make sure their director of the city’s Human Services varied needs are met. While many Agency. social service agencies are available, The winter shelter program matching individual needs to specific relies on churches and other religious providers isn’t easy. institutions to provide temporary, To meet that challenge, a overnight accommodations, usually as coalition called Clarksville’s simple as a cot and a blanket. Community Service Providers to End Meanwhile, the San Francisco Homelessness is joining national Interfaith Council started its winter efforts to gather volunteers, civic shelter program last month. leaders and social service agencies in Participating churches include one place for one day. Trinity Episcopal Church, the First “In Clarksville, we’re kind of Friendship Institutional Baptist a Project Homeless Connect every Church, Bethel AME Church, day of the week,” said Beverly Dycus Providence Baptist Church, Third of Urban Ministries. “We do this Baptist Church, St. Mary’s Cathedral every day.” and the First Unitarian Church. The Figures from Oct. 5 show San Francisco Islamic Society also that since Clarksville’s Old Firehouse will open its doors. He blames short-sightedness Seattle homicide on the part of the city and the detectives are investigating the Salvation Army for the failings at death of a homeless woman whose Carlton House. body was found after firefighters extinguished a small fire under Pittsburgh police have the Alaskan Way Viaduct on arrested a homeless man in Thanksgiving Day. connection with a series of Initially, police were burglaries in the South Side area investigating the death of Davina of Pittsburgh. Garrison, 42, as an accident. But on Randall Bowen, 41, was the following Monday, police arrested last month after police said a received word from the King County state trooper witnessed Bowen and Medical Examiner’s Office that another person break into a home in Garrison’s death had been the 1400 block of Muriel Street. reclassified as a homicide due to blunt The home the men entered force injuries to her head, said police belonged to a friend of the trooper, spokesman Sean Whitcomb. police said. The trooper told police Death investigators have not he was waiting for his friend to arrive been able to find family members to home when he saw the men entering notify them of Garrison’s death, an the home. investigator said. The medical The trooper called 911 and examiner is awaiting toxicology then confronted the men as they were results before officially determining leaving the home, police said. Police the cause and manner of her death. later connected Bowen to other Around 3 p.m. on Nov. 24, break ins in the area. Seattle firefighters were called to Bowen is charged with 14 what appeared to be a small trash fire counts of burglary, two counts of burning against a building south of criminal attempt burglary, 13 counts downtown. The blaze was quickly of theft and one count of criminal extinguished and Garrison’s body conspiracy. A hearing was scheduled was found in the fire debris. for Dec. 8. Darrell Dennis, 36, also In New York City, the homeless, is the second person comptroller’s audit report charged in the break in on Muriel released last month outlined the Street. Dennis faces charges details of the conditions at the including burglary, theft and criminal South Ozone Park shelter, which conspiracy. included roach infestations, backed up toilets, mice, bedbugs Each year, more and more and generally unsafe and teenage students in The unsanitary conditions. Washington Community School Congressman Gregory District become homeless. Meeks of St. Albans said they knew Homeless youth are from the beginning the facility was too individuals under the age of 18 who large to be appropriately maintained. lack parental, foster, or institutional With whole families living in single care. These young people are hotel rooms, “it doesn’t take a rocket sometimes referred to as scientist to see what would happen,” “unaccompanied youth.” They hop he said. from house to house, staying with The Department of Homeless friends or family. When they have Services said the audit only confirmed nowhere to go, they sleep outside. what they already knew. “The shelter “Sometimes they are was too large and presented unique homeless for one day, one week, one management challenges—that’s why month, or longer,” said Julie Gentz, it was the first shelter we closed when special services coordinator at the homeless census started to drop,” Washington High School. “When said an agency spokesperson. they have nowhere to go, nothing to The shelter was first opened eat and nowhere to sleep, that’s in 2002 on an “emergency basis” homeless.” when the numbers of the city’s Washington Community homeless were on the rise. Despite School District social worker Kelly early indications of unsanitary Swift said that the assumption of conditions (the shelter saw roof many people is often that homeless repairs and more frequent pest kids are mentally ill or addicted to extermination in December 2004) it drugs. Although that is sometimes the was not closed until this past August. case, frequently there is a cause much Under the city contract, the harder to remedy at the root of the Salvation Army received $72 per day problem. The cause of homelessness per room to operate the shelter. Prior among adolescents in Washington is to its opening, local Council member most often conflict between the child Allan Jennings warned that the price and the parent. was too steep. “They are functional kids in Meeks agrees the city was non-functional homes, with abusive, paying too much for too little. “As the addicted parents,” said Swift. “They audit shows, we weren’t getting the are kids with poor parenting who most bang for our buck.” have fallen through the cracks.” Streetvibes Page 3 �DC Makes Plans to Protect Homeless From Cold Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES T-Shirt Today! (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes by Julie Buss After witnessing an unprecedented demand for shelter on the coldest days of last winter, the District of Columbia has stepped up its plan for this season, in hopes of protecting all the city’s homeless from the threat of hypothermia. The $1.3 million budget for the 2005-06 Winter Plan would cover up to 110 hypothermia alert days, when the wind-chill temperature dips below 32°F. On hypothermia alert days most shelters will remain open from 7am to 7pm, hours when they would normally be closed. Although last year there were only 72 days with hypothermia alerts, the previous year a hypothermia alert was issued on 110 days during the November 1 to March 31 season. According to Deborah Daniels, spokeswoman for the District’s Department of Human Services, the Winter Plan is “designed to make sure we do everything we can to prevent homeless individuals from succumbing to hypothermia.” The need for shelter beds has risen each year. Last year saw an unprecedented demand for family housing on the coldest days. An estimated 8,925 adults sought shelter during hypothermia alerts, and the overall demand for shelter increased 23% over the 2003-04 season. The District has allocated more shelter beds this year in every category—men, women, teens, and families—and has procedures in place to provide further shelter in case of overflow capacity. Housing for women has increased by 25 beds to 290 spaces over last season, while shelter for men has gone up by 63 beds to a total of 1,253 spaces. Housing for families has increased by 75 beds over last year. These beds may not meet the growing need, however. The Southwest section of the city has only 25 beds—not even close to the 100 beds that were available last winter at the Randall School Shelter. (Randall was shut down in the spring.) Many shelters in other parts of the city were already at capacity on November 10, as Street Sense went to press. The New York Avenue Shelter for men counted 365 people for its 360 spaces, and the Franklin School in downtown DC was full. Some people expressed skepticism that the District is doing enough to help during the winter season. Donald Brooks, a Street Sense vendor who sleeps at the Center for Creative Non-Violence shelter downtown, said that the city needs to provide more and better transportation to shelters in the winter, especially since many of them are far from downtown. He added that the shelters also need to have better facilities. “They can’t just warehouse people,” he said. “We also need showers, meals, and much better security.” Asked whether he would go to a shelter on cold days this winter, a homeless man said, “I prefer to stay on the street than to go in there,” referring to the often overcrowded and unclean hypothermia shelters. He hopes to find a single room he can afford before Christmas, but admits that it is unlikely because of rising rental prices. Daniels, who has managed the public outreach campaign for the Winter Plan since 2001, said she believes the message for the public to be vigilant and active is getting out. “The absolute evidence of that are the calls placed to the United Planning Organization for van service” she said, in reference to the transportation service contracted by the District. �Precarious Lives stock crashed, may lose her pension in the current bankruptcy, and has to supplement her now part-time wages with a second job cleaning houses. I by Paul Rogat Loeb recently spoke in Kokomo, Indiana, “Advice to Retirees: Embrace where a major Delphi plant is likely to the future,” syndicated columnist Tad be closed, devastating a once-secure Bartimus recently wrote in my local community of decent blue-collar jobs. Seattle paper. Sounds good, but for My brother-in-law, now eking out a Bartimus the future was a layoff, in a living as a substitute teacher, has been corporate cutback, from a 25-year out of full time work for almost a career at the Associated Press news decade now, in part because of a service. Faced with the Hobson’s heart condition which would saddle choice of agreeing to it or losing all any but the largest employers with health care access and pension prohibitively unaffordable insurance benefits, she suddenly had to find costs. Everywhere I go, I encounter ways to reinvent herself and survive, people with once-comfortable lives with less than half of her previously who are borrowing on their houses, promised pension. She explores how running up their credit cards, losing her situation echoes the predicament their health insurance, and generally of more and more Americans, like running faster and faster to avoid the those who took middle-class futures economic abyss. for granted at companies such as Bartimus highlights a real and General Motors, Delta Airlines, and urgent problem. The promises on Ford, but who now scramble to get which many of us have based our by at jobs paying a fraction of the entire economic lives are no longer wages they were used to. America’s being honored. We’re increasingly a social contract is being ripped apart, winner-take-all society, where those she writes—then she backs off to at the top gorge on luxury counsel individual adaptation and consumption to an extent that makes seeing life as “a banquet,” where we the Robber Barons look like paupers, need to savor even the unexpected while those at the bottom scramble courses. for crumbs. But the solutions I know lots of people like Bartimus counsels are exclusively Bartimus’s friend Sue. Sue worked individual. “The trick,” she writes, “it for United Airlines for 23 years, lost so figure out what comes next,” and her savings when the company’s to focus “on possibilities, not regrets.” Maybe, she writes, she’ll forge a new future in woodworking, or open a gardening shop. I hope Bartimus keeps landing on her feet, and I bet that she will. Of course people should, like her, be optimistic and muster all their resourcefulness, creativity, and tenacity to deal with the cards they’re dealt. But we should also work together to help insure a future where everyone gets dealt a decent hand. The problems Bartimus describes can’t be solved by quietly accepting the global corporate mantra: “It’s here. It’s the future. Get used to it.” It’s not our individual decisions that are gutting our pensions, raising medical costs sky high, and making our lives on this rich and fruitful earth increasingly precarious. The economic squeeze faced by everyone except a handful of individuals at the top comes from thirty years of deliberate political choices—union-busting, regressive tax and trade policies, an eroding minimum wage, and a collapse of moral and political restraints on destructive greed. These pressures have been accelerated vastly since Bush took office. Think of the moral obscenity of funding the rebuilding of New Orleans by cutting food stamps, Medicaid, and low-income energy assistance. They’ll only be reversed by common effort. I worry that by framing the solution totally in terms of individual adaptation, Bartimus steers her readers away from the major lesson of the stories she tells: that ordinary citizens must join together and speak out on the larger roots of these problems, on the choices we’re allowing to be made in our common name. If we simply buckle down and accept our fate, some of us will indeed find ways to adapt and survive, but many more will fall through the cracks. In a time when we’re taking The Apprentice as a national model, we need less silent adaptation, not more. Life should indeed be a banquet—for all of us. Whether we make it so is contingent on our common actions, not just how well we handle our individual challenges. Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, and winner of the Nautilus Award for best social change book of the year. His previous books include Soul of a Citizen. See www.paulloeb.org To receive his monthly articles email sympa@onenw.org with the subject line: subscribe paulloeb-articles The Need for the Family Violence Option in Ohio Lynn Williams, Lead Organizer, Ohio Empowerment Coalition Christina never planned to end up in a County Department of Job & Family Services applying for cash assistance and food stamps. She also never planned to end up divorced. She got married with the outlook that life is good and her husband would be the breadwinner for the family. He made enough income so that she could stay home with the children. However something went tragically wrong. Her husband started drinking heavily and when he did, Christina tried to stay away from him as far as possible. If she didn’t get away in time, he would knock her to the ground, bludgeon and ram her head in the walls of their house. Her daughter witnessed the beatings. At one point the daughter tried to call the police for help to protect her mother. Her father tore the phone wires out of the wall. Another time he hit his daughter when she was trying to protect her mother from being beaten. Christina said, “That was the last straw for me, to see my daughter struck. That’s when I decided to leave for good.” They went to the nearest battered women’s shelter, and from there, ended up at the county welfare department only as a last resort. She felt it was better to apply for assistance than risk her life and her children’s lives living with a breadwinner who was abusive. No one at the welfare department ever asked her if she was a victim of domestic violence. The Federal government allows states to choose whether or not to adopt the Family Violence Option as part of their states’ public assistance programs. The designers of this policy, one of whom was the late Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, recognized that domestic violence affects a high number of families in low-income families, although battering occurs at all income levels. Sen. Wellstone recognized that battering is a main obstacle to holding down a job or even being job ready. If a main goal of “welfare reform” is to assist lowincome parents in getting and keeping jobs, domestic violence issues must be addressed. Domestic violence is a huge obstacle to “work success” for thousands of low-income mothers. The Family Violence Option would ensure that public assistance recipients in Ohio are screened for domestic violence by trained caseworkers, ensure that victims receive referrals for care and support services; and allow caseworkers to grant waivers exempting recipients on a case by case basis from program requirements if the requirements would place a victim’s family in danger. These waivers will allow battered victims time to access the supports needed to successfully mend their lives back together without jeopardizing their safety. In August 2005, the United States General Accountability Office (GAO) released a report: “TANF: State Approaches to Screening for Domestic Violence Could Benefit from HHS Guidance” (GAO-05-701 that detailed information on how states address domestic violence in their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, including the Family Violence Option. The report’s findings showed that Ohio ranked among three states that had not adopted the Family Violence Option and did not have comparable policies in place. The other two states were Maine and Oklahoma. The Family Violence Option does not claim to be the end all solution to battering in our society. To end battering, it will take a tremendous united effort by all sectors of society: churches, law enforcement, private agencies, concerned citizens, as well as the government. The Family Violence Option helps the victims and their children to get the help and support services they need to get on with their lives in safety. That in itself is a tall order. If Ohio has this choice, why not take it? Let’s err on the side of doing too much rather than too little on behalf of Ohio’s battered women and children. 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 Streetvibes Page 5 �Happy New Year To All by Ms. Mary Gaffney remember, don’t give up. Keep the As we enter the year 2006, Faith. There is a brighter day ahead. to you the monthly purchaser of Remember, a ball can Streetvibes, (and also fall or it can be thrown the homeless vendors), I very hard. But when it hope that you continue hits the ground it always to support the paper. bounces, whether hard As we look or softly thrown. If you forward to the New are in this situation, just Year, let there be Peace hold on and never say, toward each other, and also the foreign countries Miss Mary Gaffney “I can’t, I am not able.” It will bounce back that make up this world. because this is a New Year, a new Show more love and concern to the person’s who do not have a place to day in your life, and this year, you will succeed. call home, or a table to sit down to We are all children who with thier families. To you, my homeless friends, were placed in the garden of life. Until next time, peace to all. as you travel through the New Year Union Steamed by Cydney Gillis That’s the position of Seattle’s world-renowned coffee company, which faces charges from the National Labor Relations Board in the wake of a union organizing drive this summer in New York City by the Industrial Workers of the World. The NLRB has charged 15 Starbucks officials with anti-union activity. The IWW says that includes firing one union member, giving another a bad performance review because of her union membership, and sending another home for wearing a union pin. National News on Homelessness and Poverty ‘hopefully by the 19th or 20th of this State Beat: Indiana month. Notably missing was a tax Look on the web site of the cut reconciliation bill.” See “Frist Indiana Coalition on Housing and Says Congress Will Finish BudgetHomelessness Issues (ICHHI) Savings Bill But Tax Cuts Uncertain,” (www.ichhi.org) for a new report by Liriel Higa, CQ Today, 12/2/05. “Ensuring a Hunger-Free Indiana.” Behind-the-scenes The report has generated significant media attention on hunger in the state, maneuvering over the Conference including how mounting energy costs Report on the FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation Bill reportedly has are affecting families’ food security. started at the staff level in advance of “Pointing to previously released formal Member-level negotiations. statistics such as the 75.3 percent Keeping any budget conference increase in food stamp participation from 2000 to 2004 in Indiana, report agreement closer to the lower overall Senate cuts level of $35 billion rather author Jill Nielsen, a senior policy than the House level of $50 billion analyst at the coalition, notes the would improve prospects for continued growth of poverty in the protecting the Food Stamp Program. state. As heating costs skyrocket, In response to questioning at even more Hoosier families this year a press conference, Senator Frist will face the painful ‘heat or eat’ reportedly stated, “:That progress, decision, she said. Economics is at the core of the problem, Nielsen said. once conferees are appointed — and I think they’ll appointed here shortly ‘The reason why more people are — means the conference can actually becoming eligible (for assistance begin. But the work that’s been done programs) is that Indiana has been at the staff level, in terms of taking slow to recover from the economic some very different approaches to downturn,’ she said. ‘Hunger is an accomplish the $35 billion and $50 income problem. People don’t have billion in spending, I believe can be enough money to buy the food that they need.’ The Food Research and reconciled in the conference. There are different approaches on things Action Center, a national advocacy like Medicare and Medicaid and on organization that works on public policies aimed at eradicating hunger in welfare and on LIHEAP, but all of which can be resolved. And I went the United States, issued a report through the list yesterday afternoon titled ‘Heat and Eat: Using Federal with the speaker, with the conference, Nutrition Programs to Cushion the Shock of Skyrocketing Heating Bills.’ and just read through the list. And on each one, although we didn’t come to It is available at www.frac.org.” specific decisions, there is a sense that once conference begins formally, Congressional Spotlight: Protect that we can accomplish that. And that the Food Stamp Program will be our goal.” On December 2nd, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) Food stamp funding got an and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) reported intentions to wrap up important boost last year with Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) budget legislation in December. making public his opposition to a “Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., expressed optimism Friday conference agreement if it makes that Congress will complete work on the House food stamp and Medicaid cuts. its budget savings package before While senior Members of the adjourning for the year, but he was House and Senate Budget and decidedly less certain about a Agriculture Committees likely will companion tax-cut bill. Frist said the have the most direct voices on the spending-cut bill should be cleared Page 6 Starbucks, which now owns or licenses 9,671 stores worldwide and had nearly half a billion in profit in the fiscal year that just ended Oct. 2, says the charges are only allegations, which the company intends to defend in a hearing Feb. 7. In the meantime, “We firmly believe that our progressive, positive work environment, coupled with our outstanding compensation and benefits, make unions unnecessary at Starbucks,” says Audrey Lincoff, vice president of Starbucks’ global media relations. “We believe we do not need a third party to act on behalf of our partners.” this fall, the Fairhaven Rescue nutrition cuts issues in the conference Mission provides meals and grocery and clothing vouchers to more people negotiations, the views of all than it has served in its 31-year Members of Congress will be influential as leaders assess how many history. Difficulties in obtaining votes for or against a final conference government commodities – such as canned meats and vegetables, fruit, package would be gained or lost by cheese and bread – have only including food stamp cuts. exacerbated this situation, according to Tom Dorman of Action Ministries, Editorial: Congress Fails the Poor by not Providing Heating which operates a food pantry in Latonia. In the past, the pantry Aid offered 22 commodities. Now it As the winter looms, offers only one item – boxed raisins. Congress has not yet managed to Dorman and other nonprofit directors approve any money to help poor were disappointed with the House of Americans pay for their heating bills, Representatives’ budget votes that editorializes The New York Times. might result in cuts for food stamps “They failed to pass the bill that and other social programs. “Politics included $2 billion in home heating aside, people in need should not subsidies . . . last spring. They also starve,” said Dorman. failed to come up with the additional $3 billion that is needed to cover the Indiana Needs to Expand big price jumps in various fuels since Anti-Hunger Programs, Study Hurricane Katrina.” A majority of Finds senators support heating subsidies, With poverty on the rise, but such subsidy approval needed a Indiana needs to expand and improve supermajority vote, which did not occur. Besides adding an extra billion its anti-hunger programs, such as food stamps and school breakfast dollars for heating assistance to one bill by cutting a billion from other anti­ and lunch programs, according to a poverty programs, the House by and report released by the Indiana large ignored the issue. “The intended Coalition on Housing and Homeless recipients of federal heating subsidies Issues. As winter approaches and heating costs are expected to include millions of low-income Americans who are old and disabled, skyrocket, even more Indiana families as well as poor families with children will be forced to make the “heat or eat” decision. Report author Jill - people who cannot afford heat Nielsen urges program expansions often make trade-offs that risk their that would not require additional state health or safety: deciding between dollars but rather use federal funds. heating or eating, between heat or medicine, between turning on the heat The report also argues for publicprivate partnerships to educate lowor resorting to oven flames or income people about existing dangerous kerosene heaters.” benefits, and recommends that Indiana make the school breakfast Donations Down, But program available to all students. Need Still High for Northern Families moving out of the Temporary Kentucky’s Charities Assistance for Needy Families This holiday season, program should be allowed to keep Northern Kentucky’s faith-based nonprofits reported as much as a 50­ receiving food stamps for at least five months to ease their welfare-to-work percent decrease in donations as transition. “Hunger is an income more people instead help causes problem. People don’t have enough assisting tsunami victims in Asia and money to buy the food that they hurricane victims along the Gulf need,” Nielsen said. Coast. While donations were down Streetvibes �Vendor Story: My Name is Ray and I’m an alcoholic by Jemal Swoboda My addiction is what put me out on the streets – I mean, it really tore me up pretty bad. There was a long time where I didn’t care about myself or anything else. In my early age, my dad was an alcoholic and he used to beat on me anytime he felt like it and it didn’t help that he used to hide my grandmother’s nerve pills in the booze he drank. Well, needless to say, the old bastard died and I’m glad of that. But before he did, I moved out to get away from it with a girl I got pregnant. But it didn’t matter. He used to go out of his way 30 miles to come beat on me. Now, he got by with it the first time – but the second time I warped him pretty good. Well, back then when I was drinking it was a lot of fun. I was the bully of that town, and there wasn’t much I couldn’t do that people could do anything about. I used to go around and shoot at people and the whole time I be eating handfuls of pills and drinking handles of vodka. I was like that until I was about 30 and then my addiction got real bad – and believe it or not that is when I met somebody and we got married and stayed together for almost 11 years, until my addiction ran me out of there. I lost the house, car, boat, and eighty acres. And with me being drunk and never there, I guess she found herself someone who would take care of her and provide for her. That pretty much blew it up right there and I found myself homeless. Now momma didn’t want me at the house anymore with the way I’d been acting - then somehow I met another girl and stayed with her five years and eventually pissed that away too. My first wife, who was 7 years older than me, drank a little wine but with my habit it just got real old, real quick for her. My second wife wouldn’t drink at all – she was a very religious person, but I couldn’t get along with her young boys – mainly because of my addiction. So, after all these relationships disappeared, I found myself at 42 and I was seriously homeless. So, I got a bright idea to come to St. Louis, but I didn’t know how things worked and to feed myself I ate out of trashcans – and to this day I’m not ashamed of it. But I wasn’t taking care of myself physically and I never bathed and was scruffy all the time – and just slept wherever I could find a place to lay my head. I guess I was scared of the shelters, mainly because I didn’t trust myself. When I got wound up and drunk there wasn’t anyone who could stop me and I was afraid I’d hurt somebody. So, the shelters were out – because life is just not sacred there and they’re just dangerous places. If a man wants to hurt you – they’ll just do it. I mean, if they like your shirt or anything else…it doesn’t matter they will take it. On the streets we would sleep in a circle to protect ourselves, but I got tired of relying on others for my safety, so I went and got myself a tent and decided to get away from the streets. The only thing I would come back downtown for was to get together enough money for food and booze. The first place where I set up my tent up was doomed from the beginning just by the mosquitoes. They were just bad, but for nearly three years I didn’t mind, because I was buying four gallons of vodka a week and that is all I would drink – just lay there, get sick, sober up and do it again. The funny thing about alcohol is that it’s legal, it’s easy to get, and if you keep enough of it in you – it’s almost like heroin. When I was 46, I decided I needed to get cleaned up and I tried doing it on my own. That worked for a month or so, but then I was at it again for about six or seven months. It was about this time that I met Tom from St. Patrick’s Center and we seemed to hit it off good, and when he saw how badly off I was he took me down to the Harbor Light and I got through their program and was clean for almost a year when my mom told me I could come back home. Once I was back in Summerfield, Illinois it was tough getting around without my driver’s license. I tried working at a McDonald’s, but it just didn’t make any sense having to go so far (regardless of the weather) to get paid nothing for doing nothing. Then I had someone give me an old, beat-up push mower and I started getting customers and building up my own business. I was making $1,000 per month and within six months time I was up to around $6,000 each month and was doing real good. It was a time where I was able to gain back a lot of the respect I had lost when I was living in the town ten years ago and that just really made me feel good. But then my lawn mower started breaking down and I without work to do I would just sit in my room for 7 or 8 hours and my mom figured I was back drinking again – but I was just down. I told her that I was an ex-alcoholic and I was just broken to a certain extent – it wasn’t like I was going to be brand-new again just like that - I guess I was just depressed. I finally got my lawn mower back running again and just about the time things started looking up, the guy I had working for me got killed in a car accident. I just went downhill from there. My mom put me out and I headed back to St. Louis to my current campsite and started drinking again. After I got my campsite set up I happened to run into Tom from St. Patrick’s again and he told me about a program that St. Patrick offered as a refresher course for ex-alcoholics and I got myself enrolled in the eight-week BEST program. One of the big things I’ve learned is that my ability to stay cleaned up and take care of my hygiene makes a huge difference on how I feel about myself. I just don’t think many people understand how important it is for homeless folks who are trying to put down the bottle to keep cleaned up and shaved – it makes a huge difference. Well, this BEST program pays $160 each week and I’ve been able to pay for my asthma medicine and even though I’m living in a tent, I come to St. Patrick’s cleaner than most of the other folks. I’m hoping I won’t have to be in the woods much longer, but then again I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with living outside. I just don’t know if I’m ready to be around people again. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m going to be able to survive with a roof over my head. It is going to take an adjustment, but this is not a fun game out here and I’m ready to get up and do something about it. I’ll miss the solitude, but if a change is necessary to get clean then I’ll do it. I guess the most important thing I’ve started doing is to start caring about myself, even though I’m old and tired. I can’t take back what has happened and I don’t blame anyone but myself, but you can do what I am doing now and stop using the drugs and alcohol and keep your nose to the grindstone and don’t give up – and don’t pick it up. I guess that is what I’m doing. I’m trying real, real hard – I guess that is all I can do. JS - Roy was about to move into an apartment when we last spoke and was doing very well thanks to hard work and the help of St. Patrick’s Center and the BEST program. 21 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 A Call to Greater Cincinnati Poets For the 2006 annual Book of Poems and Drawings on Peace and Justice 1) Call for poems from any poet from the Greater Cincinnati area 2) Poems to relate to themes of peace and justice 3) Poet may submit up to 3 poems 4) All submissions will be considered. The editors will be looking for quality, inclusiveness, and appropriateness to the themes of peace and justice. 5) If space becomes limited, priority will be given to poets not published in previous books 6) Poems selected will be illustrated in B&W by Greater Cincinnati artists (one drawing per poet) 7) Poems and illustrations will be printed in For a Better World 2006, a book to be available April, 2006 8) Book will be launched and available for sale at SOS ART 2006. 9) Poets included in book will be invited to read their poems at SOS ART 2006 10) Proceeds from sale of book will finance publication of future similar books to accompany annual SOS ART events. (Note: this is the 3rd annual book) 11) Submission deadline: February 3, 2006 12) Please send submissions in full text and as a Word attachments by e-mail or by US mail (on a floppy disk) to: Saad Ghosn (saad.ghosn@uc.edu), 216 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, Oh 45229 Streetvibes Page 7 �Remove low-income voter restrictions from Street Roots, USA It was out of the ordinary, to say the least, but considering what the Republicans see as politics as usual, it was a noble act. Our case in point is the new Federal Housing Finance Reform Act. This bill would create the Affordable Housing Fund, an estimated $600 million dedicated to creating affordable housing for extremely low-income families through nonprofit and for-profit housing providers. But after emerging from committee, Republicans in the House added a provision that would prohibit nonprofits that engage in non-partisan voter registration activities and get-out­ the-vote efforts from receiving a dime of this money. They are even forbidden from having participated in these efforts in the 12 months prior to receiving funds. For-profit organizations have no such limitations. To clarify, the bill dedicates the fund’s money exclusively to creating affordable housing; none of it could be used for voter registration activities. Yet even if the martyrdom for trying to provide an Affordable Housing Fund, only to organization uses its own funds to This provision flies in the have it blocked by the opposition. distribute and display voter face of the Motor Voter law of This, over $600 million a registration information, or help 1993 that required certain lowyear, a drop in the bucket people register to vote, they would income housing providers to make compared to the housing needs be disqualified, including if they voter registration access a among extremely low-income invited in a third party, such as the requirement for receiving state families. And the Democrats were Oregon Bus Project, to distribute funds. This cripples the entire audacious enough to demand voter registration forms at their network of nonprofit organizations answers for the more than $100 facilities. that incorporate voting rights in their billion spent on invading and A for-profit organization can work to empower people occupying Iraq. But to the conduct initiatives with impunity, but disenfranchised from economic and Republicans, stunts like that only it is the non-profits that provide the social inclusion. This places another interfere with the work at hand — bulk of affordable housing obstacle between people to suppress low-income people opportunities to the poorest of the experiencing homelessness and from going to the polls; to poor. poverty and their rightful discourage non-profit organizations The National Low-Income participation of the democratic from engaging people experiencing Housing Coalition calls it an unfair process. poverty in the democratic process; and unnecessary restriction and an This is a poison pill with and to scuttle the effort of a muchassault on low-income people and win-win implications for the needed national trust fund the non-profit organizations that Republican Party. If this absurd dedicated to ensuring affordable provide their housing. Nearly 700 provision clears the Senate, it housing for people on the brink of national, state and local means a suppression of voter homelessness. organizations, including faith-based registration and consequently votes Shameful political stunt, and civil rights groups, signed a from the low-income constituents indeed. letter that was sent to every targeted by federal policies. If it Reprinted from Street member of the House, calling on fails, it means the party can claim Roots them to drop the gag rule from this bill. Their request went unheard. It now falls to the Senate, and you, to stop this provision from becoming law. Got The Vibe? Can’t Go Home by Mecello Barrar Lord, why am I walking your streets at night? Did you know that homeless days Started with a homeless night Rain pouring down on my head, but where can I go? I know one place where I cannot go And that’s home for sure. Cause for some reason they wanted me gone. Will tomorrow be a better turn? Cause I can’t go home. This homeless life can’t be true. Whatever happened to my life? How did it ever come to this? Wasn’t poor nor either rich. I be down on my knees just asking the Lord to Please give me a place to sleep. People looking at me like I’m dirty Because I’m all on the street. Living in boxes and buildings Make what I can to feed the children. Wife die 2 years ago. Hard to explain to my baby boy that mama won’t be back No more, And we can’t find a place to call home Can’t find a job And we forced to be gone. Lord, all I ask of you Is to open the hearts of all your children. Make them help one another Stop looking down at my kind, Send your letters or And give just a little change Before it’s somebody in their lives comments to Living this homeless life. Streetvibes, 117 East More Poetry on Pages 14 and 15 Page 8 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. Streetvibes �Coalition Annual Dinner Faces Challenge From Mother Nature An unexpected “surprise” snow storm from Mother Nature forced the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless to postpone the majority of its 21st anniversary dinner “Ripples of Hope, Waves of Change.” About 70 people braved the weather and were able to attend. The mass amounts of left over food were sent back to member agencies, Bethany House and the Drop Inn Center for residents to enjoy. The event was held December 8 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center. The dinner is normally a chance to extend awards to exemplary homeless advocates. Due to the cancellation, the award ceremony will be held at a potluck on March 16. Awards will given in the following categories: Service Provider of the Year to McMicken Dental Clinic, Streetvibes Vendor of the Year to Alford Woolfolk, the Jimmy Render Award to Robert Brown of the Drop Inn Center, and the buddy gray Award to Dr. Robert Donovan. buddy gray was a grassroots activist who saved housing in Over-theRhine and helped found the Coalition. Georgine Getty, executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, addresses dinner crowd Sr. Mary (right) leads prayer at “Ripples of Change, Waves of Hope” dinner celebration at the Cintas Center Guests at GCCH Dinner Bagel Dude cont. from page 2 Humphrey doors were locked, which drove me into an area across the street called The West Bank, where the nation’s largest population of refugees from Somalia have built an amazing culture, and mingle with hip college youth, some of which took over a failing cafe and made it into a cooperative called the Hard Times. It is like nothing so much as the old Black Cat Cafe from the Seattle University District. Back in the old days, when there were more street youth in the Seattle University District, and you could buy plenty of vegan food at The Black Cat, there was a kind of schism among the adherents of The Bagel Dude Cult. There was, you see, another Bagel Dude...some called him Old Bagel Dude. He was known to trash dive his bagels, not liberate them fresh from the source. Some were grateful for the lower quality bagels, but others swore they would have faith in none but The One True Dude. Now, outside the Hard Times Cafe, I noticed where the hip and earthy had congregated and, trying to walk in the footsteps of The One True Dude, I offered bagels. One guy quickly accepted my offer, wondering aloud if there were onion bagels. There were, as a deep sniff right through the plastic confirmed. A young woman with skin art all about the face looked through all the bags...she asked about pumpernickel, what on earth was THAT? “Kind of like rye,” I explained. And what about the poppy seed bagels, she wondered, what were they like? I explained that the poppy seeds had no flavor, really, but just imparted a kind of pleasant crunch. How about some onion, maybe? I asked, but she would have nothing to do with onion, and hoped that nothing had TOUCHED the onion, and finally settled upon a bag of...plain bagels. I went inside the Hard Times Cafe and explained the deal about the bagels to the girl behind the counter. Everybody who works there is an owner, and 10 people work there. “You’re not selling them?” she asked. “You’re giving them away?” I confirmed that was the deal. She grasped the bag and pulled it behind the counter, saying only, “People will eat them.” What more needed to be said? Walking back to where my bike must still be chained near the bagel place, a mile or two away, I thought how I would go back to the shop and discreetly tell the young man behind the counter how happy I would be to take more bagels off his hands...in fact, he could even call me on my cell phone. I thought how I would take the bagels to the Hard Times Cafe, stopping first on the exterior where people congregated and I would give away a few bags, also offering bags to anybody I might see on the way, who might look in need of free bagels. I would, I thought, try in my unworthy way to follow the example of The One True Bagel Dude. And then it hit me, and I realized...I had become The Bagel Dude. Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �The Farrah Gray Peace Signs on as Spokesperson Village by Steve Sunderland, Ph.D., professor, Educational for National Foundations and Peace Studies, College of Education, Criminal Coalition for Justice and Human Services war in Iraq continues the Homeless with theThe president announcing the The National Coalition for the Homeless is pleased to announce Farrah Gray as a new spokesperson and partner in the fight to end homelessness. Gray will be the honorary chairperson for the Bringing America Home Campaign, a comprehensive effort designed to end homelessness in the United States and includes housing,health, income and civil rights components. Gray is no stranger to the issues of poverty and homelessness. As a native of inner city Chicago, he both experienced and witnessed the effects of inequality. When he was just six, Farrah’s mother became seriously ill, prompting his decision to help provide for his family. He made handpainted rocks and sold them door-to­ door as paperweights, doorstoppers and bookends. He spent the first $50 he ever made taking his family for a real sit-down dinner. By age 14, he had an office on Wall Street and was a millionaire, founding and fostering companies as diverse as publishing and venture capital. Now, at 21 years old has become one of the great business minds and icons of his generation. He has served as the youngest member of the United Way Board of Directors and created a foundation, which provides seed money to youth aspiring to create legal means of acquiring additional funds for their struggling families through entrepreneurship. “We are very excited about Farrah’s commitment to the cause of ending homelessness. He is a role model that has experienced poverty and hardship firsthand. We are confidant that he will be able to apply the vision and determination that has made him successful in business to make a difference in the struggle to end homelessness around the country,” says Michael Stoops, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. The National Coalition for the Homeless, founded in 1984, is a national network of people committed to ending homelessness by creating the systemic and attitudinal changes necessary to prevent and end homelessness. Additionally, NCH works to meet the immediate needs of people who are currently experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of doing so. We take as our first principle of practice that people who are currently experiencing homelessness or have formerly experienced homelessness must be actively involved in all of our work. Page 10 deaths of 30,000 Iraqis and over 2100 American soldiers. Violence and bravery seem to also fill our media as the election occured in Iraq. And, we hold our Steve Sunderland breath for the four Quaker peacemakers who are currently being held hostage by an Iraqi terrorist group. The announced date of their death has already passed but there is no word. So much news to digest and grieve about this brutal way of solving problems and conflicts. Hidden from view is the toll that terrorism is taking on Moslems who do not identify with the terrorists and those Moslems who feel that Islam has been deeply dishonored by those using violence in the name of this holy religion. “My children are being threatened and hardened by having to defend our religion,” Ms. Zeinab Schwen, co-founder of the Cincinnati based, Moslem Mothers Against Violence, says with a bitter and strong passion. “We are Americans, full citizens of this country, and my children were born right here in Cincinnati,” she continues, “and I do not like how we are being treated by either Americans or terrorists.” A group of 14 people listened to her stirring presentation last December at St. Johns Unitarian Church. Ms. Schwen and the Peace Village have agreed to visit schools, colleges and religious institutions to discuss the irrationality of responses to all things Islamic. Our goal is to increase peace through understanding, through sharing stories of fear and ignorance, and it joining together in partnership to educate about Islam our fellow students and members of religious institutions. (Please write me if you would like us to visit for a conversation.) Ms. Schwen, a Palestinian by birth, raised in Egypt, possessing graduate degrees in pharmacy from both the University of Cairo and the University of Minnesota, is an American citizen, married and the mother of 3 high school and college aged children. Zeinab, as she prefers being called, is a very attractive woman in her 40’s, with blazing brown eyes, a wonderful bright smile, and a fearless soul. She wore a lovely suit and, around her neck, a lovely light brown and white scarf. Our group met with the Rev. Frank Carpenter, as kind host, in a large meeting room in his church. This was the first of a hoped for series of discussions in many sites. Zeinab gave us the history of this new organization, founded immediately after and in response to the bombing in London, England, in July, 2005. “The bombers were home grown young British people, average and well educated members of the London community. If they could turn to suicidal bombing, what would prevent our children from going that route?,” she asked in a way that both dumbfounded us and brought questions of what could motivate young people to take this course of action. We didn’t know what brought young people to such a level of sacrifice and to violence, and we were eager to hear what Zeinab could do to help us understand. “Since September 11, 2001,” she said, “women wearing the head scarf and men who have been identified as Moslem have been subjected to an experience of hatred, distrust, and frustration.” Zeinab had noticed, as had other Moslem mothers in our area, that their children were being placed in school situations that they were unprepared for. No longer seen as Americans, or as regular kids, they were now the victims of hard looks, prejudiced comments, and scary actions that brought a new pressure to their relationships. How much pressure could they take? Would their good hearts be changed by the dramatic shift in symbols and actions of their fellow schoolmates? “What would keep them from turning violent?,” Zeinab asked with heartfelt concern. “We are good Moslems, and believe that Islam is a religion of peace, and means, “inner peace by following our God,” she began an answer to what were the principles of her religion. “Any action that links violence to Islam is wrong, and what the non-Moslem world is seeing is the opposite of our teaching about being a good Moslem,” she continued.” No one is to be treated violently, Moslem or non-Moslem, according to our teaching,” she said with determination to us, “and nonMoslems are to be treated with kindness and gratitude, especially if they are of a different faith.” Clearly, her grip on her strong feelings was relaxing as she felt that we could hear what was giving her heart so much pain. “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes �A Rain to Remember You By by Jay Thiemeyer (Street Roots, USA) With a roof these days, it’s easy to forget what it was like being out in this crap. A memory best remembered as a plaque on the wall, gathering the dust in only two dimensions. Being out in it the whole day long. Then flopping on a thin mat on a chapel floor with a hundred others, wet and worn out. Too exhausted and bones aching to sleep. Spend the whole night decompressing with the two hunks of beef pressed against each side. The snoring men, grown men mumbling in their dreams, men who no longer felt like men, the explosive coughing and abrupt cries; no one would sleep most of the night. Then out in it again. To find a doorway to drink some instant coffee and watch the buses pass. How would that old man over there make it through the winter? Of course, he wouldn’t make it. There was a given handful who wouldn’t be there next spring, and that man over there was surely one. Sitting in the shelter I, for no seeming reason, begin remembering women known on the street and wondering briefly what might have become of them. Particularly in Atlanta and St Augustine. And one old woman in No’fuk. I didn’t wonder long where they would be these days, 20 years or more down the road. A yearly handful of departed accumulating over two or more decades amounted to something worth remembering. I remember in Hotlanta Ober-Lynne, as I called her. She’d been an English major at Oberlin, once upon a time. When they were describing Rosa Parks on Democracy NOW coverage, I was reminded of her. And in the shelter I was reminded of her again. Slight, with delicate features, according to one speaker. Quiet, dignified. I met Ober Lynne in the Fulton County detox in ’84. Taking the cure. Cure number the fourth. I wasn’t there on a research project, as Jerry Jeff Walker put it. Early in the morning she was brewing coffee and I joined her. We had the place to ourselves and it was quiet. A temporary sanity for us. I don’t remember anything more about our conversation than that it was a peaceful one. On the bus now, people are talking, animated about the foul weather: “When I got up this morning it was awfully dark and it was raining, just a-coming down! cats and dogs..” followed by the requisite nodding of bent wet heads. Just like church to the preacher I remember being put out of Harbor Lights at 5:30 in the morning, with the hundred of the rest. And all of us dispersing to go our own separate way. And the women off their blankets — they slept on single folded blankets, not even mats — rising like haunts off the floor of the kitchen of the shelter. Dispersing to wander or wait for Blanchet to feed. The streets were beautiful in the rain. There was a vet who lived in a wheelchair, slept close to the solitary bathroom, his house folded next to him, against the wall. All night people would step over him on their way to the head. God knows how he slept or what’s become of him. What’s become of him could be any of a number of fine things. In the morning I remember he, like the rest, would disappear for the day to re-appear to move past the line of us and into the door. The door separated the rain from the not-rain. He had the privilege that came with his wheelchair, his house. Last time I saw Ober Lynne, she was all drunk and ugly, stumbling around — no longer slight or delicate-featured. She was yelling at the fountain in the downtown plaza of Hotlanta, not even at the passing suits who did their best, their very best, to ignore her. When she passed, she looked right through me. She disappeared like something briefly seen on the water. Here, not here. Like walking through a door leaving the rain. When I watched the tribute to Rosa Parks, I thought of her and that empty stare. It was unavoidable. Never forget that look and what it signified. She was gone. Her fine Atlanta family shunned her for her “lifestyle.” Well, if it matters, wherever you might be now, you do remain in one person’s memory. Ober Lynne. I was raised like her, a Southern Baptist. I was taught like her to believe there is no rarer punishment than shunning. But I know there is no greater victory than the final one, to prevail, not merely endure, as Faulkner said, and he was indisputable on this, over whatever degradation, insult or unkindness is heaped on a person, any person. And to prevail, I know for a fact, takes a movement. Rosa Parks on Dec. 1, 1955, was not about a single day, a single action or least of all, a single person acting alone. She was part of a powerful movement and knew it and had had enough of insults to her dignity. She acted on what she knew and inspired the movement she was a part of. Ober Lynne, listen to me! You are not, you were NEVER alone! WE ARE NEVER ALONE! One of the speakers called Rosa Parks not the mother of the civil rights movement but the mother of her country. It’s hard to argue with that. She was not a wealthy white man like Geo. Washington, (who freed his slaves — after he was dead and they were no longer at his beck and call, but still), she was a woman of color who refused indignity. The evening wore on and I tactfully disengaged from my now drunk girlfriend. I wandered about by Melissa Mosley and spotted the lady I know. We Last night, I found myself someplace I usually don’t frequent - a began talking and soon a guy she knew joined us. We all had being an bar. My already inebriated girlfriend ordered a Chardonnay and I had my artist in common (besides being human being living in OTR). They ever popular soda pop. After just a took interest in me. I know that my few moments, I wanted to leave. This bar is on Main Street. I feelings of discomfort were evident. They overlooked it. There were am homeless on Main Street. The moments when I was so awed by patrons of this bar have never seen simply being there, being welcome, me inside. They see me outside on and feeling connected that I’m sure the phone, hanging around, washing cars, trucks, bikes, dogs – whatever I they thought I wasn’t even listening. I was. can do to earn dollars, food or My heart was heavy even as clothes. They see me trying to I felt the sense of belonging they maintain a sense of enterprise and emanated. They encouraged me. self-sufficiency. We’ve never spent social time or frolicked playfully. My They offered their knowledge (which was immense) of opportunities in impression of them was that they which I could expand the breadth and were wary of me, looked down on audience of my writing. me, looked through me, disregarded We connected. We me. A lady I know came and stood conversed. We vibed. We liked and next to me. Ah, a friendly face and only one! I expressed my discomfort encouraged one another. We were people. I felt like a person and that’s and desire to jump ship. Through patience and an earnest desire for me such a wonderful feeling. As I said, to feel welcome, we openly discussed last night I found myself someplace I usually don’t frequent. my perspective, (the beer helped). Last Night Streetvibes 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (75 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �Cincinnati is moving up on the list of “most dangerous cities.” According to the latest statistics, Cincinnati ranks 20th on among the nation’s most dangerous cities, up from 25th last year. Other Ohio cities on the list include Cleveland at 12th and Dayton at 17th. For the second year in a row, Camden, New Jersey is ranked the most dangerous city. Detroit is second. Newton, Massachusetts was ranked the safest. Safest Cities: 1. Newton, Mass. 2. Clarkstown, N.Y. 3. Amherst, N.Y. 4. Mission Viejo, Calif. 5. Brick Township, N.J. 6. Troy, Mich. 7. Thousand Oaks, Calif. 8. Round Rock, Texas 9. Lake Forest, Calif. 10. Cary, N.C. Most Dangerous Cities: 1. Camden, N.J. 2. Detroit 3. St. Louis 4. Flint, Mich. 5. Richmond, Va. 6. Baltimore 7. Atlanta 8. New Orleans 9. Gary, Ind. 10. Birmingham, Ala. Drop Inn Center Shelter Report Crowding: Our number of residents jumped to 268 on a cold Wednesday night last month. We are also looking at a long streak of cold weather which usually pushes up our numbers even more. For that reason... Donated Items Needed: Frozen hams, oatmeal in bulk and paper products are much needed items. But, if you’re stuck inside with just an envelope, stamp and checkbook... Please Support Holiday Drive: Just send your support to the Drop Inn Center, 217 W. 12th St., Cincinnati, OH 45219 The Heart of War by Laura Kelly Just as in Iraq, we flew into the war on the wings of lies,” says Peter Davis. The veteran filmmaker and journalist is in the UK to promote his Oscar-winning 1975 Vietnam documentary, Hearts and Minds, which has just had a long-overdue release on DVD. Essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand the Vietnam war and its effect on the US, it is the film’s relevance to the current war – and the support of one Michael Moore, who says Davis’ film is the reason why he picked up a camera – that has led to the release. “In Vietnam, the soldiers did not know which Vietnamese peasant was on their side and which wasn’t. Well, it’s the same thing in Iraq. We have completely misunderstood the ethnic, religious and political realities of Iraq, just as we did in Vietnam,” he adds. As the horrific images of lives destroyed flash past on the screen, there’s a sense of amnesia that has allowed these things to happen all over again. A Vietnamese man, stripped from the waist down, lies on the ground as a US soldier kicks him in the stomach and chest; another man is held by his hair and then shot in the head, his blood spurting out on a dusty road. How could anybody who saw what happened in Vietnam – or even this film – decide to wade in for another go? That was not the question on Davis’ mind, however, when he arrived in Vietnam in 1972. As he stood in a crater that was once someone’s home he looked at his watch and became fixated on the next 10 minutes. “In the crater was a bicycle wrapped around a tree; some shards of pottery that a woman had used to cook meals in,” he recalls, “then I saw an arm, and a leg, and then finally a torso and a head. ” He pauses, sniffs and continues, “ of a little kid’s doll. I hadn’t seen any human damage or even a dead animal but I was quite horrified.” At that moment, Davis says, all political feeling drained from him. “I remember looking at my watch and it was 10 minutes before noon and I thought, well it doesn’t really matter about opinions any more, I’d like someone to be declared the victor. I don’t care if it’s the North Vietnamese Communists, I don’t care if it’s just a stalemate, but in 10 minutes it’ll be noon and at noon this should all stop. “The next feeling I had was – well, here’s how to make the film.” Of course, at noon the war did not stop. It would be three more years, but Davis’ incendiary film would play its part in the end of the violence. Turning conventional network wisdom on its head, Davis removed the narrator from his film, stringing together interviews and images without a guiding voice. He describes his whole two-hour documentary as being akin to the 10 seconds of scene-setting shots you get at the beginning of a network news item. “In a television report,” he explains, “you would have had a close-up of that bicycle wrapped around a tree and you’d keep pulling back until you see the reporter. “He’s not damaged. His arms and legs haven’t blown off, in fact he looks fine. He becomes the medium through which you know about the war, and he’s alright. You had 12 seconds of the war before he started to talk and then he did away with all that. “What those first 15 seconds are called in America by network executives is dead air. And they hate dead air. But I decided at that moment that that was how I would make the film. I would make a two-hour film about those 15 seconds.” The result is a very direct experience of the conflict: we see soldiers in the middle of combat, mud smeared across their face as the interview is interrupted by gunfire, then two GIs in a Saigon brothel, playing with the prostitutes like toys – then a bereaved father in the wreckage of his home screaming “Nixon murderer!”. Meanwhile, in the US, we’re shown the cult of victory played out on the football field, limbless veterans bewailing their country’s desire to forget the war they fought, and a general’s racist proclamations against the “Orientals”. Some of this is stock footage, but the bulk was filmed by Davis and his three-man team. In our age of embedded reporters and PR control, it seems incredible that Davis was allowed to capture these images, and that his subjects were willing to be so open on camera.” A documentarian learns very early on to be as little as possible an intruder and as much as possible a companion,” says Davis. “In the case of those two GIs in a brothel, we had been filming with them for several days and they had gotten completely bored with our presence. They had to get on with their lives.” Their lives at that moment are nothing much to brag about. They talk to each other as they play with the women’s nipples, discussing how to get one of the prostitute’s bras off. As Davis puts it, “they are no longer human Streetvibes beings, and they are not treating the prostitutes like human beings either. That’s what war does.” Watching these gangly lads at play, and the prostitutes at work, is uncomfortable. It feels like intruding, just as viewers intrude on a man’s death later in the film and on a father’s grief. “First they bomb us,” the stricken man says direct to the camera, “and then they come and take pictures of us.” While acknowledging that his documentary is a further invasion of these lives, Davis stands by his choice to film and show these images. In fact he defends the decision passionately. “The only way to be honest about a war is to show what it does to people,” he says. But does he just show what was there, or are his artful juxtapositions – such as setting General Westmoreland’s testimony that “Orientals” don’t value life as much as Westerners against a Vietnamese woman wailing at her son’s funeral – a kind of counterpropaganda? “I didn’t want to seem neutral because I was very much engaged in the war,” Davis acknowledges. “Certainly, I had all kinds of feelings that I hoped other people would have too. Feelings of how cruel and unnecessary war is.” By making such an overtly emotional statement Davis defied traditional assumptions about the value of impartial news, and for it he faced the same kind of criticism as his successor Michael Moore received for Fahrenheit 9/11 or Bowling for Columbine. At the end of the day, though, the viewer must decide whether it is more ‘real’ to be forced to feel outrage and grief at the US actions or to listen to the man in the pressed suit giving a detached overview. In any case, Davis is happy with his choice, and has continued to come up with challenging journalism that goes beyond fact. As he said in a recent article for left wing US magazine The Nation, “enough facts. Now for opinion.” Still, all the opinion in the world does not appear to stop wars happening. Does he ever feel his role is pointless? “I think we did learn some lessons from the Vietnam War,” he begins, “but they were knocked out of our head by 9/11. We learnt some things about not fighting wars of choice, but 9/11 caused amnesia.” Despite the “hard, bitter pill of King George’s coronation” and the forgetfulness of his fellow citizens Davis is not discouraged , “I’m not tired, but inspired,” he says. “Power and its excesses and absurdities are very inspiring to a certain kind of journalist and perhaps I am that kind who just loves to scrutinize power.” Page 13 �The Homeless Man by Angela C. A homeless man Scavenges In trash barrels And envies People who look down on him With scorn As they hurry home To their evening meals. He crouches In a rat infested corner, Content to be with creatures That don’t cringe At the sight of him. The Winds of December by Michael Henson The Clock by Kevin G. The Clock Ticks, Counting out bits of time. Monotonous and never ceasing, making minutes seem eternities or a day of fun only a minute long. It is our master, we its slaves. From its place on the wall the clock rules our modern world, counting the seconds toward eternity. Angel by Erin C. Although I was young I remember Memories shared, Games played, Times spent talking, All in the distant past now That you are gone away, Watching from above, Loving, caring, An angel in the heavens My grandpa My Silver Lining by Chase D. In my pocket On the chair Shiny as a rocket I take it everywhere. Size of a hand Size of a shoe Loud like a band Loves to play U2. The bitter winds of December curl around the towers of City Hall. Knives of the snow, breath of the lords of ice, the winds sweep across the roof slates as over a prairie. Pressed and pried, a single slate loosens its grip, slips an inch, but falls no further for now. The November leaves in the gutters raise their red hands and would fly off but they are frozen to the mire of the rotting leaves of October. Justice-in-the-stained-glass winces at the naked blast; the scales tremble in her hand. On his perch, the gargoyle shivers. He tightens the muscles in his stony wings. His claws grip tighter at the parapet. He bares his long, stone teeth. It’s a palm pilot Never shuts up Doesn’t come in violet Feels like a porcelain cup. Both like music Listen all day To use it, You simply push play. My Mushroom Toad by Sarah M. Beady brown eyes Mushroom-like hat “No smoking,” he says. Now how about that! He lives on my shelf With the other knick-knacks Funny like me But life, yes, he lacks Like my mother Treats me right Annoying like my brother All family at the end of the night. It’s my silver lining On each and every day When I’m whining, I just push play My iPod Bought at the mall On a day of pure fun Only one dollar My love had begun He sits on the rocks Amongst the nice flowers Too bad my good toad Has no magical powers He looks oh so real But has a bar code I love him to death He is my little stone toad Page 14 Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Streetvibes Me!! by Robin Remy Me (Mother) Through my addiction I Manage to be a Mother and only by the grace and mercy of God I made sure of the essential things In my sons’ lives in order for them (1) to become men, and (2) to be able to survive. Me (Friend) I’m a good listener. I have very profound advice. Always willing to share even my last. I must have been a good friend, Because my friends have been with me for the last 30-40 years. Me (Robin) I’m a giving person. I’m a no-nonsense person. I’m very strong with inner strength. I have a lot more to give from my spirit and my soul. �I Will Never Be Homeless A Story by Booger Love I live a hell of a life everyday. I lost hope a long time ago. My life is nothing but a game. Sometimes, it’s a bad game. I will lock myself away from my self and other people, sometimes for days. Right now, I’m feeling that way – To just lock people out. It helps to walk around alone. But I manage to carry on timeto time, as I slowly go out of my mind. My life is no good for anyone, not even me. I can’t put up with myself sometimes. I give up on everything, including life itself. I‘ve never had hope in anything because there is nothing to hope for. The life that I live everyday should not be lived by anyone. It’s hell out here but fun also, sometimes. Sometimes it’s bad for me to stay the same all the times. Hey, it’s hell living the way I do – don’t let it happen to you. I will never be homeless, It won’t happen to me. I will never be homeless, I’m doing so well, don’t you see? I have a good job, a nice house and a car, I have everything I need to go far. I am not like those Welfare bums, To whom prosperity never comes. You know, the ones who don’t want to work, Any kind of physical labor, they shirk. All they want to do is drink, Some are not clean, and they stink. Then, I see a man, lying in the street, A tattered coat around him and no shoes on his feet. But, I sense that something is wrong, That somehow, this man does not belong. So, I decide to stop to say hello, And ask him why he fell so low. He once worked on a street called Bay, Making good money every day. Then, one day his job was gone. He was told, “just go on home.” He soon just didn’t care, His purpose in life no longer there. He lost his family, his home, and his car. In just a few months, he fell so far. So here he was, on the street, With a tattered coat around him and no shoes on his feet. Then I saw the lines on his face and the pain in his eyes, I will never be homeless, will I? by Cheryl (Sunshine) Effiom by Tonya Haley I only want relief, Life is full of pain, Not just for me, Look around – we’re all to blame One night, I had a wondrous dream, One set of footprints there were seen, The footprints of my precious Lord, But mine were not among the shore. Now, some of us are homeless And we don’t even know why, Whenever I think about this, I just break down and cry. But then some strange prints appeared, And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?” Those prints are large and round and neat, “But Lord, they are too big for feet.” You want to know and understand, Why we do what we do, Close your eyes and visualize, You as me and I as you. by John McKay Withey “My child”, He said in somber tones, “For miles I carried you alone, I challenged you to walk in faith, but you refused and made me wait.” I just know that your prayers will help us through. We all have done wrong, But to God we all belong. She left her home in her early teens, In torn shirt and faded jeans. Looking for the love she was never given, Away from her family she was finally driven. Butt Prints in the Sand She sits by the fountain every day, Her lovely young face looking cold and grey. Her sad blue eyes slowly searching around, Looking for coins dropped on the ground. “You disobeyed, you would not grow, The walk of faith you would not know, So I got tired, I got fed up, And there I dropped you on your butt.” With pleading eyes she holds out a hand, In pouring rain for hours she will stand. All she wants is a lttle respite, And something warm for her teeth to bite. “Because in life there comes a time, when one must fight and one must climb, When one must rise and take a stand, Or leave their butt prints in the stand.” Uncaring people pass her by, They see her plight and wonder why, So young a person has no home, And around the streets aimlessly roam. How I Became A Man Addicts and prostitutes, she knows them all, They tell her the dangers, if her pride should fall. Often tempted, her back to the wall, When deep inside she hears a call. by Maurice Wheeler It’s been said before that when you are a child you do childish things, but when you become a man you grow up and leave your childish ways behind. I remember someone telling me that it’s a cold-hearted world and once you are no longer under your parents’ wings that no one gives a damn about you. But I was young and didn’t quite understand. I was too busy having fun and chasing girls. Needless to say, the fun stopped when a young girlfriend of mine told me that she was pregnant. Being young and full of fun I had a choice to run and hide. But I chose to take the responsibility. I got a job and decided to be a dad. Anyone can make a baby, but it takes a man to raise one. Her bed is a box propped in a door, Often her body is tender and sore. But when she sees those ever so younger, She forgers the pain caused by hunger. Up to the skies she will often look, Remembering words she read in a book. The meaning now she can clearly see, “Suffer little children to come unto me”. Streetvibes Page 15 �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 363-1060 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 Cities Remember Those Who Have Died on the Streets Homeless Memorial Day Cover Story BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY January 2006 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 2006 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 2006 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Homeless Remembered on Winter Solstice Pg 2: Each One, Touch One Bagel Dude Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: DC Makes Plans to Protect Homeless from Cold Pg 5: Precarious Lives The Need for the Family Violence Option in Ohio Pg 6: Happy New Year to All Union Steamed National News on Homelessness and Poverty Pg 7: Vendor Story Pg 8: Remove Low-Income Voter Restrictions Pg 9: Coalition Annual Dinner Faces Challenge Mother Nature Pg 10: The Peace Village Pg 11: A Rain to Remember You By Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: The Heart of War Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 2006 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Andy Lawrence John Lavelle Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alison Leeuw Andy Lawrence Bagel Dude DC Elections Farrah Gray GCCH Georgine Getty Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Monique Little National Coalition for the Homeless Ohio Peace Village poverty Susan Smith Violence Voters War Winter Solstice https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/2623c16587ff1f753eb62cf792dd777b.pdf 6920e3c24676410b90b57c621ae06cd3 PDF Text Text February 2006 STREETVIBES Looking Back To “The Peoples Move” - January, 1978 by Bonnie Nuemeier (One of the original members of ShelterHouse Volunteer Group, Long Time Over-the-Rhine Resident. This story is dedicated to all those who gave their hand and heart to The Peoples Move.) Written in January 1998 Over 20 years ago on a cold blizzardy Friday night a momentous event occurred which has gone down in our Over-the-Rhine history as THE PEOPLES MOVE. The ShelterHouse Volunteer Group, operators of the Drop Inn Center ShelterHouse, consciously planned and organized a secret, “illegal” midnight move from its second home at 1324 Main Street to our current location at 217 West 12th Street, which had been owned and not too long vacated by the local Teamsters Union. This group decision of conscience was made deliberately to get out of a dilemma we believed to be inhumane. Our story unfolded like this: Drop Inn Center began in l973 as a volunteer people’s program in a one room storefront at 1711 Vine Street, a much needed place in our neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine for men who were homeless and suffering from the disease of chronic alcoholism. As numbers grew and government money secured to build a program and hire paid staff, the Drop Inn Center moved to a five-room place at 1324 Main Street in l974. In the following couple of years the program got into the hands of social professionals who were not based in our neighborhood and had different ideas about the direction of the program. The community was angered when a decision was made without community input to close the Drop Inn on weekends in the Spring of l976. We were angered further by talk of eliminating the overnight shelter and running a daytime program only. The winter hawk would soon be upon us and we did not want to see our people freezing to death out on the streets or in abandoned buildings. People had to be alive first before there were any hopes of recovery from chemical addiction. This pushed us into organizing a grassroots effort to reclaim our Drop Inn Center; we named ourselves the ShelterHouse Volunteer Drop Inn Center Shelter Report Winter Update: Our average nightly census continues to hover around the 240-250 range. We have been sheltering about 25-30% women, which is up from previous averages. Also, we are not looking forward to our January utility bill... Funding Drive Update: Thanks to many of you who contributed to our Holiday Drive. Unfortunately, as of January 1st, we are about $30,000 short of our goal. Please, if you can think of any avenue for support for our operations, we would appreciate it. Contact 721-0643... Group. We were determined to keep the shelter open on weekends even if we had to do it ourselves. And we ended up doing it ourselves with food donations we hustled and use of only two of the five rooms. During that winter of l976-77 the ShelterHouse Volunteer Group raised more grievances and these conflicts resulted in the professional staff quitting. On March 31st, l977 the community, through the ShelterHouse Volunteer Group, took back control of the Drop Inn Center and have been running it seven days a week ever since. Those were hard times, for when we got control the funds were withdrawn and it took a long lobbying effort to get those state funds restored. From that day forward we would stand firm on the principle that housing is a basic human right and that neighborhood people have the right to staff and run their own shelter. We believe strongly that residents of the shelter have the right to participate and give their strong voice to the operations of their temporary home. And Even Harder Times Were to Come Within a very short time the Health Department threatened to close down the Drop Inn Center. They claimed our kitchen and building had 36 code violations even though this very same kitchen two months earlier was approved for a food license. We were given no reasonable time to comply. Many of the major building violations were the responsibility of the landlord, Leslie Fox, who for years neglected the building and now was in much need of repair. We were being blamed for the slumlord’s neglect. We marched to City Hall and pleaded with City Council to not carry through with the close-down orders. We were willing to comply with the orders, but we needed more time. The inspectors came in like storm troopers. When we had complied with all orders, new violations were cited. Inspection after inspection, and we still could not pass the test. It was clear to us that we were selectively being harassed by the Health Department. We would never pass inspection because the powers at be did not support community people running a community program at the Drop Inn Center – we were not professional enough in their eyes. By this time we were feeling the crunch of over crowdedness. We were getting nowhere with the landlord. And getting nowhere with passing inspections. Rat holes, water leaks, sewage backup were everyday problems. Conditions in the building were unlivable for person’s homeless sleeping there, many on the hard cold floors. We could not see surviving another winter in this rundown place where icicles dangled from the walls in the back storage room. The requirements demanded of our shelter by the Health and Building Departments could never be met by the 1324 Main Street facility. We started dreaming of a better and bigger facility. We wanted a place big enough to house men AND WOMEN. We wanted a warmer, safer, dryer place. We wanted out from under this landlord who refused to do needed repairs. So we started scouting around the neighborhood for a building large enough to meet our needs. (We were not interested in going out to Lunken Airport where it was suggested we look. We were determined to find a place in our own neighborhood.) Of all the buildings we looked at, the former Teamster Union Hall at 217 West 12th Street had the best possibility. We started negotiating with the Teamsters on a rental lease agreement. We kept the site quiet for we knew this location would be controversial, being one People’s Move cont. on page 9 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Chris Dourson - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Mary Gaffney - Reception Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Jimmy Heath Cover Early photo of the Drop Inn Center 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 The Winter and Our Discontent by John Lavelle February arrives, and winter has no doubt worn out its welcome among most Cincinnatians. For the city’s most vulnerable residents, each winter seems just that much longer. Those with housing face heating bills that every year rise quicker than inflation and much faster than wages. For the thousands that spend all or part of each winter on the streets of Cincinnati, the four months or so can be grueling. Sleeping outdoors, a dangerous endeavor at any time of the year can become extremely hazardous to the health or even life-threatening. Life in the shelters becomes much more difficult as resources and bed space are stretched thin. According to Steve Knight, Shelter Coordinator for the Drop Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine, the shelter was at or above its 235 person capacity for 20 out of the 31 days in this past December. It is Drop Inn Center policy not to turn anyone away during the winter. When they are above capacity, those without beds must sleep on benches or John Lavelle the floor; there just simply is not enough room for the sheer amount of people without a place to stay. If it gets cold enough, the city will open an emergency overflow shelter at the Over-theRhine Community Center on Republic Street. Under the current policy, if the overnight wind chill is expected to dip to 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and the Drop Inn Center is at or above capacity the previous night, the Health Department will make a recommendation to the mayor that he declare a winter shelter emergency. Under such an emergency situation, the Cincinnati Recreation Commission opens the OTR Community Center as a shelter from 10pm-8am, and the Red Cross often provides snacks and other amenities. Those in need of shelter can go directly to the community center or be referred by other shelters that have reached capacity. This winter, the emergency shelter was opened for three nights straight The Future Suffers by Jimmy Heath American TV newscasts are sometimes impossible to watch. It is always about the drama: death, accidents, natural disasters and war. TV’s mantra, “if it bleeds, it leads” is at the heart of American public news viewing. From my neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine, notoriety is gained by the flow of blood. It gets tiresome constantly defending the neighborhood against the permeating stereotypes of violence and bloodshed lead by the evening local newscasts. For our suburban neighbors, this is the reality of the “hood”. We who live here know it is different. My neighbors and I live in peace and respect and watch out for each other, but there is no denying the real violence – 10 murders in Over-theRhine alone last year. The last time there were so many murders in Cincinnati was in 1978. (Of course, that number is deceiving because triage and advanced medical services mean many more lives are saved than in 1978.) Nevertheless, the loss of any life is tragic and unacceptable. Cincinnati’s new mayor starting on December 19th, a particularly cold night. However, on the brisk nights that do not qualify for the incredibly low temperature requirements of the overflow policy, individuals experiencing homelessness can quite literally get left out in the cold. For numerous and varying reasons, some individuals prefer not to stay at regular shelters, opting to sleep independently on the streets rather that in a crowded shelter. The emergency overflow shelter that periodically opens on extremely cold nights offers an alternative for many of these individuals. Just prior to publication of the February Streetvibes, the Homeless Outreach Group (HOG), a collaboration of local outreach workers helping the homeless, completed its quarterly street survey during an early morning undertaking. The results of the forthcoming survey may shed some light on the population sleeping on the streets in the winter. younger people to succeed or do we create more jail space to deal with recently outlined a plan to reduce them as young men? Do we create a violent crime in the city. Cincinnati powerful and engaging public school police will focus on mid-level drug environment for everyone, including dealers and seizing property through the poorest of the poor children who drug forfeiture laws. The mayor and suffer the ravages of City officials are asking less than adequate the U.S. Attorney’s education, or do we Office to accept more allow the “corner” to cases on a federal level, continue to be a viable and there will be more option and an of an effort to publicize inducement for truancy? the city’s 50 most violent Do we do something criminals. The police real to address racism chief says about 5 Jimmy Heath and classicism or do we percent of the cities allow another generation criminals are responsible for 50 of separation from opportunity for all? percent of the violent crime Sometimes the violence feeds Cincinnati police have itself through how we initiate these recently initiated more truancy sweeps discussions, especially in the news. in public places, including downtown’s We need a more positive discussion public library. and not more of the “same old.” A lot of people say that all this More cops and more effort is just more of the same. Most punishment won’t address the root of the violence surrounds the drug causes of the violence. Listen to us trade, but cleaning up hot spots just small folk on the side streets and ask moves the dealers to other places, us what we need. Break down the other corners, other neighborhoods. wall between the police and the Somewhere, we as a society citizenry. Engage the children through need to step in with more than just high quality education and support “more of the same.” It’s going to cost programs that promote sobriety. Let’s money no matter how we deal with it. break the cycle. Contact Do we create opportunities for jimmyheath@yahoo.com Streetvibes �have been developing the network in the Baltimore area. Ascension is one of the seven congregations that will house the families, who will stay at each location for a week before switching to another. The families will be housed in spare classrooms that the state also has received a Compiled by Jimmy Heath and offices at the congregations. $600,000 grant to help run shelters, Because most area shelters help the homeless find shelter or Near the University of don’t house men and women help people who are at risk of California, Davis last month, together, homeless families often get eviction, foreclosure or utility David Van Buren awoke to find split up, with the mother and shutoffs. he was lying in a puddle. children typically going to one It was raining hard onto the shelter, and the father - and teenage makeshift camp where he, his In Washington County, male children - to another. As a brother Michael and three other Maryland the Community Action result, families who find themselves homeless people had lived for Council was awarded $191,192 homeless often don’t seek help. about a month. and the Washington County “There are very few shelters The five friends - Van Department of Social Services that provide services for intact Buren’s “street family,” he says ­ will receive $45,839, according families,” says Laura Gillis, director In Stockton, California a pooled what money they had and to a statement from the U.S. of Baltimore Homeless Services, a 39-year-old homeless man died got a room at Motel 6 in Davis. Department of Housing and last month after being shot near quasi-public agency that runs Their tents, sleeping bags, Urban Development (HUD). homeless programs in the city. a freeway underpass. clothes and other belongings were The Maryland Department The 10 congregations that Police have no suspects in ruined. A utility line and 21/2 inches of Health and Mental Hygiene will are not providing housing will help the shooting at Lincoln and of water had fallen onto their camp. receive $180,948 for programs for Lafayette streets. The victim was with meals and childcare. The About 5 inches of water still sit in the homeless in Washington County. shot once in the upper body and families will be provided with three the bottom of Van Buren and his The $417,979 awarded died last month after being taken to home-cooked meals daily. brother’s tent, and their sleeping locally is part of $1.33 billion in The program is almost San Joaquin General Hospital. bags are soaked. federal funding that will assist entirely volunteer-based. Baltimore Police have not released his name. They were staying at the homelessness programs nationwide. It is the first homicide in San Homeless Services provided about Motel 6, funding it with money they HUD made the $50,000 annually to hire a full-time Joaquin County this year. Last have collected and with help from announcement last month. year, homicides claimed the lives of director for the BIHN, but local charity Grace In Action, but There are more than 150 congregations are responsible for 62 people across the county. they have nothing. programs throughout Maryland and The victim was found under feeding and housing the families. With Christmas nearly 5,000 programs in the U.S., an Interstate 5 overpass in an area approaching, it was difficult to be as well as Puerto Rico, Guam and In Cincinnati it’s a commonly used by homeless homeless, then to lose all of one’s the U.S. Virgin Islands, according Tuesday morning ritual for the people. The intersection is only a shelter and belongings on top of it, to the statement. sandwich crew at Guardian few blocks from both St. Mary’s a polite, almost soft-spoken Van The money is for emergency Interfaith Community Services and Angels Roman Catholic Church, Buren told The Enterprise. shelter and HUD’s Continuum of filling hundreds of baggies for the Stockton Shelter for the “I mean, we lost Care programs. distribution at an inner-city Homeless. everything,” he said last month in an Emergency shelter grants friary. “He was a transient who interview.. help convert buildings to homeless The volunteers, about 15 to lived in some of the camps there,” He and his brother moved shelters, pay for operating costs Stockton police Sgt. Juan Zermeno 20 regulars dubbed the Peanut from Oregon to Roseville several and social service and homeless said Monday. “He also frequented Butter Group, meet in the basement weeks before. They moved to prevention programs, according to of the church rectory after 7:30 the homeless shelter.” Davis when someone destroyed the statement. a.m. Mass and churn out 1,300 to their camp in Roseville and took The Continuum of Care 1,400 simple but filling sandwiches In Baltimore, area their belongings. They had heard programs provide permanent and homeless families will soon have — peanut butter, no jelly; bologna, Davis had organizations that would transitional housing to the homeless, a new option: 17 area religious no mayo. help them. job training, health care, mental When they’re done, the congregations have combined They started over, gathering health counseling, substance abuse forces to offer housing, food and sandwiches are taken to the St. enough items to survive and treatment and child care. support specifically designed for Francis Friary to feed the hungry. creating a camp in Davis about a When all the sandwiches are such families. month ago. Shelters across the made, bagged and stacked into The group, the Baltimore With 16 people, the Davis country are taking a closer look Interfaith Hospitality Network, will milk crates, Pat George and Ginny Community Meals shelter is at at an Ottawa shelter that gives house up to 14 people - usually two Farrell load them into Farrell’s van, capacity. The staff there has tried to drinks to homeless alcoholics along with donated bakery or three families - at seven area help and has given Van Buren and after a study suggested the doughnuts and cookies made by places of worship. The network the others a tarp, food, blankets program is having a positive Guardian Angels School students includes Baptist, Catholic and and the only two sleeping bags impact. Presbyterian churches, as well as a and their parents. available. They want to get a couple Dr. Tiina Podymow The women drive synagogue and a Baha’i temple. of tents for the group and are envisioned the program after downtown from Mount Washington The congregations are in the city hoping the community will help. volunteering with chronic to the back kitchen door of St. and in Baltimore County. alcoholics, including some who Francis, where Sister Bernadette “This addresses a segment drank upwards of 40 drinks per In Concord, N.H. the of the homeless population that isn’t Asbach starts handing out the food day, including mouthwash. government is sending a $2 well-served by other services,” said at 10:30 a.m. Two men in the program About 35 to 50 regulars million grant to help the Jennifer Arnold, recruitment receive their drinks at an Ottawa show up every day among the 150 homeless. coordinator for the BIHN. shelter. or so who receive the sandwiches, The grant will help pay for Arnold is a member of Participants in the Managed Ascension Evangelical Lutheran along with a kind word of transitional and permanent housing, Alcohol Project were given encouragement. outreach programs and to develop Church in Towson, which is permanent beds in a shelter and, “They should get more than a statewide information system on involved in the effort. For the past from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m, allowed to food when they come to the door,” the homeless. two years she has been part of a Sister Asbach said. “Spreading the Health and Human Services have one drink of homemade wine group of about 10 volunteers who or beer per hour, carefully word of hope is important.” Commissioner John Stephen said Homeless News Digest measured out at a dispensary counter. Now a study published in last month’s edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal is raising interest in the program. Completed by the shelter’s medical director, Dr. Jeff Turnbull, the study examined the program’s impact on 17 residents. Most had been alcoholics for 35 years before starting the program. Critics say there’s no way to judge how effective the harmreduction approach is because there’s no comparison group in the study, such as people taking part in an abstinence program like Alcoholics Anonymous. Streetvibes Page 3 �and fearful. Many are victims of robbery, rape or attack and are by James Gonser overwhelmed by traditional Safe Haven in Hawai’i , garbage. programs, Lundstrom said. celebrated its 10th anniversary last Advocates say they are They live in miserable month at its downtown shelter at 41 extremely difficult to help because conditions, sometimes not even S. Beretania Street. typically they don’t seek or often The program celebrates a decade of knowing they are ill. The shelter is for people who won’t accept professional help. work last month with an open house Inside Safe Haven is a calm are homeless and have a mental “Safe Haven is an example of at its downtown shelter. atmosphere with soothing color illness. It offers outreach, medical and how you can take those folks that are Started in 1995 with a $1.5 schemes and friendly faces. The psychiatric care, case management, on the street and they can be saved,” million federal grant and matching offices are in the basement. A 24-hour residential services and said Joanne Lundstrom, chief local money, Safe Haven is part of a reception area, kitchen, activity social rehabilitation activities. Mental executive officer of Mental Health national system developed to help center and medical offices are on the Health Kokua and Kalihi-Palama Kokua, the nonprofit agency that runs end chronic homelessness. ground floor. Apartments are on the Health Center operate the facility. Safe Haven. “They can begin to Today, the shelter operates upper floors. The federal Department of change their behaviors and live more with a $1.3 million annual budget and Only 25 can live there, but Housing and Urban Development independently. It works.” 19 employees. In addition, Kalihianyone diagnosed with a mental identified “safe havens” as a national John Perkins has his own Palama Heath Center’s Health Care illness who is at least 18 years old need for the homeless and financed room on the shelter’s third floor. for the Homeless Project provides and homeless can make use of the 80 programs nationwide. For Perkins, 52, that is a big outreach to people on the streets place for free meals, showers, For 10 years, Safe Haven deal. His last address was the along with psychiatric and medical laundry, storing items in a secure has helped some of O’ahu’s mentally downtown sidewalk along Kuakini care. locker, getting mail and using the ill homeless people rebuild their lives Street. Safe Haven does have rules phone. by not telling them what to do. “Over here is the sink,” said — no drugs or alcohol, and the door “The uniqueness of Safe The shelter doesn’t tell them Perkins, who is proud to show off his is locked at 9 p.m. But outside of the Haven is the soft approach,” they have to take their medication, or amenities, including a window and a shelter, the clients are on their own, Lundstrom said. “Other group homes attend mandatory counseling sessions desk where he likes to draw. Lundstrom said. and residential programs have clearly or stop using drugs or alcohol. The soft-spoken Perkins “They may be drinking and defined expectations coming in. You What Safe Haven workers frequently changes the subject in the doing drugs, but they cannot do it in need to participate.” do is listen, and take the time to build middle of a conversation. But he Safe Haven,” she said. “We In 10 years, Lundstrom said, trust with people who have serious draws intricate pictures, mixing discourage them from doing that but about 80 percent of Safe Haven’s mental and substance abuse problems Buddhist symbols and political don’t bar them from getting help if residents — about 180 people — who are chronically homeless. leaders such as former President Bill they are.” have found more permanent housing These people often are the Clinton. There are an estimated 6,000 and are no longer homeless. most visible of those on the streets — Perkins moved into his room homeless people in Hawai’i on any Among the success stories is loudly talking to themselves, living six months ago, and in a year he given day. Safe Haven estimates that Sesa Toelupe, 45, who five years ago outside public bathrooms and bus would like to be in a home of his at least one-third, or about 2,000, are was living in public parks. Today she stops or wandering the streets own. “We’ll see,” he said. “I’m chronically homeless. Mentally ill lives in a group home in Waipahu and pushing shopping carts filled with working on it.” homeless are vulnerable, disoriented works at the Lanakila Rehabilitation Center. Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES “I was so insecure,” she said. “Just being out there with all those T-Shirt Today! people in the park. People taking drugs. It scared me. You don’t know what is out there.” She said Safe Haven gave her a place to live for three years, the treatment she needed and the confidence to start a new life. Ten years ago, the facility opened amid controversy over its location and how a facility for mentally ill homeless people would affect the neighborhood. Lynne Matusow, chairwoman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said at the time there was a (Back shown here. push to locate the shelter at the old Shirt not actual size) fire station on South Street, away from downtown. But because many of the chronic homeless live in downtown and Chinatown areas, the neighborhood board supported its placement in the Edwin Thomas Home on Beretania Street near Fort Street Mall. “We wanted it to be right here in the community,” Matusow said. “We said it needed to be right where the problem is.” Only $15 Laura E. Thielen, executive We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, a nonprofit All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for group that works with Safe Haven, the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call said the program is the only one in 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E Hawai’i that’s tailored to get people who are both mentally ill and 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine chronically homeless off the streets. ‘Soft approach’ Saving Homeless Once trust is established, the shelter provides medical and psychiatric care, case management and social rehabilitation services. Page 4 Streetvibes �Filibuster Evasion by Paul Rogat Loeb In the wake of the Alito hearings, mainline pundits are calling his nomination a done deal. Alito didn’t spew obscenities or green bile. He didn’t admit that he’d reverse Roe v. Wade or vow to proclaim George Bush Lord Emperor. Rehearsed and coached by committee member Lindsay Graham (and by some of the same lawyers who justified Bush’s NSA wiretaps), he instead spoke deferentially and humbly about respecting legal precedent and separation of powers, while Republican committee members made him out to be a mix of Solomon and Mother Teresa. Much like Clarence Thomas during his hearings, Alito dodged the tough questions with evasions and platitudes, suffered convenient memory lapses on areas he couldn’t dodge, and justified controversial past stands by saying he was just trying to be a team player. We know little more about him than before—except about his capacity to dissemble. Meanwhile, in a galaxy far away, former Congresswoman Liz Holtzman, who sat on Nixon’s impeachment committee, just wrote that Bush’s defiance of the law through illegal wiretapping, lying about the reasons for going to war, and condoning of violation of US law about detainee abuse constitute grounds for impeachment. Holtzman said impeachment should never be undertaken lightly. She found “voting for [Nixon’s] impeachment to be one of the most sobering and unpleasant tasks I ever had to undertake.” But she said it was necessary in Nixon’s case, and merited in Bush’s as well. A Zogby poll taken last November, just before the wiretap scandal broke, found that 53 percent of those questioned favored impeachment of President Bush if he lied about the war in Iraq. If there’s a chance to stop Alito, much less reclaim our democracy, we need to bring these realities together. The filibuster just might be the vehicle to do that, as Senators could spell out the links between link runaway executive Paul Loeb power and a nominee who has consistently ruled and spoken in favor of the unaccountable expansion of that power. Suppose the Democratic Senators actually used a filibuster to talk about the Alito nomination in its broadest context. They wouldn’t read the phone book. They wouldn’t get lost in an endless maze of legal rhetoric about stare decisions. They could talk about how they’d have readily accepted a more moderate nominee, much as Clinton nominated Steven Breyer and Ruth Ginzberg in part because Orrin Hatch said he’d accept them as preferable to other proposed justices. They’d use the filibuster to educate as well as impede. However they label their actions, suppose the Democrats started debating the nomination, and didn’t stop, in the process illegal, what it’s like to be discriminated against, then told you don’t meet an impossible burden of proof, and whether police should be able to shoot unarmed 15-year­ olds who flee after stealing $10. They could tell the stories that bring seemingly abstract issues of jurisdiction and constitutional interpretation to life, and make clear their real-world consequences. In the process they could remind America that this president, with this track record of lies, deceptions, and favors for the most destructive private interests, deserves no presumption of deference. And that when he nominates someone, like Alito, who will only further his abuses of power, Senators have a moral responsibility to oppose him however they can. The wink-and­ nod games of the hearings were designed to obscure Alito’s record and frame him as genial and reasonable. If the Democrats accept this, or even quietly vote against him without further protest, addressing the real roots of why they further the lie that this is an Alito would be so destructive. They ordinary nomination in an ordinary could read from articles and books time. If they filibuster and stand about this administration’s abuse of firm, there’s a chance that just presidential power. They could talk enough of the now politically about whether we really want weakened Republicans will back government officials to be able to down and not risk putting strip us of our rights at will, listen in themselves on the line to destroy on our phone and email nearly 200 years of Senate tradition conversations without a court order, for the naked goal of increasing and infiltrate the citizen groups their power. But Democrats have to through which we gather peacefully take the risk of standing up, and we to express our beliefs. They could as ordinary citizens have to do all talk about the choices women were we can to convince them to do so. forced to make when abortion was Third Teen Held in Homeless Beating Death In Fort Lauderdale, Florida a third teenager was ordered held without bail last month after he was charged with murder in the death of a homeless man who was beaten with a baseball bat and shot with a paintball gun. William Ammons, 18, was charged in the killing of 45-year-old Norris Gaynor, one of at least three homeless men allegedly attacked last month by a group of teens. He didn’t comment on the allegations during a video court appearance, but said he was trying to hire a private lawyer. Ammons, Brian Hooks, 18, and Thomas Daugherty, 17, all face murder and assault charges in the attacks. One beating was caught by a security camera, and authorities say the video played a key role in identifying the alleged assailants. Ammons initially was accused only of assaulting another homeless man. He was released on $5,000 bail on the assault charge but was arrested again a few hours later on the murder charge. Witnesses said Video tape shows only Daugherty struck Gaynor with a bat. Police said Ammons admitted he shot Gaynor with a paintball gun and that his slain, even if they didn’t commit the actual killing. “When people come together to commit a crime, they are all charged separately as if they each committed the crime,” said Assistant State Attorney Lee Cohen. Gaynor was buried in Fort Lauderdale after a short funeral attended by about 25 relatives and strangers. His family described him as restless, and as an adult he drifted around the country, working in landscaping, roofing and as an artist. “This needs to be stopped,” his mother, Georgia Gaynor, 72, told The Miami Herald. “I don’t want there to be another Norris Gaynor.” National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project (NHCROP) Dispute leads to homeless shelter shooting Residents of the I.M. Sulzbacher Center in Jacksonville, Florida said Jelen Shropshire, 52, and Paul Williams, 45, had been fighting since before Christmas, but their argument turned deadly when vehicle was used by assailants in at least two of the attacks. “I can’t imagine what would go through somebody’s mind or what they were thinking to commit a heinous crime such as this,” said police Captain Michael Gregory. homeless beating Under Florida law, anyone who takes part in a crime can be charged with murder if someone is Shropshire allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Williams in the chest. Williams died at the scene. Now, some residents of the center said they are worried about their own safety. 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 homelesscivilrights@yahoo.com Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (513) 421-7803 Streetvibes Page 5 �Retiring Doesn’t Mean Goodbye by Ms. Mary Gaffney I will share one or two days As we enter the second a week with a visit here at the month of the New Year, I’d like to Coalition as a volunteer. I will also thank each and every continue my column. I one of my friends who will visit with my purchase Streetvibes. homeless friends and You have helped the bring coffee to share. poor and homeless Even though I won’t vendors have a place be here, I am still and an income of their concerned about the own. I have been here homeless – keep your Miss Mary Gaffney five years and have head up and walk tall, watched what you have and if you stumble get up, brush done for our vendors. I will not be yourself off and continue on. with my homeless friends here at History shows that you the Coalition because I am retiring. aren’t the only one who have made a miss-step in life or fallen during life’s strides. We have all stubbed our toes in life. Remember, there is always a brighter day ahead. Keep the faith and attitude that you can and will make it. Remember, regardless of who you are and what has happened in your life, you are still important in my sight and the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Until next month, to the purchasers each month of Streetvibes, continue helping my friends. Taxes continue to rise and jobs dry up but there is always a brighter day ahead. Until next month. National News on Homelessness and Poverty FRAC (the Food Research and Action Center) and its partners in the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) and the Emergency Campaign for America’s Priorities (ECAP) will try to build on partial victories from 2005 to derail remaining FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation Bill cuts to lowincome programs and legislation giving tax cuts to wealthy Americans when Congress returns in late January. One key victory came in December when Congressional leaders abandoned cuts to the Food Stamp Program. In addition, due to a successful parliamentary challenge, the conference report that passed the Senate differed from that passed by the House and so will require further action to become law. In a December 27th ECAP Update, Jeff Blum and Brad Woodhouse report, “These victories are, to be sure, still partial. But they are very real. And few pundits, legislators or even activists would have given us much chance to achieve them before we started ECAP fewer than three short months ago. The discipline of thousands of activists to believe we could win, to stay together on message and to target vulnerable Members with a never-ending barrage of constituent pressure was unprecedented in federal budget fights.” As US Student Association President Eddy Morales says, “This was the one issue where we were able to generate student activism. Students made 15,000 phone calls about budget reconciliation – about student loans, and also about Medicaid and food stamps. Our discipline helped Democratic leadership hold their entire caucuses on very tough votes, and convinced moderate Republicans that they should be with us on very tough votes.” ECAP partners met on January 5th in Washington, DC Page 6 President Likely to Propose Entitlement Program Cuts in 2007 Budget (“Bush Seeking to Limit Spending Growth in ’07 Budget,” bloomberg.com, January 10, 2006) President Bush is preparing a budget proposal for fiscal year 2007 and officials say it likely will cut programs such as Medicaid, NASA and agriculture programs to restrain budget growth spurred by the cost of hurricane relief, the war in Iraq and prescription drugs for senior citizens. “The rate of growth [in the budget] is going to be below the rate of inflation” except for defense and homeland security, commented Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg. Gregg said, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security account for about 60 percent of the federal budget, so they should account for 60 percent of budget savings. The president may face resistance to his plan. All members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senators will be reelected in November, and many of them may not risk going against the wishes of their constituencies who support the targeted programs. ”Policy is going to butt heads with politics this year,” said Bill Hoagland, a budget analyst for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. Cuts in entitlement programs “aren’t politically saleable.” Along with farmers and environmentalists, who fear a further tightening of the Agriculture Department’s budget, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe also would resist the cuts. ”She wouldn’t want the beneficiaries to bear the brunt of cuts,” in any new proposal affecting Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps, said Snowe’s spokesman Preston Hartman. IRS Withholds Hundreds of Thousands of EITC Refunds for Poor (“I.R.S. Limited Tax Refunds of Poor, Congress Is Told,” nytimes.com, January 10, 2006) The tax refunds sought by hundreds of thousands of lowincome Americans were frozen and their returns labeled fraudulent by the Internal Revenue Service without any notification, according to a report by the IRS taxpayer advocate, Nina Olson. Affected taxpayers had an average income of $13,000. They were seeking the earned income tax credit, a benefit for the working poor, and their requests were assigned questionable status by an IRS criminal division’s computer program. Once a return is flagged, future requests by the same taxpayer also are frozen for a number of years which IRS rules prohibit the advocate from specifying publicly. Olson reported that the IRS devoted more resources to investigating questionable refunds to the poor, worth no more than $9 billion, than to a $100 billion problem involving unreported incomes from small businesses. Olson found that the IRS owed all the money, or more, to two-thirds of the taxpayers who pursued their refunds, and it was unfair, and a waste of resources, to withhold refunds from poor people when, at most, one in five of them appeared not to be due refunds. Leslie M. Book of Villanova University commented: “Freezing refunds without giving taxpayers process is an extremely dangerous way to administer the earned income tax credit. These taxpayers often need more rather than less protection because they are not sophisticated, are afraid of government involvement.” High Costs of Poverty Make it Harder for Poor to Improve Their Lives (“High Living Costs Help Perpetuate Poverty,” Streetvibes Homeless Quotes It’s so bad being homeless in winter. They should buy a plane ticket and go somewhere hot like the Caribbean where they can eat free fish all day. by Lady Victoria Hervey What we have found in this country, and maybe we’re more aware of it now, is one problem that we’ve had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice. by Ronald Reagan Is not necessary to advertise food to hungry people, fuel to cold people, or houses to the homeless. by Galbraith palmbeachpost.com, January 8, 2006) Megan Adams learned the hard way that being poor is not cheap. On payday she was usually able to leave work only when the bank was already closed and her paycheck often ended up at the local check casher. For Adams, who provided for her children on $9 to $10 per hour, a 3 percent fee for cashing a check was significant. A Brookings Institution study concluded that the higher prices paid by the poor for everything from car insurance to utilities to groceries leave them too little to invest in education or homes. A survey of convenience stores in Adams’ Delray Beach, FL neighborhood found their prices more than 25 percent higher than those of grocery stores just outside the neighborhood. The high cost of poverty often prevents the poor from acquiring assets, including homes, said Bonnie Howard of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Also, poor people do not have savings to use during hard times and live one crisis away from a financial disaster. California: Governor Schwarzenegger’s Budget Cuts Hit Welfare Programs (“Gov’s Budget Cuts Welfare, Boosts Schools,” latimes.com, January 11, 2006) California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced a budget proposal that would cut welfare programs almost $200 million over the next two years while increasing funding for schools and health care programs for lowincome children. The proposal was a departure from the governor’s previous plans that called for reductions across the board, but came as a shock to anti-poverty activists who had hoped that services for the poor would be spared cuts. �Dallas library code of conduct New Study Finds 20 Meanest Cities and Constructive Alterna­ draws criticism A new Dallas Public Library code of conduct that bans distracting odors has drawn criticism from homeless advocates who say the rule unfairly targets the homeless and poor. “No one in Dallas wants the homeless hanging around their door, especially the city,” said Paul Voorhees, a homeless man who spends much of his day reading and using the computer at the downtown library. But library officials say the code of conduct, which took months to develop and will be implemented in February, is meant to create a reader-friendly atmosphere. The rules prohibit a variety of activities, including sleeping, eating, bathing, loud talking on cell phones, fighting, bare feet and sex. The rules also apply to city recreation centers. Dallas library Director Laurie Evans said the conduct code has not been updated for years. The rules are meant to address behaviors, not people, and are not an excuse to kick people out of the building, she said. Any violations, including offensive smell, would be addressed on a case-by-case basis, and only when visitors or staff members complain. “The intent is to provide a welcoming environment for anyone who walks through the doors,” Evans said. “They deserve to be comfortable; they deserve to feel welcomed in public buildings.” Dallas homeless advocate James Waghorne said the city does not provide facilities for some of the library’s neediest patrons to keep shower-fresh. Homeless people often need libraries for resources they can’t get elsewhere, he said. “There are resources there that are set up for everyone to use,” Waghorne said. “If you don’t have 50 cents to buy a newspaper, you can go to the library and read want ads.” For years, library patrons have complained about homeless people using Dallas’ downtown public library for activities such as bathing in the restroom or loitering outside. Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt said the homeless are welcome at Dallas libraries, but that libraries were never intended to be used as shelters. Libraries across the country, from Redwood City, Calif., to Boston and Houston, have adopted similar policies. “If people can’t take care of basic hygiene and are disturbing to the 100 or so people around them, then it’s perfectly acceptable for the library to say, ‘Will you please sit somewhere else?’ or ‘Will you consider coming back another day?’ “ said Leslie Burger, president-elect of the American Library Association. Burger said similar codes have held up in court. tives to a “Dream Denied” The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) will release their 2006 report tracking the escalating trend of criminalizing homelessness in 224 U.S. cities. The report also ranks the top 20 meanest cities in the country based on a number of factors, including the number of antihomeless laws in the city, the enforcement of those laws, the general political climate toward homeless people in the city, and the city’s history of criminalization measures. A Dream Denied focuses on specific city measures from 2005 that have targeted homeless persons, such as laws that make it illegal to sleep, eat, or sit in public spaces or placing restrictions on providers serving food to poor and homeless persons in public spaces. The report also includes information about constitutional challenges to laws and practices that criminalize homelessness, as well as models for more constructive approaches to homelessness. Top Twenty Ranked Cities: 1. Sarasota, FL 2. Lawrence, KS 3. Little Rock, AR 4. Atlanta, GA 5. Las Vegas, NV 6. Dallas, TX 7. Houston, TX 8. San Juan, PR 9. Santa Monica, CA 10. Flagstaff, AZ 11. San Francisco, CA 12. Chicago, IL 13. San Antonio, TX 14. New York City, NY 15. Austin, TX 16. Anchorage, AK 17. Phoenix, AZ 18. Los Angeles, CA 19. St. Louis, MO 20. Pittsburgh, PA CONTACT: For more information contact Melanie Mullen: mmullen@nlchp.org or Michael Stoops: mstoops@nationalhomelessness.org, and receive an Executive Summary. 21 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 A Call to Greater Cincinnati Poets For the 2006 annual Book of Poems and Drawings on Peace and Justice 1) Call for poems from any poet from the Greater Cincinnati area 2) Poems to relate to themes of peace and justice 3) Poet may submit up to 3 poems 4) All submissions will be considered. The editors will be looking for quality, inclusiveness, and appropriateness to the themes of peace and justice. 5) If space becomes limited, priority will be given to poets not published in previous books 6) Poems selected will be illustrated in B&W by Greater Cincinnati artists (one drawing per poet) 7) Poems and illustrations will be printed in For a Better World 2006, a book to be available April, 2006 8) Book will be launched and available for sale at SOS ART 2006. 9) Poets included in book will be invited to read their poems at SOS ART 2006 10) Proceeds from sale of book will finance publication of future similar books to accompany annual SOS ART events. (Note: this is the 3rd annual book) 11) Submission deadline: February 20, 2006 12) Please send submissions in full text and as a Word attachments by e-mail or by US mail (on a floppy disk) to: Saad Ghosn (saad.ghosn@uc.edu), 216 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, Oh 45229 Streetvibes Page 7 �People’s Move cont. from page 2 of the top spots for future profitmaking development so close to Music Hall. But it was our top spot for a home for the homeless, and that was top priority. We were not making headway fast enough with the Teamsters, and feeling the moral urgency to get out of the unsafe environment, we plotted THE PEOPLES MOVE for midnight on January 13th, l978. We did not plan for the blizzard. Though the blizzard made the move more treacherous, it was a blessing in disguise. It gave us time to get somewhat settled in before the City discovered we were there. The City’s reaction to our move was to wage a vicious campaign to close us down. On January 20th we were forced into court. The Building Department ordered our immediate eviction and our leadership was threatened with criminal charges. That day with 14 Early Drop Inn Center photograph ruled on behalf of the homeless. It inches of snow on the ground and was a victory for the people. zero temperatures, the 120 The Peoples Power Ran homeless residents of the shelter Through Our Veins That Day were waiting with intense anxiety As I reflect on our their fate as buddy gray on the courageous action twenty years ago witness stand defended our decision to “illegally” move into our I can still feel the people’s power new home. The prosecutors grilled that ran through our veins that day. him unmercifully. The Spirit moved It was no small feat to do what we did. Many people, including the with us that day. Judge Outcalt residents, staff, neighborhood and community-wide volunteers, participated in the midnight move. We were taking control of our lives and determining our own history. We were actors, not victims. We were powerful, not powerless. We were hopeful, not despairing. We were risk-takers and not afraid to stand our ground. We stood our ground despite obstacles and determinedly weathered many torrential rains that came pouring down on us as a result of the location we chose and the City feeling threatened by our people’s action. Inspired by the Spirit of our people’s just anger I wrote this song during that tumultuous time in our history. There are many more chapters to our Drop Inn Center story. My hope is that we continue to remember the fighting spirit that was a part of our beginnings…and never lose sight of that. The story and the spirit needs to be passed on so those who join our effort along the way can feel and claim in their own veins the power of the people and carry this struggle forward…so that someday all our sisters and brothers will be afforded a safe and decent place to call home. I believe to remember and honor our peoples history reminds us that where we are today was made possible by those who labored and loved before us. Our participation in this important work is our ticket on the Freedom Train, which has been going down the track for centuries. Once aboard we must continue to tell the stories of people seeking justice and freedom. Homeless Early photo of the Drop Inn Center and former Teamsters Hall on 12th Street My world fell apart the other day. A personal tragedy tore my world away. I was once so comfortable and secure. My life is now a constant blur. Family times and days well spent Are now replaced by cold, hard cement. I never chose to live this way. A personal tragedy tore my world away. It’s kind of you to help me when you do. Maybe you realize it could happen to you. The House of Christmas buddy gray (center) in his new office at the Drop Inn Center Page 8 buddy gray and Maurice McCrackin Streetvibes There fared a mother driven forth Out of an inn to roam; In the place where she was homeless All men are at home. The crazy stable close at hand, With shaking timber and shifting sand, Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand. �Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! Let my people go! Beyond the noble ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the American dream of ownership and fulfillment, there are the little things that make us simply feel human. Bathrooms are one of those unheralded accessories: one of those things you don’t appreciate until it’s not there in your time of need. In the measures of a civilized society, public restrooms have to rank among the most basic criteria for success. Providing them should be a community concern as intrinsic as our desire for peace on earth and a worldwide wi-fi network. Got The Vibe? moments of privacy. But we’re willing to bet most people use them It’s not just a matter of aesthetics, or hygiene, or safety — to take care of more important business, more immediate business. although those reasons alone are enough to justify the placement and The benefits of eliminating feces management of accessible 24-hour and urine on the sidewalks, unhealthy hygiene, criminal bathroom facilities. It’s more citations, sex crimes and humiliation importantly a matter of dignity, for demand a creative solution. A the people caught between an person does not choose to use alcove and a wet spot and the drugs because there are public community that should rise to the restrooms, but a person’s humanity basic needs of all its members. PHLUSH, an ad-hoc group and health is compromised in their absence. assembled through the Old Town/ Public restrooms also Chinatown Neighborhood present the potential for employing Association in Portland, Oregon is people to monitor and manage researching how it can make 24­ hour bathrooms a reality in a part of them, a service that would be offset by alleviating the cost of police and the city that needs them the most. Old Town/Chinatown is proudly the security personnel from processing offensive deposit violations, not to city’s hub of services for people mention the improved general experiencing homelessness, but it’s hygiene of a community and its not just a homeless issue. This residents. neighborhood also hosts the If, for a moment, you have gateway for rail and bus travelers put yourself in the position of coming into town after long trips. needing, but not having, a And it’s the center of Portland’s vibrant nightlife, where clubs empty bathroom, you know how much this is the right thing to do. out around 2 a.m.; a time when emptying anything else can result in Reprinted from Street Roots a misdemeanor and a $1,000 fine. My Life It’s time for a public by Janet Sharp restroom, or restrooms, to be My life always changes, established in the Old Town New details to find out, neighborhood. To make that happen, the businessmen, residents Family secrets known and unknown, and the people on the streets have My temper to keep under to rally behind the effort. To make control. that happen, money and management will have to be put forward, along with innovation and Find a way to hide from the understanding. It will have to be world, seen as an investment, not a liability, Learn to listen more and talk although there are many concerns less, that can derail the right course. Find a way to keep my mind People have, on occasion, active. used public restrooms for engaging in drugs, sex and the elusive So much to do, So little time, Finding some balance in my life. Send your letters or comments to Streetvibes, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. One of these days I’ll find that balance. When, I don’t know. More Poetry on Pages 14 and 15 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 Pro­ gram. 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 Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �of a federal program called the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, prosecutor Kate Pflaumer. “Criminal concurs that “law enforcement by enforcement is not working, and there itself won’t solve the problem. You needs to be a big, open debate about need good prevention and treatment programs.” However, he adds, that.” “Legalization misses the whole Echoing the overall tone of the conference, retired Seattle Police concept of what addiction is about Chief Norm Stamper declared, “The and what drives people to become addicts. It’s a fallacy that flies in the drug war is causing more harm than face of common sense. Treatment good. We are creating much more dangerous, unhealthy communities by programs tell us that law enforcement leaving the drug trade in the hands of is a necessary first intervention in the user’s life.” the underworld.” Stamper favors full Satterberg said he appeared legalization of all drugs. at the conference to dispel some Privately, many law enforcement misperceptions. “A lot of people professionals acknowledge a certain come to these conferences without futility in trying to uphold present knowing how our current system has laws. Others are convinced that any evolved. The state of Washington has softening of them will only lead to made significant progress in reducing greater damage to communities and our reliance on prison. Treatment is users. “We’ve seen the conference’s the answer.” Rodriguez points to the proposals and feel they are out of success of drug courts and deferred touch with reality,” says Jeff Eig, prosecution. “This is a sensible spokesperson for the local Drug solution, because many addicts need Enforcement Administration. “It’s completely away from the situation on supervised and coerced treatment” — something that could not happen the ground and going in the wrong without the threat of incarceration. direction.” While nearly everyone agrees Dave Rodriguez, local head Drug Debate Goes On by Tom Cogbill Can America’s longstanding love-hate relationship with addictive substances be defused by drastic reform of current drug laws? That’s the $20 billion question — about what the U.S. government spends annually on the War on Drugs. Nearly 200 reform advocates met in Seattle Dec. 1-2 to discuss issues and strategies for dismantling the present “prohibition” approach to problematic drugs. Speaker after speaker decried the bankruptcy of the policy, which relies heavily on imprisonment as a deterrent, and on interdiction and eradication (which take up two-thirds of the overall budget). About 70 percent of inmates are serving drug convictions; yet, as Dan Satterberg, chief of staff for the King County Prosecutor, noted, “No one believes we can incarcerate our way out of the problem.” “If we took the money spent poisoning fields abroad and spent it on treatment here, it would be far more useful,” says former federal Funeral Show “One way to get rid of the race problem.” He was being sarcastic, by Jay Thiemeyer unlike that white Republican It’s Xmas Eve and I’m Louisiana legislator talking about missing “It’s AWonderful Life” Katrina’s elimination of low-income again. I like Jimmy Stewart. And black folks’ housing on the Gulf. Donna Reed. I had scarlet fever Clearing the way for “Opportunity when I was 8 and spent a feverish month in bed watching “The Donna Zones.” Clearing out affordable housing and people with no dough Reed Show” every day. If it was to contribute to the business model on every day, I watched it every of how civilization was supposed to day. It was just me and the boob work. Business enterprise tube. unimpeded by human Donna Reed was the cat’s a#$ as far as I was concerned. Just considerations. The PBA’s dream me, and the post-war ideal of a big written out on the blank slate of a post-Katrina world. Clear the sister. Scarlet fever and the cat’s South Park blocks of human refuse a#$ of American iconic women, to promote Holiday commerce. suburban domestic. Remote, Business has its entitlement and the untouchable, but big sisterly. The police goons are there to enforce it. ideal, insinuated into a kid’s Advance their careers. Win awards feverish, defenseless brain. and citations as productive citizens. And I remember seeing And for the homeless, we “Birth of a Nation” on the small have vigils. box. Norfolk offered it all on the When I was 8 and feverish small box. All the acculturation a and bed-ridden, though, I didn’t young boy in a fever would ever know from nothing. But even as need. obtuse as I was, I knew I had it There were no homeless in good. Living indoors isn’t bad. A Norfolk that I recall. The GI Bill new sort of entitlement. Lying in had assimilated the returning vets bed watching cable. Old movies before they could constitute a from the ’50s. “The Far Country” homeless army of malcontents, in Alaska. Made in 1956. It permanent evacuees from the wasn’t bad; interesting comparison bivouacs of war. with Clint Eastwood. Same loner, The government and the drifter, hobo type. Inner Child American Legion and bureaucratic buried deep, incommunicable. Iron anti-Communist unions had made sure there would be no more Bonus Man shell was what was happening. High Plains Drifter, or Jimmy Armies or Anacostia Flats. There Stewart in “The Far Country.” were only the dreaded skid rows Same character, same American where non-whites red-lined from white manhood appeal. Masters of suburbia were quarantined, and their fate. Living by their wits. urban renewal would soon erase Very romantic. Very rad. An ideal. them. “Bulldozer diplomacy,” a A fiction. friend in city planning called it. Page 10 Earlier in the evening I had been to a candlelight vigil, part of a nationwide acknowledgement of the homeless who’d died over the past year. It was, predictably, not well-attended. A handful standing in the rain. Some had skin in the game, some were simply sympathetic. Xmas lights hung dreamily in the trees. The newly refurbished Art Museum to the west of us, The Schnitzer to the east of us. On we rode into our small valley of dead homeless. A regular light brigade of sympathizers. Very tame, very domesticated and contained. No outrage was voiced. One of the perhaps dozen names was one I knew. Richard Nash. I had been to a memorial for him a month ago. His parents, his twin, a cousin, were there. Dave Utzinger, the facilitator for Potluck in the Park, had arranged it, expecting the people he told about it and who promised they’d be there, to actually show up. They didn’t. Couldn’t remember his face or name. Maybe that’s ultimately why I went. I should have known him but couldn’t place him. Nash slept squeezed against a fence that separated PDOT land, a small slice of it, from I-84. He lived alone in that same place for years, during every day of every season. Come rain or come shine. Barely sheltered by some low-hanging evergreen. Richard drew no comment that I discovered the particular afternoon of his memorial. He apparently lived as anonymously as Streetvibes more should be spent on education and treatment, reform advocates claim a certain percentage of the population gets addicted to drugs no matter what. These people can be managed most effectively by “medicalizing” their addiction: providing inexpensive, pharmaceutical dosing of their drugs in a hygienic environment with treatment and social services available upon demand. The idea is to expose addiction as a serious risk to health and social status and thus deflate the glamorous image young people often have of prohibited substances. DEA’s Eig doesn’t buy it. “We have to be sending a clear message to our young people that drug use is unacceptable.” “I commend [the conference] for discussing the topic,” says Satterberg. “There’s plenty to criticize in our current approach. But you need to have thought out the details. Nobody knows what would happen if the state were to hand out heroin and hard drugs. There’s lots of rhetoric, but it’s not an academic matter. It’s a real [bad] deal for people who lose their families.” he died. His body went unclaimed at first. Either his ID was knocked so far by the collision that they couldn’t find it, or he didn’t have one. It costs a lot of money to have an ID. Which brings me back to why I attended. That’s what I really wanted to say. What I went there to see. The appearance of grief and sympathy. Richard’s family seemed nice enough. They lived within an hour’s ride by TriMet. Their door, they said, was always open. So, why did things happen the way they did? How did he wind up dead, wiped out while pushing a cart, something he’d been doing for years? What does “accident” mean? What does “home” mean? Why did I care about going to his memorial? Was it because it didn’t matter? At the candlelight vigil nonetheless, someone held his name printed boldly on a sheet of paper along with the others. The mayor made some remarks about providing housing for the homeless. To rehabilitate and incorporate into the mainstream. Something to that effect. He mentioned Project Homeless Connect on Jan 17 at the convention center. That resources including foot massage and haircuts would be there. Dentists and visionaries. And expanded community awareness. Volunteer involvement. “It’s only when people see for themselves what homelessness is about. When they Funeral Show cont. on page 13 �Alito’s Extraodinary Circumstances by Paul Rogat Loeb Remember the “nuclear option” compromise? When the group of 14 Senators reached their agreement last May, they said they’d support a filibuster only under “extraordinary circumstances,” presumably if Bush nominated Attila the Hun. I’d suggest these circumstances apply not only to Samuel Alito’s track record but also to his nomination’s entire political context. In threatening to end the Senate’s ability to filibuster judges, Republican leaders talk much about high principle, the right of Presidents to have their nominees accepted or rejected without parliamentary obstructions. But the sole principle behind this proposed change is that of the power grab. The Republicans control the White House and Senate. They’re attempting to consolidate control in every way they can, including trying to obliterate 200 years of Senate tradition on the filibuster. This threat isn’t a moral stand: Republicans have filibustered nominees themselves. It’s just one more in series of attacks on individuals and institutions that they’ve viewed as political obstacles, like Tom DeLay’s mid-census gerrymandering, the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity, the jamming of Democratic phone banks, and the branding of political opponents as unpatriotic. Honorable conservatives used to warn against the raw power of the state. But the love of power has now become the political right’s prime gospel, making the slightest notion of checks or balances heretical treason. Republican leaders work to end the filibuster not because they believe it violates some deep constitutional mandate, but because they believe they can get away with it. But maybe they can’t anymore. When Republicans first floated the “nuclear option” threat in early 2005, Bush’s polling numbers were as high as 57 percent. His support has dropped steadily since, in the wake of the Katrina disaster, the legal problems of DeLay, Bill Frist, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Duke Cunningham, and an Iraqi quagmire that’s inspired powerful challenges by Cindy Sheehan and Congressman John Murtha. Republicans have lost key electoral battles in Virginia, New Jersey and California. Bush’s polls have dropped as low as 37 percent. With once-solid Republican Senate and House seats now seemingly vulnerable, those who vote to eliminate the filibuster and confirm Alito will be taking far more of a Ken Blackwell’s elimination of 300,000 overwhelmingly Democrats and moderate political risk than they would have Democratic voters from the Ohio Republicans have a responsibility to just a year ago. rolls and the withholding of voting challenge his nomination through Were Alito a reasonable machines from key Democratic every possible mechanism, including Supreme Court choice, all this precincts. My friend Egil Krogh, the filibuster. Republican leaders would be moot. But he isn’t. He’ll who worked in the Nixon who try to eliminate it as a political follow the script and evade administration, hired G. Gordon option need to be branded, along specifics at his confirmation Liddy, and went to prison for hearings, but he’s still the candidate with every Senator who supports Watergate, told the sentencing them, as embodying a politics that nominated to appease the political judge that he and his colleagues had believes in nothing except its own right because they deemed Harriet “almost destroyed democracy.” The right to power. With Roberts, Miers insufficiently hard-line. Bush people, he said to me Senators could say they were Consistently opposing the federal recently, “are even more ruthless.” replacing the equally conservative government’s right to address Alito’s nomination embodies corporate abuses, Alito has argued William Rehnquist. To support that ruthlessness. If confirmed, his Alito, we need to make clear, is to for virtually unlimited executive track record suggests he’d support alter the balance on the Court power, including the government’s the Republican consolidation of radically for the most dubious of right to intervene in the most power at every opportunity. But political ends. It does no good to intimate realms of personal life. maybe the capacity of that power reserve the right to filibuster in He’s endorsed the rights of police to intimidate is finally beginning to theory. If our Senators aren’t willing to shoot an unarmed 15-year-old wane. If the Senate can find the who was fleeing after breaking into to risk using it in a situation this courage to block Alito’s exceptional, it becomes practically a house, defended the refusal of confirmation, they will draw a state employers to pay damages for meaningless. critical line on a choice whose Senators accept a violating the Family and Medical effects could echo for the next forty president’s court nominations for Leave Act, and said it created no years. They need to recognize the three reasons: They respect the undue burden if husbands could high stakes and extraordinary perspectives of their nominees; they prevent their wives from getting circumstances of our time. believe a president should have the abortions. Citizen groups, he’s Paul Rogat Loeb is the right to choose whomever they ruled, have no standing to sue author of The Impossible Will convicted polluters under the Clean please as America’s legitimately Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Water Act. The federal government, elected leader; or they fear the Guide to Hope in a Time of president’s political power. But this he’s argued, has no right to pass Fear, named the #3 political administration has no moral national consumer protection book of 2004 by the History standing to which Senators should legislation aimed at preventing Channel and the American odometer fraud or banning the sales automatically defer. Bush gained the Book Association, and winner of presidency through the of machine guns. Regarding the the Nautilus Award for best extraordinary interventions of his exclusion of blacks from juries in social change book of the year. death penalty cases, he’s called the brother Jeb and the existing His previous books include Soul Supreme Court. He was reelected statistical evidence as of a Citizen: Living With based on lies about Iraqi weapons inconsequential as the Conviction in a Cynical Time. of mass destruction, ties between disproportionate number of recent See www.paulloeb.org To Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida, U.S. presidents who’ve been leftreceive his monthly articles John Kerry’s war record, and the handed. In one case, Alito’s Third email sympa@onenw.org with true costs of his tax cut and Circuit colleagues said the federal the subject line: subscribe prescription drug plans. And law prohibiting employment paulloeb-articles through Ohio Secretary of State discrimination “would be eviscerated if our analysis were to halt where [Judge Alito] suggests.” Alito now downplays his membership in a Princeton alumni group so hostile to the admission of women and minorities that even Senate Majority Leader Frist condemned it. He dismisses as mere job-seeking his declarations, while applying to the Reagan-era Justice Department, that the Constitution does not protect a woman’s right to choose an abortion, and that he disagreed with the Warren Court rulings that desegregated schools and expanded voting rights. He’s trying to dismiss he memo he wrote, after getting the job, embracing the “goals of bringing about the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade.” He also minimizes the breaking of his pledge to recuse himself from cases involving his sister’s law firm. It’s precisely because Alito’s presence on the Court is so potentially damaging that “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (75 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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 �Homeless man a reminder of Christ’s life by Pastor Mark Driscoll I was sitting at a traffic light in my old truck next to the Ballard Bridge in Seattle rocking out with my sons recently. To our left was a homeless man with a hand-written sign asking for money that also read “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and May God Bless You.” It dawned on me that not only was his sign about Jesus, but that his life was, in some ways, like Jesus’ life. The happy New Year he was wishing passers-by is 2006 anno Domini (in the year of the Lord) and contrasts with the years before the birth of Jesus Christ (B.C). Isn’t it curious that in all of human history, it was the brief life of a homeless man that was chosen as a reference point for time? Jesus was born in a small town to a poor, unmarried teen mother. He was adopted by Joseph, a simple carpenter, and spent the first 30 years of his life in obscurity swinging a hammer with his dad. Around the age of 30 he began a public ministry that included preaching, healing the sick, feeding the poor and befriending people who were marginalized because they were considered sexually immoral, alcoholics and thieves. His ministry spanned only three short years before he was put to death for declaring himself to be God. He died by shameful crucifixion like tens of thousands of people had before him. curiously, his résumé is rather simple. He never traveled more than a few hundred miles from home. He never held a political office, never wrote a book, never married, never attended college, never visited a big city and he died both homeless and poor. Yet, he is the most famous person in all of human history. More songs have been sung about him, artwork done about him and books written about him than about anyone who has ever lived. Furthermore, billions of people from the nations of the earth worship him as God. No army, nation, or person has changed human history to the degree that Jesus, the homeless man, has. In his book “What if Jesus Had Never Been Born,” Dr. James Kennedy explores some of the ways that Jesus has forever changed history. Had Jesus not been born, the value of human life would be diminished. In the ancient world, child sacrifice and abandonment were common, and it was Jesus who not only taught and demonstrated the love of children, but his own adoption by Joseph set a precedent that Christians emulated in adopting discarded children. Jesus also elevated the dignity of women by befriending and teaching women as God’s image-bearers, equal in worth to men — a revolutionary concept in his day when women were denigrated as mere property. Funeral Show cont. from page 10 on the police accident report. Soon forgotten. To float in some police bureau’s cyberspace forever. Time immemorial. The question comes to mind, of course, was his death a suicide? Was his life, at least the latter half of it, really just a protracted suicide attempt? Was there a fork in his life that, having unwittingly committed to it, found him in the crosshairs of a car, two cars, at the intersection of 33rd and Sandy? Is it fair to ask that? I ask it of myself sometimes. On some level I know the answer. I opted out awhile back. I knew enough, had seen enough examples of how it was done, that I could have chosen a certain life that now, in retrospect, might have been preferable. But I chose one that became clearly self-destructive. A denial of possibilities that would have led to a place of so-called success. A place I thought was a fraud, but I didn’t know where contrary choices would get me. Now I know. Whatever choices or refusals Richard Nash made, whatever confusion, we know where all that ended up. We just don’t know why, or if a step right or left might have led him to a better place. meet real homeless... When you’re eye-to-eye....” Several CEOs who had expressed interest in sitting at the intake tables. I thought: “This could be like Xmas 365 days of the year!” I looked at a picture of Richard Nash at his memorial. Richard had a face that didn’t draw attention to itself. In the photo, he wore a cap with a visor, pulled evenly down, not concealing anything important. His expression was non-committal and bland. Amazingly even, as I studied it. Like a police sketch. Nothing suggested itself in the photo. His hair had been recently cut, his ears were clear. His mouth drawn impassively across in an untaught line. His eyes seemed almost perfectly round. They revealed nothing that I recall in the way of experience or world-weariness or discovery as to life’s meaning or lack thereof. The brim of his cap didn’t shade or obscure them. What you saw was what you got. That was the impression I had. Reality be told, Richard Nash simply was. For 48 years, he was and then he wasn’t. For all but a handful, no one will know what he was about more than could be read Jesus the great physician set an example of healing in his ministry that carried over into the establishing of Christian hospitals in an effort to provide medical care for all. For example, the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 decreed that a hospital be established wherever there was a church to ensure that people had both body and soul cared for. Today many hospitals continue to denote their heritage by retaining names connected to Christian saints and denominations. Jesus the teacher demonstrated a love for literacy that has greatly benefited the entire world. Many of the world’s languages were first put in writing by missionaries, the first printing press was invented by a Christian, and for the first few hundred years of our nation’s history, essentially all education was private and Christian. Additionally, nearly every one of the first 123 American colleges and universities had Christian origins. If Jesus had never been born, the world would indeed be considerably different. It is truly amazing to consider what a difference one homeless man who lived some two millennia ago has made in all our lives as we enter the year of the Lord 2006. Pastor Mark Driscoll is founder of the nondenominational Mars Hill Church in Ballard, Seattle. Homeless Man Sues Over Toxic Drink Waffle House, Fired Employee Named In Suit In Atlanta, Georgia a homeless man has filed a lawsuit claiming he suffered injuries when a Waffle House cook offered him $5 to drink a toxic mix of industrialstrength dish cleaner and apple juice. The lawsuit, filed last month in Henry County Superior Court, names Waffle House and the cook, Quinton Wilson. In the lawsuit, Rex Leo claims Wilson mixed dish cleaner with apple juice, sugar and sliced lemons to disguise the odor and flavor. He then offered Leo $5 to drink it, telling him it was a “Christmas shake.” Wilson knew Leo was frequently intoxicated and in such “dire financial straits” that he would take the offer, the lawsuit says. Waffle House is liable, according to the lawsuit, because officials knew Wilson had a “propensity to exhibit dangerous and inappropriate behavior.” Leo, 50, remains in Henry Medical Center for treatment of Funeral show. I went to the corrosive damage to his mouth and internal organs from the December memorial and vigil and others I’ve 14 alleged incident. Wilson, 19, of been to, to muster myself. To remember myself before it was too Jonesboro has been charged with aggravated battery. He was also late to do something. To see if I mattered by checking out what this immediately fired after the incident. The lawsuit also claims gone person mattered. To see if Waffle House employees helped I’ve been wrong all these years in believing there’s not anything real to Leo get alcohol before he was believe in, least of all people. That served the toxic drink. The lawsuit does not seek life is not what we’re instructed and any specific monetary damages, but manipulated to support; that general damages to be determined whatever it is, it’s not what we in court. know. And all the right ways are Leo’s sister, Linda Leo, illegal and unattainable. said her brother continues to It did bother me that at the vigil nothing very human was said to improve and will be moved to a long-term care facility because flesh in the people we were theoretically there for. Were any of ingesting the drink caused brain them vets? What did that say about damage. Wyoming Youth Services the kids returning from the desert? Who was Whiskey Jack? Was he Bureau is looking for a rail-riding Nam vet who never left volunteer tutors to assist the jungle? Some kind of longwith 5th through 8th grade range re-con still living his outlaw students. The program is myth in the free state of the jungle? held at the Presbyterian Or was it just a name he assumed, Church of Wyoming, Mondays like Wheeler or Doc? For lack of through Thursdays after anything real about him? school from 3:15-5:00 and will I can project onto large continue through June 1st, issues like war and justice. The 2006. All materials are way I used to dream an American provided. Please contact Dream when I was small and Jackie Smith at 821-2428 or impressionable. The way some by email at people watch “It’s A Wonderful smithj@wyomingcityschools.org Life” and weep every Xmas. if you are interested. Streetvibes Page 13 �Homeless Guy Looking for Cigarettes at the Bus Stop by David Fewster He picks up a crushed butt, Doral, with lipstick stain. “Low tar, less nicotine,” he frowns. Old adage of beggars and choosers. Inhaling, his mouth caresses the livid filter, Color of a blood spoor, As he dreams of kisses from the legal secretary he dated All those many years ago. waiting at a bus stop “This isn’t City. All the stores are closed. This is Night, and I am safer in my book.” “This is the place between work and home the long dull ride between frustrating boredom and irritation.” “This is the Main Street, this is the Hot Time, this is the Bad Dude, you ain’t gotta Clue!” “This is the Feeding Ground. There’s a likely pocket. Soft Touch; Too Strong; That one’s Broke.” People start to glance my way, increasingly. A woman on the bus darts sharp, quick glances at me as she reads car ads. This is the Danger Ground between safe burrows. I am possibly Falcon. I have discarded layers of gags over my mouth; I never noticed the silent press of the Gag Order on Eyes. The Weighted Hour The Map Is Not The Territory by Michael Henson Eskimos have a hundred words for snow. Here in the land that made dysfunctional famous we have one word for one thousand realities: depression. There is an hour when the world is too weighted for us to bear. When the minutes press on us like the stones of Salem. open your eyes to the faded ceiling An hour when the slant light falls to ash. stare without interest When the red-eyed liar gnaws at the ear. fall asleep again When there is no end to the drone of engines. And there is no end to the sad parades. rock on the toilet And hour when anger clots the lungs. stare at the razor on the sink When there seems to be no hope. teetering on the edge Then I look to the lonely crow. There, in his cold rooms walk through a crowd high above the red tips of the maples stare ahead fixedly above the strung powerlines ignore all the saw-edged above the cell phone towers. whispers of your name He is a black ship in a vast bottle. He works his wings in short bursts against the wind, walk through a crowd then coasts for a time, hearing nothing works in a burst, then coasts again. Then I want to think myself the crow, my bones have turned to concrete eagling across a broken heartland. my flesh bruises itself on them Far below me, the asphalt ribbons and the bulldozer scars. I do not touch Far below me, I do not taste the suburban checkerboard, my body is a feather Far below me, anchored in nothing the gash of abandoned factories. Far below me, I will never stop weeping the rivers that choke with the runoff of the poisoned I will never cry again farms. Far below me, rock and bone have turned villain the small men who walk green fields hitting small white balls. I am all that is wrong with Life Far below me, strip malls and theme parks. Daddy came in at midnight Far below me, it has been midnight ever since the broad separate roofs of the houses on streets that meander like the tunnels of the mole. I lost my Daddy to cancer Far below me, I am lost the close-packed roofs of the projects. And I am sad, everything is fine for I see nothing that looks like home. and I don’t give a damn The horizon is wide and far off. I need more than a hundred words. At the line where the sun sets, I see the gray fences and the leaning stalks of corn. The light leans to the earth’s back door. I search the dusk for my brothers and my sisters. Homeless I call them by Skip Zilla in a voice of husks Come out and play, they said. and gravel. We’ll see if we can bat grenades over the red river with the butts of rifles. The bayonets are sheathed so our swings won’t bloody the bases from cuts in our bellies. Oh God, Thank You by Karen Bowman For saving me when I did not know how to save myself. For rescuing me from the grip of crack, from the grip of a rapist. For jamming the gun that was placed at my head. For keeping me alert after the blow that was placed to my jaw. For protecting me on the nights I walked through alleys And abandoned houses looking for a place to sleep. For directing me to N Street Village and placing the right People in my life. For being on earth as you are in heaven. For loving me, Oh God, Thank You. Page 14 This isn’t the game I played, I said, when wee kids wrapped a broken ball with tape and hit it with a naily Louisville slugger and ran paths in the grass to laughing collisions at home. Come on, they said. We’ll clear a field of corpses and run round the red sucking mud. No, I can’t, I said. I’ve lost my legs for running fun, and you’ve no home to return to. Streetvibes �The Flood of ‘83 Me!! by Sarge Lintecumb by Robin Remy One time when city livin’ Became more than I could afford, I took my wife and children To a place with free room and board. Me (Mother) Through my addiction I Manage to be a Mother and only by the grace and mercy of God I made sure of the essential things In my sons’ lives in order for them (1) to become men, and (2) to be able to survive. We moved out in the boonies And in case a ranger came, So we could be there legal, I decided to stake a claim. We made our camp at the junction Of Temporal and Gringo Gulch. The scenery was breathtaking And the soil felt like mulch. I stacked stones at each corner Till they were three feet high. I didn’t have a measuring tape So I did it all by eye. For two months we were happy; The kids had room to run. I made them bows and arrows; Our days were filled with fun. Me (Friend) I’m a good listener. I have very profound advice. Always willing to share even my last. I must have been a good friend, Because my friends have been with me for the last 30-40 years. Me (Robin) I’m a giving person. I’m a no-nonsense person. I’m very strong with inner strength. I have a lot more to give from my spirit and my soul. Then the sky turned black with thunder And lightening crashed all around. We brought our two dobie guard dogs In the truck so they wouldn’t drown. Four days and nights the rain came down But we stayed dry inside, Till some town folks came sayin’ we should come in Before the stream’s too wide. We got a rope across the water So we could all hang on, ‘Cause if you were to fall on a slippery rock In a second you would be gone. Well we all made it out to safety And soon we were dry and warm, But you know when I think back on those days I don’t hardly think of the storm. I can see my wife smile by the campfire; I can hear her sweet laugh in the sun. She made us prickly pear jelly To go on a freshly baked bun. Under an Azure Blue Sky by Andrea Hayfile Under an azure blue sky That’s so clear, not a cloud in sight I stand With the white sand hot beneath my feet Sand so fine, so soft, so clean And with the smell of the ocean All salty and sweet I think How there is such perfection in this Moment and I marvel at the beauty of this place. Now, Who Will Lead the Way? by Judi Mendriski buddy, you led the way to help the downtrodden people, who could not help themselves; Homeless, Low-Income Housing you, with “in-your-face confrontationalattitude” 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? 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? But, as I listen to the crashing Sound of the waves as they Find their way to the stony shore That waits My spirit is not safe. I am uneasy As uneasy as the furious ocean waves And with the rise and fall of each Sound, I long for peace and I search my soul and pray That one day I will become as marvelous as this place. .. I Feel Blue You could say back then we were homeless, But I just remember the fun. When the worst times leave you fond memories, You know that you’re with the right one. by Toni Bell I feel blue . . . not like the bright pretty sky. I feel blue like the dark blue sea. There is a rumble in me, Not a rumbling like a raggedy car, But a rumble from a distant storm waiting to erupt As soon as it arrives. Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to I yearn to blossom like a flower When it blooms, releasing my Petals and fragrance through all My spiritual rooms. I want to bloom away the gloom That sometimes invades my soul. Streetvibes@juno.com I want to be free to be me. Streetvibes Page 15 �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 363-1060 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 February 2006 10 Years in Publication! Looking Back on the “People’s Move” Cover Story - Working in Cincinnati to Eradicate Homelessness 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 2006 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 2006 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Looking Back to “The Peoples Move: - January, 1978 Pg 2: The Winter and Our Discontent Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: ‘Soft Approach’ Saving Homeless Pg 5: Filibuster Evasion Pg 6: Retiring Doesn’t Mean Goodbye National News on Homelessness and Poverty Pg 7: Dallas Library Code of Conduct Draws Criticism New Study Finds 20 Meanest Cities and Constructive Alternatives to a “Dream Denied” Pg 8: People’s Move Continued Pg 9: Let My People Go! Pg 10: Drug Debate Goes On Funeral Show Pg 11: Alito’s Extraordinary Circumstances Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Homeless Man a Reminder of Christ’s Life Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 2006 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Chris Dourson John Lavelle Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Susan Smith Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alison Leeuw Chris Dourson Dallas Drop Inn Center Drugs Georgine Getty Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Mary Gaffney Melvin Williams Monique Little National News Over-the-Rhine Peace Village Religion Shooting Susan Smith Waffle House Winter https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/054adbb7d55c72cff995f318146a5b60.pdf 99edf2585f07c1776cd45e127d5246d9 PDF Text Text March 2006 STREETVIBES Peace, Unity, Freedom and Community Art in Over-the-Rhine by Brenda Zechmeister, Arts Program Coordinator Peaslee Neighborhood Center Over-the-Rhine Enter the Community Education room at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and you’ll find several beautiful mosaic panels in various stages of completion. At regularly scheduled times, you’ll see groups of varying ages, such as youth from Lighthouse Community Services, adults from Our Daily Bread, or men from City Gospel Mission’s Exodus program learning the art of mosaic making and creating public art pieces that will be installed in Over-the-Rhine. None of them have had any previous mosaic-making experience before, and many of them have never thought of themselves as artists. The program is The Over-the-Rhine Community Art Project, an ongoing collaboration of Peaslee Neighborhood Center and the Art Academy of Cincinnati with Over­ the-Rhine schools, churches, and agencies. The initiative began in 2001 after riots heightened racial tension in Cincinnati’s inner-city neighborhood of Over-The-Rhine. I had shared the idea of building community through art with Michelle Markert, the Art Academy’s Director of Community Education, as a pro-active response to further understanding and promote a positive side of Over-the-Rhine. The two of us wanted to develop deeper relationships within the neighborhood and produce useful, beautiful works of art. The purpose of the project is to be a community-building instrument that brings together a diverse group of people whose common goal is to create works of art. This artwork uses the themes of peace, unity and freedom to enhance the beauty of the neighborhood. With the guidance of lead artist Suzanne Fisher, this community-driven project involves neighborhood participants at every level of the artistic process. Neighborhood resident, Lisa Haynes, is Artistic Assistant. This year’s projects include making additional mosaic panels for the Over-the-Rhine Freedom Trail and Imagination Alley, a pocket park on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. The theme for the Freedom Trail was inspired by Martin Luther King III’s visit to Cincinnati in honor of the 40th anniversary of his father’s march on Washington and his “I have a dream…” speech. Mr. King III spoke about Over-the-Rhine being the key spot for change in this city, change that could lead to true freedom, equality and economic justice for everyone. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of these issues while also increasing awareness of the work that each participating organization is doing to bring about Freedom to our community. The projects in Imagination Alley (located on Vine Street between 13th and 14th streets in Over-the-Rhine) promote the themes of Peace and Unity. To date, mosaic panels adorn a wall and an archway entry to the park. Soon, more panels will be installed on planters and benches. Later this summer, the panels currently being created will be installed in a sidewalk through the park. Our first project, a park bench entitled, “I Have a Dream of Peace,” is installed in Washington Park. To date, over five hundred participants have enjoyed coming together to design and create beautiful mosaic works of art that promote the themes of peace, unity and freedom. Our Daily Bread is one of the groups coming this year. One of their staff members, Cookie Vogelpohl, has shared that they are “so very excited about being a part of the Freedom Trail and the mosaic project! The entire staff has been involved from the very beginning, from coming up with the message we want to express about ourselves and our commitment to the people of Over the Rhine and vicinity. It has been so interesting watching and listening to the Mosiac cont. on page 8 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Chris Dourson - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Jimmy Heath, Berta Lambert Cover Suzanne Fisher directs OTR mosaic project 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Inquiry into Government Spying on Nonprofits behalf of seven organizations, while Expands expressing dissent or engaging in press release from the ACLU of On Feb. 1, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) expanded its inquiry into government spying on U.S. nonprofit groups by filing multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Department of Defense (DOD), in order to determine the full extent of monitoring by the Pentagon. The new ACLU information requests seek information on four national groups and several local groups in six states. Further review of documents already released to the ACLU reveals that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has used reports by right-wing groups in its investigations. The ACLU requests seek all documents maintained by the DOD, including its TALON database. TALON, which stands for Threat and Local Observation Notice, was launched in 2003 to track groups and individuals with “links” to terrorism. Leaks to the media in December 2005, however, revealed that TALON was also being used to spy on peace groups. The ACLU requests also seek details on whether TALON records have been or will be shared with other agencies. In a statement released by the ACLU, announcing the new FOIA requests, Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson said, “Unchecked government spying has a chilling effect on free speech and causes Americans to think twice before lawful protests.” In January, after the uncovering of TALON and other spying on domestic groups and the outcry it sparked, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England ordered intelligence personnel to get “refresher training” on collection and use of information on U.S. citizens. The groups identified in the ACLU’s recent FOIA requests are the American Friends Service Committee, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, Greenpeace and dozens of groups in California, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. A press release from the Maine Civil Liberties Union said the group found evidence of FBI interception of communications from members of the Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice. It joined the recent FOIA requests to DOD, asking for information on three peace groups and itself. In California, students at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley learned in December 2005 that they were the subject of TALON investigations. An ACLU of Northern California press release, announcing that its request for further documents, said, “Students should be able to freely express themselves on campus without fear of ending up in a military database.” An ACLU of Pennsylvania press release said its FOIA requests were filed on Florida said the chapter sought DOD information on nine organizations and four individuals. Meanwhile, a review of previously released documents by the ACLU and National Public Radio (NPR) showed that the FBI is using research reports about environmental groups from right-wing think tanks in conducting its domestic surveillance of nonprofits. NPR’s Living on Earth guest host Jeff Young described searching through nearly 2,000 pages of FBI documents and concluded the FBI investigation of the environmental group Greenpeace depended “pretty heavily on research done by a couple of think tanks that are very conservative, pro-business, antiregulation in their mindset and their mission.” The two groups were identified as the Capital Research Center and the Washington Legal Foundation. Capital Research Center’s website says the group analyzes “organizations that promote the growth of government and in identifying viable private alternatives to government regulatory and entitlement programs.” The Washington Legal Foundation’s site says its mission is “advocating freeenterprise principles, responsible government, property rights, a strong national security and defense, and a balanced civil and criminal justice system.” Recognize Attacks Against the Homeless as bats on the Fort Lauderdale campus Hate Crimes Norris Gaynor and aggravated of Florida Atlantic University. The Cooperative Feeding Program of Fort Lauderdale is calling for the state to recognize attacks against the homeless as hate crimes. In a news conference scheduled for later today, local and national representatives will speak about the recent beatings of three homeless men in Fort Lauderdale that killed one of them. Three teenagers face murder charges in the death of 46-year-old battery charges in the videotaped beatings of Jacques Pierre, 58, last month. They are also suspects in the beating of Raymond Perez, 49. Thomas Daugherty, Brian Hooks and William Ammons are being tried as adults. Police said Ammons admitted he shot Gaynor in the torso with a paintball gun while Daugherty bashed Gaynor’s skull with a bat. Daugherty and Hooks were also caught on surveillance video beating Pierre with First Success for Fair Day Labor Coalition by Randy and Vincent A group working for better conditions at Cincinnati’s temporary labor halls met with Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory at the “Mayor’s Night In” on February 7th. Three of the members of this group work at the labor halls. They informed the Mayor and his Chief of Staff about the transportation fees workers pay to go to work and submitted a proposal on how to improve the conditions though legislation. He commented that he had heard nothing about the problems with the labor halls and was very interested in the proposal. All in all, his reaction was very positive, and he resolved to look into the issue more to see what can be done. If interested, please contact the Fair Day Labor Coalition at 621-5991. Worker meetings are Wednesdays at 9:00AM at the Cincinnati Interfaith Worker Center (1415 Walnut Street). Streetvibes Miami-Dade County’s homeless trust has also gotten involved by starting a campaign to protect the homeless and push the state legislature to treat attacks on the homeless as hate crimes. The trust wants to have a hate crime provision added as an amendment to an existing bill. The campaign is targeting the homeless as well, encouraging them to report attacks similar to the ones that occurred in Fort Lauderdale. Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath San Francisco officials have agreed to stop sending homeless people to Humboldt County without notifying their counterparts in the far northern county. The agreement reached last month resolves a dispute that began after Humboldt County officials learned that San Francisco had sent at least 13 homeless people north on one-way bus tickets over the past year. San Francisco officials said they will inform Humboldt officials whenever homeless people are sent there through the city’s Homeward Bound program. The program has given more than 960 homeless people one-way tickets home where friends or family members are willing to help after they return. In Fort Worth, Texas a 52­ year-old homeless man died last month after he was struck by a car while trying to cross the street in the 3400 block of Lancaster Avenue East. Ronald Leech died shortly after being transported to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. He had been staying at The Presbyterian Night Shelter, according to police. Police are looking for a 1990s model two-door beige Cadillac in connection with the accident, said Sgt. Rodney Bangs, of the Fort Worth Police Department’s Traffic Investigation Unit. Bangs said a witness saw the car leave the scene. “They clearly knew they struck someone,” Bangs said. “They could have stopped and they didn’t.” In Ansley, MS a homeless man who has lived peacefully for years in a secluded patch of woods here before allegedly assaulting two men with a machete is a decent, welleducated man, according to locals. Wayne Stephen Parks, 57, has been living in the wilderness in this south Mississippi town for the past five years, in a makeshift tent. It is the site where he allegedly “hacked” two men with a machete last month following an argument at his forest quarters. The story in this small community is a bit different: Hunters say Parks was defending himself and his land. “He was a good man to me,” said Roy Necaise, 37. “We’d go back there and visit him all the time; he’s never hurt nobody.” Kevin LaFontaine, who also hunts deer in the same woods, said Parks would sometimes leave to get food and supplies, but that’s it. “I hunted all around him, and we’ve never had any problems,” LaFontaine said. Authorities believe the victims were passing through town earlier that day on a train, which often stops in the area to switch tracks. County investigator John Luther said three men allegedly spent the day with Parks, but only two were assaulted. The men were treated for machete wounds at Hancock Medical Center. “They tore his camp up, and destroyed the water and food that FEMA gave him,” he said. “To me, he was defending himself.” In Texas, Phil Lipnick flipped through a half-dozen envelopes marked with places Galveston’s homeless are known to frequent. “We’ll go through these, and if we run out, we’ll come back here for more,” he said. Lipnick, project coordinator for The Jesse Tree’s homeless management information system, was among more than 20 volunteers fanning out across Galveston Island last month for the Gulf Coast Homeless Coalition’s annual survey. At least some of the volunteers, he said, would be out past midnight. “The count is done to get a baseline on how many homeless we actually have in our community and what we need to do to alleviate homelessness,” he said. The coalition is made up of 20 agencies working with the homeless in Galveston, Brazoria, Liberty and Chambers counties. The count is a requirement for coalitions seeking to obtain funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A homeless man already in police custody for allegedly breaking into a shoe repair shop has confessed to as many as 100 burglaries in the downtown area, authorities said. Andrew Larry Austin, 56, was arrested about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 11 after officers found him looking into a garbage can about two blocks away from Model Shoe Renew on Shattuck Avenue. The store’s front glass door had been shattered, and — according to police — Austin had slivers of glass on his hat, jacket and gloves and stolen property and burglary tools in his possession. After questioning Austin, police initially tied him to about 50 commercial burglaries in Berkeley. In subsequent interviews, Austin has admitted to committing at least 50 more burglaries, police said. In Springettsbury Township, Pa. a homeless man was found dead last month under the Mt. Zion Road railroad overpass at Concord Road. Police said the 50-year-old man died from being out in the cold weather. His name is being withheld until his family is notified. In South Florida, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is demanding that the state attorney’s office charge a 17­ year-old boy accused of beating three homeless men as an adult. Thomas Daugherty is being held without bond at a juvenile detention facility for his alleged involvement in the beatings. Daugherty, along with Brian Hooks and William Ammons, both 18, face murder charges in the death of 46-year-old Norris Gaynor and aggravated battery charges in the videotaped beating of Jacques Pierre, 58. They also are charged in the beating of Raymond Perez, 49. Police said Ammons admitted he shot Gaynor, who was black, in the torso with a paintball gun while Daugherty bashed Gaynor’s skull with a bat. Daugherty has been held in juvenile detention since his arrest and was ordered to undergo a psychological examination. In Miami, following a sermon about respecting the dignity of all people, parishioners at All Saints Episcopal Church said Sunday they supported pressing charges against a homeless man for sleeping inside the Fort Lauderdale church and eating canned goods from its donation basket. Orienthal Bowens, a 36­ year-old drifter from Georgia, spent 16 months in a Pompano Beach lock-up until Jan. 23 when a judge sentenced him to time served. ‘’We don’t mind [homeless people] sleeping here, but when they start destroying things - it’s like, would you let someone continue to stay in your house who was doing that?’’ said Michael Hargrave, 56. “[Bowens] wasn’t a nice guy.” It’s unclear why it took so long for Bowens’ case to come to trial. Though one thing is clear — he Streetvibes remained behind bars at the Joseph V. Conte Facility because he couldn’t come up with a $1,500 bond. “That in itself is disturbing to us — that he spent so much time there,’’ said the Rev. Sherod Mallow. Last month, Mallow posted a letter to his congregation on All Saints’ website defending his decision about Bowens. The church, he tried to emphasize, is a place of tolerance and kindness. Bowens wasn’t just sleeping at the church or taking food, Mallow said. The homeless man had also lit a fire in the balcony during one overnight stay. And parishioners said he had harassed them. Church member Beth Welker, 39, said Bowens made her uncomfortable. “People were scared of him,’’ she said. Five days a week, homeless veterans show up at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix and get a simple bag lunch. But sometimes a turkey sandwich and a banana is more than it seems. In addition to providing sustenance to people who don’t eat well, the lunch allows social workers to start a dialogue with the vets. The daily interaction allows staff members to check up on them and get them involved in programs to make sure they are taking their medications and staying off street drugs. Six months ago Westside Food Bank hooked up with the veterans hospital to provide the meals. They serve about 35 a day. “I’m having a pretty rough time right now. I’m on the street,” said James Aylor. “A lot of the halfway houses and shelters do not feed you well. This helps take the hunger pangs away.” Aylor, 49, served in the Army in 1974 and 1975. Now he comes to the hospital a few days a week to attend meetings and pick up a lunch. That is what Michael Leon was hoping for when the program began. “First of all, these people are hungry,” said Leon, the health care for homeless veterans coordinator at the hospital. “The lunches serve as an outreach mechanism.” Leon said that sometimes a homeless veteran will hang around without ever talking to anybody. “It is frustrating for them to be so close without taking advantage of the programs we offer,” said Leon, a social worker and a veteran. There are 3,000-4,000 homeless veterans in the state, according to Leon, the majority of them in the Valley. Page 3 �The Incantation I dream of singing with the kids by Koichi Yoshida Big Issue (Japan) vendor Mr. T and I were casually chatting outside Osaka station, when suddenly Mr. T recited “Back issue! Come on! Come on! Come on!” and clapped his hands as if in prayer. Somewhat taken aback I asked what he was doing. Mr. T replied that it was an incantation to sell back issues of the magazine. Sensing my incredulity, Mr. T insisted that it worked and that he had, in fact, sold 10 back issues, not once but twice thanks to this incantation. I remained skeptical, but later on that evening my office received a call from an excited Mr. T. A customer had bought 20 back issues! The next time I visited Mr. T, I asked him about the incantation. He said there were three tricks to using it: 1. chant “Back issue! Come on! Come on! Come on!”; 2. Only use the incantation when it pops into your head suddenly; 3. Don’t do it everyday. It seems that the day I visited Mr. T was a “back issue” day. by Naoki Koide Mr. Hori sells The Big Issue in a residential area about seven kilometers south of the center of Sendai. While there is a large shopping mall, most of the people who pass by are commuters hurrying to work and school. Few people have time to notice The Big Issue. Ironically, a group of elementary school students were the first to pay attention to Mr. Hori. Initially, Mr. Hori was hurt by their unfriendly stares, but he mustered up his courage and explained that this was his job. By making the effort to talk to the students they accepted Mr. Hori and began to chat with him. Hearing of Mr. Hori’s efforts in cleaning up the area around him and watching out for the students, a local teacher even called on Mr. Hori to thank him. One day, a child he recognized walked past singing to himself, “big, Big Issue”. Mr. Hori was struck by an idea: he would write a song about The Big Issue! Though his musical past was distant, Mr. Hori had recently received an old guitar from a street musician friend, Mr. Nii (who wrote the music for “Look at My BIG ISSUE”), and had just started to get a feel for it once more. Mr. Hori wrote the lyrics of “Look at my BIG ISSUE” to show how he feels when he is selling The Big Issue. Riding the sound of the arpeggio chords, Mr. Hori’s Big Issue sales pitch always seems to lead into the song, calling people to the street: “The info mag that was born in England and spread to Japan…” A lot of memories flow through Mr. Hori’s mind as he plays his guitar: when people from Osaka or Tokyo have remembered his face and have greeted him; when a university student bought a magazine from him as a good luck charm for a job interview at the local convenience store; or the time when it became tradition for university students wanting to pass their exams to buy a Big Issue from Mr. Hori. There was even a time when Mr. Hori reported a suspicious-looking car that had hit a pedestrian on the corner right in front of him. Compared to vendors based amongst offices and public buildings in the city center, Mr. Hori’s location is a tough one. Putting a positive spin on it, however, he says that he sees the same people at the same time Show your support! Get your STREETVIBES T-Shirt Today! (Back shown here. Shirt not actual size) everyday, so his face is quickly remembered. Mr. Hori was forced to start living on the streets five or six years ago after suffering from the effects of the recession. Before that, he had worked in machine manufacturing and security. Mr. Hori says that selling The Big Issue has made him think about things that didn’t even cross his mind when he worked for a company– how daily sales are affected by customer interaction, for example. “That makes it all worthwhile,” Mr. Hori says. Traveling about 6 kilometers by bicycle to his supplier, Mr. Hori starts at 6am and on busy days will make a second trip to the supplier and back to his sales base in the afternoon. Mr. Hori only takes a few magazines at a time and his sales are limited, but he savors the joy of each sale. “I still have a long way to go”, says Mr. Hori, “First I just want to increase my sales by five copies a day. What is more important, though, is what I’ve gained from The Big Issue in terms of courage, connections and compassion. The song is my way of giving something back. It was the kids who inspired the song, so I would really like to sing it with them”. Of the one million people living in Sendai there are more than 200 without homes. Despite the harsh winters, this number is on the increase. The homeless are both young and old, and there is an increase in women on the streets. Homeless woman have become more noticeable recently. I have no greater wish than the desire for each person living on the streets to take even the smallest opportunity and use it constructively as a step towards independence – just like Mr. Hori and his song. Translated from Japanese by INSP volunteer Kathryn Johnson, Australia by Booger Love When someone needs a hand of a friend, they can’t be found. No one to talk to, walk around with. All you want is someone to talk to. When there is a pain in your heart, all you need is friend you can talk to. To tell them your troubles, so you don’t lose you mind. Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 x 16, or come in to our office at 117 E 12th Street in Over-the-Rhine Page 4 Streetvibes We give up on everything sometimes, When we are down. More Poetry on Pages 14 and 15 �Drop Inn Center Roll Up Your Sleeves, America! president used the words ‘the societies and our market’s by John Lavelle Update Middle East’ when he didn’t really “addiction to oil” should be I’m sure many people have * Cross Town Help Out: Thanks to all the volunteers from Xavier and UC who participated in the Cross Town Help Out. They helped the men in the recovery program here at the Drop Inn Center repaint and uplift their dorm rooms. * Summit on Homeless Individuals: The Partnership Center convened key staff and board members from all the agencies working with homeless individuals (people not currently with their family...) all day on January 27th. After presenting updates on how each group fits into the fabric of the system, we brainstormed on needs and goals across the system. We also heard a presentation from City Ministries on their proposed CityLink project. Hopefully, the information presented will help in determining what possible unmet needs could be addressed through that project. The Drop Inn Center also presented on our need for Permanent Supportive Housing for the Long-term Homeless. * Budget Status: Although we were successful in meeting last year’s level in our Holiday Drive (thanks to your help!), we still are facing a tough six months due to state cutbacks as well as greatly increased energy costs. We will be trimming some part time and on-call positions as well as cutting back on some of the food we buy. If you know of any grant or funding sources, please let us know. Also, if you know of any sources of prepared food we could use for meals, we would appreciate it. Cold Snap Effects: Just briefly, this past weekend our average census was 242, up from 224 for the previous week, due to the cold weather. seen the humorous picture of Uncle Sam proclaiming “Roll Up Your Sleeves, America” as he gleefully injects gasoline directly from a gas station pump into his exposed arm, parodying the vintage war propaganda of classic Uncle Sam and his female counterpart, Rosie the Riveter (“We can do it!”). How appropriate this seemed, when during President Bush’s January 31, 2006, State of the Union Address he acknowledged that “America is addicted to oil” and that we must John Lavelle “break this addiction.” For the first time that night I stopped screaming at the television and lent a heartfelt ear to what our country’s “elected” leader had to say. “Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025,” he stated. Even a raging cynic such as myself had to stop for a second and give Bush his due…provided that he actually follows through on any of this. However, hearing all this from an oil profiteer is a start, right? Right? Well, the morning after, his administration was quick to make clear that they were not ready for a committed relationship with reduction of oil dependency. In reference to the quote above by President Bush, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said on February 1 that: “This was purely an example.” Oh. From Knight Ridder writer Kevin G. Hall: “Asked why the mean them, one administration official said Bush wanted to dramatize the issue in a way that ‘every American sitting out there listening to the speech understands.’ The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he feared that his remarks might get him in trouble.” In other words, we really shouldn’t take the president literally. Well, time to roll up your sleeves, America. A week later in Houston, the heart of Bush’s home state, Exxon Mobil Corp. Senior Vice President Stuart McGill said that the United States should stop trying to make ourselves energy independent and that we will always be reliant on foreign imports. “Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant to our discussion today…No combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources, and technological advances could realistically and economically provide a way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term.” So, according the largest publicly traded oil company – who just posted the largest quarterly profits ($10.71 billion, despite two damaging hurricanes) of any company in U.S. history – energy independence is impossible and just plain bad. And while we’re on it, Exxon Mobil very recently asked a federal court to wipe out its $5 billion in fines for the 1989 Valdez oil spill. The issues surrounding our important to all Americans. Perhaps the most seminal way in which average Americans have felt the impact of the oil economy is at the gas pump with surging and fluctuating prices. Even Americans who do not own automobiles and take the bus should be wary of increased fares for public transportation – even small increases can be devastating to the tight budgets of low-income individuals and families. Along with sheer market economics, we have seen very clearly in the past 30 years or so how closely petroleum is tied to our national security. Regardless of anyone’s feelings on why we went to war with Iraq in 2003, one must admit that the ensuing conflict has had a grand effect on the oil industry. Despite their multifarious ties to terrorist threats, Saudi Arabia has carried on largely unchallenged. Many theorize that this is due to them being one of our largest exporters of oil. The increased production and popularity of hybrid automobile models is promising, as consumers realize that they are economically and environmentally responsible. In the spirit of the market, some are finding that new energy resources can be profitable and responsible. Nevertheless, Americans are still addicted to oil. And much like the case with “big tobacco,” it will take years of lawsuits and legislation to force most oil companies to invest in reducing dependency on their damaging and limited product. Until then, roll up your sleeves, America! Thanks to Juicio Brennan for his compilations of resources on his website. Check it out at: www.juiciobrennan.com The Orange Bicycle placing a box filled with magazines on the bike rack and carefully covering the side with a poster Mr. Toyomura’s bike is transformed into a sales promotion machine. The sight reminds me of the bicycle salesmen of old who would sell tofu or put on shows for children. It gives Omotensando a distinctive atmosphere. My biggest surprise, however, was to see Mr. Toyomura polishing his bicycle with CRC5-56 oil everyday before work. It startled me and made me think of a craftsman polishing his tools before starting work. Today, the sparkling orange bicycle will once again be carrying Mr. Toyomura’s hopes on its handlebars. Back on Track I couldn’t get a regular job. Streetvibes really gives people like me a chance to get back on their feet. I can now save money, pay my rent and get my baby back. The Streetvibes Program has really turned my life around. It gives the homeless hope and faith again. I give a huge thanks to the people who purchase Streetvibes. I would not have been given the chance to get myself back on track without your donations. Keep donating to Streetvibes. You could change someone else’s life with only one dollar. Just doing a little turns out to be a whole lot. God Bless all of you. by Mariko Ikeda It takes Big Issue vendor Mr. Toyomura one and a half hours to ride his bicycle to his sales base in Omotesando, Osaka. That’s three hours both ways – with 100­ 200 magazines weighing down the bicycle, it’s a battle just to pedal. To struggle like this everyday, Mr. Toyomura must be a man of great determination and will power, as well as having awesome quadriceps. Mr. Toyomura’s beloved bicycle is not just his transportation, however, it is also a sales tool. By by Tiffanie Schaffer I give all thanks to the Coalition for the Homeless for the Streetvibes Vendors Program. It really has changed my life. I wasn’t always homeless. I came from a good home with money. As I went out on my own I made some bad choices. I found myself 21, homeless and with a baby. I was homeless for three months. Then I found the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. I heard about the Vendors Program and became a vendor in the first week of January. By the first week of February I had an apartment. Streetvibes Page 5 �Thanks Susan streets, for our young people, the elderly and my homeless friends. by Ms. Mary Gaffney My homeless friends come around the office each Wednesday To the purchasers of afternoon for a full Streetvibes and my meal and desert from homeless friends, this a special lady who is now the third serves and donates month of the New these delicious meals. Year, and we have Also, there are always seen the appearance pastries on hand for of the groundhog. He the walk-in homeless. saw its shadow, but Susan is her name and we will see what’s Miss Mary Gaffney she is a very down to what in the coming earth person. She is months. always jolly. She always uses a I do hope during this parking meter but never asks for a beginning of the New Year we will donation. Inside of three weeks she hopefully see a new beginning of has received two parking tickets, at more safety on our neighborhood New Report Finds a Widespread Epidemic of Hate Crimes/ Violence Against Homeless People by Michael Stoops, Acting Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) released its 2005 report tracking the widespread epidemic of hate crimes/violence against homeless people. The report entitled, Hate, Violence, & Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness in 2005 is NCH’s seventh annual report on this issue. The report documents incidents that occurred in 2005 against homeless persons by housed individuals who were overwhelmingly teens and young adults. A seven-year historical analysis of NCH’s reports is also available. For a complete copy of all seven reports, please go to: (www.nationalhomeless.org). This latest report continues to maintain the same goals and objectives as in the previous ones: * To compile the incidents of hate crimes/violence that NCH has received and reviewed in order to document this alarming trend against people who are homeless. * To make lawmakers and the general public aware of this serious issue. * To recommend proactive measures to be taken. The report also includes information about model legislative/organizing/ public educational initiatives in California, Florida, Maine and Washington, DC The 2005 report documents hate crimes/violence against homeless people in the following 38 cities from 22 states and Puerto Rico. Page 6 Battle Creek, MI Berkeley, CA Boston, MA Broward County, FL Camden, NJ Cave Junction, OR Cheyenne, WY. Cincinnati, OH Cleveland, OH Dade County, FL Davenport, IA Daytona Beach, FL Detroit, MI Duluth, MN East Palatka, FL Fairbanks, AK Fairfield, CA Holiday, FL Holly Hill, FL Indianapolis, IN Kansas City, MO. Los Angeles, CA Myrtle Beach, SC New York, NY. Orlando, FL. Pascagoula, MS Portland, ME Roosevelt, NY Sacramento, CA San Antonio, TX San Francisco, CA San Juan, PR. Springfield, IL Staten Island, NY Stockbridge, GA St. Paul, MN Tucson, AZ Virginia Beach, National Coalition for the Homeless 2201 “P” St., NW Washington, DC 20037-1033 Phone: (202) 462-4822 x19 Fax: (202) 462-4823 Email: mstoops@nationalhomeless.org Website: www.nationalhomeless.org $25 dollars each, with no complaints. Sometimes it takes her a while to unload the food and ingredients! I do hope that she can find somewhere nearby to park her car where the homeless don’t always have to watch her car for tickets because they always look forward to her meals. She also supplies the office with coffee, creamer and sugar and pastries for in the mornings. My hat goes off to you Susan, for the kindness and concern you have shown to our homeless visitors. This month, this article is dedicated to Susan for the concern you show for your fellow man. May God forever bless you. I am very proud to have a friend like you and my homeless friends. They really appreciate your kindness. Until next time, thanks to you and my friends. Send your letters or comments to Streetvibes, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com 21 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 Beaten Homeless Man Remains in Critical Condition A homeless man remained in critical condition in South Florida after being severely beaten by three suspects at a convenience store pay phone, police said. Thomas Kotowski, 36, was found bloody and barely conscious last month outside the H&M Discount Beverage Store at 1361 Ave. E. He was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center. Riviera Beach police were searching for the three attackers, described as young men or teenagers. In some ways, the attack resembled the deadly beating of a homeless man January 12 by three Broward County teens. Video of a related attack that night was broadcast worldwide, drawing attention to the plight of the homeless. The motive for the attack was not known. Police say one of the unidentified attackers was using a pay phone outside H&M Discount Beverage when Kotowski approached him about 6 p.m. and asked to make a call. The man said no. Kotowski waited nearby until the man’s call was finished, then stepped to the phone to make his own call, police say. That’s when the first man struck, pummeling Kotowski repeatedly. Streetvibes A moment later, two other attackers joined in, investigators said. Together, the three beat and kicked him bloody, then ran off after someone called 911. Kotowski has lived in the area for years, running up an arrest record on charges ranging from cocaine possession and resisting arrest to trespassing and shoplifting. During the past six years, the National Coalition for the Homeless has documented 386 attacks on the homeless, including 156 deaths, although experts agree the actual numbers are probably much higher. Last month, Moses Prophet, a 58-year-old homeless man, was shot and killed on 55th Street in West Palm Beach. Police say he knew his killer and that his murder was prompted by an argument. Violence against the homeless is nothing new, but the issue has taken on new currency in recent months. “This is not an increasing phenomenon, but what has happened since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans is the invisible class has suddenly become visible,” said Alan Clapsaddle, associate pastor at Westgate Tabernacle, which operates a homeless shelter. “Before, this stuff would have been unnoticed. Now it’s becoming visible.” �Citizens X by Joanne Zuhl Most of us think the picture on our ID is embarrassing enough, but how about having your residence listed as “under the Burnside Bridge?” That’s what has happened to one man who prefers to remain anonymous for this story. He says he knows of one other person in the same situation. “Talk about embarrassment,” the man said of his ID. “You go out for a job application, they see that and they laugh at you. I’m 48 years old. This is the first time I’ve been homeless, down-and-out like this, and I can’t get a job.” “I’ve got to do something, I’ve got to work,” he said. “I was brought up to work and work hard and now I can’t work. I never had nothing like this happen to me before. I don’t know how to take it.” Despite the man’s embarrassing setback, he’s fortunate to have a state ID at all. For many people living on the streets, or extreme poverty, an ID card is an elusive item, and one that holds the key to housing, employment, social services and civil rights. “Basically, since 9/11, without a photo ID you’re a persona non grata in our society,” said Ed Johnson, an attorney and homeless advocate with the Oregon Law Center in Portland. “There’s a whole range of things you can’t do. Not only can you not get permanent housing, there’s a lot of temporary emergency shelter you can’t access without photo ID. So, if you find yourself on the street without a photo ID, getting off the street, as an essential priority, is almost impossible.” Likewise, a state photo ID is the key for accessing disability assistance, medical insurance, food stamps and other government-based social services, according to Johnson. Employment? “Forget about it,” Johnson said. “You’re not going to get any steady employment without a photo ID.” To get a standard state ID through the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, you need some other form of ID: a drivers license, proof of address, employment, Social Security, birth records and the like. And the streets are a lousy place for keeping records. “When you’re moving around, things get lost when you don’t have a stable place to keep your things,” said Fern Elledge, director of the Community Service Center at Transition Projects, Inc. “I hear stories from a lot of people that the police took their ID and they didn’t get it back. And for women leaving domestic violence situations, lots of times the abuser will keep the ID as part of keeping control. People are vulnerable, things get stolen. There are just lots of reasons.” Transition Projects, or TPI as its known, assists people in getting photo IDs through the DMV. TPI will help people locate the necessary records, such as birth certificates, and pay the state’s $25 to $30 fee for the ID. TPI can only afford to serve four people in the morning and four people in the afternoon. “People come early to get in line, and usually we have to turn people away,” Elledge said. The combination of 9/11 and concerns about identity theft has made getting IDs even harder in recent years, according to Elledge. Picture IDs are prerequisites to accessing other forms of ID, including Social Security cards and birth certificates, in some states, Elledge said. In some cases, living relatives can help people get birth certificates, but not everyone has that option available. “There are some people we just can’t help,” Elledge said. Debbie Eagle had her backpack – carrying her birth certificate, ID, Social Security card and tuberculosis card — stolen from her on the streets. That was five months ago and she doesn’t have the money to gather all of the documentation she needs to get them restored. “I don’t have any picture ID,” said Eagle, who is hoping to hold out until mid February when she’ll have money to begin relocating documents. Deborah Mandley bounced between the DMV and the Social Security office for more than a week trying to get her ID replaced after it was stolen. She was recently released from prison and had her inmate ID and little else. Getting the necessary documentation cost her valuable time, money she didn’t have, and possibly a job. “I needed my ID in order to get a second job interview,” Handley said. “I didn’t have my ID so I didn’t get the second interview and I didn’t get the job.” She has since gotten her ID, and is now looking for a job. Eric Sevos, manager of the Royal Palm for Cascadia Behavioral Health Care, says he’s also seen the barriers to getting ID cards increase, and he fears that they are only going to get worse. “It’s a catch-22,” Sevos said. “You need a birth certificate to get a photo ID, but you can’t get a birth certificate without a photo ID.” The process, which in difficult circumstances can take months or years to get primary documentation to get an ID, is a stressful one for all those involved. Sometimes there’s no resolution at all. “I’ve seen clients who have lost their IDs, and the level of anxiety, and sometimes panic, rises,” Sevos said. “I think that like a lot of things, the safeguards are necessary and practical, but when they get applied to the homeless population, or folks who don’t necessarily have as much of a voice in political and economic affairs, people get lost in the shuffle.” In a 2004 report, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty found that state laws, particularly those instituted in the wake of post Sept. 11, have created unreasonable barriers to acquiring identification, and as a result Streetvibes are exacerbating and prolonging homelessness. After Sept. 11, at least 43 states considered some form of legislation or rule change to restrict access to drivers licenses, according to the report. In 2003, approximately 117 state bills were considered that similarly intended to restrict access The NLCHP issued a survey to service providers across the country, focusing on three primary areas: barriers to accessing services and benefits, problems with law enforcement, and lack of adequate funds to pay for identification. NLCHP surveyed 56 service providers in fifteen states that serve a total of 25,647 clients per year. The providers surveyed range from homeless shelters and food pantries to transitional living facilities. The survey found that large percentages of clients were being denied basic benefits because they lack photo identification. In one month, more than half of those applying for SSI, Food Stamps and housing or shelter services, and 45 percent of those who applied for medical services, were turned away for lack of photo ID. Among its recommendations, the law center says states should waive the fees for obtaining ID for people who are homeless, and use logical verification, when appropriate, such as a mother’s maiden name. While most people take for granted their documents of identification, there is also the benefit of simply being stable — of being known in the community. People on the streets often lack that more subtle form of identification, and can simply disappear from the social network. That extended disconnect can make the process of attaining an ID very intimidating for some people. “They’re just further outside of the mainstream,’ said Brad Taylor, an outreach worker with Cascadia’s Project Respond. “So they have to operate outside of that, and staying indoors is more challenging, finding ways to make money is more challenging.” Taylor said he comes across people every day who don’t have an ID or are having trouble getting one. If someone has an ID one day, he said, the person’s often lost it or had it stolen by the next time he sees him. Mental health issues also complicate the process. There are some people who simply don’t know their own names, Taylor said. “We’ve had police do fingerprints just to find out who they were.” Patricia Barrera, director of Community Education with the Lola Greene Baldwin Foundation, works with women escaping prostitution. Prostitutes are vulnerable to having their identification stolen by pimps Citizens X cont. on page 9 Page 7 �Mosiac cont. from page 1 staff talk about the project and being really involved with the idea and the design.” Another participant, Joseph, says “This place gets better and better! Plus, pretty; not so many places are this pretty for us.” Cookie goes on to say, “The trips to the studio to take part in putting the chosen colors into place and anticipating the gluing and grouting of same, has been a real source of community building among the staff. It has been that for all of us, and at the same time, finding that creative part in each of us, and being able to celebrate that with others. The staff has also become very interested in studying the other mosaics already being displayed around the neighborhood! We are all very excited about finishing ours; it has been a wonderful experience to work with such dedicated, talented professionals who want to tell our story. Amen.” I think Ed, another mosaic art student, sums it up very nicely: “I heard about the picture that is going to go outside; I know it is going to be good. Everything is good here.” Recently, the project was awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fine Arts Fund, Summerfair, Inc., the George B. Riley Trust, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and the LaBoiteaux Family Foundation. Artist Suzanne Fisher directs work on a mosaic project Street Paper vendors in Russia inspire modern classical music piece A classical music concert took place at Herzen University in St Petersburg on 5th February, within the framework of a project called ‘the New Music Initiative of St Petersburg’. The project represents a dialogue between classical and modern music. The participants of this particular concert were the St Petersburg State Orchestra and two British composers, Peter Dyson and Marcus Tristan Hitcock. Peter Dyson was born in Huddersfield in Yorkshire in 1949 and came to study at the State Conservatoire in St Petersburg 10 years ago. He has lived in the city ever since, considering it his own and writing music for St Petersburg. “Life in Russia has definitely had a bearing on my music”, says Peter, currently teaching a course Page 8 called ‘British Cultural Identities at the beginning of the 21st century’ at the St Petersburg University. “I would call my music a reflection of the time and milieu in which I am living. I consider it to be social realism.” Peter Dyson titled his narrated piece for orchestra and clarinet, ‘Conversations and Observations: The reflection of a homeless street paper seller in winter’. Dyson explains his reasons for the theme of the project: “Many people’s rights are limited here, the authorities neglect the elderly, the ill, the homeless and the hungry. I composed the music about homelessness because I can understand what it means to stand in the freezing cold all day in order to sell even a few street papers to earn enough to live. So the least we can do for a homeless vendor is buy a street paper from him” Dyson’s narrator starts by painting a picture of life on the street, and by the final movements, the audience understands that he is actually a homeless street paper vendor. He speaks about what is happening in that part of the city and in society in general. The concert finishes with the words “Sometimes, when the sun is setting, I hear music ….” And then it becomes clear that the narrator is the composer himself. Many of the homeless vendors of the St Petersburg street paper ‘Journey Home’ came to enjoy the concert and had the opportunity to sell papers during the interval. 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 Streetvibes �The Big Issue South Africa calls for Low-Income Children Are at full enquiry into beating Health, Developmental, and Izak van Staden, who lives at “I hope that the relevant Educational Disadvantage, U.S. a shelter in Cape Town, was taken to authorities will conduct a full hospital after being beaten at the investigation into this incident and Chartbook Says Wynberg Military Base. He is in take necessary disciplinary action critical condition. Richard Ishmail, managing director of The Big Issue homeless streetpaper, South Africa has called for a full investigation into the incident. “In the past six months, there has been a series of attacks on homeless people in Cape Town ­ some of which were fatal - and the time has come to protect the rights of this vulnerable group and to seek justice against those who perpetrate crimes against them. should it be required. By doing so, they will be sending out a message that homeless people deserve to be treated with respect like any other human being,” he says. “Attacks on homeless people worldwide have become a growing phenomenon. Organizations, government and members of the public must collectively raise their voices to protest against the abuse of homeless people.” Got The Vibe? This chartbook highlighting the major findings of the 2003 first National Survey of Children’s Health was released by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The book includes many positive findings about American children, but it also reports on conditions of children who are particularly vulnerable to health risks, such as children in lowincome families. Compared to children in higher-income families, children in low-income families are less likely to be in excellent or very good health; they miss more days of school due to illness; they are more likely to have moderate or severe emotional or behavioral problems; and they are more likely to live in neighborhoods that do not feel safe or supportive. Since mothers in lowincome families are one-third as likely as higher-income mothers to be in excellent or very good physical and mental health, their ability to care for their children is adversely affected. The book’s data show that children in lowincome families are put at a health, developmental, and educational disadvantage compared to higherincome children. http:// www.mchb.hrsa.gov/thechild/ index.htm Buy Streetvibes Citizens X cont. from page 7 and Johns as a means of exerting power and control. Barrera’s organization focuses on advocating for the victims, and goes with them to help them get a replacement ID at the DMV. “They are up against people who pass judgment on them and people who think they are nothing but filthy whores,” Barrera said. “Often they are treated disrespectfully if they’re not with an advocate. So we go with them to help them get their ID. It seems to go more smoothly when they have an advocate.” Barrera said the more experienced people at DMV are generally very receptive to helping people get their ID, provided they have something verifying who they are. While 9/11 takes a lot of the rap, David House with the DMV says identity theft is the primary reason for tougher ID requirements. This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. “We have to be safe rather than sorry,” House said. “ID theft has been getting bigger and worse for decades. It’s an arms race, essentially. So we have to constantly update the card, our procedures and our requirements for documentation.” In the past four years, the lists of allowed identify verification documents has shrunk, House said, and employees have undergone training in fraudulent identity measures. For people who are homeless, individual field office managers can make exceptions, but House said he believes those are very rare. Regarding the address of “under the Burnside Bridge,” House said that’s one of the exceptions allowed. “We will do that under circumstances where somebody has no actual mailing address,” he said. House recommends that the man who’s ID names the Burnside Bridge as a residence request a change of address from the DMV, which is free of charge. 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 Pro­ gram. 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 Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �The Big Issue South Africa calls for Low-Income Children Are at full enquiry into beating Health, Developmental, and Izak van Staden, who lives at “I hope that the relevant Educational Disadvantage, U.S. a shelter in Cape Town, was taken to authorities will conduct a full hospital after being beaten at the investigation into this incident and Chartbook Says Wynberg Military Base. He is in take necessary disciplinary action critical condition. Richard Ishmail, managing director of The Big Issue homeless streetpaper, South Africa has called for a full investigation into the incident. “In the past six months, there has been a series of attacks on homeless people in Cape Town ­ some of which were fatal - and the time has come to protect the rights of this vulnerable group and to seek justice against those who perpetrate crimes against them. should it be required. By doing so, they will be sending out a message that homeless people deserve to be treated with respect like any other human being,” he says. “Attacks on homeless people worldwide have become a growing phenomenon. Organizations, government and members of the public must collectively raise their voices to protest against the abuse of homeless people.” Got The Vibe? This chartbook highlighting the major findings of the 2003 first National Survey of Children’s Health was released by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The book includes many positive findings about American children, but it also reports on conditions of children who are particularly vulnerable to health risks, such as children in lowincome families. Compared to children in higher-income families, children in low-income families are less likely to be in excellent or very good health; they miss more days of school due to illness; they are more likely to have moderate or severe emotional or behavioral problems; and they are more likely to live in neighborhoods that do not feel safe or supportive. Since mothers in lowincome families are one-third as likely as higher-income mothers to be in excellent or very good physical and mental health, their ability to care for their children is adversely affected. The book’s data show that children in lowincome families are put at a health, developmental, and educational disadvantage compared to higherincome children. http:// www.mchb.hrsa.gov/thechild/ index.htm Buy Streetvibes Citizens X cont. from page 7 and Johns as a means of exerting power and control. Barrera’s organization focuses on advocating for the victims, and goes with them to help them get a replacement ID at the DMV. “They are up against people who pass judgment on them and people who think they are nothing but filthy whores,” Barrera said. “Often they are treated disrespectfully if they’re not with an advocate. So we go with them to help them get their ID. It seems to go more smoothly when they have an advocate.” Barrera said the more experienced people at DMV are generally very receptive to helping people get their ID, provided they have something verifying who they are. While 9/11 takes a lot of the rap, David House with the DMV says identity theft is the primary reason for tougher ID requirements. This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. “We have to be safe rather than sorry,” House said. “ID theft has been getting bigger and worse for decades. It’s an arms race, essentially. So we have to constantly update the card, our procedures and our requirements for documentation.” In the past four years, the lists of allowed identify verification documents has shrunk, House said, and employees have undergone training in fraudulent identity measures. For people who are homeless, individual field office managers can make exceptions, but House said he believes those are very rare. Regarding the address of “under the Burnside Bridge,” House said that’s one of the exceptions allowed. “We will do that under circumstances where somebody has no actual mailing address,” he said. House recommends that the man who’s ID names the Burnside Bridge as a residence request a change of address from the DMV, which is free of charge. 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 Pro­ gram. 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 Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �A New form of kidnapping About a month ago there was a woman standing by a mall entrance passing out flyers to all the women going in. The woman had written the flyer herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other women. The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and discovered that she had a flat. She got the jack out of the trunk and began to change the flat. A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase walked up to her and said, “I noticed you’re changing a flat tire. Would you like me to take care of it for you?” The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help. They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off. The woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, the man told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked if she would mind giving him a lift to his car. She was a little surprised and she asked him why his car was on other side. He explained that he had seen an old friend in the mall that he hadn’t seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while. He got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he was running late and his car was clear around on the other side of the mall. The woman hated to tell him “no” because he had just rescued her from having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy. Then she remembered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before shutting it and before he asked her for a ride to his car. She told him that she’d be happy to drive him around to his car, but she just remembered one last thing she needed to buy. She said she would only be a few minutes; he could sit down in her car and wait for her; she would be as quick as she could be. She hurried into the mall, and told a security guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man had left. They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it down to the police station. The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID so they could return it to the man). What they found was rope, duct tape, and knives. When the police checked her “flat” tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had simply been let out. It was obvious what the man’s intention was, and obvious that he had carefully thought it out in advance. The woman was blessed to have escaped harm. How much worse it would have been if she had children with her and had them wait in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a baby strapped into a car seat? Or if she’d gone against her judgment and given him a lift? I’d like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only; but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them, as well. State of Union Address Foreshadows Fiscal 2007 Budget President Bush’s annual State of the Union address on January 31 foreshadowed his plans for the Fiscal 2007 budget, which will be released February 6. Most significantly, the President proposed expanding Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), tax-free savings accounts created in the 2003 Medicare law that can be used to pay deductibles and out-of-pocket costs of health care provided through a high-deductible health insurance plan. Many economists and analysts point out that HSAs offer the greatest benefits to those at the highest tax brackets who need help with health care the least. HSAs drive up the cost of health care for low-income and sicker people who would be more likely to stay in traditional lower-premium plans. Further, higher out-of-pocket costs will induce many lower-income people to avoid seeking necessary care, which could eventually result in health problems that are more costly to treat. The idea behind HSAs is to create a greater incentive for people to avoid unnecessary health care costs, but research shows that the vast majority of health care costs are spent on the ten percent of people who have major illnesses or disabilities, situations in which health care cannot be safely avoided. Critics also argue that some ways of expanding HSAs could even encourage employers to stop providing coverage, making health care further out of reach for the average worker. (For more information, see the recent paper released by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities at http:// www.cbpp.org/1-31-06health.htm) The President’s speech included other proposals that could affect services for moderate- and low-income families. The President pledged, as he has in previous budget cycles, to reduce or eliminate a number of programs his administration deems to be not successful. He will propose to save $14 billion in fiscal 2007 by eliminating 140 programs. The President called for reducing or eliminating 150 programs last year and 65 programs the year before that and each time Congress has largely declined to do so. The sorts of programs targeted for elimination last year included the Safe and Drug Free Schools program, Upward Bound for low-income high school students, and Hope VI funding for revitalizing public housing. Although funding has been cut for these programs, Congress rejected the President’s plan to eliminate them. The President also announced a proposal to “train 70,000 high school teachers to lead advanced placement courses in math and science, bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms, and give early help to students who struggle with math so they have a better chance at good, high-wage jobs.” This proposal would be one prong of his American Competitiveness Initiative, which would also increase federal funding for scientific research and make permanent the research and development tax credit. Educators generally agree with the need for more focus on math and science, but the new initiatives are hardly adequate to make up for other shortfalls in federal education policy, such as underfunding the Leave No Child Behind Law by $40 billion over the past five years. Costs of Making Tax Cuts Permanent Would Grow to Unsustainable Levels Notwithstanding the country’s swelling deficits and debt and long-term fiscal challenges, the President now insists on making all the tax cuts enacted between fiscal years 2001 and 2006 permanent. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that the overall cost of the tax cuts enacted to date, plus interest on the debt they create, would total $3.2 trillion through 2016. If extended, Bush’s tax cut policies would cost the country another $3.3 trillion over the same period, and the total cost would be $6.5 trillion through 2016. Costs would be higher in subsequent decades. To put this figure into some perspective, the annual cost of the tax cuts would equal the cost of 10 government agency budgets combined: agriculture, labor, education, veterans affairs, transportation, HUD, justice, state, interior, EPA, and energy, when the tax cuts are fully in effect. The size of the Social Security shortfall, emphasized by the President, “pales” when compared with the cost of making the tax cuts permanent. “Just the cost of the tax cuts for the top one percent of households … is nearly as large as the entire Social Security deficit.” Go to http:// www.cbpp.org/2-6-06tax.htm “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes 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.... Vendors must not tell customers 1. Streetvibes will be distributed earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (75 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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. Slumlord Survival (Real Change News, USA) by Cydney Gillis So much for holding bad landlords accountable: If Zane and Renee Morris can’t get any help under the state’s one-year-old antislumlord law, there’s a good chance no one else can, either. After six years of living in a duplex in the town of Spokane Valley, Zane, his wife Renee and their three children were being evicted Jan. 31. It’s not what they did, but what they asked their landlord to do: fix an ant infestation so bad that, to wash, “We have to take out the bath mat and hose out the bathtub,” Renee Morris says. Slumlord cont. next page Page 12 Streetvibes �Numbers by Cindy Sheehan The now famous black shirt with white lettering that I was wearing on January 31st to the State of the Union address originally read: 2000 Dead. How many more? That shirt was made by Veterans for Peace on the occasion of the 2000th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. That tragic number was reached on September 25th, 2005. About four months later, on the morning of January 31st, before my fellow peace activist and partner in patriotic dissent, Ann Wright, and I set out for our day’s adventures, Ann put masking tape over the zeroes in the 2000 and wrote: 242. Thus changing the number to 2242, which was the upsetting casualty total for that day. Before I set out for my fateful trip to the Capitol Building, we discovered that the number had sorrowfully risen to 2245. While Ann and I were giving the People’s State of the Union address that afternoon with Congressman John Conyers, courageous Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Katrina rights activist, Malik Rahim, three more American families were sent into a tailspin of loss, grief and despair from which they will never fully recover. The number on my shirt was changed to 2245. 2245 Dead. How many more? As of January 31st, at least 2245 North American families had paid the ultimate price for this administration’s stupid and careless policies in Iraq. Thousands upon thousands of our young men and women have been wounded, some Slumlord The ants are the end of a long trail that includes dry rot, moisture, serious mold and an electrical short in the $625-a-month, four-bedroom unit, which is paid for by Section 8 federal housing assistance. At 32, Renee has had two strokes and Zane’s work options are limited by a back injury. The Morrises believe the landlord owes them $2,000 in moving assistance under a law dubbed the Slumlord Accountability Act, which the legislature passed one year ago to help low-income tenants like the Morrises. Without the $2,000, Renee Morris says, the couple and their children, ages 15, 12 and 10, will end up homeless. But just try getting the money. Despite contacting a myriad of city and state officials, “We can’t get anyone to tell us how to enforce it,” Morris says. Whether the family is entitled to the money, says Siobhan Ring, director of the Tenants Union, a nonprofit tenant advocacy group that pushed for the anti-slumlord act, depends on the building code in the grievously, for the arrogance of empire. Innumerable Iraqis have been slaughtered for just going about their lives that day and for the heartless and supercilious policy of “fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here.” Today, in the City of Brotherly Love, I attended an awards ceremony for the Shalom Peace Center where I was given an award for being a prophetic voice. (It’s not an easy job). But, that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that one of my friends and biggest supporters brought some masking tape and a marker and many of the attendees were wearing about four inches of tape with the number 2250. That means five more angels were sent to an early grave, five more Mothers were unjustly and needlessly given a life’s sentence of pain, five more Fathers will be beginning an odyssey of mostly silent heartache: countless families ruined for our country’s preemptive foreign policy against imaginary enemies. I believe that whether one supports the wars of aggression of the malicious empire that is taking away our civil liberties as it is sending our young people off to kill and be killed, or whether one opposes preemptive murder, we should all be honoring our children who have given their lives nobly for such an ignoble cause. Numbers frighten people. The number of crosses that the Veterans for Peace put up each Sunday on some California beaches scares the living daylights out of the people who support George and his murderous policies. These people claim that the VFP are making a political statement and want the numbers to go away and not disturb them. Being confronted with numbers, faces, and reality is too much for some people. As a former math teacher, I know that many people have an unreasonable fear of numbers. The number of our war dead in Iraq is very fear inducing. I know numbers are very alarming especially when there is no logical reason for them. We know George Bush went AWOL from his dangerous ‘Nam duty in the Alabama Air National Guard. I suppose he was fighting them in Alabama so they wouldn’t have to fight them in Massachusetts. We know George Bush did not have the tiniest bit of the courage of our troops when he wouldn’t meet me face to face on his adoptive turf of Crawford, Texas. Now the world knows that he doesn’t even have the fortitude to face a t-shirt. As humans, we all know that it is very hard to face one’s mistakes, especially when undeserving people have paid a horrible toll for that foolishness. But what am I talking about? From failures in his business life to compound, harmful and inexcusable failures in his public life, George Bush has never even admitted a mistake, let alone faced one. Well, it’s time George faced this mistake and is somehow made to feel intense shame for the biggest mistake of his miserable mistake filled life. I call on people that are for peace and justice to wear the number on their chests every day…near their hearts. To honor our dead, but to also confront the ones who are waging this war, and supporting the wagers of death, but who won’t risk their own flesh and blood for the crimes against humanity that are perpetrated on a daily basis. I implore everyone in the U.S. to remember that each number in the grisly count represents a living, breathing, wonderful, loving and indispensable member of a family, community, and our nation. They are not just numbers. They were human beings before they were exploited for oil and greed. Wear the number for our dead. Wear the number for their families. Wear the number for our wounded. Wear the number for our children still in harm’s way whose confusion about the mission is growing and who only want to come home. Wear the number for people who will be in the way of the future wars of aggression that the war criminals in DC are already planning. Wear it for the people of Iraq who only want us to go away. Wear the number for peace. To find the number each day go to: www.iCasualties.org Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Specialist. Casey Austin Sheehan who was killed in Iraq on April 04, 2004; Founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace (www.GSFP.org) and author of Not One More Mother’s Child. Cindy is also the very proud mother of Carly, Andy, and Janey Sheehan who hold down the fort in Vacaville, California. given jurisdiction and how the inspectors there interpret it. On Dec. 29, after a month of asking the unit’s new property manager, Moland Management, to fix the problems, the family filed a building code complaint and contacted the local Section 8 administrator, the Spokane Housing Authority. A city inspector came out and issued the property manager a notice to fix the ant problem in five days. Moland responded by calling in an exterminator, who wrote a report stating no pest control could be done until the floor and walls were replaced. The same day they filed the complaint, the Morrises found an eviction notice posted on their door. Outside of Seattle, a landlord doesn’t need any cause for eviction, so the notice might have been legal — except that state law prohibits retaliatory eviction and, as it happens, Section 8 rentals do require a just cause. On Jan. 6, Morris says, Moland sidestepped the law simply by giving the family a new eviction notice citing “economic reasons”: The Morrises have to vacate so that Moland can replace the bathroom floor and walls as ordered by the exterminator. Siobhan Ring says it’s a common switch for a landlord to make. “It is illegal for a landlord to terminate tenancy in retaliation for a tenant asserting her rights,” Ring says. “But the landlord can come up with a non-retaliatory reason like ‘Oh, I need to do all this work.’” In order for the Morrises to qualify for the moving assistance — which the anti-slumlord act sets at $2,000 or three times the monthly rent, whichever is greater — Ring says a code inspector from the city of Spokane Valley would have had to declare the unit uninhabitable. But, under Spokane Valley code, “The infestation did not rise to a level that it would require that declaration,” says city spokesperson Carolbelle Branch. According to Branch, the city had no jurisdiction to order the landlord to pay the moving assistance. Since then, the Morrises have contacted the Northwest Justice Project in hopes of suing Moland Management, which represents landlord R. Ryan Properties. They’ve also been frantic in looking for help to move. The state turned them down for $1,500 in emergency cash known as a “diversion grant,” but a private nonprofit called the Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs (SNAP) has offered to put the family up in a motel for 30 days. Bob Peeler, the Morrises’ counselor at SNAP, says he sits on a local homeless commission that includes 45 agencies but had never heard of the anti-slumlord law. That’s a problem the family has run into over and over. With eviction day just around the corner, Renee Morris said her children are stressed out and having trouble sleeping. Her grandmother just paid for a storage unit for the family’s belongings, but Morris says she’s worried five people, two dogs, and a cat aren’t going to fit in one motel room. “How are we going to manage to live like that for 30 days?” Morris asks. “Granted, we won’t be living on the street, but it’s all because these rich people can’t divvy up a couple thousand to help us get out of this dump.” Streetvibes Page 13 �Real Man The Homeless Man by Angela C. A homeless man Scavenges In trash barrels And envies People who look down on him With scorn As they hurry home To their evening meals. He crouches In a rat infested corner, Content to be with creatures That don’t cringe At the sight of him. Angel by Erin C. Although I was young I remember. . . Memories shared, Games played, Times spent talking, All in the distant past now That you are gone away, Watching from above, Loving, caring, An angel in the heavens My grandpa Faith by Tiffanie Schaffer Life is a struggle and even a fight. Sometimes you feel hopeless. You may find yourself shelterless. But remember, you are never homeless. Home is where the heart is. Keep the faith. by Tina Bapp It’s a grey night, clouds roll in. It’s cold. Yet in your home, you are safe. You fail to notice the storm. You fail to feel the frigid night air. You fail to notice. You’re all to consumed with your warm life. Your work. Your Family. Your Home. You fail to notice. On this grey night, the family hovering, in the tiny damp corner, the baby wet, the mother coughing, the father distraught. Unemployment hit. welfare reform hit. The cold hits hardest. On this grey night, are you going to notice? Day of Silence by Dan T. Dedicated to Sgt. Andrew K. Farrar killed in Iraq on his 31st birthday. A line of black marches on hallowed ground. The pipes call out to him Though he cannot hear. The pipes play a tune he holds dear. A tune all can hear. We lost a brother on that day. We honored him as the pipes did play. His boys close, so young, so cute. All silent for the twenty-one gun salute. by Ron O’Neal It’s hard to be a real man Most of us can, but some of us can’t Some of us take the word ‘man’ so lightly But why do we hold on to our freedom so tightly A real man has to make so many hard choices No matter what someone else says, or how loud their voices It’s hard to understand why they stay on top They must have the strength of a rock They live life, one day at a time It’s a wonder they don’t loose their minds They have to make choices, right or wrong No matter what, they remain strong They’re always there for family and fiends They’ll never give up, even if the world comes to an end I only wish to live my life like a real man And I know with God’s grace and mercy, I can How would you like to be a real man? Not just me, anyone can I Will Never Be Homeless I will never be homeless, It won’t happen to me. I will never be homeless, I’m doing so well, don’t you see? I have a good job, a nice house and a car, I have everything I need to go far. I am not like those Welfare bums, To whom prosperity never comes. You know, the ones who don’t want to work, Any kind of physical labor, they shirk. All they want to do is drink, Some are not clean, and they stink. Then, I see a man, lying in the street, A tattered coat around him and no shoes on his feet. But, I sense that something is wrong, That somehow, this man does not belong. So, I decide to stop to say hello, And ask him why he fell so low. He once worked on a street called Bay, Making good money every day. Then, one day his job was gone. He was told, “just go on home.” He soon just didn’t care, His purpose in life no longer there. He lost his family, his home, and his car. In just a few months, he fell so far. So here he was, on the street, With a tattered coat around him and no shoes on his feet. Then I saw the lines on his face and the pain in his eyes, I will never be homeless, will I? Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to He lies just six feet away. I swell up with tears. For this is the thing I did fear. The pipes played loud and proud on that silent day. If only you had been there as the pipes did play. Streetvibes@juno.com Page 14 Streetvibes �Our Greatest Fear The Weighted Hour by Nelson Mandela (From 1994 Inaugural Speech) 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 and fabulous? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened 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’s not just in some of us; it’s 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. by Michael Henson There is an hour when the world is too weighted for us to bear. When the minutes press on us like the stones of Salem. An hour when the slant light falls to ash. When the red-eyed liar gnaws at the ear. When there is no end to the drone of engines. And there is no end to the sad parades. And hour when anger clots the lungs. When there seems to be no hope. Then I look to the lonely crow. There, in his cold rooms high above the red tips of the maples above the strung powerlines above the cell phone towers. He is a black ship in a vast bottle. He works his wings in short bursts against the wind, then coasts for a time, works in a burst, then coasts again. Then I want to think myself the crow, eagling across a broken heartland. Far below me, the asphalt ribbons and the bulldozer scars. Far below me, the suburban checkerboard, Far below me, the gash of abandoned factories. Far below me, the rivers that choke with the runoff of the poisoned farms. Far below me, the small men who walk green fields hitting small white balls. Far below me, strip malls and theme parks. Far below me, the broad separate roofs of the houses on streets that meander like the tunnels of the mole. Far below me, the close-packed roofs of the projects. And I am sad, for I see nothing that looks like home. The horizon is wide and far off. At the line where the sun sets, I see the gray fences and the leaning stalks of corn. The light leans to the earth’s back door. I search the dusk for my brothers and my sisters. I call them in a voice of husks and gravel. What the World Is Made Of by Brittany Owens What the world is made of, children Playing in dirty streets. What the world is made of, Trash Left by passing individuals. What the world is made of, single Mothers struggling to give her child The simple things in life. What the world is made of, homeless Begging on the corners. What the world is made of, more polluted Air outdoors than an indoor cramped space. What the world is made of, dreams, Hopes, and wishes crushed in a single moment. What the world is made of, people wishing This was not what the world is made of. Berta’s Art Corner The Clock by Kevin G. The Clock Ticks, Counting out bits of time. Monotonous and never ceasing, making minutes seem eternities or a day of fun only a minute long. It is our master, we its slaves. From its place on the wall the clock rules our modern world, counting the seconds toward eternity. Dancing in the snow - Sculture at Clifton and Ludlow Avenues (Burnet Woods) Streetvibes Page 15 �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 381--0111 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 363-1060 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 March 2006 10 Years in Publication! Peace, Unity, Freedom and Community Art in Over-the-Rhine Cover Story 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 2006 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 2006 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Peace, Unity, Freedom and Community Art in Over-the-Rhine Pg 2: Inquiry into Government Spying on Nonprofits Expands Recognize Attacks Against the Homeless as Hate Crimes Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: I Dream of Singing with the Kids Pg 5: Roll Up Your Sleeves, America! Pg 6: Thanks Susan Pg 7: Citizens X Pg 8: Street Paper Vendors in Russia Inspire Modern Classical Music Piece Pg 9: Low-Income Children Are at Health, Developmental, and Educational Disadvantage, U.S. Chartbook Says Pg 11: A New Form of Kidnapping State of Union Address Foreshadows Fiscal 2007 Budget Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Numbers Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 2006 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Chris Dourson John Lavelle Melvin Williams Susan Smith Berta Lambert Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF 2007 Budget Alison Leeuw Art Berta Lambert Chris Dourson Drop Inn Center education Georgine Getty Hate Crimes Health Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr Kidnapping Low-Income Melvin Williams Monique Little Nonprofits Over-the-Rhine Russia South Africa State of Union Address Susan Smith Tax Cuts https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/7f6af13bce6ed9354608be86466fb8ab.pdf 1d031016c3ead567a4ebc7e387da96a9 PDF Text Text April 2006 STREETVIBES CityLink offers opportunities for people who want real life “CityLink will change connect people to Just like any other city in the U.S., Cincinnati has its own poverty issue. Cincinnati is ranked 16th, ahead of Los Angeles and New York, for percentage of residents living in poverty. One-fifth of Cincinnati residents live in poverty. One-third of Cincinnati’s children live in poverty; simple statements describing a complex problem. Enter CityLink Center, a new proposal to join the fight against poverty in Cincinnati. CityLink is made up of four experienced service providers, dozens of visiting service providers, and hundreds of volunteers who are working together to provide health and wellness recreation, life skills and employment and education services. The four permanent service providers—City Gospel Mission, Jobs Plus, the Lord’s Gym and Crossroad Health Center— believe that they can have greater impact by working together under one roof and coordinating services, rather than providing services independently in their current Over-theRhine locations. concrete, lifechanging programs and a support network,” says Mark Stecher, Director of CityLink. “It is a place for people to learn how to get a different and better life.” “In our experience with CityCURE and City Gospel Mission, we found two key things: first there are many people who are hoping that a better life is just around the corner, and second, there are hundreds of organizations, donors and volunteers scattered across the city who want to help, but just don’t know how,” says Roger Howell, President of CityCURE. “This center provides a place where these News From the Drop Inn Center First Day of Spring?: Unfortunately, we are dealing with what will hopefully be the last blast of winter. One night recently there were 249 people who stayed with us. Let’s hope warmer weather is on the way. New Mats for the Men: A Grant from the Helen Steiner Rice Foundation for new mats for the Men’s Dorm as well as bus tokens for Advocates to use for the next year. Thank you to the Helen Steiner Rice Foundation as well as the staff of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation for making this possible. Funk for the Whole Family: Please mark your calendar for Friday, April 28 from 7-10 PM at the Starlite Ballroom. Be there for a Benefit Concert for the Drop Inn Center featuring the Clark Montessori Steel Band. For a mere $15 you can enjoy co-hosts Bootsy Collins and Tracy Wilson, “Name That Jam” Emcee Tori Turner from MOJO 94.9 and much more! For more information or for tickets visit www.hoxworth.org/ clark (as of now, still under construction) or call 363-7184. Drop Inn Center 5K Run and Walk: This year’s run and walk is themed “A Celebration of Life and Hope” and will be held on Sunday, April 30th at Spring Grove Cemetery. The run starts at 8:30. You can register online by following the link at www.dropinn.org. We will be mailing fliers soon to past participants. If you want to be sure to get a registration form, send an e-mail to amerritt@dropinn.org. Congratulations to Staff Worker Arthur Gerald!: Arthur was the winner of the Entree Competition at Guys, Griddles and Grub— a fundraiser for Community Shares. He prepared people can be linked together to help each other.” The vision is to create a place for people who want to work towards real life change. “You have to want real life change,” says Keenan Robbison, who went through multiple agencies to get on his feet. “CityLink is necessary for this change.” CityLink brings together experienced service providers to offer employment and education, health/wellness, life skills and recreation services under one roof. CityLink also provides the infrastructure to mobilize volunteers and connect individuals to meaningful ways to utilize their skills. Volunteers can offer discussions, greet clients, help with ongoing research to develop best practices or just be a friend. “I grew up in the West End, and my family had to travel to every social service in the city just to meet our basic needs,” says Aaron Jones, who is now a successful mortgage/life insurance broker in Cincinnati. “CityLink will make it easier for families to get help. It will be an asset to the community and force people to acknowledge the West End.” Not only will CityLink make it easier for people to coordinate true, life-changing services, it will also provide them a strong support network of caring friends that will last for a life time. CityLink desires that all people coming to the center will find a friend who will partner with them and support them in meeting their goals. pork crown roast, stuffed with his special dressing. Truly one of a kind! 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 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Chris Dourson - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Jimmy Heath, Berta Lambert Cover Proposed site of CityLink Center in the West End 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Homeless Empowerment Project by: Mike O’Neill from the National Coalition for the Homeless We are grateful for the Catholic Campaign For Human Development, Archdiocese of Washington which gave the National Coalition for the Homeless a grant to assist us with our Homeless Empowerment Project mission of empowering those who have or are experiencing homelessness through trainings and skill-building workshops on various issues surrounding homelessness and poverty. The first workshop, “Know Your Legal Rights on the Streets of DC” was led by Tulin Ozdeger, Civil Rights Attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Twenty-five homeless and formerly homeless individuals attended this workshop. At this workshop Ms. Ozdeger discussed the D.C. antipanhandling, anti-sleeping and other ordinances targeting the homeless population. Street rights cards were given to each of those attending the workshop-the street rights cars talk about how “vagrancy” or loitering is not a crime-one can’t be stopped or arrested by the police for simply being on the street, a sidewalk or in a public park and police do not have the right to tell you to move from a particular area if you are doing nothing illegal. You also have a right to panhandle in D.C. as long as you are not within 10 feet of an ATM or 15 feet of Metro property and as long as you aren’t aggressively panhandling.” The second workshop had 10 participants and was led by Michael Stoops, Acting Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless and Tulin Ozdeger, Civil Rights Attorney, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. The workshop was titled, “Criminalization of Homelessness” and was aimed at discussing the various laws that target the homeless population not only in the District of Columbia, but across the country. NCH and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty surveyed 224 cities across the country and ranked the “Twenty Meanest Cities” based solely on the laws targeting the homeless such as curfew laws, restrictions on feedings, sweeps and raids of homeless encampments, anti-sleeping and antipanhandling laws. The various laws were discussed, as well as verdicts that have been reached in various court cases on these issues. The most recent workshop was led by Richard Troxell, National Chairman, Universal Living Wage and Board Member of the National Coalition for the Homeless. Nine participants attended Mr. Troxell’s workshop where they learned about the Living Wage formula and how if put into effect, it could end homelessness for over 1 million homeless citizens and prevents economic hardship for all 11.8 million minimum wage workers. The goal of the Universal Living wage campaign is to fix the Federal Minimum wage so that someone working forty hours a week can afford a place to live in their community. Statistics were given on the average amount one would need to make to afford a one bedroom apartment in the United States. The goal of these workshops and the Homeless Empowerment project is to provide the opportunity for people who have or are experiencing homelessness to use their voices and faces to dispel stereotypes, personalize homelessness and inspire involvement through volunteerism and advocacy. The project also aims to serve as a training, skill-building and empowerment tool for those who have experienced homelessness. The Homeless Empowerment Project works in conjunctions with the Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau which recruits currently and formerly homeless individuals to share their personal stories dealing with homelessness to groups throughout the country. Please check our website at www.nationalhomeless.org for more information on the Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau and the Homeless Empowerment Project. Information on future workshops and activities, as well as pictures and recaps from our events will be posted on our website. Stay tuned for information on Hill lobbying visits and other projects. Group’s goal: Housing for all homeless in 10 On any given day, there are years an estimated 792 homeless people in states largely on their own to deal Muskegon County by 2016. Grand Rapids, Michigan It’s an ambitious goal, but officials involved in the effort said they will pull it off by changing the way social service agencies assist the chronically homeless. A coalition of social service agencies plans to attack the problem by getting homeless individuals and families into permanent housing much faster than in the past. Under the current system, the chronically homeless are shuttled between emergency shelters and transitional housing for two to three years before they are placed in permanent housing. “We can’t afford to have solutions that take three years to provide (housing) stability,” said Jane Johnson, director of the state Department of Human Services office in Muskegon. “We’ll house people first and then help them solve their other problems.” Muskegon’s effort is similar to an initiative started last year by the city of Grand Rapids and Kent County. Officials there also hope to end homelessness in 10 years. Muskegon — 394 of them children, according to government data. Of those 792 individuals, 126 are chronically homeless, which means they are living on the streets, in shelters or regularly moving from one temporary residence to another. Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell spoke to a group of about 60 social service providers Tuesday to kick off Muskegon’s effort to end homelessness by 2016. “We got into this problem of homelessness relatively quickly and we can solve the problem quickly if there is a community will to do it,” Heartwell said. The number of homeless families in America soared in the early 1980s, Heartwell said, when former President Ronald Reagan’s administration “eviscerated” funding for the department of Housing and Urban Development. Funding for HUD, the primary source of assistance for the homeless, has been reduced by every presidential administration since Reagan, Heartwell said. Federal budget cuts for subsidized housing have left cities and Streetvibes with the homeless, Heartwell said. Bolstering the safety net for the homeless will require support of local, county and state agencies, as well as faith-based organizations and philanthropists, he said. Johnson said homeless individuals often need help dealing with other issues, such as substance abuse and mental illness, before they can hold a job and pay for housing. Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath In Boston last month a homeless man sleeping in a park was attacked by two men who kicked him in the stomach and then set him on fire, police said. No arrests were made and police gave no indication of what might have provoked the attack. The 30-year-old homeless man, whose name was not released, told police he was awakened by the men kicking him in Langone Park in the city’s North End. He drifted back to sleep after the assault, but the men returned, drenched him with a flammable liquid and set his legs on fire, police said. A 911 caller reported flames in the park, and firefighters found the man wrapped in a blanket after he had ripped off some of his burning clothes. “He was shivering and was partially dressed,” said police spokesman John Boyle. The park is a short walk from a cluster of downtown bars. The victim was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for burns to his legs. Nationally, the number of assaults against the homeless has risen dramatically since 2002, according to a recent report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. In 2005, 73 homeless people were assaulted nationwide and 13 died, the report said. Last August, a 40-year-old homeless man died in Boston after he was beaten. Two teenagers have been charged with manslaughter. In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a surveillance camera captured two people beating a homeless man to death with baseball bats, the same night two other men were seriously injured. Three teenagers have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder. In Cleveland homeless men and women snooze in the early morning hours inside Hopkins International Airport, the occasional boarding call the only disturbance to their peaceful slumber. They’ve been coming here and to airports in Chicago, New York and other cities for years, seeking quiet, warmth and safety, while blending in with weary travelers. “It’s relaxed and they don’t really bother you here,” said James Miller, who recently became homeless after losing a restaurant job. “It’s kind of comfortable.” Cleveland airport officials have tolerated the presence of the roughly 20 people who sleep on cushioned seats in the ticketing and baggage claim areas on any given winter night. But now they’re joining other airports around the country in looking for ways to help relocate homeless people because of concerns about security. Although the homeless haven’t caused problems, Fred Szabo, the airport’s commissioner, said that because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, airport officials need to make sure that anyone at the airport has a legitimate reason to be there. Cleveland Hopkins has joined LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in inviting outreach workers to the airport to help the homeless with the goal of relocating them. “We’re not looking to arrest anybody,” Szabo said. More than 50 area agencies participated in a 24­ hour count earlier this year of homeless people in St. Joseph County, South Bend Now the numbers have been added up: The count found 560 people living in shelters and 93 homeless people who weren’t living in a shelter. That’s similar to last year’s count, where there were 523 in shelters and 100 out of shelters, said the project’s coordinator, Beth Morlock, who directs residential programs at Hope Rescue Mission in South Bend. It isn’t an exhaustive count. Folks may have been at work, at a friend’s house or somewhere away from the counters. But this “snapshot” proves to federal officials that — in general — the community still needs money for homeless services, said Marzy Bauer, who coordinates a local committee of services that sets goals and plans to meet those needs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the annual count of each community that receives money for homeless services. Homeless people were found in about a dozen shelters. And those living outside of shelters were interviewed at AIDS Ministries/AIDS Assist, St. Augustine’s church soup kitchen, Broadway Christian Parish, St. Margaret’s House, Hope Rescue Mission, First United Methodist Church soup kitchen and the Center for the Homeless. In British Columbia a vacant home that may have been occupied by squatters has been destroyed by fire. Fire crews were called to the western portion of Abbotsford last month, and arrived in the 27700-block of Fraser Highway to find a house fully involved with fire, said Capt. Steve Oldroyd. With the help of Langley Township fire crews, Abbotsford firefighters established a water supply from the hydrant and worked to put out the fire. “The house appeared to have been occupied by squatters but was vacant at the time of the fire,” said Oldroyd. As there was no power or natural gas connected to the house, investigators are considering the cause of the fire suspicious. The incident remains under investigation. In Eureka, Calif. two teenage boys were charged as adults last month in the murder of a 38-year-old homeless man near Humboldt Bay. Fifteen-year-old Keyontae Lamar Taylor and 16-year-old Joaquin Fitzgerald appeared before a Humboldt County Superior Court judge, but their arraignment was postponed. Both were arrested this week in the death of Tracy Daniel Reynolds. Authorities say Taylor and Fitzgerald encountered Reynolds along the railroad tracks and the three drank some beer together before the teens left. They allegedly returned a short time later to rob Reynolds. The victim was shot once in the leg and once in the chest. In Newark N.J. a homeless man with a history of suing government agencies has dropped a federal lawsuit against the city of Summit. Richard Kreimer, 55, had alleged he was wrongly ejected from train stations, and he sued the city, NJ Transit and others. He signed court papers on Feb. 10 to drop the suit, and it was dismissed in court last month. Kreimer did not list a reason for dropping the lawsuit. Last month, Kreimer settled another lawsuit against a bus company that he said barred him and other homeless people from Streetvibes riding. Kreimer said he was prohibited by the settlement from revealing its terms. Summit Police Chief Robert Lucid said city officials felt his case against Summit had no merit. “The city feels relieved that the issue has been resolved,” he said. “We feel completely vindicated. We never did anything to violate Mr. Kreimer’s rights or any homeless person.” Kreimer, who uses a post office box in Morristown, could not immediately be reached for comment. He received $230,000 in 1991 when he sued Morristown and the Morris Township Public Library for ejecting him because of his body odor and a habit of staring at patrons. He spent that money. In New Delhi, India while President George W. Bush was busy with his official engagements in the Indian capital, First Lady Laura Bush visited homeless children at a juvenile center. Laura visited the Prayas Juvenile Aid Centre, a charity run by a nongovernmental organization for homeless and trafficked children, and interacted with the children at a round table conference. She later enjoyed a Rajasthani folk dance performance by the children. Dressed in an ash-grey suit, Laura accompanied by Jennie Mulford, wife of US ambassador to India David Mulford, took stock of the alternative educational centers run by the center located in Tughlaqabad, south Delhi. “The First Lady interacted with the children without the help of a translator and was impressed by their courage to take life positively,” said Rajib Haldar, executive director of the NGO. Haldar said Laura interacted with five children about children’s problems and patted them for studying despite facing several obstacles. The children had queries on whether there is any gender bias in the US and do all children get equal education. They also asked about women’s empowerment in the US and the situation on the education of the girl child there. In reply, Laura said the women’s workforce in her country was more than that of men but admitted that trafficking of children was still prevalent. Laura was given a glimpse of a village council which the NGO presented through puppets under a tree. The First Lady asked the children to write to her regularly, and promised to reply. Page 3 �Remembering Cincinnati’s 2001 Civil Unrest Did Cincinnati’s Civil Unrest Change City Politics? story and photos by Jimmy Heath . 19 year-old Timothy Thomas was wanted on misdemeanor arrest warrants and running from police in Over-theRhine on Saturday, April 7th, 2001 when he was shot by a Cincinnati policeman. Police Officer Stephen Roach, who had never fired his weapon on duty, shot and killed Thomas in a dead-end alley off Republic Street. Thomas appeared to be reaching for his waistband during a confrontation with the policeman in the alley, according to early police reports. Timothy Thomas was the fourth black man killed by Cincinnati police since November of 2000, and the fifteenth such victim since 1995. Thomas was the father of a three-month-old son. This month is the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Thomas. His death fueled nearly a week of civil unrest and rioting in urban Cincinnati, the effects of which can still be felt in urban neighborhoods, especially Over­ the-Rhine. Violence erupted on Monday, April 9th, 2001 following a police news conference about the Thomas shooting. Angry residents crowded Cincinnati City Hall, targeting their rage against then Mayor Luken, City Council members, and police representatives. The protesters filled the council chambers, some standing on tables and chairs screaming at city leaders, almost preventing them from leaving during the three hour confrontation. Thomas’s mother, Angela Leisure, took the podium at one point and demanded an explanation for the shooting of her son. “You took him from his family and his son and we want to know why. And don’t get me wrong, even when you tell me why, it’s not going to make it better.” The lack of answers fueled additional anger and frustration in the assembled crowd and the waiting community. That evening, (Monday night) after a makeshift march from the confrontation at City Hall, hundreds of angry protesters assembled outside police headquarters in downtown Cincinnati. 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 Page 4 police headquarters. Ten arrests were reported. The rioting became more serious Tuesday afternoon and evening as crowds took to the streets again. Clothing shops, restaurants and convenience stores were broken 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 End and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods ­ some of the poorest communities in the city. Cincinnati NAACP President Norma Holt Davis said the fatal shooting of Thomas by a Cincinnati police officer lead her to only one conclusion. “It appears the police force has declared war on African-Americans,” she said. “Fifteen black males have died at the hands of Cincinnati police in the past six years. Before the healing process can ever finish, the wound reopens,” said Rev. Damon Lynch III, pastor of Over­ the-Rhine’s New Prospect Baptist Church, referring to the shooting death of Thomas. Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, who denounced participants as “law­ breaking thugs who should be prosecuted vigorously,” announced he was indicting 63 people arrested on felony charges, ranging from aggravated rioting, breaking and entering, weapons possession, inducing panic and other misdemeanor offenses, such as resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. All of these events led the evening news programs – the violence, the fear, the images of rampaging “thugs” and burning dumpsters. The media continued to descend on the scene to record the mayhem throughout the week - eventually the whole world knew what was going on in Cincinnati. Local and nationally recognized civil rights activists came to Over-theRhine calling for peaceful discussions and an end to violence on the streets. It made for good TV and painful politics. The death of Thomas was the shot heard around the world, with Cincinnati suddenly thrown into the international spotlight. His death was a rallying point for national discussions on police violence, poverty and racism. When protestors 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 gleam 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 place 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, 2001. Over 1,000 people attended the Thomas’ funeral on Saturday, April 14 at New Prospect Baptist Church in Over­ the-Rhine. More than a funeral, it was a media and political showand-tell event. Mayor Luken was there and so was the Bob Taft, the Governor of Ohio, along with other political bigwigs and throngs of reporters. Streetvibes Following the funeral 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. Conspicuously 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-corner­ gangsters. Many of the thugs and looters, who were “vigorously” prosecuted five years ago have long-since been released from jail 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 five years, continue to struggle with the stigma of the event with many fearful money-spending white suburbanites staying away from the downtown area in droves. Many businesses in Over-the-Rhine left the neighborhood, never to return. In a recent TV news show it was reported that some businesses lost up to 90% of their sales after the unrest. Patrons of the Main Street �Entertainment District still feel fearful of the neighborhood and many have never returned. People frequently ask me if things in Over­ the-Rhine have returned to normal. Sadly, things have slowly returned to the same as before - if “normal” is a war zone, a crime zone, and a drug-filled zone. The most obvious thing is the slow and agonizing lack of progress in community and police relations. Although the police have adopted less lethal methods for subduing suspects (they are now armed with the recently approved Taser stun guns), and we now have an African-American mayor, the sense of isolation and lack of communication dominates the relationship between the police and the urban community. The police division’s leadership continues to be criticized as unresponsive and uncaring. It is simplistic to dismiss the deaths of black people at the hands of police as unfortunate and unavoidable aspects of police work. Since the unrest, the deaths of black men at the hands of the police have dropped dramatically but the police must come to understand the frustrations and fears that these incidents continue to engender in the communities 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. Many of these families have packed-up and left the neighborhood long ago. Maybe that’s the plan. To rid the downtown area of the “less-desirable” poor. We 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 white Cincinnati. Even in the face of overwhelming historical precedent, American denial about the role that race or racism plays Unrest cont. on page 8 OHIO EMPOWERMENT COALITION MAY MOBILIZATION DAY Thursday, May 11, 2006 Trinity Episcopal Church 125 E. Broad Street, Columbus Ohio (across from Statehouse) 10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. OEC’s Annual Mobilization Day brings together low-income people and advocates from around the state to mobilize to impact Ohio’s policies that directly affect our lives. The Mobilization Day focuses on our Safe and Stable Families Campaign: Win Back Health Care This year we are raring to go to win back health care programs that are essential to keeping our Families (both single adults without children and parents with children) Safe and Stable! We refuse to be silent when we are being terminated out of essential lifesaving health care programs. Health Care is essential to be Safe and Stable! Win Increase in Minimum Wage We will also raise the banner cry for a raise in the minimum wage in Ohio. No one who is working should be forced to live in poverty on poverty wages. A livable wage is essential for Ohio Families to be Safe (from bankruptcy & homelessness) and Stable. Win Protections for Domestic Violence Victims Thirdly we continue to raise the cry for those who are crying and so far Ohio’s Legislators turn a deaf ear! It should be a no-brainer for the Ohio Assembly to adopt domestic violence protections in the “Family Violence Option” so all domestic violence victims in Ohio are humanely treated. Why is Ohio one of ONLY 3 states that has not adopted this? We won’t be quiet until we get it so that more Ohio Families can be Safe and Stable! If you care about these issues join us May 11th in Columbus. Fill out registration form on back so we will know how many lunches are needed. Also if you have special needs or need child care. For more information call Ohio Empowerment Coalition at 877-862-5179. Streetvibes Page 5 �Spring is Near! new hope will enter into your life of by Ms. Mary Gaffney employment and a place to call home. Hello there, my Streetvibes And to the monthly friends. purchasers of Welcome to Streetvibes, my the first month of heartfelt thanks. Each spring. I do hope purchase of a dollar that the flowers and paper helps to trees soon begin to maintain things that bloom, bringing with are needed – food, the smell of new life clothing and shelter. to the New Year. Without you, some Miss Mary Gaffney And to my vendor’s lives would homeless friends, as be very bleak and the opening days of spring appear, stormy. I know personally, they could Dear Editor: In the article appearing in the Post on Wed. March 8th, “Panel OKs Minimum Wage Hike”, Rep. Flowers (Rep) from Columbus who voted for the increase is quoted as saying raising the minimum wage is “the right thing to do.” I agree with the Representative. However raising Ohio’s minimum wage to merely $5.15, as the Ohio General Assembly recently did, is a slap in the face of low wage workers. The wage of $5.15, set by the Federal government nine years ago in 1997, is woefully low! At $5.15 a full time worker who works every week of the year Peace Village by Dr. Steve Sunderland The Peace or Hunger Conference is coming together as the planning team, the UC Peace Village student organization, the UC Just Community and the University of Cincinnati’s Facilities and Campus Scheduling staff all have added their very valuable pieces. We are doing a conference for the first time in the city’s history, really, in the region’s history. Students, high school and college, can come together to reduce hunger in our community by direct action and service provided by teams of schools and colleges. We meet to deepen our knowledge of just what is needed and what is possible. We meet to offer spiritual support and food to those in our community who are in greatest need. We will meet and conference on 4/29-30/2006 at the University of Cincinnati’s Campus Green. This is a large and flat green space that we will be able to seal off with tape, bike barriers, and other ways that secure our space. It is a very large space, with room for lots of cardboard “houses,” and room for groups to meet and discuss local, regional and national issues of hunger, and room for other activities that heighten our understanding of hunger. Ms. Kathleen Armontrout, UC Administrative Support Page 6 not make it. That is why I give thanks each month for your generosity to my friends. Until next month, enjoy the first days of spring and remember, it doesn’t take much to give a smile to help a person through their day. Until next time, also remember to be kind to your fellow man, for this person could some day return and lend you a helping hand. Enjoy the sunny days to come. will make a paltry $10,712. Poverty level for a family of three is $16,600. As an organizer for Let Justice Roll Ohio, I have heard countless stories of low-wage workers who are playing by the rules, but don’t get paid enough to afford rent, utilities, rising prices at the pump, daycare. I’ve talked with homeless families working for full-time for $5.25/hour and can’t afford housing. Ohio needs to truly support its workers. Most Ohioans agree. We believe a good first step is to raise Ohio’s wage through a ballot initiative that raises the minimum wage in Ohio to $6.85/hour and indexed to inflation. Yes, Rep. Flowers, it is “the right thing to do,” but it is also the moral thing to do. Katy Heins No Honor in Bush’s War With the 2004 election farce behind us and spewing out the kind of politics the Republican party has come to known for, I was initially surprised at the level of my anger at Bush’s contest over who is the better Vietnam veteran, Bush or anti-war veterans of previous wars. To understand the “veteran” question in 2006, it is important to understand what is at stake with the Republican party’s attempts to define themselves as loyal veterans. Bush served in the military during the Vietnam War and, he opposed the war with his National Guard stint. Through involvement of thousands of veterans against the war, with actions like the Winter-Soldier Specialist for Campus Scheduling, informs me that we will be very secure with 6-8 campus police. Karen will be checking with campus security for special bracelets for every participant that will permit each person to enter into our conference. We hope to be able to issue each team a bracelet either before or when you arrive at the conference. We would expect people to arrive at UC’s Campus Green with their boxes/ houses and set them up between 8­ 10am on 4/ 29/06. We are hoping that the Clark Montessori High School Steve Sunderland Steel Band will open our conference with their great music. We will have a morning of orientation, meeting new people, introductions and welcome by officials of the conference, the city and the university. We thought it would be great if everyone brought a small lunch, peanut butter and jelly, or whatever, to eat at the end of the morning. We will leave for Over-the-Rhine service activities via either cars and/or city busses. The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is placing teams at various agencies. The service events take place between 1-5pm. Then we return to UC’s Campus Green for an “Empty Bowls” dinner, discussion about our service activities in regard to what we learned, and then we will have an evening of discussing many of the issues connected to hunger in our city and world. Our seminars will end around 11. We will then enter our “Shantytown Houses” for an evening of rest. We have a breakfast in the morning and proceed to discussions about what are the key ways we can bring the “message” of reducing hunger back to our schools and colleges. We are planning to end by noon on Sunday. Some part of our closing will be the making of posters that can be used both back at schools or colleges and loaned to a “Peace and Hunger Exhibit” at Xavier University. We might want to turn our “houses” into art for the exhibit, too. Streetvibes War Crimes Tribunal, Dewey Canyon III, and throwing back of medals and ribbons on the Capital steps, the Vietnam War changed the image of what it meant to be a veteran in the US. No longer was the image of the veteran that of the flag-waving VFW. Rather it was now one of an anti-war activist veteran speaking out and acting in opposition to militarist policies and actions of the government. Simply put, to be a Vietnam veteran was to be against the Vietnam War. This understanding was a key component to our opposition to the overt and covert operations in Central and south America in the late 70’s and 80’s. Anti-war veterans were among the first to oppose the first Gulf War by Bush the Elder, calling it the immoral and illegal invasion it was. Today’s war in Afghanistan and Iraq should also be opposed. Sonny Williams Send your letters or comments to Streetvibes, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com We are asking high schools to form teams of 7 people, 6 students and a teacher and/or parent. Each team will bring a case of food for the FreeStore and pay a team conference fee of $25.00. This money will cover any related conference expenses and, if not completely used, be donated to the FreeStore FoodBank. College students are also to be pre­ registered and in teams of 7 people. Teams will travel to the service agencies on Saturday afternoon. Everyone needs to pre­ register. This is important for figuring out our community space, food needs, security needs, service agency participation, seminar formats, and written materials. Forms for pre-registration will be sent to everyone on our email list. Todd Forman of Moeller High School is developing a web page for our conference. Please go to: http://homepages.moeller.org/ pastmin/peacevillage. We will update this page as needed. Contact ­ sundersc@email.uc.edu for any questions about any of the conference. I am director of the Peace Village, professor of educational foundations and peace studies, University of Cincinnati, and co faculty advisor for the UC Peace Village. �Pontiac, Michigan to hear plan for homeless Late last year, Pontiac officials gave the cold shoulder to a $1-million state grant to provide housing for homeless people. The officials carried on a refrain heard for years in their city: They were tired of Pontiac being a dumping ground for homeless people. Since then, two deadlines for getting the grant, set by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, have come and gone. But hope is not lost, say leaders of the nonprofit group Lighthouse of Oakland County Inc. — whose headquarters and symbolic 2 1/2 -story lighthouse sit on Woodward Avenue a few blocks from Pontiac City Hall. They expect to meet today with new Mayor Clarence Phillips to show him that the grant wouldn’t create a magnet for street people. Lighthouse officials, charged with implementing the grant from the state housing authority in Lansing, are enthusiastic about a new way to use the money — an approach called supportive housing, said John Ziraldo, president and chief executive officer of the 34-year-old service agency. Supportive housing provides permanent shelter backed by intensive social assistance — from family and financial counseling to job training, mental health care and addiction treatment, Ziraldo said. The idea is working well in Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, southwest Detroit and on a small scale in scattered Oakland County communities. Those include Royal Oak, Waterford and even Pontiac, where supportive housing has been quietly implemented in cases where the city’s approval wasn’t needed, Ziraldo said last week. To Pontiac officials’ demands that the $1-million state grant be spent elsewhere, Ziraldo said the situation is one of use it or lose it: “The state is clear that this grant is intended to serve people who are homeless and in Pontiac.” The Lighthouse proposal would use the grant to lease apartments in existing buildings in Pontiac, then set up social programs to qualify homeless candidates and begin counseling them, Ziraldo said. Phillips could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the mayor said she thought Lighthouse would face obstacles in getting the city to approve the plan, although she couldn’t elaborate. Also at the meeting at City Hall, Ziraldo and Lighthouse Executive Director Joseph Heaphy plan to ask Phillips to bless another of their plans — to build or renovate about 40 apartments in the city’s Unity Park area, where Lighthouse has its headquarters just east of downtown. That plan would use city money dedicated for housing to match a low-income tax credit that Lighthouse is seeking from the state, but the match would not require that any dollars be taken from the city’s deficit-ridden general fund, Ziraldo said. “We are going to apply for this tax credit in March, and part of that process is the state asking us, ‘What kind of local support do you have?’ “ he said. Homeless Man Attacked in Boston In Boston last month police were searching for two people who attacked a homeless man as he slept in a park and set his legs on fire. The 30-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was being treated for burns at Massachusetts General Hospital, officials said. Mayor Thomas M. Menino promised that the attackers would be tracked down and arrested. “We’re going to find you,” he told reporters. “We’re going to lock you up. We’re going to hope the jury and the judge throw the book at you.” The homeless man told police he was awakened early in the morning by the men kicking him in Langone Park in the city’s North End. He drifted back to sleep but the men returned, drenched him with a flammable liquid and set his legs on fire, police said. A 911 caller reported flames in the park, and firefighters found the man wrapped in a blanket after he had ripped off some of his burning clothes. The park is a short walk from a cluster of downtown bars. Nationally, the number of assaults against the homeless has risen dramatically since 2002, according to a recent report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. In 2005, 73 homeless people were assaulted nationwide and 13 died, the report said. “It’s the perception that it’s someone insignificant that doesn’t matter,” said Emmanuel Smith, a The Provider You have people who want to rob you, other suppliers who don’t want the competition, the police who want to shut your operation down, and the uncertain hours which are mostly late night and early morning. Combined, it causes family problems. It’s not that you’re not providing for them. It’s every time they hear a gunshot, or an ambulance go by, or a telephone ring late at night or early in the morning when you’re not at home. By you being out all times of the day and night, you’re not spending enough time with them. They’re also worried about what might happen to you. Then it gets to the point you’re expendable. They would rather you go than live the way they’re living. And you wonder why. Didn’t I provide? Didn’t I take all the risk? Wasn’t I the one in constant danger? But when it all boils down and you think about it, they lived in fear thinking about what might happen to you. So this was a way to distance them away for you. Like the old saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” by Luther K. Being a provider! How do you provide for someone when you’re having a hard time providing for yourself? You know it’s your responsibility despite the circumstances that put you in that position. You try to do the right thing. You look for a job. You do the temporary services. It’s just not enough. The work isn’t steady and they make it seem like you’re making a lot of money. After taxes, lunch fee, and transportation cost, you’re basically working for them. They’re making a whole lot of profit off of you. Then someone tells you there’s a better way to make money. You listen to their pitch. It seems like a good idea at the time, so you become an independent contractor with an unlimited supply of product that’s in popular demand. You make your own hours, your own base. But there’s also a downside. What you’re doing is dangerous and illegal. counselor at the Pine Street Inn, a Boston homeless shelter. In the overwhelming number of cases, the attackers are teenagers, according to the national report. Last August, a 40-year-old homeless man died in Boston after he was beaten; two teenagers were charged with manslaughter. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a homeless man was beaten to death the same night a surveillance camera captured two people assaulting a homeless men with a baseball bat. A third homeless man was bludgeoned nearby with a golf club. Three teenagers have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder. 21 YEARS SERVING THE NEIGHBORHOOD Empowering our neighborhood chil­ dren through peace, art and education Peaslee Neighborhood Center 215 East 14th Street Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 (513) 621-5514 Streetvibes Homeless Count Completed Overnight In New York, more than 2,000 volunteers spent the night out in the freezing cold as they participated in the fourth annual homeless count. They scoured the city’s parks, streets, and subways, counting the number of homeless they saw. The annual count helps the city track its progress in getting New Yorkers off the streets. For the first time last year, all five boroughs were included in the count. “It’s a good way for the city to take account of the homeless people and I feel like I’m helping people, doing something worthwhile,” said volunteer Tom Facchiano. Volunteers also offer help to any homeless person they encounter, but it isn’t always accepted. “Like Malcolm X said, ‘If you need help from your enemy, then you’re in trouble,’” said a homeless man. “I don’t view the government as helping people. The government is part of the problem.” Results of the count are expected in about a month. Critics, however, say the count itself is inaccurate because it doesn’t include people living in cars, abandoned buildings, or other hidden places. Last year, volunteers counted 4,400 homeless people. The mayor has set a goal of reducing that number to less than 1,500 by 2009. Page 7 �Unrest cont. from page 5 in these, and similar events, remains strong. Despite repeated warnings from civil 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 separate citizens and city government. It shows just how tenuous the relations are between the police and the African-American community. And it reveals dissatisfaction in the areas of education, jobs and economic opportunity, housing and community leadership. With this crisis has come the opportunity for improvement. Cincinnati must make real changes in each of these areas if the city is to grow beyond the turmoil of that fateful week three years ago. Many Americans, particularly white Americans, are quick to deny race as the primary motive in almost any negative act against a person of color (unless the person committing the act is wearing a white sheet). Police brutality cases are just a Show your support! Get your STEETVIBES T- Shirt Today! Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 Page 8 Streetvibes symptom of the illness. Cincinnati city government continues to struggle with the ‘distasteful’ symptoms of poverty and racism, confronting the issue with window dressing, sound bites and half­ hearted attempts at reconciliation. The gap continues even after five years. In Cincinnati government, denial may be the most serious affliction. Minimum Wage Campaign Let Justice Roll Cincinnati is sponsoring a forum along with many others on the Minimum Wage campaign in Ohio. The forum will be Sunday April 23rd at 2:00 pm at the Schiff Family conference center on Xavier University campus (in the Cintas Center). The goal of the conference is to educate people on the issue, hear testimony from workers, businesses and religious leaders and gather signatures. We hope you will come out in support of this great event. Show Cincinnati and Ohio that we support the increase in Ohio’s minimum wage!! If you belong to a church or an organization who would co­ sponsor the event, please contact Betsy or Bill at ljro_interns@hotmail.com Cosponsorship responsibilities are to have your name on the flyer and press releases, circulate the information in your church or organization, a representative of your church or organization attend the event. We hope to have a long list of co-sponsors to again show the wide support of the Cincinnati Community in raising the minimum wage! �The Firecat Review Firecats Review the Oscars: Firecat Chameleon: Did we only watch it because Jon Stewart hosted it? Firecat Black: I did. Firecat Blue: I always watch it. Firecat Turquoise: I didn’t watch it. Oh! This yogurt is think and creamy. Black: She’s a robot. Also, who else was I thinking’s a robot? Bob Barker! Chameleon: She’s like 60. She’s a few months older than my dad. Blue: She could be you dad! Chameleon: You mean my mom? Blue: No. Chameleon: I don’t even know what Oh! I don’t like this. I AM picky. that means. Damn. Turquoise: Yoplait, you and me ain’t Chameleon: So what else happened, doing so well this week. besides Three 6 Mafia? Chameleon: Is it bad? Black: Dolly performed. Turquoise: No – it’s like pudding. Blue: She looked weird. It’s the consistency. It feels funny in Black: Kind of proof that Barbie my mouth. There’s something about could walk. food you don’t have to chew… Blue: I was thinking the same thing! Blue: Okay, so back to the Oscars. Turquoise: On her show she came I thought it was really funny that they out on a swing. I loved that! sat Keira Knightly next to Jack Nicholson. Black: Oh yeah! She looked terrified. Chameleon: He looked like a pederast. Turquoise: I like Jack Nicholson. Black: Don’t they usually sit with friends and families? Got The Vibe? Turquoise: Maybe they’re all dead. He’s old. Or they don’t like him. Blue: What about her? Black: She’s from England. Maybe they didn’t come over to L.A. She probably lives in L.A. Blue: She does…I don’t stalk her… Black: I only know Harry Potter and American Idol (brief fight erupts over “R.A.B.’s” identity in book 6). Turquoise: I saw American Idol. Black: Did you like any of them? Turquoise: There was one Simon says set the bar. And the white girl with bleach blonde hair sang the hell out of her song. Black: She’s the one from ass- nowhere in like Arkansas. Turquoise: I knew watching it would come in handy. Blue: Why was Lost another repeat? I watched “Little People, Big World” – so good! Turquoise: I saw a show on them! There’s twins and one’s a little person and one’s average height. Blue: So good! I LOVE TLC. 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 This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. 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 Pro­ gram. 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 Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �Six Months After Katrina: Who Was Left Behind - Then and Now by Bill Quigley Nearly six months ago, my wife Debbie and I boated out of New Orleans. We left five days after Katrina struck. Debbie worked as an oncology nurse in a New Orleans hospital. She volunteered to come in during the hurricane so that other nurses with children could evacuate. There were about 2000 people huddled in the hospital ­ patients, staff and families of staff and patients. Plate glass windows exploded in the lobby and on crosswalks and on several floors. Water poured in though broken windows, ceilings, and down the elevator shafts. Eight feet of brown floodwater surrounded us. The entire city immediately lost electricity. Soon the hospital backup generators located in the basement failed. No lights. No phones. Even the water system stopped. No drinking water. No flush toilets. You can imagine a hospital with 2000 people and no electricity, water, food, or flushing toilets. Breathing machines did not work. Cell phones did not work. Because the computers stopped working medicines were unavailable. Elevators in the 8 floor building did not work. We quickly ran out of food because the cafeteria and food were also in the flooded basement. The gains of 21st century medicine disappeared. Over 40 people died in the hospital over the next few days as we waited for help. Now imagine an entire city with no electricity, water, food or flushing toilets and tens of thousands of people left behind. Debbie and I left five days later by way of a small fishing boat, the back of a garden truck, and the kindness of strangers. We returned 15 weeks later. Many of those left behind then who evacuated with us have yet to return. The Katrina evacuation was totally self-help. If you had the resources, a car, money and a place to go, you left. Over one million people evacuated - 80 to 90% of the population. No provisions were made for those who could not evacuate themselves. To this day no one has a reliable estimate of how many people were left behind in Katrina - that in itself says quite a bit about what happened. Who was left behind in the self-help evacuation? In the hospital, we could not see who was left behind because we did not have electricity or TV. We certainly knew the 2000 of us were left behind, and from the hospital we could see others. Some were floating in the street - face down. Some were Page 10 paddling down the street - helping older folks get to high ground. Some were swimming down the streets. We could hear people left behind screaming for help from rooftops. We routinely heard gunshots as people trapped on rooftops tried to get the attention of helicopters crisscrossing the skies above. We could see the people trapped in the Salvation Army home a block away. We could hear breaking glass as people scrambled to get away from flooded one story homes and into the higher ground of several story office buildings. We saw people swimming to the local drugstore and swimming out with provisions. But we had no idea how many were actually left behind. The poor, especially those without cars, were left behind. Twenty-seven percent of the people of New Orleans did not have access to a car. Government authorities knew in advance that “.100,000 citizens of New Orleans did not have means of personal transportation.” The sick were left behind. Some government reports estimated 12,000 patients were evacuated. I estimate at least an additional 24,000 people - staff and families of patients ­ were left behind in the twenty-two hospitals which were open at the time. The elderly were left behind. The 280 plus local nursing homes remained mostly full. Only 21% evacuated and as a consequence 215 people died in nursing homes, at least six people died at a single nursing home while they waited four days for busses. The aged who lived at home also certainly found it more difficult than most to evacuate as they were more likely to live alone, less likely to own a car and nearly half were disabled. A physician reported hundreds of people in wheelchairs were in front of the Convention Center. A comprehensive study of evacuees in Houston shelters found one in seven physically disabled, 22% physically unable to evacuate, 23% stayed behind to care for someone physically disabled, and 25% had a chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure. There were no provisions made for their evacuations. Children were left behind. While there are no official estimates breaking out children left behind, I know from what we saw during our evacuation that many, many children were among those left behind. About one-fourth of the people living in the areas damaged were children, about 183,000 kids, including 47,000 children under the age of 5. Over half of the children displaced were African-American and 30% of children in the damaged areas were poor, nearly double the 2000 national census rate for child poverty of 16.6%. These children were almost twice as likely to live in a femaleheaded home than children nationally. Prisoners were left behind. Local prisons held 8300 inmates, most on local minor charges awaiting trial and too poor to post bond. Thousands were left behind with no food, water, or medical attention. Jails depend on electricity as much as hospitals do - doors of cells and halls and pods and entrances and exits are electronically opened and closed. More than 600 hundred prisoners, one entire building, were left behind once the prisons were evacuated - left in chest deep water, locked into cells. Ultimately as many as 40,000 people took refuge in the Superdome which lost power, lost part of its roof, the water system failed and the toilets backed up. Another 20-30,000 people were dropped off at the Convention Center. Conditions at the Convention Center were far worse than at the Superdome because the Convention Center was never intended to be used for evacuees it did not have any drinking water, food, or medical care at all. Ten people died in or around the Superdome, four at the convention center. Unfounded rumors flew about rapes and murders inside these centers - and the myth that rescue helicopters were fired upon - have all been found to be untrue. But those rumors so upset military and medical responders that many slowed down demanding protection from the evacuees - only to be greeted by “a whole lot of people clapping and cheering” when they arrived. Debbie and I left the hospital after five days. Helicopters finally came and airlifted out many patients, their families and staff. Others, like us, left in small fishing boats piloted by volunteers. The Coast Guard reported it rescued 33,000 people and the National Guard reported rescues of another 25,000 people. Louisiana Department of Homeland Security said 62,000 people were rescued from rooftops or out of water - not including those already in shelters. Many, many others, like us, were rescued by volunteers in boats and trucks. Some people never made it out of metropolitan New Orleans. February 2006 reports from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals show 1,103 bodies were recovered from the storm and flood, with over 2,000 people still reported missing. About 215 people died in local hospitals and nursing homes. Where did the survivors end up? According to FEMA, evacuees Streetvibes ended up all over - applications came in from 18,700 zip codes in all 50 states - half of the nation’s residential postal zones. Most evacuee families stayed within 250 miles of New Orleans, but 240,000 households went to Houston and other cities over 250 miles away and another 60,000 households went over 750 miles away. Who ended up in shelters? Over 270,000 evacuees started out in shelters. The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health surveyed 680 randomly selected adult evacuees in Houston shelters on September 10-12, 2005. “Hurricane Katrina likely made one of the poorest areas of the country even poorer. Both those who were poor before the storm and those who have become poor following the storm, are likely to face a particularly difficult time in reestablishing their lives, have few if any financial resources upon which to draw.” Congressional Research Service 2005. Debbie and I ultimately ended up spending several months in an apartment in Houston while New Orleans started its recovery. Loyola Law Clinic, where I work, moved into the Disaster Relief Center in Houston and our clinic students interviewed and gave assistance to over a thousand evacuees. We were able to come back to New Orleans for good in midDecember because our house was located close to the University and only sustained roof damage. Very few of the people who were evacuated with us have been able to return. It seems clear that most of the same people who were left behind in the evacuation for Katrina are being left behind again in the reconstruction of New Orleans. In fact, now there are even more being left behind. Hundreds of thousands of people have not been able to make it back. Drive through the city away from the French Quarter, Central Business District and the St. Charles streetcar line and you will see tens of thousands of still damaged and unoccupied homes. Hundreds of thousands of people have not made it back. There were 469,000 fewer people in the metropolitan New Orleans area in January 2006 than in August 2005. Most of the City was still without power in early 2006. About two-thirds of the homes in New Orleans did not have electricity in early 2006, even fewer had gas. Seventy-three percent of the homes in New Orleans were in areas damaged by the storm. But, as the �Brown University study concluded “storm damage data shows that the storm’s impact was disproportionately borne by the region’s African-American community, by people who rented their homes and by the poor and unemployed.” The little reconstruction that has started is aimed at home-owners. Louisiana is slated to receive $6.2 billion in Community Development Block Grant money and the Governor says $1 billion “could be used to encourage the rebuilding of affordable housing.” So with 45% of the homes damaged occupied by renters, affordable housing “could” end up with 16% of the assistance. Public housing is politically out of the question in early 2006. There is no national or local commitment to re-opening public housing in the city. U.S. Congressman Richard Baker, a longtime critic of public housing in New Orleans, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal after the storm saying “We finally cleaned up in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.” As the Brown study politely observed “people who previously lived in public housing seem to have the least chances to return, given current policy. All public housing has been closed (and special barriers bolted to the doors).plans for reopening the projects or for constructing new affordable housing have not become public.” Debbie lost her nursing job when her hospital failed to reopen. She is not alone. There are now 200,000 fewer jobs in the area than in August. The sick are not likely to return anytime soon. Healthcare in New Orleans is now difficult even for those with insurance but nearly impossible for the poor without it. While there were 22 hospitals open in New Orleans in June, in early 2006 there were 7, a 78% reduction. Before Katrina there were 53,000 hospital beds in the area, in February 2006 there were 15,000 - waits of more than 8 hours in emergency rooms are not uncommon. With so many hospitals closed, people needing regular medical care like dialysis or chemotherapy cannot expect to return. Worse still for the poor, there is no public hospital in New Orleans any more - the Charity Hospital that over 50% of the people in shelters went to has not been reopened. Many of the disabled are still in the areas where they evacuated to, causing financial and medical concerns in those states. Others of the disabled, who lived at home prior to the evacuation, fear being institutionalized. Children have not returned to New Orleans. Most public schools remain closed or have been converted into charter schools. Before the storm there were 117 public schools with 60,000 students. In January 2006, there were 19 open, including 8 new charter schools, serving about 13,000 students. Houston alone has nearly 20,000 evacuated students. The failure to reopen public schools in New Orleans has prompted litigation to force the charter and public schools to accept children. Even among homeowners, it is much more likely that white homeowners will have the chance to rebuild than black homeowners because of deep patterns of racial disparities in income - white median income is $61,000 compared to black income of $25,000. Black businesses were severely impacted by Katrina. Rebuilding by homeowners in mostly black lowlying neighborhoods is much less likely at the time of the writing of this article because of bulldozing plans by the city and because rebuilding in those areas depends heavily on planning and homeowners insurance and flood insurance issues, many of which have yet to be resolved. As a result, because renters, poor people and those without work are overwhelmingly African-American, “New Orleans is at risk of losing 80% of its black population.” There is not a sign outside of New Orleans saying “If you are poor, sick, elderly, disabled, children or African-American, you cannot return.” But there might as well be. The people left behind in the evacuation of New Orleans after Katrina are the same people left behind in rebuilding of New Orleans ­ the poor, the sick, the elderly, the disabled, and children, mostly African-American. Now that we are back from Houston, Debbie has just started a new job at another hospital. I am fortunate enough to work at one of the universities which was not severely physically damaged by the storm and floods. We are back. But where are our neighbors, the people we rode out of the city with? Where are the hundreds of thousands of our neighbors and will they ever be allowed to return? Where is New Orleans now, and more importantly, where is it going to be? Finally, if all levels of government and corporate power allow this to happen in New Orleans, do you think it will be any different in your city? Bill Quigley is a civil and human rights lawyer and Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. He donated this story to the Street News Service. All opinions held in the article are the author’s-you can reach him at Quigley@loyno.edu Agencies Mislead the Public on Katrina State and federal government NRDC senior scientist who oversaw officials are misleading the public about potential health hazards from toxic contamination in New Orleans, according to a Feb. 23 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Hurricane Katrina’s winds and floodwaters released heavy metals and other industrial byproducts throughout the area, according to the report. These hazardous materials then deposited in homes, yards, and schools across the region, in what is now a cracked layer of toxic muck. The Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), however, state that contamination levels in the city pose no “unacceptable” health risks — a statement disputed by the NRDC report using EPA’s own data. EPA took hundreds of soil samples in the New Orleans region from Sept. 10, 2005 to Jan. 15, 2006. While EPA has posted its testing data online, the agency has provided no comprehensive analysis of that data. The hundreds of data points are too complex to be useful to the average concerned citizen trying to determine if it is safe to return to his or her home, or what precautions should take before returning home. Without analysis of the data, residents are left with little other than EPA’s and LDEQ’s vague press statements about environmental conditions in the area. The NRDC, for the first time, analyzed the hundreds of EPA soil samples, connecting the data to create the missing overview for the area. The NRDC analysis found high problem,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, the the analysis. “More than a third of the EPA samples in New Orleans had arsenic levels that exceed the Louisiana threshold level requiring an investigation or cleanup. Federal and state agencies have to clean up this toxic mess to ensure returning residents are safe.” The report identified eight hot spots where levels of diesel fuel ingredients, which can cause kidney damage, increased blood pressure, and decreased ability to form blood clots, are more than 100 times higher than the LDEQ’s standard for residential neighborhoods. These hot spots are located in Bywater, Lakeview, Central City/Garden District, and Mid-City, as well as in Chalmette and St. Bernard Parish. In the absence of meaningful state and federal warnings against possible chemical exposures, community members in St. Bernard Parish are taking matters into their own hands. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and the St. Bernard Citizens for Environmental Quality held a March 4 training to distribute and instruct on the use of sampling kits for residents to take soil samples on their property. The samples collected by residents will be shipped to a laboratory to be tested for heavy metals and diesel fuel ingredients — called diesel-range organics. Environmental groups are pressing EPA to remove toxic sediment and contaminated soil from yards, fully inform people of the precise scope and nature of the health threats, and provide detailed information about what precautions citizens should take to protect themselves and their families. “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IIt...” t...” Streetvibes 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 Vendors must not tell customers earned. 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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (75 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) 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 selfsufficiency 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 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. Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing - but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks - but homeless because of rejection. Mother Teresa Buy Streetvibes Page 12 Streetvibes �Gunshot victim waits 32 hours for help The Oakland, California police answered call but didn’t see homeless woman. The graveyard-shift dispatcher at Veteran’s Cab in Oakland heard gunfire and called the police, but more than a day passed before anyone peered into the bulletriddled car on the street and saw the homeless woman inside with a gunshot wound to her head. She was still alive after spending 32 hours wrapped in blankets and slumped in the back seat of the abandoned Oldsmobile she had called home. Police had been alerted to the shooting moments after it occurred. “It’s a real miracle that she stayed alive so long,” the dispatcher, Linda, said that day, asking that her last name not be published for fear of retribution. “There was a bullet hole above her right eye, and the whole (right) side of her face was swelled up. It was shocking. How did she survive like that?” Oakland police, who insisted they promptly checked out Linda’s report of gunfire early Sunday morning and found nothing amiss, had not determined a motive and had few clues in the shooting, which occurred in a desolate industrial stretch of East Oakland. “It just appears to be a random incident,” and Oakland police spokesman, Officer Roland Homeless problem hardly swept away In Hawaii homeless advocates say it will take more than “sweeps” to clear areas where homeless are reappearing About a year ago, police officers swept through the Lake Wilson area, removing homeless people living there. One of the homeless who moved before police got there was Owena Hooks. But after staying away for a week, she returned because she didn’t want to be a burden on her friends and family. Today the 47-year-old woman lives in a neatly kept tent by the bank of the lake. The tent — with a small living and kitchen area, coffee table and couch — is hidden from view, unseen by passing motorists on the road above. Hooks has worked hard over the past year to make it “homey.” Holmgren, said. “It’s under investigation.” Although police were called to the scene moments after the shooting, no one spotted her until 9:30 a.m. the following Monday, when employees at Veteran’s Cab and an auto body repair shop across the street found her sprawled across the backseat of a silver 1987 Oldsmobile 98 on 54th Avenue. “I saw the gunshot holes on the (driver’s) side of the car, and then I looked inside,” said Alberto, who was the first to see the woman. He was opening his auto repair shop when he wandered over to check out the Oldsmobile, which the woman had lived in for three months. “I saw her and the gunshot wound in her face. I thought she was dead, then she moved. I was surprised she was alive.” Alberto, who also did not want his last name published, called 911. He said it seemed to take forever for help to arrive. “There was a big bullet hole in her forehead, and I thought she was going to die any minute,” Alberto said. “It took police 20 minutes to get here. I was praying they would be faster. I didn’t realize she was there just hanging on for two nights.” Police said the woman told them she did not know who attacked her or why. Investigators do not believe anyone witnessed the shooting because it happened in the early morning in an area filled mostly with small auto-repair businesses that are closed nights and weekends. “It’s a desolate area,” said Holmgren, who spent five years patrolling that neighborhood. “There’s no real reason to be there in the late hours of the night and the early morning. There’s really nothing there.” Linda, Alberto and several employees of Veteran’s Cab said the homeless woman was quiet and kept to herself. She would return a greeting or smile, they said, but would never initiate a conversation and often kept her eyes downcast. They said she would sleep in the car at night but leave the block during the day. No one knew where she went. Her return underscores Oahu’s homelessness problem and the ineffectiveness of sweeps. A year after law enforcement cleared the homeless from Wahiawa, Ewa Beach and Mokuleia, some have returned simply because there is nowhere else to go, homeless advocates say. “There’s nowhere to go and the numbers are increasing,” said the Rev. Jack Smith of the Wahiawa Community Church of the Nazarene, among those who assist the homeless at the lake. “The success rate is one out of 100. There are other areas in Lake Wilson that we have not begin to touch yet.” Smith stressed that education is necessary for the homeless to maintain jobs and manage their own finances. “Unless they are taught responsibility and management, they will return back to where they have been taken from,” he said, noting there are about 50 people he assists in the area. Forcing them to move from one place to another is not the solution, according to Darlene Hein, director of the Waikiki Health Center’s Care-A-Van program, which provides food, clothing and medical care to the homeless around the island. More low-income housing is needed, as well as treatment and services for the homeless, said Hein, who recently testified at the state Legislature in favor of repealing a law that makes it a petty misdemeanor to trespass at public parks and recreational grounds. A report compiled by the Joint Legislative Housing and Homeless Task Force made recommendations to lawmakers that include a five-year plan that calls for developing more affordable housing, repairs to vacant public housing units and additional services for the homeless. According to one recent study, nearly 6,000 people statewide are homeless at any given time, said Sen. Ron Menor, co-chairman of the task force. In Ewa Beach, near Oneula Beach Park, a hibachi, two mattresses and other personal items partially covered by tarp crowded the side of a van parked along a small, rocky edge. Several other vehicles lined the edge where some fishermen go to cast their lines. “She was living in that car, and I think she didn’t want anyone to complain about her,” Alberto said. “She wasn’t friendly or unfriendly. She was trying to keep a low profile.” The car was not registered in the woman’s name, police said, and witnesses said it had been there since last fall. It was unclear why the wounded woman didn’t seek help or honk the car’s horn. She may have been unconscious for much of the time, witnesses said, or may not have realized anyone was at the taxi company to help. “I darkened the lights and looked outside, and I saw a green car drive away and then turn onto San Leandro Way,” Linda recalled . “I didn’t hear any shouting or screaming or anything, so I just called 911. I was afraid to go outside.” Streetvibes Linda said she never saw a police officer, but Holmgren said an officer checked the area but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Linda said she called 911 again just before her shift ended at 9 a.m. Sunday to report what she’d heard, then left. She didn’t see bullet holes on the driver’s side of the Oldsmobile until she was driving away. She knew the homeless woman lived in the car, but it didn’t occur to her that she might be lying wounded inside. “I didn’t see anyone inside, I just saw blankets in the back seat,” Linda said. “I didn’t realize she was in there.” When Linda arrived at work at about 11 p.m. Sunday, she called the police again ask what had happened and if the homeless woman was OK. “I got frustrated because the police didn’t seem to know what I was talking about, and it was my third call,” she said. Then, as she was getting ready to leave work Monday morning, Linda heard a commotion outside, and Alberto and several mechanics who work for the taxi company urging her to call 911. She made the call, then ran to the Oldsmobile. She opened the door and saw the woman looking back at her. “I told her that an ambulance was on the way, and she just nodded at me. I think she was in shock,” Linda said. “I’m so glad she’s alive. I can’t believe she made it.” About 30 homeless people have returned to the beach park, according to Jeff Alexander, member of the Ewa Neighborhood Board. “They live in their cars. They’re setting up tents on the beach again,” Alexander said. On March 2, 2005, police evicted about 100 homeless people from the park. And as in other places, some slowly trickled back after the sweep. At Lake Wilson, Jody Celoza has been camping for a month after leaving a transitional home in Waipahu. Celoza, 34, said she overcame a five-year habit of abusing crystal meth, or “ice.” She has been drug-free for six months. Celoza learned about the campsite near the Wilson Bridge through a friend, and said she is staying there temporarily. Though she has family members on the island, Celoza said she doesn’t want to burden them with her problems. “I don’t want to be homeless. But I am,” Celoza said, smoking and standing under the tarp to protect herself from the rain. “Hopefully, I’ll get back on my feet.” Page 13 �Friendship in Over-the-Rhine by W. McLindon Hey man, give me a dime. How about letting me have half-a­ dollar? Come on man, you can do that for me, can’t you? Most of the time I hear words of this nature from total strangers. But more and more they are the echoes of the mouths of people I have thought of as – if not friends, at least as being close. I can not help but wonder has the situation in this part of town come to measuring all emotions on the scale of what one person can give another. So everyday I am going to see how much friendship I can buy with a halfa-dollar. Maybe I can buy enough to last until I make it to the next block on the street. Friendship – such a strong, powerful word; yet how often have we misused it. Put it in such a small, unimportant position. Be my friend doesn’t appear to mean the same thing as it did when I was a kid. Now to say we are friends don’t have to mean anymore than we know (knew) each other for more than 5 or 6 minutes. Have the financial means (meaning 5 or 6 dollars in one’s pocket) in Over-theRhine one can purchase friendship, but only 5 or 6 dollars worth. Yet friends do exist; someday even we may become friends. The Color of my Skin by George Herrell I remember when I was younger, some kids couldn’t be my friends They’d said their parents had said something , about the color of my skin We had laughed together often, and we got along fine. We just figured that as time went on They would surely change their minds. But is seemed as we got older, we grew further apart I found their parents opinions of me had polluted their minds and hearts THE FLOOD OF ’83 Alough that was many years ago Not very much has changed I would have sworn that time would overcome, And yet prejudice remains by Sarge Lintecum One time when city livin’ Became more than I could afford, I took my wife and children To a place with free room and board. How could people be so ignorant? And have so much hate within? That thy would judge me not by heart but by the color of my skin? We moved out in the boonies And in case a ranger came, So we could be there legal, I decided to stake a claim. We made our camp at the junction Of Temporal and Gringo Gulch. The scenery was breathtaking And the soil felt like mulch. I stacked stones at each corner Till they were three feet high. I didn’t have a measuring tape So I did it all by eye. For two months we were happy; The kids had room to run. I made them bows and arrows; Our days were filled with fun. Then the sky turned black with thunder And lightening crashed all around. We brought our two dobie guard dogs In the truck so they wouldn’t drown. Four days and nights the rain came down But we stayed dry inside, Till some town folks came sayin’ we should come in Before the stream’s too wide. We got a rope across the water So we could all hang on, ‘Cause if you were to fall on a slippery rock In a second you would be gone. Well we all made it out to safety And soon we were dry and warm, But you know when I think back on those days I don’t hardly think of the storm. I can see my wife smile by the campfire; I can hear her sweet laugh in the sun. She made us prickly pear jelly To go on a freshly baked bun. I’m Back by Robert Manassa I made a vow to self and to you To sell you Streetvibes on Saturday Though someone else had something else in mind They thought evil thoughts about me, they thought I was in the blind I’m Back I’m proud of you , you have fait in me, you are on my side. You helped me to hold to hold on to my dignity and my pride When you are right, you are right, and when you are wrong you are wrong I’m here now and forever I’m not ready to say so long I’m back Sure, my given name is Robert, that I won’t change From this day forward I will tell the story You call me Robert need more You won’t find me in any store I need more of this, more of that I need more of everything, and that’s a fact I’m back STREET DOG by Sarge Lintecum I was brought up to be just a big puppy, Then they trained me to be an attack dog. After my career as an attack dog They said I didn’t fit back into the pack any more, And they wanted to have me put to sleep, So I ran away and became a stray dog, Looking for a kind handout, but expecting a kick. I tried to get a job as a guard dog, But after a few days I wouldn’t even let the owner in. Being a stray dog is no picnic, But being old and a stray is a bitter fate for any dog, Especially since I’m not a dog at all; I’m an American veteran. You could say back then we were homeless, But I just remember the fun. When the worst times leave you fond memories, You know that you’re with the right one. Page 14 Streetvibes �Song of Wounds by Michael Henson I look at you, my friend, and I see nothing but wounds. Just one wound, and you might still be with us. We might tell stories, we might embrace as friends. But no, there are far too many wounds. The blood, broken from its familiar channels, is naked and confused. Muscles, unstrung, will not stand. Nerves throw up their pale hands in surrender, for there are just too many wounds. I press my fingers to the lips of each. I note the contours closely. I see them in their intimate and parasitical relations. I give each one a name: the one that tore at the moorings of the lungs the one that cut at the roots of the liver the one that frayed the ropes of the intestines the one that broke through bone like an axe the one that shattered the beating heart: For today, I see nothing but wounds. Wounds in the alley Wounds in the park Wounds blackened in the asphalt of the beltway Wounds with the marks of the teeth of the wind Wounds in the bellies of small brown children. Wounds sleepless at four in the morning Wounds in the disordered ladders of the cell: Five wounds, and I ponder over them within me. Five wounds, sharp as a hammer Five wounds in the shock of morning Five wounds and there is no escape Five wounds and five curses My friend! My friend! I see nothing today but wounds! Spring 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. Some hungers 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. Berta’s Art Corner Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com Painted Circles on Glass, Cincinnati Streetvibes Page 15 �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 381--0111 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 363-1060 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 Travelers Aid 721-7660 United Way 721-7900 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping Women 872-9259 10 Years in Publication! Streetvibes Exclusive - Page 1 CityLink ­ “Right or Blight?” BUY FROM BADGED VENDORS ONLY April 2006 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 2006 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 2006 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: CityLink Offers Opportunities for People Who Want Real Life Change Pg 2: Homeless Empowerment Project Group’s Goal: Housing for All Homeless in 10 Years Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: Remembering Cincinnati’s 2001 Civil Unrest Pg 5: Remembering Cincinnati’s 2001 Civil Unrest Continued Pg 6: Peace Village Pg 7: Pontiac, Michigan to Hear Plan for Homeless Homeless Man Attacked in Boston Pg 8: Unrest Continued Pg 9: Vendors Pg 10: Six Months After Katrina: Who Was Left Behind- Then and Now Pg 11: Agencies Mislead the Public on Katrina Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Gunshot Victim Waits 32 Hours for Help Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 2006 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Alison Leeuw Monique Little Kelly Carr Chris Dourson John Lavelle Melvin Williams Susan Smith Berta Lambert Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alison Leeuw Berta Lambert Boston Chris Dourson Cincinnati CityLink Civil Unrest Drop Inn Center Georgine Getty Gunshot Victim Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Katrina Kelly Carr Melvin Williams Michigan Minimum Wage Monique Little Peace Village Pontiac Susan Smith https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/2effcfe3c7018a9e0da962366e62c7f3.pdf ccb7e330d5f9963c7067fe25148e3f89 PDF Text Text July 2006 STREETVIBES New Hope for the Homeless? by Pat Clifford, General Coordinator, DIC, Cinti, Oh Are some of the homeless hopeless? Can housing be found for people who have been on the streets for years? People often see homeless individuals when they are driving downtown. Sometimes under bridges. Sometimes sitting on curbs. The “regulars.” The “long timers.” Pitied by some, reviled by others, they are the chronically homeless. The question is: can the chronically homeless be helped and live in our city with dignity? Or are they too far gone to change. The first question one may ask is how many chronically homeless are there in Cincinnati and what percentage of the homeless population do they comprise. Often it is thought that almost all those who are homeless go without housing for a long time. Not true, according to the Cincinnati – Hamilton County Homeless Management Information System. “The myth is that most people that are homeless are homeless for a long time. The numbers don’t bear that out,” according to Steve Knight, who has worked with the homeless for years and is now Shelter Coordinator for the Drop Inn Center. He says that the average stay in a Cincinnati homeless shelter is approximately three weeks. Families typically stay longer, but most homeless individuals stay about two weeks. How many of the homeless qualify as “chronically homeless?” Statistics show that about 352 at any given time qualify, about 26% of the homeless population. If that is the case, why do those images come to mind whenever one thinks of the homeless? Perhaps because they are more visible. Whenever someone drives downtown, the image they take away is one of the panhandlers on the Cover Story street corner. Unnoticed are the people working day labor or waiting in line for a landlord. Regardless of whether the long term homeless comprise the majority of the homeless or a relatively small amount, what can be done about meeting the needs of this population rather than demonizing them? Cincinnati has tried many methods. Some have succeeded, some have not. Is law enforcement the solution to chronic homelessness? Cincinnati City Council just passed permanent legislation to require panhandlers to obtain a license through the City. The Cincinnati Police Department just completed a month of sweeps for nuisance crimes targeted toward removing criminals from the streets of Over-theRhine. During that period, Over-the-Rhine residents were quoted as saying that the streets feel much safer, drug dealers are now off the corners and that people can walk without fear of being shot. However, did these efforts impact the number of homeless? The Drop Inn Center disputes that a large segment of its population was involved in the recent sweeps. Police claim that fifteen percent of those caught in the sweeps were homeless. Shelter officials counter that the number is more like five percent. “The records show that 95% of our residents were not involved in criminal behavior so far this year. I think that’s a pretty telling statistic,” says Knight. Also according to shelter officials, the shelter’s nightly census also remained level for the period of the sweeps, showing that these efforts, while they may have made the neighborhood feel safer, did not have an impact on reducing homelessness What then is to be done about the long term homeless? Researchers and homeless advocates think they have the answer: Put them in housing. That is hard for many to believe. How can one place someone who has been homeless for years, many with multiple physical and mental disabilities, in an apartment among the general population? Isn’t that unsafe? The difference lies in the support that comes with the housing. The term “supportive housing” is unfamiliar to many, but cities across the country are embracing this housing as a solution to homelessness. In Denver, for example, their Mayor has called for the creation of over three thousand units of supportive housing and calls to aid their “Denver’s Road Home” effort are advertised on banners in their downtown area. In Chicago, a non-profit group called Lakefront SRO has developed thousands of units of supportive housing in their downtown area, including a “supportive housing” high-rise in the trendy South Loop. New York City even has a supportive housing complex in the Times Square district. According to Amy Harpenau, a licensed social worker who works daily with the long term homeless, “The key is to remove the barriers to housing that traditionally block this population from entry.” Barriers like high rents, sobriety requirements and background checks are what have kept this population homeless. In their place, groups have added high levels of supportive services that encourage people to reduce risky behavior, implement heightened security precautions and refer people to the medical and treatment services they need. What do residents and community leaders feel about this housing being located in their neighborhood. We can look to Columbus for an answer. When the Columbus Community Shelter Board was looking at creating 100 units of Hope... cont. on page 2 Cincinnati Police Profiling Homeless Individuals Cincinnati, OH – Melisa, Henry and Charley, three area homeless people, were awakened in their camp at 7:30 a.m. June 13 by Cincinnati Police who took their photographs, social security numbers and dates of birth. When they asked why this was happening, they were told it was in case they became the victims of crime. This action was not isolated. Over a month ago homeless youth in Over-the-Rhine reported being detained by officers, photographed and having their personal information written down before being sent on their way. They were walking down Vine Street when this happened, and they were not charged with any violations. Police are giving mixed justification for their actions. At the Southeast Sector, sponsored by Downtown Cincinnati, Inc. (DCI), the Cincinnati Police announced that they were going to start photographing homeless people so that they are “on file” in case a crime is committed. Mixed reports have been given as to whether the concern is with homeless individuals as the perpetrators or victims of these crimes. Either way, homeless rights advocates are calling this an outrage. “This is a gross violation of civil rights and profiling to the highest degree,” stated Georgine Getty, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. “This is merely one part of a systemic campaign to harass and degrade people experiencing homelessness.” Melisa became homeless on August 26 when fleeing from her boyfriend who frequently hit her. Melisa had unsteady employment at a call center, working 4 hours a day, at most, if work was available. In August, her boyfriend drank away the rent money and she found herself homeless. She stayed at two separate shelters, but was forced to leave one because of time limits. She voluntarily left the other because she did not feel safe there. Melisa suffers from mental illness and takes anti-depressants. In the homeless camp, she found an environment where she felt supported. Her boyfriend, Henry, is working with a case manager and plans to have an apartment by the end of the month. Melisa stated that she “hated this” and that she felt “very violated and discriminated against.” She added that if she had robbed someone, she would be staying at a hotel, not living by the river in a makeshift camp. Homeless Campers, Melisa and Henry 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. Vendors are private contractors who DO NOT work for, or represent, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homleess. 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 Monique Little - Education Coordinator Kelly Carr - VISTA Andy Lawrence - AHA Coordinator John Lavelle - VISTA Melvin Williams - Reception Susan Smith - Volunteer Streetvibes Jimmy Heath, Editor Photography Georgine Getty, Berta Lambert Cover Homeless campers being interviewed by local TV news for police harassment story 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://cincihomeless.org Page 2 Hope... cont. from page 1 supportive housing in their downtown, they met resistance at first. However, that resistance soon dwindled once the project, called Commons at Grant, was up and in operation. In April of this year, a coalition of developers, homeless advocates and service providers including the Drop Inn Center presented a concept to City leaders to bring Supportive Housing to the area. They sought a site that had a secure entry, an enclosed courtyard, office space for counselors and between 20-35 units for living. The group pointed to a potential site: a vacant home for the blind located at 1505 Elm Street. Business groups, led by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation or 3CDC. balked at the proposal, saying that it would jeopardize potential development. As of the end of June, talks were stalled with no timeline set. Can supportive housing be the solution for Cincinnati’s homeless? Some advocates feel that it can, however it is clear that education needs to be done. Harpenau comments, “This type of housing has not been attempted here. There is a lot of skepticism.” However, there is a cost to doing nothing. Long term homeless individuals wait for long periods in crowded emergency shelters because no appropriate housing exists. They are under bridges, line park benches and wander the streets, waiting for hope. Police Harass Homeless at Community Dining Hall Portland, OR - In late June, Copwatch (a national civil rights organization) received several calls from homeless clients as well as workers at St. Francis Dining Hall, located near SE 11th and Stark streets in Portland, Oregon. St. Francis serves dinner for the homeless nearly every day. Callers complained that police were asking Latino-looking folks for their papers, giving out tickets for “offensive littering” over cigarette butts, and in general asking people if they had ever been arrested in Portland. On July 1, the Workers Organizing Committee held a bi­ lingual meeting, letting people know that the police are not allowed to ask “are you legally in this country?” Testimony was taken at that time from numerous people who had been harassed by police, mostly by the provocative Officer Mary Wheat. Apparently, neighbors are unhappy with St. Francis. Lieutenant Donna Henderson said the police are just responding to complaints. The only specific incident cited by police was a female neighbor taking a picture of a homeless man (not a great idea) who was upset that he put his hand up to her camera. The woman says he touched her. Later, while a copwatcher was talking to a Euro-American homeless man, Wheat interrupted the conversation. She said she’d seen the man dealing drugs before. When asked why she didn’t arrest him, she said “I was after the Hispanics, I was undercover.” When we showed surprise at her comment, she added “I can say whatever I want, it’s my constitutional right.” Mr. and Ms. Homeless Downtowner Mr. Homeless Downtowner Ms. Homeless Downtowner Name: Hustle Man Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio Neighborhood: OTR Occupation: Honest Hustler If I could do something different: I would: run for Mayor I can’t stand it when: people stereotype and judge Favorite interest: Conversing with people Favorite spot in Cincinnati: Clay and 14th If I won the lottery: I would give it all away Place I’d most like to visit: Disney World Happiness would be: Changing this community What I like most about Cincinnati is: my mother What I desire most but are afraid to go after is: the stars My life’s philosophy is: staying comfortable. Name: Julie Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio Neighborhood: E-town Occupation: Streetvibes vendor If I could do something different: I would: be a Social Worker and an Advocate for the homeless I can’t stand it when people: don’t try but then complain Favorite interest: spending time with my daughter and grandkids Favorite spot downtown: Washington Park If I won the lottery I would: Help people and then go to Disney World Happiness to me would be: the world in perfect harmony with love, trust, and understanding Place’d most like to visit: Africa as a volunteer What I like most about Cincinnati is: the Zoo and all the recreational activities for the children What I desire most but am afraid to go after: Nothing My life’s philosophy: You can pull yourself up by your bootstraps, but you have to want to try. Streetvibes �Homeless News Digest Compiled by Jimmy Heath Reality TV star Sharon Osborne saved a homeless teenager from spiraling into despair with the help of British royal Prince Charles’ PRINCE CHARLES’ charity, The Prince’s Trust. England - Osbourne was devastated by the plight of Danny Howarth, who had been kicked out by his mother’s new boyfriend, forcing him to live rough on the streets. But Howarth enrolled on a course organized by The Prince’s Trust, and under the watchful eye of Osbourne - an ambassador for the initiative - he started to rebuild his life. Osbourne invited Howarth into her and husband Ozzy’s mansion in Buckinghamshire, England, last month, spending time talking through his problems and plans for the future. She says, “Danny is a loving, bright, but vulnerable young man who has turned his life around with the help of The Prince’s Trust. ”Next time you pass a homeless person remember most of them aren’t there because they’re addicts. They’re there because of emotional problems at home - they’re not wanted or loved and have no money, so they end up homeless on the street. “Don’t turn your face away from them - they’re young people who need our help.” In Washington some D.C. residents are trying to stop the construction of a 170-bed homeless shelter along Georgia Avenue in Northwest. Washinton, DC - Officials with the privately run Central Union Mission want to move the shelter from the Logan Circle area because the current building is antiquated. But opponents of the shelter say the area along Georgia Avenue already offers housing and services for the poor, including a Salvation Army branch. They’re also worried the shelter could harm efforts to revitalize the neighborhood. Instead, they’re pushing for more outdoor cafes, restaurants — and even a drug store. Central Union’s new $15 million shelter would include a drug rehabilitation center, a chapel and a cafe that will provide breakfast and dinner for the homeless. In Edmonton, Canada a body found near the Shaw was discovered by homeless man. Canadian Police and medical examiners investigated the scene of a body found last month, where the body of a woman was discovered in some bushes east of the Shaw Conference Center. Cops have labeled the woman’s death as suspicious, though a cause of death, as well as the woman’s identity, won’t be known until an autopsy . The woman is believed to be in her 30s or 40s and is possibly aboriginal, police said. Insp. Dennis Pysyk said that although the woman was found in an area frequented by homeless people, it’s premature to conclude she too was homeless. After finding the woman between two trees in a largely grassy area south of Jasper Avenue at 96 Street, the man went to a nearby home, where residents phoned for an ambulance, said acting Sgt. Steve Zielie. In 2004 a survey conducted by city social agencies recorded nearly 2,200 people describing themselves as homeless. In warmer weather, the city’s river valley becomes dotted with homeless campsites. Park rangers started counting homeless camps in the river valley in 1999. That year they found 62 camps. The figure rose steadily until 2003 when it reached 451. A year later it had dropped to 234. A spokesman for the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness said the woman’s death serves as reminder that being homeless is dangerous to people’s lives. “This is just a warning call again that we are still not making the progress we need on this issue,” Jim Gurnett said. “It’s not just an unfortunate situation – it’s an actual life and death situation not to address homelessness in this city.” Homelessness or substandard housing played a role in at least 32 deaths in Edmonton last year, the coalition found. Ele Gibson, the resource development director for the Bissell Center who participated in calculating that figure, said she believes the number of homelessness-related deaths is actually much higher. Inadequate shelter leaves people at greater risk of violence and health problems and restricts access to health care, she said. Police from homicide and the forensic identification section are assisting in the investigation, which is standard. Cops are asking anyone with information about the woman’s death to call the EPS or Crimestoppers. Possible homeless man’s body found in Boston Boston, Ma - The condition of the body suggests the man had been dead for a significant period of time, said David Procopio, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s office. There was no evidence of foul play, he said. Authorities said the man was 69 years old with ties to the Quincy area, but did not release his name pending notification of family. The body, which was found by an employee during a routine check, was turned over to the state medical examiner for an autopsy. Conley Terminal is a container facility for the Port of Boston. On a day of remembrance, several volunteers are working to make sure one group isn’t forgotten. Federal Way, Washington State - Members of the All Saints Lutheran Church worked on Memorial Day, preparing 50 sack lunches for the area’s homeless population. “The homeless people still need compassion and support,” coordinator Cheri Staples said. She said the church, along with several other local churches, is part of the Federal Way Community Caregivers Network. Typically, she said, the network prepares a community supper for the homeless every Monday at Steel Lake Presbyterian Church. The network’s president, Doug Johnson, said the group also hosts community suppers on Thursday nights at Calvary Lutheran Church. All Saints church members are responsible for community suppers on the fourth Monday of each month where Staples said about 40 people were served. The church got a first-hand look at the homeless situation when they met Randy, a homeless man who began attending services three years ago, Staples explained. “We realized they’re still one of God’s children and they still need love,” Staples said. When Randy passed away, Staples said the church felt the need to do more for the homeless and joined the Caregivers Network. “It just opened our eyes that there are more Randy’s that need help,” she said. The lunches were prepared at All Saints Church, Staples said, Streetvibes before they were transported to Steel Lake Presbyterian Church. Johnson said the community suppers are just part of what the Caregivers Network does to help those in need. The Caregivers Network also provides rent assistance for families at risk of losing their homes. “We think it’s critically important,” he said. For any number of reasons, be it an auto accident or a medical emergency, families can find themselves pushed to the financial brink, he said. “You find yourself where you can’t quite make ends meet,” Johnson said. Families can quickly run the risk of eviction from their apartments or homes, he added. Once they’re evicted they’re practically homeless. “That’s kind of the breeding ground for homelessness,” he said. The group’s work to help others in the community is a reflection of the community as a whole, Johnson explained. “It’s a powerful statement about our commitment to people in need,” he said. A former U.S. solider living in some woods in DeLand, Fla., was ambushed by four teens in the city’s third attack on a homeless man, according to news reports. Deland, - Fl - Police said Bill Railsback, 51, was drinking a beer at a homeless camp when the teens jumped and began to beat him. However, Railsback fought back and injured at least one of the attackers. Railsback believes he broke one of his attacker’s arms during the scuffle. He said his attackers were ages 16 to 20. Detectives are questioning hospital employees and hospital workers to see if one of the attackers was treated for an arm injury. The attacks are happening in remote locations in woods. “This is the third assault on a homeless man in DeLand since March. “Six weeks ago, they beat up one of our elderly homeless so badly that he has permanent brain and eye injuries,” First Untied Methodist Church member Linda Brown said. “They could very easily kill someone and I think that is of grave concern.” In April, four Holly Hill teens received 22 to 35 years in prison for beating a homeless man to death. The First United Methodist Church in DeLand is offering a $1,000 reward for information concerning the attack or the identity of the attackers. Page 3 �American Revolutionary (Real Change News, USA) Timothy Harris Activist-historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz uncovers the beating heart of America. Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz has been around. In the mid-sixties, she was in South Africa, working with the underground African National Congress. Upon her return to the United States, she challenged New Left sexism to become a leader in the newly formed radical women’s movement. From there, she took a brief detour though a Weather Underground-like revolutionary cell before turning up, in 1973, in South Dakota at Wounded Knee. Her work in indigenous movement-building led her to human rights work at the United Nations, where she became involved in mediating the conflict between the Miskitu Indians and the Sandinistas in the early ’80s. Her latest book, Blood on the Border: a Memoir of the Contra War (South End Press, 2005), completes a trilogy of historical memoirs that seamlessly blend the personal with the political and explore the world stage through the viewpoint of one of its more politically engaged actors. Blood on the Border offers a harrowingly personal view of the tragedy of the U.S. war on Nicaragua and its divisive role in the American Indian movement. Previous memoirs include Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie (Verso, 1997), an examination of the suppressed radical history of the Midwest and being raised poor in rural Oklahoma, and Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years, 1960-1975 (City Lights, 2002). Dr. Ortiz is a professor of ethnic studies at California State University East Bay. RC: Much of your activism has been through the United Nations and the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. How do you view the prospects of the U.N. now as a force for international justice? Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: I think the indigenous movement has been extremely important in refocusing things, and in challenging the United States and the European powers. There has also been the Women’s Decade [the ’70s], and South Africa leading the non-aligned nations. Most people think that the U.N. not passing the go-ahead for the Iraq war was all about France. That wasn’t it. A hundred and thirty countries didn’t support it, led by South Africa and the non-aligned movement. South Africa has been really important in kind of reviving the non-aligned bloc. That was always the majority of the U.N. And that’s what the U.S. was really fighting — not communism, not the Soviet Union, but the whole formerly colonized world. RC: You say that indigenous movements may be our best hope for avoiding nuclear and ecological catastrophe. Why is that? Dunbar-Ortiz: Because we’re in the heart of the empire, the Indian movement here is important beyond numbers ideologically, to really analyze what the United States is. It’s only if you look at it from the Indian point of view that the truth is revealed, under all that propaganda about the founding fathers and democracy and all that. It just becomes a naked empire when you look at it from the beginning. There’s a lot of work on the part of indigenous people, who are fighting for life or death as peoples. I’ve always felt it will come down to the Andes and Central America. It’s in the subconscious of U.S. imperialism, and that is the heart of everything. Their influence spread up to the Great Lakes and into Canada and to this area. Show your support! Get your STEETVIBES T- Shirt Today! Only $15 We will send your Streetvibes T-shirt to your door ­ All proceeds benefit the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Streetvibes newspaper. Call 513.421.7803 Page 4 Streetvibes This was a huge civilization. And the beating heart of it is Mesoamerica. And the same for South America, and the Andes, and the great civilizations there. So it’s like, you know, just “kiiiilllll that thing,” and keep it killed. I would not have predicted, myself, 10 years ago, that there would be a militant, socialist, native person president of Bolivia. I could not have imagined that. I would have said someday, maybe, but this is remarkable. And in Ecuador, and Peru is moving toward that too. RC: You’ve drawn this line that extends from the colonialist Indian wars to the policy in Central America and to what we’re involved in now. What is the common denominator there? Dunbar-Ortiz: I know it doesn’t come down to just John Negroponte, but that sort of symbolizes or reflects the whole pattern. From Vietnam to the present, you can follow John Negroponte’s career. He was a political officer in Saigon in the ’60s, as was Colin Powell. We had Rumsfeld and Cheney in the Ford administration. There are 18 people, right now, engaged in the Bush administration, who were involved in the Contra war. Negroponte was the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, and he micromanaged the Contra war. One of George W. Bush’s first appointments, in February 2001, was John Negroponte to be the ambassador to the United Nations. I tell you, it just took my breath away, because I thought, “This means something.” I just knew that it was going to be something terrible. This is what this man is for. Then he was made the first ambassador to Iraq, after the invasion, and now he’s the National Intelligence Chief, over the CIA, the FBI, the NSA. I’ve come to see that it’s partly the fragility and weakness and poverty of Central America that makes it necessary for the United States to keep hold of it. Because how would it look to the rest of the world if the empire’s weakest link were to break out? All hell breaks loose! RC: You talk about some parallels with Vietnam, where the CIA exploited some of the indigenous people: arming the Montagnards, for example, and how they exploited that rift in Nicaragua as well. Dunbar-Ortiz: Yeah. And of course, in Iraq. The divide and rule. It’s an old colonial method of control, and throughout Africa there are civil wars going on now that are still remnants of British, French, and Belgian colonialism and U.S. neocolonialism. And then, the secret war in Laos, organizing the Hmong. This is really what frightened me. Because I cared about the Miskitu Indians. If they did get involved with the CIA program, it could decimate them. Before the big Indian Movement, although it was just beginning, the Sandinistas would have just slaughtered those people. That’s basically what the Pathet Lao did and that is what the Vietcong in Vietnam did, because they were working with the enemy. I was able to get a lot of insight from Ralph Mcgehee, who had just retired from the CIA and wrote a book called Deadly Deceits. I got to meet him in New York, and described to him what was going on, and he said, “I wrote that plan. I worked with organizing the Hmong. It’s going to be a terrible tragedy if it doesn’t get stopped.” So he also talked to the Sandinistas. Revolutionary cont. next page... �Homeless Man’s Story Becomes Book, Movie CHICAGO - It was just a movie set, but in a moment it showed Chris Gardner where he’d been - and how far he’d come. There with actor Will Smith - who was playing Gardner, a former homeless man turned millionaire - Gardner stood in what looked like the train station bathroom where he once slept a quarter century ago. Suddenly he was overcome with memories of teaching his 2-year-old son to never, ever open the locked bathroom door, no matter how hard someone pounded on the other side. It didn’t matter that he now had three homes - one a condo in New York’s Trump Tower - or that he’d gone from selling his own blood to buying Michael Jordan’s car. “I had to get out of there,” he said. The story of how the 52-year-old Gardner did just that: climbed out of homelessness and became a millionaire stockbroker with his own 15­ employee Chicago firm, is being turned into a motion picture, due out in December. It’s also the subject of Gardner’s own justreleased book, “The Pursuit of Happiness.” The unique spelling of “happiness.” Even in the realm of rags-to-riches tales, Gardner’s story is unique. Take, for example, the events that led to his descent into homelessness. A medical supplies salesman barely making enough money to support his girlfriend and baby, Gardner had one of those Hollywood moments in a San Francisco parking lot in 1981 when he spotted a man looking for a place to park his red Ferrari. “I said to him, ‘You can have my (parking) place but I’ve got to ask you two questions. What do you do and how do you do it?”’ recalled Gardner. The man was a stockbroker. Gardner didn’t know a single stockbroker or even what one did. But the man said he made $80,000 a month - $50,000 more than Gardner made a year. Gardner found a brokerage firm willing to hire him and quit his job. But when he showed up for work he learned the guy who’d hired him had been fired. Gardner’s job was gone. Then, days before a scheduled interview with Dean Witter, a loud fight with his girlfriend brought the police to his door. The next thing Gardner knew they were asking him for $1,200 to clear up some unpaid parking tickets. They may as well have asked for $12 million. Gardner spent 10 days in jail. When he was released, his girlfriend and son were gone. He had no money, no home and the only clothes he had for his job interview the next day were the ones he wore to jail. How was he going to explain showing up wearing jeans and paint-splattered Adidas shoes? “I couldn’t think of nothing that could top the truth,” he said. He went with that and got the job. A few months later came a knock on the door of the boarding house where he was staying. “It’s my ex and, guess what, she doesn’t want the baby any more, here.” he said. “The boarding house does not allow children. That’s how we became homeless.” Some nights they stayed in a $25-a-night hotel, a park or under his desk at work. And a few nights were spent in an Oakland Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. “I had to teach my little boy how to play a game and the game is called SHHHH,” he said. “That means no matter what anybody says on the other side of that door, no matter how much noise they make or what they threaten, we ain’t here, OK?” Finally, they moved into a homeless hotel in San Francisco, run by Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. “There were no keys, so every day you take everything with you,” said Gardner. “For a year, I’d take my son, his stroller, a big duffel bag with all his clothes in it, my briefcase, an umbrella, the biggest bag of Pampers in the world, one suit on my back and one suit in a hanging bag and we’d hit it every day.” When it rained, he covered the stroller with plastic sheets he’d picked up from dry cleaners. Gardner told his co-workers nothing. He also distinguished himself from others who turned to Glide for food and shelter. “If you saw a man with a child, that was rare, incredibly rare,” said the Rev. Cecil Williams, Glide’s pastor. “I remember discussions about him, about how that man really loves that boy because he won’t let him get away from him, he won’t push him aside.” Day care took a huge chunk of his meager stockbroker trainee salary, and it took Gardner about a year to save enough to move himself and his son into their own home. From there, his career blossomed, and in 1987 he opened his own firm in Chicago. Today, signs of his success are everywhere, starting with an office that includes a gleaming desk made of a DC-10 tail wing, African art work, boxing gloves and photographs autographed by Muhammad Ali. Sharing space with pictures of his adult son and daughter are photographs of Gardner with Nelson Mandela, and a vase full of dirt that Gardner brought from Mandela’s yard after visiting the former South Africa president. He no longer has the Ferrari he bought from Jordan. Gardner, who never went to college, has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to education, writing checks for as much as $25,000 to teachers, janitors, bus drivers and others who work at schools. Gardner is focusing much of his attention now on South Africa, trying to persuade major investors to invest $1 billion there - an effort praised by South African officials. “In the current state of our economy, creating an investment fund is critical,” said Yusuf Omar, South African Consul General in Chicago, who recently stopped by Gardner’s office. For Gardner, helping South Africans pull themselves up makes perfect sense. “Everything I’ve learned working on Wall Street, 25 years is to be able to make a difference in the lives of a lot of people and we all make money, it (doesn’t) get any better than that,” he said. Revolutionary... who say you have to have these democratic elections. Well, here it is. And then they say, “Well, the people can’t be trusted” (laughs). Or, “Chavez is a dictator.” Just repeat that enough and people will believe it. But no matter what the opinion is here, to invade all those countries is not like invading Central America. They’re afraid to invade Cuba because of the resistance. I mean, they could, of course, destroy Cuba. But they would take a lot of U.S. lives. They would fight until every person with a gun — and everyone has a gun — was dead. And they know that. That’s why the U.S. hasn’t invaded Cuba. It seems like it would be so easy. Not so easy, and then you think of these massively populated places…. So, there’s not a lot they can really do, except they can try to assassinate Chavez, and I’m sure they are. And maybe they will succeed, and maybe it will even set back that movement, but it’s in so many places, now. There’s a momentum. So… I think they’re kind of up against the wall. And it’s sort of scary, in terms of this talk of using nuclear weapons and all, but they’re getting desperate. And so I think it’s a pretty dangerous time for the whole world. We’ve got to get a sense of the urgency here. RC: When most people think about revolutionaries in America, I think they visualize something like the Weathermen and decide pretty quickly that that’s not really for them. So what does a more sustainable revolutionary politics look like? Dunbar-Ortiz: It has to be like we saw on May Day. That’s a revolutionary spirit being revealed. And it has to be positive, in the sense that there is life ahead — these are young people. There is life worth fighting for. Every human life is precious, and not this dreary, “We just gotta get rid of this thing because it’s a monster.” We have to believe in ourselves as human beings. I think there’s a widespread depression in our movement these days, and even in the Black movement. And in the Native movement in the United States there has been so much questioning. Young native people it’s amazing, when I meet them. And a lot of young white people, too. But not masses like we saw on the streets—I mean, that was a representation of practically every Latino young person in this country, and many of the older people. And they’re fighting for us, too, but we have to get involved in it to make it bigger. Join it, instead of thinking we have to lead it. Join in this revolution! It’s happening, get involved, you know? from previous page And it was hard. I mean, the Sandinistas, they were nationalists, and it’s been the Achilles’ heel of revolutions in Latin America, especially in the Andes and Guatemala, where the majority of the people are indigenous, that they haven’t been able to break through this nationalism, which assumes a unitary idea of the state. In the Mexican Revolution, they could idolize the Mestizo and Raza Unida and the great fusing of the indigenous and the European into a new race. But there were still Indians there. And many thought it would be better if they just disappeared and joined the Mexican state. And that’s been the attitude. I think you see that changing now with Evo Morales’ election. RC: Given the U.S. governments past intolerance of liberation movements, it’s hard not to be fearful for the progressive governments that are emerging now in Latin America. Dunbar-Ortiz: Well, you know, what really surprised me is that it would ever be possible again, after Chile, for revolutions to come to power through election. And I think that’s remarkable work that’s been going on there. And it just slams the United States in the face. They’re the ones Streetvibes Page 5 �L.A. decision tolls a bell for Portland’s policies on homeless (Street Roots, USA) by Monica Goracke On April 14, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision, Jones v. City of Los Angeles, holding that Los Angeles may not punish involuntary sitting, lying, or sleeping on public sidewalks “that is an unavoidable consequence of being human and in that city. While the court explicitly limited its ruling to Los Angeles, relying heavily on statistics and evidence of the lack of shelter for homeless people there, cities across the country, and Portland in particular, will take note. “Human beings are biologically compelled to rest, whether by sitting, lying, or sleeping,” the court said. To criminalize such conduct, when it is involuntary and inseparable from the status of being without a home, is to violate constitutional protections. Yet Portland, along with many other cities, has enacted and enforced laws that implicate not only constitutional but also human rights concerns. As the Ninth Circuit recognized, we should not punish people for life-sustaining behavior that is unavoidably linked to their homelessness. Skid Row, an area covering 50 city blocks just east of downtown Los Angeles, was the focus of the case brought on behalf of homeless people who were arrested or cited for violating Los Angeles’s ordinance. With the highest concentration of homeless individuals in the United States, it is “a place of desperate poverty, drug use and crime,” according to the court. This concentration is no accident: the city of Los Angeles has had a deliberate policy to concentrate and contain the homeless in Skid Row since at least the 1970s. Skid Row has space in SRO (single room occupancy) hotels, shelters, and other temporary or transitional housing for 9,000 to 10,000 people a night, but approximately 11,000 to 12,000 individuals live there. This means that more than 1,000 people are unable to find shelter each night. The court also noted that in all of Los Angeles County, there are almost 50,000 more homeless people than available beds. As Los Angeles officials admitted, this 1,000-person deficit is “severely large.” What is the magnitude of homelessness in Portland? As a smaller city, Portland has lower overall numbers of homeless people, but its rate of unmet need is almost the same as Los Angeles’: 27 percent for Portland, compared with 30 percent for Los Angeles. The onenight street count conducted on Jan. 26, 2005, covering Multnomah County and the cities of Portland and Gresham, found 2,355 people sleeping outside, in a vehicle or in an abandoned vehicle. 1,020 people had been turned away from shelters that night – very close to the number in Los Angeles. These numbers are much higher than the previous street count from March 15, 2004, which found 465 people turned away. An accurate determination of the number of homeless people in Portland is very difficult, but the City’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness estimates that in Multnomah County, 16,000 to 18,000 people experience homelessness annually, and 4,000 people experience homelessness on any given night. This number tries to take into account the “hidden homeless” doubled or tripled-up in other households, staying out of sight or otherwise missed by the counters. “Human beings are biologically compelled to rest, whether by sitting, lying, or sleeping,” the court said. CityBeat recognizes Jimmy Heath, Streetvibes Editor help others through his advocacy, writing and photography. Heath and his coworkers at the Greater Cincinnati, Oh - CityBeat, Cincinnati Coalition for the a local alternative newspaper, Homeless, which publishes recognized Jimmy Heath, Streetvibes, help others tell their Streetvibes editor, as the “Best stories and find dignity Unsung Activist” in its Best of Cincinnati through meaningful work.” 2006 issue. The article CityBeat also stated, “Jimmy Heath, recognized the Greater editor of Streetvibes, Cincinnati Coalition for the local newspaper of the Homeless’ newest the homeless, is an activist who board member, Bob Jimmy Heath Newman, who understands the streets achieved the title “Best Civil Rights of Cincinnati. He’s been there, Lawyer” for his landmark case that living as a homeless person, in prevents Hamilton County Over-the-Rhine, lost to drugs and Municipal Court from jailing people alcohol, and is still working there today - recovered and working to for being unable to pay fines. Page 6 When you consider that the average length of homelessness is 21 weeks, and the average wait to get into a publicly-funded shelter is four to six weeks (up to 10 weeks in the winter months), the word “crisis” begins to seem woefully inadequate. In Los Angeles, as in Portland, increasing rates of homelessness mean that homeless people are more visible in public than ever before. Laws prohibiting the obstruction of sidewalks and streets have been used to move people along, including those who have few or no other places to go. The Ninth Circuit sharply criticized Los Angeles’s ordinance as “one of the most restrictive municipal laws regulating public spaces in the United States.” The ordinance prohibits sitting, lying, and sleeping in or on any street, sidewalk or other public way at any time of day or night within the city limits. The court distinguished LA’s law from similar ordinances in places such as Las Vegas, Seattle, and Portland which, it said, do better by requiring that some type of inappropriate conduct be part of the crime other than just sitting, lying, or sleeping in a state of homelessness. While the court’s reasoning in criticizing the Los Angeles ordinance was sound, a closer look at Portland’s laws, along with evidence of how they are enforced, would have shown that it cannot be so easily distinguished. Portland’s two ordinances prohibit “camping” on public property and rights of way, and obstructing public sidewalks in a large downtown area. While the enforceability of the sidewalk obstruction ordinance is very much in doubt after a late 2005 ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals, this ordinance is still used verbally by police and private security officials to move homeless people from sidewalks, although it is limited in time from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The camping ordinance, as written, is not just about pitching a tent on the bus mall. It can be – and often is – used by police to cite people for simply sleeping in parks, under freeways and other out­ of-way places, with so little as a bedroll or a piece of cardboard beneath them. Just as in Los Angeles, homeless people in Portland often lose all their belongings when police cite them for unlawful camping. The Streetvibes camping law is enforced both day and night, even though many homeless men and women sleep during the day because it is so unsafe for them to sleep on the streets at night. Although Oregon state law requires 24-hour notice to homeless people who are in violation of camping laws, officers sometimes stage surprise raids complete with a work crew to remove and destroy homeless people’s personal property. Losing the few possessions you have – a blanket, clothing, but especially documents such as an ID or birth certificate – can be debilitating, to put it mildly. When homeless people in Portland are arrested, prosecuted, and lose their belongings for the crime of sleeping outside when they had nowhere else to go, it drives them even further into hopelessness and poverty. The Ninth Circuit’s decision contains two important legal principles. First, it found that the homeless plaintiffs in this case had standing to challenge a law that criminalizes their involuntary conduct even though not all of them had been actually convicted under that law. When people are arrested, jailed, fined, and prosecuted for violations of a law, the court found, they are subjected to the criminal process and therefore can challenge the law under the Eighth Amendment’s cruel-and­ unusual punishment clause. Second, the decision finds, based on prior cases establishing that people cannot be punished simply for being poor or homeless, that the government cannot make criminal those acts that are “involuntary and inseparable from status” – specifically, physically resting in a public place when there is no other way a human being living in the city of Los Angeles who is homeless could meet this fundamental need. The court’s distinction between Los Angeles’s sweeping ordinance and the more limited laws in Portland, Seattle, and other cities is likely to be read as foreclosing similar challenges. However, the court’s reasoning clearly applies to some aspects of local laws. Portland has a 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness that acknowledges the destructive effect of laws criminalizing behavior that homeless people are forced to engage in, such as sleeping or sitting outside, because they are homeless. For individuals, a criminal record of any kind makes it difficult to find housing and employment, which are so essential to escaping homelessness. For the community, criminalization imposes an enormous financial, physical, and psychic toll. We should not treat homeless people this way not only because it is costly, but because it is inhumane. We must find a better way. �Voice Mail Becomes Lifeline for Homeless Program Washington, Dc - Mabel McNair, who was once homeless, is enrolled in a culinary arts class and plans to take advantage of a new District program that will provide a free voice-mail service to low-income individuals and the homeless. McNair, 49, lives in transitional housing in Northwest Washington and is midway through a 12-week training program sponsored by D.C. Central Kitchen. Her goal is to land a job by the time she graduates. She uses a prepaid cell phone and pays $10 for 50 minutes. “That goes quickly,” she said. “I know it would benefit me,” McNair said about access to free voice mail. “There are a lot of jobs that come through the school.” Community Voice Mail, a national program, will make 350 voice-mail boxes available to lowincome and homeless individuals in the District at no cost. People who want to enroll in the program will be asked to work with a social services case manager who will make the service available as part of a client’s overall plan to find a job or to move out of a shelter or transitional housing. Each person enrolled will receive a private District phone number that is connected to a voice-mail box. The number can be used only to check messages. Staff members take messages at shelters or other places where the homeless and lowincome live, but sometimes individuals don’t return to the shelter every night, Litzenberger said. In addition, enrollment in social services programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid, often requires follow-up and private voice mail is critical, Litzenberger said. “Nowadays, things like voice mail and e-mail are not luxuries; they are necessities,” he said. Community Voice Mail, designed by a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, explains its mission through the motto “turning phone lines into lifelines.” The nonprofit group collects testimonials, including a story from one user in Minnesota who said she got a job simply because she could put a phone number down on an application. Jennifer Brandon, executive director of Community Voice Mail, said the group began the program more than a decade ago and serves 46,000 people across 37 cities annually. During Hurricane Katrina, Community Voice Mail provided phone numbers to evacuees. The District will be the 38th city in the program. The group plans to expand to Fort Worth this summer. “It’s a tool to help people get on their feet,” said Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, a nonprofit group of 44 churches throughout the District that does social service outreach and funds programs. A member church, St. John’s Episcopal, near Lafayette Square, where many homeless people congregate, gave $15,000 in start-up funds for the project. The District and the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District also contributed funds for the program. D.C. Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides meals for the homeless in addition to running the culinary training program, will notify other nonprofit groups about the voicemail service. Brandon said she first met Robert Egger, chief executive of D.C. Central Kitchen, two years ago to talk about the program. “This is exactly the kind of partner we need,” Brandon said. Streetvibes Survey Participants Wanted You are invited to participate in a brief survey on hate crimes and violence against homeless persons. Go to: http:// www.surveymonkey.com/ s.asp?u=870921968238Y Your input will help the National Coalition for the Homeless direct our advocacy efforts. The results of this national survey will be released to general public and media in late August. Please contact NCH for information concerning the rising incidents of hates crimes and violence against homeless persons at www.nationalhomeless.org Page 7 �Drop Inn Center Update Also, analysis of the same Homeless Not Lawbreakers, Crime Stats Misleading by Pat Clifford, General Cordinator, DIC, Cincinnati,Oh data shows that 95% of Drop Inn Center residents have not been arrested at any point during this year. Only those 93 individuals out of Just because arrest records contain the Drop Inn Center address does not mean that those charged actually reside at the Center. That is what an analysis of arrest and shelter records from January 1, 2006 – May 22, 2006 has shown. According to Cincinnati Police Department records, 286 individuals with the Drop Inn Center address have been arrested this year so far. However, Drop Inn Center records show that only 93 of them had, in fact, been residents during that time period. Therefore over 67% of those arrested with our address were not really our residents. 1,767 total residents so far this year have been charged with any crime. Therefore, analysis of the data shows that Drop Inn Center residents are not significantly contributing to crime in the Washington Park area. In fact, our stats show that the Drop Inn Center is committed to transforming people’s lives and is working to minimize residents’ length of stay. 40% of Drop Inn Center residents have an average stay of two weeks or less. We are calling on the Cincinnati Police Department to meet with Drop Inn Center staff to reduce the use of our address, 217 W. 12th Street, when there is no proof that they have actually stayed here. In this way, we will close a potential loophole for actual criminals to falsify their place of residence. It will also, provide a realistic picture of the vast majority of our residents, who are struggling to get back on their feet with our help. In addition, the Drop Inn Center is asking for a hearing before the Cincinnati Law and Public Safety Committee to highlight our partnership with law enforcement and the success of our programs designed to promote and support positive behavioral changes for our residents. down to small cities like DeLand,” said Linda Brown, who runs a Florida - In Orlando a year teens terrorized homeless men about daytime shelter in DeLand. “The ago, a homeless man pleaded in vain 30 miles away in broad daylight in attacks by youths are random and for his life as a group of teenagers downtown DeLand. senseless.” beat him to death at his campsite in Philip Tarbell was walking on Seven days before Tarbell’s the woods of Holly Hill. West Voorhis Avenue in the afternoon first attack, four other teens robbed a The attackers have since April 19 when five teens started pair of homeless men on the same been sentenced to decades in prison, following him. The youths lobbed a street, hitting them with a steel pipe. but the homeless are no safer, 4-inch piece of cinderblock at his The teens were arrested and charged advocates say. head. The impact fractured his face. with attempted robbery and battery. Violence stalks the streets He can no longer see out of his left DeLand police said it was and the woods where they sleep, and eye. unusual to have two attacks against the biggest threat is from teenagers. “I saw a piece of the the homeless reported in the same From 1999 to 2005, there cinderblock coming at my head, and week. A review of the city’s police were 472 attacks on the homeless, when I ducked it hit my eye,” said records found five attacks against the which resulted in 169 deaths Tarbell, 56, who bags groceries at a homeless during the past year. nationwide, according to the National supermarket and has been homeless The National Coalition for the Coalition for the Homeless in for two years. “There was so much Homeless says such attacks are not Washington, D.C. Nearly two-thirds blood, I thought I was going to die.” unusual; 86 were reported last year of the attackers were between 11 and Ten days later, he was and 105 the year before. 19 years old. mugged by a homeless man who “This is only the tip of the The same week that Michael forced him to hand over his day’s iceberg,” said Michael Stoops, Eugene Roberts’ four killers stood wages. executive director. He said the before a judge to learn their fates in a “Attacks on the homeless are group’s statistics represent a fraction Daytona Beach court, two groups of a national problem that is filtering of the incidents because they are collected from media accounts, not police Berta’s Art Corner reports, which often do not identify victims the homeless. Many homeless people do not report crimes committed against them because of mental-health issues, substance abuse, fear of retaliation or frustration with the police. A 2003 University of Central Florida survey of 100 homeless men in Orlando and 800 homeless women in Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Peace symbol, (Global Nuclear Disarmament), Liberty and Jacksonville found Homeless at high risk for attacks Central, Over-the-Rhine Page 8 Streetvibes that 90 percent of the men and 78 percent of the women had been physically assaulted. “The homeless live in a very high-risk environment and are especially vulnerable,” said Jim Wright, a UCF sociology professor and a member of the board at the Coalition for the Homeless in Orlando. “Their ability to self-defend is often compromised by alcohol, drug or mental problems.” Florida, which ranks second behind California in the number of homeless people, had the highest number of attacks last year, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. The Holly Hill teenagers who killed Roberts on May 25, 2005, admitted beating the man just to have something to do. Classmates later told the Orlando Sentinel that “bum bashing” was a common game. Homeless advocates think there is a correlation between the violence and the proliferation of “bum videos,” available for sale online, in which homeless people are coerced to perform degrading and dangerous stunts including fighting each other for drugs, money, alcohol or food. “A lot of young people are Internet-savvy and view these videos,” Stoops said. “The word is out. The homeless are the only minority group in America you can pick on and get away with. If there was a Jewfights.com, there would be a national outcry.” Don Sanz, a DeLand psychologist and Stetson University professor, said teenagers who attack the homeless are not normal. “There is a lot of violence, anger and anxiety in our society,” Sanz said. “But people who are attacking the homeless — whether they are teens or not — have a personality disorder or are psychopaths who don’t care if they injure another human being.” U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, DBoca Raton, proposed classifying violent acts against the homeless as hate crimes, so offenders would face stricter penalties, but the legislation has stalled awaiting the results of a federal study. Wexler’s bill was prompted by the Jan. 12 bludgeoning of a homeless man — captured on video — by three teens in Fort Lauderdale. “The attack in Fort Lauderdale brought home to people all over the country that violence against the homeless is increasing,” Wexler said. “They have no homes, no doors to go behind. Many have medical, physical or psychological challenges. They are defenseless and deserve our protection.” �Working, but still homeless Louisville, Ky - It wasn’t long ago that Jennifer Haysley was a methamphetamine addict who slept wherever she could find a place to crash, with friends and family and strangers — even living out of an ex­ boyfriend’s car when she had nowhere else to turn. Now the 25-year-old former exotic dancer works full time as a cook for Bristol Catering and heads home each day to a two-bedroom apartment as part of a Society of St. Vincent de Paul program that offers transitional housing for the homeless. Haysley is among the more than 3,000 people, according to the Louisville Coalition for the Homeless, who last year made up Louisville’s working homeless, a growing segment of the estimated 11,251 men, women and children who received homeless services in 2005. The coalition, an umbrella agency that coordinates 27 service providers and other members, says the 2005 report indicates that more people in the city’s shelters and programs are employed — but working for low wages. “A lot of them work but they work minimum wage, so as long as we pay just $5.15 an hour, they’re going to be homeless the rest of their life,” said Sister Mary Kathleen Sheehan, director of the St. John Center on Muhammad Ali Boulevard, which serves 160 to 200 men each day Got The Vibe? More than one-quarter of the homeless surveyed said they were working part - or full-time jobs, up slightly from the year before, the report says. One-third of those workers earned less than $10 an hour. That’s less than the $10.83 an hour a worker needs to rent an average two-bedroom apartment in metro Louisville, according to the coalition. It’s likely that Louisville’s total homeless count is much higher than the census shows because those who didn’t seek services or who were turned away because shelters were full weren’t counted — nor were about 1,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees who received homeless services. Marlene Gordon, the coalition’s executive director, said she’s particularly concerned about the rise of women military veterans. That group rose to 40 in 2005 from one the year before. In December, Louisville’s homeless programs were awarded a record $5.5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. About $1.7 million will finance permanent housing. “It certainly would help us with resources that we need,” Gordon said. “Cities that have made big strides in ending and reducing homelessness are places with dedicated funding.” NSA Has Massive Database of Americans’ Phone Calls USA Today - American telecommunications giants AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth exceed media activists’ worst fears by illegally facilitating the National Security Agency’s creation of “the largest database ever assembled in the world,” to consist of “‘every call ever made’ within the nation’s borders.” “The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans—most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime.” Contrasting this news with telecom corporations’ current bid to “strip away Net Neutrality protections so they can become benevolent overlords of the World Wide Web.” Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth maintain networks that reach into the homes and businesses of tens of millions of Americans. These companies built this access to our private lives— and the billions in revenues that come with it—on a “bedrock principle” of consumer protection. Now, that they’ve sold out this trust to help the government monitor ordinary Americans, how credible are their claims that no Net Neutrality safeguards are necessary? 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 This beautiful, original artwork depicts the vibrant role that Streetvibes plays in downtown Cincinnati and neighboring communities. Created by local artist and activist Mary Ann Lederer in collage form, this colorful 18" X 10" reproduction can be yours to own for only $10. Commemorating Streetvibes 100th issue, proceeds from this limited time offer will go to support the Streetvibes Program and Vendors. 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 Pro­ gram. If a Vendor misrepresents or breaks the rules, she/he may be removed from the Program. See page 12 for rules and regula­ tions on Vendor conduct. To report a Violating Vendor, call 421-7803. ext. 16 Visit the Greater Cincinnati Coaltion for the Homeless website at - http://www.cincihomeless.org Visit the Streevibes archives at - http:// www.cincihomeless.org/content/streetvibes.html Streetvibes Page 9 �Dying For Nixon, Dying For Bush by Paul Rogat Loeb “I didn’t want to die for Nixon,” said a man I met recently in a Seattle park. He’d served on military bases in a half dozen states, and then had a car accident just before being shipped to Vietnam. “The accident was lucky,” he said. “It was a worthless war and I didn’t want to go.” I agreed. I admired those who fought in World War II, I said. We owe them the debt of our freedom. But to die for Nixon’s love of power, fear of losing face, deception and vindictiveness—to die for him was obscene. Nixon’s war, the man said, had nothing noble about it. And neither did Iraq. What does it mean to die in a war so founded on lies? Bush may lack Nixon’s scowl, but he’s equally insulated from the consequences of profoundly destructive actions. He came to power riding on the success of Nixon’s racially divisive “Southern Strategy,” which enshrined the Republicans as the party of backlash. He won reelection by similarly manipulating polarization and fear. Like Nixon, he’s flouted America’s laws while Paul demonizing political opponents. His insistence that withdrawing from Iraq would create a world where terrorists reign echoes Nixon’s claim that defeat in Vietnam would leave the U.S. “a pitiful, helpless giant.” While Bush assures our soldiers they fight for Iraqi freedom, and to “make America safer for generations to come,” 82 percent of Iraqis, according to a British Ministry of Defense poll, say they’re “strongly opposed” to the presence of American and British troops, and 45 percent justify attacks against them. This creates what psychologist Robert Jay Lifton calls “an atrocitycreating situation.” Lifton first used the phrase during Vietnam. He now uses it to describe a “counterinsurgency war in which US soldiers, despite their extraordinary firepower, feel extremely vulnerable in a hostile environment,” amplified by “the great difficulty of tracking down Loeb or even recognizing the enemy.” This sense of an environment out of control has seeded the ground for Abu Ghraib and for massacres, at the villages of Haditha and Mukaradeeb, already being compared to My Lai. Former Army sniper Jody Blake recently described his unit keeping extra spades on their vehicles so that Useless Equals Good by John Siscoe The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen Dover Thrift Editions, 1994 Seattle, Wa - Thorstein Veblen, the American economist and social critic, was born to Norwegian immigrant parents in 1857. He taught for most of his academic career at the University of Chicago. Veblen was a gruff man who did not brook contradiction. He was also a bit of an oddball; his house was a perpetual mess and he had a fondness for clothes made out of paper. He also had a fondness for the faculty wives and his reputed inability to keep his hands to himself led to his dismissal from Chicago in 1906. He continued to teach and to publish, but ultimately died in obscurity in 1929. Veblen is remembered today for his first and most successful book The Theory of the Leisure Class, which is both a scathing indictment of materialist consumerism and a very Page 10 funny satire on human folly. When it was published in 1899, it ignited a furious controversy, for it amounted to a direct attack on the established values of what Mark Twain termed the Gilded Age — a time, not so unlike the present, when a small number of Americans became enormously rich and lived lives of remarkable ostentation. These fortunate few, and those who strove to emulate them, are the slowlymoving targets of Veblen’s ridicule. Veblen analyzed American society as essentially consumerist, obsessed with wealth, material possessions, and the desire for leisure. In such a society the more expensive and useless an object or activity is, the greater its cultural value and the more mesmerizing its hold over the imagination. Veblen is especially perceptive of how flaunting wealth is a demonstration of power, and how economic decisions are often irrational: driven by fear, envy, if they killed innocent Iraqis in response to an attack with an Improvised Explosive Device, they could throw one next to the corpses to make it appear those killed were preparing a roadside bomb. Last December Bush called the Iraqi election “a watershed moment in the story of freedom.” But if our invasion and occupation has created a watershed moment, it’s one whose rivers of resentment and bitterness may poison the global landscape for decades to come. And when Bush talks of promoting freedom, the world sees the freedom of America to do whatever we please, no matter how many nations oppose us. America’s Vietnam-era leaders made much of their embrace of freedom as well, while overthrowing elected governments from Brazil to Chile to Greece. The war they waged in Southeast Asia killed two to five million Vietnamese, plus more deaths in Laos and Cambodia. And as with Iraq, those making the key decisions were profoundly insulated: Out of 234 eligible sons of Senators and Congressmen, only 28 served in Vietnam, only 19 saw combat, only one was wounded and none were killed. In Iraq, as we know, the chicken hawks led the march to war, and the sole Congressman or Senator with a son who initially served was Democrat Tim Johnson, who the Republicans still attacked as insufficiently patriotic. While the sons of Republican Senator Kit Bond and three Republican congressmen have since also volunteered and been deployed, most who initiated this war have never been intimately touched by it. Counting Eisenhower’s first deployment of soldiers and CIA agents to Vietnam in support of the French, Kennedy’s further commitment, and Johnson’s major escalation, the United States fought there for over twenty years. We’ve now been in and out of Iraq for nearly forty years, since the 1963 coup when the CIA first helped the Baath Party overthrow the founder of OPEC. (And intervening in Iran since our 1953 overthrow of the democratically elected government of Mohammed Mossadegh, who we replaced with the dictatorial Shah). With the administration promising no immediate end in sight, Bush now tells us it will be up to “future presidents” even to consider withdrawing our troops. Who wants to be the last man or woman to die for George Bush? Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association, and winner of the Nautilus Award for best social change book of the year. His previous books include Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. See www.paulloeb.org. To get his articles directly email sympa@lists.onenw.org with the subject line: subscribe paulloeb­ articles and blind hope. The Theory of the Leisure Class made a profound impact on the study of economics, for after Veblen, few would be so brave (or so foolish) as to study economics in isolation from social or cultural factors. But while Veblen deserves a lasting, if modest place in the history of economics, his real accomplishment lies in satire. The Theory of the Leisure Class is a send-up of human vanity and pretensions, and there’s scarcely a page in the book where one of Veblen’s shafts doesn’t strike home. Veblen’s diction and the shape of his sentences are late Victorian academic, but his observant eye is timeless, and this makes his book as lively and as pertinent today as when it was first published. Veblen loved the useful and the inexpensive and he would have been delighted to learn that The Theory of the Leisure Class has now been republished by Dover in their Thrift Classics Series, making the entire book available for the price of a ritzy cup of coffee. Dover has published nearly 500 titles in this format and they represent some of the best bargains in publishing. Thorstein Veblen, paper clothes and love affairs aside, deserves to be among them. John Siscoe is the proprietor of Globe Books in Seattle. He can be reached at johnsiscoe@zipcon.net. Streetvibes Don’t be Squirrelly! Buy Streetvibes! �A Mother’s Words - the Futility of Death by Dr. Steve Sunderland audience of 600. The mother had Cinti, Oh - Cindy Sheehan, also attempted suicide but was saved. peace activist, grieving mother of a This point provided the opportunity “murdered child,” and eloquent for Sheehan to discuss her own spokesperson for humanity, came to feelings of suicide since the death of Cincinnati last month. She opened an her son, the “murder” she called it, amazing program organized by Cathy and what stopped her she suggested, Roma, director of MUSE, was a combination of caring about Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir, and also her remaining children and “still featuring MUSE and peace activist believing in hope and justice.” and singer, Holly Near. Prior to her Her talk had three major speech, I had a chance to introduce points: myself to Cindy Sheehan and express A. “George Bush is not the gratitude for her coming. She is a problem, but the symptom. Why are pale woman, reddish hair, and the people and the Congress looking deeply tired. She couldn’t following him in his mad and violent have been friendlier. The church we leadership?” She elaborated on what were in was filling, her phone was she saw as the ownership of the ringing, and her eyes looked kindly government and the media by big but distracted, a storm within a storm. business, calling it a form of If there were critics of her “fascism.” This take over, she position on the war, or the way she chose to frame the issues in terms of grief and murder, they were not visible. Again and again, we gave her rousing cheers of support and even some standing ovations. What she said was almost too painful to hear. Cindy sat on a raised chair, on a stage in the front of the church, her tired voice gathering strength and humor as she spoke. Her talk was framed Steve Sunderland by a story of a woman, a “good friend,” who was recently believes, goes on due to the apathy arrested for giving her daughter an and consumerist addiction of overdose of medication. “What Americans who would rather drive would cause a mother to murder her their SUVs than live with a fair and child?” she asked in her simple and more balance approach to resources. plaintive voice to an attentive The President’s justification of the war amounts to “revenge’ for those who have been killed on September 11 and thereafter in Iraq. She asked: “Why would I want anyone, Iraqi or American, to die because my son was killed? Who wants this mission other than the “War Party?” B. “What can we do to bring our own hearts to peace?” Sheehan elaborated that peace in our own hearts starts the peace process, builds strength and overcomes both “bitterness and hatred.” “I am full of anger but not bitterness and hatred about my son’s death and the war. I believe in the future of hope and justice.” She spoke of the futility of more death, especially for families directly engaged in the war, be the families ofAmerican soldiers or the mothers and fathers of Iraqis. . C. “I seek what Gandhi called, ‘heart unity.’ My heart is connected to the Iraqi mother of the son who killed my son. And, my heart is connected to the Iraqi mother who my son may have killed.” She elaborated on these shocking points, tears streaming down her face, gasping for breath, pausing for her and our benefit, the death of her son now so vivid and his responsibility as a soldier so horrifying. We must remember them and work for their memories to be reminders of peace. “I think there is a Buddhist story,” she said in conclusion, “that a person dies two times: first, when they biologically die and second, when they are forgotten. My son will never die, and the Iraqis will never die because I am going to use the rest of life to remind the world of their lives.” We rose to our feet as one group of fellow grievers, our hearts opening and breaking and hoping for healing. So much was said and left unsaid as we stirred in her and our common pain. The beauty and power of the grief linked us together, going beyond the imagination and into a space of connection that defies words. We knew we heard a tough speech, very difficult to deliver and almost unbearable for those who had a family death of a veteran. Yet, the grief weighed down and up, falling across faces and into hearts that were now open to this woman who wanted us to share in her story by stopping the violence toward other children. She spoke from a fundamental value, a citizen of the world of war calling out for the stopping of the killing of anyone. She spoke as someone not expecting herself to see a happy ending to this conflict; rather, she suggested that there will be many more widows, families without peace, and more grief to come unless there is a widespread commitment to transforming the heart of violence into peace. Her grief was moving on her, threatening to engulf her into a step back into hopelessness, triggered by not only tiredness, insults, and rejection of her basic themes. She seemed to be teetering on the edge of a reality about how easily the human condition can kill thousands of mothers’ sons and daughters. How many more times could she ask out loud, for herself and others: “Why is my child dead? Controversy Over City Commissioner’s “Homeless” Email ORLANDO, Fla. —An Orlando city commissioner’s email is creating quite a controversy over Orlando’s homeless. The email from an aide to Commissioner Patty Sheehan refers to group “feedings” of homeless people and a new effort to move them away from Lake Eola. “I just felt it was a little slimy, a little underhanded,” said homeless rights activist Cooper Brinson. The email, written by Commissioner Patty Sheehan’s aide, Chase Smith, was sent to eight business owners in the Thornton Park neighborhood, talking about Sheehan’s proposed ordinance banning wellintentioned volunteers from feeding the homeless there each Wednesday afternoon. The intent of the ordinance, Smith wrote, is to try to move the large groups of homeless out of downtown and create less of a “situation” for the businesses and residents, potentially resolving many of the “post-feeding issues that everyone’s experiencing” downtown. Brinson said the group giving out the food, Food Not Bombs, needs a helping hand from city leaders and not the boot. “They’re just pushing the problem away to another place so they don’t have to look at it,” he said. But it isn’t so cut and dry. Ask people who live or own businesses in the area and they tell a much different story. “Their set of rules on the street isn’t our set of rules,” said Robin Stotter. Stotter plans to open a new restaurant right on the park in three months. Over the past three months, he said, the homeless population has exploded. “When I come to work every day, I have to get people out of my front door. I have to get ‘em out of the stairs getting down,” he said. “They come into the building during the day. I found two people doing heroin in my bathroom.” Stotter fears a recent rise in neighborhood crime is scaring customers away. It’s an argument blurred by the rhetoric in an email whose own author admits is a bit strong. Eyewitness News spoke to Sheehan’s assistant who wrote the email and, while he said he does regret the choice of words, he does not regret the message that something has to change in the park and anyone who wants a say should show up at a public meeting. Sheehan’s proposed ordinance would move the permitted location for the so-called “feedings” to an area near city hall. “Don “Don’’t Leave Home W ithout IItt Without Streetvibes Page 11 �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 25 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. 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: 75 Cents (75 cent profit goes directly to the vendor) Homeless Coalition 25 Cents Printing and Production: 25 cents (this cost does not cover expenses) Page 12 About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and Streetvibes.... earned. This program has helped 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 selfsufficiency 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 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. Letters 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. Send your letters or comments to Streetvibes, 117 East 12th Street, Cincinnati Ohio 45202, or email to Streetvibes@juno.com Buy Streetvibes Streetvibes �The Firecat Review Firecats are poor. As such, when we take a break from fighting rampant injustice, we know where all the cool cats and kittens go to get their DVD’s: the library. You want to spend 25 bucks for a new release with your honey, pick up a CityBeat. You want the down and dirty on the slightly less-than-new fares from the best free resource in the ‘nasty? Firecats got you covered. Snow Falling on the Cedars (1999 – Scott Hicks, starring Rick Yune & Ethan Hawke) Review by Firecat Blue About 20 minutes in, I fell asleep out of sheer self-preservation. The inside of my eyelids were literally more entertaining. There was something about a forbidden love between and entire 15 hours in two or three days. Of course if you favor more boy on boy action, I recommend Queer as Folk, also found at the library. I give The “L” Word two paws up. Japanese American lady and a white dude and maybe there was also a murder. Also, I think it was a period drama because a lot of people were wearing hats. It was soft lit and slow with lots of “interesting” trolling-forOscars angles and lighting. This one’s not worth the wear and tear on your library card. The “L” Word (Showtime Series, starring Jennifer Beals, Erin Daniels, Mia Kirshner, Karina Lombard, Leisha Haily, Laurel Holloman, Katherine Moennig, Pam Grier) Review by Firecat Lavendar This friend-incestuous Lesbian drama is emotional, heart-warming and many times laughable because of its lesbian clichés. If you like soap operas and appreciate queer culture then you’ll love it and may even become a little obsessed, watching an 9 Good Teeth (Documentary starring Mary Mirabito a.k.a. “Nana”) Review by Firecat Blue Filmmaker Alex Halpern, pretty sure his 104 year old Nana is going to kick it soon, pulled together a sweet, funny, slightly morbid view of the 5 foot matriarch from Sicily. Nana steals the show, revealing family secrets, intrigues and brushes with infamy via the mafia and Beat poet Jack Kerouac. A decent – and fair- view of family complications and resolution, this is definitely worth a watch. The Meaning of Food (2004 PBS Documentary) Review by Firecats Blue, Turquoise & Chameleon This series focuses on the human relationship with food featuring three parts: Food and Life, Food and Culture and Food and Family. Nicely filmed in easy to digest 5-10 minute segments, this documentary appealed to our special brand of Firecat ADD. We liked the Culture one the best. The host was slightly annoying, but likable enough and not a major focus. Highlights included stories on the final meals of death row inmates, a Booyah festival in Minnesota, a Kalache contest and a Samoan funeral. Supersize Me (2004 Documentary starring Morgan Spurlock) Review by Firecat Turquoise Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock commits to eating nothing but McDonalds for 30 days straight. For lack of a better word, it was awesome. Definitely not a slam against Micky D’s, though you may never view those tasty fries the same again. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s a documentary, it’s the most entertaining documentary I’ve ever seen. I’d recommend this move to anyone who has ever eaten at McDonalds, who eats fast food on a regular basis or is concerned about their health. Oh wait, that’s pretty much everyone. 3 paws up! Prior Month Caseloads Reflect Disaster Food Stamp Program FRAC - Food Research and Action Committee - www.frac.org Caseload trends in late 2005 were affected by the temporary disaster Food Stamp Program relief in the wake of several hurricanes, relief that by December was on the wane. A positive feature of the Food Stamp Program is its ability to meet increased need, whether due to economic changes or disasters. For information about the Disaster Food Stamp Program, go to http:// www.frac.org/html/disaster/ disaster_index.html and http:// www.frac.org/Press_Release/ 07.21.05.html Three states with large numbers of those affected by the hurricanes– Florida, Louisiana, and Texas—accounted for nearly 3.4 million of the 3.8 million person increase between August and November 2005. Also ranking in the ten states with the largest percentage increases between August and November 2005 were three other states disproportionately impacted by hurricanes— Mississippi (hit by Katrina), Georgia and Arkansas (both reportedly serving large numbers of hurricane evacuees). Not reflected in the caseload figures was additional nutrition assistance provided to many regular food stamp households affected by the hurricanes. Many households already enrolled in the program received replacement allotments to help cope with their food losses. Additional nutrition assistance also was provided to hurricane victims through the school meals programs, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and WIC Program. The significant food stamp service to hurricane survivors was due to a combination of factors: the Man beaten in 3rd attack on homeless in 3 months DeLAND, Fl — Police are investigating the third attack on the homeless by teenagers in as many months, but authorities have nothing to link the seemingly random and senseless beatings. “It could be just a stupid, juvenile prank,” DeLand police Cmdr. Randel Henderson said last month. “We’re not downplaying this by any means. These things can tend to escalate. ”Last month, Bill Railsback was drinking a beer in a wooded lot on East Howry Avenue when, he said, a group of four men, about 16 to 20 years of age, beat him with no warning or words, police said. Railsback, 51, suffered some scratches and told police he thought his attackers received the brunt of the beating. “He did fight back,” Henderson said of the military-trained man. “He believes he injured the arm of one young man.” Police contacted local hospitals to see if anyone has come in with a broken arm, but nothing turned up so far. Police said it was unusual to have so many attacks on homeless people. In April, there were two attacks on the homeless in the span of a week. Philip Tarbell was walking on West Voorhis Avenue in the afternoon of April 19 when five teens following him lobbed a 4-inch piece of concrete block at his head. The impact fractured his face, and he can no longer see out of his left eye. Seven days before that, four other teens robbed a pair of homeless men on the same street, hitting them with a steel pipe. The three attacks occurred within a two-block area. He said police will remain vigilant in the area where Railsback was beaten, a place where the homeless commonly congregate and set up camps. But Henderson said these attacks seem spontaneous and without a clear motive. From 1999 to 2005, there were 472 attacks on the homeless nationwide, which resulted in 169 deaths, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. Nearly two-thirds of the attackers were between 11 and 19 years old. The area’s most high-profile homeless attack ended last year with the death of Michael Eugene Roberts in Holly Hill. The frail man was beaten May 25, 2005, on three separate occasions by a group of teens with logs, fists and sticks. Streetvibes entitlement structure of the program which allowed it to respond quickly to deep and urgent need; strong leadership from political appointees and career officials at the US Department of Agriculture; key efforts of state governments; efficiency of the Electronic Benefit Transfer delivery system; and outreach and advocacy by non-profit groups. The teens, who now are between 15 and 19 years old, were sentenced in April to prison terms between 22 and 35 years. Homeless men and women are particularly vulnerable to crimes against them because they represent an easy, visible target and often lack a place to retreat for safety and protection, Henderson said. Several clients of the Agape Clubhouse in DeLand, a daytime homeless shelter, said there is a group of teens that have threatened several homeless people in downtown. “They have ‘No Fear’ tattoos on their arms and necks,” said John Fowler, 48. “There’s a lack of respect with teenagers today.” Police did not know anything about the group. One woman who has lived on the streets of DeLand for three years said that many of the homeless have to look out for each other to prevent the attacks. “We have to stick together,” she said. “These kids think they are better than us.” Page 13 �Where I’m From by Joyce Robinson I’m from a place where there is beauty all around. I can see it in the people and in the phenomenal beauty of nature. It gives me a sense of appreciation that life is for me. When I smell the fragrance of roses penetrating through the air, It makes me wonder just exactly where I’m from. When I’m surrounded by trees and all kinds of exotic birds, I even imagine sometimes what it would be like just to fly. I’m from just the ordinary and not at all from the extraordinary. High up in the morning when I begin to rise, I feel the horizon, which makes me laugh and smile. It even gives me a shine just in time to dine, I don’t need to have my table set with all the resplendent, Or silverware and all the rest of the fancy stuff. I’m from a place where I couldn’t sleep at night. Taxi cabs and buses running all through the night, Tranquility once before I could not understand but, Just to know it now is exactly where I’m from. I’m from the stars that only I can know I glow like the sun as the new day moon. I’m happy just to be me and free I am indeed. From Stagnation To Motivation On Into Revelation by Joyce Ann Robinson We the people who are made so harmonious and so sweet, it is givin to us as an ocean so deep, and river’s so wide and mountains so high and valleys so low, streams so freshly flowing with all of God’s Blessing’s of delights. Even blazing fire which so for the better to be used wisely. For some of us we may pass up our Blessing, simply because we use our brains for a little while. Like a sink faucet we turn it off and on. We use our heart as if black coal is being added to continue to burn with hatred and all the rest of the evils that follow with it. We use our hands as if they were maintenance tools lying around never to be used and, for our torso bodies is concern. We use it like an old tree log just to decompose. Especially when we are able to do a lot more with it. We use our gender for self-control as if it takes the place of our resources and even to selfdestruct. It has become one of our major concerns in our society today. This is one of the reasons that a lot of us go through the waters, the floods, and even sometimes the fire. Some of us carry with us a great deal of sorrow, famine, and affliction. Most of us take our feet to places they should not go. We will always come across stumbling blocks in our live’s but, many will have plenty of them if they continue not to follow in a more clever path through life’s journey. We most not never forget the (Blood) not, the blood in which we see lying in the street’s when we go around self-destructing one another. Murdering our mothers, our fathers and our children. We need to draw closer to God, and in Jesus’s name and remember that it is His Blood that has healed and still heals and always will only, if we let him take control of our live’s. We may be able to plan our future but, only God knows where He wants us to go, what He wants us to say and, who He wants us to be, so leave room in your life and in your heart’s and let God lead you and remember, every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Page 14 I Will Never Be Homeless I will never be homeless, It won’t happen to me. I will never be homeless, Anonymous I’m doing so well, don’t you see? The law locks up the man or woman I have a good job, a nice house and a car, Who steals the goose from off the common I have everything I need to go far. But leaves the greater villain loose I am not like those Welfare bums, Who steals the common from off the goose. To whom prosperity never comes. The law demands that we alone You know, the ones who don’t want to work, When we take things we do not own Any kind of physical labor, they shirk. But leaves the lords and ladies fine All they want to do is drink, Who take things that are yours and mine. Some are not clean, and they stink. The poor and wretched don’t escape Then, I see a man, lying in the street, If they conspire the law to break; A tattered coat around him and no shoes on his feet. This must be so but they endure But, I sense that something is wrong, Those who conspire to make the law. That somehow, this man does not belong. The law locks up the man or woman So, I decide to stop to say hello, Who steals the goose from off the common And ask him why he fell so low. And geese will still a common lack He once worked on a street called Bay. Till they go and steal it back. Making good money every day. Then, one day his job was gone. He was told, “just go on home.” He soon just didn’t care, His purpose in life no longer there. He lost his family, his home, and his car. In just a few months, he fell so far. So here he was, on the street, With a tattered coat around him and no shoes on his feet. Then I saw the lines on his face and the pain in his eyes, I will never be homeless, will I? Streetvibes �BrokenGlass by Evanne Fisher I’m so Angry I slam the door The glass breaks. It falls to the floor Like sleet from the sky. Like the shattered pieces of my life, The broken glass lies at my feet As I look down, I see all of my hopes and dreams Splattered there amongst The glistening pieces of glass. I reach down to pick up the pieces of my life, The glass cuts my hands, Blood everywhere Dripping Flowing into the vast darkness Where I’ve chosen to live. Writers! Submit your Poetry to STREETVIBES ­ email your writing to Streetvibes@juno.com One check away “DEAR JUDGE” by William Moore ORDER IN THE COURT, I’VE BEEN ORDERED TO COME TO COURT ­ IT’S THE 3RD TIME, I’M BOUND TO DO SOME TIME ­ FOR AN OPEN CANTAINER, SLEEPING IN THE PARK AFTER DARK. AN OPEN CANTAINER, A HUNDRED AND SOMETHING DOLLARS ­ ”DEAR JUDGE” HOW CAN I PAY THIS WHEN I DONT HAVE NO JOB”? BOY, WHOS THE ONE GETTING ROBBED? by James Chionsini twinkling stars can’t keep you warm when you’re sleeping in the park till the break of dawn newspaper pillow and a plastic tarp watching for the pigs that come out after dark lost your job, got jacked and robbed your landlord said that’s not my prob doctor bills kill you, can’t afford the pills now you’re shaking, heart breaking drink as much as you spill waiting on the first to quench your thirst alleviate the discomfort of an asphalt earth trying to find a shelter to get some rest but nowhere seems safe without a knife proof vest if you could just get back to square one start to heal the disease that’s got you on the run feeling invisible going insane scowls and nightsticks fall like rain The homeless by Don Foran Ten men clamber out of the creaking van, Their sweaty bodies meeting a kiss Of cool night air. They drift, silently, sullenly Toward the darkened church. Mattresses lie, two or three to a room, Along walls decorated with children’s Drawings and almost casual crucifixions. Carl, Eddie, Jake and the others Throw their worn packs and bags Onto the makeshift beds, and John, It’s always John, is first to ask If he can have his sack lunch now, Not in the morning as we had planned. “Sure,” I say, almost as anxious as he To assuage this remediable hunger. Several echo John, and soon all Are feasting on pb and j; apples, celery, And other healthy fare remains on the table, But they’re happier now, even communicative. One thanks me for setting a new pair of white socks On each mattress. Another offers a juice cup To a friend. “Lights out!” Rick calls at ten, And no one argues, no one hesitates. Sleep Knits once more the raveled sleeve of care, Obliterates the hurt, soothes the jangled nerves. Tomorrow will be another day, Another cheerless day embroidered With small triumphs, fragile dreams. Shutter Speed Harold by JH Who is the man that staggers in the park? The old man, with gray hair… The poor gentleman that lives in a flea-bag hotel. The man that reminds me of my father, my dad… He’s tall and thin. Had an egg-sandwich for breakfast. In his tiny room, downtown. This thin man, this papa, the gray-haired guy, staggers in the park, on a brutal, hot day… He sits on the bench, with his counterfeit friend, and he falls on the ground, with the heavy limpness of a cruel torture. On the asphalt, in the shade of the trees, this old man falls. The deception of life, and the deny of death. I feel the spirit of this man, myself, on the ground, the hot, cruel asphalt… by Jimmy Heath Key West Sunset Celebration Streetvibes Page 15 �569-9500 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 241-5525 Mission Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House 324-2321 (Veterans) St. Francis/St.Joseph 381-4941 House 661-4620 Mt. Airy Center Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 SHELTERS: Women and Children YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 (Toll Free) 1-888-872-9259 921-1131 Bethany House 762-5660 Salvation Army Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis 859-491-3335 Center Grace Place Catholic Worker 681-2365 House Tom Gieger Guest House 961-4555 If you need help or would help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below. OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of 421-2437 Cincinnati Appalachian Identity 621-5991 Center 231-6630 Beech Acres Center for Independent Living 241-2600 Options Churches Active in 591-2246 Northside Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 381-4242 Contact Center Center for Respite Care 621-1868 241-2563 Emanuel Center Freestore/ 241-1064 Foodbank TREATMENT: Both 820-2947 N.A. Hopeline 351-0422 A.A. Hotline 381-6672 C.C.A.T. 684-7956 Talbert House Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In 721-0643 Program TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 921-1613 Prospect House 961-2256 Starting Over TREATMENT: Women 961-4663 First Step Home Full Circle Program 721-0643 HOUSING: 977-5660 CMHA Excel Development 632-7149 241-0504 Miami Purchase OTR Community Housing 381-1171 721-8666 Tender Mercies Dana Transitional Bridge 751-9797 Services, Inc 761-1480 Caracole (AIDS) 381-5432 Friars Club 721-0643 Drop Inn Center 863-8866 Haven House Interfaith 471-1100 Hospitality Lighthouse Youth Center 961-4080 (Teens) St. John’s Housing 651-6446 Want to Help? Need Help or like to Fransiscan Haircuts 381--0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental 946-8600 Health Board Mental Health Access 558-8888 Point Hamilton Co. TB Control 946-7601 Healing Connections 751-0600 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile 352-2902 Health Van House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 IJ & Peace Center 579-8547 241-0490 Justice Watch Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis. 271-5501 Center Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 Mercy Fransiscan at St John 981-5841 McMicken Dental 352-6363 Clinic NAMI (Mental Health) 948-3094 621-6364 Our Daily Bread Oral Health Council 621-0248 Over-the-Rhine Soup Kitchen 961-1983 Peaslee Neighborhood 621-5514 Center Project Connect, Homeless 363-1060 Kids People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 Services United For Mothers 487-7862 721-7660 Travelers Aid 721-7900 United Way VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping 872-9259 Women MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) 863-3184 St. Raphaels 863-1445 Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 July 2006 10 Years in Publication! Cincinnati Police Profiling The Homeless Cover Story 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 2006 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 2006 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: New Hope for the Homeless? Cincinnati Police Profiling Homeless Individuals Pg 2: Hope Continued Pg 3: Homeless News Digest Pg 4: American Revolutionary Pg 5: Homeless Man’s Story Becomes Book, Movie Pg 6: L.A. Decision Tolls a Bell for Portland’s Policies on Homeless Pg 7: Voice Mail Becomes Lifeline for Homeless Program Pg 8: Homeless at High Risk for Attacks Pg 9: Working, But Still Homeless NSA Has Massive Database of Americans’ Phone Calls Pg 10: Dying for Nixon, Dying for Bush Pg 11: A Mother’s Words Pg 12: Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless Streetvibes Pg 13: Prior Month Caseloads Reflect Disaster Food Stamp Program Pg 14: Arts & Poetry Pg 15: Arts & Poetry Continued Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 2006 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Georgine Getty Monique Little Kelly Carr Andy Lawrence John Lavelle Melvin Williams Susan Smith Berta Lambert Georgine Getty Jimmy Heath Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Andy Lawrence Berta Lambert Bush Cincinnati Drop Inn Center Food Stamp Program Georgine Getty Homeless News Digest Jimmy Heath John Lavelle Kelly Carr L.A. Melvin Williams Monique Little Nixon NSA Police police brutality Portland Susan Smith Washington D.C.