Streetvibes vol 18 issue 18 no 285 final

A u g . 2 8 t h - S e p t. 1 0 t h , 2 0 1 4 | V o l . 1 8 I s s u e 1 8 ( N o . 2 8 5 )

advocating justice | Building community

Street Theater Acting Out for a Cause| 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CINCINNATI STANDS WITH FERGUSON | 3

A “LUG A LOO” JUST WON’T DO! | 4

BASIC NEEDS 101 | 7

CAN LAND RIGHTS AND EDUCATION SAVE AN ANCIENT INDIAN TRIBE? | 8

Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

streetvoice | 12

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New OTR Community Council Trustees Elected JIM LUKEN

Contributing Writer “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

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- Martin Luther King

f I had written that line, I might insert the word “sometimes” between “but” and “it.” Here, amidst the Over-the-Rhine “renaissance,” the insertion might read “once in a great while” it bends toward justice.

The August 25th meeting of the OTRCC was a drawnout affair, but in the end it proved to be intensely interesting, even dramatic, and very important. Carefully presided over by the Council’s vice president, Seth Maney, the meeting began with the usual: Police, Fire Department, and Rec Center reports. Around 50 people were present at the start.

These reports were followed by lengthy discussions about lane changes on 14th Street, bicycle path issues, the Over the Rhine Foundation’s attempt to prevent the demolition of the Davis Furniture buildings on Main, and various other concerns of the attendees.

The main agenda item surfaced after almost two hours, with maybe 30 or so still there in the gym at the “Hub” (the OTR Rec Center).

A week earlier, Council Board of Trustees had met to choose two individuals to fill recent vacancies on the Board. Six candidates had put themselves up for “selection.” All six had been interviewed that night, and the Board selected two men: an African American man from Pendleton, Kareem Simpson, and a white man, Bradley Hughes, who lives on Pleasant Street.

A brouhaha ensued, related to the fact that Walter Carter, a black man living at Race and Green, had failed for the fourth time to be selected as a member of the board. Walt, a trusted figure in OTR, has been participating in general council meetings for many

years.

Council bylaws state that the Board “selects” responsible candidates, nominates them, and then — at the following Membership Meeting — presents them for approval. Thus, the group at large “elects” the new trustees. Usually, this is a formality, because the overall membership almost always goes along with the Board’s recommendations. On this night, approval was anything but a formality.

Before the final vote was taken, Josh Spring, Director of the Homeless Coalition, called for discussion. He had printed up some pie charts illustrating the fact that, while OTR remains decidedly poor and AfricanAmerican (approximately 75% to 25%), the Council’s Board of Trustees was in fact overwhelmingly white and middle class. At the time of the meeting, the ratio was 92, and was soon to become 103 (76%). Longtime Residents made strong arguments for the Council’s need to have a board that better reflects the makeup of OTR. Despite the “renaissance”, the area remains decidedly black, decidedly poor. Many attending insist that that reality needs to be better reflected on the board.

The Council’s bylaws stated that the election could be halted and that — if the group voted accordingly — Walter Carter could finally be appointed to the Board. This was proposed: 1. Instead of waiting another month for the Board to make its recommendations, the Council at large would hold a new election that same night.

2. There would be a vote in which both black candidates, Carter and Simpson - both very qualified for the position and both far more representative of OvertheRhine than the majority of the current Board - could be duly elected. If this vote should go the other way, the two candidates originally selected by Board (Hughes and Simpson), would prevail.

There was a great deal of back and

Rethinking the Police

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MICHAEL EARL PATTON

Contributing Writer

alk about the police varies from criticism about certain practices to unwavering support. Talk of reform is based on how to make the police more effective. Yes, police have a job to do.

Actually, they have several jobs to do.

The unasked question behind this is, is a police force the best way to do all of these jobs? And then we can ask about possible reforms.

The modern police force in the United States evolved from the night watchmen. There were no police in any of the 13 colonies. Before streets were lit, towns and cities were dark after sundown. The watchmen looked for crime and fires, raising the “hue and

cry” when they needed help. And the ordinary citizen was expected to help.

The first professional fire department in the whole country, being made up entirely of full-time paid employees, was started in Cincinnati in 1853. The Cincinnati Police Department started only in 1859.

The county sheriffs, on the other hand, had their origins in the Middle Ages. The sheriff represented the nobility in the county, or shire as it was called then. Sheriff comes from shire + reeve (reeve is an old word that means officer). In Ohio the sheriffs are elected and the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county.

In contrast, a city’s or town’s chief of

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forth discussion, some of it quite intense and fraught with passion. Walt Carter, spoke to the group on three occasions, insisting, again and again, that he had not sought to have the Board’s choices overturned, and that he would remain a loyal member of the OTR Council, whether he should be elected to the trusteeship or not.

Everyone seemed to be aware that we were dealing with a kind of microcosm of the same hot-button issue which continues to flare up across our entire country. Call it “inclusiveness,” call it Affirmative Action, call it nonintentional racism or institutional racism. Our little group of concerned residents, would make a painful, very simple, yet complicated decision this night.

What’ll it be? Black or white.

In the end, all three votes — by a three or four vote margin — went the way of those calling for proper community representation. Walter Carter, 54, father of five, longtime resident of OTR, would finally be entrusted with being a trustee on the Council of the community he loves.

Certainly, everyone felt sympathy for Brad Hughes. But this was an open election. Brad had been selected, but not elected. The system — as they say — worked.

A sociology professor from UC, Anna Linders has been attending OTRCC meetings for some time as an observer, although she lives in Mt Auburn (and also participates in that council). Ms. Linders felt that what she witnessed was “a good process. Decision making resides in the council [at large], and that’s a good thing.”

About candidate Walt Carter, Ms. Linders had this to say. “He demonstrated how appropriate it was that he should be a trustee.”

Clearly, Anna Linders did not have a stake in the outcome, so her comments carry a special weight. “I think the Council should feel good about itself.” she said. “It was a good example of democracy in action.”

We started with a quote. Let’s end with one.

“There is a crack, a crack, in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

- Anthem by Leonard Cohen Let there be light.

-----------------------the police is appointed by the mayor or other local government authority.

There is nothing that requires them to have their own police force. In Ohio, some towns choose not to have their own police, but have their law enforcement handled only by the county sheriff’s organization. In Butler County the Village of New Miami, for example, disbanded its police force during a budget crunch several years ago.

The difference between the sheriff and a police chief that I want to highlight is this: In Ohio the sheriff is an elected official and is accountable directly to the voters. The police chief is appointed and is accountable to the person or group that appointed them, and only indirectly to the voters. This is also true in Saint Louis County, Missouri, which has one of the few county-wide police

{Continued on page 12}

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty.

Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $1.50 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati.

113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Leslie Moorhead Director of Education: Michelle Dillingham Distributor Program Manager: Anna Worpenberg Layout: Jeni Jenkins, Uncaged Bird Design Studio Reception: Chris Fowler, Steve Reams Clarence Daniels Charles Carpenter Maintenance: Pete Roper CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Michael Earl Patton, Michelle Dillingham, Deborah Johnson, Jim Luken, Heather Glenn Gunnarson, Deborah Grayson, Paul Tobias, Sonny Williams, Joy Riley Croy, Bill Woods, Anna Worpenburg, Willa Denise Jones, Kim Green, Samuel Jackson III, Craig Smith, Elmore Morris, William Burdine Syndicated Writers: Manipadma Jena, Adam Forrest Photography/Artwork: Michelle Dillingham, Deborah Johnson, Jim Luken, Jason Haap, Joy Cory, Greenpeace, Manipadma Jena, The Big Issue UK, Justin Jeffre, Anna Worpenburg, Pew Research Center Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice.

Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office.

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No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

Cincinnati Stands with Ferguson MICHELLE DILLINGHAM

Staff Writer

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n August 14th a “National Moment of Silence” to honor victims of police brutality spread across the nation stemming from a call to action via Twitter (hashtag #NMOS14)

by Feminista Jones, a New York activist, writer, and social worker. Rev. Damon Lynch III hosted the Cincinnati gathering for Michael Brown and other victims of police brutality at his church, the New Prospect Baptist Church in Roselawn. A large group of mostly African-American men and women gathered to pray, talk, and plan for what to do next. Local newspaper clippings from 2007 covering the murder of Timothy Thomas by Cincinnati police were hung on posts surrounding the courtyard where well over 100 people sat in a large circle.

The conversation after the moment of silence centered on reflections of people’s experiences following the tragedy of the shooting of Thomas in 2007 (many of the activists who worked on Cincinnati police reform then were in Roselawn this evening), and what needs to happen here in Cincinnati today to continue to fight for justice. A mother expressed worry that her son could be shot down by police, an elder called for unity among the faith community, a young woman tearfully called out for guidance for the youth in Cincinnati to help them respond, and know what to do. Several people spoke of the need to continue to educate their communities about how to respond to the police.

What are their rights during an encounter with a police officer?

Do they know how to make a report if they feel they were unjustly treated? That although gains were made since 2007 following the federal consent decree to overhaul our police department, vigilance and instruction is still needed.

Last week the nation watched Ferguson Missouri wrapped in smoke, militarized police squadrons facing angry and grieving protesters at the murder of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown by police. Days later a Pew Research Center poll is released confirming what many intuitively already knew: white people and black people had very different perceptions of the recent murders.

From the report, results show that 80% of blacks agree that the shooting of Michael Brown raises important issues about race compared to 37% of whites.

Similarly 65% blacks agree that the police response to the shooting has gone too far, compared to only 33% of whites. Some conclude the poll indicates white people don’t see the shooting as an issue of institutional racism, despite overwhelming

evidence that significant disparities remain between whites and blacks (education, income, economic mobility, justice, health, etc.).

The 37% of whites who do see the shooting of Michael Brown as racial injustice, they grapple with how to respond, how to engage, how to help.

There have been some very well written articles about what white people can do about Ferguson, most notably “Becoming a White Ally to Black People in the Aftermath of the Michael Brown Murder” by Janee Woods.

Many of her suggestions include knowing our history, educating oneself on “modern forms of oppression”, and rejecting various narratives and disempowering language (use “uprising” or “protest”, not “riot”).

Ms. Woods article inspired and challenged me to think about what we in Cincinnati can do to be better allies in fighting for racial justice.

The Education Programs here at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless focus on fighting to end discrimination and hate against persons experiencing homelessness. We are always looking for the most effective

strategies for ending discrimination.

I’ve found that working for justice for marginalized groups can be instructive for any fight, including the one for racial discrimination. Below are a few ideas I came up with directly inspired

by Janee Woods’ article: 1. Learn your Cincinnati history, how longstanding racial tensions con-

Cincinnati’s moment of silence. Photo: Michelle Dillingham. tributed to the uprising in 2007 following the murder of Timothy Thomas, a young African-American man who was killed by Cincinnati police.

Learn about the subsequent fight to reform the Cincinnati Police Department, and the promise of the model of community-oriented policing.

2. Understand some basic definitions and challenge your understanding of: discrimination, prejudice, hate, stereotypes, and intolerance.

Learn to identify various narratives

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

and language used in local Cincinnati media, and among your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues that perpetuate race oppression (such as blaming the victim, and focusing on the victim’s character).

3. Do not avoid discussions of race discrimination by attributing all problems to income inequality. Class issues are real, but should not be used to avoid the realities of racial injustice.

4. Challenge yourself and your peers to work for equality and justice in Cincinnati. Help them understand racial discrimination is still very much a reality. Support initiatives to help educate African-American and other communities of color how to respond when they are pulled over by the police in order to stay safe. Be proactive in your own neighborhoods, organize a community conversation about race.

The following is a list of local organizations you can connect to for information, or to get involved. There are surely many more including statewide and national groups, but this is a good start to help familiarize yourself with local groups working for racial justice: The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC), Cincinnati Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice, AMOS, Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC), Center for Peace Education, Community Police Partnering Center, Contact Center, Inc., Closing the Health Gap, Faith Community Alliance, NAACP, National Action Network (NAN), Urban League, Su Casa, Xavier University Programs in Peace and Justice, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

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A “Lug A Loo” just won’t do!

DEBORAH JOHNSON

Contributing Writer

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ew plumbing in Cincinnati, sounds great to start, but what has this city come to?

We do have an issue with public restrooms. Can’t we find another solution to this problem other than this?

I have to say the sights my eyes were seeing on this day were beautiful, with colorful art-filled walls on buildings and such groomed flowers on the streets. I took a short cut through an alley and to my surprise I came across a “PUBLIC RESTROOM”, a “LUG A LOO”. Not only that, but you’re being videotaped. (Do note that I have taken this alley before and the sign was there long before the Lug A Loo.) There had been a problem with people using this area for a “Relief Spot”. Seems the sign alone wasn’t working so they tried something new, a “Lug A Loo”. There’s been no help from the city or local businesses to make public restrooms available for EVERYONE. The Lug A Loo is not luggable any longer, it’s chained to the building.

I have to say its creative and to me it sends a strong message that we need public restrooms that are private. But to the ones who tried, Hats Off to You. The city encourages people to go metro, trolley or streetcar. We have all of this public transportation that

has people waiting all over the city in public and their bus ride might be an hour or more. They need access to a restroom in more downtown areas.

We also have a large population of people experiencing homelessness that have very limited access to restrooms.

We have children and the elderly with medical issues. There’s so many people who need this issue addressed and we all need to take real action to put the lack of public restrooms in Cincinnati to an end. We all need to get involved and put forth an effort to keep Cincinnati beautiful.

Think of all the people who are visiting our city, to see our growth and take ideas home to improve their city.

Hope they don’t walk down this alley!

I couldn’t get the Lug A Loo off my mind. So many questions. Do the police allow this? Do people that use this get in trouble?

I went back to see the area again, the place had not been cleaned up at all. It was being used as you can see in photos. I thought the persons responsible for placing this device there would keep it clean. I looked closer this visit. The label does tell you to use a product in the Lug A Loo to make it biodegradable, that product was not being used either. It seems that these are being sold for camping use.

My mind has been going round

Lug A Loo in alley. Photo: Deborah Johnson. and round on this subject. Lots could come of this like new small businesses and new jobs. We could have this as a community service job or maybe have volunteers. This issue is open to discussion. If I have ideas so do many of

you. Put your ideas on the table. Let’s see how we can address this issue and find a solution to an important problem, a lack of public restrooms!

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Basic Needs 101 (Part 2) Born to Loo

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JIM LUKEN

Contributing Writer

art Two of Cincinnati’s onagain/offagain relationship with humane public restrooms.

Last issue, Streetvibes readers learned that our sixth (maybe our second) most basic need has to do with being able to relieve ourselves in what are sometimes referred to as “necessary rooms.” I need not explain how and why this term came into existence.

In downtown Cincinnati, now preening in the glow of its yuppie “Renaissance,” there are very few such public places where people can access a restroom, a bathroom, a W.C., a john, a can, a privy, a jakes, an outhouse.

We learned that, in our enlightened city, no such place is OPEN ALL NITE downtown...or anywhere else, maybe.

All the while, the number of people living on the streets grows, day by day.

This has caused/is causing the city some serious problems. At the Courthouse, and in certain business districts of “the new” OTR, problems of urine smell and fecal matter have even made it into the headlines of our local news daily. Hamilton County has kicked homeless sleepers from the courtroom steps, forcing them to take their business elsewhere.

But the difficulties our city officials and business owners face pale by comparison to the problems of homeless people, and of poor transients, who sometimes find that their most basic needs simply cannot be put off until,

say, the library opens at 9 AM. Here are two unassailable facts.

1. The city of Cincinnati is receiving more and more complaints about homeless people relieving themselves in alleys, obscure and semiobscure places in the vicinity of downtown, and especially near the OTR business district. Needless to say, this “practice” of occasional overnight defecation and urination by homeless people creates lots of public health problems.

2. Let’s be clear about this. Like most everyone, homeless people would much rather relieve themselves in a proper facility.

3. The solution seems simple: Cincinnati needs outhouses. Relatively cheap accessible buildings where human beings can go to do what nature insists that they do. In the last issue we described such a beast, i.e., some variation of the “loos” found in Portland, Oregon, which were described as “cost effective public restrooms that provide maximum function in minimum space, and are safe, accessible, available, attractive and easy to maintain.”

The City of Cincinnati has been toying with this concept for quite some time. Below you will read a short history, followed by—to repeat—a nobrainer way to make certain we find the right solutions.

A short history of the “Issue” In 2001, entrepreneur, Jack Sim of Singapore left the business world to create the World Toilet Organization

Ziegler Park. Photo: Jim Luken. to bring international attention to the importance of sanitation in development. Sim was instrumental in supporting the United Nations’ plans for the International Year of Sanitation in 2008.

In 2010, the United Nations declared that access to water and proper sanitation is a human right. Does anyone want to disagree with this idea?

In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 19 November – the founding date of the World Toilet Organization – as United Nations World Toilet Day. [Follow Streetvibes for announcements about our local, firstever, Toilet Bowl Parade and events on that date].

As early as September, 2008, writing as “The Dean of Cincinnati,” Cincinnati Beacon columnist Jason Haap was beating the drum and questioning 3CDC’s restroomclosing practices at Fountain Square.

Haap was already in contact with the city of Portland about their suc-

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

cessful “loo” program. One official told him, “The idea (of the freestanding, openair loo) is to grant less privacy and to make them less comfortable so people spend less time in the bathroom.

This will encourage selfpolicing in high traffic areas.”

Locally, in the early summer of 2012, Councilman Chris Seelbach introduced a motion to Council that the city look into this important issue. A majority of Council signed on to his motion, but it was never acted upon.

Apparently, since it was an election year, no one wanted to advocate spending City resources on something so trivial as a restroom. The loos as found in Portland cost around $135,000 to construct, ship and install.

On November 9, 2012, Streetvibes once again took the lead on this issue.

Columnist Haap asked rhetorically “Is the Portland Loo coming to Cincinnati?” Haap described the confusing impasse at City Council, and advocated

{Continued on page 13}

No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

COALITION CLIFFNOTES

LOCAL

In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first.— Jimi Hendrix

This is not a camping trip...its City-Wide Shantytown!

MICHELLE DILLINGHAM

Staff Writer

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o cell phones, iPads, no ordering pizza, no snacks, no blow-up mattresses from home. This is not a camping trip - it’s City-Wide Shantytown, an overnight sleep out to raise awareness of the systemic problem of homelessness in our communities.

It is impossible to comprehend in any “educational” setting, even in

an overnight sleep out, the complete experience or the realities of daily life for persons experiencing homelessness. And really, City-Wide Shantytown is not meant to. It is simply an experience to raise awareness, and to make the problem of homelessness more visible.

The sleep out lasts just 12-18 hours at most, and then participants

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get to return home tired, to a hot shower, hot food, and to their warm, clean bed. But by having a home to return to, it awakens them to the privilege of being housed. Even after just one night, feedback from student groups in past years has been that they felt it was a serious and awakening experience.

The Shantytown program includes educating groups about the basics of the local housing crisis, for example that in 2013 in Hamilton County alone, over 8,000 people used a homeless shelter or were on the street. 30% of them were children.

Organizers of the event are encouraged to have participants do reflective work in journals and/or poetry before, during, and after the sleep out asking themselves: • What are my expectations of this experience?

• What fears, doubts or questions do I bring to this experience?

• What are my current perceptions of people who are without homes?

• How do I perceive the homeless experience?

• How did the Shantytown sleep out impact my view of homelessness?

• What causes homelessness?

We are encouraging participants this year to submit their reflections to this newspaper so we can publish their writing. Our hope at the Coalition is that Shantytown participants will develop a deeper emotional and experiential empathy for people who are experiencing homelessness, and that this will lead to civic action.

The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is in our 7th Cincinnati City-Wide Shantytown in partnership with Faces without Places – who works to remove barriers to education for children and youth experiencing homelessness, and The Mayerson Service-Learning Program – who supports the involvement of high school students, their teachers and their schools in strengthening community through volunteer service. Groups can register for their Shantytown on the Coalition website at cincihomeless.org, or call Michelle Dillingham at (513) 421-7803.

Coalition works towards this goal by coordinating services, educating the public, and engaging in grassroots organizing and advocacy.

Day Calendar today and assist our Distributors, students, and community work together to eradicate homelessness. Pre-order your 2015 calendars online today! http://cincihomeless.org/2015calendar/

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Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Announces an Exhibition for the 2015 Day by Day Calendar the 5th annual day by day calendar is available for pre-order HEATHER GLENN GUNNARSON

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Staff Writer

n Cincinnati, more than 25,000 people experience homelessness each year. 10% of students at Cincinnati Public Schools are experiencing homelessness. 60% of homeless men and 45% of homeless women work.

Day by Day is an annual calendar produced by the Homeless Coalition, Prairie Inc., and the Mayerson Foundation. It features photographs taken by individuals experiencing homelessness learning photography alongside high school students. These budding photographers also learn about each other.

The 2015 Calendar will mark the 5th year the Day by Day project has made a positive impact. The mission of the Day by Day calendar is to create economic opportunities for individuals experiencing poverty.

• Since 2010, Streetvibes Distributors have distributed more than 4,000 Day by Day calendars to the community.

• In 2013, $2,916 in net supplemental income was earned by distributors.

• In 2013, 25 distributors earned extra income.

• In 2013, the average income was $135.

• In 2014, we hope to sell over 1,500 calendars.

This project does more than impact the economic status of our Streetvibes distributors – Day by Day promotes arts education, connects communities, and empowers individuals to learn.

To celebrate the launch of the 2015 Day by Day Calendar, the Homeless Coalition, Prairie Inc., and the Mayerson Foundation are proud to announce an exhibition featuring the photographs taken this year. The exhibition is from 6pm to 8pm on September 13th, at Prairie, Inc. 4035 Hamilton Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45223.

Founded in 1985, Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition is a unified social action agency, fully committed to its ultimate goal: the eradication of homelessness with respect for the dignity and diversity of its membership, the homeless and the community. The

For more information on Day by Day Calendar: Support the Day by

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HOMELESS COALITION EDUCATION AND OUTREACH “BREAKDOWN STEREOTYPES & ERADICATE MISINFORMATION” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community.

To schedule a speaker, contact Michelle Dillingham at (513) 421.7803 x14

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LETTERS

A u g . 28 - S e p t .10, 2014 | N o . 28 5

Letter to the Editor: In Response to “Blocking a Public Roadway” Dear Editor, The article, “Blocking a Public Roadway,” referring to the partial lane closure on Clifton Hills Avenue could have benefitted from more research. The “bollards” currently blocking eastbound traffic are not permanent, but are a temporary measure while the neighborhood-not just this street-determines a more permanent solution to the massive increase of traffic caused by the I-75 Hopple Exit reconstruction. How big is the problem? Traffic counts done in June 2014 (with UC and Cincinnati State on summer schedules) showed traffic had more than doubled from 2008 to 3,800 cars a day. Between 6:30-7 a.m. an average of one car per nine seconds barrels up the hill (many barely slowing down after exiting I-74 to Central Parkway and then up CHA) For readers who have not been on Clifton Hills Avenue, it is a winding street, with a steep grade and has no sidewalks, so that pedestrians must walk in the street. This includes students of DePaul Cristo Rey High School who take Metro to Ludlow and walk the last block to and Blocked lane Photo credit: Jason Haap. from their school which sits at the corner of Central Parkway and CHA. Residents of CHA asked the City to recommend a temporary measure that could be put in place before the school returned on August 4 to safeguard their safety and our own while we discussed a more permanent solution. The temporary solution recommended was the partial barrier. It has very few advocates as a long term solution.

As Jason Haap points out, the current I-74 ramp to Central Parkway was poorly designed. It permits traffic to turn only right when many people want to go left to Ludlow or Northside. ODOT has advised us, however, that the length of the ramp is too short to build a left turn. The fact is, that ramp has to come down to permit the construction of a northbound ramp onto I-75 from the Hopple intersection. The date it will be demolished is under discussion as many interests are involved, including the Uptown community. (The new ramp will facilitate Uptown access from MLK to I-75 North) Not all decisions should revolve around what is the fastest way for a car to get from point A to point B. The safety of pedestrians and cyclists and the livability of communities should also be considered. So while we work to build a consensus on an appropriate solution, we ask for the patience of drivers as they add a few minutes onto their commute.

Deborah Grayson

Letter to the Editor: In Response to “Cincinnati’s rally in support of Palestine” Dear Editor, I generally read, admire and praise the important articles in your newspaper, particularly regarding problems of the poor in our city.

However, I was very, very disappointed in Ben Stockwell’s article regarding the Israel Gaza conflict as overly one sided in favor of Hamas.

Hopefully you will see fit to soon publish a statement describing Israel’s position.

& Invite you to attend

the Gavel Behind the B Meet the Learn Hamilton County the function Court of Common of the common Pleas judicial pleas courts candidates

Very truly yours, Paul Tobias

Letter to the Editor Dear Editor, Prosecutor disrespected Judge Tracy Hunter, on August 14th in Judge Nadel’s courtroom in the Hamilton County Courthouse during Judge Tracy Hunter’s evidence hearing. The special prosecutor and his assistant, both said that Tracy Hunter was mishandling the Juvenile Court and she was gaming the taxpayers, who voted her in the Judge’s office.

I felt Judge Nadel didn’t want to allow large amounts of evidence that the Defense Attorney requested. Also an official of the Juvenile Court told the attorney for Tracy hunter, that she would not respond to a subpoena to turn over records, because she does not care about their records request to Juvenile Court.

This seemed arrogant and disrespectful to Tracy Hunter’s black attorney.

Monday, Sept. 22, 6 to 8 p.m.

At Cincinnati Bar Association Fifth Floor Conference Center (225 E. Sixth Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202) Join us for light hors d'oeuvres and a brief overview of the common pleas courts and meet the candidates who are running for judges in these courts.

Real time closed-captioning of the program and speakers will be provided for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Space is limited.

Please RSVP at becky@lwvcincinnati.org or 513-281-8683.

Co-Sponsored by:

The Downtown Residents Council

This event is made possible in part by the Joyce Foundation and the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund

Sonny Williams, Former Streetvibes Distributor Clifton

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No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

Street Theater - Acting Out for a Cause

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JOY RILEY CROY

Contributing Writer

ho wouldn’t enjoy being involved with a theater group that seeks out emotionally charged, controversial political and social issues? The weather can be uncooperative, audiences small and acoustics a challenge. It is difficult for the actors to schedule rehearsal times, props are minimal and most often the performers receive no pay other than the occasional coins dropped in a hat.

The venue is usually highly visible, with a steady foot traffic since many of the spectators just happen onto a performance, perhaps heading to or from work. The plays are short and to the point and usually it is too big a temptation not to stop, watch and listen.

That’s the goal of all Street Theater — audience involvement.

Because Street Theater is avail-

ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) has become an international advocacy group after achieving its initial goal of demanding legislation, medical research and treatment for the Lesbian and Gay communities during a real but politically ignored pandemic — AIDS. This was “just” the latest example of civil disobedience for a cause.

The group was able to shut down the Food and Drug Administration for an entire day and newspapers reported the demonstration rivaled those against the Vietnam War. The fight for more drugs and education was just a different kind of war. Protestors also occupied the grounds of the National Institutes of Health and placed mock headstones decrying the deaths due to greedy profiteers. The goal was affordable medicine for AIDS victims as well

Life Theater. Photo: Joy Croy. tion policy to become multiracial and twenty years later added a policy to become multigenerational. The SFMT had more serious goals as they organized protests against Dow Chemical Company, the maker of napalm, by acting like recruiters in a tongue - in cheek attempt to satirize the horror of the Vietnam War. And then there is the one and only Reverend Billy. I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself. That would be the REVEREND BILLY and the CHURCH OF STOP SHOPPING. The Reverend and his choir describe themselves as “wild anti-consumerist gospel shouters and Earth loving urban activists.” Reverend Billy began his preaching on the sidewalks of New York in the mid ‘90s with a portable pulpit. He remains filled with energy and whether it comes from a Holy Spirit or just wholly made up, his unique style is part of street theater.

Rev. Billy has performed cash register exorcisms and retail interventions. He defends independent shops (like the one my parents owned and struggled to keep open after a nearby

compromises, speeches, prayers, jeers and tears... and a Street Theater production called Christmas in July. This 15-minute play was performed by a small but determined group of activists who strongly believed in their message: Let the women of the Anna Louise Inn stay. It was a performance I will not soon forget though I guess for all intents and purposes the controversy is over... or is it?

The characters were easily recognizable. On one side: a judge and an actor who looked remarkably like John Barrett, brilliantly played by our beloved Cincinnati activist Jim Luken; on the other side, Mary and Joseph.

Mr. Barrett/Jim was dressed in a suit and top hat with dollar bills stuffed in his ears. The judge wore a simple black robe and carried a gavel which he pounded ineffectually, offering his agreement and support of Mr. Barrett.

The crowd, which included those who had rehearsed and others who quickly joined in the spirit of the performance, chanted repeatedly, “Let the women stay.”

Greenpeace protests P&G. Photo: Greenpeace. able to any and all who stop to listen, it provides an opportunity regardless of our socioeconomic background to be entertained thoughtfully and to contemplate an issue that we had previously given little thought to or were completely unaware of. The investment is our time, not our money.

Street Theater can be done cheaply with few props but that does not necessarily lessen its potential impact on an audience. Street Theater has a unique energy, the energy of the streets and the heart and soul of the actors who participate.

Could it be just entertainment? Is it just entertainment to be concerned about homelessness, AIDS, genocide, wars, capitalism, climate change, gentrification, racial profiling... add your own concerns to the list.

What about the spectacular Greenpeace protest high above the streets on the wire linking the Procter and Gamble towers? They were protesting P&G’s policy of buying palm oil that is linked to rainforest destruction and endangering species like the Sumatran tiger and orangutan. This all in the name of profit — producing everyday products like Head and Shoulders and Oil of Olay. The protest by Greenpeace was definitely theatrical and had national if not worldwide impact. Yet it could also be argued that one person’s Street Theater can be another’s definition of civil disobedience.

as medical research and acknowledgement that there indeed was a pandemic. Often the protests were described as angry and extreme but to direct attention to certain issues, it seemed necessary. Desperate times do indeed cry for desperate measures.

Bread and Puppet Theater began in the early ‘60s with hand and stick puppets used in shows to entertain children. Their first skit centered around neighborhood concerns involving rents, rats and police. As the puppets grew bigger and more complex, theater pieces were added such as sculpture, music and dance.

Vietnam War protests could be blocks long and include hundreds of puppets and people. From its humble beginnings Bread and Puppet Theater is now housed most of the time in Glover, Vermont, and has also become a touring company across America and abroad. It remains one of the oldest, nonprofit, self-supporting theatrical companies in the country.

THE SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE, lovingly known as SFMT, began as an experimental movement based on commedia dell’arte (comedy of art). This type of theater had its beginning in Italy in the 16th century as professional players formed traveling troupes. Comedy was a stable factor woven into a meaningful message. In 1974 the Troupe adopted an affirmative a c -

Life Theater. Photo: Joy Croy. mall was built), community gardens (bountiful ones in some local communities such as Madisonville and the rooftop gardens at the Rothenberg Preparatory Academy) and local economies. His performances can be outdoor events here, there and everywhere — between cars in traffic jams, in Redwood forests, the roof of Carnegie Hall in a snowstorm, Burning Man, Times Square and Coney Island.

Perhaps we could entice him to bring his pulpit to our fair city?

ANNA LOUISE INN There were promises, marches, meetings, negotiations, proposed

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

Mr. B. continually moaned and groaned that he could not hear what the people wanted. Joseph and Mary entered humbly, dressed in their Biblical attire and in the company of a surprisingly realistic looking cardboard donkey. They approached Mr. B., the innkeeper, requesting a place to stay since Mary was with child. Mary pleaded for a place for herself and the other women, but their voices fell on deaf money-stuffed ears, with the coldly repetitious response, “There is no room for the women at my inn.”

Voices from the audience became

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A u g . 28 - S e p t .10, 2014 | N o . 28 5

Can Land Rights And Education Save An Ancient Indian Tribe?

MANIPADMA JENA

www.street-papers.org / IPS The Upper Bonda tribe of India have long been resistant to contact with the outside world and are fiercely sceptical of modern development. However, a dwindling population and a younger generation increasingly frustrated with living in poverty are pushing the tribe towards greater interaction with modern society.

S

cattered across 31 remote hilltop villages on a mountain range that towers 1,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level, in the Malkangiri district of India’s eastern Odisha state, the Upper Bonda people are considered one of this country’s most ancient tribes, having barely altered their lifestyle in over a thousand years.

Resistant to contact with the outside world and fiercely skeptical of modern development, this community of under 7,000 people is struggling to maintain its way of life and provide for a younger generation that is growing increasingly frustrated with poverty - 90 percent of Bonda people live on less than a dollar a day - and intercommunal violence.

Recent government schemes to improve the Bonda people’s access to land titles is bringing change to the community, and opening doors to high-school education, which was hitherto difficult or impossible for many to access.

But with these changes come questions about the future of the tribe, whose overall population growth rate between 2001 and 2010 was just 7.65 percent according to two surveys conducted by the Odisha government’s Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI).

First land rights, then education In a windowless mud hut in the Bonda Ghati, a steep-sloping mountainous region in southwest Odisha, Saniya Kirsani talks loudly and drunkenly about his plans for the acre of land that he recently acquired the title to.

The 50-year-old Bonda man has illusions of setting up a mango orchard in his native Tulagurum village, which will enable him to produce the fruity liquor that keeps him in a state of intoxication.

His wife, Hadi Kirsani, harbours far more realistic plans. For her, the land deeds mean first and foremost that their 14-year-old son, Buda Kirsani, can finally go back to school. He dropped out after completing fifth grade in early 2013, bereft of hopes for further education because the nearest public high school in Mudulipada was unaffordable to his family.

Moreover, he would have had to walk 12 km, crossing hill ranges and navigating steep terrain, to get to his classroom every day.

Admission to the local tribal resident school, also located in Mudulipada, required a land ownership document that would certify the family’s tribal status, which they did not possess.

The Kirsani family had been left

out of a wave of reforms in 2010 under the Forest Rights Act, which granted 1,248 Upper Bonda families land titles but left 532 households landless.

Last October, with the help of Landesa, a global non-profit organisation working on land rights for the poor, Buda’s family finally extracted the deed to their land from the Odisha government.

Carefully placing Buda’s only two sets of worn clothes into a bag, Hadi struggles to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes as she tells IPS that her son is now one of 31 children from the 44-household village who, for the first time ever, has the ability to study beyond primarily school.

She is not alone in her desire to educate her child. Literacy among Upper Bonda men is a miserable 12 percent, while female literacy is only six percent, according to a 2010 SCSTRTI baseline survey, compared to India’s national male literacy rate of 74 percent and female literacy of 65 percent.

For centuries, the ability to read and write was not a skill the Bonda people sought. Their ancient Remo language has no accompanying script and is passed down orally.

As hunters and foragers, the community has subsisted for many generations entirely off the surrounding forests, bartering goods like millet, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, yams, fruits, berries and wild spinach in local markets.

Up until very recently, most Upper Bondas wove and bartered their own cloth made from a plant called ‘kereng’, in addition to producing their own brooms from wild grass.

Thus they had little need to enter mainstream society.

But a wave of deforestation has degraded their land and the streams on which they depend for irrigation.

Erratic rainfall over the last decade has affected crop yields, and the forest department’s refusal to allow them to practice their traditional ‘slash and burn’ cultivation has made it difficult for the community to feed itself as it has done for hundreds of years.

Mainstreaming: helping or hurting the community?

Since 1976, with the establishment of the Bonda Development Agency, efforts have been made to bring the Upper Bonda people into the mainstream, providing education, better sanitation and drinking water facilities, and land rights.

“Land ownership enables them to stand on their own feet for the purpose of livelihood, and empowers them, as their economy is predominantly limited to the land and forests,” states India’s National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), a key policy advisory body.

Bonda women in the remote Tulagurum Village in the eastern Indian state of Odisha seldom allow themselves to be photographed.

Photo: Manipadma Jena/IPS Efforts to mainstream the Bonda people suffered a setback in the late 1990s, when left-wing extremists deepened the community’s exclusion and poverty by turning the Bonda mountain range into an important operating base along India’s so-called ‘Red Corridor’, which stretches across nine states in the country’s central and eastern regions and is allegedly rife with Maoist rebels.

Still, Odisha’s tribal development minister Lal Bihari Himirika is confident that new schemes to uplift the community will bear fruit.

“Upon completion, the ‘5000-hostel scheme’ will provide half a million tribal boys and girls education and mainstreaming,” he told IPS on the sidelines of the launch of Plan International’s ‘Because I Am A Girl’ campaign in Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, last year.

The state’s 9.6 million tribal people constitute almost a fourth of its total population. Of these tribal groups, the Upper Bonda people are a key concern for the government and have been named a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PTG) as a result of their low literacy rates, declining population and practice of pre-agricultural farming.

Social activists like 34-year-old Dambaru Sisa, the first ever Upper Bonda to be elected into the state legislature in 2014, believe mainstreaming the Bonda community is crucial for the entire group’s survival.

Orphaned as a child and educated at a Christian missionary school in Malkangiri, Sisa now holds a double Masters’ degree in mathematics and law, and is concerned about his people’s future.

“Our cultural identity, especially our unique Remo dialect, must be preserved,” he told IPS. “At the same time, with increased awareness, [the] customs and superstitions harming our people will slowly be eradicated.”

He cited the Upper Bonda people’s customary marriages - with women generally marrying boys who are roughly ten years younger - as one of the practices harming his community.

Women traditionally manage the household, while men and boys are responsible for hunting and gathering food. To do so, they are trained in archery but possession of weapons often

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leads to brawls within the community itself as a result of Bonda men’s quick tempers, their penchant for alcohol and fierce protection of their wives.

A decade ago, an average of four men were killed by their own sons or nephews, usually in fights over their wives, according to Manoranjan Mahakul, a government official with the Odisha Tribal Empowerment & Livelihood Programme (OTELP), who has worked here for over 20 years.

Even now, several Bonda men are in prison for murder, Mahakul told IPS, though lenient laws allow for their early release after three years.

“High infant mortality, alcoholism and unsanitary living conditions, in close proximity to pigs and poultry, combined with a lack of nutritional food, superstitions about diseases and lack of medical facilities are taking their toll,” Sukra Kirsani, Landesa’s community resource person in Tulagurum village, told IPS. The tribe’s drinking water is sourced from streams originating in the hills. All families practice open defecation, usually close to the streams, which results in diarrhoea epidemics during the monsoon seasons.

Despite a glaring need for change, experts say it will not come easy.

“Getting Bonda children to high school is half the battle won,” Sisa stated. “However, there are question marks on the quality of education in residential schools. While the list of enrolled students is long, in actuality many are not in the hostels. Some run away to work in roadside eateries or are back home,” he added.

The problem, Sisa says, is that instead of being taught in their mother tongue, students are forced to study in the Odia language or a more mainstream local tribal dialect, which none of them understand.

The government has responded to this by showing a willingness to lower the required qualifications for teachers in order to attract Bondas teachers to the classrooms.

Still, more will have to be done to ensure the even development of this dwindling tribe.

“The abundant funds pouring in for Bondas’ development need to be transparently utilised so that the various inputs work in synergy and show results,” Sisa concluded.

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No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

From War To The Streets

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WORLD

ADAM FORREST

www.street-papers.org The Big Issue UK In Britain, some six per cent of The Big Issue UK’s 700 vendors are military veterans, most of whom became homeless after struggling to deal with their experiences at war. Experts say one fifth of soldiers who return home from conflicts are likely to suffer from mental ill health, with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder tragically common. As the centenary of the First World War reminds the world of the sacrifices young servicemen and women made for their country – and continue to make – Adam Forrest of The Big Issue UK speaks to veterans who sell the street paper.

R

on Heap finds it easy to spot a fellow veteran on the streets of central London. “If someone’s walking towards me, I know if they’re forces or ex-forces. There’s a way of conducting yourself. And people see it in me. They only need to look at the way I’ve shined my boots, then they’ll ask me if I was in the forces.”

Ron, now 68-years-old, sells The Big Issue in Covent Garden. He grew up in a military family and served in the Royal Artillery for 22 years, leaving in 1986. He was a driving instructor for several decades, but a spell of alcoholism led him to “fall off the edge” for a while. He’s now sober and living in supported accommodation in South London. And each Thursday he travels to Canary Wharf to sell the magazine inside the Northern Trust’s offices as part of The Big Issue Foundation’s corporate placement programme.

“After becoming homeless it took time for me to allow people to help,” he explains. “I’d been used to roughing it in the army for many years, so life on the streets was not as unfamiliar as you might think. The army life, the training, it stays with you. It gives you a pride, maybe too much pride in not asking for help. There’s a self-reliance that kicks in when things get tough.”

A snapshot survey of 700 of The Big Issue’s vendors shows 6% are exservice personnel. “There is a kind of delayed reaction when problems mount, so it’s often many years after leaving the military that people come to us,” explains Stephen Robertson, CEO of The Big Issue Foundation. “Undoubtedly, there will be future vendors with experience in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sadly, some come crashing through every kind of safety net there is.”

According to Combat Stress, 20% of veterans are likely to suffer from mental ill health. The most complex and debilitating condition some suffer is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our understanding of PTSD dates back to the WWI, when soldiers suffering from “shell shock” neuroses were treated with little sympathy: help was restricted to electric shock therapy and solitary confinement. But in May 1919 Combat Stress opened the first “recuperative home” and over the course of many decades recognition of PTSD and the kind of support available have been transformed.

Experts now understand PTSD as a “memory filing error” which can happen when people are exposed to life-threatening situations and the emotional trauma is temporarily put on hold, unable to be processed. It can lead to the re-experiencing of the

traumatic experience (flashbacks), cycles of intense anxiety and emotional numbing, and the kind of avoidance which leaves people isolated.

On average it takes 13 years before veterans seek help for their mental health problems. But this has fallen to an average of just 18 months for the relatively young veterans of the war in Afghanistan. Combat Stress hopes the specialist treatment and therapy for PTSD, anxiety and depression offered at centres in Ayrshire, Shropshire and Surrey will help ex-service personnel deal with their problems before they escalate into a full-blown breakdown.

Stephen Stone recently began selling The Big Issue near London’s Waterloo station. Stephen, now 58 and homeless, served in the Royal Artillery between 1974 and 1980, enduring two tours in Northern Ireland. “Coming out the army, there’s a handshake, a cheerio and your little red book - your service record,” he explains. “But there’s no pathway into another life on Civvy Street. I just couldn’t stick 9 to 5 jobs. I couldn’t stand seeing things done wrong, done badly. And I wasn’t very patient. In the army life was never dull, that’s for sure. It’s disciplined, but it’s exciting too, in its own way.”

Big Issue vendor Ron Heap is a Royal Artillery veteran.

Photo: Courtesy of The Big Issue UK and also expects to begin a course of counselling soon. “It was actually back when I was in prison that the psychologist diagnosed me with PTSD,” Stephen recalls. “It shocked me. It wasn’t something I expected. But I suppose it does explain why I found it difficult to cope with things, the flashbacks and the sense of wanting to hide away from people. In those periods, living with PTSD is not a nice place to be.

“Northern Ireland was not a good place to be when I was there,” he recalls. “I think people forget a lot of soldiers were killed in Northern Ireland.

I still remember an estate we’d go through that was an IRA stronghold.

You’d drive through sniper alley, as it was called, and hear the dogs barking and the dustbin lids being rattled and only begin breathing again when you got through. I find it very difficult thinking about what the younger guys have been going through, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq.”

Stephen is not the only one worried about the thousands re-entering

PTSD: A short history 1917: Army medical officer Charles Myers coins the term “shell shock” for the panicstricken soldiers believing to be suffering from a physical injury to the nerves. By the end of WW1, the army had dealt with 80,000 cases.

1919: Combat Stress is founded (as the ExServicemen’s Welfare Society) to help care for traumatised veterans. In 1920 the charity opens its first recuperative home in Putney Hill, South West London.

1980: The term post-traumatic stress disorder was formerly recognised by the committee which puts together the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (known as the DSM).

2014: Combat Stress report a 57% increase in Afghan Veterans seeking support.

The charity also reports the highest ever caseload of 5,400 veterans across the UK.

Big Issue vendor Stephen Stone served in the Royal Artillery.

Photo: Courtesy of The Big Issue UK

Since getting out of prison two years ago, Stephen has been living in hostels. Sick of sitting inside watching TV (“I could tell you the full schedule for the Yesterday Channel”), Stephen thought selling The Big Issue would get him out talking to people again, and he also decided to reach out to the extensive network of military charities. He hopes he might be able to move into supported accommodation for veterans owned by Stoll (formerly known as the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation),

Civvy Street as the drawdown in Helmand continues and defence cuts take hold. According to Combat Stress, there has been a “significant increase” in the number of veterans of the Afghanistan conflict seeking mental health treatment. The charity received 358 new Afghanistan veteran referrals last year, a 57% rise on 2012. It now has a caseload of more than 5,400 veterans across the UK, more than at any time in its history.

Help for Heroes is investing mil-

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lions in improving mental health support services, including Big White Wall: an online intervention network with professional counsellors available 24/7 for people in distress. Veterans’ charity Stoll is also aware how closely housing and other humdrum problems can be bound up with the mental health battle. At the charity’s four supported housing sites across London, staff are available for form-filling and benefits advice, and work with other partners to deliver addiction rehabilitation or counselling.

“Around 80% of the people we’ve taken in over the past three years have a diagnosed mental health issue,” says Ed Tytherleigh, Stoll’s chief executive.

“Our measure of success is making someone ready for independent living. If you are a veteran there is a lot of help out there, and it can be accessed more quickly than if you’re a civilian.

And because of their military service, the people who come to us have that in-built sense of can-do. That can-do is waiting to be tapped into again to help them overcome their difficulties.”

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LOCAL

STREET THEATER

{Continued from page 7} louder and many who had come as curious spectators became active participants. With this particular performance there was indeed a happy ending, and you can watch it on YouTube: Christmas in July. Your time will be well spent observing the elements of street theater at its finest: wellrehearsed actors, familiar carols with words adapted by Jim Luken to fit the occasion, simple but appropriate props, and the main message repeated for emphasis. It is not surprising that the audience spontaneously joined in the chanting and singing, eventually drowning out Mr. Barrett’s whining.

Finally, Mr. Barrett appears to be persuaded and says, “I need to give in to the power of the people.” If only...

LUMENOCITY Of course we listened to the music, watched the ballet, ate the food and were amazed by the show of lights, but did you notice the Life Theater? It was disguised as a free hot dog stand with the words “Life Theatre” painted on the stand. There was a constant line of patient, friendly participants at all times.

As my daughter Nancy and I sat on a bench and watched the crowd, we were eventually drawn to a man who endlessly walked by half-dragging a reluctant little dog. Nancy quit watching the crowds and finally in frustration walked over to say something to the man. She was surprised to see a small crowd of hot dog eaters talking and laughing with him. Upon further investigation (the amateur sleuth in me rears its head) we discovered that every hot dog was wrapped in paper that contained a pre-stamped mes-

sage on it. One said, Find a man with a white hat, small dog, and little pink poo bag wandering the park. Occasionally salted by unseen birds above.

Everyone was so happy when they went up to him and asked if he was indeed the man with the dog and the bag! The dog is Sophie and she was a willing participant in the theater with the approval of her loving nearby owner.

This example of Life Theater uses small plots and was a collaboration of Lee Walton, professor and artist from North Carolina and Steven Matijcio, Contemporary Arts Center curator.

Life Theater is a perfect example of their creativity. Their project begins with a few well-cast volunteers to act in various reactive vignettes. The volunteers are regular people like us wearing everyday clothes, so it does not resemble a theatrical production; rather it is a moment in everyday life, happening over and over again. The hook, or what Steven calls the olive branch, was the free hot dogs generously supplied by Kroger’s.

Ahhh... a new art is introduced: social practice by an experimentalist.

The experience becomes the work of art rather than object art. You don’t buy it to hang on your wall; rather, the art lives in the memory of the experience in real time. That’s the takeaway. Steven’s goal is to use this as a vehicle to encourage people to feel generous, kind-hearted and participatory in spirit.

Life Theater comes alive because it too is about noticing in the average day all the performances and rituals we all do unconsciously. When we really stop, watch and listen perhaps our days will be heightened and we will see

A u g . 28 - S e p t .10, 2014 | N o . 28 5

Christmas in July. Photo: Justin Jeffre. something or someone we have seen often but never truly noticed.

Life could be that way but I never thought of contemporary art like that and now I dream on. Could we possibly use this Life Theater example to prepare us to share in someone else’s real life experience, even for a moment? When I purchase my next Streetvibes, I will take it with the intention of being with the seller for that moment in time. My smile will be followed by an attempt at real conversation in real time. Perhaps I will learn something about homelessness. The newspaper will be mine but the experience will be ours. I am a believer in the mindful participation of everyday life known as Life Theater.

No one will ever convince me that the 2012 World Choir Games held in North America for the first time and hosted by the people of Cincinnati were not one international street theater. Those two weeks in July were magical: impromptu, joyful songs sung in many languages that could be heard

For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mak and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

at any time on our downtown streets.

Crowds stopped; kids laughed; singers from different countries hugged one another; families held hands and everyone smiled. And the message of this two-week street theater: Participation is the highest honor. We are more alike than different. That applies then and now to me and to you.

Cincinnati has every right to be proud of our variety of stimulating theatrical productions. The actors and volunteers who Act Out for a Cause have earned the right to hold their heads high and know that they have made a difference in the hearts and minds of many, many people. It must be a good feeling to know that by caring and sharing they really do bring about a change.

“Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead ------------------------

LOCAL

No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

Community Issues Forum Kicks Off Its 34Th Season BILL WOODS

Contributing Writer

T

he Community Issues Forum kicks off its 34th season of forums on Thursday September 11th. Sponsored by the Outreach Committee of Christ Church Cathedral, the Forum features presentations on critical community and public policy issues every other Thursday at noon from September to June. Focusing this fall on the theme of “economic inequality,” the Forum on September 11th features Josh Spring, Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, conducting a “Justice Walk” in Over-the-Rhine. Spring will begin with a brief talk at Buddy’s Place (1300 Vine Street), and then lead attendees on a walk that highlights how economic forces and public policy impact this neighborhood. “Stops along the walk,” notes Spring, “will showcase places that either help eliminate

or that create and sustain homelessness.”

Complementing this micro view of economic inequality will be a broader analysis of this topic on Wednesday September 24th. Nancy Bertaux, Professor of Economics at Xavier University, will depict the various trends that have brought about growing economic inequality in this country and globally. This Forum will be back at the Cathedral, 318 East Fourth Street, at 12:00 noon in the Forum Room.

One day later back at Buddy’s Place, 1300 Vine, a follow up to the September 11th Justice Walk will take place at noon. Alice Skirtz, author of Econocide: Elimination of the Urban Poor, and Tom Dutton, Professor of Architecture at Miami University, will discuss how neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine were some of the first places to feel the impact of the forces creating economic inequality.

The October Forums will focus on election issues. On Thursday October

9th Michelle Dillingham, Director of Education for the Homeless Coalition, will emcee a presentation at the Cathedral featuring creative Cincinnati Public School Programs that deserve support. This Forum will highlight the need to pass the School Levy on November 4th.

Candidates for the Ohio General Assembly will be invited to speak at the Forum on October 23rd. Co-sponsored by One-Ohio-Now, its Executive Director, Gavin Leonard, will ask the candidates some tough questions concerning the State Budget, recent cuts in a variety of programs and services, and tax policy.

Forums are free and open to the public, and normally take place every other Thursday at 12:00.

Lunch can be purchased at the Cathedral for $5.50, or you can bring your own brown bag. For further information, call 3814994.

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THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

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Day by Day

STREET VOICE

A u g . 28 - S e p t .10, 2014 | N o . 28 5

ANNA WORPENBURG

D

Staff Writer

uring the week of June 16th, students from DePaul Cristo Rey, Gamble Montessori, Mason and East Clinton high schools came together with a select group of Streetvibes distributors to take photographs for our 2015 annual Day by Day calendar. In addition to taking photographs, the participants also got the chance to learn about homelessness and poverty in the inner city.

One of the exercises we completed was penning a letter to the general public about the anti-homeless architecture that has been seen recently on the news (i.e. spikes on the ground to keep the homeless from sleeping there, having a third rail on benches so you cannot lay down, etc.) The students partnered with a Streetvibes distributor and together they co-authored these letters:

I

magine-this could be you. It’s raining, snowing, it’s a hot summer day. You need a place of rest, a place of refuge from the weather.

But there is nowhere to sit. On every corner, under every overhangthere is a bed of spikes or a platform of metal teeth. We use the term cruel and unusual punishment in our

RETHINKING THE POLICE

{Continued from page 2}

departments in the country. They are all legally able to use deadly force. Why is the head sometimes elected and sometimes appointed? Could this lead to a difference in how law enforcement is conducted?

Police, including sheriff departments, have three main functions: 1) maintaining order, 2) services, and 3) law enforcement. In Ohio, the sheriff departments also are in charge of the county jails. For the purposes of this article I will include such things as robbery, murder, and rape as requiring law enforcement where a suspect must be identified and apprehended. This is what most people think is the main police function.

The question I am raising is about the first two functions, maintaining order and services. By maintaining order I am including such things as traffic violations, major accident reports, parking offenses, truancy cases, fist fights (including ones classified as domestic violence), jaywalking, open container violations, trespassing, barking dogs, petty shoplifting, and many others. Services includes such things as returning lost or stolen property, receiving minor accident reports, and being the place where lost property can be turned in.

(For what it’s worth, I have had a couple discussions with CPD personnel on this subject. It seems they do not try to find the owner, but hold the property so the owner can contact them.)

The relationship between the public and the police is very different depending upon the job they are doing. Are we expecting too much of our police to switch from one mode to another several times a day? And what about the uniforms? We generally don’t think about it, but the uniforms

penitentiaries - and now we experience it on the street. We are removing the basic human need - the basic human right - to have a safe place to rest, a safe place to sleep.

Where should we bring our tired and weary to find rest?

Those who “have” don’t have a clue about the problems they can create for those who “have not.” Are we not our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers? If we could follow the simple commandment; to love one another, would we be in this situation? It should be everyone’s responsibility to fight to end homelessness.

Has America forgotten their brothers and sisters? We fight battles in other countries but who is fighting homelessness here? If we are the land of the brave, are we not brave enough to end homelessness today?

-Lee McCoy, Streetvibes Alandra Harper, Gamble Montessori Erin Bole, Faculty, DePaul Cristo Rey High School

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here are six billion people in our world - and they are all human.

We all breathe. We all sleep. We all feel. But some of us have been born

are meant to convey a message.

Professionalism, to be sure, but also authority and competency. But what about helpfulness? Courtesy? A few years ago the police changed from wearing white shirts to black. Did anyone even ask if that was a good idea?

I’m not expecting the police to switch in and out of uniforms like Clark Kent. What I am wondering – it’s too early to call this a suggestion -- is that maybe the police functions should be divided. One group would do the traditional law enforcement activities while another group, far larger, would do everything else. Different groups, different protocols, even different uniforms. I am asking this question because no one else is. I am questioning the dominant paradigm.

Before anyone says that will lead to a complete breakdown of society, let me also posit that peer pressure is a more effective means of conformance to certain norms than force. For peer pressure to work, these norms have to have wide scale agreement. Much crime – maybe even most -- is connected with illegal drugs. If not the possession or sale of the drugs themselves, then theft in order to obtain money to buy drugs. Most murders in Cincinnati are, at root, disputes between rival dealers or dealer networks. The drug dealing business itself being illegal makes it impossible to settle disputes in court, so they are settled through gunfire instead.

Legalizing drugs is also part of rethinking the police. Decades of the “war on drugs” has barely reduced their use for the simple reason that a very large segment of the population is against this war. A similar campaign against alcohol in the 1920’s also failed. Not only was there widespread public support for legalization, but the money involved in bootlegging led to

Day by Day Crew. Photo: Anna Worpenburg. into situations that grant us fancy clothes and welcoming arms and others get grimaces and rejections.

But the fact still remains that we are each one of those six billion.

But, I get it. When those of us who wear those fancy clothes and receive those welcoming arms decide to open a nice business, we have to preserve that business image.

“Homeless” doesn’t fit into that image. When a homeless person hangs around a business, it makes people turn away, mumbling things about laziness and telling them to get a job. The only thing is that homeless person probably has a job.

The unfortunate truth is no one can

such wide scale corruption of public officials that it became impossible to control its use. Alcohol is now legal almost everywhere, but with certain restrictions such as against drunk driving, public intoxication, or sale to those under 21. These restrictions have far more support than prohibition did, which means that peer pressure can be an important part of controlling alcohol abuse. That is, in fact, a major component of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Through this or other treatment programs one can freely admit to substance abuse without admitting to any crime. I am suggesting that a similar method be tried for currently illegal drugs.

The trend is not always towards increased liberalization. Restrictions on smoking have tightened, due to demand and widespread support from the public. The same goes for “pooper scooper” laws. I have seen strong disapproval voiced to those who attempt to disregard these new norms.

The police were not called – that wasn’t necessary.

Related to this is the practice of using military ranks among the police forces – sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and even lieutenant colonels.

These come from a time when our military was primarily used to fight wars and then went home, not to occupy a country for years and years in an attempt to keep peace. There has been much talk recently about the so-called militarization of the police, but few, if any, have also pointed out the changed role of the military where it now does more policing. There is a blurring of functions that used to be quite clear. Transfer of surplus military gear to local police through Program 1033 reduces the distinction further.

Some police departments are showing signs of becoming something like an occupying army. I would get rid of all

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

live on minimum wage. Minimum wage doesn’t create enough money to pay rent, pay utilities and pay for dinner. Homeless people ARE trying-but the law isn’t cooperating.

But an even more unfortunate truth is the average age of a homeless person is nine: nine years old!

-Leah Hall, Mason High School Gavin Hubbard, East Clinton High School Please join us at 6pm, on September 13th, 2015 at Prairie studios located in Northside (4035 Hamilton Ave) for the launch of the Day by Day calendar.

-----------------------military-style rankings from the police forces.

And I would try to draw the members of the police force from the community they police. Cincinnati used to do this, but then Ohio passed a law forbidding this practice. That law needs to be repealed. I think it is important that the police, who are protecting the residents, have a familiarity with the city that the residents have.

One other suggestion: the police need to get out of the patrol cars more and walk and meet the people. Patrols do serve a function in so-called hot spots, but the police will observe and learn much more if they occasionally meet the members of the community on an informal basis.

Here again are some of the items that could be rethought: 1) The person directly in charge of any office that is authorized to use deadly force should be elected to that position, not appointed, 2) Consider splitting the police functions into two different organizations, 3) Change the laws for which there isn’t community support.

4) Get rid of military rankings, 5) Draw the police forces from the communities they serve, and 6) Get out of the patrol cars more and walk around and get to know the people of the neighborhoods.

Finally, I want to point out an example of what I consider good policing. Yes, he is fictional, but that also means that people all over the country have heard of him. I’m talking about Sheriff Andy Taylor of the old Andy Griffith Show. Sheriff Taylor was a part of the community of Mayberry.

He didn’t commute in from miles away every day. And though it’s been years since I’ve seen an episode, I don’t recall him spending much time driving around in his patrol car.

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13

STREET VOICE

No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

OFF THE STREET ANNA LOUISE INN

Halt! Freeze! Stop! Off the street I heard a voice say The voice within me was loud and clear, I obeyed and I’m off the street today Being homeless for five years I grew to know the street therefore I became bored I longed for a change in the ways of my life so my determination began to sore After Pathways, Talbert House, Bethany House, The Drop Inn Center and finally to jail The change in my life became mandatory and I realized that only I could pay in order to bail I remembered while on the street I heard about this place called The Anna Louise Inn I remembered I heard I’d have to have a job and pay the first month rent with deposit right then Somebody said that if you looking to get some real help go to the Off The Street Program They told me that the program was in the Anna Louise Inn on Lytle and said, Well I just be damn!!

I decided to call this Off The street Program located inside the Anna Louise Inn I found out how to get there which was the best day of my life to rid myself of anger, hatred and sin I found the stability I forgot I had, they gave me my own room but I had to earn my key I had my first sense of obtaining a goal in over five years, please believe me!!

I earned my room key and opened my ears, I heard scholars who had beat their addictions Their stories were my own so I knew to listen to them and I’d find a cure for my affliction I finally got a job and started to save my money, I looked forward to moving into the Inn I was glad when the facilitators of O.T.S. told me I was graduating I thanked God for my life again So I say to all women, teenagers whether blind, crippled or crazy Anna Louise Inn is the best They were always there to help women in their transition, always welcoming all their guests Their hands of love and understanding went out further when the Off The Street Program came So to ridicule these people for helping and saving so many from the street I honestly feel it’s a shame So I pray for the place that means so much to me as it does to countless others too I pray that God will intervene in this senseless fight as I pray to God that they never have to move!!

LOOKING TO D.C. FOR A FEW LAUGHS Recently we’ve had such very bad news.

Just the headlines can give you the blues.

While you’re relaxing and sipping a cola, You read all about the spread of Ebola.

Events in Syria, the West Bank, and Iraq Ruin your appetite for an afternoon snack.

How sad when your only real comic relief Is Boehner versus our Commander in Chief.

BILL WOODS

Contributing Writer

YOU AND ME You and me We’re the same Red Blood runs through our veins But I am not free I am full of thoughts Yet short for words I’m there in the crowd But I am all alone I need a special moment just for me To clear my head and rest my feet And try to see what life has in store for me

WILLA DENISE JONES

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

My room is big yet empty You and me are the same But we don’t walk the path the same

A Letter of Thanks

KIM GREEN

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

A

s a Streetvibes distributor for over eight years I have had the opportunity to meet a wonderful array of people. Many of those I have met have given me help when there was none, and a sense of purpose while selling Streetvibes. I strongly believe in the paper’s articles and info that one streets more various sequences of society. I find a lot of customers tell me they think it’s the best paper in Cincinnati.

Streetvibes is motivating me to think what that what I’m doing is positive and not just making money, but getting info out to the people who crave Streetvibes. Also, I really do enjoy talking with people on the streets who start their day with me and love experiences they’ve made in my life.

My 6 Words for today are: Grateful, Mellow, Tired, Important, Really & Good.

-Samuel Jackson III ------------------------

BASIC NEEDS 101 (PART 2)

{Continued from page 4}

strongly for public restrooms.

Later, that month the “detritus” began to really hit the fan. The Homeless Coalition called for and staged a demonstration in front of the 3CDC offices on Main. The allpowerful development corporation had torn down the restrooms at Washington Park, promising—but failing to deliver—portopotties to the site.

On November 28, more than thirty people gathered around 7 toilets which had been transported to the site for public display. The event was covered by most of the news media. 3CDC relented and the portable toilets were installed at the requested site.

On December 28, 2012, the En-

To Be Homeless

T

o Be Homeless is a scary feeling, not knowing where you’re gonna sleep at night, homeless is worrying about what you’re gonna eat day to day. Homelessness is scary, worrying who might attack or hurt you. Homelessness can cause depression and sometimes health problems. Homeless can be very confusing and it can make you do things you usually don’t do.

I hope one day that homelessness will not happen anymore. We must stick together and help our community of women, children and men. I will work hard every day and learn ways to stop homelessness in the world. God Bless ALL.

-Craig Smith -----------------------quirer noted that the Director of Public Services for Council, Michael Robinson, had written a report endorsing (in a begrudging way) the installation of a freestanding “loo” at Findley Market.

Morrison noted that “Portland’s model appears to have been designed to avoid many of the problems caused by abuse and misuse that had been experienced by previous cities which had undertaken comparable programs.”

Late this spring, Over the Rhine Community Council Trustee James McQueen circulated a petition among the AfricanAmerican neighbors who frequent the Sycamore Street Park across from the old School for Creative and Performing Arts. The park, called “Peaslee” by the neighbors, is scheduled for a major renovation (by 3CDC and the Parks Commission). Need I

Money Can’t Buy Happiness

I

chose to write about money because without it you have one set of problems, and with it there is a completely different set of problems that you have to deal with.

Of course I would rather have the money than not, but it still can’t buy happiness. What money can do is make the misery more bearable and it will offer you a really nice place to be unhappy in. I’ve taken the money every time. My favorite person to be around is my nephew Samuel. He always listens to what my concerns are, and never judges me.

6 Words about my day: I’m really happy to be alive.

-Elmore Morris -----------------------mention that the SCPA building will soon become a new downtown hotel?

The 41 signatories to the petition politely asked City Council and the Mayor to provide them a shelter at the new park similar to the one they use almost every day of the year. They also asked for 24 hour restrooms and a drinking fountain.

Fortunately, City Councilman Seelbach hasn’t given up this issue.

“Councilmember Seelbach strongly supports the addition of a 24hour, fully accessible restroom as part of the proposed renovation of Ziegler [Peaslee] Park,” said Jon Harmon, Chris Seelbach’s Legislative Director. “Ensuring that all people have safe, easy access to a restroom in our urban core is an issue of quality of life and hygiene for many people, and making sure that option is

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

M

oney Can’t Buy HappinessI disagree, because money means material things and material things are what we live for and need in this life. It’s how we use money that’s the question. You can use it to help people or to help yourself to it.

That’s Gross Having a toilet out with no covering is very, very gross. What kind of freak is that to have such a thing for the public? You can do the same thing in an alley with nobody watching or behind a dumpster at least nobody be watching you on a camera.

-William Burdine ------------------------

available in Ziegler Park is a priority.”

Seelbach believes that loos can now be installed at a cost of $35,000.

This writer knows quite a few responsible homeless men and women who would be happy to be on a parttime payroll to hose down and clean the all stainless steel lavatories every day.

Six years later, still without a single loo to show for our efforts, Streetvibes is still on the case for 24 hour facilities at Peaslee and elsewhere. You can help a great deal. Please send a personal request/demand to the entire council at this address: citycouncil@cincinnatioh.gov. Or write to each of them individually, and to the Mayor, and to anyone else you can think of.

This is a situation where “No news (i.e., loos) isn’t good news.”

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PUZZLES

A u g . 28 - S e p t .10, 2014 | N o . 28 5

CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 50 Across 1. Mountain top 5. In favor of 8. Combustible material 12. Two 13. Optical device 15. Small island 16. Colorado ski resort 17. Unharmed 19. First note of a major scale 20. Abaft 21. Thin-shelled object 22. Method of transport 25. Sum up 26. Cereal grass 27. Felines are fond of this herb 29. Prevarication 31. State capital, ___ Rouge 32. Gemstone 35. Box 39. Portents 40. Fall behind 41. Musical notation 42. Part of a church 43. Song for one 44. Whittled 45. Part of a minute, in short 47. Stringed instrument 49. Lout 52. Biblical boat 54. Part of a plant 55. Everything 56. Country on the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic 59. Australian flightless bird 62. Roald Amundsen got there first 64. South American mountain chain 66. Within 67. Additional 68. Pretext 69. Visionary 70. Sever 71. Engrave

Down 1. Cuban currency 2. Asian river 3. Expert 4. Knowledge or understanding 5. Arithmetic operation 6. Let for money 7. Beginning 8. Healthy 9. Guide 10. Lament 11. Shelf 12. Father 14. Rolled up document 18. Not in favor 20. Triple world heavyweight champion, Muhammad __ 23. Make amends for 24. Lodges 27. Live in a tent 28. Sport played on horseback 30. All assets and liabilities 31. Constrictor 33. Friend 34. Excited 36. Emergency services professional 37. Affirm 38. Arm of the Indian Ocean, ___ Sea 41. Meat skewer 43. Abrasion 46. Every one 48. Country, initially 49. Fertile part of a desert 50. Unaccompanied 51. Musical instrument 53. Small hill 57. In addition 58. Far down 60. Net 61. Employ 63. High rocky hill 64. Grow older 65. Hard-shelled seed

SODOKU PUZZLE NO 14- MEDIUM

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 284 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 49

SODOKU PUZZLE NO 13- MEDIUM

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com

RESOURCES

No. 285 | A u g . 2 8 - S e p t . 1 0 , 2 0 1 4

Shelter: Women and Children

1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Central Access Point Bethany House

381-SAFE 557-2873

St. Francis Soup Kitchen Churches Active in Northside

535-2719 591-2246

Grace Place Catholic Worker House

681-2365

FreeStore/FoodBank

241-1064

Mercy Franciscan at St. John

981-5800

Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center

271-5501

Salvation Army

762-5660

YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter

872-9259

St. Vincent de Paul

562-8841

1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214 6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224

1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Shelter: Men

City Gospel Mission

1419 Elm Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Mt. Airy Shelter

4600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214

Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House

241-5525

2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Caracole (HIV/AIDS)

1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237

Drop Inn Center

217 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

661-4620

682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205

Starting Over

CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing

114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

569-9500 761-1480 721-0643

721-4580 632-7149 381-1171

Tender Mercies 721-8666

27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907

961-4555 381-1954

300 Lytle Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Food/Clothing

Lord’s Pantry Mercy Franciscan at St. John

621-5300 981-5800

OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry

961-1983

Our Daily Bread

621-6364

1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206

961-2256

Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women

Interfaith Hospitality Network 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave Cincinnati, OH 45220 961-4080

Housing:

784-1853

Prospect House 921-1613

Shelter: Both

Lighthouse on Highland (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave Cincinnati, OH 45219

4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

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First Step Home

2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206

961-4663

Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both AA Hotline CCAT

351-0422 381-6672

Joseph House (Veterans)

241-2965

830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 641-4300

Advocacy

Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center

421-3131 569-1840 381-4242

Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless

721-4700 421-7803

Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center Faces Without Places Stop AIDS

579-8547 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 421-2437

1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Health

Center for Respite Care

621-1868

Cincinnati Health Network

961-0600

3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229

2825 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

Crossroad Health Center

5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

381-2247

Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 352-6364 McMicken Dental Clinic 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti 352-6363 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Mercy Franciscan at St. John 981-5800 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach

Other Resources

351-3500 977-4489

Center Independent Living Options Emmanuel Community Center

241-2600 241-2563

Peaslee Neighborhood Center

621-5514

Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart

381-0111

Goodwill industries Healing Connections Mary Magdalen House

771-4800 751-0600 721-4811

People Working Cooperatively The Caring Place Talbert House United Way Women Helping Women Off The Streets

351-7921 631-1114 751-7747 211 977-5541 421-5211

1308 Race St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

215 E. 14th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

1223 Main St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry

Northern Kentucky

981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276

Brighton Center

859-491-8303

ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY

859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717

Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary VA Homeless

859-491-3335 859-559-5011 859-572-6226

799 Ann St. Newport, KY

205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011

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A u g . 28 - S e p t .10, 2014 | N o . 28 5

S

treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 50 cents per copy and sell it for a $1.50 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches.

ALMA SIMS SINCE 5/2014

ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003

ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012

BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997

BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008

CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003

CRAIG SMITH SINCE 5/2014

CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004

DEBORAH POINDEXTER SINCE 9/2012

DONALD YOUNG

ELMORE MORRIS SINCE 5/2014

GINA MARTIN

GRADY COOK SINCE 1997

GLENDA CANTRELL

GREGORY WILSON SINCE 1/2012

JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009

JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2003

JERRY DAVIS SINCE 5/2011

JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001

JONATHAN SLATER SINCE 5/2014

JOHN GAINES SINCE 12/2009

JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006

JOHNNY KERNS SINCE 9/2012

JOHN HORN

JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008

J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014

W. KENNETH BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009

KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008

KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011

KIM GREEN SINCE 1/2010

LARRY FILES SINCE 6/2012

LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007

LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009

LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005

LOTTIE MANNER

MARK SHEARS SINCE 12/2007

MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005

MAT HUFF SINCE 10/2010

MAURICE GOLSBY

MEACO WAITE

MICHAEL BEHYMER

RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009

QUEENACELESTINE

LEVY

RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008

RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 2001

RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009

SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006

TARA HILL SINCE 4/2014

TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007

TODD HANLEY SINCE 5/2014

TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005

VICTOR MUMPHRY

WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010

WILLIAM BURDINE SINCE 8/2009

WILLIAM SIMMS SINCE 4/2014

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED