Streetvibes vol 18 issue 23 final by Clermont Sun Publishing Company

N ov. 7 t h - 2 0 t h ,

2014

Vol.

Issue

(No.

290)

advocating justice | Building community

Marian Spencer and Judge Nathaniel Jones Share Civil Rights History | 7

This issue sponsored by (Retired) Judge Mark P. Painter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CINCINNATI LOSES A CHAMPION OF FAIR HOUSING | 3

GROWING CONCERN ABOUT PANCAKE SOCIAL CANDIDATE “EYE-OPENING” | 5 HIGH SEWER RATES | 3 FORUM IN OTR | 4

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

streetvoice | 12

LOCAL

Comments to Budget and Finance Committee of Cincinnati City Council on October 27 and 29, 2014 JOSH SPRING

Executive Director

et’s be honest here. The real question is whether or not the hammering through of funding for the Hand Up Initiative is altruistic or political. On its surface increasing the funding to good job-training programs is altruistic. But very little can be accurately judged by the surface. Funding the Hand-Up Initiative in the manner that is being pushed through will not only cut or eliminate funding to other necessary initiatives, but will very significantly limit the reach of the Hand Up Initiative. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that no more than 15% of CDBG funds be spent on “public services.” 15% of Cincinnati’s CDBG funds are already allocated to “public services”. According to a memo from the City Manager dated September 29, 2014: HUD allows up to 15% of the CDBG grant to be expended on public services... The Hand Up Initiative will be exempt from the public services cap because it will target services to residents of the City’s four NRSA5 and the Empowerment Zone...* The “Hand-Up Initiative” if funded with CDBG dollars can only be used to serve a few neighborhood areas with specific federal designations. According to the City this combined area has approximately 51,200 Residents, approximately 33,000 of whom are between the ages of 18 and 61; the focus of jobreadiness initiatives. Considering that the unemployment rate in many of these specified neighborhoods is high, at a 15% unemployment rate, if funded through CDBG dollars, the “Hand-Up Initiative” would at max serve 4,950 Residents. The Mayor says his initiative will reduce poverty in Cincinnati by 5% in five years. This does not seem possible when its reach would be so small. However, if City Council chooses to fund the Mayor’s initiative through the surplus in the General Fund, the initiative could then serve the entire city, with the potential of reaching exponentially more people, while saving existing programs. Since the last Finance Committee meeting on this topic the City has discovered an $18 million surplus for the General Fund. City Council can fund both initiatives by passing an amendment dictating the CDBG dollars be restored to existing programs and then pass a motion funding the Mayor’s “Hand-Up Initiative” out of the $18 million surplus. Funding both this way not only restores funds to existing, proven programs meaning these organizations

can continue to leverage City dollars to bring in additional outside funds, but the reach of the “Hand-Up Initiative” would be greatly expanded to include all neighborhoods like Westwood and Price Hill. Why would a program be hammered through compromised processes, with the promise of a 5% reduction in poverty in such a way that will severely limit its ability to serve people in need of employment and will cut or eliminate other initiatives that keep people in their homes or increase opportunity for self-determination? An age-old political tactic is to create a crisis that distract from facts. The fact is that both the initiatives historically funded with CDBG dollars and the job-training initiatives are good and there is no crisis that dictates that Council must choose between the two. In fact the Consolidated Plan does not even have to be passed today. HUD has not even released their budget, so we don’t even accurately know how much money is available for us to request. It is highly disrespectful to the General Public for politicians to manufacture a funding crisis and force struggling people to come here and profess how important these different initiatives are to their lives. Why without any necessity make people come here and essentially attempt to convince you that their lives are worthy of your attention? Let’s be truthful, job-training is valuable and should be funded. Retaining housing, upward mobility and lead abatement are also valuable and should be funded. But we all know that designating a relatively small amount of money to jobtraining programs that can only be used in a very small portion of the city will not reduce poverty by 5% in 5 years. It will not happen. And it is wrong to heap the responsibility for the reduction upon the backs of jobtraining programs alone. If we are really serious about reducing poverty, if this Council is truly altruistic then you must do far more than manipulate the public into thinking you are doing something about poverty. Our single men and women’s shelters are all either completely full or over capacity. The number of people forced to live outside is increasing. In 2014, of the many families with children who have sought shelter, only 20% of them have been sheltered. None of this is because of anything the shelters are or are not doing. There simply is not proper opportunity for people to sustain life in our city. Street outreach workers whose positions were created to serve single adults, living outside with mental illness are now receiving a dozen calls every day from families with children that are sleeping outside in Cincinnati. Not families that are about to sleep outside, but families and children who are sleeping outside and there is practically no opportunity

for these families and children to move into a sustainable situation. Often it happens that people on city council and the mayor become disconnected from the realities that Cincinnatian’s face every day. But to be clear, our City is in the middle of a real crisis. I’m not talking about a crisis manufactured by the Mayor to choose between valuable initiatives, but a crisis that without very significant policy change will only get worse. It is not a secret that families with children are sleeping outside because we do not have anywhere near enough affordable housing. Knowing that, how can you spend your time forcing citizens to come down here and fight over scraps? Now, often at this point, someone on council will recite how much money we supposedly spend on homelessness and the like. Let’s be clear, nearly every dollar that is spent on homelessness and affordable housing are federal dollars meant for that purpose and simply pass through city council. Not only have these dollars been cut over and over again by the feds but none of them are new dollars, they are the same dollars we are using now that are attempting to keep our one-legged stool from completely falling over. The passthrough of these dollars does not reflect any altruism from any council, nor a burden on our local dollars. True altruism, however, is possible from this council and this mayor. If you truly believe that morality dictates that you work to reduce poverty and homelessness, then you must change the way this city does business. You must pass policy that creates mechanisms for new, local dollars to fund affordable housing, good paying jobs, job training, addiction recovery, temporary case management for individuals and families who need a brief hand-up, housing for people who need long-term support and mechanisms for Cincinnatians to have a right to not be displaced. The federal government will not solve these problems, the private sector and the market will not move all of the children on the street into housing. The federal government will not provide opportunity to prevent the deaths of people OD-ing from heroin in alleys and abandoned buildings. The only way we will overcome these many, compounding, systematic and life threatening problems will be if city council sets political control, catchy headlines, the pitting of necessary organizations against each other, and the exaggeration of good surface level initiatives will accomplish and instead chooses to actually work on the big picture from a place of altruism.

-Josh Spring, LSW Executive Director

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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: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Michael Earl Patton, Ben Green, Lynn Williams, Michelle Dillingham, Robert Park, Jason Haap, Justin Jeffre, Michael Tee, Mary Mueller, Melissa Mosby, Willa Denise Jones, Kim Green, Jerry Davis Syndicated Writers: Billy Briggs, Jonathan Bradshaw, Marc Dauenhaur Photography/Artwork: Steve Wuesthoff, Katie Heinz, Michelle Dillingham, Harriet Kaufman, Reuters/Cathal McNaughton, Reuters/Mike Blake, Reuters/Chris Heigren, Reuters/ Shannon Stapleton, Creston Wolff, Bill Woods 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.

LOCAL

No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

Cincinnati Loses a Champion of Fair Housing

President in 1968, and he served on its Board until earlier this year. As someone who grew up in a white Chicago suburb and then

encouraged him to become a member of the Mayor’s Friendly Relations Committee (later the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission). According to Judd, joining the Committee “changed my life.... My conscience changed and made me worry that society was treating some people, those who were different from me by color and class, as second class citizens.”

became a businessman in Cincinnati, Judd did not appear to be a likely prospect to emerge as a Civil Rights’ leader. In the 1950s, however, several members of the Church of the Advent

On the Committee, Judd befriended Ted Berry, a member of City Council who later became Cincinnati’s first African American Mayor, and

BILL WOODS

Contributing Writer

incinnati has lost one of its long time champions of Civil Rights and fair housing. Charles M. (Chuck) Judd died on October 17th. Although he was in his 98th year, he maintained his keen interest in the public life of the city, and he regularly attended the Community Issues Forums at Christ Church Cathedral. As a Civil Rights advocate, Judd became aware of the difficulty African Americans faced in purchasing or renting housing in many residential areas of Greater Cincinnati. In 1959, he along with several other activists launched the Cincinnati Committee for Equal Opportunity in Housing, a group dedicated to breaking down the walls of housing segregation. This Committee became the launching pad for HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal), an agency with the mission of combatting illegal discrimination in housing. Judd became HOME’s first

3 they teamed up on numerous projects to improve race relations in the city. A long-time member of the City Charter Committee he made one unsuccessful run for City Council on the Charter ticket. After retiring from business, Judd could devote more time to causes such as HOME. For many years, he maintained a downtown office which several of his friends referred to as “the office of good works.” As a director of the Stephen H. Wilder Foundation, he oversaw many grants that provided research on housing, race relations, and urban policies that promoted social and political justice. He continued to seek out and support younger community leaders such as State Senator Eric Kearney, who spoke at Judd’s memorial service. A devoted family man who loved his wife Jean and three children, Judd showed a kindness to everyone around him and he rarely spoke ill of anyone. Nevertheless, his friends knew not to mistake his kindness and decency for weakness. His commitment to good causes never wavered, and he served as a model for those who would build a more just society. ------------------------

Growing Concern about High Sewer Rates

MICHAEL EARL PATTON

Contributing Writer

n a sign of the increasing effect high sewer bills are having, both the Sierra Club and Communities United for Action (CUFA) hosted public meetings recently on the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) and high sewer rates. While other issues were also mentioned, such as jobs and using “green” instead of “brown” technology to clean the water, the audience quickly brought the subject back to the high bills. About 30 people attended the first meeting, hosted by the Sierra Club on October 15, and 70 at the one hosted by CUFA on the 27th. County Commissioners Todd Portune and Chris Monzel participated in the second one and answered several questions from CUFA and the attendees. Although MSD is owned by the county, it is operated by the City of Cincinnati in accordance with a 50-year agreement from 1968. The city’s performance under the agreement was often criticized by the two commissioners, and it is perhaps unfortunate that there was no representative from the city to respond. Some background: The basis for the ever-increasing sewer bills is the socalled Consent Decree where the city and county agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency to greatly reduce discharges of untreated sewage into the Ohio River during periods of heavy rain, which is a requirement of the Clean Water Act. The sewage system was built decades before the Act when it was the

general practice to have just one system handle both waste and storm water and discharge everything into the river. This is called a combined sewer system and hundreds of municipalities around the country have something similar. Later, treatment before discharge was added, and as long as there isn’t a heavy rain the system can handle the flow. But during periods of heavy rain the flow is so great that the combined waste and storm water are discharged into the river. The waste is greatly diluted because of all the storm water, but it is a violation nonetheless. MSD had been working towards remedying the problems, but at a slow pace. The Sierra Club sued Hamilton County, the City of Cincinnati, and MSD in 2002 for continuing violations of the Clean Water Act. This suit led to the Consent Decree. If cost were no object, the ideal solution would be to have a separate system for waste and for storm water. In a few areas there are two systems, but the vast majority of MSD’s network is a combined system. The Consent Decree is a compromise between the ideal solution and what was hoped to be an affordable, partial solution that takes care of most of the problems. And with the Consent Decree and the operating agreement with the City of Cincinnati, the problems start. Mr. Portune pointed out that the average sewer bill has gone up by 130% over the past 10 years and now dominates the water bill. A quick look back at one of

Illustration by Steve Wuesthoff my old bills showed that this is about right. And the bills are expected to keep increasing as work to improve the sewer system continues. How much has been done at what expense so far? Both of the county commissioners stated that the

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

information they have received by the City of Cincinnati made this extremely hard – maybe impossible – to answer. This was even the first question asked by CUFA, “Will you make public the

(Continued on page 13)

LOCAL

How Income Inequality Impacts Public Schools

BEN GREEN

Contributing Writer

n October 9, 2014 the Christ Church Cathedral hosted a discussion on the role of public education in addressing economic inequality. The speakers included James Thindwa, Great Lakes Community Engagement Coordinator for the American Federation of Teachers, Eve Bolton, the President of the Cincinnati Public School Board, and Carmen Burks, Director of Cincinnati Public Schools Safe Routes to School Program. The discussion included a national overview of the issue, as well as a local perspective on the state of public education and the obstacles it faces. The event began with James Thindwa addressing the topic from a national perspective. The main points of his talk included the fact that there is a national push for the privatization of public education. The main tactic used to argue for privatization has been the demonization of public school teachers. This tactic characterizes teachers as lazy and bad at their jobs. As Mr. Thindwa notes, some of the people pushing for this privatization are

the Walton Family, founders of WalMart, and Bill Gates, former Microsoft CEO, both of whom are some of richest people in the world, but they have yet to address how poverty affects public education. Mr. Thindwa noted that 37% of charter schools perform worse than public schools, and there has been no evidence to say they do any better. The push for privatization largely ignores poverty as a root cause for failing schools; a systematic issue that privatizing will not address. In fact, it only exacerbates the issue by creating competition to enroll, and thereby gives an advantage to the upper class as they have the resources to compete. Eve Bolton spoke on a more local level about Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS). She spoke about the urban schools in the Cincinnati area and how far they have come since the great flight to the suburbs. Ms. Bolton used some of her time to highlight the restoration of the public schools in Cincinnati. She attributed this to the commitment of funds to the schools,

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which has a lot to do with a levy passage rate of 68% by CPS two years ago. The commitment to excellence by the board and teachers is what has made these funds optimally affective. Cincinnati also has the second highest rate of poverty for children in the U.S. so providing things like universal breakfast have gone a long way in helping children perform at their best. She also mentioned that 8% of children in Cincinnati Public Schools are currently struggling with homelessness. Despite these large obstacles CPS has forged ahead and become the model for restoring public schools. Carmen Burks spoke about the Safe Routes to School program. It has reduced the area that children are ineligible for bus transportation from living within a two-mile radius of the school down to a one-mile radius. This was a need because federal funding would only pay for that original two-mile radius, but Ms. Burks stated the school district does not consider a two-mile walk for a child to be reasonable. She used an example to highlight the difficulties that could result from having to walk so far: what happens to a family of four with two children in school and one child gets sick? If that family doesn’t have a car or the car is being used by a spouse to work that leaves walking as their only option. Then comes the problem of a sick child. Do you take

that child for a two mile walk or do you just keep the healthy child home as well? These are all questions that have no good answer and are very real decisions that parents make every day. The Walking School Bus is a program that has been developed to get kids to school safely and regularly. It consists of trained chaperones that can walk kids to school and account for their well-being. This is a very new program and will be phased in over time starting with the fifteen schools with the greatest need. Ms. Burks also highlighted the success of a relationship with the Metro in which a set amount of funds has been allocated so that CPS high school students can ride without paying if they are going to and from school. This program increased the amount of new students riding the metro by 300. Cincinnati Public Schools has become a model for innovation, fund raising, and creativity when it comes to reviving schools that were lagging far behind. There is a lot of work ahead for the school district but with the commitment and passion of the teachers, school board, and families of children attending CPS the school system can achieve great things. To quote Eve Bolton “We narrow the achievement gap when we narrow the opportunity gap.” ------------------------

Pancake Social Candidates Forum Well Attended In Over-The-Rhine

LYNN WILLIAMS

Contributing Writer

ontact Center, the Homeless Coalition of Greater Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Interfaith Worker Center collaborated to hold a very successful Pancake Social Candidates Forum on October 22. It was well attended by community people as well as Candidates running for political offices to represent Hamilton County at various levels of government. Curtis Fuller of Channel 5 News stayed for almost the entire event. Candidates who attended and addressed our concerns included Ohio House 31st District Representative Denise Driehaus, Candidate for Common Pleas (Juvenile Court) Judge Jennifer Branch, Candidate for Common Pleas Court Judge Pat Foley, Ed Bell representing County Commissioner Chris Monzel, Ohio Senate (9th District) Candidate Cecil Thomas, Candidate for the Ohio 1st Congressional District Fred Kundrata, Candidate for State Board of Education Pat Bruns, County Auditor Candidate Mike Mezher, Jr., Common Pleas Judge Candidate John M. Mereness, Brother Gregory representing Ohio House 31st District Candidate Queen Noble, and Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Winkler. Arriving

late, but here nonetheless, were Sean Patrick Feeney, Candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner, and Ohio House 33rd District Representative Alicia Reece. Community leaders who spoke about our issue concerns were: Angela Whitehead on the need for kinship care givers to receive the same benefits as foster care providers. Memory Royal on the importance of the Caregiver Credit so that care giving of family members who cannot be left alone counts towards Social Security work credits. Home care giving is work! I spoke on the importance of Medicaid continuing at its current eligibility level to cover the working poor and on the importance of the Hospital Health Levy Issue 7. Josh Spring, Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, on the widespread affordable housing shortage and what policymakers can do to keep families, including children, from homelessness. Josh stated, “A person would need to work 70 hours per week at minimum wage to afford a two bedroom market rate apartment in Cincinnati.” Jen Mendoza, Coordinator of the

Pancake Social Candidates Forum in OTR. Photo: Katie Heins. Cincinnati Interfaith Worker Center, on their Wage Theft campaign. She stated that many workers, mostly immigrants, are being shortchanged on their pay and they deserve their full paychecks. She cited abuses that are happening here in Hamilton County that need to end now! Jerry Davis was recognized for being our top volunteer who registered the most people to vote over the summer. He registered 98 people to vote, and made many trips back and forth to the Board of Elections to turn in completed registration forms and absentee ballot applications. He received no pay for all his work. He sells Streetvibes for his living, so if you see Jerry please buy Streetvibes. For that matter, buy Streetvibes when you see vendors on our city sidewalks and pass on your extra copies to help educate more people. We consider it “The Peoples” newspaper. Memory Royal

was also recognized for registering 60 people to vote, along with other Contact Center leaders who helped with voter registration. Contact Center was phone banking each day, October 27 – October 30 from 4:00 – 7:00 PM at our 1227 Vine Street location to remind people to vote and how important this election is. We also did phone banking on November 3rd 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and November 4th 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Thanks to everyone who helped make this an inspiring Candidates Forum. We appreciate the emcee, Will Wallace, and the inspirational words and singing by Cassandra Barham. Furthermore we appreciate the good people running for government office who are committed to making Hamilton County, the State of Ohio and our Country a better place for all! Be sure to VOTE!!! It matters! ------------------------

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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No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

COALITION CLIFFNOTES

LOCAL

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

“Eye-opening” MICHELLE DILLINGHAM

Staff Writer

his year marks the 7th Anniversary of the Homeless Coalition’s Citywide Shantytown. Each year we provide groups with a guide and support to help groups plan meaningful ways to observe Hunger and Homeless Awareness Month from October into November. We partner with two organizations to provide this support: the Mayerson Service Learning Program and Faces Without Places. There are thirty groups participating this year and many have already held their awareness activities, which typically includes a sleepout in cardboard boxes. The sleepout is not designed to be a simulation of homelessness, but rather a shocking form of action that is designed to get people to ask questions about homelessness. The Homeless Coalition brings our “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” to the sleepout which consists of a coalition staff member providing factual information on the homeless crisis in our community and beyond, followed by a formerly or currently homeless individual sharing their personal experience. Our goal is to expand this program so that more high schools and universities participate, and others (work groups, faith groups, and civic groups) join the activities of Hunger and Homeless Awareness Month. Recently the Notre Dame Americorps requested the Voice of the Homeless program to supplement their service learning curriculum. Their organization places volunteers to promote literacy and education, and their mission is “to promote and encourage education, community em-

powerment, leadership development and multicultural harmony.” When we offer this program at a Shantytown sleepout or to a group in the community, we encourage individuals to submit their reflections to Streetvibes. The Notre Dame Americorps shared theirs and excerpts from their reflections are below. We are encouraged by their feedback, as it reinforces our belief that through education we can break down stereotypes and eradicate misinformation. We strive to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of the problem of homelessness with the long view that an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort toward creating solutions to homelessness. “Hearing from the woman from the coalition about the reality of homeless was eye opening. A lot of what she talked about debunked ideas I had had about homeless people. I have been guilty of thinking: “why don’t they get a job”? or “it’s their fault for being in this situation.” I learned that not everyone has a choice and life circumstances can place someone out on the street in a heartbeat... I have a new respect for homeless people.” “I generally see myself as sympathetic to homeless people, but I also turn a blind eye toward people asking for money. After hearing (Deborah’s) story, I realized that there is sometimes a very fine line between someone with a home and someone without one. It is important to appreciate what one has in his or her life and try to be as giving to others as possible. I couldn’t believe some of the things she had endured... I’m thrilled that

Shantytown at La Salle High School. Photo: Michelle Dillingham. the Homeless Coalition supports people enough to empower them to share their stories of homelessness. It needs to be brought to the forefront and no longer allowed to have blind eye turned towards this issue.” “While I will still continue to find other ways to help since I can’t know the specific situation and would hate to contribute money to support an addiction, my opinions have definitely changed after hearing that story. It moved me nearly to tears, and reminded me of how many barriers we overlook when our lives have been relatively easy in comparison.” “The thought of how much effort goes into just surviving every day when you’re homeless had never really occurred to me, not to mention the difficulty of getting clothes and a shower for a job interview. Having heard what I did Friday, I like to think I will always remember to smile and say hello to the homeless, and find other ways to help, like donating my wealth of unused shampoo samples.” “Homelessness has always been a cause I want to fight for, and after becoming involved in AmeriCorps and the City of Cincinnati, I am more dedicated than ever. One statistic that was extremely alarming to me was the growing population of homelessness occurring in children, ages 9 and under. In my opinion, a child 9 years or younger still has a level of dependence on others that guarantees them certain things: clothing, food, and

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

shelter. Unfortunately, this is not the case.” “I spend a lot of time in downtown so I see the people panhandling and I have to be honest that sometimes I have to wonder if they are doing it out of necessity or just easy money. Many times I will try to give them some change or a smile and hope that better times are on their way but how many people are caught in the vicious cycle of poverty? Hearing her speak about how difficult it was just to get to a job interview because of the showers and transportation speaks to those hardships.... I have always struggled with seeing the students in schools that you know don’t have a place to call home or won’t eat until breakfast at school the next day. No child should have to feel that way and hopefully someday we will wake up as a society and do something about that.” “I really appreciated what Deborah had to share. I am often frustrated that in this land of opportunity that we call America, homelessness is still an issue. I do not blame the people experiencing it for the plight they are in. It bothers me that of all the things we have to pay taxes on, some of that money does not go to public programs that help manage and eliminate homelessness. I’m glad there are organizations that are fighting for people that most of the city and world overlook, look down on, or simply ignore.” ------------------------

OPINION

What She Should Have Said

ROBERT PARK

Contributing Writer

he Democratic candidate challenging Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky senate race stumbled badly when asked if she had voted for Obama. It’s such an obvious trick question and such a turn–around opportunity for gain that the questioner must have known she would blow it. Here’s what Alison Lundergan Grimes should have said:

“Are you kidding? Of course I voted for Obama; did you think I might vote for Romney, that corporate hitman, the guy that said 47% of people like you are lazy bums? Like the majority of voters in the last two presidential elections I too was encouraged and very hopeful by what Barack Obama was saying on the issues, on principles of governance, on the chal-

Black Women Beauty herself is black, and all they foul that thy complexion lack. — William Shakespeare

JASON HAAP

Contributing Writer

elevision writer, director, and producer Shonda Rhimes has hit television shows like Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, starring Kerry Washington and Viola Davis respectively. These actresses are attractive black women, and they play intelligent and powerful characters who are romantically attached to white men. If we take these characters metaphorically, such symbols are still relatively new both to American consciousness and television.

Our culture, still centered on Eurocentric and therefore white (male) norms, has never escaped the white standard of beauty. When we do admit that a black woman might be attractive, we trend towards fair skinned black women with perms and dyed hair - such as Beyoncé. White women remain the norm when it comes to defining “beauty.” This underlying norm is at play in the stereotype of the “educated black man” who marries a “blonde white woman.” The implication is that the

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lenges we face. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out well. As you probably know, he brought in the bankers to fix the financial meltdown that George Bush and the other banking de-regulators (from both Parties) unleashed upon us. He gave us Romney’s healthcare plan from Massachusetts, a gift to the insurance “networks,” instead of universal publicly funded health care (“Medicare for all” that the majority of Americans say they want). At every turn he has tried to be nice when he should have been in attack-dog mode, for us. Obama went into office with a mandate from the people, he

could have built a coalition among the “Democratic wing” of the Democratic Party and mobilized huge support for aggressive programs and solutions on mortgage foreclosures, on addressing the real origins of terrorism instead of endless war, and massive job creation for a sustainable economy. To do this would require going after not only the Republican toadies but also the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. That’s what he should have done; with the help of voters in Kentucky, that’s what I’m going to do. “Next question?”

blonde white woman is a sign of status, and that “acquiring” one is a sign of black male ascendancy. In addition to totally objectifying white women, this concept both objectifies and demeans black women, who become the “object” no one wants - hence another stereotype: the angry black women who want to know why educated black men “abandon” them. Shonda Rhimes seems familiar with these ideas, so she presents in her two shows powerful, intelligent, and attractive black women who are romantically involved with white men. In Scandal, Kerry Washington’s character, Olivia Pope, has two white men totally devoted to her - and one of them is the President of the United States. She dominates him, and he will do anything for her. The show often depicts Olivia’s white men doing anything to satisfy her, including frequent suggestions that they enjoy performing oral sex on her. While Viola Davis’ character Annalise Keating in How to Get Away

with Murder seems more dependent on the love she has for her white husband, she is still a powerful and dominant female character, and she still maintains a clear upper-hand in her relationship. In a recent episode, we saw Annalise remove her fake eyelashes, and her wig - and even when “stripped” of these accouterments of beauty, her white husband still comes and kisses her on the back of the neck. The message seems clear - even without her eye lashes, or her straight hair, or her make-up, she is still an attractive black woman, and her white man still wants her. Does the popularity of these shows indicate that our collective consciousness is starting to change with regards to the sexual “desirability” of black women, at least from the perspective of white men? Perhaps only time will tell. In the meanwhile, maybe all the single black ladies and single white guys can start realizing that they are actually allowed to date each other.

Member Agency Spotlight Center for Independent Living Options 2031 Auburn Avenue | Cincinnati, Ohio 45219 | (513) 241-2600 | cilo@cilo.net

Our Mission – “To break down architectural and attitudinal barriers, build bridges to understanding, and create options and choices in the continuous process of empowerment of persons with disabilities.” The Center for Independent Living Options (CILO) is dedicated to helping individuals who have physical, sensory, cognitive, and/or psychological disabilities to maintain active, productive lives of their choosing. In fact, we are who we serve. We are governed, managed, and staffed by a majority of professionals with disabilities. This gives us personal insight into the issues that people with disabilities face.

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LOCAL

No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

Marian Spencer and Judge Nathaniel Jones Share Civil Rights History JUSTIN JEFFRE

Streetvibes Editor

Women’s City Club applauding heroes. Photo: Harriet Kaufman.

Judge Nathaniel Jones teaches about court cases. Photo: Harriet Kaufman.

n Wednesday October 29th two Cincinnati Civil Rights icons spoke at the Women’s City Club (men can now join too) about the history of their civil rights work in Cincinnati and Ohio. There were notable civil rights figures in the audience like Al Gerhardstein, Judge Susan Dllott, Louise and former Judge Art Speigel. The event was well attended, however it’s a shame there weren’t more young people in attendance because people should learn about this history. Renowned civil rights attorney and Judge Nathaniel Jones said, “I think this program is very significant this evening because as we know the great philosophers and Abraham Lincoln have told us, ‘if we don’t learn from the past we will be brought to relive it’. And unfortunately so few know the past, particularly here in Cincinnati.” Jones - whose work and achievements are too long to list for a print edition - continued, “I think if we look back to the beginning of discrimination we go back to the very founding of this city and the establishment of the state of Ohio out of the Northwest Territory. When we go back there we find that discrimination against black people was enshrined in our laws, etched into all of our institutions, the legislative body made them a part of our laws, and the courts enforced those laws. And if that wasn’t enough, Congress provided a backstop when they enacted the Fugitive Slave Act to enforce the traditional custom of slavery and Cincinnati was a hotbed for the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave act.” According to Jones, the streets that the Marshalls and the federal officials used when they were rounding up slaves from Kentucky still exist, right down on Second and Third Street. “We all know the Margaret Garner story, for she was captured right down there on the banks of Ohio River. She told those capturers that she - rather than go back and have her

children go back to slavery - would kill them herself and of course she was charged with destroying property because black people were property at that time,” he said. Jones said that the segregation laws were a direct attack upon people of color. They became a part of the custom, tradition and institutions that governed laws in this state and this part of the state. So much so that they gave rise to stereotypes and precepts “that persist even after these laws have been repealed.” The Supreme Court made them concrete with their Dred Scott decision in 1857 where one Justice wrote that slaves were of in inferior order and subhuman some 25 times in his decision.

Even then they were excluded from testifying or serving jury duty and unless you had black schools there was no place to go for an education. In 1933 they purged 1,100 blacks from the state of Ohio for not meeting the Black Codes. There have been so many times when I’ve heard people say that “slavery was so long ago that it is irrelevant today”, but I’d love to see them try to tell that to Marian Spencer. She and her twin sister were raised in Gallipolis in the home of her grandfather who was a freed slave from West Virginia. She and her sister arrived in Cincinnati in the fall of 1938 after graduating co-valedictorian from their class in Gallipolis. She said every morning their grandfather would say, “First you must get an education.” Her grandfather almost lived to see their graduation but he died in 1937. “We were there because he had been so insistent on us getting our education,” she said. “You can discern from Marian’s comments how important education

Marian Spencer tells her story. Photo: Harriet Kaufman. Jones and Spencer described the Black Codes which required blacks to get the signatures of 2 white men and a $500 bond to become a citizen.

was to black citizens. From their very beginning here in the state of Ohio and in Cincinnati there were efforts that were made to deprive them of an

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

education,” said Jones. She continued, “Although, our grandfather as a freed slave had to go to court and get the high school opened for his grandson, his sons had never been allowed to go to the high school there even though they were both able to go and enlist for officer candidate’s school, be interviewed by young black officers from the south.” Her Dad had meningitis so he had a good excuse for not going in the army. “Uncle Rory on the other hand was perfectly healthy, but one of the white young Klansman had called him the “N-word” and Uncle Rory promptly knocked him down. Well, he got a dishonorable discharge and in our home we put both of their discharges on the wall and were very proud of them. And that’s the kind of home we grew up in.” “My mother always said get up and get out, there’s really nothing here for you and I think she was right.” she said. Spencer described Gallipolis as a Sun Down Town which was a town that you needed to be out of town before dark if you were black. They even had signs telling black people they need to be out of town by sun down. “In the 1970s you still had 10,000 sundown towns in the US warning blacks to leave before sundown. What are gated communities for today, are they sundown towns?” Spencer joined the NAACP at age 13. One of her most memorable, earliest and visible civil rights activities came in 1953. As chair of the local NAACP she filed a successful suit to let Negro children – as they were called back then – go to Coney Island. She had taken her two children to Coney Island while it was segregated and was told they couldn’t swim there. She won the case and Coney Island became desegregated. As NAACP president she worked for the 1974 Bronson desegregation suit against Cincinnati Public Schools. CPS was under the watchful eye of a federal court until about 2007. Magnet schools like SCPA were formed because of the lawsuit. In the early 1980’s she was a City Council member. At age 94 Spencer is still active, engaged, sharp as a tack and spunky. “Even at age 94 I find that I learn something new every day,” she says.

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Nov. 7th-20th, 2014 | N o . 290

Is Housing First the Solution to Homelessness? BILLY BRIGGS

www.street-papers.org INSP

In a recent article published by The Guardian, INSP editor Billy Briggs argued that Housing First was the best way forward for societies around the world to address chronic homelessness. The concept of Housing First prioritises moving homeless people straight from the streets into a home, as opposed to programmes whereby people must address personal issues prior to entering housing. The article mentions some successful street paper projects while highlighting the movement’s role in exposing the criminalisation of homeless people in America.

t a soup kitchen in Detroit, a former crack addict in a wheelchair is explaining how he lost his legs. “They were amputated in 2000 because I had frostbite from sleeping on the streets,” says Clayton, 54. Fourteen years on from becoming a double amputee, Clayton is still homeless in his home town, but he’s been off drugs for more than a decade, and remains remarkably sanguine about his plight. “It ain’t easy sometimes, but at least I’m still alive,” he says, breaking into a smile.

from a homeless charity called the Noah Project, Clayton visits twice a week. As we chat over coffee he says he hopes to survive another brutal Michigan winter and eventually get a place of his own. Matt, a young Jesuit volunteer at the Noah Project, says there will be around 16,000 people without a home tonight in the Motor City in harsh conditions. A local church is planning a memorial service for homeless people who’ve perished on the streets. And yet despite the Great Recession, the gutting of the auto industry

It ain’t easy sometimes, but at least I’m still alive

It is winter 2013 and we are in the Central United Methodist Church, a stone’s throw from Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team. It is noon, a soup kitchen is in full flow, but outside it’s bitterly cold, December snow piled high on the streets, the Detroit River frozen. When dark falls, the temperature can plunge to -20oC. Tonight, as usual, Clayton will sleep rough under a viaduct beside the Cobo Centre - a huge convention arena - a few blocks away from the soup kitchen. Run by volunteers

and the city’s much-publicised bankruptcy, homelessness in Detroit has actually fallen (albeit by less than 1%) since 2010, according to the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. Nor is it the only city. Across the US, homelessness in cities is dropping almost across the board. Part of the credit for this apparent success must go to Barack Obama’s Opening Doors programme, which the Department of Housing report concluded had made “significant progress in spite of tough economic times”. Launched in 2010, Opening

A homeless man begs on the street beside Government buildings, in Dublin November 22, 2010. Photo: REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton. Doors was the country’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. It set the target of ending chronic homelessness and homelessness among war veterans by 2015, and among families with children by 2020. Central to Opening Doors is a controversial idea that has picked up support in cities worldwide, especially in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, France and the UK. Known as Housing First, it prioritises moving homeless people straight from the streets into a home, as opposed to other programmes whereby people are mandated to address certain personal issues prior to entering housing. “With Housing First, the idea is to help people find permanent housing right away, without conditioning this housing on sobriety, mental health treatment, employment, or anything else. Then, continue working with them on all of these issues once they are stably housed,” says Jake Maguire of Community Solutions, which ran the 100,000 Homes Campaign - an initiative across 186 cities, counties and states that, earlier this year, met its goal to find roofs for 100,000 homeless Americans. “This is important, because typically it has been done the other way around. The data overwhelmingly reveals the counter-

Homeless man Michael Long makes a sign on a piece of cardboard before walking out to a traffic intersection to ask for money from passing motorists in Pacific Beach, California January 11, 2012. Photo: REUTERS/ Mike Blake.

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intuitive fact that Housing First ends homelessness permanently, while treatment first rarely ends it at all.” The numbers back it up. The 100,000 Homes Campaign announced in August that homelessness among US war veterans dropped below the 50,000 mark for the first time since 2010, falling to 49,933 - a 30% drop during that period. “What works to end veteran homelessness will work to end all homelessness,” says Becky Kanis, a former army captain and until recently campaign director. “Permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing are proven strategies, and they actually save taxpayers money.” Not everyone agrees. Although Housing First was adopted by the George W Bush administration, it remains unpopular on the right of the political spectrum, and not just among people who believe that citizens should “earn” state support. The initial cost of Housing First is expensive, and many people are resistant to the idea of providing housing for homeless drug addicts without first enrolling them on to a rehabilitative programme. This strikes at the heart of the debate about the root causes of homelessness, which is fundamentally about two arguments, according to Nicholas Pleace, a housing policy expert at the University of York and researcher with the European Observatory on Homelessness, an arm of the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (Feantsa). “There is the idea of essentially structural causation: economic downturn, cuts to welfare, service and benefits, limitation with services with, for example, regards to mental health and the care system,” Pleace says. “But then you’ve also got what we call individual pathology, which tends to be argued by those on the right, more about individual actions, choice and characteristics.” One of the most vocal opponents of Housing First for its apparent willingness to give homeless people an easy ride, is former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave homeless people one-way tickets out of town, charged families for using emergency shelters and evicted people from these shelters who broke curfew. By 2007, 550 families left New York with tickets paid for by the taxpayer.

(Continued on page 9)

No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

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proved successful in Finland, Den- Scores of US cities particularly have mark and Scotland, where homeless adopted punitive measures to deal applications in the last of these - a with destitute people, such as police system whereby people notify their sweeps to confiscate personal proplocal authority of impending home- erty, or making panhandling (asking lessness - fell by around 10% from for money on the street) illegal. 2012-13. Glasgow saw a 9% drop, Of 234 American cities, 40% make following an 11% drop on the previ- it a crime to sleep in public spaces, acous year. Housing First, and indeed cording to the National Law Center Housing Led, are likely to be hot top- on Homelessness and Poverty. Meanics when 300 delegates gather in the while, Seattle-based Real Change recity of Bergamo, Italy from 24-25 ported that around 100 tent encampOctober for the Feantsa 2014 Policy ments have been closed throughout Conference. the US, with only eight “tent cities” The fight against homeless- now considered legal. In Nashville, ness has thrown up many ideas and Tennessee, the Contributor street paproposed solutions over the years. per investigated 17 cases of homeless Recently, there has been a raft of people being given criminal records, design-led solutions, from housing ostensibly for criminal trespassing people in shipping containers to the and obstructing a highway. latest craze for tiny houses. Maguire Other cities have been even more warns against getting caught up in callous. In Detroit, where Clayton Dawn, a homeless woman from north Wales, sits huddled under a sleeping bag them. “People just have this intui- spoke of his personal struggles, the next to her dog Casper in a shopping arcade near the Victoria rail station in tive idea that homeless people need ACLU claimed last year that police central London December 14, 2012.. Photo: REUTERS/ Chris Helgren. something different than the rest of officers were routinely “kidnapping” us,” he says. “It used to be a special homeless people in vans from tourist increasingly no way out of homeless- building or program, now it’s a sexy areas such as Greektown, then dumpHOUSING FIRST ness, people become dependent on tiny home in a separated area. Tiny ing them miles from their area - some(Continued from page 8) emergency services permanently. houses are slower, more expensive times outside the city limits - with Critics of Bloomberg (in office “We have a combination of a ser- and far less scalable than using exist- no way of getting back. This in a city from 2002-2013) say his move away vice model that doesn’t allow people ing housing stock … and they just isowhere at least one third of the city’s from providing permanent housing to get out of homelessness; an econ- late the homeless from everyone else.” 16,000 homeless people are thought has been fundamental to New York’s omy and housing market that tries to Street papers, whereby homeless to be mentally ill. steep rise in homelessness. In 2004, attract higher earners; and not hav- people sell a magazine on the street to The UN has criticised these poliBloomberg pledged a comprehensive ing available housing stock that is af- create an income, are still seen as one cies, which display none of the ineffort to dramatically reduce home- fordable. At the same time,” he goes of the most effective tools in fighting genuity or flair of the street papers lessness, but the Coalition for the on, “there is a movement to destroy homelessness. Glasgow - hot on the or Housing First advocates, whose Homeless said rates subsequently public housing and convert it to pri- heels of its Housing First pilot sucmethods, while not perfect, have at rose 80% to become the highest since vate housing. And we’ve had a huge cesses - hosted the International Netleast been shown to reduce urban New York began keeping records 30 economic recession.” Although Hous- work of Street Papers (INSP) 20th anhomelessness. Maguire says it’s imyears ago. They say he encouraged ing First is being pushed by some or- niversary conference in August, with portant to understand the opposition. gentrification in New York while cut- ganisations, most still focus on emer- nearly 100 delegates from as far afield “Housing First opposition is typically ting off homeless families from prior- gency shelters. “This is because of the as Osaka and Buenos Aires; the or- rooted in a sense that it feels wrong ity access to public housing and Sec- scale of the issue in LA: it is so big that ganisation supports 123 street papers or backwards to subsidise housing for tion 8 vouchers, which pay two-thirds it’s hard to meet the urgency in terms in 41 countries. someone with active mental illness or The first street paper was Street a drug problem,” he says. “We’re acof rent in private apartments for low- of Housing First.” The nations where homeless is News in New York, launched in 1989. income residents. (The city’s current tually pretty sensitive to how difficult mayor, Bill de Blasio, has essentially best understood, monitored and ad- Since then the concept has spread. these feelings can be to overcome, but refunded the programme, and plans dressed are, not surprisingly, in na- In fact, further innovation has come the data is so clear on this: 85% of to move sheltered families into their tions with the most developed wel- through the street papers. In Nurem- Housing First participants do not reown apartments via new rent subsi- fare systems - Scandinavia, Germany berg, for example, the street paper turn to homelessness, and many end and France. In Europe, Housing First Strassenkreuzer invites homeless dies.) up tackling mental illness, unemploySimilar issues bedevil London. has developed into “Housing Led”, people to attend university lectures; ment or addiction in housing and on As cuts to housing benefits bite, rents in which housing is considered a hu- in Munich, BISS magazine pays its their own terms. spiral upwards and luxury property man right and all efforts are focused vendors pensions, and pays for funer“Housing First is counterintuidevelopment continues apace, Crisis on getting homeless people settled in al services and burials for homeless tive, and I think it’s really fair to admit people who die on the streets. estimates 6,508 people slept rough homes. that, but at the end of the day, would Homelessness remains a problem Street papers have also been at the in the UK capital in 2013, a 77% rise you rather be right, or would you rathon 2010. “Thousands of people are in all EU states, and has risen in 15 forefront of exposing what might be er end homelessness?” suffering because of cuts to housing countries over the past five years. But considered the “third way” of dealing -----------------------benefit and a woeful lack of affordable Housing Led projects have already with homelessness: criminalisation. housing,” says Matt Downie, director of policy and external affairs at Crisis. “Shamefully, instead of receiving the help they need, the law in England means that many homeless people are turned away by their councils because they are not considered a priority for housing help.” London is just one of many desperate British cities that has turned to Housing First for a solution. It doesn’t work perfectly. In Los Angeles, where the concept of Housing First originated in a 1988 project called Beyond Shelter, homelessness has also risen sharply. Thousands of men, women and children are sleeping in places deemed unfit for human habitation: alongside freeways, in cars and vans, under overpasses and beside rivers. Housing First simply can’t tackle the problem - especially not in Skid Row, the downtown Los Angeles area synonymous with destitution. “Emergency services used to be just that: emergency services. Someone could get overnight shelter, a bed, some food A homeless man sleeps along East River in New York March 7, 2005. and clothing,” says community organPhoto: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton. iser Eric Ares, “but because there is

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WORLD

More from Dave’s Journal JASON HAAP

Contributing Writer

n 2013, my late friend Dave was incarcerated at the Hamilton County Justice Center for several months. Upon his passing, I inherited several legal pads filled with his journal writing. This item marks the fourth entry for what may be an (ir)regular series in Streetvibes. In this episode, Dave gets a new cell and ponders television.

May 24 - After Lunch

I have had to take it easy on the paper the last few days because I had ordered the wrong kind of notebook earlier this week. Now that I have received two of the proper ones and have another two on order, I can work, write, and doodle away. So after moving down to medi-

cal on Tuesday, I settled into my new bunk, cell 18 near the toilet. I got to reconnect with Daryl, who had been on medical since I came in January. He was being released the next day. I gave him my last two Nutty Bars in exchange for his cheeseburger from lunch and I later secured the use of his under bed tray for my bed. Then, the next day, two of my cellies were released and I moved once again, upgrading my bed to the one near the window and seizing a second mat in the process. Thursday, the very next day, during quiet time, I was informed I would be moving, back to 41 North. I wondered whether they would really move me back to A Pod, or to one of

Children Hit Hardest by Global Recession JONATHAN BRADSHAW

www.street-papers.org The Conversation UK

Children have suffered the most as the effects of the global financial crisis are felt across the Western world, a report from children’s charity UNICEF has found. And it is children that will suffer the longest as a result of the financial crisis, the charity adds. Jonathan Bradshaw is a Professor of Social Policy at University of York in the UK and he is also affiliated with Child Poverty Action Group. He writes an opinion piece for The Conversation UK on the back of UNICEF’s findings.

hildren have suffered the most as the effects of the global financial crisis have been felt in the Western world, a report from children’s charity UNICEF has found. And it is children that will suffer the longest as a result of the financial crisis, the charity adds. In this latest update to its Innocenti Report Card series, UNICEF charts the correlation between financial trouble in industrialised countries since 2008 and the decline in wellbeing among children. The recession

has been a “great leap backwards” for young citizens, it finds. Out of 42 countries covered in the charity’s latest report, 23 have seen a rise in the number of children living in households with incomes below the poverty line since 2008. It also notes that child poverty has fallen in 18 others - including Chile, Australia and Poland - so the situation is “by no means inevitable”. Some have managed to tackle the problem while others, including the UK and 18 US states, have failed.

Nov. 7th-20th, 2014 | N o . 290

the General Population pods. It turns out they decided it was safe to put me back in with medical overflow. I am glad to be back “home.” I am in cell 6 rather than 5, right below where I was. The sound of the TV is not so bad down here and I can even see the clock! There is something very scary about the way people expect to be plugged into the TV. In the hospital, people always wanted to point out the TV and make sure I could see it, get to it, and control it. Here in the Justice Center, the TV is ubiquitous. When it is not there, or not on, people become distraught. No matter what they are doing, the TV must be on with something and it doesn’t seem to matter what (though I am sure many of my choices would seem worse than nothing to them). When on my trip to the emergency room, I commented I should have brought a book to read, and the at-

tending officer immediately replied, “Yeah, there is no TV,” as if I would only have chosen to read due to a lack of television. He had apparently already assessed the TV situation while I only noticed the lack of TV after he mentioned it. One really sickening aspect of this whole television thing is the advertising. If I do watch TV, it is generally commercial free. Even on the internet I use Ad-Block and know to avoid those areas of the screen where advertising tends to lurk and I keep my volume down so a spokesperson does not catch me off guard. These people, though, not only see the advertisements on television, but sing and talk along with them, in unison. Even among different groups of people here, the same ads are continually parroted. None of them seem to be aware of the significance of this action!

In the European Union, 7.5m young people counted as not being in education, work or training in 2013, which is an increase nearly a million on 2008 figures.

introduced in response. It may end up being much more. Average incomes continue to fall, which means that child poverty in relation to income has not yet begun to rise. But the Institute for Fiscal Studies has predicted that relative income poverty will increase when we compare 2015-16 figures to 2011-12. An estimated 600,000 more children will be living in poverty before housing costs are taken into account and another 600,000 after housing costs. Relative income poverty is expected to continue to rise in the years until 2020 if benefit rates continue to be tied to the rate of inflation at the same levels. This will effectively sweep away all the gains made in child poverty reduction between 1999 and 2010. As the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission pointed out in its most recent report, the UK needs to reset its child poverty ambitions. The government’s austerity drive is still only half realised and harsher cuts are still to come. It has long been clear that clear objectives and a new time scale are needed but the UNICEF report should really hammer that message home. Children should not be left to suffer the consequences of the financial crisis.

A Generation Robbed

One of UNICEF’s most striking findings is the contrast between what has happened to children and what has happened to the elderly as the recession bites. The child poverty rate has improved relative to the pensioner poverty rate in only three countries - Poland, Switzerland and Germany. In all other countries children have lost ground to pensioners. In the UK, for example, the coalition government has sought to protect pensioners with policies to protect the state pension. Child benefit, on the other hand, has been frozen and many other benefits and tax breaks that would normally support them have increased by much less than the rate of inflation since 2010. Even the UK government’s own figures reveal that child poverty rate has risen by three percentage points since 2008. UNICEF estimates that the UK has lost six years of progress in child poverty reduction as a result of the recession and the austerity measures

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Homeless tours of Düsseldorf MARC DAUENHAUER

“M

www.street-papers.org Fiftyfifty - Germany

y name is Markus. I’ve been living rough for four anda-half years. I sleep under a bridge.” With these words I begin my guided tours, which I have been running for a year on behalf of fiftyfifty and the cultural centre zakk. I ended up on the streets because my flat was too expensive for me, and then I lost my job. When I first became homeless, I just hit the road and ended up here in Düsseldorf. I found some good mates here who I still meet up with in the evenings for a beer and to watch the football. It was these people who told me about the street magazine, and in 2011 I became a fiftyfifty vendor. Before that I just used to collect bottles and live off what I

could find in skips and bins. At the beginning of 2013 I took part in making a cinema advert for fiftyfifty. In it, a social worker spoke to me about the project she was involved with: an alternative guided tour of the city called ‘Living on the Streets.’ When I first heard about it, I was a bit sceptical. Why would people be interested in the way homeless people live and get by? But I still wanted to give it a try, because I was interested in telling other people about my life. Also, it was important for me to get other people to see homeless people from a different perspective. People who took part in these guided tours would find out what they could do to help others,

(Continued on page 11)

This photo shows fiftyfifty vendor Patrick, whom we also know as an artist in our gallery. Markus didn’t want to be photographed.. Photo: Christof Wolff

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No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

ISIS and The Corporate State of War Profiteering

MICHAEL TEE

Contributing Writer

ver since World War I, fear of foreign invasions has been an obsession in the American collective consciousness. It is no coincidence that major U.S. corporations have profited from this fear, at the expense of massive death and destruction worldwide. As Dr. Zoltan Grossman put it, “Every country, every ethnicity, every religion, contains within it the capability for extreme violence. Every group contains a faction that is intolerant of other groups, and actively seeks to exclude or even kill them. War fever tends to encourage the intolerant faction, but the faction only succeeds in its goals if the rest of the group acquiesces or remains silent. The attacks of September 11 were not only a test for U.S. citizens’ attitudes toward minority/racial groups in their own country, but a test for our relationship with the rest of the world. We must begin not by lashing out at civilians in Muslim countries, but by taking responsibility for our own history and our own actions, and how they have fed the cycle of violence.” In the midst of all the fear-mongering that has been generated by the commercial media, what has not been reported are the CEOs of military contractors who are paid more than their overpaid counterparts in the financial sector. Of course, many of these socalled news outfits are heavily bankrolled by the same military contractors. Therefore, ‘fair and balanced’ journalism is totally out of the question. What’s even worse, is that all of these predatory companies are buying

off politicians and ‘retired’ generals to systematically rob our national treasury and place our sons and daughters, once again, in the line of fire. CNN pundit, Frances Townsend, a former Bush administration official, has appeared on television calling for more military engagement against the so-called Islamic State. As the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) reported, Townsend holds positions in two investment firms with defense company holdings, MacAndrews and Forbes, and Monument Capital Group, along with serving as an advisor to defense contractor, Decision Sciences. There has also been a procession of retired generals who’ve, all of the sudden, come out of the woodwork to appear on various news shows. Practically all of them have demanded that the U.S., not only strike ISIS from the air, but also, place “boots on the ground”. General Jack Keane is a good example of this. He’s called President Obama’s, ostensible, policy of air strikes “totally insufficient” and that we need “special operation forces” in both Iraq and Syria. However, in the interest of full disclosure, he, nor the ‘mainstream’ press, have mentioned that the good general ‘moonlights’ as a special advisor to Academi, formerly known as Blackwater; is on the board of General Dynamics (aircraft manufacturer) and is a member of a firm that partners with XVionics, a ‘support system’ company used in Air Force drone training. General Keane has also criticized individuals in the country of Qatar

HOMELESS TOURS

mal’ people, apart from the regulars who buy fiftyfifty. I mean, who wants to have a conversation with a homeless person? People have really got a lot out of our two-hour tours. They’ve learned that homeless people aren’t all the same. There’s good and bad, like everyone else. And they’ve learned that every homeless person has to deal with their own fate. There are lots of reasons why people become homeless.

(Continued from page 10) and what facilities exist in Düsseldorf. At the same time I started to think about what places I wanted to show people: day centres, emergency night shelters, hostels, places where homeless people used to sleep and places where you could buy fiftyfifty. But also the places for dealing drugs, and the red light district which, I’m afraid, are also part of Düsseldorf. Of course, I was pretty nervous before my first guided tour: would people be able to hear what I was saying above the noise of the traffic? Would they ask questions I didn’t know the answers to? Would they ask me things which were too personal? So far, everyone has been able to hear me and no-one has asked me anything I couldn’t answer. I’ve not had any negative feedback up to now, either. On the contrary, my worries that nobody would be interested in an alternative guided tour were unfounded. At the moment I’m doing on average three tours a month, as are my colleagues. What I really like is when I get letters from people who have been on the tours. I’ve been invited for coffee quite a few times after a tour. If I wasn’t ‘Living on the Streets,’ that kind of thing wouldn’t be happening to me. If it wasn’t for these tours I wouldn’t hardly get to speak to ‘nor-

for funding ISIS; writing in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that” the time has come to confront Qatar and other Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas.” Yet, he remains silent about the organization’s Saudi Arabian and Kuwait supporters. This double standard could be explained by the fact that Academi (Blackwater) has done big business with these countries, which happen to be primary rivals of Qatar. Retired Marine General James Mattis, questioning the President’s policy, told the Washington Post, “The American people will once again see us in a war that doesn’t seem to be making progress.” Left unsaid is Mattis’ new role on the General Dynamic’s corporate board, making $88,479 in cash and stock options in 2013. Also, retired General Anthony Zinni, perhaps the loudest advocate of a large deployment to fight ISIS - works for several military focused private equity firms. Recent wars in the Middle East have represented a ‘windfall’ of profits for the armaments industry. In 2010 the CEOs of Northrup Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Boeing made, between them, over $64 million. Compare this to the combined CEO pay for JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America - $16.8 million for the same year - and it appears that profiteering in the arms industry is much more lucrative than profiteering in finance capital. Then, there are those military contractors who regularly defraud the Defense Department, i.e., the taxpayers. The Pentagon paid $270 billion, from 2007 to 2009, to 91 military contractors that were involved in civil fraud cases resulting in judgments of more than $1 million. During the same period they paid 30 contractors $682 million, who were later convicted of ‘hardcore’ criminal fraud. Ed Wasserman, dean of UC Berke-

ley Graduate School for Journalism, says “The inclination to use military action a lot is something the defense industry subscribes to because it helps to perpetuate an overall climate of permissiveness towards military spending.” He goes on to say that “the media debate around the so-called Islamic State (IS) has tilted towards more hawkish former military leaders. The public would be best served, not only, with better disclosure, but also, a more balanced set of options that would include how expanded air strikes could cause civil casualties.” All of this begs answers to the following questions: What has over a decade of blood-spilling and billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer-financed military hardware in Iraq really accomplished? Why wasn’t more pressure put on the Maliki regime to be more inclusive before the emergence of ISIS? How’s that war in Afghanistan working out for us? What part is Israel (our powerful and ‘permanent’ ally in the region) playing in all of this? Will giving military aid to the ‘moderate’ opposition forces in Syria, to simultaneously degrade ISIS and overthrow Assad, result in the creation of a non-repressive government in that country? “Either war is obsolete or men are.” R. Buckminster Fuller At the height of the Vietnam War, John Lennon gave us a very simple but profound song/chant: “All we are saying, is give peace a chance...” More than 40 years later it looks like peace doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance. The grim reaper continues to enjoy an abundant harvest as money matters more than life. As long as Americans allow the “merchants of death’ to feast on our military - via our compliant and corrupt political racketeers - we are turning the world into one, big cemetery. ------------------------

A bridge between two worlds A participant in an alternative This photo shows fiftyfifty vendor Patrick, whom we also know as an artist in our guided city tour reports: This has nothing to do with picture postcards or tourist attractions. Quite the opposite. Two homeless former vendors of the street newspaper fiftyfifty lead you through a tour of their world and tell you about their life on the streets. This is no freak show, no waxworks display of human misery. It’s a confrontation with a living reality which is hidden from most people. Suddenly, Düsseldorf, the city of the rich and the beautiful, becomes a city of crass contrasts where grotesque poverty and social injustice exist as well. This tour, organised by fiftyfifty in collaboration with the cultural centre zakk, shows a life lived between exclusion and discrimination on the one hand, and a commitment to improving the lives of the homeless on the other.

gallery. Markus didn’t want to be photographed.. Photo: Christof Wolff

Fiftyfifty is not just a street paper. It’s also a kind of social refuge for homeless people who are confronted by multiple practical problems, about which the ‘tourist’ learns a great deal in the course of the tour. Where do you send letters to someone who is homeless? What address do they put on their ID cards? Where do homeless people sleep? Where do they eat, where can they wash themselves? Why do so many of them acquire a dog? What does the day-to-day discrimination faced by homeless people actually look like? How do minor breaches of the rules lead to criminality? Where are the shelters? Where can you get support from local authorities, and can it be got from the private sector? Where can you get a hot drink in

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

the evenings? How much money do you need to survive on the streets? What part is played by addiction and drug-related crime? On the tour you see familiar places with new eyes, and this gives them new depth. At the same time a bridge is built between different worlds. The fate of the poor becomes tangible, housing and social policy stop being abstract concepts. But these homeless people aren’t patronised as victims, something which gives the report about them a high degree of credibility. If you can walk through Düsseldorf with open eyes and ears, and keep them open in this part of town, then this tour comes warmly recommended. ------------------------

STREET VOICE Beauty School Bonanza MARY MUELLER

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

ell here’s another, hopefully humorous story for my readers. I hope I keep you laughing. I call this one Beauty School Bonanza “Is that the alarm already? Well another day another dime, and another day and one step closer to get-

ting out of beauty school.” “Oh my in the mirror. I look like a wild lion. Thank goodness it’s hair day at beauty school.” I hope that Miss Serena doesn’t notice my runner and my stained nurse’s shoes. What is the grumbling? I hear a voice. This is the stomach if

Invisible Too?

MELISSA MOSBY

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

n the October 10-23rd, 2014 issue of Streetvibes I submitted a short writing entitled “Invisible?” Even as I wrote it, I was sure that being invisible only affected me in a hurtful and negative manner. Since then (within 2 weeks) I came face to face with the whole truth and nothing but the truth of who can be negatively affected by those who live in the fantasy world in which other human beings can be and are routinely “invisibilized”. Recently I was walking down a street near St. Peter in Chains. It was late night/early morning. A man came up from behind me on a Segway and passed me on the sidewalk. I paid him no real attention as he sped by. Seconds later I heard a gut-wrenching sound and looked ahead. The man on a Segway had wrecked while crossing a driveway in the sidewalk.

I ran ahead to him and asked if he was okay. He didn’t move. I moved closer and bent at the waist to get his attention. There was a puddle of blood beginning to form and pool bigger beneath his head. Truly I rather panicked. I looked around us and saw not one single soul. My heart raced actually blocking out any idea of constructive thought. Loud and clear though, I heard the fallen man snoring softly and almost easily. I knew that he was unconscious. I ran across the street yelling help! This man is hurt! Call 911 somebody please. My thought was to knock on the door of the building across the street yet when I got there I realized it was an apartment building with a row of doorbells for each apartment. I ran my finger over each button and pushed frantically. I stepped to the curb and looked up at the windows

For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com

Nov. 7th-20th, 2014 | N o . 290

we’re on a diet. Would you at least give me notice! My reply: Oh stomach no one wants to see a fat hairdresser! It’s a good thing you can talk to yourself. Later I made it to the break room at school. I replied to myself: “I’m looking at my friends with hopeful eyes and asking. Are we going out tonight?” “I need it.” Tiredly shaking my head, “shocked, I’m listening to the horrid story.” He’s going out on her again?

“Will get him at lunch. Amy do you still have that shaving cream and the silly string?” “Good we’ll hit his car at lunch. You know their cars are where their hearts are. Why do they always name them after women?” Let’s let our imagination ride on this one.”

hoping to catch someone’s attention should they look down. No one did. I ran back to the injured man who now had a huge puddle of blood spreading quickly across the concrete sidewalk. My heart turned in my chest. I had a cell phone that didn’t have battery power. It is an issue that I battle with daily as I am homeless and often only charge my phone for as long as I am somewhere working. The charge died hours ago. Suddenly across the street a man came to the door of the building and began shouting, “Why did you ring my bell?” His words were not questioning but obnoxious and blaming. He used his cuss words as he displayed his faithfulness and loyalty to his fantasy of “invisibilization.” I had already began to tell him to call 911 to get help before it registered to me that he was angry for having his fantasy interrupted and that he was not even beginning to hear me, see me or the situation before him. He turned on his heels - bathrobe swirling behind him like a superhero’s cape and slammed the door and walked up the

stairs behind it. I gotta tell you I was wounded. I was shocked. I was afraid for the injured man in myself. I was hurt, angry, afraid, sad and helpless. I prayed. As I said earlier, I was sure that “invisible?” only affected me or those rendered invisible in a negative way. Wow, was I wrong. It has the potential to be dangerous to anyone. This time someone, a human being lie on the sidewalk - head bleeding profusely unconscious. And that man refused to see me. Wow. By the way, the injured man eventually did come to, and that was a miracle in my eyes. Still bleeding profusely and totally unaware that he was even on a Segway he refused to slow down to listen to me as well. But he was drunk. He wiped the blood from his face and eyes like it was sweat, got on the Segway and rode off without a thought. I thank God for him, as he was unaware of this dangerous position or that for a moment in time he was invisible too. ------------------------

Sincerely, Mary P.S. Thank you for the donations! From Street-vendor Mary ------------------------

AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

STREET VOICE

No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

ORANGE BARRELS

BETTER Better, is everyday above ground Better, is appreciation from everywhere all around... Better, is to upgrade things that are out dated Better, is acknowledging the changes with the recognition that the cost may be out rated Better, is to make downscaled areas be upscaled and look good Better, is to not to neglect the people, RICH or POOR! I thought this you understood... Better, is being able to enjoy life in the park, the library, church or just on the square Better, is when I can enjoy upscaled living in this life without my pockets going bare... Better, is to be able to enjoy and have peace of mind no matter what I hear or what the sound Better, is growing from homelessness into housing and gaining respect from all around.... Better, is for me today even though I have to pay taxes for things I may never understand Better, is knowing God is watching us all good and bad all over this land....

WILLA DENISE JONES

When ghosts and goblins come out to play. Now Election Day is a much scarier choice, With Fat Cats choking off the people’s voice. Our ghoulish pols spend caldrons of money For tricks not treats and ends far from funny.

BILL WOODS

GROWING CONCERN

(Continued from page 3)

money spent and progress made on Project Groundwork [the work done in accordance to the Consent Decree]?” The information is published on MSD’s website, www.msdgc.org. I looked at the latest quarterly and annual reports, and they are indeed very long. I won’t say that they are nearly incomprehensible, although I think that a summary with a couple charts or graphs as to the progress on the Consent Decree at the beginning of the reports would be useful. Knowing the progress may help give us ratepayers an idea of what we may expect in the future. Another concern often expressed was how to develop a program to give low- and fixed-income people a discount on the sewer bills. At the first meeting

CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY

(Continued from page 7)

Of her late husband Donald she said, “He was never going to become a principle because his wife was Marian Spencer.” Donald was also an activist. I remember seeing the happy couple regularly at NAACP meetings and community issues forums where he was an advocate for so many great causes. I don’t think our parks ever had a stronger advocate. Marian said she asked him so many questions when they were dating she thought she almost scared him off. It was important to her that she married a man that was as dedicated to justice as she was. Marian continues to learn facts about her grandfather and many other things at the Freedom Underground Center. She recently learned that the slave owner that owned her grandfather owned 20 slaves.

Each day the construction workers are there Putting up the construction signs Placing Orange Barrels all around From block to block, from street to street Construction work is on the streets So just sit down and take a seat Orange Barrels are what you’re gonna see

KIM GREEN

HEALTH CARE FOR THE HOMELESS

Halloween is meant to be the scariest day,

Contributing Writer

They’re everywhere

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

THE NEW SCARIEST DAY

Orange Barrels, Orange Barrels

Health care for the homeless is very important, especially for people living on the streets. The risk of getting sick is high. I should know because I have gotten sick while living on the streets. When I talk to people experiencing homelessness I ask them do they have health insurance. Some say yes and some say no. Sometimes substance abuse or mental illness are contributing factors. For that reason with winter approaching it’s very important to get a flu shot and layer up. One of the main reasons I advocate for health care for the homeless is because I’m a board member on the Consumer Advisory Board.

JERRY DAVIS

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer Elizabeth Brown from H.O.M.E. (Housing Opportunities Made Equal) pointed out that more and more people are being evicted for non-payment of their water and sewer bills. For gas and electric bills, those who meet income qualifications can apply for a program which allows them to pay a percentage of their income, but there is nothing currently like that for water and sewer. The commissioners said that legislation would be necessary to do this. The third main concern was that of jobs. With all the money being spent there are many jobs being created. However, there is no program for job training or for reserving some of those jobs for qualified workers from Hamilton County. The two commissioners disagreed with the City of Cincinnati’s “Responsible Bidder” program, saying that current legislation

does not allow this and that it would raise sewer rates even more. Several people, especially at the first meeting, mentioned using “green” technology. Per information given out by the Sierra Club this means such things as “green roofs” (roofs built to hold dirt and plants to absorb water), rain barrels, bioswales (landscaped ditches with vegetation and compost that remove silt and pollution from storm water runoff) and rain gardens (depressions with plants that act as sponges absorbing storm water). Green technology is said to benefit both the environment and be cheaper than the “brown” solutions advocated by the EPA, which rely heavily on large construction projects and use large amounts of energy. The sewer bills are expected to continue to rise, but both commissioners

stressed that they would become more affordable due to various efforts that are now underway. A percentage of income payment plan, if allowed and implemented, would help those of very limited income. Todd Portune agreed that the minimum usage charges (see the recent Streetvibes article “Phantom Flushes”) need to be reduced as they do not give any incentive to saving water if one is charged whether or not the minimum is used. It wasn’t clear how the rates would become more affordable for the rest of the users. This topic looks as if it will be a growing concern for MSD users, which means most people in Hamilton County. There will be more coverage of rates, the Consent Decree, and the sewer system in future articles in Streetvibes.

After the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War Jones said, “Things got better for blacks in the south, but not so much in Cincinnati.” Jones who had been General Counsel for the NAACP said that in preparation for the desegregation cases in Ohio they found that the research that they did described conditions and really showed that school segregation wasn’t an accident or the actions of private people. It was government sanctioned from the beginning. They had to prove that in order to win their case and they did. Ultimately the case in Cincinnati was settled. When asked what his proudest moment was Judge Jones said, “It was the cases that I lost.” Sometimes you have to be willing to fight, lose and keep fighting in order to ultimately win. When Marian was asked the same question she said that joining the groups that were willing to fight

for justice is what she is most proud of. Jones mentioned the recent passing of another important figure, Leslie Isiah Gaines. Gaines’ practice was a training ground for virtually every local black attorney and Judge. One interesting anecdote is that right-wing radio personality Bill Cunningham once worked at his practice. According to Jones, Bill Cunningham asked to be a part of his practice because they were getting all the big highprofile murder cases. “He said he’d be willing to work in a broom closet,” said Jones. Spencer and Jones also discussed how we still have to fight to protect black votes. As I write this on Election Day I see reports of more Jim Crow right here with us today. According to democracynow.org, more than 40,000 voter registrations have allegedly gone missing in Georgia, most

of them representing communities of color, who largely support Democrats. They also note a new report from Al Jazeera America that says new voter ID laws risk disenfranchising millions, especially black, Hispanic and AsianAmerican voters. Twenty-seven states are now participating in the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program. Backers say it is needed to prevent voter fraud, but critics say it is being used to stop Democraticleaning voters from going to the polls. We will follow these reports. Knowing our history is the key to understanding why the world is the way it is today. It’s important to learn about past struggles for justice so we can be inspired to continue the struggle. Thankfully we have Civil Rights Icons like Marian Spencer and Judge Nathaniel Jones around today to continue educating us.

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

------------------------

PUZZLES

Nov. 7th-20th, 2014 | N o . 290

CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 55 Across 1. Part of a shoe 5. Sully 10. Enquire about 13. Outcome 15. Concur 16. Container 17. Range 18. Card game 19. Mineral 20. Give support or approval 22. Bunkum 24. Decays 25. Nourishment 26. Become visible 29. Sob 30. On the sheltered side 31. Jewelled headdress 34. Renegade 38. Encounter 40. Warning device 42. Molten rock 43. Small branch 45. Manually manipulate 47. Strike 48. Receptacle 50. Steal cattle 52. Express approval of 55. Unit of area 56. Smooth 57. Law officer 61. Paddle 62. Former European gold coin 65. Sashay 66. Single 67. Express, in stage or movie role 68. Parlor 69. Golf pin 70. Go in 71. Salacious

Down 1. Withered 2. Cooking appliance 3. Heavy metallic element 4. Extra or repeated performance 5. Measuring strips 6. In the past 7. Annoy 8. Sharp pointed implement 9. Breed of dog 10. Higher up 11. Sea nymph 12. Rested weight on the knees 14. Pharynx 21. Stripes of contrasting color 23. Cause to move forward with force 25. Mindful 26. Money or goods donated to the poor 27. A secret look 28. Look searchingly 32. Synthetic resin 33. Operated 35. Currency of Thailand 36. Malevolent 37. Tardy 39. Heading 41. A steady advance 44. Nobleman in Spain or Portugal 46. Compulsory force or theat 49. Fall 51. Successive 52. Currently in progress 53. Level of existence or development 54. Blended food 55. Flower 58. Not in use 59. Current 60. Manage without help 63. Crib 64. Consumed

SODOKU PUZZLE NO 19- MEDIUM

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 289 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 54

SODOKU PUZZLE NO 18- MEDIUM

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com

RESOURCES

No. 290 | Nov. 7th-20th, 2014

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

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

Nov. 7th-20th, 2014 | N o . 290

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