Philadelphia Gay News Vol. 33 No. 8
Honesty Integrity Professionalism
Feb. 20 - 26, 2009
DHS reinstates MANNA funding Gay vet murdered By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance, which provides meals to those struggling with life-threatening illnesses, had itself been struggling to cope with the loss of city funding, but it was recently reinstated. During Mayor Nutter’s November budget cuts, the Department of Human Services had its funding slashed by about $2.5 million for fiscal year 2009 and $5 million for the following fiscal year. DHS notified MANNA in November that it was ending its $350,000 contract with the group, but the agency is now saying that it later reconsidered that decision but didn’t tell MANNA. Alicia Taylor, spokesperson for DHS, called the gaffe a miscommunication, “plain and simple.” “We made the decision to renew the contract, but the ball was dropped somewhere along the way,” Taylor said. For the past 10 years, MANNA received the money from DHS to operate a program that provides meals to children of parents who are suffering from serious illnesses. “After doing an analysis that was
required by the mayor, we initially made the decision to cut MANNA’s funding,” Taylor said. “But in the process, toward the end of the year we started looking at all of our resources and contracts and realized that this was, in fact, one of the services that we were mandated to provide to ensure the safety and well being of our children.” Currently, MANNA’s children’s program provides meals for 50-75 youth and also works with St. Mary’s Family Respite Center, which offers childcare services for families affected by HIV/ AIDS. Richard Keaveney, MANNAexecutive director, said he was notified about the loss of funding around Thanksgiving and called it a “real shock.” He was also shocked when he was informed Feb. 17 that DHS was going to renew the full contract. “We’re of course delighted,” he said. “We’re thrilled.” Keaveney said that after he’d originally been notified of the cut, he petitioned DHS to reinstate some, if not all, of the funding. “We made our case in December why they shouldn’t cut this funding and apparently they did reconsider but forgot
to tell us,” Keaveney said. The last contact Keaveney had with DHS officials was in December, when the agency requested a list of the children MANNA serves who are also in the DHS system. Taylor said DHS took this action because the agency had been reevaluating its decision to revoke the contract. “As we were reassessing all of our contracts, we contacted MANNA in December for some statistics, which they supplied,” she said. “But the person here who was in contact with MANNA thought that they had already been informed that we were planning to renew their contract, because that’s why we were contacting them about that information.” MANNA receives the DHS money after the organization submits monthly invoices; as he was under the impression that the $175,000 MANNA had already received from DHS for the fiscal year would be the last of the money, Keaveney stopped submitting invoices in January. The DHS funding comprised about 8 percent of MANNA’s budget. ■ Jen Colletta can be reached at jen@epgn. com.
New gay immigration bill introduced By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer Last week, lawmakers from both houses of Congress resurrected a bill that would provide for more equitable treatment of binational LGBT couples. The Uniting American Families Act would, among other stipulations, allow the same-sex foreign partners of American citizens to receive the same immigration opportunities currently provided to binational heterosexual married couples. The bill was introduced Feb. 12 by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in the Senate. The House version currently has 80 cosponsors, while the Senate bill has 14. Both were referred to the Judiciary committees. Similar legislation has been introduced in every session of Congress since 2000, most recently in May 2007. Before UAFA died in committee last See UAFA, Page 13
TREASURE HUNTING: Israel Upmann (left), of CIRCA jewelry company, inspects a piece of jewelry donated by John Cunningham Feb. 11 during Gold & Chocolate, a Valentine’s Day-themed fundraiser for LGBT grantmaking organization Delaware Valley Legacy Fund. The event encouraged attendees to bring gold or other jewelry that CIRCA, which focuses solely on buying jewelry, then assessed. Perry Monastero, DVLF executive director, said CIRCA then offered a buying price and gave attendees the option of deciding how much of that figure they wanted to contribute to DVLF. Monastero said organizers are still tallying fundraising totals from the event, which nearly 100 people attended, but are currently estimating that the party brought in about $2,300. DVLF is still accepting jewelry donations at its office, 1234 Market St., Suite 1800, through the end of the month. Photo: Scott A. Drake
in Poconos
By Jen Colletta PGN Staff Writer An Army veteran from northeastern Pennsylvania was murdered earlier this month allegedly by a man with whom he was sexually involved. Police arrested Shawn Freemore, 19, on Feb. 11 and charged him with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in connection with the Feb. 4 stabbing death of Michael Goucher, 21. Police said Freemore, of Price Township in Monroe County, confessed to the murder during questioning. He is currently in police custody and had a preliminary hearing scheduled for yesterday. According to the defendant’s confession, he and Goucher, of East Stroudsburg, met online in late January and, shortly afterward, met in person for a sexual encounter that took place in Goucher’s car. Police said the pair again arranged to meet up at about 12:30 a.m. Feb. 4. This time, when Goucher attempted to have sex with Freemore, the defendant refused and SHAWN FREEMORE AFTER left the car, Freemore told HIS FEB. 12 ARRAIGNMENT police. Photo: Courtesy of Pocono According to court Record documents, Freemore said he got out of the car and, when Goucher followed him, he turned and stabbed him in the neck. Freemore said Goucher fell to the ground and when he tried to get back up, Freemore stabbed him a second time in the abdomen before dragging him further into the woods and stabbing him several more times. Freemore told police that he went through Goucher’s pockets and took his car keys before covering up the body with snow. Freemore related he then abandoned Goucher’s car about 2 miles up the road and walked back to his house. Goucher’s wallet and cell phone are still missing. Goucher’s uncle reported him missing to the Stroud Area Regional Police on Feb. 6. A passerby contacted police Feb. 8 to report that a 2000 Buick Century had been parked in a ditch off of Snow Hill Road since the night of Feb. 3, which police identified as belonging to Goucher Feb. 10. The following day, investigators found Goucher’s body about 50 yards into the nearby woods. Both a knife and meat cleaver were found near his body. Court records indicate that since 2004, Freemore has been arrested for retail theft, burglary, disorderly conduct and drug charges. Freemore’s parents told the Pocono Record that their son moved out about six months ago and had been staying with See MURDER, Page 15