Streetvibes April 2009 Edition

Master Luthier in OTR Page 11

Gap Year Page 8

STREETVIBES

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A p r i l 2 0 0 9 • I s s u e 1 5 3 • C i n c i n n a t i ’s A l t e r n a t i v e N e w s S o u r c e

Healer and Brother Marianist doctor’s specialty is caring for homeless people

By Paul Kopp Contributing Writer

is located in an old mansion on Washington Avenue in Avondale, once owned by “some Brother Bob Donovan, kind of steel tycoon,” as DonM.D., has been giving medi- ovan puts it. Walking up the cal care to the homeless com- grand staircase, one can almunity in Cincinnati for 16 most imagine what the interior years. He was “instrumental of the house must have looked like. in starting The centhe health“A lot of times you know ter sees care sysexactly what the person about 130 tem for the needs but it’s just so patients homeless hard to get them in.” yearly, the in Cincinnati,” ac- - Br. Bob Donovan, M.D. majority of whom are cording to treated by Mary Beth Meyer, executive director of Donovan unless he is out of the Respite Center in Avon- town. The illnesses he treats most often at the center indale.

“He is such a gentle person, volve recovery from surgery, so humble that you wouldn’t broken bones and cellulitis, a necessarily ever get any of skin infection that usually octhat information from him,” curs in the legs, he says.

The second floor is where Meyer says. “You really kind of learn about him from other Donovan sees patients, in a small wing directly off people.”

The Respite Care Center, a the staircase. The halls are 24-hour medical and nursing cramped, and the air feels facility for homeless people, slightly oppressive, in stark

contrast to his demeanor.

Raised in Cincinnati, Donovan attended St. Xavier High School, received his undergraduate degree at the University of Cincinnati, then studied at the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo, returning home to start a private practice in the suburbs, which he held for four and a half years.

“I loved my practice but I felt like I wanted to do something different, to help people with less access to health care,” he says.

At the same time Donovan was beginning to explore the matter of his own spirituality.

Though not quite sure what he was looking for, he began to learn about the Marianist community through a recommendation from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He says the Marianist mentality clicked with him largely due to its “prayer life“- a group prayer twice a day.

“It’s a time for us to come together and in a sense remind ourselves that God is a part of all of our day,” Donovan says.

See Healer, P. 4

Brother Bob Donovan, M.D. dedicates his life to caring for homeless people without insurance.

Photo by Andrew Anderson.

Treatment Center Under Attack In the face of tragedy, city council lashes out

By Gregory Flannery Editor Do you want to live near sex offenders?

Too late. You already do.

What do you want to do about it?

Hamilton County is home to about 1,500 people who have been convicted of sex offenses. There is only one residential treatment center for sex offenders in the county, and Cincinnati City Council wants the state to “shut it down,” as its letter to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland put it.

Last month a former resident of the Pogue Rehabilita-

tion Center, where sex offenders and other former prisoners receive treatment, allegedly killed a 13-year-old girl. In response, six of council’s nine members demanded the facility be closed.

Raw emotion seldom makes for sound public policy, and no one made the point better than the victim’s father, who in the midst of his grief said that city council is wrong, and the Pogue Center should remain open.

‘Vote pandering’ The Pogue Center in Overthe-Rhine houses 90 to 100 former offenders, about half of whom have been convicted of various crimes classified as sex offenses, according to Chris Lohrman, president of the local chapter of the VOA, the non-profit agency that operates the facility.

On March 7 Anthony Kirk- the Cincinnati community,” land allegedly strangled Esme the letter to Strickland says.

Kenney. The Pogue Center “Please shut it down.”

This is, had evicted as Marhim eight Raw emotion seldom gie Slagle days earlier makes for sound for strikpoints out, public policy, and no an election ing another one made the point year for resident.

The center better than the victim’s city councalled the father, who in the midst cil. An atCincinnati torney with of his grief said that the Ohio Police about city council is wrong, Justice and the incident and the Pogue Center Policy Cenbut Kirkshould remain open. land wasn’t ter, she says charged. c o u n c i l ’s The center notified Kirkland’s position ignores facts about parole officer the next business sex offenses and the most effective response to them. day, as state rules required.

But as public outrage over “The politicians really love the girl’s death mounted, city to blow it out of proportion,” council responded by blaming she says. “It’s vote pandering, the facility that had tried to and they rely on the fact that their constituents don’t know treat Kirkland.

“VOA has, at the least, failed what’s going on.” miserably in their mission and Research in the past 10 destroyed all public trust with years shows that, contrary

to public perceptions, most persons convicted of sex offenses don’t repeat the crime, according to Slagle. Repeat offenses decline significantly when offenders receive the kind of treatment offered by the Pogue Center, she says.

“What we should learn from this is there aren’t enough programs like this in the state,” Slagle says. “If the VOA is closed, most of those folks are going to become homeless.”

Which is, of course, the state Kirkland was in the night he allegedly committed murder.

If the city wants to protect public safety, closing the Pogue Center is the wrong step, according to Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. VOA is a member of the coalition.

See VOA, P. 6

2 News Briefs Name it What it Is The upscale shopping and residential district planned for nearly a decade along the Ohio Riverfront in Cincinnati hasn’t had much construction activity but at least it had an apt name for a long time: The Banks.

That’s fitting for the nearly $1 billion project. But it seems banks are none too popular these days, and so the Atlanta-based developers overseeing the 18-acre site asked for public input on a new name. The deadline has passed, but the survey was pretty limited anyway, with participants asked to pick between Riverfront District, Park District and Parkside or keeping the original name. Apparently no serious consideration was given to Rich People’s Enclave, Wealthy Village or We Got Ours Town.

Cincinnati Judge Gets U.N. Post Hamilton County Appeals Judge Mark Painter has been named to the new United Nations Appellate Tribunal. A longtime supporter of Streetvibes, Painter has been on the local appeals court for 14 years.

He has acquired an international reputation for teaching lawyers how to write in ways that lay people can understand. But more important, Painter has distinguished himself as a judge who requires respect for the rights of defendants and insists on prosecutors playing by the rules – qualities not often in evidence among his fellow Republicans, who have long dominated the local judiciary (see “Eight Minutes with an Honorable, Jan. 1 edition). Next issue: When Painter leaves for the United Nations, will Hamilton County finally break its longstanding racial barrier? We’ve never had an African-American appeals judge.

Correction An article in the March 1 edition (“Fire Damages Grace Place”) incorrectly stated that Grace Place Catholic Worker House charges rent for guests who are able to pay. The house charges no rent but helps residents to save their wages for future housing needs. The article also incorrectly stated how long Grace Place has been open. Joyce Asfour and Sandy McCoy co-founded the facility 10 years ago.

The Vibe

Streetwise

By Gregory Flannery

So You Want to Help the Homeless, Do You? The closing of the Vernon Manor Hotel is going to pose hardships for homeless people. It’s not that they’ve found a place to stay there, but rather two agencies that provide essential services will lose their offices when the hotel goes out of business. The overall U.S. economic downturn is pushing the Vernon Manor to close. That means the Cincinnati Health Network and the Greater Cincinnati AIDS Consortium will now be homeless, like many of the people they serve.

If your church or organization is interested in helping these non-profit agencies find quarters to continue their work, please call Charles Wallner of the AIDS Consortium at 513-910-5985 or Kate Bennett of the Health Network at 513-961-0600.

If you’d like to help an organization that helps homeless people but don’t have office space to share, the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is in constant need of basic household supplies such as paper towels and toilet paper. The coalition serves coffee to homeless guests, so it also needs coffee, sugar and creamer. If you are able to provide office supplies such as copier paper, Lynne Ausman, administrative coordinator for the Homeless Coalition can tell you what kind is needed. To donate supplies, call 513-421-7803, ext. 11.

Why, Some of Their Best Friends Are Poor People We mustn’t assume that everyone wants to help homeless people or addicted people or hungry people, their protests to the contrary notwithstanding. The Over-the-Rhine Foundation trumpets its goodwill on a section of its Web page titled, “Improved Social Services”: “The OTR Foundation is not opposed to helping people, feeding the hungry or giving shelter to the homeless. In fact, we want to encourage improvements in social service delivery to assure that these goals are more effectively reached and that increasing numbers of people can find substantive life change.”

But the foundation’s real goal is limiting the number of agencies in the neighborhood that help poor people. Michael Morgan, executive director of the foundation, supports Cincinnati City Council’s efforts to use zoning regulations to restrict the places that human-services agencies can locate and to “de-concentrate” the number of agencies in Over-the-Rhine. Unfortunately, some of his arguments are as uninformed as city council’s proposals.

“These agencies often function with no intra-organization collaboration,” the foundation’s Web site says. But, in fact, the Homeless Coalition, for example, is a collaboration of dozens of agencies. The foundation says, “The result is massive replication of services.” But, in fact, various emergency shelters specialize in the needs of different individuals; some house homeless men, some house homeless women, some house homeless families. The foundation’s most curious assertion is this one: “Most of these facilities are run by people from outside the neighborhood.” But, in fact, both the past and present executive directors of the Homeless Coalition, to pick just two people, have lived in Over-the-Rhine. More to the point, even if the “outsiders” assertion were true, what’s the point?

Unhappy Anniversary to You The anti-war movement isn’t what it used to be. As Lew Moores pointed out in the February edition (“What’s Next for the Resistance?”), a number of factors, including the election of an anti-war president and the focus on the massive U.S. economic crisis, seem to have taken some of the vigor out of the peace movement. A couple dozen local activists gathered March 19 at a corner in University Heights to mark the sixth anniversary of the U.S. war on Iraq. One year earlier, hundreds lined Clifton Avenue on the fifth anniversary of the war. Of course, that was an election year, and the economy hadn’t yet bottomed out. The important point isn’t that the numbers of protesters are down but rather that the war continues and therefore the peace struggle must go on, as attested by the stalwart activists who turned out March 19.

STREETVIBES April 2009 Streetvibes is a newspaper that provides relevant discussions of homelessness, poverty and other related social justice issues. It is published monthly by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

Address: 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 Phone: 513.421.7803 x 12 Fax: 513.421.7813 Email: streetvibes2@ yahoo.com Website: www. cincihomeless.org Blog: streetvibes. wordpress.com Streetvibes Staff Editor Gregory Flannery Contributing Writers Stephanie Dunlap, Margo Pierce, Lew Moores, Paul Kopp, Alecia Lott, David Heitfield, Dave Scharfenberger, Angela Pancella, Mike Henson, Larry Gross, Lynne Ausman, Andrew Anderson, Ariana Shahandeh Photography/Artwork Andrew Anderson, Lynne Ausman, Paul Kopp, Anthony Williams, Aimie Willhoite Advisory Committee Joe Wessels, Steve Novotni, Andrew Freeze, Georgine Getty, Michael Henson, Stephanie Dunlap, Steve Gibbs The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Programs include Streetvibes, “Voice of the Homeless” Speaker’s Bureau, Cincinnati Urban Experience (CUE), Homeless Curriculum, and Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project. All donations support these programs and are taxdeductible to the full extent of the law.

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STREETVIBES April 2009

Community News

Eight Minutes

3

with two

‘Outlaws’

Risking their lives for journalism

By Margo Pierce Contributing Writer

I was with three other guys.

There was a third person inbetween who actually set us Lack of profits – not death up – I didn’t know the person threats or government raids who was printing the editions.

– close down newspapers in It was very purposeful. the United States, but that “We were not supposed to kind of problem is only wish- meet because it was dangerful thinking for Nasim Fekrat ous for us to say we know and Gibbs Dube. These jour- each other. And if one of us is nalists regularly receive death arrested, then it’s easy for us threats, have to say, ‘It’s been beaten published Threats of jail and up when by (somedeath were regular they gave a one else.)’ occurrences. But government ” that didn’t stop them or an official When the unfavorable newsletter from publishing The press and was just an Whirlwind. keep a runidea, Dube ning total of was talkthe number of their peers who ing about it and an American are jailed or killed each year. overheard the conversation.

Fekrat, a freelance jour“She said, ‘I’ll find you a nalist from Afghanistan, and person, but you’re not going Dube, a journalist from Zim- to know the person.’ So then babwe, are both in the United she found that person,” Dube States on fellowships to learn says. “After doing the editomore about their craft and the rial, we just give her the maresources available to help terial and she will take the them when they return home. materials. Then later we’d see For Fekrat, that means going the publication on the street. back to wearing a disguise It was really permeating the when walking the streets of urban areas. Unfortunately, it Kabul to avoid arrest. Dube wasn’t getting into the rural might not be allowed back areas.” into his home country. The The men writing the editorigovernment banned his last al copy communicated via enpublic newspaper, The Weekly crypted messages to each othTimes, and his effort to keep er to meet at a specific place to his secret connection to a fol- write their copy and then not low-up publication – equally meet again until it was time to unpopular with the officials prepare the next edition during of the Media and Information the four-year run of the paper.

Commission – has probably In between, their personal ofbeen revealed. fices were raided many times “What I did was to form a – they didn’t have an address four-page newsletter, which or phone number for the pubwas underground,” Dube says. lication – and threats of jail “It was called The Whirlwind. and death were regular occur-

rences. But that didn’t stop them from publishing The Whirlwind.

“At the end of the day it was effective in terms of people reading it and people talking about it,” Dube says. “You hear people talking about it a lot and we’d say, ‘Fine, we are doing a good job.’ It was very popular.

“The day we stopped was when I was coming to the (United States.) Those other guys said, ‘Stay safe.’ One of them had to leave the country … because somebody, I suspect, leaked the information to the state security agents.

He fled and went to Botswana. The other left and went to South Africa.”

Dube told me about his experiences when we were on break between sessions at the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution Conference in Philadelphia in February. His smiles and passion for journalism were as intense as his concern for his family. During the year of his Hubert Humphrey Fellowship at the University of Maryland, Dube’s wife and children had to move in with his brother for a while because she feared for their safety during the police raids on their house.

He said the risk is “absolutely” worth it. He believes there is no freedom without a free, independent press.

Fekrat, who lives 4,380 miles away in the middle of a war zone, believes the same thing.

“I’m writing to inform people,” he says. “If I’m on line I can (bring a b o u t ) change if I am changing the motivation of a person.

I’m doing a kind of education, informing people, which is the base of change.”

When he

Gibbs Dube, left, and Namal Perera. Photo courtesy of the Peter Jennings Project for Journalist and the Constitution.

Gibbs Dube. Photo courtesy of the Peter Jennings Project for Journalist and the Constitution.

isn’t doing translation work to earn rent money or moving apartments every few weeks to avoid being caught, Fekrat is reporting for the BBC Persian, Radio Free Europe and publications run by NATO and the United Nations. But his true passion is teaching “citizen journalists” how to access digital media (http:// afghanpress.org/) so they can tell about day-to-day move beyond the war. At one session he had 35 people sharing 10 computers.

“The mission of launching workshops in different parts of Afghanistan, for me, it was important to bring Afghans to the digital world,” he says.

“Why? Afghanistan is now defined as a war country in Western media. But what we’re going to do is we’re going to change this. We have very, very weak media – print and electronic – 95 percent is private. Using new tools – digital photography, Web – informing our society and making a window open to the world and telling from Afghanistan what is going on.

“Present Afghanistan through the digital world (with) a different face, not war.

We have lots of underground cities discovered. We have Buddhas discovered last year – 17 meters (tall). We’re going to give a real picture of our history, connect people, maybe some people like students will (create) a connection with Afghan people, to know more about the country.”

Self-taught in everything digital, Fekrat also taught himself to speak and read English and is now in the midst of a one-year media fellowship at Duke University. Also a Jennings Fellow, Fekrat talked about why he’s risking his life for journalism.

“You can’t be silent. You

have to write something,” he says. “There’s a lot of domestic violence against women.

That’s your mom. Your sister is living this – you feel responsible to tell something to society.

“I was also writing about discrimination, which is very sensitive in Afghanistan. Today it’s growing. Now what we’re going to do, we want to bring more Afghan people to the digital world to talk about their own society, their reality about what’s going on, about war, love, hate, music, culture – everything.”

So what do two journalists from foreign countries have to do with making Cincinnati a better place? Both men were surprised and pleased to learn that a non-profit organization helping homeless people could and would publish a newspaper. Unpaid journalists offering their time and work to support such as cause, they say, is just like what they do.

The comparison feels overly generous when the only threat I’ve ever gotten is a potential lawsuit from a developer (which never happened) and the worst thing the cops do to me is ignore my messages to call back. But the underlying point isn’t lost: A newspaper can serve as the voice for people who don’t usually get to speak or are ignored when they try to express themselves.

While the life-and-death struggle for providing that printed voice isn’t as obvious here in the states, Fekrat articulates the importance of doing that work of communication, regardless of where journalists live.

“If I have today, I have today and I’m going to spend today for today, not tomorrow because I don’t know that I’m alive tomorrow.”

Many people work hard to make a difference for the less privileged in Greater Cincinnati. “Eight Minutes” is an effort to learn who they are and what motivates them.

4

STREETVIBES April 2009

Community News

Juvenile Justice Reform Underway Ending excessive force and extended sentences

By Lew Moores Contributing Writer

Court for the Southern District of Ohio in 2008 found DYS facilities around the state The juvenile corrections “overcrowded, understaffed system in Ohio was broken and underserved.” It posited: and now it’s in the process of “Excessive force and the exbeing fixed. cessive use of isolation, some A lawsuit of it extraor“What we’ve created filed in 2004 dinarily prochallenged now is a system that is longed, is the way the centered on the youth endemic to Ohio Dethe ODYS and the hope we all partment of system.” have for rehabilitation.”

Youth SerThe reAl Gerhadstein vices (DYS) port also adtreated judressed how veniles in custody and how DYS employees were treated, it determined the way they’d saying juvenile correctional be released. A settlement was officers complained about reached a year ago. Last month “excessive use of mandated DYS announced a new pro- overtime” driven by undercess for releasing juveniles. staffing.

Instead of holding youthful The report went further: offenders beyond their release “The needless and excesdates because of deficiencies sive use of force is engrained in the system itself – such as within ODYS. … We consislack of medical care, lack of tently found flawed training, a mental health system, inade- deficient oversight, seriously quate education opportunities, inadequate reporting and subpoorly trained staff and “arbi- sequent review of ‘incidents.’ trary and excessive discipline” Our findings support the con– DYS will release them on clusion that ODYS youth, time once their minimum sen- with varying degrees of intentences are completed. sity depending on the facility, “Once a youth completes are not provided with the contheir minimum sentence, they stitutional minima relating to will not be continued except a safe environment.” in cases where they are con“What prompted this is that sidered a risk to public safety, it’s part of an overall reorgathere is time added for serious nization of the entire juvenile misconduct while in custody, corrections system,” says Al additional treatment is nec- Gerhardstein, a lead attorney essary or when other special for the plaintiffs. “We have circumstances are determined started from the front door and by the full Release Authority worked our way to the back Board,” according to a state- door. This is the back door.” ment by DYS. Gerhardstein says youthA fact-finding report sub- ful offenders are sentenced to mitted to the U.S. District six months but kept beyond

that depending on arbitrary factors, which especially included factors such as “institutional deficiencies” – “Oh, you need anger management, which we haven’t had enough staff to give,’ so we’ll flop you for another six months,’” he says. “That was just incredibly counter-productive for the health of the youths and safety of the public. That just creates bitterness.”

DYS Director Tom Stickrath said this in a press release from late February: “I want to make sure we are making sound, informed decisions about release that are consistent with public safety.

The complexity of the previous system seemed to lead to uncertainty for the youth and their families as to how and when the youth would be released. Under the revised process, there will be increased consistency in the decisionmaking process because the parameters for a youth’s release, or continuance, are clearly defined.”

In a stipulation from early last month, the state and plaintiffs agreed that DYS will provide young people entrusted to its care with a “safe and humane environment” and that it will provide treatment in the “least restrictive setting” that is consistent with youths’ transgressions and “generally accepted professional standards of care.”

“What we’ve created now is a system that is centered on the youth and the hope we all have for rehabilitation,” Gerhardstein says. “It’s not just a

homeless people.

On meeting Donovan, one wouldn’t guess that he is a Marianist brother, Meyer says.

His faith is more of an internal mechanism, Meyer says.

“I think, to him, his faith is what drives his behavior,” she says. “His compassion and his spirituality -- I think that is his motivation for everything that he does.”

After resigning from his private practice, Donovan began to fully dedicate himself to serving the medical needs of homeless people. In addition to his work at the Respite Center, he also works a weekly shift at the Pike Street Clinic in Covington, Ky., and sees patients on a medical van.

Providing medical care for homeless people, even after they’ve been treated in hospital emergency rooms, is full of obstacles, according to Donovan. Even arranging appointments is difficult.

“You have to go through financial systems first; and when you get that done, then you can make the referral, and then it takes anywhere between six weeks or threefour months before the person can get in,” he says. “A lot of times you know exactly what the person needs but it’s just so hard to get them in.”

In Kentucky, the situation is much worse due to lack of funding, Donovan says.

“It is almost impossible to get a referral over there,” he says.

There is a marked frustration in his voice when he talks about the health-care system.

Others, however, point to what he’s done to help. Harry Walter Duncan Jr., a patient, recalls first meeting Donovan six years ago.

“It was kind of intriguing because he actually cared about the people he was helping,” Duncan says.

Al Gerhadstein, attorney for the plaintiffs.

speculative hope. It’s a realistic hope based on evidence.

We know from an extensive amount of research that, if you use the right type of programming, you will be able to make a positive difference in the youth’s life and into their success for re-entry so long as you don’t lock them up too long.

“There are a large number of youth called ‘moderate risk’ in the system, and the research shows that, if you institutionalize them excessively, they will get worse as offenders. Their re-offending rate will go up. So you need to do a good dosage right away and get them out of there. This isn’t something like Scared Straight. This is not built on fear. It’s just built on appropriate programming.”

Healer and Brother (continued from page 1) “For me, it’s a way of putting that as an integral part of my day because without that it’s easy to get lost and frustrated over all this stuff that I know could be better.”

Donovan lives in a shared apartment building in Overthe-Rhine with several Marianist brothers.

Brother Mike Murphy, a housemate of Donovan’s and the manager of the Canticle Café, says the brothers have developed a strong support system.

“We both have very active types of work dealing with the homeless,” he says. “There is a lot of personal sharing that is going on. We have a very good relationship. When he’s stressed out, I help him; and when I’m stressed out, he helps with me.”

Murphy says Donovan is quiet and introverted, with a tremendous loyalty to his profession and to working with

Each youth in DYS gets a unified case plan geared to what’s appropriate to him or her. About 1,400 youths are currently committed to DYS. “If you release (juveniles) who’ve got a chip on their shoulders, who haven’t learned how to behave, you’re going to have more trouble,” Gerhardstein says. “You’re just going to make things worse.

So that’s what we’re dedicated to changing. I think this is an excellent plan for getting that off on the right foot.

“These reforms will reduce future criminal activities because we are tailoring the treatment to the real needs of each youth. When they reemerge back into society, they will have better skills and better motivation to stay out of trouble.”

In the med van, Duncan learned that, in addition to high blood pressure, he was also suffering from diabe- Harry Duncan is one of many patients served tes. Duncan by Dr. Donovan. Photo by Andrew Anderson. was able to that, I had just gotten off to counteract both conditions of drugs; and you know you with Donovan’s help, but still go to ask someone for some has become partially blind due money, and you know the first to not taking his medication. thing they are thinking.”

He calmly broaches the topic This isn’t the first time of his vision loss, not blaming Duncan has lost his vision, he anyone else. says. In 2004, after he had a “Every time I would go off stroke, Donovan helped him lagging on what (Donovan) to see and even drive again. said, I had to suffer the re“I’ve got nothing but the utsults,” he says. most respect for him -- and it’s Duncan says the problem not just about me; it’s about was paying for the medicaeveryone,” Duncan says. “Evtion. eryone I see, I tell ’em, ‘Get “You get tired of asking on that dang medical van.’ ” for (money),” he says. “Prior

STREETVIBES April 2009

5

Community News

Slaves Look Like Us Human trafficking is a local and global issue

en, would be domestic slaves in the homes of the masters,” he said. “Sometimes these slave workers would tell the If you imagine that slavery masters, ‘I have a child. Would is a crime of the past or is lim- you like the child to stay with ited to foreign countries, con- you?’ sider this: Since the founding “After independence the of the End Slavery Cincinnati term ‘stay-with’ remained. The Rescue and Restore Coalition Africans, the former slaves, in September 2007, the group they would go into the rural has received 16 referrals. areas and ask the poor famiSix of those cases are under lies, a family with too many investigation by law enforce- mouths to feed … where there ment, according to Jessica was no school in the area, and Donohue-Dioh, a coordinator they would offer this family, of the group. Half the victims ‘If you let your child to stay involved in the local cases are with me, your child will go U.S. citito school zens and The worst part is that I will take half are care of your the child is not allowed child.’ And foreign nato speak until spoken the family tionals, she to. The child cannot be would say, says.

Aw a r e ‘Sure.’

A seen by anybody but ness of the child has to remain ‘stay with’ contempowithin the sound of the defined the rary slavery child.” person’s voice. is growing C a d e t ’s thanks to ordeal beevents such gan when he as a March 5 conference at was handed over by his family Isaac M. Wise Temple. More as a “stay with” at age 4. than 200 people heard the ac“That child really has no counts of two former slaves: value so the child usually Jean Robert Cadet, a native sleeps under the kitchen table Haitian who is executive di- on the floor or on the back rector of the Restavec Foun- porch,” he says. “The child dation, and Theresa Flores, a is the first one to get up in the social worker who grew up morning and the last one to go in the Midwest. While their to bed. The first thing in the enslavement occurred worlds morning, around 4:30-5, the apart, their stories echoed the child fetched the water. Often same sense of fear, degrada- it’s a girl. She goes out and tion, hopelessness and tri- sweeps the yard. She washes umph. the car, she cooks, she empSlavery legally ended in ties the chamber pots. Even Haiti when it gained indepen- though the house may have dence. But the change in law indoor plumbing, the people didn’t eliminate the reality, would have a chamber pot Cadet says. because they’re too lazy to go “During slavery, when the to the bathroom because they slaves would be out in the have a child to do it. fields working, their children “But the worst part is not or other people, usually wom- the chores … it’s not the fact

By Margo Pierce Contributing Writer

Jean Robert Cadet, a former slave in Haiti. Photo by Aimie Willhoite.

that the child is the last one to go to bed at night … it’s not the fact that the child is beaten.

The worst part is that the child is not allowed to speak until spoken to. The child cannot be seen by anybody but the child has to remain within the sound of the person’s voice. When the person says, ‘Bobby,’ the child has to magically appear.

So the child usually stays around the house, behind the door or in the corner of the kitchen. They do not talk to the child. If the family goes out at night or spends the day or the weekend (away), they lock the door and the child is in the yard. If it’s raining, too bad. This is the type of slavery that I experienced as a child in Haiti.”

The family that Cadet ‘stayed with’ smuggled him into the United States when he was a teenager. When the family learned about mandatory school attendance in the United States, they told Cadet

The audience at the Issac M. Wise Temple conference on human trafficking.

Photo by Aimie Willhoite.

to leave their home. As terrible as it sounds, it was good that Cadet was kicked out in this country, where he was able to get help.

High school turned out to be Cadet’s ticket to freedom, but that is where a two-year hell began for Flores.

“I lost my voice when I was 15 years old,” she said.

“My silence was mandatory and others profited off my silence.”

A new student at a high school in the affluent Detroit suburb of Birmingham, Mich., Flores met one of the “others” in school. He went her church so she disregarded warnings from her new friends to stay away from him. The youth drugged her, raped her and then said she had to “earn back” sexually explicit pictures of her.

“They threatened to show the pictures to my father,” Flores said. “They threatened to show them to my father’s boss at work. They threatened to post them around school.

And they threatened to show them to the priest of the church I attended. This is a typical way that men ensnare girls into human trafficking rings, to this day. They watched my every move – they knew where I was at all times – they were in class with me, even in the same church. They would come by my work and stand in the door. They would find out where I was babysitting and call the house. Cars would follow me home from school.”

She would get calls telling here when to meet a car that would take her away to serve as a sex slave for one or dozens of men at a time.

“We as Americans often envision trafficking as Indian boys making soccer balls or

carpets, girls in Thailand or Cambodia for sex for sale for tourists or African slaves, not prostitutes, not in America – the land of the free – and not with kids living in $300,000 homes in the suburbs,” Flores said. “No one wanted to hear that trafficking looks like me, too. So I remained silent.”

Her father’s job transfer to another state along the east coast allowed Flores to escape her captors. For those who think it doesn’t happen in Ohio, Flores had a sobering message.

“The FBI has identified Toledo, Ohio, as the numberone recruiting hub for teenage prostitution, which is human trafficking,” she said. “If we … know for a fact it’s in Toledo, we are foolish to believe that it’s not happening in Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati.”

More people live in slavery today than at any other time in history, according to Julie Arostegui, a coordinator of the End Slavery Cincinnati Rescue and Restore Coalition.

“Today there are between 12 and 27 million people enslaved worldwide,” she, said.

“It is estimated that 200,000 more are enslaved every year; of that amount, between 14,500 and 17,500 are trafficked into the United States annually. Add to this the 100,000 to 300,000 American youth who are at high risk of being trafficked for forced sexual exploitation – prostitution and pornography. This is a major human rights issue.”

To learn more about human trafficking visit the Department of Health and Human Services web site at www.acf. hhs.gov/trafficking/.

6

STREETVIBES April 2009

Book Review

Alone Again, Naturally

Sheeple Who Need Sheeple Are the Luckiest Sheeple of All

By David Heitfield Contributing Writer When my neighbor Terry Reed asked me if I'd like to read a copy of his latest book, he warned me: “It might piss you off.”

It didn't, because I, too, am one of those “lone wolves” who sees more value in writing book reviews for a no-budget newspaper sold by homeless people than engaging in the cliquish banter of what passes for social intercourse.

Of Herds and Hermits: America’s Lone Wolves and Submissive Sheep serves up an ironic aspect of our national self-image: While we like to think of ourselves as a culture that values the individual, this is just mass delusion, a mythology employed to hide the banality of our evolving social constructs. We are a nation that worships the team player, the sheep who join fraternal organizations, the company man. We’re LinkedIn and Facebooked. We reward the followers and fear the independent thinkers. Our anti-

intellectualism has transmuted that “loners” are maladjusted from a defiant transcendental- and die much earlier than the ist and Romantic tradition rest of the herd. Being alone is found in Thoreau or Emerson implied to be damaging in evto a culture that abhors, rejects ery way, not just to society but to the individual. and stigmaStill, it is amazing “That, of tizes anyone with course, is egreto think that in gious stupidity,” a brain. this 24-hour news Reed snorts, apWa l d e n world, where every provingly quotP o n d story is reported, ing Montaigne, has been blogged, youtubed dammed “The greatest thing in the

by Joe the and twittered, I P l u m b e r, don't recall seeing world is to know how to be selfyou betcha. one thing blaming After sufficient.” groupthink for our To be fair, one laying the current economic could find a lot to literary mess. quibble about in foundation for the exalthe book. It's not particularly well tation of individualism over collectivism edited. Some rather obscure in the first chapter, Reed starts sources (and sometimes inexmaking his case that despite plicably anonymous sources) our American literary heroes often seem strung together of the 18th and 19th centuries, for no particular reason. One a “loner” is a pejorative term could easily deconstruct the in almost every other context, narrative as a requiem for the be it from literal dictionary loss of the male hierarchy – or, definitions to sensational news perhaps more accurately, as a stories about murderous “lon- lament for the feminization of ers” to modern sociological American culture.

But that's also what makes and medical studies indicating

much of this fun to read. This isn't so much a dogmatic polemic as it is a heart-felt, impassioned defense of people who just want to be left alone, who just can't see what the big whoop is about joining groups and making new social contacts.

Don't look down on people who lack your need for approval from others. And if you think most social constructs are stupid, just go your own way and don't look back.

Reed rails against “the sixhour dinner death march,” suggesting that one way out is to argue some wildly unpopular idea at the party, so you may then leave early: “One of the rewards of ostracism is to devote what would have been dinner party time to some far higher purpose, such as contemplating a ceiling.” You

probably have to be a hermit to appreciate that line.

Even worse than a dinner or party invitation, though, is the dreaded wedding invitation: “Weddings are a dilemma for the lone wolf, because he can find no cause to celebrate what appears to him as a perfectly dismal idea”; and un-

See Herds, P. 10

Treatment Center Under Attack (continued from page 1)

Chris Monzel

“It is far more dangerous for all involved, including our city and region as a whole, to have people who are sex-offenders living on the street. …

Without the Pogue Center, the level of possibility for crimes to be committed against others in our area would simply increase exponentially,” Spring said in a statement issued after council’s letter.

The city’s response ignores a salient fact: People who commit sex offenses are eventually released from prison.

Are the rest of us safer if they receive treatment, including help finding jobs, as the Pogue Center offers?

“People who go through appropriate treatment programs re-offend at a much lower rate than people who are imprisoned and never treated,” Lohrman says.

State law and a city ordinance restrict former sex

offenders from living near cinnati like the Pogue Center, schools, day-care centers and which has been operating for I other places where children don’t know how many years.” congregate. Their job prosThe answer is VOA has pects are dismal. operated a halfway house for “We kick them out of their former offenders in Cincinnati homes, for 50 years, The city’s response away from Lohrman ignores a salient fact: their famisays. lies,” Sla- People who commit sex That’s not gle says. offenses are eventually all that Mon“We won’t released from prison. zel doesn’t give them know about jobs. And the center. then we expect them not to He says he’s never visited it, commit more offenses.” although he allows, ‘I’ve drivAt present, an estimated 40 en by it many times.” He says to 60 homeless former sex of- he’s never read the inspecfenders live downtown, Slagle tions by the Ohio Department says. of Rehabilitation and Correc“If city council insists on tions or the Ohio Department closing the VOA, those home- of Alcohol and Drug Addicless sex offenders are going tion, both of which license the to be right there in downtown Pogue Center. Monzel didn’t Cincinnati,” she says. say whether he knows the facility is accredited by the Monzel doesn’t know American Correctional Association. But it is.

Monzel says the Pogue The back-pedaling is already under way. Councilman Center – one of only three Chris Monzel, one of VOA’s residential treatment facilities most vigorous critics, now for former sex offenders in says closing the Pogue Center the state – belongs out where isn’t really the point – never there are cows and cornfields mind the letter he signed call- and such. ing for the governor to “shut “This location should be in a more rural area,” he says. it down.”

“The correct word is “We’ve done our fair share.”

Meanwhile, having exten‘moved,’ ” Monzel says. “We do not want a center in Cin- sively studied public policy

on sex offenses, Slagle hopes the public will remember: •

Eighty to 90 percent of sex offenses involve someone known by the victim – family members, neighbors, teachers, coaches, priests – not strangers lurking in the shrubbery.

“We’re looking at the bushes and not next door,” she says.

•

Children in the United States are seldom abducted and killed by strangers, as Esme Kenney was. In 2005 that happened to 100 children, compared to 500 killed by drunk drivers and 1,100 killed by parents or other caregivers.

“It’s not stranger danger,” Slagle says. “Thank God people like Kirkland are very rare.”

•

Sex offenders are not all alike. The recent arrest of teenagers in Greater Cincinnati schools for “sexting” – sending allegedly obscene photographs of nude minors to one another via cell phone – constitutes a sex crime under Ohio law.

“The first thing the public

doesn’t quite understand is that, when you use the term ‘sex offender,’ it’s such a broad range of crimes that you can’t make generalities,” Slagle says. “The ‘sexting’ trend is a sex offense, and it’s actually a more serious offense than the one Mr. Kirkland was charged with.”

Kirkland was at the Pogue Center for a conviction for importuning – that is, trying to lure a child into sexual activity. That’s a crime, of course, but it’s not the same as physically abusing a child, and it’s a reminder that the matter of sexual offenses is complex and doesn’t lend itself to easy solutions, such as shutting down a center that has successfully treated many former offenders – the ones who haven’t been in the news.

“The VOA provides a very, very valuable service to all of us in the community,” Slagle says. “They’re treating sex offenders before they come back into our community.

They help them have jobs and save money. The question we should be asking as a community is, ‘Do we want these folks to succeed? Of course we do. We should be creating an environment that guarantees their success.”

STREETVIBES April 2009

Book Review

First You Have to Have Your Own Bootstraps

7

Year of experimental poverty doesn’t yield much insight

By Lynne Ausman Staff Writer Scratch Beginnings is a memoir of one man’s journey into and out of homelessness.

This story is nothing like the stories I hear every day at the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

Adam Shepard, the author, did not grow up in poverty, he did not experience violence at home or in the street, he did not suffer any type of drug or alcohol addiction, he did not have a mental illness – or any signs of one. He did not have to worry about money, he had a roof over his head and a college degree, he was the stereotypical college kid. When Shepard graduated from college he felt “disillusioned by the apathy he saw around him and incensed after reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s famous works Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch – books that gave him the feeling of hopelessness over the state of the working class in America.”

This feeling sparked an idea and a journey, an idea to refute Ehrenreich’s theory that people who start at the bottom tend to stay at the bottom and a journey of self-discovery.

Shepard set out to achieve the “American Dream.” He placed his past, including his contacts, his pricey college education, his bank account and even to some extent his family, on a shelf for later use.

In addition to wiping his past away (for the year), he vowed not to panhandle, only use

services available to everyone and not break the law, aside from illegally sleeping in a park or under a bridge.

These parameters are the first clue that this is a book

took pity on him and got him in. He was surprised when no one was interested in hearing his fabricated story of how he arrived at the shelter. The police officer gave him four

“[My story] is the story of rags-to-fancier rags. My goal is to better my lot and to provide a stepping-stone over the next 365 days for everything else I want to accomplish in my life. I aim to find out if the American Dream is still alive, or if it has, in fact, been drowned out by the greed of the upper class coupled with the apathy of the lower class.” – Adam Shepard

about the realities of homeless- pieces of advice: 1. Don’t take ness and poverty influenced blankets from the floor; you’ll by a middle-class background. get scabies. 2. Keep your beShepard took $25, the clothes longings with you or they will on his back and a sleeping bag, disappear. 3. Ignore guys who boarded a train to Charleston, bother you; walk away. 4. Do S.C., to find his way with noth- not work day labor; go to the ing and to make something. employment office and get a At the end of his journey, he real job. hoped to Shepard He blames poverty on measure didn’t listen laziness; he blames his sucto the police poverty on being cess by a o ff i c e r ’s few posadvice and unmotivated to better sessions one’s situation. He has no p r o m p t l y -- an opempathy for such people. went to the erable day-labor automohall for a bile, a furnished apartment job. He caught on quickly to and $2,500 in cash -- and a what day labor is: indentured foundation on which he could servitude. He writes about the continue to improve his life. exploitation, the bad wages, Taking a train from his the rude employees, the extra hometown to Charleston, fees. He eventually found a S.C., Shepard arrived at a job at a moving company. The homeless shelter well past job that allowed him to find curfew, but a police officer an apartment. He furnished it

with items that clients no longer wanted. He bought a truck and saved money. He met his goal.

The moving company also taught Shepard about low-wage workers. He met Derrick, the extremely hard working mover saving every penny to buy a house.

There was BG, who was also a mover and became Shepard’s roommate. BG preferred to skip through life coasting off little work and the generosity of friends.

Along with his reflections on his year of “rags-to-fancier rags,” Shepard makes recommendations to help those who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. First, he says, life can be a bitch. Second, there are happy people and unhappy people. The happy people are not necessarily the richest, but they are the ones who are going somewhere. They have a plan, they have a dream, they have a purpose and they are happy with it like that. Third, we need more clean, safe, affordable housing and training in parenting, financial literacy, housing maintenance and other life skills. Oddly, he doesn’t mention better jobs or more jobs.

Shepard’s main conclusion, however, is that “moving up” is reserved for the few who are willing to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. But what if they don’t have bootstraps to begin with? What do you pull up from? He calls this the “It ain’t my fault” society. He blames poverty on laziness; he blames poverty on being unmotivated to better one’s situation. He has no empathy for such people. His final plea is to upper-middle class America to donate money, to volunteer, to mentor, to be “neighborhood heroes.”

In the end, Shepard’s memoir isn’t really about being

able to achieve the American dream when you start at the bottom. It’s just a middleclass perspective on poverty.

He says he spent the year not relying on his past success, his college degree, his family or anyone he knows; but in reality, it’s impossible to separate these. He still had his middleclass values, his middle-class pride and his middle-class knowledge. In the first chapter, he was irritated that he’d been asked for money so many times and assumed that the next person to talk to him would ask for money; it almost resulted in a fight.

Shepard’s middle-class values told him that he needed to find a job quickly, not rely on others and work his way up.

He had bootstraps: the knowledge and values he was taught growing up.

There will always be people who defy the odds, like Chris Gardner in Pursuit of Happyness or Jeanette Walls, who wrote The Glass Castle; but the reality is that a vast majority of those who start at the bottom stay at the bottom.

It’s a complex issue and there is not a fix-all Band-Aid that we can apply to make everyone middle-class. Creating more affordable housing and intervening when families are at-risk goes a long way to helping end homelessness, but they are not the total solution.

We need good jobs with good pay and benefits; we need to help people get bootstraps.

Are you interested in helping with Streetvibes? Are you a writer, poet, artist or photographer? If so, contact Greg Flannery at 513.421.7803 x 12 or email streetvibes2@yahoo.com

8

Sexy, Yummy, Veggie

Which of the following is true?

A) Vegetarians are generally healthier than meat-eaters.

B) Vegetarians are generally thinner than meat-eaters.

C) Vegetarians spend less on groceries than meat-eaters.

Trick question! If said vegetarians avoid processed foods and eat a balanced diet, all three answers are true.

Let’s talk about groceries, baby. In addition to being better for our health and waist-

Mushroom Curry with Brown Rice Serves four moderately hungry people or two very hungry people

Your tour guide into the steamy side of vegetarian cuisine

By Alecia A. Lott Contributing Writer

STREETVIBES April 2009

Local News

1 lb. button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded 2 tsp. ground coriander 1 medium onion 2 garlic cloves 1 tsp. ground cumin ½ tsp. chili powder 2/3 cup coconut milk (use light coconut milk to save a few calories) 3 tbsp. canola oil (or other neutrally flavored oil) Salt to taste 2 cups brown rice

Photo by Andrew Anderson.

lines (among other things) than a meat-based diet, a plant-based diet is also good for our wallets.

Let’s face it, meat is expensive. You can pinch those pennies until they scream if you strut your grocery cart away from the deli and dairy sections and toward the produce section of the supermarket.

Keep your pantry stocked with inexpensive staple foods and a few basic spices, and you can feast like a king or queen without spending like one.

“I can eat veggies when I’m

by myself,” you say. “But I have a hot date coming over and I need to make something, well, special.”

Not to worry! My mildly spicy, filling mushroom curry looks fancier than it is, and that‘s the beauty of it. Enjoy it whether you’re solo or ready to wow your paramour (or your family), and adjust the spices to your taste. If you hate chopping mushrooms (I do), you can buy them presliced but it will cost more.

Brown rice is healthy, but any rice will do. Are you ready?

Optional toppings, not pictured: Paprika Chopped fresh parsley Coarsely chopped cashews Cook rice according to package instructions.

• • • •

Put jalapenos, coriander, cumin, chili powder, garlic, onion and coconut milk in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour canola oil into a saucepan, add mushrooms and cook over medium heat until the mushrooms are soft, about five minutes.

Add coconut milk mixture, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, another five minutes.

Serve the aromatic mushroom mixture over a bed of hot rice. If you’re feeling especially showy, top with a sprinkle of paprika, parsley and/or cashews.

Take a Break

Some find ‘gap year’ after high school most educational

By Ariana Shahandeh Contributing Writer

a few minutes of listening can be to people who don't get out much,” she says.

With growing pressure to Although her gap year attend college immediately was so productive, Pratt-Harafter high school, many kids rington’s decision was first are guided toward a path more met with hesitation and low suited to society than the in- energy. dividual. But more and more “Most of the pressure to students are opting to more not take a year off actually broadly explore came from their academic teachers,” “I would say that possibilities by she says, taking time off taking a gap “They were year before definitely helped me happy that I mature and make college. was taking Abbey Prattbetter decisions in the opportuHarrington, a nity, but you the future.” sophomore at could tell - Matt Southworth Wi l m i n g t o n they didn’t College, spent think it was a year before the best opseeking her degree volunteer- tion.” ing, traveling and participatThe gap year encounters ing in humanitarian work. apprehension for many others “I spent three months trav- as well. eling around the British Isles,” “My friends thought it was she says. “I took a few tours, a bad idea,” says Seth Huff, a did sightseeing and got to- recent graduate of Lakota East tally lost on a few occasions. High School. “My brother, my When I got back, I did a little sister thought it was a stupid volunteer service at a local art idea.” gallery and then got a summer Since graduation, Huff has job with Meals on Wheels.” passionately pursued a career Upon her return home, in music, drawing a growing Pratt-Harrington continued to support base for his band, Armake a difference in others’ cher’s Paradox, despite othlives. ers’ original doubts. He started “A lot of my time was spent with a humble myspace page with older people, and that (www.myspace.com/archerwas a learning experience sparadoxmusic). Now he will just to realize how important be featured on episodes of the

Seth Huff of bands Archer’s Paradox and Mia and the Retros is featured in MTV’s Taking the Stage.

new MTV reality series, Taking the Stage, as part of the band Mia and the Retros.

A 2002 high school graduate, Matt Southworth, used time off to enlist in the U.S. Army for two years. He held two part-time jobs after his tour ended, gaining life and work experience before enrolling at Wilmington in 2005.

He saw the time off as a useful learning advantage.

“I would say that taking time off definitely helped me mature and make better decisions in the future,” Southworth says.

The opportunity wasn’t lost on Pratt-Harrington either.

“If I hadn't taken a year off, my first year (at college) would not have been much fun,” she says. “I think I would have

hated some of my less interesting classes, felt helpless sometimes when facing things in the system I wasn't familiar with and I probably would have been a lot more stressed just trying to deal with all the changes.”

Unexpected changes aren’t exclusively a part of college life. Even when plans are made, time away from home and straying from the direct route to college can still inspire a plan to turn another direction. Asked which decision he was most grateful he made in his time off, Southworth says, “I am probably most grateful that I did not reenlist in the Army. I was going to re-enlist in Iraq, giving me a $10,000 tax free signing bonus. But some things hap-

pened that made me change my mind. As a result, I ended up in Ohio and so many doors were opened for me.”

Sometimes the most rewarding aspect of a gap year can be the surprises a dorm room might not otherwise inspire. That was certainly the case with Southworth.

“You can make plans, but life never goes as one would expect it to, so roll with it,” he says. “Go with the flow. You will always end up where you are supposed to be, no matter which road you take.”

Time off after high school can be a rewarding adventure when executed with passion and intent. Ultimately, there is a difference between a plan and an endeavor. A plan is a structured account for a goal — ideas and timelines that ideally lead to a specific achievement. An endeavor is an earnest and industrious perseverance to materialize a dream. For some, the gap year isn’t the best direction to take if there isn’t something very specific an individual seeks to attain outside the academic arena. But for others, a rich future is most adequately attained through a seasoned past. And time off after graduation can provide that for those most suited for it.

STREETVIBES April 2009

9

Poetry/Artwork

First Lady

By Jamar Malcolm King

Artwork by Anthony Williams

Dear God, please send me a “first lady.”

The ones I care about be treating me shady.

I need someone to help with all my task.

I crave love and understanding.

Is that too much too ask?

Malcolm had Betty, Martin had Coretta.

These strong women made them better.

In all the struggle and the pain, These men had love as their gain.

Barack has his Michelle.

Will I find mine? Only time will tell.

Maybe one day I, too, will be a president.

I need a lady on my side to represent.

Berta’s Art Corner

Cleo’s Joke Corner

Flamingo, (1974), Alexander Calder, Federal Center Plaza, Chicago, Illinois

What did the digital watch say to the grandfather clock?

“Look, grandpa, no hands!”

1128 Walnut St Pizza by the Slice

Tues and Thurs Buffet($7.00)-11AM-2PM Wed-Thur-Fri-Sat 9PM-3AM

Column 10 Eating While You Can Poverty and the culture of immediacy “It’s the first of the month.

You can’t fill ‘em up.”

That was Jeanetta, waitress at Tucker’s on 13th Street, surveying the whole families in the back booths. For many years, she served me breakfast at the counter -- eggs, fried potatoes, toast and very strong coffee in white china cups of a sort you don’t see anymore.

Jeanetta leaned against the cash register and shook her head, She evidently did not approve of how these people ate so much at the first of the month.

They should have been working, for one thing. For another, they should have been planning out how to spend their money. Making it stretch. Budgeting. Prioritizing. Planning.

Instead, they were eating.

They were eating more than they were likely to eat the rest of the month. They were eating more than it made sense to eat, given how little they had to make it through the month.

By the end of the month, they would be coming around to churches to beg a bag of food to carry them through the last week of the month. They

would be working under the table and hoping no one called in on them. They would be buying groceries on credit at the stores that would allow for that. They would be hungry.

And it happened every month, so you would think they would know. You would think they would do what the social workers told them. You would think they would plan.

I think some of them did. I think some of them planned a

planned it well, and you made the food stamps stretch across a whole month, that meant you were bound to be a little hungry for the full 30 days. But if your planning were a little bit off, if someone got arrested, or your car got towed out of a 4-to-6 p.m. zone or if you got robbed, your budget would fall apart. Any little bump in the road could derail all your planning. That last week of the month –- or more — might mean real hunger.

Any way you planned it, you were bound to be hungry.

By Michael Henson So here you are, with money in your pocket once-per-month feast into their and the chance to be full, rebudgets. But I think, for most, ally full, no stinting, no filling the hunger they had felt in the yourself with beans or macalast week led to the gorging of roni just to keep from starvthe first week. ing, It’s guaranteed, at least And why not? For, no mat- this once, you will be full, satter how well you planned, no isfied, sated. matter how carefully you proWhat do you do? jected, that check would not ***** stretch to the end of the month.

No matter how you juggled it, Payday loans. Instant tax that check would not cover all your needs. Something was returns. Scratch-offs. Rent-tobound to be missing. If you own. These are just a few of

ammered H

Herds: Alone Again, Naturally less the wolf hates the groom, a wedding is “a painful thing to witness.” He includes much colorful language detailing “this insidiously feminine carnival.”

Attending religious services is for sheep, naturally, and universities no longer (if they ever did) allow the freedom of thought and speech that the lone wolf requires: “The muddleheaded bureaucrats who mismanage our overpriced universities tacitly endorse thought control.” Reed reminds us that all learning is ultimately a solitary experience, and he traces the roots of political correctness to America's long history of anti-intellectualism. He advocates for a broad, liberal education – obsession with vocational training is just another result of our anti-intellectual culture. He really, really hates television and shopping malls. He later explains (unsurprisingly) that “politics is dirty” and has no place for a lone wolf.

Corporations are collectivist, too, and so Reed hates them just as eloquently as he hates all other collectivist atrocities and vents against them in a most endearing fashion in the third chapter. Anyone who has ever worked for a corporation

can surely appreciate this assessment: “(Joiners) exact satisfaction in the knowledge that they're a small (if all but

Michael Henson is author of Ransack, A Small Room with Trouble on My Mind, The Tao of Longing and Crow Call. This column is part of a monthly series on poverty and addiction. the ways that the poor reach fication will eventually come. what would normally be out But what if nothing in your of their reach. In a society like experience has ever taught ours, the poor see what every- you anything like that? What one else sees on television and if the lessons of your experilearn to want what everyone ence have taught you that, if you don’t else wants. As Rich and poor watch get it now, Michael Harrington said in the same TV ads; rich y o u ’ l l his book, The and poor children learn never get New Amerito become consumers it? Because that can Poverty, before they learn to is precisethe rich and become producers ly what the poor “have or earners. What you poverty the same soteaches, cialization consume becomes a especialof desire.” part of who you are. ly when Rich and poor poverty is watch the same TV ads; rich and poor linked to addiction. There are children learn to become con- just too many ways things can sumers before they learn to go wrong.

There are many people who become producers or earners.

What you consume becomes a buck that trend. Most people work their way out of poverty part of who you are. precisely by doing the right thing. They go to school; they ***** work. It’s a long haul, and ofThe ability to delay gratifi- ten they slide back, but they cation is supposed to be a key keep trying.

So maybe once a month or to achievement, progress, advancement, success, that house so, they’ll go to a place like in the suburbs with two cars Tucker’s on 13th and enjoy in the driveway. But it helps what’s there. Maybe once to have evidence that, if you a month, it’s nice not to feel delay gratification, then grati- hungry.

(continued from page 6)

ture on the former site of the World Trade Center.

Chapter Four is outing everything fraternal, from the

We are a nation that worships the team player, the sheep who join fraternal organizations, the company man. We reward the followers and fear the independent thinkers. useless) part of a big, not especially dynamic, faceless team mismanaged by moronic bureaucrats whose objective is to control whomever and whatever is controllable.”

Team players are praised in all forms of our culture – he repeats the “there is no 'I' in 'team'” mantra a few times in the book, as if he still can't get over how banal it is – but Reed reminds us what actually makes up a team in a bureaucratic setting: “A room full of lumbering lard-asses who will require 24 to 36 hours to destroy an excellent idea, far better left in the hand of one individual.” He then almost whimsically reels off recent failures of “teams” who could not save themselves from selfdestruction: the auto companies, Enron, FEMA and that wonderful committee of folks who built that beautiful struc-

STREETVIBES April 2009

Greek groups at universities to fraternal organizations outside universities to sports teams to the military to shopping on Black Friday. One imagines the Grinch looking disapprovingly on Whoville, complaining of all the “noise, noise, noise.”

The concluding chapter deals with the intellectual loner finding a triumphant place in society. Reed tries to engage some sort of misanthropic optimism, but it is hard for me to read it without thinking of Stanley Fish and his interpretive communities, wherein meaning is found not by the individual, but by the community in which he places himself. “The individual is king,” Reed opines, and thus the soul who chooses to reject the masses and go it alone gains self-knowledge and self-reliance, and hence has fulfilled

his duty to life itself. Devote yourself to music and exercise and knowledge, a sort of Platonian self-help assessment.

It's a conclusion the hermit would find satisfying … but, methinks, only the hermit. If one of the mindless herd reads the last chapter, he would be overwhelmed with evidence that such a life appears to be quite pointless. The intellectual loner has no place to go except the university, but he hates the university, which has its own corporate structure and is filled with students proud of their anti-intellectual passions, whom the intellectual doesn't want to waste his time teaching. The intellectual could write books, but then he goes on for pages about the number of great alcoholic writers from the loner world.

Without stating so, his prose evidences a tautological fact: If you're a hermit, there's no acceptable place for you in society, really.

“They like more than anything to discourage, undermine, derail and detract.”

Reed is speaking of the herd mentality here, taking one last shot at its utter uselessness.

But he just spent an entire book discouraging, undermining, derailing and detracting,

and he seemed to enjoy it. The intellectual won't see the irony as a problem at all and in fact would delight in it. But for the herd, it's just further proof that, if he is to find any real meaning in life, it's gonna be through other people.

Still, it is amazing to think that in this 24-hour news world, where every story is reported, blogged, youtubed and twittered, I don't recall seeing one thing blaming groupthink for our current economic mess. Credit default swaps, giving worthless assets AAA ratings, convincing everyone that 401Ks are the best way to a comfortable retirement (not to mention the war in Iraq) …

It's delusional bureaucratic incompetence at its best and it was conducted by some of the best minds in the country, all of whom were forced to think as a team. It's because of our anesthetized reaction to a clear failure of groupthink that this book serves to remind us that maybe we've overvalued our commitment to committees, our cultural acceptance that two heads are better than one.

It makes me mad enough to want to get drunk, sleep with some disgruntled housewife, and howl at the moon.

STREETVIBES April 2009

11

Column

An Artist Among Us Master luthier lives and works in Over-the-Rhine

ment in the Mideast, as a child.

By Andrew Anderson He quickly found his way to Contributing Writer the violin and fell in love. He made his first violin at 16, and Most people would be then made six more, winning shocked to know that a master a scholarship to study his craft luthier not only lives in Over- in France. the-Rhine Azzi reA shop you would only ceived his but has run expect to find in the a successful, diploma cultural enclaves of world-class from the violin shop famed Miold European cities for the past recourt or possibly New York seven years. violin-makthrives right here.

A shop you ing school would only in eastern expect to find in the cultural France. While there he worked enclaves of old European on instruments for top violin cities or possibly New York soloists including Vladimir thrives right here.

Spivakof and Yury Bashmet.

A silent buzzer has alerted He traveled to Paris and studthe shopkeeper, Jules Azzi, ied with master luthier Roger that he has a guest. Upon en- Lanne and developed a spetry it takes a moment for your cial talent for copying rare eyes to adjust to the subdued Italian violins. From there he light. You immediately know traveled to New York to refine things are different. The cha- his technique with Jacques otic, noisy, urban landscape Francais for a couple years, of Over-the-Rhine contrasts then opened his own shop in sharply with the silent, still, Brooklyn. In 1996 he won slightly austere elegance of the silver medal at the Violin the shop’s interior.

Competition of America for Azzi stands before you his viola, as well as a certifidressed smartly but understat- cate of merit for a violin. ed; his calm and steady voice Andy Wolf, a former bassist welcomes you in an accent who played and toured with you can’t quite place. You the Cincinnati Symphony Orhave entered his violin shop at chestra (CSO) for 39 years, 14th and Elm streets. introduced Azzi to Cincinnati.

Azzi is a world-class lu- Their shared passion for viothier, someone who makes or lins and other bowed, stringed repairs stringed instruments. instruments and their friendOriginally from the Lebanese ship resulted in Wolf’s urging Republic, he started playing Azzi to move to Cincinnati. the lute, a traditional instruAzzi saw Cincinnati as a

city with a rich musical heritage, a strong orchestra in the CSO, half a dozen other orchestras within a short distance from the city, and no one around with his level of artistry and craftsmanship.

He moved to Cincinnati seven years ago and has since started a family here.

While the local market is what attracted Azzi to Cincinnati, the unbridled growth of the Internet has changed marketing for almost everyone, including Azzi. He now sells his services to a global market and reaches a geographically wider audience than he did when he had his shop in Brooklyn.

Azzi’s main focus now is collecting and selling old and rare Italian instruments and French bows, because those items are the most valued and desired by fine musicians across the world.

While these are the facts of Azzi’s story, they only hint at the enthusiasm and genuine warmth that he exudes. He is one of those rare people who has found his passion in life and lives it.

“It doesn’t matter what troubles are happening in the world or my personal life,” he says. “When I walk into my workshop, I am happy.”

Azzi spent over an hour demonstrating how he lovingly and meticulously crafts his instruments. He showed in detail how he cuts and as-

Jules Azzi, master luthier in Over-the-Rhine.

Photo by Andrew Anderson.

sembles selected pieces of wood that are up to 300 years old and creates masterpieces.

He detailed the huge significance of the proper varnish on an instrument and how it can either make or break the quality of sound produced. Azzi is not only an artisan but also a scientist.

Azzi is also an example for all of us: When you do what you love, work becomes play, and the days become brighter.

Azzi’s shop of violins, violas, cellos, bass and bows is open by appointment. Call 513 665-9663 or visit www. azzi-violins.com.

down on my luck these days,” Mr. Westcott replied. “When you’re down, you’ve got to pull yourself back up. You know that, Robert. You’re a banker.”

“Yes, sir,” Robert said. “It’s been a rough road for us lately.”

“That bailout money – how much did you get?”

“Oh, four or five billion.”

“I won’t be needing that much,” Mr. Westcott said.

“What happened?”

“Lost a bunch of

money in the stock market, made some bad investments,” Mr. Westcott replied. “You might say everything kind of snowballed.”

“Well, let me turn on my computer here and get your current account information,” Robert said.

As Robert turned on his computer, he noticed that his old business associate’s hands were shaking. Mr. Westcott noticed him noticing.

“I guess it’s a little early for a drink,” he said, “but

Handouts and Bailouts A banker’s story

At 11:20, Sally buzzed Robert on his office phone and told him Mr. Westcott was waiting in the conference

By Larry Gross room. That was just like him, Contributing Writer Robert thought to himself. Mr. Robert normally didn’t Westcott was always punctual meet with customers who if not a bit early.

Before heading toward the were inquiring about consumconference er loans. He room, Robstopped doing - “Where are you ert grabbed those 15 years currently living?” his laptop and three - “Garfield Park, just in case promotions Westago – but he Bench #6, Cincinnati, Mr. Ohio, 45202.” cott needed remembered to look over Mr. Westcott. some loan It had been a number of years since he’d rates his bank was offering.

When he reached the conferseen him. Maybe it was curience room, the door was open. osity that made him agree to He saw a man sitting in one of the 11:30 a.m. meeting.

He told his assistant Sally the chairs to the left, next to he would meet with Mr. West- the conference table. Beside cott in the conference room on him on the floor was a beat-up the second floor. This would suitcase. The man’s back was give them a comfortable place to him. Robert wasn’t sure if it to meet and maybe catch up was Mr. Westcott.

“Mr. Westcott?” Robert on old times. said, noticing the dirty smell

in the room.

The gentlemen stood up and turned around. His hair was white and over his collar. He hadn’t shaved in days.

He was wearing a tan suit that was wrinkled and dirty. So were his white shirt and tie.

Robert sniffed. The dirty smell was coming from Mr. Westcott.

“How you been, Robert?”

Mr. Westcott said, extending his hand. “It’s been a while.”

Robert shook his hand.

“Good to see you, sir,” he said stammering a bit. “Please have a seat.”

Robert walked to the right of the conference table, taking a seat opposite Mr. Westcott.

He looked at his old customer’s puffy face and sad brown eyes. Robert wondered what he was letting himself in for.

“What can I do for you?”

Robert said, trying to force a smile.

“Well, Robert, as you can probably tell, I’m a bit

12

STREETVIBES April 2009

Short Story

Handouts and Bailouts (Continued from page 12) maybe after we get this business transaction completed, if you’re interested.”

“I’m sorry,” Robert said interrupting, “I have a luncheon appointment.”

“Yeah, I used to have those,” Mr. Westcott replied.

“Now, are you still at your old address?” Robert said, looking at his laptop.

“Oh, hell no.”

“Where are you currently living?”

“Garfield Park, Bench #6, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45202.”

“What?”

“You might say I’m currently homeless,” Mr. Westcott said. “That’s why I need the loan, to get started again.”

Robert looked at the information on the laptop. Mr. Westcott no longer had any money in the bank except for a checking account with a balance of $4.10.

“There’s no way you could personally guarantee that a loan would be repaid,” Robert said.

Mr. Westcott laughed.

“I guess I could guarantee you my suitcase and the clothes on my back,” he said, “but that’s not what you’re looking for is it?”

“Well, no, we need --” “This is what I need,” Mr. Westcott said, leaning forward and putting his shaking hands

on the conference room table.

“I need a favor. You and I did business for a lot of years. I helped make this bank money.

I can do it again if I can just get a little help to get started.”

“But you have no capital,” Robert said. “We have nothing we can work with here.”

“I’m looking for a loan based on past history,” Mr. Westcott said.

“What you’re looking for,” Robert replied, starting to feel annoyed, “is a handout.”

Mr. Westcott smiled, leaning closer to Robert.

“When you’re forced to wear dirty clothes, forced to try and get yourself cleaned up at the public library and forced to sleep on a park bench, I can see how a banker would think I’m looking for a handout,” he said. “Of course, if you’re one of those bankers wearing a Brook Brothers suit and get down on your luck, you can go to the government and get yourself a bailout. Where am I supposed to go?”

Robert stared at Mr. Westcott, not knowing what to say.

“Don’t be one of those bankers. Help me, Robert,” Mr. Westcott said. “We’ve known each other for years.

You know I’m a man of my word.”

Robert continued to stare at Mr. Westcott. He remembered

the old days, when he was a proud businessman who always had good ideas as to how to make money. He felt sad for his old business associate.

“How much money are you looking for?” Robert finally said, reaching into his suit pocket and pulling out his checkbook.

“I’m thinking a couple thousand will get me going.”

Mr. Westcott replied.

“I’ll write you a check for four thousand,” Robert said.

“Give me a couple hours to transfer some money out of one of my savings accounts and put it in my checking.”

“Robert, I’m not looking for a personal loan from you.”

“It’s the only way I can do it, sir,” Robert said. “You don’t have enough assets to cover a bank loan.”

“Robert --” “I know you’re good for it,” Robert said, writing the check. “As you said, I should base this on past history. I trust you.”

As he ripped the check from the checkbook and handed it over, he noticed tears in Mr. Westcott’s eyes.

“I – I don’t know what to say,” Mr. Westcott said.

“Just say you’ll pay it back to me when you can,” Robert replied. “That’s all I ask.”

“Well, I most certainly will.

You have my word on that.

Thank you so --” “Mr. Westcott, I have to go,” Robert said. “Remember; give me a couple hours to get funds into that account.”

“Not a problem,” Mr. Westcott replied. “I’ll wait until much later today.”

“I’m sorry to rush off, but I’m going to be late for my lunch appointment,” Robert said. “Do you know the way out?”

Mr. Westcott said yes.

Robert smiled, shook his old business associate’s hand, grabbed his laptop and hurried back to his office. When he reached his office, he called the maintenance department and instructed them to have a cleaning person go to the conference room and spray flowery sprays that would make the room smell better. As he gathered papers he needed for his luncheon appointment, he thought of Mr. Westcott and his bad luck. He wished he could do something meaningful to help him. He also hoped Mr. Westcott’s dirty smell hadn’t rubbed off on his Brook Brothers suit.

Before leaving his office, Robert called his assistant Sally, gave her the number of the check he’d given Mr. Westcott and instructed her to stop payment on it immedi-

Crossword

ately. He also told Sally to call security and have them review the film from the cameras and to write down a description of Mr. Westcott. Robert didn’t want him allowed in the bank again.

As Robert left the bank and rushed down the sidewalk, he felt proud. He’d avoided a nasty scene of having to call security to have Mr. Westcott escorted out of the bank; he’d saved an old customer that embarrassment. He’d handled the situation well.

Nearing the restaurant, looking at his watch, he thought again of Mr. Westcott and how he was now beyond help.

He couldn’t possibly get involved with an old customer’s bad situation, couldn’t open the door to him wanting even more money in the future. It could also lead to others down on their luck knocking on his door for a handout. It was better to stop it now.

When he opened the door to the restaurant for his luncheon appointment, he also reminded himself not to get involved with consumer loans ever again. Robert stopped doing those 15 years and three promotions ago.

Sudoku 8 Down

Across 1. Workers 5. Misty 9. Dope (Southern) 10. Furry 11. Living spaces 13. Go up 15. Most tidy

15. Remove illegally 21. Highland 24. Faint 26. Rustic 28. Dog 29. Bore 30. Henry and Jane ----, thespians 31. Bulks large

1.Bush 2. As well 3. Solitary 4. Renown 5.An act avoiding a loss of dignity (4,5) 6. Slippery liquids 7. Breakfast dish 8. Exercise establishment 12. Mexican general (5,4) 14. Obtain by paying 17. School transport 18. Smooch 19. Oddity 20. Functions 22. Flashy 23. Car 25. World Health Organization 27. Provide with weapons

3

5

8

7

4 6

6

9

8

1

7 8

4 6

1

9

5 3 1

2

4

8 5

Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 through 9.

The fundamental goal of a Sudoku puzzle is to use the provided numbers, or givens, to discover which numbers logically fill in the empty squares. The only rule of Sudoku is that each of the nine rows, each of the nine columns, and each of the nine 3x3 subsections must contain all of the numbers from one to nine, and each number consequently can occur in each row, column, and subsection only once.

Answers on Page 15

STREETVIBES April 2009

13

Short Story

Paddy

A pound for a pint denied, a proper kiss bestowed

By Angela Pancella Contributing Writer

at him.

"Sex," he replied.

The doors of the club would His matter-ofopen at 8; it was now 6. She fact manner caught had gotten to the London sub- her off-guard. She urb of Harlesden purposefully managed to say, early with the intent of getting "Sorry, not interacquainted with the area: the ested," and walk bus line, the route to the club. away without beShe was a very long way from ing accosted furhome and not all that close to ther. But now she where she was staying, either, was leery of findand didn't want to get lost in ing another bench such alien territory. and attempting again to read But she had two hours to kill her Roald Dahl book. before the concert. She walked In the end, her aching feet in and out of the only interest- made the decision for her. She ing shop -- a record store with sat where benches circled the prominent displays of Menu- Harlesden Jubilee Clock, this do albums -- five times. Now suburb's idea of a town square. it was closing, as everything An old wino sat on the bench else was. opposite.

She did The old wino had been "Old winos have a book are better joined by a young with her, than young one, a sturdy fellow though. The winos" had with short-cropped trick was been her hair trying to beg finding an reasonmoney for a pint from ing when inconspicuher in a brogue so ous place to choosing read it. thick she could barely this locaReading tion. Maybe understand him. this book with him had gotten sitting there, her in trouble earlier in the no one else would bother her. day in Hyde Park. She'd been She flipped open the book. Its sitting in a garden area by a cover was black, with a large trellis covered in roses when eyeball painted in psychedelic she noticed a man with white colors. and red sneakers passing by "Excuse me, sweetheart," and grinning. He passed by said a voice a short time later. and grinned several times. She Lo and behold, the old left the park; he followed her wino had been joined by a out. young one, a sturdy fellow "Excuse me?" he called. with short-cropped hair trying She turned and glared, more to beg money for a pint from annoyed than frightened. her in a brogue so thick she "What? What do you could barely understand him. want?"

She turned him down several "I want to ask you some- times -- he was quite persisthing." tent as well as incomprehen"About what?" she barked sible -- and tried to get back to

her book.

"Are ye lost?"

"No, I'm seeing a show at the Mean Fiddler."

"That's just up the road!

Can ye get me in, too, love?"

"No." "C'mere," he said, patting the bench beside him.

The old wino was still at the other end, looking zoned; she wondered if he'd heard any of this exchange or would come to her aid in a time of trouble.

She balked about moving for a long time, then finally thought, oh, whatever. As she sat, he leaned in.

"In exchange for getting me in to the Mean Fiddler, I'll give you an ipener."

"Sorry?"

"Look."

He pointed to the cover of the Roald Dahl book.

"There's an eye, right? I'll give you an eye op'ner."

She got it. He grinned.

What's the deal with this city, she wondered.

"Sorry, not interested."

She went to sit on her bench again.

He let her sit in peace a few minutes.

"What's yer given name, sweetheart?"

She told him.

"My name's Paddy."

She had to laugh.

"Could've guessed that."

He laughed, too.

"It's me red face that does it, isn't it? Look, today's me birthday, so how 'bout a pound to buy me a drink for it?"

"You win points for trying, Paddy, you really do, but I'm a mean, nasty person, and the answer's no."

A few more minutes passed in silence while she tried picking up the thread of the short story again -- something about a woman and a husband and an elevator.

"Know what you remind me of?" Paddy said suddenly.

"A turneyose."

"A what?"

"Ever been in a rose garden? A turney rose."

"Oh! Thorny! I get it."

Successful conversation was beginning to seem like victory.

"I take that as a compliment."

"I meant it as one."

An old lady came and hailed Paddy. He left for a while as she introduced herself -- her name was Mary, and she had the filthiest mouth imaginable for a grandmotherly type.

Paddy came back with two beers -- one for himself, one for Mary -- and a cigarette that he tried to give the old woman.

"Stick it up yer hole," she grumbled.

"I would, but it's lit. I'm not as kinky as you, Mary."

Paddy was somehow less threatening with someone else there. The girl put down Roald Dahl and engaged him in conversation.

"I've been divorced, separated from my children, I lost my job, my dog got run over," he told her.

As random pedestrians passed, he called out to them.

"Sugar Ray Leonard!" he yelled as a skinny black man passed.

"I'm beginning to understand your strategy," she remarked.

He winked and grinned. A blonde lady walked by next; he yelled, "Michelle Pfeiffer!"

She turned with a laugh but kept on.

"If they laugh, you've won half the battle," he said seriously, like sharing a trade secret.

So the evening passed in a mix of deep but incomprehensible monologues from Mary, who gripped the girl's shoulder like she was her long-lost granddaughter, and dark jokes from Paddy.

"See that over there?"

He pointed to the Harlesden Jubilee Clock; at its base was a little sign, "DO NOT FEED THE PIGEONS." "Back when I had a job I added a sign o'me own: DO NOT FEED THE TOSSERS. Drunks, y'know. Now look where I am!"

He laughed. He had a great laugh, she thought. He used it often.

"Things always come back to you, don't they?"

"That's the truth, sweetheart. That's the very truth."

Concert time. She got a kiss from Mary in farewell. Paddy wanted to walk her to the club.

"Stay!" she ordered.

"Mary?"

The old lady grabbed his arm, and the girl left.

But Paddy followed.

"Just let me walk you over.

Let me walk down the street with a pretty girl. You're wily as a fox, you know? I think you're a few roads ahead of me, and that's saying somethin'. Didn't we have a good time? Don't I get a birthday kiss? Here we are at the Mean Fiddler."

He turned his head away like a protest.

"If I get a kiss, you better give it to me now."

She took his hand and kissed it. They walked to the very door of the club.

"Don't I get a proper kiss?

How can I go without a proper kiss?"

She let him kiss her cheek; she kissed his scruffy cheek in return.

"Now go away, Paddy," she said with a stern laugh and a push.

He took her hand with a warm smile, almost wistful "God bless. Listen..."

His eyes were unsure now, an unusual expression for such a seemingly practiced con artist.

"I'm a bum and a tosser, but I'm pretty all right anyway, right?"

She shook his hand, holding the fingers tight and holding his gaze.

"That's right. God bless, Paddy."

He walked off and she never saw him again.

14

STREETVIBES April 2009

Local News

Explosive Idea: Food, Not Bombs Volunteers save food from going to waste, serve it free

By Alecia A. Lott Contributing Writer It had never occurred to me that Cincinnati would have its own chapter of Food Not Bombs, the international grassroots movement that works to call attention to poverty and homelessness by distributing free vegetarian food made mostly from ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste.

Formed in Cambridge, Mass., in 1980 by anti-nuclear activists, in books and online, the simple philosophy of Food Not Bombs made me long to join: “Food is a right, not a privilege, and if governments spent more money on feeding their citizens than they do on wars, no one would go hungry.”

I thought such a group would only exist in cities notorious for their huge homeless populations, such Los Angeles or New York, until I walked past a flyer on a telephone pole. When I contacted the Cincinnati chapter, which has been meeting on-and-off since 2001, the members invited me to help them cook for their next gathering. The group would be serving food at its usual location, Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine.

Eager to assist, I asked what I should bring.

“Just bring something you inside had been found in a think would be good in a garbage bin behind a gourstew,” one of the members, met grocer in Kenwood. Anna Dave, told walked me.

Once the serving area in with a “ S t e w, flower in was set up on a bike huh,” I her hair and trailer draped with a thought, two colorc o n j u r i n g Food Not Bombs sign, ful, though visions of a a hungry crowd quickly s o m e w h a t grey, Dick- grew. About 50 people wilted, bouensian gruel quets, reof various ages and sloshed into trieved from races lined up to be fed. bowls by a florist’s the ladleful. discards.

I arrived March 21 at the Charlie played his mandogroup’s cooking location, lin. Shane and Nina quartered which turned out to be a spa- apples and smothered them cious loft where a few of the with sunflower-seed butter, members live. When I walked something I’d never tried but in with my bag full of canned quickly became addicted to. beans and corn, I noticed an Braxton began frying crispy, abundance of fresh vegetables golden-brown potato panand fruit on the kitchen coun- cakes, only a small quantity ter. Dave and another mem- of which actually made it to ber, Chris, proudly told me Washington Park because the food was donated by an everyone wanted to, ahem, eccentric local farmer. inspect them. All the while, Soon, the the stew kept growing until it cooking and reached the top of the pot. socializing The vegetables weren’t began. A large perfect; some of the tomatoes soup pot was were mushy and therefore placed on the difficult to slice. The celery stove, and we was yellow. The eggplant was began chop- overripe, with tough skin and ping carrots, well-developed seeds. But tomatoes, cel- from such humble beginnings ery, eggplant — food that would have othand potatoes; erwise ended up in a landfill opening cans — came a colorful, hearty, of beans and tasty (or so I’m told) meal for crumbling tofu. All were sim- many people. So much for my mered into stew. visions of Oliver Twist.

More members showed At 3:30 p.m. we arrived up, greeting everyone with in Washington Park via foot, hugs and stories about what bicycle and, in my case, a trithey brought. Ryan and Mike cycle, ready to share the food. plopped a large cardboard box It was sunny and warm, and on the kitchen island, noting many people were already sitthat the fruit and vegetables ting on the wall surrounding

Two women protesting the Iraq War and promoting the Food Not Bombs movement. Photo by Aimie Willhoite.

the park. We stationed ourselves on the sidewalk at 12th and Elm streets. Ryan later said Food Not Bombs has been approached by police officers — he used a less polite name for them — because a permit is required to serve food in parks.

Once the serving area was set up on a bike trailer draped with a Food Not Bombs sign, a hungry crowd quickly grew.

About 50 people of various ages and races lined up to be fed. Some were homeless, some were not. All were welcomed with a smile, possibly a hug and conversation and a plate of food.

Members quickly took on various duties, serving, washing plates and silverware, entertaining children with their music.

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I blinked and the stew, along with the rest of the food, was gone, and our little gathering was over as quickly as it began. As the other members packed up to leave and the crowd dispersed, I stared down into the empty pot and was at first disappointed that I didn’t get to taste any of its contents.

But then I looked up and saw people who were likely much hungrier than I was, initially approaching but quickly turning on their heels with a frown once they realized there was no more food. Frustrated, I knew I’d be back the following Saturday to help again.

If you would like to join or donate food to Food Not Bombs, write to cincinnati_ fnb@yahoo.com or visit www. myspace.com/cincinnati_fnb.

STREETVIBES April 2009

15

Local News

The Crisis Next Door Foreclosure is no longer a hidden problem

By Mary Metzmeier Dave Scharfenberg Contributing Writers

There were 6,673 new foreclosure filings in Hamilton County last year — an increase of 6.3 percent over 2007 filings Marilyn Evans, president and double the statewide avof the South Cumminsville erage increase of 3.1 percent.

Community Council, knows In addition, there were 5,382 firsthand the impact that fore- Hamilton County homes listclosures can have on a com- ed in the first week’s Sheriff munity.

Listing.

This In the county, “South Cumnumber indiminsville is a the communities cates how many proud commu- hardest hit were homeowners are nity,” she says. facing severe fiCleves at 3.84 “Many of our percent and Golf nancial difficulresidents have ties with their Manor at 3.65 lived their whole mortgage loans. percent. lives in the While the neighborhood. area’s larger For some, they neighborhoods are the third or fourth gen- continue to experience the eration in this community. We most foreclosures, smaller have women who are in their neighborhoods are losing 90s and still working. We large numbers of homeowners have a homeownership rate of to foreclosure. For example, in 58 percent. Now that is threat- Cincinnati, the neighborhoods ened by foreclosures.” of Lower Price Hill, South Foreclosures in Hamilton Fairmount and Mt. Auburn County are rising and are par- lost over 5 percent of their ticularly impacting smaller homeowners to foreclosure communities, according to last year. In the county, the a new report by Working In communities hardest hit were Neighborhoods (WIN). Seven Cleves at 3.84 percent and years ago WIN issued a re- Golf Manor at 3.65 percent. port on foreclosures called, Busch tied another con“The Silent Crisis.” That title cern with foreclosures to the wouldn’t work today. gloomy economy.

“We’ve move to a very “One of the saddest things loud crisis,” says Sister Bar- about this report is that only bara Busch, WIN’s executive 3.1 percent of the homes were director. “In 2009 there is no sold to anyone but the lender,” neighborhood left that is not she says. “In most cases, the affected by this foreclosure lender retained ownership of crisis. … We have lost almost the property after the sher4.3 percent of all Hamilton iff’s sale. This is the first time County’s housing stock to we’ve seen this trend, and it’s foreclosure — that’s huge.” because the market is bad.”

WIN’s new study, “The WIN’s report shows that the Crisis Next Door,” shows that top six lenders with the highHamilton County experienced est number of foreclosures 3,081 foreclosures in 2008. have remained the same since and

2002. The lenders generating the most foreclosures in Hamilton County for 2008 were US Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Bank of America, JP Morgan and Chase Bank.

Busch called for business and government to take action in order to retain home ownership in Hamilton County.

“Much to my despair, we only see mandatory loan modifications,” she says. “Lenders are fearful that they will be sued by the investors if they modify loans. I think the government needs to protect the lenders from this threat.”

The foreclosure crisis shouldn’t come as a surprise, according to Roger Davis, president of Communities United For Action and cochair of Citizens Against Loan Sharks.

“When we started organizing around foreclosures and predatory lending eight years Marilyn Evans says it’s time for a moratorium on foreclosures. ago, nobody else wanted to Photo courtesy of Working in Neighbhorhoods. admit the problem existed,” he says. “Now everyone is af- moratorium. We have testified eowners to get loan modificafected, whether it affects you in favor of this bill and encour- tions and avoid foreclosure,” age others to do the same.”

Busch says. “The support or someone else you know.”

In spite of all the bad news, from the city of Cincinnati and Davis endorses a proposed Busch sees Hamilton County has helped moratoriof us reach more families.” um on fore- “We started organizing signs hope.

She Working In Neighborclosures. around foreclosures points out hoods, a Cincinnati-based “ W e and predatory lending that the pro- non-profit organization that need a moreight years ago. portion of strives to stabilize neighboratorium on homes sold hoods and families through Nobody else wanted forecloat sheriff’s home ownership, last year, ofsures now,” to admit the problem sales com- fered foreclosure counseling he says. existed.” pared to to 225 families and saved 135 “We are - Roger Davis those listed homes from foreclosure. WIN excited that has steadily also teaches families how to state repredeclined. purchase their first home and sentatives “Certainly, we know that educates neighborhood leadDenise Driehaus and Michael our housing counselors have ers to improve their commuFoley have introduced legislamade a difference for hom- nities. tion to establish a six-month

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Vendors

Resource Guide

STREETVIBES April 2009

Streetvibes vendors buy the paper for 25 cents and sell the paper for $1, keeping the money they have earned. The vendors can be identified with a white badge and can be found selling the paper in downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northern Kentucky and area churches. The money they earn helps them meet basic housing, food and health care needs. Not all vendors pictured.

Josephine Baskerville

Doris Binion

Terry Ranson

Anthony Williams

Nell Williams

Grady Cook

Cleo Wombles

James Davis

Jon Darby

Dede Stoops

Julie Walker

Kenneth Stonitsch

Antonio Hodge

Leonard Jackson

Samuel Jackson

Riccardo Taylor

Alfred Woolfolk

Berta Lambert

Mary Mueller

Brandon Nelson

Mark Shears

Terrence Williams

Raynard Jones

Richard Tyree

Karen Collett

Charles Cole

Need Help or Want to Help?

Shelter: Women and Children

Central Access Point...381-SAFE Cincinnati Union Bethel...768-6907 Bethany House...557-2873 Grace Place Catholic Worker House...681-2365 Salvation Army...762-5660 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter...872-9259

Talbert House...684-7965

Treatment: Women

First Step Home ...961-4663

Treatment: Both

City Gospel Mission...241-5525 Justice Watch...241-0490 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Worker House...381-4941 Mt. Airy Shelter...661-4620

AA Hotline...351-0422 CCAT ...381-6672 Joseph House ...241-2965 Hamilton County ADAS Board ...946-4888 Recovery Health Access Center ...281-7422 Sober Living ...681-0324 Talbert House...641-4300

Shelter: Both

Advocacy

Shelter: Men

Anthony House (Youth)...961-4080 Caracole (HIV/AIDS)...761-1480 Drop Inn Center...721-0643 Interfaith Hospitality Network...471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Center...221-3350 St. John’s Housing...651-6446

Housing:

CMHA...721-4580 Excel Development...632-7149 OTR Community Housing...381-1171 Tender Mercies...721-8666 Tom Geiger House...961-4555 Dana Transitional Bridge Services Inc. ...751-0643 Volunteers of America...381-1954

Food

Lord’s Pantry...621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen & Pantry..961-1983 Our Daily Bread...621-6364 St. Francis Soup Kitchen...535-2719

Treatment: Men

Charlie’s 3/4 House...784-1853 DIC Live In Program...721-0643 Prospect House...921-1613 Starting Over...961-2256

Catholic Social Action ...421-3131 Community Action Agency ...569-1840 Contact Center...381-4242 Franciscan JPIC ...721-4700 Greater Cinci Coalition for the Homeless..421-7803 Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center...5798547 Legal Aid Society ...241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center ...421-1108 Peaslee Neighborhood Center ...621-5514 Project Connect Homeless Kids ...363-3300 Stop AIDS...421-2437

Health

Center for Respite Care ...621-1868 Cincinnati Health Network ...961-0600 Crossroad Health Center ...381-2247 Hamilton county Mental Health Board...946-8600 Hamilton County TB Control ...946-7628 Health Resource Center ...357-4602 Homeless Mobile Health Van...352-2902 McMicken Dental Clinic...352-6363 Mental Health Access Point...558-8888 Mercy Franciscan at St. John...981-5800 NAMI of Hamilton County..458-6670 Oral Health Council...621-0248 PATH Outreach...977-4489

Resources

Catholic Social Services...241-7745 Center for Independent Living Options...241-2600 Churches Active in Northside...591-2246 Emmanuel Community Center...241-2563 FreeStore/FoodBank...241-1064 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart...381-0111 Goodwill industries...771-4800 Healing Connections...751-0600 Madisonville Education & Assistance Center...2715501 Mary Magdalen House...721-4811 People Working Cooperatively...351-7921 St. Vincent de Paul...562-8841 The Caring Place...631-1114 United Way...721-7900 Women Helping Women...977-5541

Northern Kentucky

Brighton Center...859-491-8303 ECHO/Hosea House...859-261-5857 Fairhaven Resuce Mission...859-491-1027 Homeward Bound Youth...859-581-1111 Mathews House...859-261-8009 NKY Homeless & Housing Coalition...859-727-0926 Parish Kitchen...859-581-7745 Pike St. Clinic...859-291-9321 Transitions, Inc...859-491-4435 Welcome House of NKY...859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center...859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary...859-559-5011 VA Homeless...859-572-6226

Hamilton/Middletown

St. Raephaels...863-3184 Salvation Army...863-1445 Serenity House Day Center...422-8555 Open Door Pantry...868-3276