Streetvibes November 2004 Edition

November, 2004

STREETVIBES Remembering buddy gray From Streetvibes November 2002

by Jimmy Heath November 15th is the sixth anniversary of the shooting death of our good friend Buddy Gray. It was one of those moments in my life that I will always remember. I’ll never forget the details of that day, the horrible reality of the incident that took his life.

My friend Donald Whitehead called me at work on that Friday morning and gave me the news that Buddy had been shot to death. The phone dropped out of my hands in disbelief and shock.

I left work immediately and caught a bus back into downtown and Over-the-Rhine to join my friends at The Drop Inn Center, trying to figure out what had happened. I was hoping in my confusion for some sort of kinship with the strangers on that bus, some relief, some recognition of my shock, some assurance that everything was going to be alright.

Certainly the whole city had heard what happened to Buddy? I wasn’t alone, was I? It was a long, lonely ride on that crowded bus into downtown.

Walking to the Drop Inn Center from the bus stop on that bright, sunny morning, I saw the late morning edition of the Post in a paper rack that coldly announced; BUDDY GRAY SHOT DEAD. How could a man, a man that had helped so many, be dead? I thought that he couldn’t be killed. He had

100th ISSUE

caught inside each one of us. Like a deadly, choking pressure that begins in your gut and pulls at your heart and bends your back.

Why do these horrible days become so indelibly etched into our memories? I guess, that is the irony of the heart, of being human.

All these memories make us into what we will eventually become

rescued me but could not save himself. The mindless bullets had entered his body and destroyed his flesh. Until that moment, until I saw that indifferent headline in the paper rack, I hadn’t accepted the reality of Buddy’s death. At that moment the truth finally sunk in.

Buddy was gone. Taken by violence.

I worried about Buddy’s friends and loved ones who were grieving what had happened, and I was dreading the grief I was about to witness at the Drop Inn Center. Access to the Drop Inn Center where Buddy was shot was restricted but Buddy Gray (left) and the late Rev. Maurice McCrackin somehow I made my way through later in life. As Buddy’s life was a the front doors. The cops were long gone and the remnants of what part of me, so was his death.

The memory of Buddy’s had happened had been cleaned up. work brought words of comfort and Buddy’s assassin had been arrested on the scene and taken away to jail. admiration from all across the Buddy’s body was being taken care country. And his work and spirit of at University Hospital. Staff and continues to live on to this day. I friends who were not at the hospital see it everywhere, in the buildings, in the people, and in the work he were gathered together at the Drop left behind. This is his legacy and Inn Center. It would be a couple it is what keeps me focused. I hope days until the details of what had happened during the shooting came in the coming years I am up to the task. I hope the good memories of to light. my friendship with Buddy will At that moment though, always remain vivid. there was the grief. The pain was

Donald Whitehead joins the NCH as Executive Director From Streetvibes, February 2002

by Jimmy Heath Donald Whitehead has joined the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) as the newly appointed Executive Director.

Formerly, Mr. Whitehead has served as a program supervisor at Goodwill Industries and as Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

A Cincinnati native, Whitehead is breaking new ground by becoming the first AfricanAmerican and first formerly homeless Board President, and now Executive Director of the NCH. The National Coalition for the Homeless is the oldest homeless advocacy group in the nation. Its governing board represents 35 states including the District of Columbia and Puerto

Rico. “NCH has a strong record in advocacy for the homeless, from the McKinney Act to the Community Investment Housing Trust. NCH has continuously steered America towards real solutions to this countries biggest failure,” Whitehead said.

Whitehead will direct four focus areas; housing, income, health and civil rights for the homeless.

Whitehead hopes to lead a real grassroots effort to end homelessness. “I’ll bring empathy to my work at NCH,” says Whitehead. “I know what it took to end my own homelessness.”

For the last 6 years Whitehead has worked in the community as an activist and an advocate for homeless persons.

When asked how he felt about leaving Cincinnati to work in Washington, Whitehead said, “I’ve received so much support from so

many people and groups here, from the Drop Inn Center, ReSTOC, and many others. I have a great deal of gratitude and I have mixed feelings about leaving too. It’s going to be tough. I’ve had a real healing relationship with all of my family here in Cincinnati. I hope to develop a more inclusive environment for homeless people to get involved in their own advocacy.”

Streetvibes 100th Issue Timeline February, 1997 – First issue of Streetvibes published, independently of Cleveland’s Homeless Grapevine. Pat Clifford, director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, remembered the legacy of buddy gray on the first cover. The first printing of Streetvibes was 300 copies.

May, 1997 – Streetvibes features a story on the opposition by neighborhood service providers to the proposal for a new Reds Stadium in the neighborhood, fearing its impact on Over-theRhine residents and housing.

July, 1997 – Congress finalizes welfare reform, imposing time limits up to five years for continued welfare benefits and granting states greater freedom to impose their own standards for welfare recipients.

September, 1997 – All homeless shelters in the city are full. Streetvibes becomes a founding member of the North American Street Newspaper Association and representatives attend the second annual conference.

October, 1997 – Streetvibes features an article about the plan to move the location of the Cincinnati School for the Performing Arts (SCPA) to an area near Music Hall, raising concerns about forced relocation of the Drop Inn Center.

December, 1997 – ReSTOC, an Over-the-Rhine low-income housing co-operative, breaks ground on buddy’s place. The building provides housing for homeless individuals. The Reverend Maurice McCrackin passes away.

TIMELINE continued on page 4 Donald Whitehead

Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless

Streetvibes Streetvibes, the TriState’s alternative news source, is a newspaper written by, for, and about the homeless and contains relevant discussions of social justice, and poverty issues. It is published once a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

Becoming a Streetvibes Vendor is a great way for homeless and other low-income people to get back on (or stay on) their feet. Streetvibes Vendors are given an orientation and sign a code of conduct before being given a Streetvibes Vendor badge. All profits go directly to the vendor.

The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a group of shelters, agencies and individuals committed to ending homelessness in Cincinnati through coordinating services, educating the public and grassroots organizing.

GCCH Staff Georgine Getty - Executive Director Allison Leeuw - Administrative Coordinator Andy Erickson - Education Coordinator Rachel Lawson - Civil Rights VISTA Kate McManus - Civil Rights VISTA Janice Faulkner - Receptionist Mary Gaffney - Receptionist Cover Streetvibes vendors, volunteers and staff....

Streetvibes Jimmy Heath - Editor, photographer

Streetvibes accepts letters, poems, stories, essays, original graphics, and photos. We will give preference to those who are homeless or vendors.

Subscriptions to Streetvibes, delivered to your home each month, can be purchased for $25 per year.

Address mail to: Streetvibes Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, OH 45202 (513) 421-7803 e-mail: streetvibes@juno.com web: http://homeless.cinci.com

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Letter From the Director Dear Streetvibes Readers: Happy 100th Issue! To prepare for this landmark, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the rest of the staff of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and going through the last 100 issues to help piece together the timeline. I was amazed by the journey of this paper from humble, one-page insert in the Cleveland Grapevine to the publication you hold today. I was also touched by the incredible amount of time, energy and talent that has gone into Streetvibes over the years.

Even more important than our growth, I was also struck by how Streetvibes has stayed true to itself. Streetvibes continues to be a

place for the real story of homelessness to be told by the people who are living it. These stories may slip through the cracks of more mainstream papers, but they come through in Streetvibes with honesty and clarity.

I would be remiss if I let this opportunity go by without thanking the many people who help make Streetvibes come to life each and every month. First, there is Jimmy Heath, editor of Streetvibes, who puts in countless hours and enriches each issue with his writings and photography. It is under Jimmy’s guidance that Streetvibes has been honored as one of the top street newspapers in North America. Andy Erickson, who runs the vendor part of the

paper, recruits new vendors while ensuring that our current vendors have a voice in the running of the paper. Our vendors, who put a face on homelessness with each paper they sell and are out there in rain or shine for their customers.

All of the contributors to Streetvibes who take the time to tell their stories and share their artwork. And finally, the readers of Streetvibes, whose dedication to justice over the years helps Streetvibes continue to grow.

Thank you to everyone!

I hope you enjoy this issue and continue to support this remarkable paper!

Sincerely, Georgine Getty, Executive Director, GCCH

The View From Within

by Jimmy Heath Streetvibes Editor We are proud of Streetvibes and how it has made an impact on the lives of our vendors, the community and the people who support our street paper.

Streetvibes brings a unique message, a voice for those left behind - a perspective that without Streetvibes, would go ignored and unheard.

When I first came to Streetvibes, I was not a writer or a professional journalist. I didn’t know what it was to put together a news style publication. I’m still learning everyday. It’s not just about the nuts-and-bolts of everyday newspaper publishing. My lessons come from a unique and important point of view; the everyday lives of our community poor and the vendors who sell and write for the paper. Through the telling of these honest stories from the Jimmy Heath street, I have learned many valuable lessons.

These lessons have been the most important and personal of all because they continue to teach me my responsibilities as a human being living in a community - a community where, even after 40 years since the civil rights movement, people still struggle to be heard and recognized and respected. A community where poor children are left behind.

Where low-income senior citizens are lost and hidden from sight.

I’ve learned about what it means to give charity, watching other people interact with the poor.

You can see the best and worst of people when you observe them in charitable acts.

I’ve learned what it means to have power, both political and economic, in a poor inner-city community. It is amazing to watch how this power plays out in the lives of my neighbors. How access is denied, where the cries for help go ignored.

Although I can’t forgive them, I understand where uninformed white people get their perspective. It’s an unspoken power that comes with birth.

But ignorance does not absolve us of our responsibilities.

We need to stop and think and make an effort to learn and promote change from within ourselves. People ask me all the time, “What can I do to help?” The first step is education. We hope that Streetvibes provides a beginning to this selfexamination.

I am struck by how many good people I meet everyday who have distorted notions of who and what the homeless are. All of us are victims of stereotypes. We are constantly bombarded by the media, movies and TV with portrayals of the homeless as winos, bums and crazy streetpeople who yell at fire hydrants and invisible adversaries. This is a sad commentary on our society.

People are willing to listen and learn, yet are honestly surprised when their stereotypes are shattered.

Some of this comes from lazy thinking – we let others do our thinking for us because it is too hard, too painful, to do first-hand exploration of these serious issues.

We want it hand-fed to us, as painlessly as possible, even at the expense of truth. What we don’t

Streetvibes 100th Issue

know first-hand is suspect – all of it. We are not born with these notions of racism, sexism, classism; our ways of thinking are learned.

These are serious lessons coming from a small street newspaper project, put together on a shoe-string budget and with plain spoken words from the street.

There is much to be learned from simplicity and honest expression that speaks to truth.

I have gotten more out of this work than I have given. I guess that is what education means.

The learner is always on the receiving end of the gift of daily lessons.

We hope that Streetvibes continues to give readers the truth about the issues of poverty and homelessness. We hope that as we move past our hundredth issue, we all continue to learn that positive change comes from listening to everyone, including the voices from the street.

Our newspapers are abused. We are told that they are irreverent, coarse, vulgar, ribald. I hope they will remain irreverent. I would like that irreverence to be preserved in America forever and ever— irreverence for all royalties and all those titled creatures born into privilege.

We like to read about rich people in the newspapers; the papers know it, and they do their best to keep this appetite liberally fed.

- Mark Twain

Save the Date You are cordially invited to attend the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless’ Annual Dinner

HOMES, DIGNITY AND HOPE A 20 YEAR CELEBRATION December 9th, 2004 6:00 pm @ Xavier University, Cintas Center

Keynote Speaker - Dr. Ron Arrundle Director of Social Work College of Mount Saint Joseph

Including Dinner, a Silent Auction, Raffle, Prizes, Awards, and Entertainment For tickets, please send $25 to GCCH at 117 E 12th Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Make checks payable to GCCH and write ‘ticket’ in the memo....

(If you are a service provider, please send $20 for your ticket.

The discount is our way of saying Thank You!) FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 421-7803, EXT. 16

Reserve a table for your church or company for $200 (10 seats) Sponsor dinner for a homeless individual for $25 Donate an item for our silent auction Streetvibes 100th Issue

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TIMELINE

Homeless News Digest

compiled by Patty Lane and Jimmy Heath Two men in Ohio have been indicted in the beating death of a homeless man.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, a third suspect is discussing a possible plea deal and may testify against the other two.

Daniel Fetty, 38, was found naked in a trash container October 2. He died at a Columbus hospital just hours after being found. Police say he was beaten with boards and bricks. Acquaintances of the victim say he had just begun making salads and washing dishes at a restaurant and was saving for an apartment. The killers, both of Waverly, were indicted by a grand jury on aggravated murder charges.

This is the first slaying in four decades in Waverly, a city about 60 miles south of Columbus. All three men are being held on $1 million bond.

An Arizona resident who was once over her head in debt is teaching a group of homeless people lessons of financial hardship and credit repair to keep from making the same mistakes. Darlene Salle selfpublished a book called I Owe, I Owe, So Off to Work I Go, and tells the Arizona Republic she never forgot her painful experience. “The book has sold well, but I wondered what else I could do with it,” Sallee said. She created an evening financial class for Central Arizona Shelter Services, a Phoenix homeless shelter helping them with everything from the basics of budgeting to credit repair. CASS Development Coordinator Bill Manson says it’s been great for clients. “Darlene has been very good and receptive with our clients. She doesn’t talk down to them at all. Her classes bring a level of awareness that truly makes a difference.” Sallee provides all her own materials for class, since there is no budget to cover it and also gives each participant a free copy of her book. “I just try to give them tools to get them to think about money and priorities,” Sallee says. “People have wound up here not because they’re stupid or want to be in the system, but because something serious happened. I just feel like it’s a gift to be able to spend time with people who are really trying to get

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out of the system. I know how hard it is to get out when you’re at such a low point, but I feel like I’m making a little dent.”

A Hawaii judge has ordered a homeless man to curb his shopaholic ways after the man racked up debt and committed forgery. Leon W. Grant was living at a homeless shelter but according to Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds, “was spending a great deal of money on clothing…. He was known for his Tommy Bahama shirts.” Grant was two months away from completing a drug treatment program and clearing his record of forgery and theft charges when he was terminated from the program last October. He was later indicted on federal bank fraud charges and spent time in federal detention before being placed on five years’ probation. The 44-yearold Wailuku resident was found guilty of 19 counts of seconddegree forgery, second-degree theft and attempted second-degree theft in 2001 cases. He was charged with writing bad checks on his own and others’ Bank of Hawaii accounts. Grant said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which affected his drug use. The judge warned Grant that he would face harsher penalties if he reoffends. “And no more shopping at Tommy Bahama,” the judge said, “until you’re financially stable.”

A federal jury in Los Angeles deadlocked last month on charges that a homeless woman bilked a government Social Security program intended to help the elderly and disabled.

Dessie Robinson, 55, was scheduled to return to federal court Nov. 30 to be retried on 24 felony fraud counts, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Robinson, who contended she has diabetes, heart trouble, ulcers and a hearing problem, was accused of defrauding the government of $17,525 by cashing monthly disability checks and then requesting and cashing duplicate checks. Robinson, who was arrested at a downtown homeless shelter in July, alleged that authorities improperly targeted her and 20 other people in a Social Security probe because they are black. Federal authorities denied the allegation.

The St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office used dental records last month to identify the body of a homeless man found in the woods near Point of Rocks last week. The body of Richard John Neumann, 49, of Duluth was found Oct. 4 by a passer-by in the woods near Eighth Avenue West and First Street. “We identified the remains through items found at the scene, which led us in the direction of Mr. Neumann,” said Detective Sgt. Bob Erspamer, head of the Duluth Police Violent Crimes Unit, which routinely investigates deaths in the city. “The investigation then showed that neither friends nor family had seen Mr. Neumann since sometime in mid-August. With the help of family, we were able to locate dental records.” Because of the body’s decomposition, neither the cause nor manner of Neumann’s death could be determined.

The death of a homeless man whose body was found in a vacant lot has been ruled a homicide, Milwaukee police said last month. An autopsy determined that Rex Robert Baum, 49, died of blunt force trauma to the body, police Capt. Eric Moore said. A passer-by spotted Baum’s body on a Tuesday afternoon near South 1st Street and West Lincoln Avenue, said Sgt. Ken Henning, spokesman for Milwaukee police.

No arrests have been made in the death, Moore said.

An Elizabethtown women’s group is headed to the Louisville Wayside Christian Mission to get a feel for what it’s like to run a soup kitchen. After the experience, M.O.R.E. for Women will be ready to open the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen at 34 Dee St., off East Dixie Avenue in Elizabethtown. The kitchen will serve local homeless and other needy people, the elderly and anyone who is just lonely, said Nelle Thomas, who heads the group. Volunteers will provide music, activities and an opportunity for social interaction. The first of these meals will start at noon Nov. 20 at New Hope Community Church’s fellowship hall. The second one is scheduled for noon Dec. 18. “If there is a good response, we could very well do it on a long-term basis,” Thomas said. M.O.R.E. members, who are looking for more volunteers, have passed out fliers advertising the kitchen to local motels, cash advance businesses and laundromats — all places sometimes frequented by people in need.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

continued from page 1 January, 1998 – Donald Whitehead assumes the position of director of the Homeless Coalition. Streetvibes raises circulation to 2,000 copies per month.

April, 1998 – Over-the-Rhine residents rally against changing Vine Street to two way because of safety concerns. Cincinnati City Council rules in favor of the business community to make Vine Street two-way.

May, 1998 – National Coalition for the Homeless launches the National Civil Rights Organizing Project to document human rights abuses of homeless people.

June, 1998 – City of Cincinnati’s panhandling ordinance is ruled an unconstitutional limitation of free speech by a district court.

Jimmy Heath, administrative coordinator of the GCCH assumes duties of Streetvibes editor. Previously, the production of Streetvibes was divided among the staff and volunteers of GCCH July, 1998 – Despite concerns expressed by low-income housing advocates, the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority applies for Hope IV funding to demolish and rebuild Lincoln Court housing project.

August, 1998 – National shortage of affordable housing documented locally; 48% of Cincinnati’s low-income renters spend more than half of their income on housing.

November, 1998 – 3rd annual Standdown is organized by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Veterans Administration. The two-day event provided opportunities for homeless people to receive medical attention, legal services, food and clothing.

December, 1998 – The annual Homeless Memorial takes place in Washington Park, remembering the homeless who had died in the past year.

February, 1999 – Laurel Homes joins Lincoln Court as a Hope IV project which will cause a loss of nearly 1300 units of low-income housing.

TIMELINE continued on page 5

The Zen of Streetvibes Vending From Streetvibes, June 2001

by Jimmy Heath Jimmie Gipson is typical of many of the Streetvibes vendors.

He’s clean cut, well spoken, and challenges the stereotype many people may have of a homeless person. He is a man who has been down on his luck and has struggled to find his way.

But Gipson finds enjoyment in his work as a Streetvibes vendor.

He plies the sidewalks of downtown Cincinnati looking for a good place to sell his stack of Streetvibes papers. A good spot for selling has to meet several criteria; it needs to have a steady stream of passersby (lunchtime hours are best) and the folk walking by need to be somewhat sympathetic. “I like the challenge of getting the attention of people who are trying to ignore me,” says Gipson. “Once I get them to listen to me, and I show them what I

have, they will almost always buy a paper.”

Gipson has also developed relationships, not only with customers on the street, but business owners. “I have a couple of businesses that will let me sell on their property,” Gipson says. “As long as I ask and I don’t create a nuisance, people will let me sell the paper at their business.”

When Gipson goes out with his Streetvibes, he makes good money. Sometimes $10 to $20 dollars an hour. He says he has sold over 600 of the papers in just over a month. A lot of people just give him money, or let him keep the change.

Jimmie Gipson says that some of the vendors have disputes over territories and street corners, but it doesn’t bother him - there are plenty of good spots for selling Streetvibes in Cincinnati. “Can I interest you in a Streetvibes

TIMELINE newspaper to help the homeless?” says Gipson to a businessman walking by his post at 5th and Vine Street.

Creating an Alternative Media Empire There are nearly 50 street newspapers published in the US, written or sold by homeless and formerly homeless people. Some of the papers vary widely in content, philosophy and format. And they come in all sizes from simple two page newsletters reproduced on a photocopier all the way up to mainstream, stylish full color magazines with runs of over 100,000 per month.

The Streetwise newspaper in Chicago is one of those high-end street papers. It has slick full color printing, major advertisers, celebrity interviews and a full-time

Zen cont. on page 13

To My Fellow Readers

by Ms. Mary Gaffney Thanks to our regular customers, who each month purchase Streetvibes from my homeless friends, helping them help themselves.

I have been writing monthly for the paper and you all know by now the concern I have for our friends, the vendors.

I, the staff of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, and the Streetvibes editor, Jimmy Heath, wish to thank each and every one of you for supporting this paper.

This month celebrates the 100th issue of Streetvibes. That’s

8 years and 4 months that the paper has been published and been available to the public.

With your purchase of the paper each month you have helped support the homeless and lowincome people who work so hard to sell the paper. This has helped in so many different ways, providing food, shelter and their other needs.

We say thank you, thank you for your kindness and concern for your fellow man. As the winter months begin to filter in, bringing cold nights, the little donation you have made toward purchasing the paper will keep them and their family warm.

May God forever bless you.

Until next month, remember, it doesn’t take much to give a smile to someone. Regardless of creed or color, as I always say, we are all children who are placed in the same garden of life.

are down or don’t care or even when they are a little bit happy. I can always talk with them and give them a smile.

Some even call me “mom,” “granny” or “Miss.” I answer them and tell them to keep the determination, for there’s a brighter day ahead, if you just keep the faith.

On a Thursday of last month, I was a guest at a Xavier University luncheon called “Reaching For The Stars, 2004.”

The event honored emerging Cincinnati leaders, young men and women who had a determination and a faith.

Some of their work was not easy, with climbing and walking on the road of life. I know at times that the people had a rough spot in their road, but were able to go around it, and now have caught the glimpse of reaching for the stars by gaining some position in life.

May, 1999 – GCCH forms the Speakers Bureau. The Bureau organizes homeless people to share their stories with groups, schools and churches throughout Greater Cincinnati.

September, 1999 – Demolition of Laurel Homes begins.

Jimmy Heath is given a fellowship with the Congressional Hunger Center; Tom Billman assumes Streetvibes editor duties fulltime.

November, 1999 – Stop The Clock campaign to fight Ohio’s welfare cuts begins. Protestors demand that Ohio adopt the federal option of cutoff after five years instead of Ohio’s current three years.

January, 2000 – GCCH becomes a regional civil rights site for the National Civil Rights Organizing Project.

February, 2000 – “Artists for the Drop” organize a benefit concert in support of the shelter’s efforts to oppose the School of Creative and Performing Arts plan to relocate the Drop Inn Center.

March, 2000 – U. S. Census Bureau attempts to count homeless people in Cincinnati the census count is disputed because advocates say the numbers are inaccurate.

Miss Mary Gaffney

The Sun Will Come Out From Streetvibes, March, 2003 –

by Ms. Mary Gaffney To the readers and purchasers of Streetvibes paper, welcome to the third month in the year 2004!

While sitting here by my living room window, one minute it is snowing, the next minute it is raining. Before I get up from my chair, I look up and see the clouds parting, and there is a little bit of sunshine. Before I can turn around, lo and behold, the clouds are gone.

The sun was out, bright as ever, with strong rays of warmth. I began to think that this was like life, especially like the lives of my homeless friends. Oh, you might sat, “there she goes again!” Yes, because I enjoy being around them.

For six years, off and on I’ve been with them, helping them and getting to know them. And I really know them; even when they

continued from page 4

As I first stated, there was first darkness and dreariness.

Before you know it, there is the sun shining bright. I know the sun doesn’t shine bright all the time. If it did, could we accept it?

If you could take a moment and think of the life of my friends who need help. How they have to accept life, good or bad. There is sometimes no work, or other things, but they try to remain happy.

I always say, it doesn’t take much to give a smile, and if they approach you, take the time and opportunity to speak to them. You never know what is in the future.

We are all the children placed in this garden of life who must brave hard weather, wind, rain and storms. Remember, for every dark cloud there is a silver lining. Until next time remember, God love you and me – all races, creeds and colors.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

April, 2000 – Bonnie Neumeier is forcibly removed form the Greater Cincinnati Arts and Education board because of her opposition to the SCPA plan which includes relocation of the Drop Inn Center.

May, 2000 – Streetvibes begins extensive coverage of opposition to globalization, examining the effects of free trade on homeless sand impoverished people.

June, 2000 – Alicia Beck becomes executive director of the GCCH after Donald Whitehead leaves to become director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Streetvibes remembers the sixth year anniversary of the demolition of the Milner Hotel which resulted in the loss of 115 units of low-income housing.

TIMELINE continued on page 6

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Fire Cat Review

The Fire Cats are a group of advocates dedicated to fighting poverty and criminalization who live right here in Cincinnati. This month, they are joined by their Fire Cat chums from Columbus.

Fire Cat Orange: Chipotle traitors! You guys don’t appreciate the deliciousness of the burrito bol.

Yummy (gives evil glances to Fire Cat Grey and Fire Cat Black).

Fire Cat Magenta: The awesomeness of the burritos is almost enough to overlook the evil of McDonald’s.

Chipotle: Fire Cat Orange: I love Chipotle!

I enjoy the burrito bol with lots of corn. Lots and lots of it. Lots!

Fire Cat Turquoise: I’ve never had a bad burrito. They are all good. The tacos are good too.

Fire Cat Magenta: Yeah, Chipotle’s is pretty good. I don’t like the corn too much, but the cheese is the best part. I think that’s the reason people keep coming back.

Fire Cat Grey: Burrito bol’s not cool Go for the calories, go for the fat. This should be the official meal of the Fire Cat! Fire Cat Blue: Too bad they’re owned by McDonald’s – they are delish, but did y’all see Supersize Me? Yikes!

Fire Cat Black: Yeah. . . that takes away from the deliciousness. Save me from the wrath of Fire Cat Orange!

Reality Shows: Fire Cat Blue: The Next Greatest Champ is so good. It’s about boxers and they’re not very good at boxing, but they’re supposed to be good at boxing and there’s lots of scheming. Plus, Eye of the Tiger (which is also the Fire Cat’s theme) is the theme song. Sometimes, there’s a musak version of it that plays during montage scenes.

Fire Cat Black: I though “Wife Swap” was just a Dave Chapelle sketch.

Fire Cat Orange: I enjoy VH-1’s Surreal Life. Flava Flav and Brigitte are crazy in love. Or just crazy.

Fire Cat Turquoise: The Real World used to be really good, but it’s not anymore. Now it’s just irritating. The presidential debates are kind of like a reality show.

Fire Cat Magenta: Does Best Week Ever on VH-1 count? I think

Fire Cat Review

it does, so that’s my favorite. Oh, and I really like Made on MTV. The high school nerd/beauty queen episode is awesome!

Fire Cat Grey: I am still waiting for the Fire Cats reality show. Now there is a show where the ratings would not be low.

Fire Cat Orange: The new Real World is kinda good. I hate Road Rules!

Fire Cat Blue: Is Clear here?

Things that have Piqued the Fire Cat’s Interest: • Lost – the new so good/pointless show on ABC. • The Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates – who will reign supreme?

• Cookies. Always.

• Apple disposal remedies, ie: muffins, pie and coffee cake.

• The 100th Issue of Streetvibes – put that in your pipe and smoke it Charlie!

• Secret Machines – an Out of Town thang.

• CSI, Monk, Law and Order – pick your crime show poison and also Arrested Development, Scrubs, Sex and the City and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. T.V. is the balm for the busy feline activist’s soul.

• The Virgin Suicides and other good books.

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’s release to DVD • “My Boo” by Usher and Alicia Keyes – perhaps the worst song ever to be unleashed since “Lady”

by Styx.

Hate in Corporate Over-the-Rhine From Streetvibes, April 1997 Chamber of Commerce and its commentary by Berta Lambert clean-up subsidiary, Impact.

Marge Hammelrath and Jim Jennifer Sizer’s mother is a Tarbell have for nearly 20 years recent president of the Over-therepresented the under-the-rock Rhine Chamber. She is the public persona of the anti-poor and antirelations person for the infamous buddy gray attitudes of the art-bar Damon Lynch III’s so-called ULI corporation speculators of Main coalition and she is the PR person Street. for both the OTR Chamber and Jim For several years, the old Verdins Pendleton Art Center guard conservatives have been (Verdin is responsible for the supplanted by the overt guerilla phallic Corporate Bell Tower vis-àactivities of Chris Frutkin, Jennifer vis his Verdin Bell Company).

Sizer and Peter Calloway. For None of the rascals named nearly two years these folks, along above is and OTR resident. Peter with their greed-ideology friends Calloway, however, is a resident. have disrupted the meetings of the His personality seems driven by 30 year-old Over-the-Rhine this current fashion of right-wing Community council (ORCC). It entrepreneurial spirit beliefs. At had been necessary in recent ORCC’s October meeting he was months to move its meeting place, videotaped thanking buddy gray’s appoint a sergeant-at-arm, tighten its still very open meeting process, video tape its meetings, and on several occasions request additional police presence at its meetings.

Chris Frutkin is the nephew of the wealthy Ed Burger. He is in his 30’s and an owner of several properties in the neighborhood. As a yuppieentrepreneur, he is a board A No Way Buddy Gray sticker member of the Over-the-Rhine

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friends taking down the hate-filled No Way Buddy Gray stickers and announcing the existence of a No Way Buddy Gray organization.

The reader will find it useful to know that the sticker with a telephone number remains on post throughout the city is a third generation effort. It was preceded first by a gray and black silver dollar sized Stop Buddy Gray sticker, and then by a fluorescent green or sometimes reddish hand sized circular stick-on. If you called the number on the most recent sticker, which was disconnected by 10AM the day buddy was shot, you were invited to push 1 or 3 for separate hate messages. The recordings consisted of lies, misinformation and inferences of improprieties.

Frutkin, Sizer, and Calloway bear the moral responsibility for the hate campaign and the climate of fear for buddy’s personal safety.

Within twenty-four hours of buddy’s death, new stickers appeared in Over-the-Rhine which read, “Where there is a Wilbur, there is a way.” Wilbur was the name of the man who shot and killed buddy gray.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

TIMELINE continued from page 5 August, 2000 – Streetvibes begins printing full color on the front and back page. ReSTOC rehab project on Vine Street comes under fire from Cincinnati City Council. Hart Realty, the largest property owner in Over-the-Rhine, opts out of Section 8 housing program resulting in a continued loss of low-income housing and paving the way for further gentrification in the neighborhood.

September, 2000 – Ohio welfare cutoffs begin. Plan for relocation of the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) is approved by the Cincinnati Public Schools Board.

October, 2000 – Streetvibes adopts magazine style format.

November, 2000 – Nader campaigns in Cincinnati.

January, 2001 – Preliminary reports of Greater Cincinnati Homeless Study is released.

February, 2001 – Tom Billman steps down as Streetvibes Editor. Dam Marschner assumes full-time editor duties.

March, 2001 – Covington Kentucky City Government battles against proposed Life Learning Center, a multipurpose service center for homeless people. Dan Marshner becomes Streetvibes editor.

April, 2001 – Homeless Think Tank is developed to provide input to the Continuum of Care funding process for homeless services.

May, 2001 – Civil unrest, after the shooting death of an unarmed teenager by a Cincinnati policeman shatters Over-the-Rhine and other lowincome neighborhoods.

June, 2001 – Streetvibes celebrates five years of publishing.

August, 2001 –. Streetvibes Editor Dan Marschner leaves for the Peace Corps. Jimmy Heath returns as Streetvibes editor.

TIMELINE continued on page 7

Sweeping of camps halted by the homeless From Streetvbies, October 2003

by Andy Erickson A little over a year ago, Don lost his job, his threebedroom house, his two cars, and then his wife and his kid. “I lost everything that ever meant anything to me,” he said.

That’s when Don started sleeping under a bridge.

“When I first moved under this bridge,” Don says, “I begged for trash bags from a city building. I wanted the place to look half-decent. I filled 13 garbage bags. I didn’t want to be an eyesore.”

But “eyesore” is exactly what the city labeled Don’s camp Don Henry (left) speaks to Andy Erickson of the Homeless Coaltion when they threatened him with eviction. On July 15, police “resulted from the official policy, broken windows, they are not officers arrived at Don’s camp to custom, and practice of the City of solving any problems, except post “No Trespassing” signs. The Cincinnati to engage in a pattern of perhaps the “cleaning up” of an officers took pictures of the people depriving the constitutional rights overpass – until someone moves who lived in the camp and told of homeless individuals.” back in. them to be out within 72 hours or The city went to great The City’s approach does be charged with criminal trespass. lengths in their attempt to remove nothing to prevent homelessness or “What is the issue with the camps from underneath downtown lessen poverty. The City rarely public seeing me here?” Don bridges. In June, a meeting shows any desire to attack the root asked. “I guess they drive by and between the Mayor’s office, police causes of homelessness – like rising see that I’m a disgust to their ways officials, the Governor’s office, the unemployment or rising housing of thinking. But I’m not bothering Ohio Department of Transportation costs. They just want to move anyone. They say that I’m a (ODOT) and Downtown people from under bridges. When distraction, but someone could be Cincinnati, Inc. took place to come camps are swept, the people who distracted by the new stadium. up with a plan to remove camps lived there move somewhere less Should we tear that down?” from under bridges. The meeting visible, and then the City is happy Don and his fellow ended after the representative from because the homeless are out of bridgemates responded to the order ODOT insisted that, despite the sight and out of mind. by erecting an eight-foot by fourfact these people were camping on Social service agencies in foot sign facing the busy ODOT property, ODOT had no the area are trying a different intersection where his camp is legal right to remove them. But approach. Outreach workers stress located. The sign read “Don’t hide the city was determined, and finally the need to first build a relationship the homeless. Help them.” They got ODOT’s permission to do what with people, earn their trust, and then called on people to join them it wanted with the camps then help them get into the services for a 24-hour vigil ending at 1pm underneath the bridges. they need. This approach works, on Friday – the time that the order City officials often invoke but it takes time. Uncompassionate to vacate would take affect. “quality of life issues” or the approaches like the sweeps of Don didn’t realize what “broken windows” theory when homeless camps (and the recently kind of effect his impromptu they talk about camps like Don’s. passed legislation that helps the city protest would bring. Supporters The “broken windows” theory put more panhandlers behind bars) honked as they drove by, delivered states that if we fix broken only make matters worse. donations, stopped to talk, and windows, clean up litter, erase Don says he knows the carried picket signs. Social service graffiti, and remove the visible people of Cincinnati are generally workers met with Don and others homeless, like Don, from public compassionate people. “There’s a at his camp, placing some of them sight, the quality of life in the City minister who comes down to talk into services they needed. And at will turn for the better. to me every Sunday,” he says. “I 1:00 on Friday – when the police The problem with this tell him not to give up on me. One were supposed to arrive – Don’s theory is that Don isn’t a piece of day I’ll get out of here.” lawyer arrived instead with a litter. He’s not a broken window, Don plans to stay under his temporary restraining order against and he’s not graffiti. He’s person bridge for a little while anyway. the police and a lawsuit against the who’s lost his home and is living in He’s earning that right. And he city. public. He obviously shouldn’t be wants to make sure people see that.

Don happily signed the treated the same way we would Especially other homeless people. necessary papers. The lawsuit deal with a broken window. The “I’m not really doing this for me,” could possibly overturn many of theory makes Don a scapegoat for Don explains. “I’m doing this to the actions that the city has taken the City’s problems. help all the people who live out against the homeless in the last two Don knows this. “Why are here.” years. people messing with me when they So far things are working The filed complaint asks could be having a meeting about out. On July 21st, Judge Dlott that the new and old panhandling how we could solve the drug extended the restraining order for ordinances be declared problem? Or how we could stop 20 days. On August 11th, another unconstitutional, and that the city people from killing each other in hearing will be held to determine be barred from performing sweeps Over the Rhine?” he asks. the fate of the bridge sweeps, the of homeless camps. The complaint When the city attempts to panhandling ordinance, and the also states that the panhandling treat people experiencing way the city will treat its homeless laws and the threat of sweeps homelessness as if they were citizens in the future.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

TIMELINE continued from page 7 November, 2001 – Streetvibes remembers buddy gray on the fifth anniversary of his shooting death.

December, 2001 – The long awaited Cincinnati Homeless Study is released by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

January, 2002 – Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken asks the City Solicitor’s office to examine ways to tighten restrictions on panhandling, years after previous ordinances were deemed unconstitutional and were overturned.

March, 2002 – ReSTOC’s new rehab project leads development on Vine Street.

April, 2002 – In a GCCH campaign thousands of citizens tell Mayor Luken that they support Streetvibes. The Civil Unrest of April 2001 is remembered in photographs.

June, 2002 – Protests against Hope IV development project, which threatens displacement of low-income families, continues.

July, 2002 – Nearly 400 people gather in Covington Kentucky to march and protest treatment of the homeless, which included sweeping of homeless camps on the Ohio River and destruction of personal property.

September, 2002 - Huntington Meadows housing complex lowincome residents face eviction for redevelopment project. Georgine Getty becomes Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

November, 2002 – Citizens gather in the alley where Timothy Thomas was killed. The April 2001 shooting death of Thomas sparked three days of protest and civil unrest.

January, 2002 – Streetvibes TV plans its return to regular broadcasting.

April, 2003 – ReSTOC celebrates its 25th anniversary of providing housing for lowincome citizens. National Coalition for the Homeless ranks Ohio as the fourth most dangerous state for homeless people.

TIMELINE continued on page 10

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Move Homeless From Under Bridges Streetvibes, October 2003 story by Jimmy Heath On Wednesday, September 17th, Cincinnati City Council voted on a resolution allowing the city and police to immediately remove homeless individuals living under bridges and highway overpasses. The city has already erected no trespassing signs in areas used by the homeless.

Although the areas are public property, according to the city solicitor the city has the right to remove individuals who pose a “public safety threat to themselves or to the general public.” Although loosely defined, the “safety threat” is being used by city council to move homeless people from areas that might be in clear view of the general public, thereby tarnishing the city’s image.

The author of the resolution, Councilman Chris Monzel, was outraged when he saw a person defecating in public while driving in his car with his family. Monzel said more needs to be done. “It’s a public health issue, a public safety issue,” said Monzel. “I just believe the current situation in this city is unacceptable.” An encampment near the Spring Grove Avenue exit from Interstate 75 has been there undisturbed for about five months, Monzel said.

The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless has been working to help coordinate outreach to people living outside and under the

bridges. Working with the police and social service agencies, many of the homeless have been moved into programs or housing. A temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott expired over a month ago, and many of the homeless people already have left the camps. Attorney Jennifer Kinsley filed a lawsuit in July on behalf of Don Henry, a homeless man the city attempted to evict from beneath an overpass at Third Street under the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.

Kinsley, who continues to represent the homeless, promised to fight in court the legality of any new city sweeps.

A variety of people spoke against the current resolution during the public speaking portion of the City Council meeting. Elaine Coffey gave an emotional response to the resolution, “I’ve been homeless too, and I know what it is like. Why don’t you do something about the dope dealers that are loitering on my street?

Why aren’t trespassing laws enforced against them?”

Roger, a man who is currently living under a bridge in downtown Cincinnati told council, “We are human beings, just like you all.”

Georgine Getty, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati

Life Under a Bridge Streetvibes, October 2003

by Jimmy Heath It’s truly the American dream unfulfilled; living under a bridge, in a camp on the river, or in a clump of bushes near the railroad tracks. Not exactly the future we would hope for ourselves or our children or anyone else for that matter.

How and why does a person’s life reach the point of homelessness?

And why, when there seems to be other options available, would a person choose to live outdoors in 10 degree weather, in the rain, the snow, exposed to not only these cruel elements, but an unforgiving society?

What drives a person to live outside of the so-called social order?

The answers are as diverse and complex as the varied personalities that make up this sometimes forgotten and ignored segment of our society; the homeless.

There are issues of addiction and mental illness, which brings with it fear and apprehension and distrust of the systems designed to reach out to the person needing the services.

Social service agencies are pushed to the breaking point, hard pressed to find staff and time to devote to gently persuading folks to come in off the street.

And for those reasons, and more, the answers are never simple.

To bring the homeless in out of the weather requires an approach that respects the individual nature of each person. If their perceived needs aren’t met and there is mistrust, they may

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feel fearful and run. Blanket solutions and ultimatums are not the answer. What works for one, will not work for another.

There is a fear by the sidewalk traveling public of engaging homeless people.

Observe the homeless man holding the sign at a downtown corner as people pass and react.

You see fear in the general public manifest in many ways. Most commonly, the homeless person is ignored, others increase their distance, and sometimes people react in disgust and even anger.

There is certainly a serious and hurtful disconnection between the general public, politicians and homeless persons.

I was passing through Fountain Square one day, and I observed an interaction that some young men were having with a homeless man who had asked them for spare change. The men entertained themselves by throwing some loose change on the ground, laughing while the disoriented man chased after the rolling coins.

I didn’t know who to feel sorry for; the simple-minded men who entertained themselves at some poor

Coalition for the Homeless said, “the people who live under these bridges are among the most challenging for social services to find, engage and assist. The outreach network in Cincinnati grows stronger and more committed every day. However, when homeless camps are swept, it gives

homeless people one more reason to mistrust the system and frustrates the outreach workers attempts to keep necessary contact with people.”

Over the past month, the Homeless Coalition has worked diligently with social service agencies, police and homeless individuals to propose sustainable solutions to moving people out from under bridges.

“We all agree that human beings should not live under bridges...The city has conducted sweeps before.

This city still has people living under bridges,” said Getty. “If we continue

unfortunate’s expense or the man chasing the nickels.

There was the radio talk show host who called for a “homeless roundup” to remove homeless people from the city because they are “nothing but drunks and derelicts.”

Part of the perception problem is driven by public discussions. A Cincinnati City Councilman recently spoke in disgust and outrage that he and his family had witnessed a homeless man defecating in public.

This Council member sponsored and succeeded in passing an ordinance that called for the immediate removal of all homeless persons living under bridges and highway overpasses.

This, in spite of recent and successful collaborations between

Streetvibes 100th Issue

to sweep people away without treating the reasons that they became homeless in the first place, we will continue to have people living under bridges.”

There continued to be much discussion among more compassionate members of City Council as to whether the current proposed resolution would just make life harder for people living outside.

“Out of sight does not mean the issue of homelessness goes away.

It does nothing but move them from one place to another place,” said Council Member Laketa Cole who voted against the ordinance.

“It seems to be an overreaction to the whole problem of homelessness,” said Council Member David Crowley. “I view this issue as almost one of mean-spiritedness.”

“I don’t think it is mean spirited at all,” said Mayor Charlie Luken, in defense of Monzel’s resolution. “What we are talking about are aesthetics. We are not talking about changing anything but the way it looks,” said Councilmember Minette Cooper in opposition of the ordinance.

“It’s the city’s responsibility to stand up and protect properties, especially properties they own, for all the citizens,” Monzel said.

“The lack of compassion showed by the five city council members who voted for Monzel’s resolution tonight was absolutely shocking,” said Georgine Getty. “We don’t need more laws,” say homeless and advocates.

social service agencies, the Homeless Coalition, and the police to move people out from the bridges in a humane manner.

We can all agree that people should not be using outdoors spaces as a public toilet, but the continued passing of ordinances shows little depth in the analyses of the homeless condition.

No one should have to live outside, without the simple life sustaining things, like a shower or a stove; things we take for granted.

In my neighborhood of Overthe-Rhine, I have witnessed many visiting suburban folks partying on Main Street relieving themselves in our alleys and behind our buildings. The tourists leave their drink cups and beer bottles scattered on the ground and in our parking lots. They walk on Main Street, the so-called entertainment district, with drink cups in hand, while neighborhood folks and the homeless continue to be harassed and ticketed for the same infractions.

The middle-class gentry who live in our neighborhood use the small patch of grass at our community enter as a toilet for their pets. Our neighbors and community and the homeless see these disparities, and they understand what it means. The message to the poor is “get out!” and for those spending so much money, it’s “go about your business.”

It is no wonder that there is so much fear and distrust on the part of the homeless in Cincinnati.

Apparently, it isn’t enough to be a human being. Maybe living under a bridge isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Homeless Men receive Settlement from City Of Covington From Streetvibes, February 2004 and clothing were taken. One of In June of 2002, hundreds Rights Organizing Project and

by Jimmy Heath the men lost a litter of kittens and from the National Coalition for the Northern Kentucky service Three men met last month family photographs. No notice was Homeless, and the Greater providers and advocates. near the Covington riverfront levy, given to the homeless residents and Cincinnati Coalition for the In late December of 2003, close to the Ohio River bank their property was not held but Homeless assembled for a the City of Covington decided to campsite they once called settle with the claimants home. Present were their and on January 23rd, at the attorneys, Robert site of the injustice, the Newman and Covington homeless campers received lawyer Linda A. Smith. their settlement checks.

The men were among Each of the men received eight who sued in U.S. $1,000 checks, handed out District Court in by attorney Robert Covington after city Newman, against the workers removed their backdrop of the Ohio River riverfront camps in April where the campers once of 2002. A lawsuit was made their home. They filed in federal court in will receive another $1,000 May 2002 alleging the each later from attorneys’ city of Covington violated fees. the due process rights of “There’s now a the individuals who lost nationwide precedent that their personal property. cities cannot take the Homeless advocates said property of homeless most of the 30 men living people without notice and on the riverbank were destroy it,” said Cincinnati away at work when the civil-rights attorney Bob Covington city workers Newman, during a press Philip Folk, attorney Robert Newman, Delbert Thompson, Charles Singleton and removed their belongings attorney Linda Smith gather at riverfront campsite for press conference. Claimants Folk, conference at the riverfront from city property site. “It’s a fair warning I Thompson and Singleton each received a check for $1,000. without notice. think, to Covington and During a “sweep” of thrown away. City officials, Homeless Rally and March to any other city that homeless people homeless camps, Covington city including Covington Mayor Butch Covington City Hall to support the are human beings just like workers removed and destroyed Callery, described the riverfront claimants and to draw attention to everybody else and they have the property of individuals who at the camps as a “health hazard and an the plight of the homeless. The same constitutional rights as a time considered the Ohio River eyesore.” City crews were ordered march was organized by the homeowner, so we’re very happy bank their home. Items such as to remove any objects that looked individuals who lived on the about that.” sleeping bags, medication, tents like housing or bedding. riverbanks, the National Civil

Katie Fischer, National Low Income Housing Coalition, reads Streetvibes Mary Burke, Director of the Over-theRhine housing network, reads Streetvibes

Bill Faith, Director of the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio reads Streetvibes

David Knoll, chair of Standdown, reads Streetvibes Captain James Whalen, District One Cincinnati Police, reads Streetvibes

Pat Clifford, General Coordinator of the Drop Inn Center, reads Streetvibes

Streetvibes 100th Issue

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The Peace Village The recent conference of the Peace Village on “Ending Hunger in the Peace Village,” on October 2nd, featured student teams sharing their visions of how their schools, or college programs, could reduce hunger by teaching their fellow students about the needs of the hungry in our city.

“Teaching” meant being clear that peace could not be available to a hungry person because they had to spend their food budget on uninsured medical treatments, or that tightly stretched dollars had to be spent on prescription drugs that were not covered by limited or non-existent fringe benefits, or that the weekly part-time wage could not adequately cover food and the basics of housing, utilities, or insurance. One by one, each team shared with the conference the ways in which this “message” would be delivered. Each team hoped that the information would spur both interest and action.

Gathering cans of food for the Free Store/food Bank, or a related pantry, would be the result of all of the efforts. But something bigger was also on the table.

What students are teaching and learning is the twin lessons that hunger has no place in our city and that students can do something very important to reduce it.

Teaching peace through a goal in reducing individual and family hunger places these students into a discussion that has been largely invisible in our community. We have not taught the reasons for hunger being so extensive or for the rising need of our citizens, many of them working one or two low paying jobs, for relief from the stark reality of hunger. Our students have not been asked to think about the hard choices facing an increasing number of families

who are choosing, if choice is the right word, to keep the family together through reducing the food budgets during the emergencies arising from money just running out by the end of the month. Our students are not learning about how they can encourage hungry children to eat federally supplied breakfasts and lunches in ways that do not increase stigmatization of the children.

Sharing the plans for action and learning opened up the

Dr. Steve Sunderland possibility of community wide approaches that will make a local difference in each neighborhood or school community.

More than collecting cans or dollars for cases of food, a consequence of this program will be the deepening of each person’s knowledge about the power of young people to organize for peace in their schools and communities, irrespective of race, economic class, gender, and religious perspective. These student leaders have already asked themselves the critical questions of what is the important information so necessary to change indifference about peace due to hunger into action for peace based on joining energy and resources. Stopping hunger is a form of learning about how to stop conflict and victimization.

Reducing hunger through programs of assistance also reduces

ignorance about the ways in which society maintains a cruel relationship with the weakest members of our community.

The joining of young people to such a peace effort will alter some people on a permanent basis. Seeing hunger as humanmade by choices our society makes to ignore, trivialize and punish large number of citizens, forces a kind of teaching on the young students that will shift their interests into social justice.

Bringing the mission of this effort down to personal involvement may encourage the kind of further teaching and learning within the school that leads to wider participation from other students and teachers.

Can students teach peace? We are all realizing that teaching for social justice is within the power of youth. Teaching for us means to study the issues of hunger and how they can be realistically addressed in our educational institutions within a limited time. The consequence of this teaching is action at the level of consciousness that is at a deep and important level. I applaud our new teachers and their passion for a society that can learn about needs and do something about it. The connections between old and new teachers was evident throughout our day and in our closing ceremony. A student from Ursuline Academy gave us some inspirational final words as a counselor from Aiken led us in a chorus of “We Shall Overcome.”

On the table, where people were leaving, there were cans of food brought by students and teachers for the Free Store, cases, really of generous hopes and beliefs. We are off!

TIMELINE continued from page 8 May, 2003 – Report on the Panhandling for Awareness Campaign organized by the GCCH and the Cincinnati Youth City Council.

June, 2003 – Streetvibes reports on the new effort by City Hall to curb panhandlers by requiring them to get a license.

August, 2003 – Homeless people living in camps under Cincinnati bridges are ordered to move out.

Homeless gather to fight the eviction. Community shows its support of the homeless.

November, 2003 – GCCH’s Annual Standdown event is held in Over-the-Rhine’s Washington Park.

January, 2004 – GCCH Annual Dinner is featured in this month’s Streetvibes.

February, 2004 – Homeless men receive settlement from City of Covington after city workers removed their riverbank camps and destroyed personal items.

April, 2004 – Hundreds gather in Cincinnati to protest one-year anniversary of Iraq War, joining millions of protestors around the world.

May, 2004 – Downtown’s Fort Washington Hotel is slated for upscale condo development which will result in more loss of low-income housing.

June, 2004 – Cincinnati City Council votes to extend controversial Panhandling Registration ordinance.

July, 2004 – The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) fast tracks its plan for development of the Washington Park area of Overthe-Rhine resulting in another threat to the Drop Inn Center shelter.

August, 2004 – The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and the Drop Inn Center begin campaign to register homeless voters.

September, 2004 – New GCCH homeless education packet is piloted in Cincinnati schools.

November, 2004 - Streetvibes celebrates 100th issue!

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Streetvibes 100th Issue

Curtis Norvell finds healing at Drop Inn Center Program From Streetvibes, October 2001

by Lisa Bridges “Life has taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us, and a bit of bad in the best of us, but we are all children of God, and we all have a right to be here.

I invite who ever reads this little article and is not satisfied with the way you’re living I need you to know, we no longer have to remain stuck. One thing this addict/ alcoholic do know is I had to be ready! And only I knew when Trey was ready. Me, myself have lived my life on a wire without a net.

Funny thing about fear, it kept me

from the rooms of recovery and today fear keeps me from returning to the horrors of active addiction.

Like Martin Luther King Jr. today, Trey has a dream. Thank You God!” - Curtis “Trey” Norvell LB - What is the biggest change in your life since you have started the program at the Drop Inn Center?

Trey - “I’ve stopped fighting….meaning: completely surrendering to the simple program (of NA and AA.) And it has taken me so long to do this.”

LB - What has your experience offered you at the Drop Inn Center?

Trey - “It has offered me a sense of freedom from active addiction and alcoholism. Also, the opportunity to sit back and reflect on life in the past, the present, and what I want to accomplish in the future.”

LB - Where do you see yourself in the future?

Trey - “In one of two places: either in broadcasting (which Trey has already completed some schooling for), or starting a program for young men ages 18-25. Trey got really excited about a program for young men. Offering them a strong since of encouragement and empowerment. “It is a difficult age

for a sense of belonging, and I want to be able to be there for these men. I have noticed since I have been living here, I have been approached by many young people who have questions, and need support and encouragement.”

LB - What has been your biggest learning experience?

Trey - “I know what other people meant at all the other treatment centers that I went to. You have to REALLY, REALLY want it and today I really do. I don’t want to drink or drug anymore. And today, I feel and understand this surrender.”

Cathy Johnstone of COHHIO reads Streetvibes Spencer Wells of COHHIO reads Streetvibes

Tom Stricher, of The Other Place, reads Streetvibes

Streetvibes 100th Issue

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Streetvibes Vendor Code of Conduct About the Greater Cincinnati All Vendors Sign and Agree to a Code of Conduct Coalition for the Homeless and Report Any Violations to GCCH - 421-7803 Streetvibes....

This program has helped 1. Streetvibes will be distributed honest in stating that all profits go for a $1 voluntary donation. If a customer donates more than $1 for a paper, vendors are allowed to keep that donation. However, vendors must never ask for more than $1 when selling Streetvibes.

2. Each paper purchased from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) costs 30 cents. Papers will not be given out on credit. Old papers cannot be traded in for new papers.

3. Streetvibes may only be purchased from GCCH. Never buy papers from, or sell papers to other vendors.

4. Vendors must not panhandle or sell other items at the same time they are selling Streetvibes.

5. Vendors must treat all other vendors, customers, and GCCH personnel with respect.

6. Vendors must not sell Streetvibes while under the influence.

7. Vendors must not give a “hard sell” or intimidate anyone into purchasing Streetvibes. This includes following customers or continuing to solicit sales after customers have said no.

8. Vendors must never sell doorto-door or on private property, unless given permission from the owner of that property.

9. Vendors must not deceive customers while selling Streetvibes. Vendors must be

to the individual vendor. Vendors must not tell customers that the money they receive will go to GCCH or any other organization or charity. Also, vendors must not say that they are collecting for “the homeless” in general.

10. Vendors must not sell papers without their badge. Vendors must present their badge when purchasing papers from GCCH. Lost badges cost $2.00 to replace.

Broken or worn badges will be replaced for free, but only if the old badge is returned to GCCH. 11. Streetvibes vendor meetings are held on the first weekday of the month at 1pm. The month’s paper will be released at this meeting. If a vendor cannot attend the meeting, he or she should let us know in advance. If a vendor does not call in advance and does not show up, that vendor will not be allowed to purchase papers on the day of the meeting or the following day. Five free papers will be given to those who do attend.

12. Failure to comply with these Rules and Regulations may result in termination from the Streetvibes vendor program.

GCCH reserves the right to terminate any vendor at any time as deemed appropriate. Badges and Streetvibes papers are property of GCCH, and must be surrendered upon demand.

The mission of the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) is to support a street newspaper movement that creates and upholds journalistic and ethical standards while promoting self-help and empowerment among people living in poverty. NASNA papers support homeless and very low-income people in more than 35 cities across the United States and Canada.

Streetvibes Vendor: 70 cents

Printing and Production: 30 cents

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The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH) was formed in May of 1984 for one purpose: the eradication of homelessness in Cincinnati. What started out as a coalition of 15 volunteers meeting weekly in an unheated church basement has since grown into a Coalition of over 45 agencies and hundreds of volunteers dedicated to improving services for homeless individuals, educating the public about homelessness and empowering homeless individuals to advocate for their civil rights and housing needs.

Streetvibes is a tool of GCCH used to help us achieve our goal of ending homelessness. On the one hand it is a self-sufficiency program geared towards the homeless and marginally housed individuals who are our vendors. Streetvibes vendors buy the paper for 30 cents per copy and sell it for a suggested one-dollar donation, keeping the profit that they have earned.

hundreds of people find and maintain housing. The vendors also sign a code of conduct stating that they will behave responsibly and professionally and they proudly display their official Streetvibes badge while selling the paper. Our vendors put a face on “the homeless” of Cincinnati and form lasting friendships with their customers.

On the other hand, Streetvibes is an award-winning alternative newspaper and part of the international street newspaper movement.

Focusing on homelessness and social justice issues, Streetvibes reports the often-invisible story of poverty in our community.

Streetvibes is also proud to include creative writing, poetry, articles, photography and interviews written by homeless and formerly homeless individuals. Streetvibes enjoys a loyal reader base that respects the honest portrayal of the joys, sorrows, and challenges facing the people of Cincinnati.

Streetvibes is a member of the:

The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) unites street papers sold by homeless and people living in poverty from all over the world. INSP is an umbrella organization, which provides a consultancy service for its partner papers and advises on the setting up of new street papers and support initiatives for marginalised people.

Where Your Dollar Goes...

The Streetvibes program maintains a minimal overhead cost so that our vendors can keep as much of the proceeds as possible.

Please call our office at 421-7803 for more information about the program. Many thanks for your support.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

Don’t be Squirrelly!

Buy Streetvibes!

Zen cont. from page 5 professional staff. There are over 200 homeless and formerly homeless vendors hawking the Streetwise newspaper at any given time. One thing all of these papers have in common is that homeless vendors not unlike Cincinnati’s Jimmie Gipson sell them and keep the profits. They write the stories and are involved in the editorial process.

There are many ways to measure success in the street newspaper business. Streetvibes, and the street paper movement, has become the alternative voice for people whose voice has gone unheard for so long. When the mainstream media fails, the street newspaper succeeds. Street newspapers tell it like it is without the confines of advertiser politics.

That is one of the real successes of street papers like Streetvibes.

Homeless people can especially speak their mind where before, they would be ignored by the mainstream media. Advocates for the poor also find a voice in the street paper movement and use the network extensively for getting the word out about local community and national issues.

Legal Alternative For many cities, including Cincinnati, the street newspaper movement grew out of the need for creating an alternative to panhandling. Although the First Amendment right to free speech

protects people who are peacefully engaged in panhandling, the City of Cincinnati took measures to strengthen a 1992 aggressive panhandling law. Jimmie Gipson says that he used to be a panhandler himself. “Some of those guys make good money,“ says Gipson, pointing to a nearby panhandler.

While homeless advocates and the ACLU were disputing the anti-panhandling issue in the courts, the idea for a street newspaper for Cincinnati was developed as an alternative. For several months Cincinnati’s Streetvibes was a one-page supplement to the Homeless Grapevine, a Cleveland, Ohio street newspaper. Using Cleveland’s Grapevine newspaper as a model, Streetvibes published its first full issue in February of 1997. In the spring of 1998 the proposed antipanhandling ordinance was ruled unconstitutional by the US District Court, thereby legalizing peaceful panhandling. These days, Jimmie Gipson competes for a share of the street with panhandlers, but he doesn’t mind.

The New Success Because of the panhandling legal dispute, making profits as a business was not the impetus for publishing Streetvibes. The paper was also developed as a program to help people get back on their feet. In the publishing office of The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, vendors gather

to socialize, drink coffee, and discuss the issues of the day. The vendors purchase their papers and head out to the streets. There are countless success stories surrounding the history of the Streetvibes newspaper.

Many vendors have sold the paper for years and have come to rely on it for their livelihood.

Others use the program to find a way out of a temporary situation and move on. “We work with the vendors to help them reach their personal goals,” says Alicia Beck, [former] Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Traditionally, the GCCH staff has worked with vendors to help them meet their goals. “We are in the process of hiring a full-time staff person to help the vendors with their needs,” says Beck. “Our goal is to develop vendor support groups that will identify issues for the vendors, provide educational opportunities and health services. We will be able to help vendors with referrals for housing and other types of assistance.” The Streetvibes newspaper is an empowerment program for homeless folk who are looking for a way to get their lives back. “I really enjoy selling Streetvibes,” says Jimmie Gipson.

“It makes me feel good, like I’m doing something that matters.”

The Challenge The most difficult aspect for Streetvibes vendors is consistency. Many of them live on

The Lost Boy Hello, my name is Reggie.

I’m back in treatment for the 48th time not because I’m homeless, but also because I have a drug addiction.

Homelessness doesn’t have a color or age or place. I’ve found out in my 16 years of being homeless that it doesn’t classify who a person is.

I’ve met some of the nicest people that were homeless. Sleeping under bridges and not knowing where they were going from one minute to the next. It’s only ignorant

Streetvibes 100th Issue

the streets because they suffer from circumstances that prevent them from following a regular schedule.

Lack of housing affects many different areas of somone’s life: no place to store their things, nowhere to take a shower, few safe places to rest.

Selling Streetvibes is a great alternative for homeless people because they make their own hours. The best vendors come as close to consistent sales as they can; they sell in the same general area to repeat customers month after month. Jimmie Gipson hopes to use the money he earns from Streetvibes to improve his situation: “I like this job. My dream is to make enough money to get a place of my own. In the meantime, though, I’ll just keep meeting people and letting them know about life on the streets.”

Jimmie continues, “I want to thank the people for encouraging and inspiring me by wanting to help and feeling that they are doing their part. I keep telling them that their support is very necessary for improvement of the homeless problem.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to vendor Jimmie Gipson, whose generous donation of his time made this article possible. To learn more about vendors or for more information, contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at (513) 421-7803.

people that don’t understand and can care less about homelessness. I’ve lost my dignity, my family, jobs, money, and most of all I lost contact with the little boy that was born March 19th, 1966. The little shy kid that got A’s and B’s in school. The kid that everyone liked. The kid that never went to jail or stole anything until he lost his self in the dark alleys.

Long and lonely streets of crack cocaine. I’ve never had a chance to feel what it is like to live free and be happy without a mood altering chemical in me.

Page 13

Mourning the Morning

The Other Side of the Desk

by Rachel Lawson (My sophomore year of college I visited West Africa and was inspired by an individual and this was written in dedication of Agiee-the silent hero)

Anonymous Have you ever thought, just a wee little bit, of how it would seem to be a misfit, and how you would feel if you had to sit, on the other side of the desk?

She always sat in the dark I assumed it was because it was cooler in the daytime heat of Africa Until I noticed her sitting in the dark at night She was so close to the wall trying to blend in, trying to hide I smiled, ignorant and turned on the bright and revealing light It’s amazing how the light captures fresh bruises, new black eyes, scratches, and wounds My memory flashed back to all the times she hid in the dark And reality hit and I finally knew why I quickly became a hero I would tackle whatever and whoever did this and the abuse would stop now All she had to do was tell me who She told me her pain And I told her my plan As the result of being raised in a different culture I had a desire to disrupt this routine of being abused The only problem was when the morning arrived The mourning said I don’t want you to come to my culture and disrupt what is accepted The mourning said I would only cause more bruises The mourning was praying for that comforting night And the morning willed me not to tell The mourning asked me to do nothing She said every slap in the face wasn’t that bad It would heal I should just forget about it and not let it affect my journey In the end it became my journey From the dark to the light The day when the sun can shine rather than trying to hide in the dark My journey to understand why the sun hides And the morning mourns

Have you ever looked at the man who seemed a bum, as he sat before you nervous – dumb – and thought of the courage it took to come, to the other side of the desk?

Have you ever thought of his dreams that went astray, of the hard, real facts of his every day, of the things in his life that make him stay, on the other side of the desk?

Did you make him feel that he was full of greed, make him ashamed of his race or creed, or did you reach out to him in his need, to the other side of the desk?

May God give us wisdom and lots of it, and much compassion and plenty of grit, so that we may be kinder to those who sit, on the other side of the desk.

Death by Detachment

The Bullet Iraqi poet I tried to domesticate the bullet, To take her with me to school, To teach her the alphabet And have her speak But she is made of black clay and stuffed with canned blood I tried to domesticate the bullet, To take her to the water-spring, To the fields of dew.

But she has consumptive lips That love to kiss the lips of death To rummage or wreck And blow ashes in our eyes.

I tried to domesticate the bullet, To lead her to the truth, To wash her copper with perfumes And replace her gunpowder with sweets.

But she refused to be unlocked; and remained dripping pus, With poison in her breath.

Page 14

by JH What is this other world on the Corner?

Of violent and menacing gestures, and growling peril.

And bloated pockets, filled with danger.

The bulky shells, and anger gone wild, fill the street with deadly void, inside and outside the soul, with and without spirit.

Clashing on the gray, the staggering limbs askew, twirling, menacing, frightened, of the blue and white shadow.

Tomorrow is a hazard, out of reach, on a dusty shelf.

Beyond the dream of home, and mom, and warming family.

To get there is a nonsense dream, in TV land and liars, peddling another place, a vision beyond reach.

Streetvibes 100th Issue

The Work of the Dead

by Michael Henson In every life cut short, so many things are left undone.

The dishes stacked and crusting in the sink.

The dogs unfed.

Three new strings on the guitar, the others still in their wrappers.

The bedroom half-painted, one side fresh and glossy, the other a map of patching plaster islands.

And the oil that really ought to be changed.

And the letter unsent: it only needs a stamp and someone to walk it to the mailbox.

And all the work of love: words and gestures still bundled in their little proud houses and the keys lay right on the table where we left them.

And even the nation, this sprawling, addled nation: Such a tangle of dropped threads, interrupted projects, failed promises.

Who will beat down the hammers of greed?

Who will untangle the knots of deceit?

Those whose lives have been cut short are crowded into their darkened theater where they watch us bawling and arguing like actors in an ancient drama.

They watch us closely, for they want to know who will take on the unfinished work of the dead.

Bush is my Shepard

Acquainted With The Nite

Bush is my Shepard, I am in want, He maketh me to lie down on park benches, He leadeth me by still factories, He restoreth my doubt in the Republican Party, He guideth me in the path of the Unemployed for his parties sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of soup kitchens, I am hungry.

I do fear evil, for thou art against me; They Cabinet and Senate, thy do discomfort me; Tho didst prepare a reduction in my wages; In the presence of m creditors thou anointed my income with taxes, So my expenses overuneth my income.

Surely, poverty and hard times will follow me all the days of the Republican administration.

And I shall dwell in a rented house forever.

by buddy gray i am one acquainted with the nite, from my growing years in the country, to my adult life in the inner-city. i began with the very dark – unless moonlit nites, with people all asleep.

And crickets – thousands it seems – chirping their screeky, leggy noises, and occasionally – in the wee hours of the nite, long distance soulful whistle of the train, blowing for a crossing – long and deep.

Then to the city, at first hard to sleep, since, it seemed, there were always people and machines that never sleep.

All beneath my 4th floor window – echoing between the concrete, or hot-muggy polluted summer + poverty, stress.

Many nitely screams of our city’s women being battered, on lonely, unsafe, nite streets – or echoes imprisoned in an apartment with an abuser.

Cops – often siren-maniacs – racing dangerously down dark, skinny, populated streets.

Going the wrong way down one-way streets, chasing one individual.

The flood of the voices and cars of the well-to-do in evening gowns, oblivious to the social stress.

Ending their social event – in the wee AM hours – from Music Hall across the street, just before dawn – the whirring, brushing sound – of the city’s street sweeper.

Through many all-niter work projects at the shelter, or sleepless, tossing nites, i’ve heard and seen it all.

The Bottom Line

by Michael Nelson Sin on our streets, Death in our city, The bottom line is, Life shows us no pity.

Women cheat on husbands, Men cheating on wives, The bottom line is, more pain in their lives.

Kids killing kids, Cops shot everyday, The bottom line is, We all need to pray.

People watch violence, See ladies quite nude, The bottom line is, Our morals are crude.

Our leaders are weaklings, Our court systems fail, The bottom line is, Does Truth ever prevail?

The bottom line is, The end may be near, The bottom line is, Mankind shall know fear!

Relatively

by Derek Landers Relatively speaking he was my husband to my mother’s mother and the son of another Reich polished boots and martial mannerisms were his yet he knew no order Relatively speaking he was my father’s father and the son of a people dispossessed from their homes and heritage held hostage by the geography of North America and the ties of the delta bayous he knew pain Relatively speaking she was wife to my father’s father and the daughter of a kidnapped African women and a Frenchman’s contempt for that women’s humanity Jim Crow she’d come to know she knew not who she was Relatively speaking I am their mongrel progeny I span the waters of their existence uniting four continents and no one Relatively speaking I am alone

Shutter Speed

by Jimmy Heath

Kroger Company got a tax-payer subsidized parking garage - Over-the-Rhine got this lousy rock

Streetvibes 100th Issue

Page 15

TREATMENT: Both 820-2947 N.A. Hopeline 351-0422 A.A. Hotline 381-6672 C.C.A.T. 684-7956 Talbert House Transitions, Inc 859-491-4435 VA Domiciliary 859-559-5011 DIC Live-In 721-0643 Program

TREATMENT: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 921-1613 Prospect House 961-2256 Starting Over

TREATMENT: Women 961-4663 First Step Home Full Circle Program 721-0643

HOUSING: 721-4580 CMHA Excel Development 632-7149 241-0504 Miami Purchase OTR Housing Net. 369-0004 381-1171 ReSTOC 721-8666 Tender Mercies Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Dana Transitional Bridge 751-9797 Services, Inc

761-1480 Caracole (AIDS) 381-5432 Friars Club 721-0643 Drop Inn Center 863-8866 Haven House Interfaith 471-1100 Hospitality Lighthouse Youth Center 961-4080 (Teens) St. John’s Housing 651-6446

Need Help or Want to Help?

If you need help or would like to help please call one of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless members listed below.

SHELTERS: Women and Children YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 1-888-872-9259 (Toll Free) 557-2873 Bethany House 762-5660 Salvation Army Welcome Hse. 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis 859-491-3335 Center

357-4602

SHELTER: Men City Gospel 241-5525 Mission Garden St. House 241-0490 Joseph House 241-2965 (Veterans) St. Francis/St.Joseph 381-4941 House 661-4620 Mt. Airy Center Volunteers of Amer. 381-1954 SHELTER: Both Anthony House (Youth)

Formed in 1984, The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless is a membership organization. Our member groups serve the homeless through emergency shelter, transitional living facilities, permanent housing, medical services, social services, soup kitchens, and mental health/addiction services.

The Coalition also consists of individual citizens who want to take an active role in ensuring that Cincinnati is an inclusive community, meeting the needs of all of its citizens. Join the fight to end homelessness; contact the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless at (513) 421-7803, 117 East 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

OTHER SERVICES: AIDS Volunteers of 421-2437 Cincinnati Appalachian Identity 621-5991 Center 231-6630 Beech Acres Center for Independent Living 241-2600 Options Churches Active in 591-2246 Northside Cincinnati Health Network 961-0600 Community Action Agency 569-1840 381-4242 241-2563 Contact Center Emanuel Center

Freestore/ 241-1064 Foodbank Fransiscan Haircuts 651-6468 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 Hamilton Co. Mental 946-8600 Health Board Mental Health Access 558-8888 Point Hamilton Co. TB Control 632-7186 Health Rsrc. Center 357-4602 Homeless Mobile 352-2902 Health Van House of Refuge Mission 221-5491 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Madisonville Ed. & Assis.

271-5501 Center Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 McMicken Dental 352-6363 Clinic 621-6364 Our Daily Bread Peaslee Neighborhood 621-5514 Center Project Connect Homeless 357-5720 Kids St. Vincent De Paul 562-8841 The Emergency Food 471-4357 Center 721-7660 Travelers Aid 721-7900 United Way VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Women Helping 872-9259 Women MIDDLETOWN/HAMILTON (Butler County) St. Raphaels (Food Bank/Soup Kitchen) 863-3184 863-1445 Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door 868-3276 Pantry New Life Baptist Mission 896-9800 (Soup Kitchen) Hope House (Homeless Families/Singles) 423-4673

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November 2004

STREETVIBES

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Celebrating the 100th Issue

Streetvibes Timeline The Best of Streetvibes

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Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless

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