TABLE OF CONTENTS Wyoming Homelessness Report Buy a Piece of Art and Contribute to WCH's Building Expansion Fund Click Here for WCH Donation Form Laramie Food Not Bombs Remarks from WCH on Homeless Bashing in Cheyenne Join WCH's Discussion List Homelessness and Poverty In Our Time Faith Initiatives of Wyoming HUD in Wyoming Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless Index Wyoming Winds Index StreetViews Index Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless Statistics Publication Information Familiar Faces Give Hope to Homeless, Kim Horner, Dallas Morning News New Homeless Shelter No Solution, Some Say, Jason Moore Activists Assail Anti-begging Push, Brian Cox, Chicago Tribune Kids Who Have No Home Have a School, Tamar Lewin, NY Times Elgin Shelter Sparks Border Clase, Amanda Marrazzo, Chicago Tribune Getting a New Lease on Life, Sarah Anderson, AP Bride Calls off Wedding, Throws Party for the Homeless Former Hudson (NH) Dorm to Give Homeless Families Place to Stay, Ashley Smith, Hudson Homeless Recruited to Help Clean Up Downtown Streets, Kellie Schmitt and David Herbert Street Exposure, Durham’s Street Newspaper Hate Crimes Against Homeless People, National Coalition for the Homeless Mayo Clinic links for first aid and other medical information Project Jason Cathy Crowe's (Street Nurse) Newsletter Undetectable Homeless Beyond Shelter Super NOFA Funds Available Homeless News Wire Universal Living Wage Campaign Causes and Effects Project Home HMIS Information Housing Assistance Council House the Homeless HUD Clips Kensington Welfare Rights Union National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Campaign National Interagency Council on Homelessness National Coalition for the Homeless National Alliance to End Homelessness National Low Income Housing Coalition National Coalition for Homeless Veterans top Familiar Faces Give Hope to Homeless City caseworkers return to streets they once called home By KIM HORNER The Dallas Morning News City caseworker Monica Ladet walked up to a man lying on a chunk of cardboard on a South Dallas sidewalk. "Are you OK?" she asked. Nathaniel Jacobs nodded. Then he did a double take. "I know you," he said. Mr. Jacobs recognized Ms. Ladet, but not because of her job or dark-blue jacket with Crisis Intervention in bold white letters. He remembered her from a much different time in her life -- when she, too, might have been found sleeping on cardboard in the middle of the day. Ms. Ladet is among a handful of area caseworkers who help the homeless with credentials they would not wish upon anyone. Each has been homeless and understands firsthand the suffering of the people they encounter. Their experiences give them insight and credibility other social workers can never match, and their successes show that leaving the streets is not impossible. While many homeless people help peers in shelter programs, few become social workers, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless advocacy group in Washington, D.C. And going public about having lived on the streets takes courage because of negative perceptions about the homeless, said Michael Stoops, the agency's acting executive director. "It's remarkable that they have survived homelessness and got training on their own and are willing to help people like themselves who are on the streets," he said. "The only downside is it might make them remember how it was, and that could bring back some bad memories." Back on the streets Going back to shelters, encampments and under bridges makes it difficult for the workers to forget their own horrible experiences on the streets. But Ben Johnson said he simply couldn't walk away from that life. "Someone has to do it," said Mr. Johnson, who lived in his car after a business venture went sour. He got off the streets after signing up for what's considered the domestic Peace Corps, and he is looking for a full-time job working with the homeless. "I can't turn my head from it." On a recent afternoon, Mr. Johnson set up voice-mail accounts for several homeless men at The Stewpot downtown so potential employers can reach them. "I'm committed to helping people who can't help themselves," he said. "I'm out here plugging for them and helping them get what they've got coming at last." James Waghorne, a mental-health worker for Dallas MetroCare Services who once lived in a camp near White Rock Lake, said returning to work on the streets can prove too painful for those who have been homeless. The caseworker and president of the Dallas Homeless Neighborhood Association said he keeps at it because he is outraged by the tragedy of people disabled by mental illnesses living on the streets. Every day Mr. Waghorne tries to help people who are so sick they cannot function well enough to care for themselves without more help than the system provides, he said. Mental health and addiction services have been cut statewide, making it more difficult to get people the treatment they need. A local count in January found nearly 6,000 homeless people, with nearly 1,000 considered chronic or long-term homeless who suffer severe mental illnesses and/or addictions. Mr. Waghorne spends much of his free time advocating for the homeless, including speaking out against the city in May for razing a homeless camp under Interstate 45. He has had to bury homeless people he knew from the streets, including two who were killed in October when a truck ran into them outside the Day Resource Center. Seeing so much suffering every day inflicts emotional wear and tear. "You cannot do enough to try to save everyone you come across," Mr. Waghorne said. Many homeless people consider Mr. Waghorne family, and some call him "uncle." But he struggles to walk a fine line between being family and working at Dallas MetroCare's clinic at the resource center. "A doctor can't get too close to his patients or it will hurt him in the long run. I don't know if I can ever get the lines straight," he said. Mr. Waghorne, who became homeless while suffering major depression, said the success stories -- when someone reconnects with family, for example -- keep him going. Caseworkers for the homeless face another challenge: Many homeless people do not trust the system that is supposed to help them. Part of a caseworker's job is building a rapport with people so they will eventually accept treatment. That might mean a visit to someone under a bridge just to say hello. Despite low salaries, social workers sometimes dig into their own pockets to buy a hamburger or bottled water for a person on the streets. All in a day's work A day's work for Ms. Ladet recently included climbing down a steep embankment covered with knee-high grass along Interstate 30 downtown. The constant roar of cars on the freeway drowned out all other sound. At the highest point under the bridge, a man slept curled under a blanket on a narrow concrete slab. The stench of urine overpowered the area littered with cigarette butts. Ms. Ladet encouraged him to come see her at the Day Resource Center. Ms. Ladet and fellow caseworker Carol Webster applied insect repellant on another warm muggy day and took out their walking sticks before heading into a wooded area west of Interstate 35 in the city's Design District. "Hello, anybody home?" Ms. Webster asked before walking into the campsite. Carl Cagle sat in a dome tent under a tree, drinking from a quart bottle of Bud Ice. Beige carpet scraps lined his tidy camp area, which included a wooden spool that served as a table, an American flag, a lawn chair and an unobstructed view of downtown. Mr. Cagle, a Persian Gulf War veteran, has been homeless for 10 years. He said he has cirrhosis of the liver and wants rehab, but got discouraged when no bed was immediately available from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Ms. Webster said she would arrange treatment and come back to pick him up. He signed up for treatment the following week. "I really want to get out of here," Mr. Cagle said. "I'm tired of this." 'Ungodly sadness' Ms. Ladet remembers that feeling. The former bartender lost her job and apartment after crack cocaine became more important than paying bills. She lived under the I-45 overpass in 1993. One day when Ms. Ladet was washing her clothes at the Day Resource Center, Ms. Webster, who was counseling her at the time, told her she had a drinking problem. Ms. Ladet stormed off. "I said, 'OK, you'll be back,' " Ms. Webster said. Those words haunted Ms. Ladet. "I couldn't get high after that," she said. Like Mr. Cagle, Ms. Ladet got sick of her way of life. Ms. Ladet entered rehab and could no longer run from the pain of her mother's violent death in Natchitoches, La. when she was 18. Ms. Ladet's father was indicted for manslaughter in the case in 1976, but the jury could not reach a verdict. After so much pain on the streets, Ms. Ladet did not originally plan to work with the homeless. "At first I worried, 'Can I take going back?' " she said. "I call it surrender." Last year, she received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas and is working on a master's. In January, Ms. Ladet became the city's first Crisis Intervention caseworker who had been homeless. Now her former counselor, Ms. Webster, is her work partner. "She's been there and she knows what it's like living homeless, with no self-esteem and people looking down on you," said Dave Hogan, the program's manager. "She has a lot of empathy for these folks, but she knows people have to put effort into changing their lives." The woman who once lived in a shanty under the bridge, addicted to alcohol and crack cocaine said she owes her recovery to the fact that Ms. Webster refused to give up on her. Ms. Ladet prays that she can do the same for others. "You look into their eyes and see this ungodly sadness," she said. "You can't give up on them. They're human beings." top New Homeless Shelter No Solution, Some Say Jason Moore Anchorage, Alaska - The new Brother Francis Shelter is giving Anchorage’shomeless a more comfortable, positive environment. But at least one person with first-hand knowledge of the homeless problembelieves the new shelter will enable homelessness rather than solve it. When the old Brother Francis Shelter was torn down with a brand-new facilitynext to it, it was viewed as a major benefit to help the homeless. But RonAlleva doesn't view it that way. “Nothing. It's going to actually amplify the problem,” he says. Alleva owns Grubstake Auction at Third Avenue and Ingra Street and hisproperty backs up to the Brother Francis Shelter. He's witnessed firsthandthe homeless problem for the last 20 years. He says the new shelter will donothing to solve homelessness, only enable it and draw more to Anchorage. “It's not working, it's not going to work, and warehousing people neverworks and that's been proven,” he says. City leaders acknowledge the shelter won't solve the homeless problem. “We don't view the shelter as being a long-term solution for anyone,” saidMunicipal Manager Denis LeBlanc. “But it is a triage center much like anemergency room is. People don't come in and stay in an emergency room. Wetriage them and we move them on.” Catholic Social Services say the average stay at the shelter is 20 days andthey say less than 20 percent of its residents are chronically homeless. Itsreal purpose is a temporary fix for those with nowhere else to turn. “Homelessness knows no socio-economic boundaries,” says CSS program directorDewayne Harris. “Probably the majority of us, when we really take a look atourselves and our family, are one to two paychecks away from ending up atBrother Francis Shelter.” If you're thinking Ron Alleva is a “not in my backyard” NIMBY, you're rightto some extent. On the other side of his property is a city park commonlyoverrun by homeless. The park was filled with liquor bottles, cans and othergarbage in April, but volunteers moved in to clean it. The park is cleaner than it was in the spring but it didn't take long forthe homeless to repopulate it and begin the process of turning it into anugly mess again. Among the bottles of booze, new tents are scattered through the park. Allevasays neither Catholic Social Services nor the city is doing anything aboutit. And Alleva says he has witnessed fights and abuse. “The women especially get abused," he says. "They get abused in the woods.They get abused in cars, vans being parked. I've witnessed it.” One woman confirmed as much. “I got raped and I'm not proud to say aboutit.” A nagging problem facing the city for which there are few answers -- andeven some of the answers are being questioned. LeBlanc says he hopes more substantial solutions to the homeless problemwill come from the mayor's homelessness task force. The task force developeda 10-year plan with the priorities of more affordable housing options andbetter intervention. Brother Francis breaks ground on new homeless shelter (June 30, 2004)The old shelter, housed in a former city maintenance garage, is fallingapart and hard to heat. So Catholic Social Services is building a newfacility next door for about $5 million. Brother Francis Shelter under new roof (Wednesday, April 13, 2005)After 22 years in a renovated garage, the Brother Francis Shelter will soonbe located in a new $5 million facility. Officials with Catholic SocialServices say not only will the expanded shelter keep the homeless off thestreets, it also will aid the effort to get people back to independentlives. top Activists Assail Anti-begging Push Group says campaign lacks compassion By Brian Cox Special to the Chicago Tribune There are far more anti-panhandling posters than panhandlers in Evanston, says a group of advocates for the homeless, criticizing the city's effort to discourage giving to panhandlers. "This campaign is not a good way to stir up compassion. It's a way to create indifference, cold-shouldering and even scorn," said John Maki, a spokesman with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. "The first thing we want them to do is abandon this campaign." About a dozen people from non-profit groups met Wednesday at the Lake Street Church in Evanston to discuss how to persuade officials to drop the anti-panhandling campaign launched in April. It includes posters and fliers featuring a photograph of a panhandler with his hand out. His face is intentionally blurred. The poster asks people to stop giving cash to panhandlers and instead donate their money and time to social service agencies. Jonathan Perman, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, said a homeless shelter and other groups that help the poor have joined the city effort. He said it's too early to tell if it is effective. "This is an information campaign to encourage people to volunteer their time," Perman said. "We stand by the program. We're very proud of it and we will continue it." The campaign was created by the chamber, police and EvMark, a downtown business group. In 2001 Evanston officials banned "aggressive panhandling." "It is hard to imagine that someone is going to turn away from a panhandler on the street then go home and mail a check to an agency," said Alexander Brown, executive director of Housing Options, which provides support services for adults with mental illness. "When I walk around downtown Evanston, there are three or four people I see on the street pretty regularly, and they seem pretty polite." Maki said he plans to meet with the people who started the campaign to try to persuade them to scrap it. "We understand that businesses in Evanston pay high taxes," Maki said. "We realize we're going to encounter a lot of resistance, but hopefully we can come together and have a productive conversation." top Kids Who Have No Home Have a School By Tamar Lewin New York Times News Service PHOENIX -- Just after lunch at the Pappas Regional Elementary School here, where all 598 students come from homeless families, a boy told social worker Erin Angelini he had no idea where to go after school. He and his mother had been evicted from the motel where they were living, he said. "At most schools, kindergarten kids don't know the word `evicted', but here they all do," Angelini said. After asking if the boy's mother had told him she would pick him up at school, and hearing "no"--the mother had been sleeping when the child left for school--Angelini rushed to the motel to look for the woman. But the manager confirmed that the woman had left, unable to pay her bill. On a hunch, Angelini called the city's Family Services Center, where the woman was waiting in the lobby, and worked out an emergency plan that would allow her and her son to stay at the motel for one more week. It was a stopgap. But then, the school is a stopgap for children whose families live in shelters, in parks, doubled up in cramped quarters with relatives, or in the strip of dingy motels long since abandoned by tourists. By all rights, schools like Pappas Regional Elementary School here should be dinosaurs near extinction. A 2002 federal law prohibited separate schools for homeless children. The law also guaranteed homeless children the right to stay in their original schools, and required every district to name a liaison for homeless students. Many districts have made tremendous strides in serving homeless children in mainstream schools, with social workers who help arrange transportation, clothing and food. But with strong local backing in Congress, the Pappas schools --were exempted from the law, along with schools for homeless children in three California counties. There are three Pappas campuses serving more than 1,100 students: elementary schools in Phoenix and Tempe and a middle school in Phoenix. Bucking the trend "The clear national trend is toward inclusion, as the federal law requires," said Barbara Duffield, of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. "As a basic civil rights issue, children shouldn't be segregated because of their housing status. They need the stability of their home schools, which should provide the services they need." But just as historically black colleges and women's colleges continue to draw students even after decades of integration and affirmative action, the Pappas schools are going strong. For some students, there is comfort in being at a place shaped around their needs. "We had the children going to another school, but we like this one better, because they get more attention," said Jose Cabrero, who sends four grandchildren he is raising to Pappas. "When the last two came, we didn't have any paperwork for them or anything, but they got right in." The Pappas schools' separateness makes their homeless children highly visible, attracting a flood of community donations, enough to maintain a food pantry where students' families can get groceries, a toy room for birthday presents and a clothing room where every child can choose three outfits a month. The school has mentors and tutors who work with children individually. It has showers and a clinic. And every child gets breakfast and lunch. But there are more subtle nods to the children's situations too. For children in homeless families who move frequently, transportation is often the biggest hurdle to school attendance. But Pappas buses shift routes as children move, and outreach workers track families. Most students get off the bus in the morning carrying nothing--no backpack, no books. Teachers know that homework is hard to manage in the students' living situations. "If a child falls asleep at a regular school, you wake him up and tell him to pay attention," said Dina Vance, principal at Pappas' Phoenix elementary school. "But when I taught here, I'd pick up the child and carry him to a spot where he could sleep for a few hours. This is a place where these kids feel comfortable, where they're free to pop up and say, `I need a shower."' Academic challenges Pappas is not academically outstanding--which is no surprise as most of the 25 or so new students who arrive at the school each week are two or three years below grade level. And classes are large. But last year, Pappas, previously an "underperforming" school on state report cards, met state and federal standards. Sandra Dowling, who founded the school 25 years ago with eight students and is now superintendent of the Maricopa County Schools, said: "I would love to see these kids in mainstream schools getting all the support and help they need. But as a practical matter, that's not what happens." In Phoenix, she said, about 95 percent of the homeless children attend the Pappas schools. "When I first started in the field, 20-some years ago, the fact that children were homeless seemed like a temporary crisis, a pproblem that could be eradicated," said Steve Banks of New York's Legal Aid Society. "What's so shameful now, whatever the programs to help them, is the national acceptance that there are homeless children." top Elgin Shelter Sparks Border Clash Plan to build a homeless facility near West Dundee has angered officials there By Amanda Marrazzo Special to the Tribune Freelance reporter Tim Kane contributed to this report Wayside Cross Ministries in Elgin brims with activity at lunchtime Thursday. The center near downtown is among a few places where homeless people can receive a free meal, wash their clothes and take a shower. Michael Lee Hargrove, 43, homeless since February, had lunch there with about a dozen other people. In between bites of his sandwich, he said he welcomed plans for the city's first permanent shelter for the homeless, even if it is miles from his downtown stomping grounds. It's better than sleeping outside by the Fox River, Hargrove said. A van run by the shelter would take Hargrove and Elgin's other homeless from anywhere in the city to the proposed facility near West Dundee--and an upscale apartment complex. The location of the $2.2 million shelter, which would sleep about 60 people a night, has officials in West Dundee and Elgin at odds. West Dundee trustees claim that it will be a magnet for crime and say the shelter should be where the need is: downtown Elgin. "I would like to persuade you not to make this decision," West Dundee Village President Larry Keller said Wednesday at the Elgin City Council meeting. Though the shelter wasn't on the agenda, Keller, Police Chief Edward Dennis and other West Dundee residents spoke during the public comment section of the meeting. "This should be built where the problem is, not 4 miles away," said Steven Ross, who represents investors in the AMLI Canterfield Apartments, where rents are about $1,250 a month. Three West Dundee homeowners also said they feared that the shelter would cause crime. The West Dundee Village Board voted Monday night to oppose the shelter, citing a murder in the village two years ago involving a homeless woman. Vivian Mitchell was found guilty but mentally ill in the 2003 stabbing death of Lynn Weis, 32. Mitchell, who was convicted of murder in November, allegedly stabbed Weis more than 80 times, set her house on fire and stole her car. West Dundee trustees said there is a need for a permanent shelter. But they disagreed with the location because it is too far from social services for the homeless, most of whom are in downtown Elgin, they said. PADS of Elgin Inc., which provides services to the homeless, has been looking for a site for a permanent shelter for a decade. The Elgin City Council has given the group about $50,000 in federal community development funds toward the shelter and a $45,000 city grant. PADS operates between October and May, sending homeless people to different churches for overnight shelter. The group said it served nearly 400 people between October and May this past season. PADS officials looked at 60 sites before settling on 1.25 acres owned by Messiah Lutheran Church on Church Road in an office park bordering West Dundee. Elgin council members, who approved the requests for the money for the project in April, said they were surprised by the opposition Wednesday night. "That is their prerogative to oppose the shelter, but I am committed to this site," said Mayor Ed Schock. "PADS went to residents in the area, and they were supportive, they had no objections. This has not been a secret." Councilman Robert Gilliam, who has opposed the shelter in the past because he thinks it wouldn't be good for Elgin's image, said he was "irritated and offended" that West Dundee would tell the city how to run its business. "Basically they are saying `not in my back yard,'" Gilliam said. "This is the best place for the shelter. If it were in any other [Elgin] neighborhood, City Hall would be packed." Pat Yauch, PADS project director, said Thursday that she plans to work closely with West Dundee residents to address their issues. Yauch, who has been with PADS for more than two years, said there have been no incidents involving the people who have stayed at their shelters. Mitchell had received counseling from PADS staff but was not a guest at a shelter, Yauch said. "Many of our shelters are located in churches, and they are in the middle of residential areas," she said. None of the residents of the AMLI Canterfield Apartments has publicly opposed the shelter, nor have any of the 27 business owners Yauch has met with and 78 others she has written, she said. Elgin police said they have not had significant problems with people who use PADS services. "We at the Police Department don't have a problem with PADS or with the people who go to the shelters. Those people are looking for help. ... We have trouble with those poor unfortunate souls who don't go to PADS," said Deputy Police Chief Bob Duffy. You can't stereotype homeless people, said Juan Collazo, 39, who ate a lunch of pizza Thursday at Wayside Cross Ministries. Collazo, an Army veteran, said he has been homeless since his divorce in May 2002. "Don't get me wrong, there are some bad apples, but people shouldn't stereotype everyone," Collazo said. top Getting a New Lease on Life 2 squatters on spit of land in Ohio can stay for a while, thanks to deal with conservation group By Sarah Anderson Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three years ago, after Roger Farley lost his mother, his job and his fiance in rapid succession, he ended up camped out at Whittier Peninsula--a squatter living off a spit of riverfront land where trees frame the Columbus skyline. Farley, 61, was soon joined by a fellow squatter, and the two banded together to make the peninsula their home. They ran off drug addicts, drunks and prostitutes; they picked up trash; they planted a garden. Now, a conservation group has decided to reward the pair with a lease to stay on the land for free. "They've always been very decent and very cordial," said Lawrence Peck, deputy director of Metro Parks, which owns or leases 50 acres of land on the peninsula. "They've treated us with respect; we've treated them with respect. And I decided we needed to kind of establish a formal agreement here because this is a very unique situation." The agreement being negotiated would allow Farley and Sam Graham to stay in exchange for keeping the property mowed, clean and safe. Metro Parks, an agency that operates public parks and undertakes conservation efforts in the area, would have the right to ask them to leave at any time. Peck expects the pair to remain until development of a riverfront park in the area begins in 2006. For Graham and Farley, the lease would mean they could stay, at least for a while, in a spot where they have created many of the comforts of home. Whittier Peninsula leans into a bend in the Scioto River. Farley arrived almost three years ago, and Graham, 43, pitched his tent a year later after he had a falling-out with his roommate. The two became fast friends as they pieced together homes of plywood, tarp and tin near an abandoned warehouse. As they began to take pride in the property, they grew protective. When a crack addict threatened the frail Farley and the fit, broad-shouldered Graham, they teamed up to chase him out of the camp. After that, Graham said, the two began running off other men bringing in prostitutes and drugs. Graham kept an aluminum bat by his door for protection. Now, a watchdog and a new padlocked gate at the gravel driveway keep undesirables out at night, making Graham's bat a last line of defense. Graham sells the metal he finds in a scrap yard near the camp. He has dug up more than 400 tons of copper, stainless steel, aluminum and bronze and has about $10,000 invested to help him ride through the down times. Graham said he sometimes works 14-hour days to support himself and Farley, who cleans the metal, cooks and tends to the bell peppers and Brussels sprouts in the garden. "I take care of him," Graham said. "I've got a key to his place, and he's got a key to mine." In Graham's home, the bed runs the length of a cramped bedroom. A shelf above the couch holds a stack of DVDs that Graham watches on a portable player he bought so his 6-year-old daughter, Sammy, could watch her cartoons. Sammy stays with her father on weekends. Her framed photo and two pages torn from a Sunday school coloring book decorate his plywood walls. "Things aren't always what they seem," Graham said. "We're not homeless; we're address-less." top Buy a Piece of Art and Contribute to WCH's Building Expansion Fund Artist Gary Crook has donated 60 of his paintings to be used by WCH as a fund raiser for the Building Expansion Fund. Click here to see more photos of donated paintings. Send your bid to: wch@vcn.com or come by 907 Logan Avenue. The first part of the expansion program will put a shower and a washer and dryer into the Welcome Mat area, and make the present bathrooms handicapped accessible. Future expansion plans include an addition that will allow for expansion of the clothing closet and the Art From The Streets Program, and provide more space in the Welcome Mat. For questions, or to donate call 307-634-8499 or come by 907 Logan Avenue. Click here for more information. top Hate Crimes & Violence Against Homeless People Increasing From Michael Stoops The National Coalition for the Homeless 202-462-4822 ext. 19 mstoops@nationalhomeless.org Web: http://www.nationalhomeless.org WASHINGTON, June 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- For the past six years (1999 to 2004), the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has tracked and reported on a disturbing increase in crimes targeting homeless people. These violent attacks on homeless people, one of our most vulnerable populations, result in injury and in many cases death. The well-documented affordable housing crisis is not the only crisis to affect the millions of people who are homeless every year. There is also an increasing pattern of civil rights abuses and violence directed at the homeless population. Homelessness is no longer simply an issue of the right to affordable housing but a matter of life and death. As the danger of living without a home increases, the lack of federal housing resources as well as the absence of the political will to end homelessness becomes increasingly more shameful, NCH says. In October of 2004, three Milwaukee teens murdered a homeless man at his forest campsite. The teens hit 49-year-old Rex Baum with rocks, a flashlight, and a pipe, before smearing feces on his face and covering his body with leaves and plastic. In August of 2004, Curtis Gordon Adams, 33, beat and stabbed a disabled homeless man to death and then licked the blood from his fingers on a Denver sidewalk. More recently, on May 28, in Holly Hill, Fla., 53-year-old Michael Roberts was beaten and punched to death with sticks and logs by a group of teenagers who admitted to beating the man just for fun, to have something to do. The autopsy report indicates that Roberts died of blunt-force trauma to the head and body, his ribs were broken, his skull was fractured, and his legs were badly injured. Defensive wounds were found on his hands. The boys returned several times to make sure the job was done. Homelessness is an issue that affects every community in America. Homeless people lack the protection of a locked door available to homeowners, leaving them in an unprotected position where they are subjected to hate crimes and violence. Sadly, the prevalence of hate crimes and violence against homeless people has risen, as well as negative stereotypes reinforced by the media and intolerant people. Through this report, NCH hopes to educate lawmakers, advocates, and the public about the problem of hate crimes and violence against homeless people, as well as call for a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study addressing this issue. This year's report, "Hate, Violence and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness in 2004," includes data from news reports, advocates, victims' accounts, and homeless shelters on the number of homeless victimizations that have occurred in the past six years (for the full 2004 report and previous reports, please visit http://nationalhomeless.org/civilrights/hatecrimes.html#8 ) Facts and Trends: The number of homeless deaths has risen by 67 percent since 2002. The number of non-lethal attacks against homeless people has risen by 281 percent since 2002. These crimes occurred in 140 cities in the past six years. These crimes occurred in 39 states, plus Puerto Rico. The age range of the accused/convicted ranged from 11 to 65 years of age. The age range of the victims ranged from 4 Months old to 74 Years of age. Gender of victims: 296 Male and 44 Female. HATE CRIMES AND VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS: 1999: Number of Deaths: 48; Number of Non-Lethal Attacks: 12 2000: Number of Deaths: 42; Number of Non-Lethal Attacks: 21 2001: Number of Deaths: 17; Number of Non-Lethal Attacks: 35 2002: Number of Deaths: 15; Number of Non-Lethal Attacks: 21 2003: Number of Deaths: 9; Number of Non-Lethal Attacks: 61 2004: Number of Deaths: 25; Number of Non-Lethal Attacks: 80 Request for U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Study: U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), along with the bipartisan support of 21 other members of Congress, is calling for a GAO study to assist Congress and the public in obtaining much-needed information on the extent and scope of violent acts and crimes against people experiencing homelessness. This request has been endorsed by nearly 500 local and national organizations. "A GAO study is urgently needed to shed light on this frightening trend of hate crimes and violence. These horrific acts threaten the lives of over 3.5 million women, men and children experiencing homelessness each year," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of NCH. Cities Where Hate Crimes/Violence Occurred in 2004: Albany, N.Y.; Anchorage, Alaska; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Aurora, Ill.; Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Bend, Ore.; Bradenton, Fla.; Chicago, Ill.; Clinton Township, Mich.; Corpus Christi, Texas; Corvallis, Ore.; Denver, Colo.; Fairfax, Va.; Galveston, Texas; Gettysburg, Pa.; Greenville, N.C.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Keizer, Ore.; Key West, Fla.; Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Lompoc, Calif.; Maple Valley, Wash.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Nashville, Tenn.; New York, N.Y.; Oakland, Calif.; Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico; Santa Cruz, Calif.; Toms River, N.J.; Tulsa, Okla.; Waverly, Ohio; Weymouth, Mass. Current Congressional Supporters of a GAO Study on Hate Crimes/Violence Against Homeless People: Becerra, Xavier (D-Calif.); Berman, Howard L. (D-Calif.); Blumenauer, Earl (D-Ore.); Clay, William Lacy (D-Mo.); Conyers, John (D-Mich.); Cummings, Elijah (D-Md.); Delahunt, William (D-Mass.); DeLauro, Rosa (D-Conn.); King, Steve (R-Iowa); Larsen, Rick (D-Wash.); Levin, Sander (D-Mich.); Lofgren, Zoe (D-Calif.); McDermott, James (D-Wash.); Owens, Major (D-N.Y.); Payne, Donald (D-N.J.); Rangel, Charles (D-N.Y.); Schakowsky, Jan (D-Ill.); Schiff, Adam (D-Calif.); Solis, Hilda (D-Calif.); Waters, Maxine (D-Calif.); Wexler, Robert (D-Fla.); Woolsey, Lynn (D-Calif.) Believe it or not violence against homeless people has made its way to Cheyenne!!!! Recently there have been several incidents of homeless bashing in Martin Luther King Jr Park and under a nearby bridge. The "bashers" appear to be in their teens or early 20s -- mostly males. The police are keeping an eye out for this but so far no known arrests have been made. Several people have been badly beaten with some kind of club -- most of those who have been attacked tend to not report the incident. The outreach worker for Cross Roads Clinic, the Health Care for the Homeless Clinic, discovered what was happening here and alerted the police to the situation. Evidently police presence put a damper on it for awhile but it receently started up again. top Bride calls off wedding, throws party for the homeless THE ASSOCIATED PRESS EVERETT, Wash. -- A young woman decided to call off her wedding 12 days before the event and her parents knew they'd be stuck with the bill, so they decided to have a party any way and invited the homeless. Residents of the Interfaith Family Shelter, housed in a former convent across from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church where the wedding had been scheduled, attended the bash thrown by Katie Hosking, 22, a medical assistant at the Everett Clinic, and her parents, Bill and Susan Hosking of Lake Stevens. "They had a DJ and really good music. It was a warm, friendly atmosphere. The food was delicious. It was a nice break with people not worrying about anything for one night," shelter manager Carol Oliva said. "Toward the end of the evening, they packed up all the leftover food and we got to bring it back to the shelter." One homeless woman got her son out of a wheelchair, "took that child out on the dance floor and picked him up and danced with him. It was a beautiful sight. Our kids realized that even when something bad happens, somebody else has something worse," Susan Hosking said. "It was an eye-opener." The almost-bride would not say what led to the breakup, only that it happened June 6, 12 days before the scheduled date of her wedding. Planning a reception for 150 guests at the Echo Falls golf and country club, her parents had made a $2,500 down payment and written another check for the $6,200 balance. Club policy requires full payment for any event that is canceled less than 60 days before the scheduled date. "Personally, it's a really hard time for a family," said Jessica Gamble, the club's catering sales manager. "It's a really awesome thing that they did. They made the best of it." Susan Hosking said that once she and her husband "got past the panic," they took a suggestion from her brother-in -law in New York and decided to invite the staff and residents of the shelter operated by the Interfaith Association of Snohomish County to share in the evening. More than 50 family members and close friends were joined by about 40 homeless people, shelter workers and volunteers. The shelter staff arranged rides to the club. Instead of a wedding cake, chef Michael Greb produced strawberry shortcake to top off a menu that included baron of beef, salmon, shrimp cocktail, fettuccine and fruit. "Oh my gosh, we had so much fun," Katie Hosking said. Shelter residents, she said, "came up and thanked us several times – thank you, thank you, thank you. We all danced. I still got to dance with my dad." Her mother said she was happy to demonstrate an alternative to the case of Jennifer Wilbanks, 32, who got cold feet and vanished shortly before a 600-guest wedding in Georgia. Wilbanks pleaded no contest this month to telling police a phony abduction story and was sentenced to probation and community service. "That food would help feed people at the shelter for another three or four days," she said. "With the notoriety of the runaway bride, I would like people to know that these things do happen, and there is another outlet. The money is spent." top Former Hudson Dormitory to Give Homeless Families Place to Stay By ASHLEY SMITH The Telegraph HUDSON, N.H. (AP) - No one has occupied the east or west wings of the Anne Marie House for nearly two years. The library shelves are empty. Cobwebs have collected along the basement floorboards, and the wallpaper in the dining room is beginning to yellow and peel. The study and sitting rooms are still furnished, but no one uses them. All 24 beds in the house are made, but every closet is bare. The heavy drapes on the windows are closed, and there's a faint musty odor in the air. The Anne Marie House was built in 1983 and is on the grounds of Presentation of Mary Academy. For the first 20 years of its life, the dormitory-style building housed nuns-in-training. Today, those novice nuns reside in a smaller house on the other side of the school. They're fewer in number now and don't need a space as large as the Anne Marie House, so the purpose of the building is being redirected to serve homeless families. The Greater Nashua Interfaith Hospitality Network is moving to the Anne Marie House in August. Until then, volunteers from several area religious congregations will be spending their Thursdays and Saturdays preparing the building to once again be used. The sisters have maintained the home well, but a 20-year-old building that hasn't been occupied for two years needs some work, said Curt Potter, Greater Nashua Interfaith Hospitality Network's facilities director, who organizes and leads the work sessions. The group provides transitional shelter, meals and support to homeless families in the Nashua area. The organization officially opened its doors last November, but not in the location the board of directors thought would be most ideal. Discussions had started in January 2004 - nearly a year before the opening - for the group to occupy the Anne Marie House. However, parents concern over the safety of children who attend Presentation of Mary Academy delayed the move until this summer, Sister Sue Bourret said. The concerns have been addressed and actually helped to identify safety issues the school needed to think about, Bourret said. They realized the school and the shelter should have separate entrances, and have since constructed a second driveway leading up to the Anne Marie House, she said. Welcoming the network was important to the Presentation of Mary order because serving the poor is a vital part of its mission, second only to education, Bourret said. During the delay, network members began using a facility that could not meet the demands of its 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation. Currently, guests spend working hours in a day center on Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua. At night, they stay in churches, synagogues, or other places of worship that volunteer their space on a weekly basis. The organization is only hosting three families - a total of nine people - right now, because of the space limitations of the day center. There is no private space for the families as it is, said executive director Laurie Skibba. There's also no air conditioning in the small building, so it's too hot to hold more people, she said. "I just could not bring another family into this situation," Skibba said. "Everything is common space here." Staying in one place during the day and somewhere else at night can also be difficult for the families, she said. When they move to the Anne Marie House, they won't have to do that anymore. "Were moving from our rotation model to a fixed model, which will give our families the stability they don't get in a rotating model," Skibba said. The network will also be able to support more families when it officially moves to the Anne Marie House. The group will start with up to 14 people, but the capacity of the building is 26 for overnight stays. The home could probably hold more comfortably. Most of the house's bedrooms are only large enough for a twin-sized bed and a desk, but a few are bigger and will be used for families with very young children. The bathrooms are dormitory-style - each with several sink, shower and toilet stalls. Downstairs, there's a study that will be used for doing homework, a library that will hold computers, a living room and even a chapel. There's a recreation room in the basement complete with a pingpong table, exercise bikes and a television. Most of the furniture and equipment already there is usable and in good condition, Potter said. However, the volunteers will have to bring in more furniture, finish cleaning and landscaping, and make minor repairs to the home. Potter and a handful of volunteers concentrated on the landscaping portion of that task in the hot sun last Thursday morning. They're trying to remove all the weeds and put mulch in the flower beds. If they have enough time, they'll plant mums, Potter said. Inside, they've had to replace sink faucets and put a dishwasher in the kitchen. They'll soon have an alarm system installed and are planning a deep cleaning this Saturday, Potter said. A fence is going to be built in the backyard to give the children a place to play, he said. But aside from routine work and minor repairs, they're not really doing much to the building. They almost couldn't have asked for a space better suited to the organization, he said. "It's as close to ideal as you can imagine for this use," Potter said. top Homeless Recruited to Help Clean up Downtown Streets PROGRAM GIVES LOITERERS A CHANCE TO WORK By Kellie Schmitt and David Herbert Mercury News Barry Hudson, who's been homeless for the past five years, spends his days hanging out on the sidewalks of downtown Palo Alto. Now, he's cleaning them, too. Hudson, 43, sweeps, plants flowers, and picks up trash 20 hours a week as part of a new program designed to clean up the busy University Avenue area -- while giving a boost to a few homeless people who want to work. Behind the program, the first of its kind in the Bay Area, are the same downtown retailers and restaurant owners who have long complained that loitering homeless people drive customers away. In a downtown where panhandlers crowd out shoppers for the best spots on the corner benches, organizers hope the Downtown Streets Team program will get the homeless off the sidewalks and into the workforce. Hudson hopes so, too. ``I feel like I am living again,'' he said, proudly sporting a blue jacket and bright-yellow T-shirt, his team uniform. The six-man Streets Team members work Wednesdays through Sundays, sweeping downtown sidewalks with brooms and dustpans provided by the organizers. They're planning to plant flowers in some dusty planters in Lytton Plaza, now filled with dead weeds. As an incentive to stick with the program, participants receive $100 in weekly credits at stores including Walgreens, Safeway and Wal-Mart. ``We hope we can use this as something the rest of the nation can look at to revive downtown areas and help the homeless issue,'' said Eileen Richardson, the former CEO of Napster, who was hired this month by the 750-member Palo Alto Downtown Business and Professional Association to direct the program. ``It kills two birds with one stone.'' A similar program, also partly funded by businesses, made a big difference in New York City, helping several thousand of the city's homeless make the transition into full-time jobs cleaning the streets, or doing light construction and paperwork. Organizers acknowledge that it's hard to ease people from a life on the streets to a disciplined lifestyle with a full-time job. They're trying to find the folks who may have hit some rough times but want to work again -- not the people suffering from severe alcoholism, drug addictions or mental illness. Participants are paired with mentors from local businesses, and meet once a week at a downtown hotel to discuss career options. Eventually, they hope to earn valuable references -- and maybe even a job lead -- from owners who see their dedication firsthand. The team's leader is Norm Carroll, a local homeless advocate who once lived on the streets himself. For this first round, which will last a year, Carroll tried to select candidates who were eager to work, reliable and sober. He's already heard from three more people eager to join the team. In the future, the organization might ask social-service agencies to recommend participants. ``What we're trying to do is get them ready emotionally, mentally and practically for transitioning back to employment,'' said Sujata Mody, the program coordinator for Springboard Forward, the Mountain View non-profit group that is administering the program. ``Part of the issues these guys are dealing with is they don't have much to do with themselves during the day.'' It wasn't as simple as having a good idea and starting out, local business leaders found. In order to comply with the state's employment and minimum wage laws, they had to find a non-profit to administer the program, delaying the intended start date. The business group chipped in $20,000 for the seed costs of what they refer to as a ``start-up,'' and hope that donations and fundraisers will keep the program going. They commissioned Springboard Forward to administer the program because of the non-profit's experience with on-the-job coaching and mentoring to entry-level workers. Since it's a non-profit, it is also exempt from the state's minimum wage laws, which allow people to perform services for non-profits without getting paid. In the six weeks since the program started, the response has been mostly favorable on both sides. Emilio Lopez, manager of association member Pizza My Heart, said the program was long overdue. His restaurant is located right next to Lytton Plaza, the informal hub of Palo Alto's homeless transients, which is often trashed, day and night, by loiterers. His employees have to clean up the plaza several times a week. Lopez said he tries to accommodate the homeless, giving them cups of water and donating leftover pizzas to a nearby shelter, but added that they are bad for business. ``If you have people hanging out and loitering, it keeps families away,'' he said. Team member Lonnie Gullette said he'd rather receive cash than store vouchers, and has already tried -- with limited success -- to barter a $100 Walgreens gift card for cash. He said he needs the money for a haircut and the laundromat. Organizers said they understand there may be slip-ups, but the rules -- such as showing up on time, sober and in uniform -- are strict. Three strikes and you're out, Richardson said. Carroll, who once struggled with alcoholism, said he's eager to get back to work. Carroll's last paycheck came from a deli in Milpitas that's now closed, so he'd love fresh references from downtown business leaders. And the vouchers have brought him much-needed items such as shoes he purchased at Wal-Mart. It can get boring sweeping the streets, but the idea is a good one, Carroll said. ``Anything that could possibly work is a good thing to try.'' top Wyoming Winds is published by the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless 907 Logan Avenue Cheyenne, WY 82001-5247 phone: 307-634-8499 fax: 307-634-9089 email: wch@vcn.com Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless, its staff or board. Editor for this issue: Virginia Sellner. Copyrights revert back to the author upon publication. WCH is a 501(c)(3) all volunteer non-profit agency depending upon the community for funding. © 2005. Articles from other papers are published with permission of the paper listed with the article. **In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.** top