 WYOMING WINDS April 2008907 Logan Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82001-5247 phone: 307-634-8499 fax: 307-634-9089 email: wch@vcn.com ©1990-2008
by the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless WCH has received grants from Union Pacific, Daniel's Fund, CDBG, Wells Fargo, Wyoming Community Fund, Burlington Northern, Women's Civic League for construction of the Day Care Center at the Richards Center, furnishings needed at the day center, as well as the installation of a shower and laundry at the main building at 907 Logan Avenue. So while we have received several $100,000 from these grants the funds are all restricted to the remodels in both buildings. THIS LEAVES A GAP IN DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS -- for client services, salaries, building expenses and the like. YOUR DONATIONS ARE STILL NEEDED, and WCH still relies on the community for day to day operations. Click here for donation form. By Richard Troxell Update:
Legislative Status of the ULW - For the second time* in our long journey to permanently fix the federal minimum wage and achieve a Universal Wage, a great legislative hero, Congresswoman Julia Carson (D-7th, IN) died before we could perfect legislative language on our bill. She was a great champion of the people and will be deeply missed. Our journey continues. Letter to the Interagency Council on Homelessness - House the Homeless, Inc. has again written to Philip Mangano, Executive Director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, promoting the ULW and calling for adjustments to the nations 10 year plans to end homelessness by including all persons affected by creating Livable Incomes for both those who can work and those who cannot work. Go to www.UniversalLivingWage.org and click on the "What's New" button to view the letter. Tax Day- Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - Twice a year, we conduct two national days of action to promote the Universal Living Wage. Bridge the Economic Gap Day in September and Tax Day in April on the 15th. We go to our local post offices across the nation and fly 4’ by 10’ banners that state “Reduce your Axes with a www.UniversalLivingWage.org” drawing people to our website where the names and contact information (and your website) of participating organization can be seen. We distribute flyers that promote the idea that if businesses paid fair, living wages we could reduce to some degree our dependence on food stamps, T ANF, General Assistance, EITC, etc. saving tax payers million of dollars. We encourage your to promote your own local issues at these events! Last year we were again active in every state in the union along with 37 additional cities. By Dean Wong Ballard News-Tribune Ballard, WA As the city of Seattle deals with the homeless issue by kicking them out of their makeshift camp sites under freeways, bridges and greenbelts, two Ballard churches are welcoming them and there have been no major problems. On Mar. 1, Tent City 3, the roving camp for the homeless moved into the parking lot at Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church. In late February, Trinity United Methodist Church became an official SHARE/WHEEL (Seattle Housing and Resource Effort/Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League) shelter for approximately 20 homeless people who sleep in the gymnasium. The decision by Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church to host Tent City 3 was a nine-month process of discussion by the congregation where members asked many questions. "The congregation shared how they felt. It was an overwhelming vote. We took time to listen to input," said Pastor Steve Grumm. During two meetings to inform area neighbors about the camp's March and April stay, some local residents were upset they were not consulted in the decision. "We can't decide programs at the church on how neighbors feel," said Grumm. Most people have been supportive and asked what they could do to help the 90 homeless residents of Tent City 3. Parents and children at North Beach Elementary School are making health kits for the residents. Loyal Heights Elementary parents are organizing a meal. Windermere Realty hosted a dinner at the church recently for the men and women. A local ski patrol donated ski jackets. "I'm impressed with the people stepping forward to offer help. There are more and more people," said Grumm. When the camp started moving in, some neighbors came by to assist them. The Tent City 3 residents set up their temporary homes constructed of tarp, duct tape and anchored by plastic crates full of rocks. People are feeling connected to issues around housing said Grumm. "They are getting a clearer sense of homelessness, the issues they face through individual people who experience it. This is a community that will support that kind of (transitional) housing." When Trinity United Methodist Church became a permanent host of a Seattle Housing and Resource Effort/Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League shelter, a public meeting was held to gather input. Only a handful of people showed up and they wanted to help. "We have to do something about the thousands of homeless in the city. Maybe a handful wants to be homeless. Most do not want to sleep outside," said Lang. Churches have played a big role in the issue. Trinity United Methodist was the first church in Ballard to welcome Tent City in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, the city of Seattle ruled it was illegal for a church to host Tent City in a residential area and fined Trinity $75 a day. The church negotiated with city officials. They came to an agreement that using church property to help the homeless is intrinsic to what churches are all about, said Pastor Rich Lang. Seattle Housing and Resource Effort/Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League, the organization that runs Tent City in Seattle and the eastside, along with Trinity accepted a restriction. Tent City cannot stay at a church for more than six weeks. Concern from the community living near Trinity United Methodist Church was another matter at the time. "There was huge opposition back then. People were hysterical. They calmed down," said Lang. Lang believes strongly that people need a roof over their head. Tent City is not the greatest thing, but it provides a powerful sense of community, support and basic stability, he said. With very little opposition to Tent City 3 coming back to Ballard these next two months, Lang said, "this neighborhood has values. That speaks well of us." "Until we commit as a city to building low income housing, the religious community has taken the lead to provide shelter," said Lang. China View Editor: Bi Mingxin BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China released the human rights record of the United States on Thursday which pointed out that hungry and homeless people had increased significantly in U.S. cities. The report quoted figures released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last November that at least 35.5 million people in the United States, including 12.63 million children, went hungry in 2006, an increase of 390,000 from 2005. The report was released by the Information Office of China's State Council, or cabinet, which has been prepared to help people around the world understand the real situation of human rights in the United States. Results of the 2007 Hunger and Homelessness Survey released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors showed that 16 of the 23 polled cities reported increased requests for emergency food assistance, the report said. Among 15 cities that provided data, the average increase was 12 percent. In 13 surveyed cities, 15 percent of households with children were not receiving emergency food assistance they requested. In 20 surveyed cities, 193,183 people applied for emergency shelter or transitional housing, it said. The number of residents applying for government rent subsidies surged by 30 percent in Baltimore County in 2007, the report quoted a news coverage by the Baltimore Sun last December. It is estimated that 750,000 people are homeless on any given day in the United States, another proof found in a news story by the Washington Post. The report exposed the human rights situation in the United States with more evidences chosen from news coverage by newspapers: Los Angeles County has more than 73,000 homeless people. Phoenix has 7,000 to 10,000 homeless people and another 3,000 who were not sheltered by the government. New Orleans has 12,000 homeless people. California has about 50,000 veterans living in streets. The report also worried about the health conditions of the homeless in the United States. Research shows one-third to half of the homeless have a chronic illness. The life expectancy for a homeless person ranges between 42 and 52 years, the report quoted the Washington Post as saying. WASHINGTON—Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday. And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job. The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness. The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans. In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000. Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable. “We’re going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous,” said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa. While services to homeless veterans have improved in the past 20 years, advocates say more financial resources still are needed. With the spotlight on the plight of Iraq veterans, they hope more will be done to prevent homelessness and provide affordable housing to the younger veterans while there’s a window of opportunity. “When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it,” said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which provides substance abuse help, job training and shelter to veterans. “I think they’ll be forgotten,” Keaveney said of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. “People get tired of it. It’s not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They’ll just be veterans, and that happens after every war.” Keaveney said it’s difficult for his group to persuade some homeless Iraq veterans to stay for treatment and help because they don’t relate to the older veterans. Those who stayed have had success — one is now a stock broker and another is applying to be a police officer, he said. “They see guys that are their father’s age and they don’t understand, they don’t know, that in a couple of years they’ll be looking like them,” he said. After being discharged from the military, Jason Kelley, 23, of Tomahawk, Wis., who served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, took a bus to Los Angeles looking for better job prospects and a new life. Kelley said he couldn’t find a job because he didn’t have an apartment, and he couldn’t get an apartment because he didn’t have a job. He stayed in a $300-a-week motel until his money ran out, then moved into a shelter run by the group U.S. VETS in Inglewood, Calif. He’s since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said. “The only training I have is infantry training and there’s not really a need for that in the civilian world,” Kelley said in a phone interview. He has enrolled in college and hopes to move out of the shelter soon. Scholars sleep, live outdoors this week in national project to assist homeless ANNE SUTHERLAND Montreal Gazette Adam Gold is finally able to sleep on the street after some mostly restless nights. "I guess it's sheer exhaustion," Gold said, rolling up his sleeping bag yesterday outside Concordia University's John Molson School of Business, at Guy St. and de maisonneuve Blvd. "Night after night it gets easier," friend Brian Chungwing added. Business school students Gold, Chungwing and Josh Redler have been sleeping and begging on the streets outside Concordia's downtown campus since Sunday night. They are part of a Canada-wide initiative called Five Days for the Homeless: Students Supporting Youth at Risk, and all this week they are living and sleeping on the street. They have to rely on the kindness of strangers and friends for their food. They're allowed to use the public washroom in Concordia buildings, but there's no bathing and no spending their own money. Not taking a shower hasn't bothered them yet, but Chungwing might be breaking the rules by brushing his teeth. "Hey, we're not going primate here," he said, laughing. They have had some adventures. On Sunday night, the thin sleeping bags they initially had were no match for temperatures that dipped to minus 12 C. Once they got thicker bags, things improved, though Gold said they were bundled up so tight they couldn't move. "You hear footsteps and cars driving by and you can't move; it's a little scary," he said. Then there was the matter of the tent. During the day, the three are at a tent pitched outside the Hall Building. There, they have tables and provide information about the fundraising venture. "Who knew if you didn't bolt a 10-by-10-foot tent down it could fly away?" Gold said. "A gust of wind picked up the tent Tuesday, and threw it against the wall. "It almost took out a couple of students," Chungwing added. But with the bad comes the good. All three say the reception they have received from students and strangers has been warm. And their den mother, Mona Senecal, has tirelessly promoted their cause from her office in the undergraduate department and bringing them food and comfort. "Mona came by with warm face cloths this morning. It was like heaven," Chungwing said. "Young people get a bad rap, and these kids are exceptional," Senecal said. "My 15-year-old grandson is coming to sleep a night with them, and I hope he takes the experience back and shares it with his high school friends, who don't know what it is to be homeless." Gold said the funds raised, destined for Dans la Rue, which helps kids on the street, are up to $8,000, and a lot of pledge forms circulating in the school have yet to be counted. The students are to pack up their gear tomorrow and go home for a nice hot shower and a good night's sleep in their own beds. "I miss my bed," Gold said. By PATRICIA C. McCARTER Huntsville Times The four-mile round-trip between the Community Free Clinic and Huntsville's most populated homeless shelters doesn't sound far - if you have a car, and it isn't dark, and it isn't cold, and you aren't sick. But four miles can feel like forever when any of those other conditions are involved. Having a church van pick you up in the morning, take you to the doctor and then bring you back to your home - as loosely as that term can be defined - can seem almost like a luxury. "Sweet Jesus, it's nice," said Bobby Dent, a 43-year-old man who lives under a bridge and suffers from hypertension. Dent was one of 14 patients seen by a doctor Wednesday from 9 a.m. until noon at the Community Free Clinic. Many were there for flu, colds and respiratory ailments. Another 35 homeless patients came by to get prescriptions refilled. The clinic began special hours for the homeless in that time slot a month ago, and the director said the need is every bit as dire as she'd been told when the clinic was asked by the Interfaith Mission Service to consider it. "Since we opened nine years ago, we've seen several homeless people during our regular clinic hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings," said clinic director Shotsie Platt. "But we didn't realize what an issue transportation was for them. "By churches getting involved in providing vans to get the patients here and back to the shelters, it really helps these people out. Plus, it frees up some of the evening hours for other patients. It's definitely been a plus." The vans pick up patients from the Downtown Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army and First Stop homeless day shelter. HEMSI donates the time of two paramedics to ride in the van and help tend to the patients once they arrive at the clinic. A head count in Madison, Morgan and Limestone counties in late January showed that there were 781 homeless people living in north-central Alabama. Over half of those were counted in emergency shelters. Dent and his girlfriend, 37-year-old LaShon Powell, don't live in a shelter. They stay outdoors, and they keep hoping their fortunes will change and they'll find a real place to live. Something that's kept them from that is health problems for both of them. With free health care and medications, they can envision a future where they both work and can eventually afford an apartment. "I can do roofing, but it's not good to get up on a roof when you're dizzy and weak," Dent said. "I plan on getting better, saving a little money and getting us a place to live. "I would hate to think that this kind life was permanent. We are going to get better." Platt said the annual cost of running the Wednesday morning clinic for homeless is about $32,000, and half of that has been raised or pledged by churches, businesses and individuals. "We operate entirely on donations," Platt said. "Any time or money that the public wants to give will be appreciated and is much needed." By Richard C. Dujardin Providence Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — Hoping to remind Governor Carcieri of his pledge last year to find new accommodations for all those affected by his decision to close the Welcome Arnold homeless shelter, nearly 50 advocates for the homeless went to the State House recently to mark the year’s anniversary of the closing and to protest his plan to make additional cuts in homeless programs. The advocates, many of them members of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, brought with them more than 200 pairs of shoes and sneakers donated by local college students that were placed in a long line that wound its way up the marble steps of the State House Rotunda and eventually to the door to the governor’s office. “You obviously have never lived a day in our shoes, because if you had you would understand what it is like to struggle to get a shower in the morning, wonder where your next meal is coming from, have no clean clothes and have to wear what you’ve worn for the last three or four days,” Joan Deam wrote in a letter she hoped would be read by the governor. Deam, 32, described herself as a newcomer to the ranks of the homeless, remarking that she began sleeping on cots in the hallway of Crossroads Rhode Island after her release from the hospital, and finding that she had no other place to go. She said she is to begin working for a local bank Monday, but fears that her effort to get back to living “like a normal person who works and pays for her rent” may be cut short if programs such as the Neighborhood Opportunities Program, which tries to create more affordable housing, are eliminated from the budget. Deam was joined by another newcomer to the ranks of the homeless — Donna Dexter, who said she had always thought of herself as a solid member of the middle class, with a nice home in Wakefield valued at $389,000, a car and a son attending law school at Columbia University. But all that unraveled, she said, when her husband died last year and the house was damaged by a major fire. One reason for her being out on the street: the insurance company would offer her only $16,000 for the loss. Their respective situations led Deam and Dexter to remark that being homeless even for a short time is no picnic. Said Deam: “It’s hard to know the homeless life until you really live it. To think that some of these programs to help the homeless could be eliminated is really scary.” One thing that still roils advocates for the homeless was that the Welcome Arnold building in Cranston, which provided 95 beds, was razed because the Rhode Island State Police needed the land to build a new headquarters. It was later decided that the new headquarters would be built in Scituate, not Cranston. Jim Ryczek, executive director for the Homeless Coalition, said the latest available figures showed that 6,809 people stayed in homeless shelters during fiscal year 2006, with an average of 1,200 on any given night. In their rally, advocates zeroed in on Governor Carcieri’s proposal that Rhode Island Housing donate $27 million it raised last year from mortgage lending and investments to help plug part of the $150-million budget shortfall the state faces this year, and his plan to ask that any remaining portion of the $7.5 million that lawmakers allocated to the Neighborhood Opportunities Program to create more affordable housing be given back. Ryczek said that if Rhode Island Housing were forced to give the money to the state, “it would be such a hit to them that they would have to close down all of their programs because they wouldn’t have any cash left over,” making it even harder for those living in shelters now to find an alternative. The concern was echoed by Linda Watkins, an associate director of Amos House, who said that without $2 million in help under the Neighborhood Opportunities Program, she is certain her agency would never have been able to build the housing units that now accommodate more than 100 people. “Stable housing leads to stable lives,” she said. “If these budget cuts go through we will have to cut these programs.” As the rally was about to begin, Carcieri was down the hall with Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, winding up a gathering in support of Catholic education. Asked about the protest down the hall, Carcieri defended his record, remarking that “I’ve been a supporter” of affordable housing “since I came into office.” The thing is, he said, “there are a whole lot of things in the pipeline but we need a little help this year. I think we can work our way through the budget by just holding to projects under way and not to make new commitments through the summer.” Acknowledging that his proposal for the new fiscal year does call for an elimination of the entire allocation for Neighborhood Opportunities Program next year, Carcieri said he believed that the goals can still be accomplished through Rhode Island Housing. “They have a whole stream of income and a particular mission, and we’re asking them to see if they can help to finance these things. We want to see the program go forward.” Asked for his assessment of the situation, Bishop Tobin said “certainly one of the primary obligations of this state or any state is to try to help those who have special needs in their lives, so the state should try to do whatever we can to help the homeless, but at the same time we recognize the reality that we have limited resources, so it’s going to be impossible to solve every problem or meet every need. But it should be one of our priorities.” At the Catholic school gathering, the attendees looked for a pledge that the tax credits awarded to donors that give money to approved scholarship funds for students attending non-public schools would remain in place. They came away satisfied. Bishop Tobin said the tax credits help the state in the long run, since “every dollar we can spend for Catholic education obviously saves a lot of tax dollars in other places” since it relieves the pressure on public schools. Ryczek, when told about what the governor had to say, said the idea that money taken from Rhode Island Housing to fill a budget hole could be used to create affordable housing was a “ridiculous argument” because once the money was given over there would be no money to spend. Toronto Social Justice Magazine OCAP and supporters went to City Hall Tuesday demanding that officials immediately provide essential emergency services for homeless people, after an Aboriginal man was found frozen to death in a downtown stairwell last Wednesday. Robert Maurice, originally from Saskatchewan, was well known in the area, even though he hadn’t been seen in well over a year. “It’s believed the cold was a factor in his death but that still hasn’t been totally confirmed,” says OCAP’s Gaetan Heroux, who knew Maurice for over a decade. “He was just a homeless guy trying to survive on the streets, like thousands of others who walk the streets every day trying to find food and shelter.” Heroux says a lot of homeless people have become shelter intolerant, adding the overcrowding, the tuberculosis, the bedbugs, the violence and the stress “force people to leave just to keep sane.” Just six days before the 50-year-old’s death, City of Toronto officials were warned that such a tragedy would occur, if the crisis facing homeless people was not immediately addressed. City councilors heard numerous deputations from social service agencies and homeless people, warning that the huge cuts to services had forced people into dangerous situations. Yet the City insists enough shelter beds exist to fill the demand. “But that does not at all reflect the reality that we see or hear on a daily basis,” says Heroux. “Several weeks ago we went to the shelters and everything was packed. At midnight, twenty people on the referral sheet couldn’t get beds.” People have to have access to food and shelter and they have to know where they’re going to sleep that night,” he adds. “Some walk an hour to an Out of the Cold program to find out that it’s full. And that’s a daily routine where people have to struggle to try and find shelter.” So how did Maurice end up at the bottom of a stairwell? “The only answer I have (from the City) is that somehow he was there because he made bad choices, that somehow this was his fault,” says Heroux, surrounded by reporters. “They say they’re housing people and that’s good but in the meantime you shut down over 300 shelter beds, it’s going to have an effect on people.” About eighteen months ago, Council Fire, a native men’s shelter, closed its doors. In 2005, Street Patrol stopped handing out food and blankets. “And this is a really, really dangerous trend in the absence of housing,” he says. “If you don’t have the housing you have to make sure people have the basics.” As a result, homeless people turn to the streets begging for food and shelter and end up being ticketed for encumbering a sidewalk or camping in a park. “So we need the City to take a lead to make sure people have shelter and food,” says Heroux. “And if the City wants to go to the province and the federal levels of government, we’ll go with them. “But for Phil Brown to sit there in front of us and say ‘that everything is okay’ is wrong, dishonest and doesn’t reflect the reality we see on a daily basis,” says Heroux. “And we should be disturbed by that.” Shortly thereafter, Heroux grabs a megaphone and explains to reporters and supporters outside City Hall that the purpose of today’s gathering is to enter Council Chambers and distribute letters - describing the reality for homeless people and demanding change - to councilors and the mayor. Maurice died a week after ten to twelve agencies came to City Hall and gave deputations to the Community Development and Recreation Committee. “Phil Brown sat and listened while every single individual who spoke said that we have a crisis in our community,” says Heroux. “We went out the Monday before and couldn’t find a bed in the system and by midnight we went by the referral centre and there were twenty people who couldn’t find beds.” Since the deputations Mayor Miller has yet to address the situation, angering anti-poverty activists, many of whom knew at least one homeless person who has died in the past year. “Many times we forced them to open shelters so that many people could live,” says Beric German of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee. “And the minute we blinked they begin running the shelters like barns again.” German says mattes spread side by side, only inches apart, cover the floor of most hostels, adding “that’s how tuberculosis, flu, tension and violence spreads through the whole god damn system.” Last year, the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee sent a camera into the 110 Edward Street hostel and gave the footage to the Globe and Mail. “And the response from city officials was ‘well that’s how people want to live’,” says German. Later, he spoke to workers in that shelter, who said they were terrified and ashamed of the conditions. He says in April they’ll play another ‘trick’ by closing all the shelters. “That’s what happens when you’re cattle,” he says. “When you’re cattle you send them off to pasture and that’s what’s gonna happen.” Lead by Heroux, OCAP and supporters enter City Hall, ride the elevators to the second floor council chambers and enter the councilors’ area to deliver their letters - ironically as council debates 2008 per diem rates for the purpose of service shelter system and related matters. A few minutes later, City of Toronto corporate security officers remove protesters from the area, some forcibly, but they refuse to leave before having their say. Heroux asks councilor Adam Vaughan: Where’s Peter Street? “It won’t be open for another six to eight weeks,” says Vaughan. “So what do we do?,” asks Heroux, glaring at Vaughan. “What do we do when the Out of the Cold Program shuts down? What do we tell people when they come to our agencies and say ‘I can’t find a bed’ or ‘I need TTC tickets to get somewhere and we don’t have them’? What do we say to them? It’s okay. Street to Homes are here. Don’t worry.” People cry when they walk out of our places, he says. They’re all stressed out. They cry. And they’re dying now. And we came here today to tell you that your people are dying on the streets and they’re being turned away every night. “We won’t watch people die on the streets,” he adds. “These are people that we know, god dammit, we know them. Because the last time I saw Robert he was asking for TTC tickets. “So now the image I have of him is a body at the bottom of a stairwell in the heart of the city,” says Heroux. “And this is our shame.” “Sit on your ass and do f------ nothing,” says one activist. “And we get more deaths.” “We’re not gonna die in peace,” says another activist. “The worse it gets for us, the worse it’s gonna get for you. You can’t just sit there and smile. It’s your fault and we’re holding you responsible.” “You’re all two or three pay cheques away from the street yourselves,” says housing activist Bonnie Briggs. “That’s the truth and you can’t handle the truth.” “The conditions in the Out of the Cold program are so overcrowded that people die in the night and no one even notices until the morning when the person, inches beside you, has died,” says anti-poverty activist Jen Plyler. “Just think about how it must feel to freeze to death,” says an activist, standing in the second row of the public gallery. “What does that feel like when no one is there to help you?” Corporate security announces that council is in recess and orders everyone to leave the chambers. “If you do not leave you will be subject to removal and/or arrest,” he says. Police are brought in to corral the protesters and herd them towards the elevators. No arrests are made, despite some spirited discussions between officers and demonstrators. “When Danielle pushed us to act immediately after the death of Robert, she was right,” says Heroux to the crowd, now gathered outside City Hall again. “We need to speak out when these things happen.” “Today we delivered a message that councilor Joe Mihevic and Phil Brown should have given to council, after last week’s deputations, but refused to do,” he says. By April 7th, the Out of the Cold program closes down for the season. Heroux says negotiations are underway with an agency to have an Out of the Cold program on Sunday, April 6 in protest. A press conference is scheduled for the next day to demonstrate against people being pushed out to the streets. “Hopefully, the whole city will know what’s going on by then,” he says. “And we hope city council will open up a shelter immediately to ensure that more people do not die on these streets.” WJAR-NBC 10 Providence, Rhode Island PROVIDENCE - With the overcrowding in shelters and an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, many homeless people are looking to these properties as inviting shelters, homeless advocates said recently. At Crossroads Rhode Island, the state's primary provider of social services to the homeless, officials said those who don't find a place at the shelter often turn to foreclosed properties to get a roof over their heads. "About 25 percent of the families that we're seeing at our family shelter are a direct result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis," said Anne Nolan of Crossroads Rhode Island. "It doesn't surprise me at all if people are finding an empty property and trying to make a little home for themselves." Providence police said they have seen an increase in the number of homeless people illegally squatting in vacant homes. "We just made two arrests Monday of this week where homeless people broke into a house and were living in the house," said Maj. Paul Fitzgerald of the Providence Police Department. Nolan said Crossroads discourages people from moving into abandoned properties and that the agency has an outreach worker who monitors the homeless who move into foreclosed homes. "The minute we hear a situation of someone living in foreclosed property, he will go and make contact with that person and try to bring them in here at the very least," Nolan said. Crossroads said over the last year it has made contact with more than 300 people who are living outdoors or in vacant properties. A World to Win The charity Shelter was founded 1966 in response to the television play ‘Cathy Come Home’. The powerful drama brought to a head widespread anger about Britain’s housing crisis. Now the play’s director, Ken Loach, is backing a series of strikes by Shelter workers over plans to make them work longer hours for the same pay. Shelter, like many voluntary sector charities, is increasingly dependent on contracts from the state to sustain its finances. With the government demanding more for less, Shelter tore up existing staff contracts and provoked an unprecedented strike in the process. Shelter’s chief executive Adam Sampson responded to Loach’s call for people to stop donating to the charity by saying it was there to serve homeless people, not its staff. Using corporate-style, cost-driven arguments, Sampson says it is the customer that counts. However, Sampson fails to explain how it can deliver the same, or even a better, service with fewer staff working for longer hours. Perhaps charities with advice lines like Shelter’s could consider outsourcing to Mumbai? One in seven children in Britain are growing up in bad housing, and thousands of homeless households are stuck in temporary accommodation. Last month, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said repossessions rose by 21% in 2007 to 27,100 homes, the highest figure since 1999. That figure is going to rise dramatically in 2008, as people find it impossible to pay their mortgages. Meanwhile, the number of new housing associations homes being built plummeted by 43% in London last year. Shelter’s services have never been needed more. It isn’t Sampson who is going to be on the other end of a phone helping people find ways to rehouse their families. As charities have been drawn into signing contracts with the state – either central or local government – they have become increasingly subject to the harsh rules of the market. Those who commission contracts are out to get services as cheaply as they can, with quality certainly not the main consideration. Perversely, the more that charities are co-opted into the delivery of services at the lowest cost, the quicker their ability to support the neediest people is diminished. Being tied into these contracts also makes it virtually impossible for charities to criticise and campaign vigorously against the government and local authorities. In the end, the sector is voluntarily super-exploiting its own workers and effectively subsidising the state, losing any semblance of independence in the process. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ annual Almanac found that there are 2.6 charities per thousand of the population in prospering suburbs, compared to 1.6 charities per thousand in suburbs that are “constrained by circumstances”. It also shows that there are 2.2 charities per thousand in multicultural communities, compared to 1 charity per thousand in blue collar communities. Working with people who really need support is too tough, too expensive. In New Labour’s market state the veneer of concern for deprived communities hides an abandonment of whole areas of the country. As Britain plunges into recession, with fuel and food price inflation already pushing families to the brink, there is an urgent need for not-for-profit organisations who will break free of the state. Once independent of the status quo, they could work alongside communities to challenge the economic structures responsible for homelessness, poverty and neglect. Shelter's strikers could help kick-start just such a campaign. ONTARIO - About a dozen Tent City residents marched to City Hall early Friday with their dogs trotting on leashes beside them or carried in their arms. A few carried hand-scrawled signs that read: "My Dog Is All I Have Left," "Dog Spelled Backwards = GOD" and "Mayor Has Dogs." The trek was to protest the city's prohibition of pets at the homeless encampment, which was announced Thursday as part of a plan to bring order to the camp. "They want us to get rid of our dogs," Troy Lantinga said as he stood in front of City Hall. "I'm not gonna give away my dog. That dog's gonna die with me." Ontario officials introduced plans to reform the camp due to health and safety concerns raised when Tent City, which began with 140 homeless on the dirt lot last summer, grew to encompass up to 400. In addition to a host of new rules, Tent City will be whittled down to no more than 170 people with ties to Ontario. The site also will have perimeter fencing and assigned spaces. The sorting of those who are from the city from those who are not begins at 9 a.m. Monday, officials said. City Attorney John Brown said the rule on dogs at the camp is similar to rules found at any homeless shelter. "It was strictly from both a health and safety basis," Brown said. "This isn't a kennel. It is a refuge for men and women. It isn't possible to do everything we want to do for people and also do it for their pets." A day after the plan was announced, Tent City's population thinned out a bit as some residents with pets or kids, or without local ties, sought shelter elsewhere. But a majority remained, hoping, somehow, they'll be given a break. "I'm going to stay here and see if I can fight it," said J.J. Comingore, 32, of Rancho Cucamonga. Tension has reached an all-time high among those at Tent City, too, some residents said. "Making us get rid of our dogs, that's our family," Lawrence Ross, 53, said. "That's tearing a lot of people up right now. People are arguing more." While her 4-month-old puppy Bandit attempted to dig a hole in the planter in front of City Hall, Barbara Wirth said things have been rougher at the encampment. "Everyone is on edge over there, snapping at each other and losing their temper really easily," Wirth said. "Some are drinking a lot more. ... I started drinking and doing drugs again." Wirth confessed she's relieving the tension in other ways too now. "I'm bipolar and schizophrenic, and with all the stress, I've resorted back to my old habits," she said, briefly revealing an inner wrist covered in fresh cuts. "I'm a cutter." Volunteer Mike Dunlap said the `no dogs' rule in particular can have a damaging impact on some. "I don't think anybody is considering the mental illnesses they're dealing with. That's a major thing with homeless," Dunlap said. "They're breaking their spirit. It's like giving up a child." Meanwhile, Ontario police officers drove through the encampment to check for vehicles in tow-away zones or with other code violations, but everything was found to be in good order, they said. By Dean Wong Ballard News-Tribune Ballard, WA A new city has taken root in Ballard with their own elected officials, laws, housing regulations and a group of citizens looking to better their lives. Tent City 3, a homeless encampment moved to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church's parking lot and will stay during the months of March and April. There are 90 residents, both men and women, in this current version of Tent City. The residents are glad to be pitching their tents on concrete. The last site in Tukwila was on a muddy field. A five-member committee that is voted in by the residents, runs the camp according to a set of rules that everyone is expected to abide by. The rules are rigid to keep the camp running without problems. "We have a strict code of conduct. All and all everyone is great. They understand the rules. It's a great place. We run a tight ship and keep people involved in the community," said a man named Steve, who has lived in Tent City since October. "We don't allow alcohol. We know who is coming in and out of camp," said Duncan Stencil, one of the married residents living here with wife Vicki. The Stencil couple has lived at the camp for the last six months. They came to Seattle from Reno. In 1999, Duncan Stencil was in a motorcycle accident and his first wife "died in his arms." He moved to Seattle and got a job at Boeing. When his mother died, he said he "snapped," eventually ending up homeless. He has applied for a job with the Washington State Ferry System and is on a waiting list for a summer job. Stencil and the other residents seem to get along, coping with their situation. "We don't turn anyone away. No one needs to sleep out in the cold," said Stencil. Last Tuesday, Dave Ploquin was taking a six-hour shift in the camp's front office, where he screened everyone entering the camp. Visitors must check in and residents sign in and out. Residents are given bus tickets to look for jobs. Ploquin has lived at Tent City 3 for over three months. "We are self run. We all contribute. There are a lot of good people," he said. "We squeeze everyone in. We govern ourselves. If you have any questions, come see us. It's team work, we all work together," said Ploquin. The camp has one electricity line. They use it run a light in the office tent, power a microwave and operate a television and video cassette recorder in an entertainment tent. Unlike staying in a shelter, Stencil and his wife can live together. Their tent has a large bed and shelves for their clothing and other belongings. They can sit outside their tent on stools and plan to add some potted flowers to brighten up their home. Some residents have individual tents. Others sleep communally in an old army surgical tent. One tent is for single women. "Bachelor's row" is for single men. "The people make this place extraordinary. A lot of these people are like family. You learn compassion and trust," said Stencil. Vicki used to volunteer her time in Reno, working with homeless people in a feeding program. "It's different being on this side of it." The big difference is she lives in a tent, rather than a house like she did in Nevada. "It has been wonderful. It is safe, I would not be here if it was bad. It's a city within a city," said Vicki. Jason Roan was only in his fourth day at Tent City 3. A drug addiction caused his homelessness. "I had no where to go. I am off drugs now. It's a great environment to be drug free," he said. Roan is working with a family member, learning how to be a plumber. "I can use this as a stepping stone to get my life back." Before, Roan said no one cared about him. Living at Tent City 3 has given him a new outlook on life. Each resident must volunteer time on a 24-hour a day security patrol. They walk a two-block perimeter around the camp and onto neighboring streets, picking up litter as they go and calling 911 if they see suspicious activity. "Just because we are here in Tent City 3 does not mean we don't look out for the neighborhood," said Vicki. During this reporter's visit to the camp, one woman dropped off a donation of clothing. Then came Ellie Lang, a Ballard resident who donated $20 cash. "I am just thrilled to have them in the neighborhood and to help them out," she said. Lang was involved in the first Tent City when it moved to Trinity United Methodist Church in 2001. She loves the Tent City concept because it helps people get on their feet. "This makes people aware, they are not out here by choice," Lang said. Ploquin said the tenants here are not "homeless," they are "houseless." Before living in Reno, Stencil lived in Shreveport, La. Since coming to Seattle, he has been impressed with the city's natural beauty. "I think if any city can be free of homelessness, Seattle can," Stencil said. By Tom Adams KVAL-13, Eugene, Oregon Sharing toys, taking turns, following the rules. For homeless kids or those at risk of becoming homeless, those can be hard skills to learn. A local family center is switching gears to give young children a better chance at school, and life. "You just push it down and the rock flies out," explains one of the kids at First Place Family Center, trying to tell us how a toy cannon works. Something remarkable is happening at the Kids Center, part of the First Place facility operated by St. Vincent de Paul Society in Eugene. Director Jake Spavins of the Child Development Center asks a couple of boys, "What's going on guys? You know what--we have to share our balls." Little kids under 5 are using words instead of fists to get what they want. "A lot of these kids didn't talk very much when we first started and now they're--I mean, sometimes we can't get them to stop talking," says preschool teacher Lyn Wierda. What used to be simple day care at the First Place Center (in south Eugene) has shifted focus to a one of a kind, therapeutic preschool for homeless youngsters and kids at risk of becoming homeless. Directors say these children are at risk for trauma, anxiety and emotional difficulties. Jake Spavins tells KVAL, "When you're in that state, you really can't learn, so part of what we're trying to do is slow kids down and get them to a place where they can learn." Less stress equals fewer tantrums, and we get a lesson right in the middle of the interview. A boy named Joe approaches Spavins with a broken toy. Jake tells the upset lad, "Oh I'm sorry that the dinosaur got broken. Maybe you can ask Miss Sheri or Miss Lyn to help you get another toy." What could have led to a mini-meltdown, is calmly resolved. "But this is great. These are self management skills that these children are learning that's going to help them be successful," says Spavins. 13 children are enrolled in the Kids Center program. They're licensed to go up to 28, but they really don't want to go beyond 16 kids at any one time. Another teacher says no doubt, they are on the right track. Instructor Sheri Cooper states, "We see that difference every day in them learning new skills and the families making changes for the better." Differences to put these youngsters *on target* for a better future. Kids ages 2 and a half to 5 are in the First Place program. By Dan Delmar, The Suburban Three adventurous Concordia students now have an idea of what it’s like to be invisible. Josh Redler, Brian Chungwing and Adam Gold spent most of last week walking in the shoes of Montreal’s outcasts, with only a couple of luxuries to make the experience of being homeless more tolerable. Redler munched on a slice of all-dressed pizza that a friend brought him. Unlike the average street kid, hunger wasn’t an issue for the trio as supporters tried to make their week of urban camping as painless as possible. Chungwing, a clean-cut finance major, had been on and off his Blackberry, arranging interviews and photo-ops with other media outlets as The Suburban patiently waited for the answer to the most obvious question of all: Why? “A couple of friends started doing this at the University of Alberta,” Chungwing said, adding that the goal was to raise awareness and $15,000 for Dans la Rue, a charity which supports homeless youth. “This sucks. The first night was -15° and I slept about an hour all night.” Nine other schools across the country participated in the event. Redler, a marketing student, looked the part a bit more than his two classmates. With a scruffy red beard, he could have been a knife-wielding train car drifter. But like most living on the city’s streets, he’s perfectly harmless. “I want to feel what they feel,” he said. “Most people don’t give you the time of day. It’s bizarre. You sit on the side of a building and you’re suddenly segregated, invisible.” One homeless man asked them, Chungwing said, why on earth they were doing this. They must be out of their minds to choose to live on the street, the man said. An innocent enough statement at face value, but one that raises an important point: Many homeless Montrealers indeed suffer from mental illnesses gone untreated, which prevents them from living a normal existence. Former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s deinstitutionalization plan threw many of these people out of psychiatric wards and onto the streets. Cuts to social housing and welfare by successive Liberal governments kept them there. “The majority aren’t here by choice,” Chungwing said, having spoken with many [homeless people] last week. “I know that on Friday, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I couldn’t do this 24/7. You hear everything; like someone walking on the snow, and you think they may be coming for you.” Redler said it will be difficult to keep the issue on the minds of Montrealers after the week-long news cycle has come to an end and media outlets have lost interest. Giving away your spare change out of guilt won’t help the situation either, he said. “Give them something to eat, anything that will help improve their standard of living,” he said, shortly before a young woman approached and handed him a scarf. The slim blonde left Redler with the task of finding a real homeless person to give it to and telling him or her that it was from “the angel of light.” Many hope that same angel will one day illuminate local and federal leaders to revisit the plight of Canada’s unofficial outcast. Wyoming Winds
is published by the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless |
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