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Tent Village in Tokyo Park Draws Over 300 Homeless People
TOKYO — Japan Today
A temporary tent village set up at a central Tokyo park has drawn more than 300 people without jobs or homes since it was set up on New Year’s eve by volunteers for the New Year holiday period, organizers said.
‘‘People here are worn out due to the cold...an emergency shelter such as a gymnasium is necessary as soon as possible,’’ said a leader of the organizers, adding they had requested the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to act swiftly.
After the request, the ministry decided to open an auditorium at its ministry building near the park until 9 a.m. Monday, given that the number of people who have no other places to stay reached around 270.
The Chuo Ward office is also thought to be preparing to set aside some places to accommodate some people.
The ‘‘temp worker village’’ was launched in Hibiya Park on Wednesday in front of the Imperial Hotel, one of the country’s most luxurious hotels, to provide free food and shelter for homeless people including laid-off temporary workers who have been forced to leave accommodation provided by their employers.
About 50 tents, each fit to accommodate four to five people, have been provided but the number of people hoping to get accommodation surged on Friday, with some having fallen ill and been rushed to hospital by ambulance, the organizers said, adding that they lack volunteer workers capable of providing health care.
A 47-year-old man who lost his job with a trucking company in Tokyo in November said, ‘‘I had been hopping from one friend’s home to another or to Internet cafes but I have almost reached the limit of my fatigue. I have even lost the energy to vent my anger at society.’’
About 510 volunteers are working at the tent village, preparing food and providing advice on finding jobs and accommodation. The project drew around 130 on the first day. It is scheduled to run through Monday.
‘‘I want to tackle the problem of the temp workers, sharing the feeling that a Japan in this condition is unacceptable,’’ Tsuyoshi Takagi, president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the 6.8 million-strong national umbrella organization of labor unions, also known as Rengo, said after visiting the site on Friday afternoon.
An increasing number of companies in Japan are dismissing temporary workers and other non-regular employees as Japan has also failed to escape the adverse impact of the global recession. A government estimate says more than 85,000 such workers will have lost their jobs between last October and March this year.
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From the February 2009 Newsletter of the National Coalition for the Homeless
Public Policy Update
As the presidential and Congressional transitions continue to unfold, NCH and other homeless advocates remain optimistic about the possibilities for the coming years. The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held a confirmation hearing for HUD Secretary-designate Shaun Donovan on January 13, to the tune of much enthusiastic support from Com mittee Democrats and Republicans alike. At the same time, Congress, the Administration, and advocates are working to blunt the ill effects of a staggering economy and a prolonged foreclosure crisis. NCH and 41 other organizations sent a letter to Congress urging the inclusion of $45 billion for housing and homelessness prevention programs in the economic recovery package. However, an early draft bill from the House of Representatives, released in mid-January, includes only about one-third of that amount. While the total in the legislation is nonetheless a significant amount of new funding, many key proposals to increase the supply of affordable housing
and assist Americans on the brink of homelessness recommended by advocates are absent from the bill. NCH and others continue to work with Congress and the Administration to improve its contents.
National Housing Trust Fund
Included in the joint letter to Congress from NCH and other l ow-income housing advocates was a proposal to include $10 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund, funding sufficient for rehabilitating or building 100,000 rental homes for the lowest-income households. Unfortunately, the first draft of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, introduced in the House last week, does not contain any funds for the NHTF. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) is circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter in support of the inclusion of this provision and other provisions related to homelessness prevention, including funds for Housing Choice vouchers and the Emergency Shelter Grants program, into the economic recovery package.
Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program
Likewise, the joint letter to Congress from NCH and other low-income housing advocates also sought the inclusion of $3.6 billion for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, which would authorize 400,000 new vouchers over two years to p rovide the lowest-income households with rental assistance. This provision was not included in the House-drafted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, NCH and others continue to work with partners in Congress and the Administration to have this proposal injected into the bill.
Foreclosure and Homelessness Prevention
An early draft of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes $1.5 billion in funding for the Emergency Shelter Grants program, to be used specifically for homelessness prevention purposes. Those funds could be used to help about 300,000 families from becoming homeless by providing them with “short-term or medium-term” rental assistance, utility payments, rental assistance for a final month at a location, and housing relocation and stabilization services. NCH and others advocate boosting the funding level to $2 billion. A “Dear Colleague” letter from Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) to t hat effect is circulating in the House.
Additionally, NCH and others have expressed to Congress their support for a provision in the Troubled Asset Recovery Program (TARP) Reform and Accountability Act, H.R. 384, ensuring renters of foreclosed properties a 90-day notice prior to eviction, and strengthening their rights to remain in their homes.
HUD McKinney-Vento Programs
NCH anticipates that the new 111th Congress will eventually turn its attention to reauthorizing HUD’s McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs. It is expected they will model their efforts on the reauthorization work already done in the previous Congress. NCH’s concerns about the House-passed bill from the previous Congress remain. NCH will continue to work with the current Congress to address those concerns. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, Represenatives Judy Biggert (R-IL), Andre Carson (D-IN), Ruben Hinojosa (T-X) and Carolyn Mc Carthy (D-NY) have introduced a bill (H.R. 29) to expand the definition of homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to include certain homeless children and youth defined as homeless under other federal statutes. While this proposal still would not broaden the definition to include all individuals classified as homeless by other federal laws, NCH considers H.R. 29 a step in the right direction. Ultimately, the definition should be expanded to include all persons living in shared housing or in motels due to the loss of housing or economic hardship, regardless of the length of stay in such living arrangements. For a full list of NCH’s recommendations for reauthorization, view a side-by-side description and analysis of the legislation at http://www.nationalhomeless.org/housing/7221_Side-by-Side.pdf.
Hate Crimes Against the Homeless
Since its first annual report on the subject in 1999, NCH has documented over 700 unprovoked violent attacks against homeless people, with over 200 of those attacks resulting in death. Those incidents have included setting a man on fire, pushing a sleeping woman into a river, and beating a woman’s face with a tire-iron. In many cases, the attackers have never met the victims, and they don’t benefit materially from the attacks; they are motivated only by a dehumanizing bias against homeless persons. Such attacks deserve to be called what they are: hate crimes. The Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act and its sister bill, the Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Enforcement Act, would direct the FBI to gather data on potential hate crimes against people experiencing homelessness, and to prosecute accordingly. Those bills were introduced in the 110th Congress by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). NCH is preparing for reintroduction of those bills early next year. Click here for more information
Universal Livable Income
Approximately 44 percent of the adult homeless population has performed some type of work for pay in any given month, yet most do not make enough to afford housing. Many more homeless persons may be unable to work due to disabling conditions, and are eligible for disability benefits under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) programs, but not currently enrolled. As for wages, the payment levels under SSI are insufficient for obtaining affordable housing. NCH will be working with President Obama and the Congress to ensure that every American has an annual income—whether through wages, public income assistance, tax credits, or a combination thereof—sufficient to obtain and maintain permanent housing that costs no more than 30 percent of the household’s income.
Universal Health Insurance
Homeless people suffer from multiple health problems at a rate far higher than the general U.S. population, yet 55 percent have no medical insurance. Once people become homeless, they have shorter life spans than housed persons, and are three or four times more likely to die prematurely due at least in part to untreated medical problems. NCH will be working with homeless and health care advocacy partners to ensure that the Obama Health Care Plan guarantees access and eliminates all financial barriers to comprehensive health services for all Americans.
Homeless Access to Recovery through Treatment Act
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HELP US HELP
THE PEOPLE THAT WE SEE
Virginia Sellner
They come in groups,
with a friend,
or one by one,
these people that we see,
traveling by freight,
hitchhiking,
walking.
They want a break
from the road,
a chance to rest,
drink some coffee,
have a bite to eat,
clean up a bit.
Talented and smart,
they share what they know,
what they have,
with others they meet.
Often insecure,
afraid, lonely,
a chip on their shoulders,
searching for a place
they feel they belong.
Looking for work,
a place to live,
wanting to be part of things,
to fit in with the rest.
Often treated as though
they are different,
different from the rest of us,
when they aren't.
We see them every day,
we want to help
them find their way,
trying not to make demands,
to add to their burden.
We want to be accepting,
to listen to their needs,
help them through their journey,
find their way through life,
realize their dreams.
Help us help them
send us your dollar
Small amounts soon
add up to large amounts
and make a difference
to all that are here
They come in groups,
with a friend,
or one by one,
these people that we see.
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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: Virginia Sellner.
Copyrights revert back to the author upon publication.
WCH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agency depending upon the community for funding.
© 2009.
**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.**
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Did you know that if you make a small monthly donation to WCH between $1.00 and $10.00 that it will work wonders with our day to day needs and solve most of the problems created by a short fall of donations. Churches, clubs, associations, businesses take one meeting time to ask everyone at the meeting, service, or work that day to put $1.00 in the pot for WCH!!! This is an urgent need -- cash donations have dropped off so that we are having a difficult time meeting necessary expenses -- your small donation will go along way toward solving this problem.