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Advocacy Issues Tracked by the

Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless

 

Local

  1. County Housing Trust Fund:  The Bridgebuilders will release a report in late April on the best source of revenue for an affordable housing County Trust Fund.  NEOCH will ask that organizations and individuals support the development of a County Trust Fund. For more information www.neoch.org or www.clevelandtenants.org.
  2. Affordable Housing Priority:  NEOCH is asking County and City governments to prioritize the preservation and development of affordable housing in all funding decisions including the allocation of Community Development Block Grants.
  3. Shelter Standards Bill:  The Homeless Congress has proposed a bill to legislate uniform standards for all local shelters in the City of Cleveland. NEOCH supports this bill and are urging the City Council to pass this legislation. For more information www.neoch.org.
  4. Long Term Funding of HousingCleveland: The County has paid for the first three years of HousingCleveland website.  The Local Advisory is looking for long term financial support from various local governments, housing authorities, and the Department of Aging.  For more information go to www.neoch.org or www.housingcleveland.org.

 

State

  1. Affordable housing should be a priority in state biennial budget:  The State of Ohio does not have a comprehensive strategy to create or preserve affordable housing.  Advocates are asking that all government agencies should work toward universal access to housing in the State of Ohio by prioritizing housing with the State budget especially in the areas of mental health, alcohol and drug addiction services, and Community Development funding.
  2. Lift the Cap: The State of Ohio does have a statewide housing trust fund.  Only half the fees raised by the County Recorders Office goes into the State Housing Trust Fund.  Advocates are asking that a higher percentage of the fee raised go into the Housing Trust in order to dedicate more resources to housing and begin to chip away at the huge demand for affordable housing.  For more information www.cohhio.org.
  3. State Hate Crimes Bill: (HR 419)  Over the last six years, advocates have seen a sharp increase in attacks on people who sleep outside throughout the state.  Rep. Foley is proposing a bill to add homelessness to the list of protected classes in the State’s Hate Crimes bill.  This would allow tougher penalties during sentencing for people who target homeless people with violence.  For more information www.neoch.org.
  4. Change in the Voting Law:  Advocates are urging the new Secretary of State to end the failed “reform” of Ohio election law that was passed in 2006.  The HB 3 passed into law was successfully challenged in court three times last year.  Advocates are asking to look at state election procedure and specifically to end the requirement to show identification when voting. For more information www.neoch.org.
  5. Creation of a Statewide Voice Mail System:  NEOCH and Cleveland Community Voice Mail are working to identify resources to create a statewide voice mail system.  The Voice Mail system in Toledo closed due to funding shortfalls leaving the Cleveland program as the only one in Ohio.  This unique program would allow homeless people throughout the state to receive messages from potential landlords or employers.  For more information www.neoch.org.

Federal

  1. Create a National Housing Trust: The Campaign is working to establish a National Housing Trust Fund with ongoing, permanent, dedicated and sufficient sources of revenue to build, rehabilitate and preserve 1.5 million units of housing for the lowest income families over the next 10 years. The Bill was introduced in the last Congress and had nearly a majority of co-sponsors.  3,600 groups endorsed the Campaign in 2006. For more information www.nhtf.org.

 

  1. HEARTH (McKinney Reauthorization—HR 840)  In the 20th Anniversary of the creation of the major funds that support homeless program there was a bill introduced to  reauthorize and amend the HUD McKinney programs to make them better serve homeless Americans.  The HEARTH Reauthorization will provide States, local governments, and nonprofit service providers with clear guidelines that may be used to plan from year-to-year and can be used to give communities the flexibility to serve all homeless populations in the most effective manner. It will also realign the definition of homelessness to be uniform throughout the government, and penalize communities that make it illegal to be poor or homeless. For more information www.nlihc.org.

 

  1. Second Chance Act (HR 1593) The bill would reauthorize the Department of Justice’s funding of demonstration projects that provide ex-offenders with a continuum of housing, education, health, employment and mentoring services. An additional component of the bill would establish a federal task force to examine issues preventing the successful reintegration of people leaving prison into the community. For more information: http://www.house.gov/davis/offender2.htm. PASSED in 2008!!

 

  1. Bring America Home Act (Introduced 7/2007)  This national, broad-based initiative is dedicated to the goal of ending homelessness. The Campaign is founded on the principles and action of public education, grassroots organizing and support for progressive policies and legislation. It is founded on the principles that people need affordable housing, livable incomes, health care, education, and protection of their civil rights. The Bringing America Home Campaign is composed of a variety of efforts that address these causes of homelessness.  For more information www.nationalhomeless.org.

 

  1. Invest in Public Housing and Housing Vouchers:  For the past five years public housing authorities have been starved to the point that they have stripped services and are barely keeping their doors open.  Advocates want public housing including Hope VI to be fully funded to keep the housing safe, decent and affordable.  Advocates are asking that Congress fix the unfair distribution of Housing Choice Vouchers programs in order to reclaim the 130,000 vouchers lost over the last three years. For more information see www.nlihc.org.

 

For 2009 with a new President of the United States, we need to return to the days when the federal government built and preserved affordable housing.  We need a National Housing Policy to get everyone in the United States into housing.  We have lost 75% of the funds for affordable housing over the last 20 years, and that is the primary reason for the increase in homelessness.