Seniors on the Rise Within the Homeless Population

NPR had a nice story about homeless seniors in Boston.  One of my favorite NPR reporters, Pam Fessler, was able to talk to a number of seniors who live outside in Boston. There was a follow up story on All Things Considered following a couple in Baltimore.   The morning story was going along really nicely with all the facts clearly laid out and then she talked to Dennis Culhane and the credibility of the story was undermined.  We written before about how we do not trust the information from Culhane because he is also a paid consultant to many cities.  He missed the large increase in families that happened in many cities and has provided the basis for national groups opposing the expansion of the definition of homelessness to include doubled up families. He has pushed a focus on long term homelessness, which many cities have followed and that has not done much to get us toward a solution to homelessness.  It is hard to trust a consultant who is at the same time using his own research to receive contracts from various jurisdictions to put in place programs that address the problems he identified. When media feature a researcher who is also a consultant that should be made clear. 

We can say that for the first time in years the number of seniors who were evicted increased in 2012. We have also heard reports from some of the Cleveland social service providers that the number of seniors they are serving has also increased.  The safety net (Social Security, Medicaid) has protected seniors from homelessness for years, but the ripple from the 2008 downturn seem to overtaking even the seniors.  We believe that many took in relatives with the collapse of the housing bubble.  One increase in water bills or an additional medical bill then sent the whole family over the edge and the senior is evicted.   The Cleveland Department of Aging does a good job trying to assist seniors that face eviction.  The staff under Director Jane Fumich are trying to put resources together to help seniors stay in housing. 

The NPR story does a good job explaining the healthcare, and nursing care issues faced by seniors.  They talk about the advanced aging process for people sleeping outside or in the shelters.  There are issues that a couple without kids might have to break up if they go to shelter and are unwilling to separate.  There are sleep deprivation and dietary issues that are all complicated by a person's age.  Most shelters make the individual leave during the day, and so seniors have to walk to one of the drop in centers.  There is a great deal of waiting in line for food, for the bathroom, and even to get in the shelter which is difficult for senior citizens.  Fortunately in Cleveland as opposed to Boston, we have significantly reduced the number of people sleeping outside. 

Brian Davis

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Browns Blanket Drive

Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Winter Blanket Drive

NEOCH, in partnership with the Cleveland Browns, are working to provide blankets to those who sleep outside or in the overflow shelters.  We do this every year with a goal of collecting and distributing 3,000 during the winter.  The Cleveland Browns are partnering with NEOCH this week to assist in the collection of blankets with a goal of 1,000 blankets this week.  Starting December 8, 2012 and while the supply of tickets last, we will give one ticket to the Cleveland Browns game vs. the Washington Redskins on December 16, 2012 for every two blankets that are donated to NEOCH before the game. 

You can drop off your blankets* at the NEOCH offices

3631 Perkins Ave. Third Floor (Push Call 32 to be let in the building).

 We will have extended hours so that you can drop off your blankets while you are downtown:

• Saturday December 8 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
• Monday to Thursday December 10-14 from 9 am-7 p.m.

All blankets are provided to people living outside or staying in the overflow shelters/churches in our community. 

Call Larry Davis at NEOCH 216-432-0540 for more information.

*new blankets or “like new” clean blankets only!

Downtown Cleveland is Much Improved

I participated in the count this Thanksgiving weekend, and I have to say Downtown Cleveland is much better than it was in the 1990s.  It still seems dead compared to the pictures of the 1960s and 1970s and that movie A Christmas Story filmed in Cleveland.  But I have to say that the Downtown is actually beautiful for an industrial city like Cleveland.  There is not the debris blowing around downtown like tumbleweed of the Plain States.   There were visible clean up crews who gave up their Black Friday shopping to keep the downtown looking nice.  There are more people walking around than there were in previous years with the Casino operational, but even the abandoned buildings are well maintained. 

The worst looking building was the old City Club building on East 9th and Euclid, which is under renovation.  The closed stores are boarded up or have some display in the window.  There are not a ton of broken windows or dust or decay.  The sidewalks look nice from the power washing, and the trash is not overwhelming the canisters.  The flower displays are maintained, and the streets are not giant sink holes that are not being maintained.  I miss the Thanksgiving parade, and the window displays, but the downtown is really nice.  It is like a professionally decorated present waiting for more pedestrians to open this gift.  It seems as though we are pregnant with anticipation of a building boom sparked by the Casino, the Medical Mart, and a centralized County building that is just around the corner.

Remember that there was a man who slept on the corner of West 9th and Superior near the bridge on the heating grate?  He was gone.  Remember all the people who slept around the welfare building on East 17th and Superior--all gone?  Remember the number of people sleeping around the Convention center?  They are gone because of the construction taking place, but they moved out of the downtown area.  We always had people sleeping around Public Sqaure even after the curfew went into place, but there was no one this last weekend.  It must be said that there are far more people on the Near West Side of Cleveland and around the west bank of the river, but the overall numbers are much reduced from the 1990s. We have to credit Care Alliance, the Veterans Administration, Mental Health Services, Volunteers of America, the Salvation Army, and the Labre Projects for coordinating their work to assist those who do not like going to shelter for the decline.  We have to credit the city for moving the meal site off of Public Square and working with religious groups to find alternatives to distributing food where there were not trash recepticles.  At the same time, the City has resisted passing a law restricting religious groups that would be challenged in court.  And we have to credit the County for supporting the construction of housing for those who have been on the streets for a long time. 

I took some pictures of the downtown that I used in this post and the last one to show that our downtown has changed dramatically over the last 20 years.  There are notable empty buildings such as the Ameritrust tower and the building on East 9th and Superior, but it does not seem like a city emerging from the Apocalypse as it did in 1998.  The Flats are a shadow of their former days, but the warehouse district seems to be well maintained.  The statues and monuments stand out when the grounds around them are manicured.  Tom Johnson and Jesse Owens seem to have a better disposition than they had in the 1990s.  Downtown is not a scarey place and is not the ghost town of the past.  It is struggling with find a personality, but all the pieces are in place at this point. 

Brian Davis

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry

Dramatic Decline in Those Sleeping Outside Downtown

Where have all the homeless gone?   Every year since 1999, we have walked the downtown from the river to East 20th and the Lake to Carnegie Ave. to see how many people are sleeping downtown.  In the 1990s, Mayor Michael White was ordering the Police to go downtown on Thanksgiving weekend to harass homeless people off of the streets in order to reassure shoppers that it was safe to come downtown.  There were over 60 people sleeping in the downtown in the winter of 1998.  This was a foolish policy that NEOCH confronted with three lawsuits, and won each time.  It also contributed to the development of 2100 Lakeside Shelter, and the policy of not turning people away who show up requesting shelter.  Those sleeping outside became a flashpoint between the business interests downtown and those struggling with poverty during the late 1980s and most of the 1990s.

   We settled our last lawsuit in February of 2000 and since that time we have had volunteers walk the downtown talking to homeless people and counting the number who sleep outside.  We make sure that the agreement we struck with the City of Cleveland is holding, and there is no violation by the Cleveland Police or any City officials.  For the past dozen years, the agreement has held with minor infractions typically outside of the downtown area.  We walk on the Friday after Thanksgiving early in the morning every year.  We believe that this is the lowest number for people sleeping outside for the hole year.  It is a baseline for how many people are going to be downtown this winter.  Most people go back with family or friends during the holiday, so it may be two to four times as many people sleeping downtown during this upcoming winter.  We estimate that the number is going to be down from previous years. 

This shows that the current policies of Cuyahoga County are working.  This shows that despite the dire warnings of some that allowing everyone who wants shelter without a time limit does not in fact lead to overwhelming numbers of people outside.  This shows that the coordination of outreach services and building relationships with all those resistant to shelter works.  This shows that the attention paid by Downtown Cleveland Alliance to keeping the area safe and clean is also working.   Here are the numbers. We did not count in 2011 because of the Occupy movement being downtown.  We know that there were homeless people sleeping at the site, but we were not sure how to factor that into the total.  Were they all "homeless" or were they homeless people from other areas?  We did not want the numbers thrown off, so we just did not count anyone in November 2011.

(One late note:  The other thing different this year when compared to the last 12 years was that Metanoia is open.  This overnight drop in center is open at St. Malachi on the weekend from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and this year it is open on the holidays over the winter.  So, this is the first time that a facility is open targeting people who sleep outside to provide assistance, and they were full this last weekend. )

Years	Numbers
1998	60
1999	42
2000	4
2001	6
2002	9
2003	11
2004	19
2005	27
2006	40
2007	17
2008	19
2009	18
2010	14
2011	**
2012	3
	**Did not count because of Occupy Movement

Los Angeles Stabbings of Homeless People

While our attention has been rightly focused on the senseless killings in the Denver suburbs at the movie premier, a frightening number of attacks on homeless people while they slept came to an end.  Starting around Independence Day, a man attacked a homeless man with a knife and left a "death warrant" with the man.  The homeless guy who was not named wandered into the street and was taken to the hospital.  Three homeless individuals were stabbed while sleeping in Greater Los Angeles, and two homeless people were suspected of being stabbed in Santa Barbara.  A man, Courtney Robinson, turned himself in after he was identified as a "person of interest," and the Santa Barbara police were close to making an arrest.

One of the stories that got me thinking was a article in the Los Angeles Times while the individual terrorizing homeless people was still on the loose.  There was a plea by city officials and police for homeless people to come inside.  I was thinking what would happen if all the people sleeping outside in any city in America heeded the advice of the police and tried to get inside?  We estimate that there would be 140% more people showing up and requesting shelter in Cleveland if everyone came inside, and I am sure that Los Angeles and Santa Barbara would have even more people to contend with.  For homeless people reading the Los Angeles Times they would laugh at these statements.  They know that showing up at a shelter to request sanctuary from a killer would be fruitless.  If Los Angeles officials have opened the Coliseum or the Arena or closed down schools to serve the thousands who would show up requesting help that would be a sign they were serious.  If the City does not have a solution that would serve the population, why make the suggestion?   But to say publicly get out of the way of a potential killer and stay hidden is worthless and just sends terror through the community.

The other interesting note is that this story mentions the serial killer from December 2011 and January 2012 who targeted homeless people.  There is a lot of ink dedicated to this last threat to homeless people in Los Angeles, but what was missed was the contribution by the Los Angeles Times to that story.  If you remember, the Los Angeles Times published a story urging homeless people to go inside and there was a picture of a guy living outside with his name and location who within 10 days was the next target of the serial killer.  John Berry was hunted down by the serial killer and killed on January 13, 2012 after his picture was featured on the front of the paper.  The Times never apologized, and never announced any changes in policy after this breach of privacy.  Notice that there were not any pictures in the story that appeared in the latest story, so apparently learned something. 

Brian Davis

Stories reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.