1. real estate
2. low income housing

serving our community since 1997
Volume XI, Issue 6
Part of the North American Street Newspaper Association
City To Church: Stop
Feeding Homeless
Church Property Not Zoned For
Charity Dining Hall, City Says
he city of Phoenix has told a
local church they are no longer
allowed to hold a Saturday service
on their lawn during which they
feed the homeless.
Crossroads United Methodist
Church began holding the Saturday events in January. The homeless walk, ride their bike or take
a bus to the church. The church
feeds them breakfast and has a
worship service on the lawn outside the church building.
“We have been feeding the homeless since (the church) began. It’s
part of the mission of the church.
It’s part of who we are,” said Dottie Escobedo-Frank, pastor at the
church. “This is our mission. This
is who we are. This is what we
do.”
But now the city of Phoenix has
told them to stop doing it. Some
people from a neighborhood
across the street have complained
about the event, specifically the
noise and the trash it carries along
with it, the city said.
According to Escobedo-Frank, a
neighbor said a homeless person
was also hanging out in a nearby
alley.
Another neighbor, who wished
to remain anonymous, said some
of the homeless people have been
sleeping in the neighborhood.
They have also chained their
bikes to neighborhood fences and
brought pornography into the area,
the neighbor said.
Mr. Mayor is Your City
a Mean City?
T
(continued on page 6)
* Earnest Bowens & Family
* Ed & Ruth
* Rudy
* Lisa
* John McLean
* Darren
* Jan Cerrito
* Rev. Patrick O’Shen
* Angela Forrest & Family
* Angelo
* Maria Dragon
* Blanch Lake
* Dave Nerau
* Megan
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* Allen Rosenthal
* Gloria Parker
* Carlos
* Adeel Jamal
* Veronica
Cathy’s Prayer List
To add a name please call
954-410-6275, no menetary
donations needed
“It costs more to jail a person than it does to
provide permanent supportive housing.”
WASHINGTON, D.C.
crease in laws prohibiting “camping”
- The National Law Center on Homein certain public spaces.
lessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the
Maria Foscarinis, NLCHP ExecuNational Coalition for the Homeless
tive Director, noted, “Homelessness
(NCH) have released a report in July
in America is a human rights crisis
titled, Homes Not Handcuffs, trackright here at home. As foreclosures
ing a growing trend in U.S. cities –
continue and the recession deepens,
the criminalization of homelessness.
the crisis is affecting more and more
The report focuses on specific city
Americans. But while some cities ofmeasures from 2007 and 2008 that
fer a helping hand, too often, as docuhave targeted homeless persons, such
mented in our report, cities adopt unas laws that
just laws and
make it illepractices that
gal to sleep,
punish people
Homelessness in America
eat, or sit in
simply for beis a human rights crisis
public spaces.
ing poor and
The report inhomeless.”
cludes informa“As a result
tion about 273 cities nationwide.
of the economic crisis, homelessness
Homes Not Handcuffs also ranks
is on the rise. Instead of helping to
the top 10 U.S. cities with the
prevent homelessness, many cities
worst practices in relation to
are criminalizing those who lose their
criminalizing
homelessness.
homes by passing ‘quality of life’
The national ranking is based on
laws,” said Michael Stoops, Execua number of factors, including the
tive Director at NCH.
number of anti-homeless laws in the
While more cities are cracking down
city, the enforcement of those laws,
on homeless people living in public
the general political climate toward
spaces, the housing and homelessness
homeless people in the city, and the
crisis in the United States has worscity’s history of criminalization meaened over the past two years, parsures.
ticularly due to the current economic
In addition to the “meanest cities,” the
and foreclosure crises. According to a
report identifies examples of more conreport released last week by the U.S.
structive approaches to homelessness.
Department of Housing and Urban
NLCHP and NCH released their last
Development, 41.8% of the homeless
joint report on the topic in 2006. In
population was unsheltered between
the 224 cities surveyed in both this
January 2007 and January 2008. Most
report and the 2006 report, there are
cities do not have adequate shelter
currently more laws used to target
space or affordable housing to meet
homeless persons, including an 11%
the need, leaving many homeless perincrease in laws prohibiting loitering
sons with no choice but to live in pubin certain public places and a 7% inlic spaces.
What is Criminalization
of Homelessness?
T
he Criminalization of Homelessness takes many forms. To
get a better understanding of what
exactly it is, we have to look at the
difference between those who have
money and those who don’t . For
instance if you have money, then
you don’t need to sleep in a public place. If you don’t have money
then where else would you sleep?
I guess on a bus bench would be
more legal, correct? Rather than
breaking the law and sleeping in
someone’s back yard. You would
think that is what the people want,
however it is far from what the
people really think. Come on,
Mr. Mayor where does one sleep
if they do not have a home? The
report explains it like this:
“Enactment and enforcement of
legislation that makes it illegal
to sleep, sit, or store personal belongings in public spaces in cities
where people are forced to live in
public spaces.” And as you read
below you will see the wide menu
of other laws that directly target
the homeless:
Selective enforcement of more
neutral laws, such as loitering, jaywalking, or open container laws,
against homeless persons.
• Sweeps of city areas in which
homeless persons are living to
drive them out of those areas, frequently resulting in the destruction
of individuals’ personal property
such as important personal documents and medication.
• Enactment and enforcement of
laws that punish people for begging or panhandling in order to
move poor or homeless persons
out of a city or downtown area.
• Enactment and enforcement of
laws that restrict groups sharing
food with homeless persons in
public spaces.
• Enforcement of a wide range
of so-called “quality of life” ordinances related to public activities
and hygiene (i.e. public urination)
when no public facilities are available to people without housing.
Examples of Mean Cities
Since the beginning of 2007,
among others documented in this
report, measures taken in the following cities stand out as some of
the worst examples of cities’ inhumane treatment of homeless and
(continued on page 6)
Our Purpose: To Help the Homeless Learn How to Help Themselves
(continued on page 4)
The Voice of the Homeless
Page 2
Friends of the Homeless
For just $15 a month you can
keep a homeless family off the
streets for a day
Adam Staler
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Crime Watch
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In Loving Memory of Florence & Nat Popkin
In Loving Memory of
Frances Klein
In Loving Memory of Isabel Grimany
In Loving Memory of
Jose A. Estruch, Jr.
In Loving Memory of Kris Soltan
In Loving Memory of Martin E. Grey
In Loving Memory of My Daughter Melissa Lurz
In Loving Memory of Peter Sullivan
In Loving Memory of Rex Lichtenberger
In Loving Memory of Mail check to: COSAC Foundation
P.O. Box 292-577 Davie, FL 33329
Please include on memo
what name should appear in paper.
Thomas Gasbarro
In Memory of Steven Maderman
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In Memory of Charles Horton
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On Behalf of Matthew Lambert
OTD Messenger, Inc
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Ms. Ft. Lauderdale
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Thank you so much Sean & Lois for all your help.
Thank You Winn Dixie
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Volume XI, Issue 6
Page 3
Letter from the Editor:
Hey Mr. Mayor, Why Are You So Mean To Me?
E
ach year the National Coalition For the Homeless publish two major reports.
July 15th the meanest city report was made public. This is the report that
tells us advocates what city law makers are doing to the homeless.
Florida has been a state that has some of their cities listed in this report year
after year. From ripping down the tents of homeless people to arresting college
kids for feeding the homeless. Cities across the USA get listed in this report and
some people who find out that certain cities are mean to the homeless they end up
refusing to go there and spend their hard earned dollars. The report also embarrasses some of the local law makers to have their own city they are in control of
having experts putting all kinds of data out there showing just how mean they
really are to the homeless. Will they ever get a conscious? In this issue of the
Homeless Voice you will see the results of what cities are the mean ones and
Florida appears four times!
The sad part about being a mean city is that research shows that when cities are
mean to the homeless and pass laws that target the homeless, usually attacks on
the homeless are increased by housed individuals. This is one of the reasons why
Florida has more attacks to the homeless than any other state in past years.
The second report they publish is based on how many homeless are attacked
each year and how many homeless people are killed by housed individuals. This
report will be out in the next coming weeks.
Steps are being made to pass laws that if you attack a homeless person simply
because they are homeless then you will be facing a longer prison term under the
hate crimes laws. -Mark Targett
Publisher (middle) Sean Cononie meeting with Rain Wilson and his wife
discussing poverty in America and the continued world hunger problems
and the efforts the Homeless Voice is making in Haiti. Rain Wilson got
many stars support from hit tv shows such as Heroes, My Name is Earl,
Reno 911, and most of the cast from the award winning show The Office.
Our Homeless Voice readers:
W
e at the Homeless Voice are establishing a new subscriber list
in the event of an financial emergency.
What is a financial emergency and what
does it mean to you and to us? Most of
you all know we take the most chronic
homeless individuals, We take the ones
that have been rejected by our government shelters and the ones who are
very hard to handle because of severe
mental illness or a person who has severe seizures and just can’t stay settled
where they can meet the requirements
of a county shelter. Government shelters only give you a certain period of
time to get your act together and, well,
how can we expect a person to get their
act together in a period of time when
science and medicine can't always do
that.
Funded shelters have very
strict rules on who they can take, we
don't. Most of you also know the reason why we can take the hardest of the
hardest cases is because we and you
fund our shelter system. This is great,
we can buy what we need now not five
months later trying to get approval. We
can do outreach in the street and find a
way to help them right then and there.
We can do all of these great things because of you all who donate money to
us allowing us to continue to treat the
most difficult cases in the community.
However there are some down sides as
well.
We have always saved money
for emergencies in case it rained for a
month or two straight where we would
only sell half the amount of papers per
month. We’ve even saved money in
case we had two bad hurricanes and the
streets were blocked for several weeks
where trees and other debris would
block the streets from traffic.
Now comes the next problem.
We also have saved for a month or two
for a simple pandemic where I felt it
was in the best interest of our vendors
and the community not to have our vendors out in the street where they might
get sick or pass their own sickness off
to an unsuspecting person wanting to
donate to us. We could actually survive
for about four months without one cent
coming into the shelter. Also we can’t
forget in the time of a true pandemic
where it is so bad that many other people would also be out of work and may
not be able to give to our group. This
swine flu I was watching the kill ratio
and the amount of people in Florida
who were infected so I could start our
own procedure of pulling the vendors
off the street, A lot of people do not
realize money is dirty and we have to
count all this money coming into the
building. Sure we could be safe counting the money because we would use
masks and other equipment to make
the money safe but our vendors would
be risking their lives to bring in the donations and that is something I did not
want them to do if it was a bad pandemic. First we can stop reading this story
right now and take a break and thank
the good Lord for such a weak virus.
So let’s say it together, THANK YOU
GOD FOR KEEPING US SAFE.
Most of you know that I have
been trying to educate as many people
as I could with our own paper telling
each and every one of you to be prepared and to be prepared for months and
in some cases for up to eight months.
It is called social disruption and with
social disruption food is not always at
Publix and jobs are not always available and that also means charities and
churches are at risk of going out of
business. In fact with so much turmoil
charities and churches do not even
want to ask for money at the time of a
major crisis where thousands will lose
their lives. Sure we do it for disasters
but doing it for a pandemic is going to
be difficult for most of us who depend
on your support. It is not right unless
we are out there in the field spending
thousands on helping others get food
and supplies.
What I wanted to do was to secure our supporters emails in case there
was a major issue such as a pandemic
where we could reach out and send
an email to each supporter for them
to please send in their $2.00 donation
each and every month we are not on the
streets. Each and every month we sell
between 80,000 to 100,000 papers and
if a very bad pandemic hit us and we
were not selling our papers we could
survive. The government has already
instructed businesses to keep money
saved for a pandemic so they can continue to serve people and to pay their
staff. We have a very detailed plan
on how to cut costs and cut our own
expenses where we could cut our budget down from the 100,000 a month to
about 65,000 a month where we could
survive even longer but that is the lowest possible budget we can live on.
Please understand we will not
use this email system unless it is an
extreme emergency, however you may
want to send in your one time donation
today so we can plan even better. You
can send in a one time donation today
for $16.00- this would allow us to run
for the worst type disaster for a period
of up to eight months. If you want to
send in your donation today please see
the below instructions.
Before I go, please even if you
do not wish to help us reach these goals
or you just can't help us now please remember the need for you and your family to be fully prepared in case there is a
pandemic is essential. Please each and
every month stock up on supplies and
if you are prepared you will not have to
panic. Please go to our Pandemic web
site at:
www.PandemicBirdFlu.ws
COSAC EMERGENCY FUND
P.O. Box 292-577
Davie, Florida 33329
-THANK YOU AGAIN LORD
FOR SUCH A WEAK FLU!
Need flyers passed out or other temp labor?
Call 954-924-3571
Why call a day
labor company
and spend large
amounts of
money?
Call our contractor refferal
line. Call us and we will get you the person to do the
job for much less!
Page 4
The Voice of the Homeless
Volume XI, Issue 6
What is Criminalization of Homelessness?
(continued from page 1)
poor people:
#1 Los Angeles, CA.
According to a study by UCLA
released in September 2007, Los
Angeles was spending $6 million
a year to pay for fifty extra police
officers as part of its Safe City Initiative to crack down on crime in
the Skid Row area at a time when
the city budgeted only $5.7 million
for homeless services. Advocates
found that during an 11-month period 24 people were arrested 201
times, with an estimated cost of
$3.6 million for use of police, the
jail system, prosecutors, public defenders and the courts. Advocates
asserted that the money could have
instead provided supportive housing for 225 people. Many of the citations issued to homeless persons
in the Skid Row area were for jaywalking and loitering --“crimes”
that rarely produce written citations in other parts of Los Angeles.
The community rallies for safe housing
A tent city in Pinellas county before it was shut down by police.
#2 St. Petersburg, FL.
Since early 2007, St. Petersburg
has passed 6 new ordinances that
target homeless people. These
include ordinances that outlaw
panhandling throughout most of
downtown, prohibit the storage
of personal belongings on public
property, and make it unlawful to
sleep outside at various locations.
In January 2007, the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender announced that
he would no longer represent indigent people arrested for violating
municipal ordinances to protest
what he called excessive arrests of
homeless individuals by the City
of St. Petersburg. According to
numbers compiled by the public
defender’s office, the vast majority
of people booked into the Pinellas County Jail on municipal ordinances were homeless individuals
from St. Petersburg.
On January 19, 2007, police and
fire officials raided two homeless
camps located near a service provider after giving encampment
residents a week’s notice to relocate. During the raid, police destroyed and slashed tents, ruining
nearly 20. A video was posted on
youtube.com showing the police
cutting tents, some still occupied,
with scissors and knives. Writer
Abhi Raghunathan of tampabay.
com said that the video turned “St.
Petersburg … [into] a national
poster child for cruelty against the
homeless.”
A spokesman for the Fire and
Rescue Department tried to justify the actions by saying, “[The
camps] were all in violation of
[fire] codes.” Mayor Baker said he
did not know the police chief and a
deputy mayor planned this action.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, a city council member called
the raid an “embarrassment.”
During the raid, police slashed
tents if the owners would not take
them down. The Sentinel quoted
Police Chief Harmon as saying,
“In hindsight, we didn’t discuss
the actual property issue, and we
A man trying to get a nap in before he gets removed.
police could describe the areas included in
the “tourist triangle.”
As a result, enforcement has been sporadic except for “street sweeps,” demanded by
the developers of the Georgia Aquarium,
the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and other businesses.
On August 2nd 2008, police officers in
Atlanta began dressing as tourists in order
to catch people “aggressively begging” for
money. This undercover effort was part
of a “30-day crackdown” conceived and
implemented by the commander of the police, Maj. Khirus Williams, who, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
had “received letters from visitors who
said the begging was so bad that they were
never going to come back to Atlanta.” The
newspaper noted that while under normal
#3 Orlando, FL.
circumstances a tourist typically did not reIn 2006, the
turn to testify in
Orlando
City
Since
early
2007,
St.
Petersburg
has
court
against
Council passed a
the defendant,
passed 6 new ordinances that
law that prohibMaj. Williams
ited groups shartarget homeless people
expressed hope
ing food with 25
that “having ofor more people
ficers pose as tourists or office workers”
in downtown parks covered under the orwould result in more convictions because
dinance from doing so more than twice a
the officers were certain to testify. By Auyear. A member of one of the groups that
gust 22, 2008, the officers arrested 44 39
shares food regularly with homeless and
people for panhandling and warned anpoor people in Orlando parks was actually
other 51. The Washington Post reported in
arrested under the ordinance for sharing
October 2008 that the sting resulted in 50
food. A federal district court found the law
arrests.
unconstitutional; however, the City of Orlando has appealed the decision.
#5 Gainesville, FL
In September 2007, despite opposition
#4 Atlanta, GA
from homeless advocates and city offiAfter passing an ordinance in 2007 makcials, the Gainesville City Commission
ing panhandling illegal in the “tourist trianclosed down all publicly owned portions
gle,” Atlanta’s Central Atlanta Progress, an
of a large homeless encampment – “Tent
alliance of downtown businesses, succeedCity” – as part of its 10-year plan to end
ed in persuading Mayor Shirley Franklin
homelessness. As part of the plan, the City
to present an ordinance outlawing panhanCommission approved a plan to spend up
dling in heavily visited downtown areas.
to $75,000 constructing a fence to keep
The ban made panhandling illegal within
people off the property, and only $20,000
the “tourist triangle” and anywhere after
to address the housing and service needs
dark. The ordinance also prohibits panhanof those impacted by the forced eviction
dling within 15 feet of an ATM, bus stop,
(the City ultimately committed $67,000 to
taxi stand, pay phone, public toilet, or train
fund additional beds, though only a handstation anywhere in the city. Not even the
ful of people were able to meet the strict
probably should have taken that into consideration.” After the tent slashing, the
City authorized a temporary tent city to
be opened on a vacant lot next to St. Vincent de Paul, a homeless service provider.
That tent city was closed in May 2007. In
December 2007, a new tent city, Pinellas
Hope, was established on the outskirts of
the city and is run by Catholic Charities.
Since early 2007, St. Petersburg has
passed 6 new ordinances that target homeless people.
These ordinances include prohibitions
on panhandling throughout most of downtown, prohibit the storage of personal belongings on public property anywhere in
the city, and make it unlawful to sleep outside at various locations.
www.HomelessVoice.com
Protesters take their frustration out on the law enforcement
conditions attached to the assistance offered.)
#6 Kalamazoo, MI
In the summer of 2007, several members of Michigan People’s Action were
arrested for sleeping in public parks following the enactment of an ordinance
prohibiting such activities. In addition,
homeless individuals who have been
ticketed for sleeping in public parks
have been unable to obtain housing.
Those homeless individuals and Michigan People’s Action members who
were ticketed or arrested for sleeping
in public parks challenged their arrests
in court. By early September 2008, all
charges had been dropped against the
homeless individuals and activists.
During the same period, homeless advocates and homeless persons began
having difficulty accessing the Kalamazoo Transportation Center (a public
transportation bus station). Public Safety Chief James Mallery said that due to
a large number of calls regarding drugs,
fights, loitering, and panhandling, they
were attempting to move people out of
there that did not appear to be using the
buses. However, Michigan People’s Action claimed that law enforcement was
particularly targeting people who appeared to be homeless. Michigan People’s Action said that homeless people
were being harassed at the Transportation Center by officers who asked for
their identification and proof that they
were waiting for a bus to arrive.
#7 San Francisco, CA
According to a San Francisco Chronicle article, San Francisco police issue
about 10,000 citations each year for
quality-of-life crimes such as camping, blocking sidewalks, and drinking
in public. Violations typically require a
court appearance and failing to appear
results in issuance of a misdemeanor
warrant. About 90% of violators fail to
appear.
However, people who do appear in
Advocates parade down the street
court and challenge their citations often
have their fines reduced, or their cases
dismissed, in part because the city does
not send prosecutors to the hearings.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported
that Paul Henderson, Assistant District
Attorney, said as a result of absences,
“defendants weren’t being held accountable for transgressions.” The city
planned to change that, and started assigning prosecutors to cases to ensure
that the accused did not get off easily.
Homeless advocates said the approach
is a misuse of resources. They argued
that criminalizing these activities is unfair when there is a shortage of affordable housing and 42 social services.
Many people cannot afford to pay fines,
and warrants prevent them from accessing government aid for which they
might qualify. Responding to this criticism, prosecutors decided to dismiss
fines if the defendant had proof that he
or she had received 20 hours of social
services per citation. However, prosecutors do not actually offer any services
to defendants or help defendants enroll
in any program. Moreover, defendants
are still prosecuted if they do not have
proof that they are currently receiving
services because they are on waiting
lists for services. Thus, the presence of
prosecutors in court increases the city’s
efforts to punish people for violations
that they cannot avoid.
Advocates also argue that it is unfair
for the city to spend money on public
prosecutors when it does not provide
defense attorneys to represent people
facing these charges.
Homeless people are not entitled to a
public defender when they face infraction charges.
#8 Honolulu, HI
Since 2006, the City Council has
closed a large number of beach parks on
the leeward coast of Oahu for “cleaning,” sending teams of police officers
to remove people from their temporary
homes; the Council has also banned
overnight sleeping in at least seven leeward employees offer help to displaced homecoast parks in two years. According to the less people when benches are removed.
Honolulu Advertiser, a local newspaper, Street Roots reported that advocates feel
City Council Member Todd Apo said it was that the new initiative is part of a series of
important that homeless individuals not get city policies designed to “push the hometoo closely attached to certain beaches or less out of sight.”
parks because it makes it harder to move
#9 Bradenton, FL
them when the time comes. “When they
In early 2007, a Bradenton police ofput up structures and really move in, it’s
ficer was punished for attempting to help
just more difficult to deal with them later,”
a homeless woman he arrested maintain
Apo said. In response to a Hawaii Supreme
her possessions. Officer Nicholas Evans
Court decision striking the City and Counarrested a homeless woman, whose entire
ty of Honolulu’s anti-camping law, the Hocollection of possessions was in a shopnolulu City Council simply passed yet anping cart. Evans moved the cart by pulling
other anti-camping law in August 2008 to
it alongside his patrol car for the entire 12make it easier to move homeless campers
mile drive to the county jail.
out of public parks.
Evans was criticized by supervisors for
The ban on overnight sleeping has not
bringing negative attention upon himself
worked – homeless individuals simply
and the department. Supervisors constay up at night and sleep during the day,
demned him for failing to follow state laws
making it even
and for unsafely
more
difficult Homeless people are not entitled to a
operating a vefor them to find
public
defender
when
they
face
hicle.
employment.
While homeinfraction charges
Because tourism
less advocates
is so important
praised Evans’
to the economy of Honolulu, city officials
actions, Police Chief Michael Radzilowski
feel that it is important to clear the major
responded, “I think they are misguided. I
parks of homeless people: according to
don’t think they understand a police offithe Honolulu Advertiser, Council Member
cer’s responsibility in protecting the public
Charles Djou said, “Having it go on at such
safety.” In the February 2, 2007 issue of the
a prominent park is bad for the economy.”
Bradenton Herald, Adrian Lazeroff, ExecThe City Council seems particularly agutive Director of the Suncoast Partnership
grieved at the sleeping habits of the hometo End Homelessness replied, “I am not in
less population: they have proposed bills
a position to decide whether a person did
making it a crime to sleep at a bus stop
the correct thing as a police officer. But I
and have spent thousands of dollars retam certainly supportive of respecting the
rofitting bus stops to discourage sleeping.
rights of homeless individuals, including
In November 2008, the City and County
the right they have to have their possesof Honolulu replaced benches at bus stops
sions taken to corrections facilities.” Evans
with round concrete stools in response to
was suspended for 30 days for his misconcomplaints about homeless individuals
duct.
sleeping at the stops. Street Roots, a street
#10 Berkeley, CA
newspaper located in Portland, Oregon, reOn June 12, 2007, Berkeley’s City Counported that bus officials said that the problem is not new, just “more visible as more cil unanimously passed the “Public Compeople ride the bus.” According to Street mons for Everyone” initiative to “clear the
Roots, the city spent $11,000 on the seating streets of aggressive and disruptive behavior.” This law targets a wide range of beinitiative as of November 2008. The
Honolulu Advertiser reported that city havior, including lying on or blocking the
Page 5
sidewalk, smoking near doorways,
having a shopping cart, tying animals to fixed objects, littering,
drinking in public, public urination and defecation and shouting
in public.
The two-part law authorizes penalties for minor public offenses
while extending funding for services including public restrooms.
Critics say the law is unfairly
aimed at homeless individuals,
but defenders argue that it will affect everyone: college students are
caught doing these acts as often
as homeless people. Berkeley has
long had a reputation as a liberal,
open-minded town that provided
plenty of social services, which
in turn attracted a large homeless population. According to one
study, although it represents just
7% of Alameda County’s total
population, Berkeley now hosts
40% of the county’s chronically
homeless people.
Osha Neumann, an attorney who
defends homeless individuals, told
Indybay.org that homeless people
are frightened by these measures
and many are thinking about leaving town. He also indicated that
funding for meals and other services for homeless people have been
reduced, and there are not enough
shelter beds.
Homeless advocates fought vehemently to stop the Public Commons initiative because they believe it victimizes the defenseless.
Additionally, they argue that the
$2 million in annual funding for
the initiative would be better spent
on homeless services. The Los Angeles Times reported that council
member Dona Spring abstained
from several votes because “there
is no detox available, there are no
(new) services. I see no place in
this package to help people get out
of poverty.”
On June 8, 2008, the Berkeley
City Council passed an ordinance
repealing a 1946 loitering ordinance, which made it “unlawful
for any person to loiter about any
school or public place at or near
which schoolchildren attend.” The
City Council acted after Kim Nemirow filed a suit challenging the
law as unconstitutional. Nemirow
was issued a citation in 2007 for
loitering while resting on a blanket
in Berkeley’s Willard Park with
her wheelchair nearby. After the
repeal, the Oakland Tribune quoted Nemirow saying, “It makes it
a little more difficult to criminalize homeless people.” Osha Neumann,
46 Nemirow’s attorney with the
East Bay Community Law Center, agreed and said, “This one just
didn’t make any sense at all. What
the heck are parks for, if not for
loitering?
It’s only poor people who loiter.
The rich never loiter. They just engage in leisure time activities.”
Our Purpose: To Help the Homeless Learn How to Help Themselves
The Voice of the Homeless
Page 6
Mr. Mayor is Your City a Mean City?
(continued from page 1)
“Criminalizing homelessness is
not only an inhumane way of approaching people who are poor
and vulnerable, but is counterproductive in dealing with the problem of homelessness,” said Tulin
Ozdeger, NLCHP Civil Rights
Program Director. “It costs more
to jail a person than it does to provide permanent supportive housing.”
The report also includes information about costs studies examining criminalization measures,
constitutional challenges to mea-
sures that criminalize homelessness, how
criminalization measures violate human
rights law, as well as constructive alternatives to criminalization.
The report recommends that cities adopt
constructive measures, such as developing
innovative strategies to allocate more city
funds for permanent housing, job training
and services for homeless people. In addition, NLCHP and NCH recommend that
the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, recently charged by Congress
with developing such alternatives, urge
cities to stop criminalizing homelessness
and adopt such constructive measures in-
What can be done instead of making
laws that target homeless people?
I
t seems when cities pass these
laws all it does it help keep the
person homeless longer. Arrests
build up where people become unemployable as well as costing tax
payers a lot more because of the
criminal justice process. It is far
better to use the money that is being used on enforcing these laws
and putting it in programs and
shelters to help people instead of
harming them as well as harming
society. For every dollar we spend
on these target based laws it takes
a dollar out of education, out of
housing, out of EMS, out of food
stamps, it all adds up.
Constructive Alternatives to
Criminalization
While many cities engage in practices that exacerbate the problem
of homelessness by criminalizing
it, some cities around the country
have pursued more constructive
approaches. The following examples illustrate more constructive
approaches to homelessness:
• Daytona Beach, FL. In order to
reduce the need for panhandling, a coalition of service providers, business groups,
and the City of Daytona Beach began a
program that provides homeless participants with jobs and housing. While in the
Downtown Street Team program, participants are hired to clean up downtown Daytona Beach and are provided initially with
shelter and subsequently with transitional
housing. A number of participants have
moved on from the program to other fulltime jobs and housing.
We have to ask ourselves how tolerant
should we be? There will always be poor
and homeless people in the world and when
we make laws that go after the poor does it
harden our hearts? Will our hearts eventually be so hard over time that we just start
to rid the earth of poor people? I ‘m sorry,
there are already places on earth where the
government does not lift one finger to give
their people food, shelter, and water- this
is the reason we have International Aide.
Mr. Politician, there are other ways to assist people than to assist them to a trip to
jail solely because they have to sleep somewhere. -Contributed by Sean Cononie
COSAC’S CHURCH
Come to the church that is
a Church of Service and
Charity Learn of Jesus and
learn how to put God’s
words into action.
Sunday 2 pm to 2:45 pm
1203 N. Federal Highway
Hollywood, FL 33020
954-924-3571 x316
stead.
The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty’s mission is to
prevent and end homelessness by serving as the legal arm of the nationwide
movement to end homelessness. To
achieve its mission, NLCHP pursues
three main strategies: impact litigation,
policy advocacy, and public education.
The National Coalition for the Homeless’ mission is to end homelessness and
poverty. NCH seeks to accomplish our
mission through policy advocacy, public
education, research, community organizing, and empowering the homeless popu-
lation.
Top Ten Meanest Cities:
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. St. Petersburg, FL
3. Orlando, FL
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Gainesville, FL
6. Kalamazoo, MI
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Bradenton, FL
10. Berkeley, CA
Story by NLCHP and NCH
City To Church: Stop Feeding Homeless
(continued from page 1)
The neighbor wanted to make clear that the interpretation of the ordinance.
the neighborhood does not want to shut She said they are a church first,
down the homeless outreach entirely; they not a charity dining hall, so the orwould just like it moved
to another location.
They believe their safe- “We have been feeding the homeless
since (the church) began.
ty is being compromised
It’s
part
of the mission of the church.
in the current location
It’s part of who we are.”
and worry about the preschool located on the
church property.
The city looked into the complaint and dinance does not apply to them.
For that reason, she believes the
determined the church is violating its zonchurch should be allowed to coning ordinance.
The church is in a residential zone. Ac- tinue serving the homeless. She
cording to Patrick Ravenstein, area man- is also willing to work with the
ager for neighborhood preservation with neighbors to find a solution that
the city, you must be in a commercial or will make all parties happy.
“You can’t tell us we’re someindustrial zone to operate a charity dining
thing that we’re not,” Escobedohall.
“It’s just that the activity is not permit- Frank said. “Our argument is that
ted in a residential zone,” Ravenstein said. we are not a charity dining hall, so
“We certainly appreciate churches and they are defining us incorrectly.”
The church has appealed the
community organizations that help out the
community in any way possible. There are city’s decision. If that appeal is
just certain activities that are relegated to denied, their other options include
trying to amend the ordinance or
certain zoning districts.”
The city has informed the church that moving the Saturday event to a
they are violating the ordinance. They different location.
Jeff Butera
have been told they can serve the homeReporter, KPHO.com
less for the next Saturdays, but then they
must stop.
Escobedo-Frank, though, disagrees with
* Free Weddings
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Volume XI, Issue 6
Page 7
What if The Homeless Voice had a penny for every
time you searched or shopped on the internet?
Business
Directory
To place YOUR AD
Call 954-924-3571
We’ll work with your logo or have one our staff
design your ad for you! Ads as large as 1/2 page
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Fri. 7:30 p.m.
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Search the web with www.goodsearch.com and money
from Yahoo advertisers will go to The Homeless Voice
without you spending a dime!
We need:
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Bedside Snack Ministry
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Youth Ministry
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(954) 485-8491
Help bring a smile to our residents!
To drop off donations please contact 954-410-6275
www.safelinkwireless.com
Most homeless people qualify for a free cell phone
and airtime in their state if they receive food
stamps, Medicaid or other assistance. All they need is an address of a local shelter to
use. Go to the web site and see what
your state requires.
Advantage
Communications,
INC.
Commercial,
Industrial, and
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* ACI supports the Homeless Voice and the Cosac Foundation in raising awareness and providing solutions to
homelessness in our neighborhoods.
* ACI knows that lending aid to human beings in need is good for our souls, our communities and is simply the right thing
to do.
* ACI would like to thank all people who are actively engaged in helping humanity here on the blue planet. God bless the
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Mark Lavallee, President 954-961-2642 www. advantage-com.com Excellence in Radio
www.Homeless.me
www.churchservice.me
This month we are very excited to bring you two new social
networking websites. We would love to have your feedback so check
them out directly or you can go to our website and follow the links.
Top 10 Meanest Cities
www.HomelessVoice.org
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. St. Petersburg, FL
3. Orlando, FL
4. Atlanta, GA
5. Gainesville, FL
6. Kalamazoo, MI
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Bradenton, FL
10. Berkeley, CA
Volume 11, Issue 6