Friday, May 18, 2012

THE ANGEL ATTORNEY: NIKKI JOHNSON-HUSTON, FROM HOMELESS TO LAWYER


“I want to tell both of our stories so that people understand they can change their lives…”
This quote is from Nikki Johnson-Huston, Esq., the Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia Law Department Major Tax Unit. And I call her an angel attorney.
Her story is an amazing one! Hollywood couldn’t have scripted it, no way. Nikki’s life journey is so deep, so emotional, tragic and hopeful, wild and calm, sad and happy, some failures and many successes, it is so familiar and unique, it is just so real!
Nikki was born in Detroit 36 years ago in a family facing harsh poverty and struggling to survive. Her beloved grandmother was injured in a bus accident that left her in a position “where she couldn’t work”, starting a nasty cycle that started the family on the road to homelessness.
According to a Phila Daily News article by Christine Olley, Nikki’s grandmother used the money she received from the crash settlement to move the family to San Diego. Unfortunately, trouble followed and multiplied. The Johnson family , Nikki, brother Michael and their mother were forced to live on the streets. The family spent their days going from “one shelter to another shelter” , scrounging meals at a rescue mission, crashing at times in cheap hotels and anything else it took to survive. Their mother was also battling acute alcoholism as well.
At age 10, Nikki’s troubled mother sent her to live with her grandmother in nearby Santa Barbara, Calif. Her brother, Michael, went into foster care.
Nikki’s life changed for the better, and she began to carry out her dreams and construct her future life. She decided to travel across the country and enrolled in Saint Joseph’s University on a scholarship with the intent of becoming a lawyer.
Things didn’t work out as planned and there were more trials and sorrows to come.
In a May 2010 interview with attorney/journalist Gina Furia Rubel, Nikki recounts, “I didn’t fit in. I had been homeless. I came from poverty. I didn’t always have money to pay for lunch……So when I failed during my first year, i thought my dream was over. I had not beaten the odds. I believed that I had no place to go. I WAS GOING TO BE HOMELESS YET AGAIN….”
Again, her luck and the strong fortitude within her soul came to work for Nikki.
She found work as a nanny for 3-year old Ben, son of Deborah and Don a generous couple living on the Main Line, establishing a special bond with that family which has grown over 15 years.
Nikki used her nanny earnings to re-enroll at St Joseph’s, completed her education, eventually getting 2 law degrees and her MBA. Nikki soon joined the city of Philadelphia as an attorney.
Her personal accomplishments are just the start. Nikki is determined to give back to the community and the world. She spends hours of her time reaching out, using her life and her ideas to encourage others to follow and succeed in their dreams. She speaks at Rowan House, a North Philly residence for homeless families. She works on numerous programs for Project H.O.M.E and is a consistent reader and supporter of One Step Away. And I know first hand that she will advocate and work harder than anyone to help prevent a person face homelessness.
*********************************************************************************************
Nikki Johnson-Huston not only graciously accepted this paper’s request for an interview to tell her own personal story of success but she wanted to exclusively relate the deeply heartfelt story of her beloved brother Michael directly to our One Step Away readers.
These are Nikki’s own words:
“Michael Martin Johnson
Age 33
Died in San Diego Ca.
My mother, brother, and I were homeless for almost a year and then I was sent to live with my disabled grandmother who was in Section 8 housing. She could only take one of us and my brother was put into foster care. I feel that my brother never had a real chance to find his way.
My brother and I made different choices. I wish I could tell you my brother’s story had a happy ending but it didn’t. He bounced around foster homes and dropped out of high school. During the years when I was struggling to make a life for myself in Philadelphia, I didn’t know where he was. I did not see or talk to my little brother from my high school graduation until he found me during my last semester of law school (11 years).
By that time he had contracted HIV and was addicted to meth. I spent the last six years of his life trying to get him into rehab, to go back and get his GED and to go to college. He was never ready, he always said some day. But someday never came. I received a call in July 2010 telling me that he was on life support and brain dead after hanging himself.
My brother never realized how smart, funny, handsome, and talented he was. He never believed that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to. I want to tell both of our stories so that people understand they can change their lives and so no other family has to suffer the loss of someone they love.
He had people who loved and cared about him and the world is a better place because he lived in it.
I just wish he realized how important he was to so many people.”
*****************************************************************************************
Michael Martin Johnson’s life and death is , of course, vital to Nikki but also has meaning to all of us.
Nikki says, “When Michael died, it was a blessing for me, because I saw the world so clear…..We had a memorial service and more than 80 people came out for Michael. They came, sang, told stories…..he was so important to these people…..he had an inner beauty that others saw and found….Michael always reminded them that “This too shall pass”.If I had Michael for just one day, I would say ‘I love you’. I just didn’t know how to say it then. I know now not to judge people on my terms.”
Nikki is now happily married to a loving, caring husband, has an exciting career with a comfortable income, growing fame and a wonderful life with more beautiful, well-deserved riches to come. However there are still unresolved issues with her mother that must be and will be resolved.
Nikki Johnson-Huston is living her dream, but she wants to share her story to educate others, to be part of the solution. By sharing her story, her family’s story, she “hopes to help others to realize that they can overcome adversity, poverty, homelessness and so many other obstacles to success.”


Nikki Johnson-Huston is an angel attorney and the world is indeed a much much better place to live becuase of her dedication and committment.
posted by Erik Michael Younge: eryounge@gmail.com
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YOUNG CRIMINAL MINDS

YOUNG CRIMINAL MINDS: PHILLY’S LATEST ‘REALITY SHOW’


It’s that time of the summer in Philadelphia again.
The time of the “flash mobs”.
In July, a mob attacked people at random downtown and a man ended in the hospital with a wired jaw, broken teeth and cracked ribs; at least 4 other residents were also assaulted, including a woman with a broken arm by teenagers, ranging from 11-years-of age to 22 years of age.
The problem is the city’s so-called solution to this national problem.
Instead of a sensible, common-sense, effective solution, I think the recent, much publicized “curfew crackdown” shouted out by Mayor Nutter is nothing more than a weak, ineffective, wrong-headed bandaid response that not only punishes the innocent youth but continues to criminalize our children.
The curfew laws in Philly once mandated that anyone under 18 had to be indoors by midnight, and if under 13 to be off the streets by 10pm. Mayor Nutter recently announced a curfew of 9pm for under 18 on Fridays and Saturdays. A first arrest means a fine of $100 to $300. Parents then face fines up to $500 for each following violations by their children.
Note that this only applies to downtown, center city and in University City. The rest of the city, our neighborhoods have the previous curfew laws in effect!!!???
A big problem is that there is or has been any evidence that curfews work. The facts show conclusively that most juvenile crime occurs between 3pm and 7pm. In the case of the 2 flash mob attacks in Philly, they did occur before 8pm. Remember the Sears store attack in July? That happened in broad daylight as well. So just how effective is this new curfew crackdown anyhow?
I believe it is helping to criminalize our children. It is sending the message that it is illegal to be outside, illegal to be young, illegal to travel the streets peacefully.
Most young people are not part of a flash mob or involved in criminal activity. They are just young folks doing what all teenagers do, especially in the summer months. Just as we did back in our young summer days.
Marc Lamont Hill, in a recent Phila Daily News piece, pointed out, “The first problem with curfews is that they strip away our rights. As citizens, youth are permitted to exercise their 1st Amendment right to free speech and peaceful assembly. As courts have argued, by imposing broad and constitutionally vague curfew restrictions, we limit their ability to engage in lawful behaviors like walking, driving or going to the store.”
The city seems to be developing a new reality show, Young Criminal Minds (apologies to my favorite tv show Criminal Minds), where the goal of the show is to how best alienate the youth, instill a juvenile criminal mentality, produce criminal behavior and then the stars of the show, public officials can ride in, make arrests and talk tough. With enough arrests, the show can be renewed for another year and these politicos can collect residuals in syndication.
I know I’m just being cute here but I’m serious.
The city tackled the problem of juvenile crime a few years ago under the John Street administration more effectively when in early 2007, more than a dozen curfew centers were established across the city. These centers linked the curfew enforcement with strong community support, social services, educational support directly linked to the Phila School system, community centers, and emphasized parental involvement all throughout the process.
There was tremendous improvement in many areas of the city. Juvenile crime experienced a 83% drop in one district, and a 60% drop in another district in South Philadelphia, where juvenile crime and truancy had skyrocketed in 2007.
Unfortunately, Nutter immediately began to shut down these curfew centers in 2008, citing “no indication of substantial decrease in juvenile arrest or victimization.”
This statement was severely condemned by those who operated the centers, families served, young people, the police and the available data. But the new mayor didn’t listen then. It seems all he has now is a lot of tough talk and his new reality show.
Philadelphia should follow the lead of Baltimore and Kansas City that have created new community-based curfew centers to combat their own flash mob incidents and to provide a real effective solution to juvenile crime.
If these anti-youth policies continue in this city without enough resources provided for our youth, we will only alienate our children, maybe making them better juvenile criminals.
The tv show Criminal Minds is fiction. Young Criminal Minds needs to cancelled immediately before it becomes a reality.


Peace!
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UNDER THE RADAR: THE HIDDEN HOMELESS

 


The sad reality is that homelessness is growing around the world!
Canada reports that more than 150,000 homeless people are scattered across their territories. Australia estimates that 110,000 are experiencing homelessness on that continent. In the United Kingdom, 11,000 “rough sleepers”(typical British understatement!) are sleeping in alleys and on the streets.
It is, to the shame of this nation, the United States of America that tops the world-wide charts with the highest number of individuals and families that are identified as homeless and that number is growing as we speak.
There have been a series of recent stories in the media focusing on what is called “the hidden homeless”, those who homeless, but somehow they are under the radar , struggling to survive yet their stories are not always told and heard and they are basically ignored by just about everyone.
The hidden homeless populations are found in Los Angeles, Memphis, Texas, Mississippi, Chicago, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
The hidden homeless includes families sheltered in motels, the working poor facing foreclosure on their homes, teenagers who have been kicked out of their homes or have left to get away from abuse and are now crashing with friends or other family members, college students who also squat on couches and floors in friends dorms or on the floors of their peers, and the mentally ill who are on the streets afraid of and uncomfortable with shelters, cafes and havens.

HOMELESS IN MOTELS:
We are in the era of rising unemployment, record foreclosures, out-of-whack rising food prices, increasing utility costs, shrinking paychecks, combined with massive cuts in social services that have forced more and more families out of their homes and into the homes of relatives and friends.
There are now a growing number of families living in pay-by-the-week motels.
A story by CBN News Dispatch reports that “One school’s buses pick up students from at least 6 different area motels in South Kansas City, Mo. One of the wealthiest school districts in Kansas City also counted 227 homeless students in January of this year.”
Pastor John Wiley of the River Christian fellowship Church in Raytown, Mo started to work with the homeless motel folks in 2008.
“They’d gone into the motels thinking it would be 2 or 3 weeks that they would be there. We found families that were there 3 or 4 years,” he told CBN News.
Pastor Wiley’s church began to help these families by providing hot meals and rent assistance.
The Church and the community are now expanding their mission, purchasing an abandoned building and converting it into a 66-unit center to house the needy, to be called “the River of Refuge Dream Center — a place where they can get healed with dignity and move out with their own money.”
It is estimated that there are 10,000 or more pay-by-the-week motels housing the homeless around the country.
Inquirer staff writer recently highlighted the family of Robert Cordero, his wife Samantha, his two sons and three daughters being housed at the Hillside Inn in Cherry hill, NJ. The Cordero family moved into the Hillside after he lost his home-remodeling job and they were evicted from their apartment in Woodlynne. The family lives in single rooms, where beds double as dinner tables, “and folded clothes, food, and toys are stacked high along the walls.”
The article continues: “The boys each have a dresser drawer, and the 2 youngest girls share a drawer. My 11-year-old has her own drawer…. and I put my stuff on top of a storage bin,” says Mr. Cordero.
Robert has just recently been rehired by another home-remodeling company and hopes that his new paycheck will help the family move out of the motel to a new apartment or house.
“You have to keep your spirits up and say, ‘Tomorrow will be better,’ “he said. “If I give up, my kids will think it’s OK to give up.”
Living in the same motel is Beth Allen and her 9-month daughter Kaylee. She is currently unemployed and disabled and escaping an abusive boyfriend. Life has been so rough for Miss Allen lately. “I was a sales representative for a medical equipment company, until a drunk driver hit my car in Delaware” a few years ago, said Allen, 46. “I had a brain injury and still have some memory loss. I’ve always worked hard. I’ve given food and clothing to others, and now this. I’ve gone days without eating – and Kaylee has just a half can of formula….. I’ve hit rock bottom.”
Other families at the Hillside profiled included Michelle Carter, with her 2 children John & Siani (6 and 8 respectively); Vianelis Rosario, with her 2 children, Derick, 4, and Brianaliz, 3; and Lakesha Bullard, son Jaheem, 13; and her husband, Barry, laid off from his postal service job.
For most of these families, it involves looking for work, eking out on welfare, food stamps, housing services, Medicaid, doing odd jobs “here and there” and “off the books”, all while trying to hold their family together.
According to a Camden County Board of Social Services director, “It costs $50 a night for us to put a single adult in a motel, $85 for a family.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that there were nationally more than 650,000 people living in shelters, motels, staying in relatives homes, crashing with friends, or on the streets last year. HUD identified some 14,500 in Pennsylvania and more than 14,000 in New Jersey in 2010.
At least 775 were marked as homeless in Camden alone and more than 1,200 in Philadelphia in 2010.
At least 1.59 million folks were homeless for at least one night somewhere in America last year.
These numbers are just an estimate, a low one at that.
As reported in the June 2011 One Step Away front page article, only in the past 3 months has there been a concerted, face-to-face, city-wide street outreach to accurately number the chronic homeless on Philly’s streets and parks, initiated by the 100K Homes Coalition.
While homelessness is a global problem, there is just too much wealth, too many resources being wasted, abused and misused, especially in this “richest country in the world” that it is absolutely inexcusable for too many people, too many families and children to still be homeless or facing imminent homelessness.
OSA wants to spotlight these “hidden homeless” so that their stories will spark more programs, services, coalitions, whatever is needed to find an effective solution to ending homelessness today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Next, ‘The Hidden Homeless” will spotlight high school and college students who are experiencing homelessness and keeping it hidden.
posted by Leslie Miles and Erik Younge./please comment at: eryounge@gmail.com
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FATIMAH ALI – ADVOCATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE DIES AT 56

Fatimah Ali, one of the strongest advocates for social justice, was a great journalist,a brilliant radio talk show host, a compassionate and loyal supporter of One Step Away and a dear friend. She passed away on Monday, Jan. 23, peacefully asleep in her home in North Philadelphia.
I first met Fatimah Ali as a faithful listener of her radio talk show on WHAT more than a decade ago. She was always a calm, intelligent, insightful host who “kept it real” and made you think, not just about the problems in the world, but also about the solutions and what we could do to resolve the problems.
Her remarkable career began in 1981. She excelled in all fields of media. Besides being a talk show host, she was a veteran journalist, her opinion column for the Phila. Daily News provided a provocative and “a thoughtful voice in the mix of our editorial contributors”, Sandra Shea, Daily News editorial-page editor remarked.
Fatimah joined One Step Away in 2010 as the first Development Manager. The issues of homelessness, hunger and poverty have always been a priority for her.
I had the privilege to work on an article jointly with Fatimah and learned so much from the experience. It began with an over-the-phone interview with author Liz Murray detailing her inspiring life overcoming obstacles as she came from “homelessness to Harvard” and Liz Murray had just written her autobiography.
I was nervous about this phone interview since I had never conducted one before. I was grateful and amazed at how relaxed and professional Fatimah Ali, not only made the author feel but also myself. The interview was a great experience and the resulting article we both wrote was a pleasure. (see One Step Away, October 2010)
Her time with One Step Away was, unfortunately, brief but she became a true friend and mentor to both OSA reporter Leslie Miles and myself. She always promoted OSA at various community events. She frequently invited us on her show to highlight OSA articles and encouraged listeners to buy and support the paper faithfully.
Fatimah Ali was most recently host of the daily “The Real Deal with Fatimah Ali” , heard 10 to 12am on WURD-AM.
Sara Lomax Reese, president and general manager of WURD commented in a recent Philadelphia Tribune piece: “She (Fatimah) was an advocate of prisoners and incarcerated men and women and she just spoke truth to power and that was really her legacy of not being intimidated and not backing down to anyone l of their title or position. She was just a real, outspoken advocate for people who didn’t have a voice.”
Fatimah described herself as a “God-loving mother of 5 and a grandmother. I’m a journalist, a radiohead, who loves her family, her roots, people, art, food, news and information, and culture.”
Rest in peace Fatimah Ali. We miss you dearly. We respect you and we love you for you and for all you did to help people. We are committed to carry on your legacy of dedicated journalism for all those that need a voice.
All of us at One Step Away send heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.
posted by Leslie Miles and Erik Younge
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Thursday, May 17, 2012

 

SIGN THIS PETITION

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Mayor of Philadelphia and the Health department: Eliminate the ban on outdoor feeding of the hungry and the homeless
  1. Signatures
    17 out of 2,000
    Petitioning
    1. Mayor of Philadelphia and the Health department
  2. Created By
    erik younge
    phila, PA
About this PetitionPetition LetterPetition Updates
Phila. is proposing a ban on outdoor feeding of the hungry and the homeless, threating a fine of $150 and other punitive measures. This violates both civil rights and religious freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
Feeding people is a right, not a crime.
Phila. is the 2nd hungriest district in the country and the need is vital and severe. This proposed law is costly, unnecessary and just plain wrong.
Eliminate the ban on outdoor feedings now!
Why People Are Signing
  • Gail Sacco
    1 day ago
    If the government is not going to help the least fortunate then it is up to the community to step in. Government should not be setting up barriers to prevent us from caring about/for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Recent Signatures

 
 
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our good friend & mentor FATIMAH ALI, rest with the Creator
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Rest in Peace, Donna Summer
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UNSAFE AND UNSOUND: SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN


“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
The recent Penn State scandal is a personal shot to the gut. As a father of 3, It packs a powerful punch.
Sexual abuse, in general, and sexual abuse of children is a disturbing epidemic in this country.
The 3 most alarming areas where sexual abuse is a cancer these days are in the schools, the sports arena and the church.
According to a recent major national study by the American Association of University Women, during the 2010-11 school year, 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experienced “some form of sexual harassment in person or electronically via texting, email and social media…..It’s reached a level where it’s almost a normal part of the school day….It’s somewhat of a vicious cycle. The kids who are harassers often have been harassed themselves.”
The survey asked 1,002 girls and 963 boys from public and private schools nationally whether they had experienced any of the various forms of sexual harassment: unwelcome sexual comments about/to them, being physically touched in an inappropriate sexual manner, being shown sexually explicit photos, being called gay or lesbian in a negative way as an insult, and having to deal with unwelcome sexual rumors and malicious gossip.
In the sports world, Penn State scandal is just the latest of several incidents of sexual abuse, harassment and improprity that have come to light.
A report by Edward Williams in The Grio online site highlighted the case of Ernest Lorch, a millionaire investment attorney and founder of the very successful Riverside Church Basketball program in Westchester County and Bob Oliva, head of Christ King Regional High School basketball program in Queens, NYC.
The Christ King program has won 5 city championships. Many of its players, like Lamar Odom of the Lakers and former Nets Jayson Williams, are known NBA ers. In 2009, Bob Oliva was “forced to resign in shame after accusations of child molestation and an investigation which led to him (Oliva) pleading guilty of all charges listing him as a sexual predator.”
Ernest Lorch also became the target of an investigation into sexual abuse charges when a former player came forward with the revelation that he had been sexually abused since the age of 12 by Lorch, who tried to buy his silence with large sums of money to keep silent.
In 2010, Bishop Eddie Long, a mega church Georgia minister was accused of several accounts of sexual abuse of young men, from their early teens until they turned 17. Long, at first, denied any wrongdoing, but soon settled financially all the accusers claims to stem the tide of growing sexual abuse complaints.
Added to the Catholic Church priests scandal, sexual abuse cases have involved religious denominations from Baptists to Jewish rabbis.
There is a common thread running through a majority of these cases: the victims are overwhelmingly from underprivileged backgrounds, so-called at-risk kids, throwaway children, neglected youth, nameless, faceless and voiceless who “were invited to play a sick, dangerous and twisted game, while many good men watched in silence, and did nothing.” (words of Ernest Williams)
Young African-American boys have been especially the victims of these predators. Perhaps it is because they are labelled “at-risk”, “underprivileged”. They have the least defense mechanisms and resources to fight back, and so are the most vulnerable.
The sports arena predators use the athletic dreams of Black boys to build their trust. such as Lorch, Oliva and Sandusky at Penn State did with their basketball programs and football youth academies.
When that trust is betrayed and the sexual abuses and rapes occur, these boys/victims are afraid to report the abuse. Who will believe them? Men can’t report such abuse. Especially by another man. That will show that they are a real man. Or the monsters of abuse will pay off the victims to maintain their silence.
As a father, a man, a basic human being, this evil compels me to work harder against such and any instances of sexual abuse. We all good people cannot be silent and allow it to continue. Like the Good Samaritan in the New Testament, we must ask ourselves, “If I don’t act, what will become of that abused soul?”.
posted by Erik Younge: comments at eryounge@gmail.com
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PENNA REPUBLICANS TRY TO CLOSE PHILLY LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND

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PENNA REPUBS TRY TO CLOSE PHILA LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND!!??


It really doesn’t make any sense at all. That above headline seems like a bad Twilight Zone episode plot.
But sadly it’s true.
Pennsylvania state officials have a plan on board to essentially “gut the Philadelphia Library For the Blind, a vital service for the area’s visually impaired.” Gov. Corbett and western Penna republicans want to move most of the Library’s operations and materials out of Philly to the Carnegie Library For The Blind and Physically Handicapped in Pittsburgh. Not surprisingly, that’s located in the Govs home county. The 2 libraries share allocated funds in the state’s budget and the move is “all about saving the state needed funds.”, according to the Govs’ press cronies.
I have a real hatred for politicians and public servants who continually dredge up laws and regulations that are based on outright myths, lies, shoddy reports or phony statistics. These laws are designed to shred the safety net that people need to make their lives better.
It is a fact that taking materials from the Philadelphia Library and transporting them across the state to Pittsburgh will cost more money with less results. State Representative Michael O’Brien pointed out in a recent letter to the state’s Sec. of Education that “Philadelphia Library received $1.7 million last year to service 13,000 visually disabled individuals at a cost of $130 a patron. Pittsburgh received $1.2 million for 8,000 patrons at a cost of $150 each.”
And there is the human factor. 24 of 28 jobs will be eliminated by this “cost-efficiency move”. There will switch from union jobs to non-union jobs.
The Philadelphia Library for the Blind serves more than 13,000 visually disabled and impaired folks regularly and lends out more than 600,000 braille & recorded books and materials yearly. That’s a healthy 20% of the entire Library circulation. It is also the oldest such Library in this country and the birthplace of where recorded materials and books were invented.
I attended a rally on February 22, 2012 held in Shakespeare Park, in front of the Central branch, where 70 angry but determined patrons and library workers gathered to denounce this plan.
Jim Antonnucci, a longtime Library patron, pointed out “How will this benefit the blind? Of course, they refuse to answer the question. They care less about us. But we will be counted. We will not put up with service reductions, not on our backs.”
Miss Starkey, a vibrant young patron also known as Sister Soldier Sapphire, added, “I have used and enjoyed the Philadelphia Free Library facilities for many many years. Even before I lost my sight. The Library for the Blind is a wonderful, a magnificent place, where the staff is efficient and courteous, where people in need like myself converse and interact. Its a safe oasis. It cannot be taken away like this. This Library must stay here! It will stay here!”
Miss Starkey told me she represents others like herself and is a member of the VIP Social Club – Visually Impaired Persons.
There are no hard core facts about the number of homeless citizens in this city who are also blind or severely visually impaired, but I believe that the numbers are significant. People are just reluctant to say so and generally keep it to themselves. Poor and impaired eyesight is one of the major results of the critical poor health care that is a by-product of homeless existence, whether in shelters or on the streets. Access to proper optical care (and dental treatment) is too often way too little and way too late.
But just a casual observation will prove how important the services provided by the Philadelphia library for the Blind and the Visually Impaired are for this city.
This cynical move is scheduled to take place in mid-April.
We encourage all concerned to make their voives heard loud and clear.
Keep the Philly Library for the Blind right here where it serves the needs of the people so well.
posted by Erik younge/contact me at: eryounge@gmail.com
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NO ROOM AT THE INN: NO BEDS AT PHILA SHELTERS!?!

“NO ROOM AT THE INN: NO BEDS AT PHILA SHELTERS!?


The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its annual report to Congress on homelessness in June 2011.. In particular, the number of homeless families “has increased 20% from 2007 to 2010″ and “the proportion of homeless families in shelters and transitional housing has increased from 30% to 35%” during that same time period.
In Phila, recent statistics show that some 425 families are housed in emergency shelters, 335 families are in transitional shelters, with an estimated total of more than 6,000 homeless women, men and children in this city in shelters, transitional housing, or on the streets. The city has recently reported that “all of the 1,544 beds for families at city-funded shelters are occupied.”
Staff writer, Jennifer Lin of the Phila Inquirer recently documented the story of 23-year-old Yasmeen Goodmond, a mother of 2 children who was told at 2 homeless shelters that they simply just did not have any available beds for her. Mrs Goodmond had to place her children with family members while she walked the streets at night to survive, getting no sleep or rest at all.
As the Inquirer article pointed out: Advocates for the homeless say that the city’s shelters for families always fill up in the summer, but that this year, that seems to be happening sooner than usual. The director of Philadelphia’s Office of Supportive Housing (OSH), Dainette Mintz, conceded that more families than usual are being denied immediate help. The city had to turn away 591 families at the Appletree Center – double the rate of 2 years ago.
Another contributing factor has been the turmoil at the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) concerning the scandal surrounding former executive director Carl Greene, who was fired last year among numerous and costly charges of misconduct.
PHA currently has 100,000 families on its waiting list for either housing or federal rent subsidies, according to the Phila. Inquirier.
Many city resources are full and strained to capacity and not able to meet the growing demands and needs of the increasing homeless population. This reflects the national situation as well. Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary has gone on record that the federal agency was “just not as far along in developing tools and solutions to end family homelessness.”
As reported in the June 2011 ONE STEP AWAY cover story 100K Homes, concentrated outreach by more than 250 volunteers to identify the most “vulnerable” individuals has helped to accurately compile numbers and data to begin to address the needs of the chronic homeless population and find solutions.
One of the Philly street veterans I interviewed in May is JR. JR frequently stays nights at a couple of men’s shelters in Center City. He usually finds a bed with little trouble. But he has also seen a spike in single men needing help. During the summer, he pointed out that many services provided to help during the fall and winter months do not “operate in the summer” and “you can usually get a bed easy, especially in the beginning of the month when dudes get that check, and get their drink or high on. These places are half empty. But now…. damn….it’s getting full quicker all the time, and they are holding on to their spots…..”
Another result of the 100K Homes outreach has been the eyewitness proof that the homeless population is pervasive, not just in Center City Phila but almost within every neighborhood or section of the city. We have seen and talked to people sleeping in parks in North Philly, Germantown, West Philly, Kensington, etc.
Attorney Marsha Cohen, Executive Director of the Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP) emailed ONE STEP AWAY this exclusive statement:
The HAP, a legal services non-profit that provides free civil legal services to homeless men, women and children living in Phiadelphia, remains deeply concerned at the lack of available shelter beds for homeless families, and with the pending close of Ridge (Shelter) for single men (and women) living in Philadelphia.
HAP is currently contemplating legal action against the City for the current lack of shelter beds for homeless families and for the City’s alarming removal of children from their families, when families can no longer “make their own arrangements.” Most of the men and women who attempt to access City shelters numbering over 25,000 each year, have already spent months, sometimes years, living doubled or tripled with family or friends.
HAP feels strongly that Philadelphia must do better to shore up the safety net for families and individuals who fall upon hard times. Housing – be it shelter, or low income subsidized housing opportunities, must become an immediate priority for the current administration. That said, HAP views litigation as a very last resort. We much prefer to work with OSH and the Mayor’s office to brainstorm together on how to resolve the current crisis and we remain hopeful that the City will add additional shelter beds or cots to the current stock to address the immediate crisis.
posted by Erik Younge: email me at: eryounge@gmail.com

 

 



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