From nh-adapt@juno.com Wed May 7 01:40:41 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 21:40:41 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] MiCASSA is now S. 971 11 co-sponsors Message-ID: <20030506.215945.-298669.10.nh-adapt@juno.com> From: "Stephanie Thomas" The Senate Bill number for MiCASSA is S. 971 and it should be posted on Thomas by the end of this week. It is exactly as last time, so if you want to use the summary, Q&A etc. from last time they are still accurate, and until Thomas gets their new stuff up, you can use the information on the bills from last session -- which is also accurate. http://thomas.loc.gov/ There are 11 Senate co-sponsors this time, with hopefully many more to come on soon! Senator Ton Harkin D IA and Senator Arlen Specter R PA Senator Joseph Biden D DE Senator Hilary Clinton D NY Senator Thad Cochran R MS Senator Jon Corzine D NJ Senator Mark Dayton D MN Senator Edward Kennedy D MA Senator John Kerry D MA Senator Mary Landrieu D LA Senator Charles Schumer D NY Great work MA & NY both your Senators already! It's a challenge we all can take on! And this week the House version will be introduced. ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From nh-adapt@juno.com Wed May 7 01:42:58 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 21:42:58 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Harkin Press Release on S. 971 Message-ID: <20030506.215945.-298669.11.nh-adapt@juno.com> From: "Stephanie Thomas" http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=203561 HARKIN INTRODUCES BILL TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES Legislation would increase access for people with disabilitiesand older Americans MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003 Legislation would increase access for people with disabilities and older Americans Washington-U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that he introduced the Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act of 2003 (MICASSA). The legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), would increase access to community-based services and supports to Americans with disabilities and the elderly. "I strongly believe that it is important to level the playing field and give eligible individuals equal access to community-based services and supports," Harkin said. "This vital legislation will open the door to full participation by people with disabilities in our workplaces, our economy, and our American Dream." Specifically, MICASSA gives individuals who are currently eligible for nursing home services and institutional facilities for the mentally retarded equal access to community-based attendant services and supports, and establishes a demonstration project to evaluate service coordination and cost sharing approaches for those eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. Additionally, the legislation provides additional funding to states to help them reform their long term care systems and increase the provision of home and community based services. "This legislation is needed to truly bring people with disabilities into the mainstream of society and provide equal opportunity for employment and community activities," Harkin said. The following Senators co-sponsored the Harkin-Specter legislation: Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), John Kerry (D-MA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Thad Cochran (R-MS). NATIONAL ADAPT MAILING LIST - Adapt MiCASA List NATIONAL ADAPT MAILING LIST - Contact List This is a private list and should not be disseminated to others without express permission to do so. ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Thu May 8 17:59:14 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 10:59:14 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] 'Care Not Cash' Declared Illegal in Superior Court Message-ID: I guess we won this round, but as we reminded Gavin Newsom after Prop N won at the polls last November, it's not over 'til it's over... peace, chance ================================================= SF Prop N 'Care Not Cash' Declared Illegal in Superior Court Source: kcbs Publication date: 2003-05-08 (KCBS) - San Francisco's Care not Cash initiative has been thrown out by a San Francisco Superior Court Judge. KCBS reporter Bob Melrose says this ruling could be stayed, depending on actions taken by the Court of Appeal. A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Proposition N goes against state law, because the state has given the Board of Supervisors exclusive rights to handle general assistance programs. Voters cannot make decisions on general assistance, and the city cannot enforce Prop N. Prop N was overwhelmingly passed by voters. It would have reduced assistance payments to people on welfare from $320 a month to $59 a month and provided services with the rest of the money. As soon as Prop N was passed by voters, a lawsuit was filed to stop it. The supervisors have voted to keep the current system in place for now. (10:20am, gcb) -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Thu May 8 18:46:40 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Thu, 08 May 2003 11:46:40 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] Judge: 'Care Not Cash' initiative invalid Message-ID: Judge: 'Care Not Cash' initiative invalid Bay City News Thursday, May 8, 2003 ©2003 SF Gate URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2003/05/08/propn.DTL A San Francisco judge today struck down the city's "Care Not Cash" initiative -- the successful ballot measure authored by supervisor and mayoral candidate Gavin Newsom. Judge Ronald Quidachay said the initiative is invalid because the state delegated authority in the matter to the Board of Supervisors. He said he would allow the city an opportunity to request a stay of the order. Proposition N was challenged in court by a general-assistance recipient shortly after it passed with about 60 percent of the vote on Nov. 5. It would cut most cash allotments to homeless individuals from $320 to $59 a month, substituting assistance such as housing and social services for the rest of the money. It was scheduled to go into effect on July 1. The judge said the state sets standards of assistance for indigent residents but had deferred to the supervisors as exclusive county agents. The supervisors rejected proposals identical to those in Proposition N before the measure was placed on the ballot. ©2003 SF Gate   -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From nh-adapt@juno.com Fri May 9 09:02:51 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 05:02:51 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] House version of MiCASSA has 23 co-sponsors so far Message-ID: <20030509.051805.-260937.4.nh-adapt@juno.com> From: "Stephanie Thomas" Today Representatives Danny Davis and John Shimkus introduced the House version of MiCASSA. We will have a bill number in a few days and will get it to you ASAP! Exciting news is that there are already 23 co-sponsors signed on! Here's who we have so far... Sponsors: Danny Davis D Chicago, Maywood IL and John Shimkus R Springfield, Collinsville, Centralia, Olney, Harrisburg IL Co-sponsors: Robert Brady D Philadelphia, Chester PA Donna Christian-Christensen D VI Lloyd Doggett D Austin TX Mike Doyle D Penn Hills, McKeesport, PA Eliot Engel D The Bronx, Mt Vernon, Yonkers NY Raul Grijalva D Tucson AZ Ruben Hinojosa D McAllen, Beeville TX Maurice Hinchey D Kingston, Binghamton, Ithaca, Monticello NY Joseph Hoeffel D Ambler, Philadelphia PA Tim Holden D Pottsville, Reading, Harrisburg, Lebanon PA Steny Hoyer D Greenbelt, Waldorf MD Dale Kildee D Flint, Saginaw, Bay City MI Barbara Lee D Oakland CA John McHugh R Watertown, Plattsburgh, Mayfield, Canastota, NY Michael McNulty D Albany, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Troy, NY Dennis Moore D Overland Park, Lawrence, Kansas City KS Frank Pallone D Long Branch, New Brunswick, Hazlet, NJ Donald Payne D Newark, Elizabeth, NJ Jim Ryun R Topeka, Pittsburg KS Janice Schakowsky D Chicago, Evanston, Niles IL Jose Serrano D The Bronx, NY Edolphus Towns D Brooklyn, NY Mark Udall D Westminster CO ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From nh-adapt@juno.com Fri May 9 09:07:55 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 05:07:55 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] ADAPT in D.C. to Demand Apology for "Stolen Lives", and Passage of MiCASSA Message-ID: <20030509.051805.-260937.7.nh-adapt@juno.com> For Immediate Release May 8, 2003 For Information Contact; Bob Kafka, 512/431-4085 Marsha Katz, 406/544-9504 ADAPT in D.C. to Demand Apology for "Stolen Lives", and Passage of MiCASSA Washington, D.C.--- Over 500 ADAPT disability rights activists are converging on Washington, D.C. to demand an apology from President George W. Bush and Congress for the lives stolen from persons with disabilities by decades of forced institutionalization. ADAPT arrives in D.C., riding a wave of recent victories, to begin the campaign for passage of MiCASSA, Medicaid reform legislation that will provide all Americans with real choice in where they receive their long term care services and supports. "We'll be in Washington from May 10-15, bringing evidence of 'Stolen Lives' - pictures and personal stories sent by people from all over the country who lost years of their lives languishing in back wards of the nation's nursing homes and institutions," said Bruce Darling, ADAPT Organizer from Rochester, New York. "Many of those people, or their friends and family, will be with us in person, and will be demanding an apology from both the President and the congressional leadership for the years they spent locked up for the crime of disability." On the eve of ADAPT's arrival, both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have reintroduced the Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA), which allows individuals of all ages to choose to receive long term care services in their own homes, rather than be forced into institutional settings by the institutional bias currently in the Medicaid program. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 971 in the Senate, joined by bill co-sponsors Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY), and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS). House co-sponsors of MiCASSA are Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL). Along with reintroduction of MiCASSA in Congress, there is a "money follows the person" provision in the President's New Freedom 2004 Budget for Health and Human Services that echoes the "money follows the person" contained in MiCASSA. This five-year $1.75 billion provision is an economic incentive for states to move funds serving people in institutional settings into a community setting when the person so chooses. When states permit funding to move with the person from an institution into the community, the federal government would cover the entire first year of costs, with the state resuming payment of their portion of the costs in subsequent years. "We're in Washington to refocus the President and Congress on the need to reform America's institutionally biased long term care system so it prevents future "Stolen Lives", said Bob Kafka, national ADAPT Organizer. "Now that MiCASSA has been reintroduced in Congress, with an unprecedented coalition of groups supporting it, we intend to see it passed. We'll make that point all next week, and we'll continue making it in September, when ADAPT's two week Free Our People March covers the 144 miles from Philadelphia's Liberty Bell to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C." http://www.adapt.org ### FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/ ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From nh-adapt@juno.com Fri May 9 09:05:07 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 05:05:07 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] The ADAPT Action Report Message-ID: <20030509.051805.-260937.5.nh-adapt@juno.com> From: Tim Wheat The ADAPT Action Report. Keep posted on events at the ADAPT Action, May 10-15 in Washington DC with News, Commentary and Photos from the action. Return to the following link for daily updates: http://www.freeourpeople.org/aar/wdc03/ - Tim Wheat -- Tim Wheat Special Assignment The Memphis Center for Independent Living - Memphis Tennessee www.mcil.org Independent Living Skills Instructor Center for People With Disabilities - Boulder Colorado 1675 Range Street Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 442-8662 ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From wtinker@metrocast.net Fri May 9 11:03:15 2003 From: wtinker@metrocast.net (William Tinker) Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 07:03:15 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Letter To Editor Message-ID: <003501c3161a$974506f0$aeff05cf@new8bspgmfsgz7> "The Old Man Was A Symbolic But Non Living Stone Head" My first thoughts when I read Governor Craig Benson's immediate message about the demise of our famous NH Rock Head was: 1.We need another study committee in the Legislature like we need 5 day old moldy bread. 2.The 5 % department cuts across the board to save money just got re-inflated,as you know whom is footing the bill on this correct? 3.Where does a non living icon take preference over the the living displaced,disabled,or human rights of all citizens in the state of NH? I realize as a disabled person I am treading on thin ice here,but I believe living breathing humans should be helped to survive first of all rather than try to resurrect a fallen icon. By this I mean lets get rid of the phony "wait lists" for disabled persons needing services now,and being told they have a list of 400 plus people a head of them looking for assistance or affordable housing. If we as citizens voices are not heard or are being censored by administrative e-mail blockage to our law makers, than there is no "freedom of speech in NH either" I am in hopes that people will tell our legislators to help the living as the deceased are no longer in need of services or housing. So please if you feel strongly about contacting all the legislators with e-mail please write to them at representatives@leg.state.nh.us and tell them to impliment basic living human rights first before reconstruction of a fallen rock icon! Yes "Old Man" we will miss your craggy features but you are history,we must commit to saving our living not mourning the passage of the dead. William Charles Tinker New Hampshire Homeless 25 Granite Street Northfield,New Hampshire 03276 Advocates,activists for displaced, disabled and human rights. 286-2492 http://www.newhampshirehomeless.org From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Fri May 9 19:24:37 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 12:24:37 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] SJ Mercury News: Cuts to cash for homeless invalidated by S.F. judge Message-ID: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5821833.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Posted on Fri, May. 09, 2003 Cuts to cash for homeless invalidated by S.F. judge VOTERS APPROVED REFORMS IN NOVEMBER By Kim Vo Mercury News A San Francisco politician will appeal to his fellow supervisors to salvage a controversial homelessness reform measure struck down by the courts Thursday. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay ruled that the Care Not Cash measure approved by 60 percent of voters in November is illegal because only supervisors have the power to ``adopt the standards of aid and care'' for the poor. The program would have reduced monthly cash payments from a high of $395 to about $59. Supervisor Gavin Newsom, who created the program regarded as the centerpiece of his mayoral campaign, argued that homeless people often spent the money on drugs and his tough-love measure was needed because it took away that discretionary cash and instead offered in-kind services like shelters and drug treatment. Newsom plans to re-introduce the program at Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting. The board's approval would make the program legal. Newsom's previous attempts to get board passage had failed, but he's more confident this time since the measure enjoyed such strong support in November. ``To suggest they know better than 125,000 people is very arrogant,'' Newsom said, referring to the number of voters who supported the measure. However, it is unlikely that Newsom's measure will sail through, unaltered, next week. `Vagaries' cited In a hint of the negotiations to come, Supervisor Tom Ammiano said Newsom's plan had ``vagaries'' which had to be addressed. Nevertheless, Ammiano said the initial success of Proposition N -- as the measure was listed on the ballot -- has forced the city's leaders to deal with the longstanding problem. Until now ``we had plans on paper but we hadn't the political will to do it,'' he said, adding that the only way for homelessness reform to succeed is if politics is set aside. ``If anything, this is a redeeming time for all of us.'' Homelessness has been a prickly issue among liberal San Franciscans, who consider themselves tolerant but in recent years tired of public urination and aggressive panhandling that often accompanies homelessness. San Franciscans saw Proposition N as ``a way to begin to change the system in a way that both provides care and hopefully gets to the issues of people living on the streets and panhandling,'' said Carol Piasente of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, which backed Newsom's plan. `Manhattan-ization' Chance Martin, project coordinator of the Street Sheet homeless newspaper, said San Francisco was the latest example of ``Manhattan-ization,'' a city wanting to run out its homeless people so residents and tourists would no longer have to notice them. It solves nothing, he said, because the homeless still exist. ``What Gavin Newsom's Care Not Cash really did was tap into mean-spiritedness,'' Martin said. ``They tap into frustration.'' There are 8,000 to 10,000 homeless people in San Francisco, and it is likely whatever program changes they face will come from the political legislative process. The city attorney's office, which defended Proposition N, has not yet decided to appeal the decision. If the office does appeal, the lengthy appellate process will drag beyond July 1, when Newsom's program was scheduled to start. And though Ammiano called for leaders to move beyond politics, it's tough to divorce politics from, well, anything, in this town where even pets and bikes are divisive. Quidachay announced his decision Thursday morning. By the afternoon, attorney Angela Alioto was calling for a solution to the homeless problem while simultaneously questioning Newsom's competence. Alioto is also running for mayor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact Kim Vo at kvo@mercurynews.com or (650) 688-7571. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.bayarea.com -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From wtinker@metrocast.net Sat May 10 11:37:45 2003 From: wtinker@metrocast.net (William Tinker) Date: Sat, 10 May 2003 07:37:45 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] This type of scandal hurts the shelters, and makes people leery to help us poor... Message-ID: <008501c316e8$931e0df0$aeff05cf@new8bspgmfsgz7> May 10, 2003 Three charged in theft of shelter's donated food By MICHAEL COUSINEAU Union Leader Staff Three people were arrested yesterday after two volunteers at the New Horizons for New Hampshire soup kitchen and food pantry in Manchester allegedly stole meat and baked goods destined for the hungry and homeless, police said. "This is just something that goes against everything you believe in," said Richard O'Leary, Manchester deputy police chief. "Those who needed it the most were just not getting as much as they should have." The men surrendered individually at the Manchester police station late yesterday after warrants were drawn up for their arrests, said Manchester police Capt. Gerald Lessard. The volunteers allegedly took $152 worth of food, including meat and baked goods, and gave it to a bartender at the Raphael's Young Men's Club on Granite Street May 1, O'Leary said. O'Leary wouldn't comment on a motive. Police said the volunteers picked up the food from the Goffstown Shop 'n Save and gave it to Raphael's bartender James Athas, 63, of 3A Palomino Court, Goffstown, who was charged with receiving stolen property. "We weren't very happy when we found out," Shop 'n Save store manager Chris Roux said. Arrest warrants were issued for the two volunteers, Robert St. Onge, 67, of 59 Varney St., Manchester, and William Egan, 70, of 1 Carpenter St., Hooksett, a retired Manchester police officer. They were both charged with theft by unauthorized taking, police said. Each could face a year in jail, if convicted. Reached at the club, Athas said, "I can't speak right now. I'm busy." When a reporter asked if he could call back later, Athas said no. The other men didn't return telephone messages. All three were released from the police department on $2,000 personal recognizance bail and are scheduled to be arraigned at Manchester District Court Monday morning, Lessard said. Raphael's club president Armand Dubois commented briefly. "It's all been settled, thank you," he said. Mike Tessier, New Horizons executive director, said an anonymous caller phoned him in April to tell him the lone New Horizons van was "seen giving food out" in the parking lot behind the club and "said it had been going on for awhile." O'Leary said the charges relate to May 1. "Who are the victims? The hungry and homeless in Manchester, no ifs, ands or buts," Tessier said. "If we don't get (the food), we can't cook it for meals or put it in the food pantry to give to families." Tessier said he is worried that people might stop donating food if the pantry and police don't aggressively combat any thefts. "If we turn people off to donating us, there is only one person who's going to suffer, and that is the hungry and homeless," Tessier said. New Horizons feeds 240 people for dinner and 70-80 for breakfast. It also gives out 1,400 bags of groceries each month. People also stop by two to three times a week to pick up produce and baked goods, Tessier said. The Goffstown Shop'n Save plans to keep donating food to New Horizons. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just an isolated incident," Roux said. The Union Leader Copyright © 2003 From gbacque@colosseum.com Sun May 11 20:06:14 2003 From: gbacque@colosseum.com (Graeme Bacque) Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 16:06:14 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] OCAP court case ends in mistrial Message-ID: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1052251547655&call_pageid=968332188492&col=9687939721 54 May 11, 2003 02:14 PM The Toronto Star Mistrial in Queen's Park riot case Foreperson's note recounted emotional drama behind deadlocked jury FROM CANADIAN PRESS Five days of emotionally draining, unsuccessful jury deliberations led to a mistrial today in the trial of three anti-poverty activists charged after a violent protest at the Ontario Legislature in 2000. John Clarke, head of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, said he was "enormously happy" with the decision but added the fight could continue since the Crown hasn't decided yet whether it will seek a retrial. He said the court costs associated with a retrial would be better spent on social issues. "If they're going to be spending hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, it shouldn't be into prosecutions of OCAP members," Clarke said. "It should be into creating solutions for homelessness in this province and building housing." Clarke, 48, pleaded not guilty to charges of counselling participation in a riot and counselling to assault police. He was charged along with Gaetan Heroux, 47, and Stefan Pilipa, 27, who both pleaded not guilty to one charge each of participating in a riot. The trio were charged after a bloody clash at Queen's Park on June 15, 2000, which left dozens of demonstrators and as many as 42 officers and nine police horses injured. Superior Court Justice Lee Ferrier had denied an initial request by defence attorneys for a mistrial on Saturday, after jurors said they were frustrated and exhausted after deliberations took a physical and mental toll. They said they were unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether the protest "developed into a riot" and added they were deadlocked - nine jurors versus three - on the definition of "force." "We are frustrated, exhausted and extremely emotionally upset, resulting in the hospital visit of one juror, a panic attack of another, migraine headaches and emotional outbursts amongst the group," the jurors' letter read. "This doesn't seem like a jury in shape to continue this trial and render a verdict at an appropriate time," defence attorney Peter Rosenthal said outside court on Saturday. The Crown said Sunday there are several factors it will consider before deciding if a retrial is appropriate, adding a decision should be made by June 18. Clarke said that regardless of the Crown's decision, OCAP will go on protesting and fighting for its causes. "We will continue ... to organize against the real violence and horror going on in this province, which is poverty and homelessness and misery," he said. "We're going to continue to fight back, and they can take that to the bank." --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.478 / Virus Database: 275 - Release Date: 5/6/03 From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Mon May 12 17:46:26 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 10:46:26 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] California ranks last in enrolling food stamp recipients Message-ID: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/5842871.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ San Jose Mercury News Posted on Mon, May. 12, 2003 California ranks last in enrolling food stamp recipients SACRAMENTO (AP) - California ranks last among states in signing people up for food stamps during the nation's recent economic downtown, according to a report to be released today by an anti-hunger advocacy group. The report by the California Hunger Action Coalition found that the number of residents receiving food stamps remained flat in 2001 and 2002 even as the state's unemployment rate edged up and other states increased their participation in the federal program. In addition, while food stamp enrollment increased 9.1 percent nationally last year, the number of California residents participating in the program fell by 4.4 percent, according to the report. Only two other states, Hawaii and Rhode Island, had drops in enrollment and neither were as large as California's. The report notes that the three states with the biggest increases in food stamp enrollment were the neighboring states of Nevada, Arizona and Oregon, where the enrollment respectively rose by 63 percent, 62 percent and 46 percent. The coalition estimates that by failing to register more residents for food stamps California has lost $356 million in federal aid and cost the state's economy $655 million from lost income to grocers, farmers and food manufacturers. The group has scheduled a rally at the Capitol for Monday to draw attention to the situation. ``We are asking our legislators and Gov. Davis to address these problems by passing legislation that will not only help families in need, but that will also put $11 million back into the state general fund and infuse the economy with hundreds of millions of federal dollars,'' said Jessica Bartholow, the coalition's chairwoman. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.bayarea.com -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Mon May 12 17:51:25 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 10:51:25 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] homeless hate crime in Salinas, CA Message-ID: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5841385.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ San Jose Mercury News Posted on Mon, May. 12, 2003 Homeless man set on fire in Salinas By the Mercury News A homeless man sleeping next to a Salinas dental office was intentionally set on fire after being doused with a flammable liquid that smelled like gasoline, police said Sunday. The 56-year-old man was in serious condition Sunday at an undisclosed hospital, with burns covering more than 40 percent of his body, said Salinas police Lt. Manuel Perrien. His identity and location were being withheld for security reasons while officers investigate whether the crime was committed by a stranger or someone he knew, he said. ``There may be some protection issues -- we don't want to identify where he's at,'' Perrien said. ``Someone was trying to kill this guy -- it wasn't a fire to stay warm that got out of control.'' The incident occurred Saturday night in the 1200 block of North Main Street behind the dental office, he said. The man, a familiar figure in the neighborhood, was sleeping up against the building, which caught fire and sustained moderate damage. Perrien said this was the first such incident that he knew of in Salinas. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Salinas Police Department at (831) 758-7250. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © 2003 Mercury News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.bayarea.com -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From wtinker@metrocast.net Tue May 13 12:05:55 2003 From: wtinker@metrocast.net (William Tinker) Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 08:05:55 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Money changes every thing? Message-ID: <006b01c31948$01df0a80$aeff05cf@new8bspgmfsgz7> May 13, 2003 Board closes adult center Financial difficulties shut the doors on day care for the elderly. By DAMIAN PALETTA STAFF WRITER SOUTH DENNIS - On the eve of a town election that could reshape the agency, Dennis Housing Authority commissioners voted yesterday to close their nonprofit adult day-care center, Young At Heart. The small home on Route 134 that provides a safe place for the elderly during the day - and respite for their caretakers - is scheduled to close by Friday. But its two employees, Helen Peterson and Janet Lynch, who have not received paychecks in seven weeks, said they would keep the center open until the end of the month. It was unclear last night whether that will be possible. The pair said they would work without pay until the end of the month because they fear their elderly clients will have nowhere to go. The Dennis Housing Authority created the nonprofit Dennis Development Corp. to run the adult day-care center, but it has been haunted by financial problems from the day it opened in June 1999. Over time the authority improperly loaned the nonprofit agency at least $8,300 to keep it afloat. In 2001, the annual budget for Young At Heart was $41,305. But revenues that year were only $31,098, including $6,101 from fund raising. Young At Heart provides daytime care and activities for elderly residents with dementia or Alzheimer's. Families pay between $25 and $35 a day. The center can serve 10 people a day, five days a week. In February, however, the center had an attendance rate of 38 percent, far below that needed to meet mortgage payments of $800 a month, on top of other bills. "Where are they (the elderly clients) going to go on such short notice?" Lynch asked. "These people cannot be put out on the street. I do have a conscience." Peterson and Lynch say they are owed $5,600 in unpaid wages. "I don't know what is going to happen to the place," said Peterson, program director at Young At Heart. "It's a good program. There just isn't any money." Authority commissioners, all of whom also sit on the nonprofit's board, are hopeful the three-bedroom South Dennis home used for the day-care center can be rented out soon for affordable housing. Lien attached But that's if the bank doesn't foreclose first. In anticipation of the nonprofit's financial collapse, the commissioners voted yesterday afternoon to attach a $15,000 lien on the house owned by the nonprofit. The action was taken at the recommendation of Thomas Lynch, executive director of the Barnstable Housing Authority. State regulators had called Lynch in to help stabilize the Dennis agency, which is also facing financial difficulties. The lien is to cover the $8,300 loan to the Dennis Development Corp. and provide a cushion in case there are other loans yet to be discovered. Money for the loan to Young At Heart came from a $400,000 bank loan for renovations at Melpet Farm, a six-acre affordable housing project in South Dennis. The town purchased the property for $988,000 in 2001 and then handed it over the authority to use for affordable housing. Of the 28 units envisioned for the project, 13 exist and only eight are habitable; most of the $400,000 construction loan has been spent. Uncontrolled and improper spending at Melpet is thought to be a major focus of an auditor's report to be released as early as next week. The state audit into the Dennis Housing Authority and its nonprofit has been in the works for seven months. No commissioners have taken responsibility for the $8,300 in improper loans to the nonprofit, and it isn't clear whether commissioners signed the checks over to the nonprofit. The housing authority has a policy that all checks are to be signed by two commissioners. Authority director quit Former housing authority executive director Kathy Barrasso abruptly resigned Oct. 16, shortly after the state audit began. She said she resigned because of work-related stress and grief over the death of her husband in 2000. Blame for the agency's financial situation has been pointed at both Barrasso and commissioners. The auditor's report is expected to clarify who is to blame. The Dennis Housing Authority provides affordable housing for more than 300 families, making it one of the largest agencies of its kind on Cape Cod. This year, it's biggest program, 124 apartments for the elderly and families, operates on a budget of $552,000. Much of the authority's revenues are raised from rents, but it also receives money from state and federal government housing programs. The Dennis Development Corp.'s property was purchased for around $80,000 and could be worth twice that now, according to sources. If the small house on Route 134 has to be sold, a lien will put the housing authority in line to collect on its loan. Compass Bank for Savings, which holds the mortgage on the building, would be first in line. Tom Connelly, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, said he has never heard of such a lien before. "But that doesn't mean it's not a good idea," he said. In a pre-emptive move, housing officials also voted yesterday not to comment on specific audit results until they have had five business days to review the report. Town elections in Dennis are today, and two seats on the board of commissioners will be filled. Comments and suggestions: news@capecodonline.com Copyright © 2003 Cape Cod Times. All rights reserved. From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Thu May 8 21:00:08 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 14:00:08 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] a good link Message-ID: <20030508210008.96444.qmail@web21411.mail.yahoo.com> --0-2027526848-1052427608=:95826 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Well maybe not asgood as the sausage links I had with breakfast this morning but excellent news follow up!http://www.snowshoefilms.com/ --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-2027526848-1052427608=:95826 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Well maybe not asgood as the sausage links I had with breakfast this morning but excellent news follow up!

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-2027526848-1052427608=:95826-- From editor Fri May 9 07:20:44 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 03:20:44 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] San Francisco, CA - CHANGE IN HOMELESS PROGRAM OVERRULED - The New York Times - May 09, 2003 Message-ID: <070901c315fd$326b2e20$27b74ed8@icanamerica> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_8joroHv7EmEzKIBTvau2Gw) Content-type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Boundary_(ID_hSBS2+1H1oPRP3QRFwhEEQ)" --Boundary_(ID_hSBS2+1H1oPRP3QRFwhEEQ) Content-type: text/plain; charset=Windows-1252 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT Glacier . CHANGE IN HOMELESS PROGRAM OVERRULED ________________________________________________________ By Staff Writers - The New York Times - May 09, 2003 A Superior Court judge struck down a measure, approved in a ballot initiative, that cut payments to homeless people in San Francisco. Under the measure, known as Care Not Cash, payments to homeless people would have fallen to $59 a month from $320 and money would have been diverted into programs for housing, drug and alcohol treatment, job training and mental health care. Proponents of the measure said they would submit a new version to the Board of Supervisors. (Reuters) ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/bck8 § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ --Boundary_(ID_hSBS2+1H1oPRP3QRFwhEEQ) Content-type: text/html; charset=Windows-1252 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Glacier
 
.
CHANGE IN HOMELESS PROGRAM=20 OVERRULED
________________________________________________________
By Staff Writers - The New York Times - May 09, 2003
 
A Superior Court judge struck down a measure, approved in
a ballot initiative, that cut payments to homeless people in San =
Francisco.
 
Under the measure, known as Care Not Cash, payments to
homeless people would have fallen to $59 a month from $320
and money would have been diverted into programs for housing, =
drug and alcohol treatment, job training and mental health care. =
 
Proponents of the measure said they would submit a new = version
to the Board of Supervisors.
(Reuters)

________________________________________________________________
= source=20 page:   http://tinyurl.com/bck8
 
=A7 THE HOMELESS NEWS =A7  
http://egroups.com/group/= HomelessNews/ =20

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Message-ID: <20030509.051805.-260937.8.nh-adapt@juno.com> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --Boundary_(ID_SM0drTX/RUPfGcYcXD70oQ) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT From: "Stephanie Thomas" Subject: Tent City Reports Howdy, Here are reports for the last half of our Tent City Action in Topeka. Pictures for the Weekend Editon file are posted on the TILRC web site at: http://www.tilrc.org/docs/0503tentcity04.htm. See you in D.C.! Kevin Kansas ADAPT Still Weathering the Storm at Tent City A recalcitrant legislature, gale-like winds and torrential rains buffeted the indomitable members of Kansas ADAPT this weekend; April 3rd and 4th, 2003; but Tent City remained standing. Saturday began with a meeting between the legislative leaders and Governor Sebelius at her Cedarcrest Mansion. ADAPT took this as a hopeful sign, but they were under no illusions that the end of the legislative session was near. After breakfast of donated food at the Road Kill Café the group split up, some going to legislative committee meetings while others leafleted the public around the State Capitol Complex and Downtown Topeka. More food was dropped off around lunchtime, enough for the citizens of Tent City to have enough to share with the many passers-by and supporters who came by Tent City on Saturday. The members of ADAPT were humbled by the outpouring of donations of food, coffee and just about anything they needed from civil rights and independent living advocates and the general public. Thank you to everyone who has helped ADAPT maintain the “Budget Watch” Vigil at the Statehouse. Following lunch a ceremony was held to celebrate the grand opening of the Tent City Historical Museum. Many people who visited the museum said it felt like “déjà vu all over again” when they viewed the exhibit covering last year’s Tent City demonstration. Some citizens of Tent City expressed concern that the community had no medical facilities. The Honorable Mayor of Tent City, Becca Vaughn, responded by converting an unused section of the Town Hall into the Tent City Public Health Clinic. All services of the clinic are free to the public. The thespian element of Tent City has begun organizing a Community Theatre Troup. Look for their first performance sometime later in the week. Saturday night and Sunday morning brought heavy rain and winds so strong they blew signs off the light poles on 10th Street just outside Tent City. Tent City was unscathed. Not one tent was blown down! ADAPT took it a sign for providence and hoped it was an indication that the legislators and the governor were nearing a budget compromise that would provide for the needs of all Kansans. The budget conference committee returned to work Sunday afternoon and held meetings on into the night. ADAPT members were present at every one of them to make sure that our state’s most vulnerable citizens; adults and children with disabilities, our senior citizens and all who depend on the state for many of life necessities; are not forgotten in the budget process. ADAPT and other disability rights advocates were gratified that House negotiators fought to include more money for the Home and Community Based Services Waivers waiting lists, but were aggravated that Senate negotiators refused to add more that $1.2 million. Sunday evening high winds returned threatening to topple a few tents. The Capitol Police stopped by to warn the residents of Tent City of severe weather and tornado warnings in the area. The citizens of Tent City were unshaken. They had been wrangling with the Kansas Legislature to long to be frightened by a little thing like a tornado! The struggle will continue Monday and ADAPT will be there. Letters to the Editor Maryland's "Money Follows the Individual" PASSES! Friends of ADAPT and disability rights supporters: We did it! All those trips to Annapolis, giving our legislators a full dose of political activism, have paid off: On Thursday, April 3, our bill has passed the senate, 45-0! On Tuesday, the Money Follows the Individual Act sailed through the Senate Finance Committee. Committee members loved the fact that it saves the state money and frees people from nursing homes. Primary sponsor Delegate Jim Hubbard told the senators that passing HB 478 was the "moral thing to do." Ten ADAPTers and a throng of supporters made it to the hearing, some of which were still trapped in nursing homes. Many of us have testified in Annapolis three or four times, in the House and Senate, and it is evident that our presence helped push this legislation through. The Money Follows the Individual Act creates a provision in statute that will allow people living in nursing homes funded through Medicaid to use those funds to be supported in their own homes, rather than nursing homes. Amendments we added that would strengthen the bill were accepted without objection. Now it's on to the Governor! The word is he supports the bill, but we will carry on the fight for freedom until "Money Follows the Individual" reaches his desk. Maryland ADAPT Rider 37: How Texas utilizes Medicaid dollars more efficiently by letting the money follow the person During the 2002 Session of the Texas Legislature, Rider 37: Promoting Independence was passed for the Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS) appropriations which allowed the general revenue used to purchase nursing facility (NF) services to follow the individual into the community and purchase community services. So far well over 1,000 people have used this rider to transition from an institution to the community. The intent of Rider 37 is that funds will be transferred from Nursing Facilities to Community Care Services to cover the cost of the shift in services as clients relocate from nursing facilities to community care services. TDHS periodically transfers funds (on a retrospective basis) from the Nursing Facility funding strategy to the Community Care strategy. The amount transferred is equal to the actual amount expended on the individual for Community Care services a person receives after they leave the facility, rather than the amount that was being spent on the individual when they were in the facility. Funds are monitored, analyzed, and transferred on a global basis; meaning the agency looks at expenditure levels for people who use Rider 37 services as a group, rather than on an individual-by-individual basis. While Texas limits the number of “regular” Community Care waiver slots based upon the number of slots funded by the State Legislature, the waiver slots funded through Rider 37 are allowed to increase based upon demand. Currently the agency is working on collecting the demographics of the population that uses community-based services through Rider 37. Studying this information will assist the state and independent living specialists’ efforts in refining the system being implemented for transitioning persons from institutions back into their our homes. Thousands Still Waiting for Services HCBS Waiver Waiting List continue to Grow at Alarming Rate Over 3000 Kansans remain on the waiting lists for the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waivers. These waiver programs provide long-term health care to Kansans who are Medicaid eligible. In spite of the federal requirement to move people off these waiting lists “at a reasonable pace” many of these people have been for over a year, getting by as best they can until they can get the health care services they need. Many other have been forced to enter nursing homes to receive needed care. Institutional care is a Medicaid entitlement, whereas, HCBS is optional. Precisely the opposite of what you might think since the vast majority of people prefer to receive long-term health care services in their own homes and the fact that HCBS is much less costly than nursing home care. Unless adequate funding is included in the state budget now been crafted by the state legislature the waiting lists will continue to balloon. It is critical for many Kansans with disabilities that these programs receive adequate funding, so they can get the health care they need in the setting of their choice. These are not just lists of numbers we’re talking about they are people in need. The Latest Figures: People on Waiting Lists 02/03 Now 4/28103 Physical Disabilities Waiver (PD) 784 916 Frail Elderly Waiver (FE) 1070 1294 Developmental Disabilities Waiver (DD) • Adults 476 500 • Children 440 472 Total waiting for HCB Services 2770 3182 People Who Died Waiting 02/03 Now 4/28103 PD 59 62 FE 54 85 Total died waiting for services 113 147 People Forced into Nursing Facilities 02103 Now 4/28103 PD 23 25 FE 36 61 Total people entering nursing facilities 59 86 Return of Tent City April Showers bring May flowers and disability rights activists to the Statehouse grounds. Members of the grassroots disability rights organization Kansas ADAPT pitched their tents on the southeast corner of the State Capitol Complex on Tuesday afternoon; April 29, 2003. They were there to assure that legislators consider the needs of Kansans with disabilities as they begin their final budget deliberations. For many this was a return engagement. Last March the group set up Tent City in the same location to protest deep cuts to programs for low income Kansans with disabilities. ADAPT members eventually packed up their tents and went home when the legislature restored the funding, but when the budget came up short last year severe cuts occurred under the allotment system. This happens when money in the budget runs out and the governor must decide what to cut to make up the difference. This time ADAPT plans to maintain their vigil until the budget process is completed. The mood at Tent City was upbeat because funding has been included in the proposed budget to shorten the waiting lists for the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waivers. These programs provide long-term health care services to low income Kansans in their homes and communities. Also, language was included to allow “the money t follow the person” (see Steve Gold article) which means that even more people with be able to receive HCBS. The residents of Tent City know the budget is far from a done deal. They are prepared for a long stay. ADAPT organizer Lou Ann Kibbee said, “We’re here for as long as it takes.” Nursing Home Vacancies and "Money Follows the Person"- from Steve Gold There have been, for the last five years, vacant nursing home beds in every state in the country. For advocates fighting for community-based services and particularly for advocates that are urging their State to use a "Money Follow the Individual" program, the nursing home vacancy rates are important to understand. HHS Secretary Thompson suggested the "Money Follow the Individual" was an innovative model to increase community services. Texas is successfully using it. Simply stated, the "Money follows the individual" means that when an individual in a nursing home or other institution chooses to leave that facility, the funds necessary to support the individual's service needs in the community are transferred from the budget of the institution to the community. In the federal budget for FY 2004, there will be a "Money Follows the Individual" Rebalancing Demonstration -- $1.75 billion over five years, with $350 million proposed for FY 2004. This five-year demonstration would assist states in developing and implementing a strategy to "re-balance" their long term care systems so that there are more cost-effective choices between institutional and community options, including financing Medicaid services for individuals who transition from institutions to the community. Federal grant funds would pay the full cost of home and community-based waiver services for one year, after which the participating states would agree to continue care at the regular Medicaid matching rate. This significant demonstration would build upon existing state success stories and also provides incentives to states for increased use of home and community-based services and would help provide information on costs of different approaches. WHY DOES IS IT SAVE $$$$$ Under Medicaid, nursing home services are an "entitlement." Therefore, any person who meets the "level of care" (disability) for your State's nursing homes has a right to receive services in the institution. Because there are vacancies in nursing homes, when a State adopts a Medicaid "money follows the person" program, there is NO ADDITIONAL COST to the State. In fact there will be a saving of money since community-based services are in the aggregate cheaper than nursing homes. An example: Person A resides in a nursing home funded by your State's Medicaid. In your State, there is a nursing home vacancy rate. If Person A wants to live in the community and the "money follows the individual," it is irrelevant that Person B may want to move into a nursing home because (1) whether or not Person A is in the nursing home or in the community, Person B has an right to reside in the nursing home, and (2) given the vacancy rates, there are unused beds for Person B regardless where Person A lives so the State will pay for Person B wherever Person A lives. Even though this new demonstration money may be available in October 2003 you should pressure your Medicaid Director and your state legislatures to begin now to do a Texas like "money follow the individual" program (see Rider 37 article) so you will have a head start when the new dollars becomes available. On April 29, 2003; Kansas ADAPT Tent City sprang up again on the Statehouse lawn to fight for the rights of Kansans with disabilities. In the picture to the right we see members of Kansas ADAPT as they pause for a moment of reflection at Tent City’s Cemetery, where lie the remains of Freedom, Justice and Budget Fairness. The following morning of April 29th, many people began to stop by the express their solidarity with ADAPT’s mission, including some legislators. In the picture to the left, ADAPT members thank Representative Jeff Jack for his leadership on the “Freshman Tax Plan”. ADAPT held daily press conferences and teach-ins at midday all week. Pictured at right is Topeka Independent Living Resource Center attorney Kirk Lowry conducting a teach-in on the “Money follows the person” concept. That afternoon officials from the Kansas Department of Administration at fist tried to get ADAPT to leave, but later returned to say it was a misunderstanding and it was OK to stay. This picture shows Tent City Mayor, the Right Honorable Becca Vaughn, negotiating with the Dept. of Admin. bureaucrats. On Thursday morning, May 1st, ADAPT members congregated outside the House Chambers to listen to their deliberations. As they listened the House voted 83-41 against the “Freshman Tax Plan”. At midday everyone returned to Tent City for lunch at the Road Kill Café. The Road Kill Café is actually a large tent that doubles as Tent City Town Hall. In the picture to the right Sue Christmas serves up lunch to her brothers and sister of ADAPT. As the week progressed Tent City continued to grow. Friday morning saw the opening of the new Tent City Historical Museum. The grand opening will be held this Saturday, May 3rd. See the community Calendar for other Events of Interest this weekend. At the midday press conference ADAPT organizer Mike Oxford told the press that ADAPT was still looking for some political leadership for inside the Statehouse. He told reporters, “Proposals such as the “Freshman Tax Plan,” the repeal of sales tax exemptions toyed with earlier in the session, and continued revenue stream proposals, not the use of one-time funding sources, represent the only real solution to the state of Kansas’ very real budget problems.” As this report is being written it is Friday afternoon and ADAPT is on the way to deliver a letter to Governor Sebelius asking her to “help to design a revenue package to meet the need now and over the next 25 years.” Be sure to pick up a copy of the Tent City Times Monday morning to find out what happen at the governor’s office and over the weekend. FREE OUR PEOPLE! --Boundary_(ID_SM0drTX/RUPfGcYcXD70oQ) Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
From: "Stephanie Thomas" <stephanieadapt@earthlink.net>
 
Subject: Tent City Reports

Howdy, <= /DIV>
Here are reports for = the last=20 half of our Tent City Action in Topeka.  Pictures for the Weekend = Editon=20 file are posted on the TILRC web site at: http://www.tilrc.org/= docs/0503tentcity04.htm.
See you in=20 D.C.!
Kevin
 <= /FONT>=20

Kansas ADAPT Still Weathering the Storm at Tent City

 

A recalcitrant legislature, gale-like winds and = torrential=20 rains buffeted the indomitable members of Kansas ADAPT this weekend; April= =20 3rd and 4th, 2003; but Tent City remained standing.=20 Saturday began with a meeting between the legislative leaders and Governor= =20 Sebelius at her Cedarcrest Mansion. = =20 ADAPT took this as a hopeful sign, but they were under no illusions = that=20 the end of the legislative session was near.  After breakfast of donated food = at the=20 Road Kill Caf=E9 the group split up, some going to legislative committee = meetings=20 while others leafleted the public around the State Capitol Complex and = Downtown=20 Topeka.

 

More food was dropped off around lunchtime, enough for= the=20 citizens of Tent City to have enough to share with the many passers-by and= =20 supporters who came by Tent City on Saturday.  The members of ADAPT were humbled= by the=20 outpouring of donations of food, coffee and just about anything they needed= from=20 civil rights and independent living advocates and the general public.  Thank you to everyone who has = helped=20 ADAPT maintain the “Budget Watch” Vigil at the Statehouse.

 

Following lunch a ceremony was held to celebrate the = grand=20 opening of the Tent City Historical Museum.  Many people who visited the = museum said=20 it felt like “d=E9j=E0 vu all over again” when they viewed the = exhibit covering last=20 year’s Tent City demonstration.&= nbsp;=20 Some citizens of Tent City expressed concern that the community had = no=20 medical facilities.  The = Honorable=20 Mayor of Tent City, Becca Vaughn, responded by converting an unused section= of=20 the Town Hall into the Tent City Public Health Clinic.  All services of the clinic are = free to=20 the public.

 

The thespian element of Tent City has begun organizing= a=20 Community Theatre Troup.  = Look for=20 their first performance sometime later in the week. 

 

Saturday night and Sunday morning brought heavy rain = and=20 winds so strong they blew signs off the light poles on 10th = Street=20 just outside Tent City.  Tent= City=20 was unscathed. Not one tent was blown down! ADAPT took it a sign for = providence=20 and hoped it was an indication that the legislators and the governor were=20 nearing a budget compromise that would provide for the needs of all Kansans= .

 

The budget conference committee returned to work = Sunday=20 afternoon and held meetings on into the night. ADAPT members were present = at=20 every one of them to make sure that our state’s most vulnerable = citizens; adults=20 and children with disabilities, our senior citizens and all who depend on = the=20 state for many of life necessities; are not forgotten in the budget process= .

 

ADAPT and other disability rights advocates were = gratified=20 that House negotiators fought to include more money for the Home and = Community=20 Based Services Waivers waiting lists, but were aggravated that Senate=20 negotiators refused to add more that $1.2 million. 

 

Sunday evening high winds returned threatening to = topple a=20 few tents.  The Capitol = Police=20 stopped by to warn the residents of Tent City of severe weather and tornado= =20 warnings in the area.  The = citizens=20 of Tent City were unshaken.  = They=20 had been wrangling with the Kansas Legislature to long to be frightened by = a=20 little thing like a tornado! The struggle will continue Monday and ADAPT = will be=20 there.

=
Letters to the Editor
&=
nbsp;
Maryland's "Money =
Follows the Individual" PASSES!
 =

 
Friends of ADAPT and disability rights supporters:
We did it! All those trips to Annapolis, giving=
 our legislators a full 
dose of =
political activism, have paid off: On Thursday, April 3, our bill has 
passed the senate, 45-0! On Tuesday, the Money Follows the Individual Act 
sailed through the Senate Finance Committee. =
Committee members loved the 
fact that it=
 saves the state money and frees people from nursing homes. Primary =

sponsor Delegate Jim Hubbard told the senators =
that passing HB 478 was the 
"moral thing=
 to do."
 
<=
PRE> Ten ADAPTers and a =
throng of supporters made it to the hearing, some of which 
<=
PRE>were still trapped in nursing homes. Many of us =
have testified in Annapolis three 
or =
four times, in the House and Senate, and it is evident that our presence =
helped 
push this legislation through.=

 
 The Money Follows the Individual Act creates a =
provision in statute that will 
=
allow people living in nursing homes funded through =
Medicaid to use those funds 
to be =
supported in their own homes, rather than nursing homes. Amendments we 
added that would strengthen the bill were=
 accepted without objection.
Now it's on to the =
Governor! The word is he supports the bill, but we will carry 
=

on the fight for freedom until "Money Follows the =
Individual" reaches his desk.
Maryland ADAPT
 


Rider 37: How Texas =
utilizes=20
Medicaid dollars more efficiently by letting the money follow the=20
person


During =
the 2002=20
Session of the Texas Legislature, Rider 37: Promoting Independence was =
passed=20
for the Texas Department of Human Services (TDHS) appropriations which =
allowed=20
the general revenue used to purchase nursing facility (NF) services to =
follow=20
the individual into the community and purchase community services.=20
So far well over 1,000 people=
 have=20
used this rider to transition from an institution to the community. =20



The =
intent of=20
Rider 37 is that funds will be transferred from Nursing Facilities to =
Community=20
Care Services to cover the cost of the shift in services as clients =
relocate=20
from nursing facilities to community care services. 


TDHS =
periodically=20
transfers funds (on a retrospective basis) from the Nursing Facility =
funding=20
strategy to the Community Care strategy. The amount transferred is equal to=
 the=20
actual amount expended on the individual for Community Care services a =
person=20
receives after they leave the facility, rather than the amount that was =
being=20
spent on the individual when they were in the facility. Funds are monitored=
,=20
analyzed, and transferred on a global basis; meaning the agency looks at=20
expenditure levels for people who use Rider 37 services as a group, rather =
than=20
on an individual-by-individual basis.


While Texas =
limits the=20
number of “regular” Community Care waiver slots based upon the =
number of slots=20
funded by the State Legislature, the waiver slots funded through Rider 37 =
are=20
allowed to increase based upon demand.


Currently the =
agency=20
is working on collecting the demographics of the population that uses=20
community-based services through Rider 37. Studying this information will =
assist=20
the state and independent living specialists’ efforts in refining the=
 system=20
being implemented for transitioning persons from institutions back into =
their=20
our homes.  


Thousands Still =
Waiting for=20
Services


HCBS Waiver Waiting List continue to Grow at Alarming Rate


Over 3000 Kansans remain on the waiting lists for the =
Home=20
and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waivers.  These waiver programs provide =
long-term=20
health care to Kansans who are Medicaid eligible. In spite of the federal=20
requirement to move people off these waiting lists “at a reasonable =
pace” many=20
of these people have been for over a year, getting by as best they can =
until=20
they can get the health care services they need.


Many other have been forced to enter nursing homes to =
receive=20
needed care.  Institutional =
care is=20
a Medicaid entitlement, whereas, HCBS is optional.  Precisely the opposite of what =
you might=20
think since the vast majority of people prefer to receive long-term health =
care=20
services in their own homes and the fact that HCBS is much less costly than=
=20
nursing home care.


Unless adequate funding is included in the state =
budget now=20
been crafted by the state legislature the waiting lists will continue to=20
balloon.  It is critical for =
many=20
Kansans with disabilities that these programs receive adequate funding, so =
they=20
can get the health care they need in the setting of their choice.  These are not just lists of =
numbers=20
we’re talking about they are people in need.


 


The Latest Figures:


 


People on Waiting Lists        =
   =20
02/03        =
   =20
Now 4/28103


Physical Disabilities Waiver (PD)        =
   =20
784     =20
        =
   =20
916


Frail Elderly Waiver (FE)        =
   =20
1070        =
   =20
1294


Developmental Disabilities Waiver (DD)


• Adults        =
   =20
476        =
   =20
500


• Children        =
   =20
440        =
   =20
472


Total waiting for HCB Services        =
   =20
2770        =
   =20
3182


 


People Who Died Waiting        =
   =20
02/03        =
   =20
Now 4/28103


PD       59<=
SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-tab-count: 1">        =
   =20
62


FE       =20
54        =
   =20
85


Total died waiting for services        =
   =20
113        =
   =20
147


 


People Forced into Nursing Facilities        =
   =20
02103        =
   =20
Now 4/28103


PD       23<=
SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-tab-count: 1">        =
   =20
25


FE       =20
36        =
   =20
61


Total people entering nursing facilities        =
   =20
59        =
   =20
86


 Return of Tent City


 April Showers bring May flowers and disability =
rights=20
activists to the Statehouse grounds. Members of the grassroots disability =
rights=20
organization Kansas ADAPT pitched their tents on the southeast corner of =
the=20
State Capitol Complex on Tuesday afternoon; April 29, 2003. They were there=
 to=20
assure that legislators consider the needs of  Kansans with disabilities as they=
 begin=20
their final budget deliberations.


For many this was a return engagement.  Last March the group set up Tent =
City in=20
the same location to protest deep cuts to programs for low income Kansans =
with=20
disabilities.  ADAPT members=
=20
eventually packed up their tents and went home when the legislature =
restored the=20
funding, but when the budget came up short last year severe cuts occurred =
under=20
the allotment system.  This =
happens=20
when money in the budget runs out and the governor must decide what to cut =
to=20
make up the difference.  This=
 time=20
ADAPT plans to maintain their vigil until the budget process is completed.<=
/P>

The mood at Tent City was upbeat because funding has =
been=20
included in the proposed budget to shorten the waiting lists for the Home =
and=20
Community Based Services (HCBS) Waivers.&=
nbsp;=20
These programs provide long-term health care services to low income=
=20
Kansans in their homes and communities.&=
nbsp;=20
Also, language was included to allow “the money t follow the =
person” (see=20
Steve Gold article) which means that even more people with be able to =
receive=20
HCBS.


The residents of Tent City know the budget is far from=
 a done=20
deal.  They are prepared for =
a long=20
stay.  ADAPT organizer Lou =
Ann=20
Kibbee said, “We’re here for as long as it takes.”
<=
PRE>Nursing Home Vacancies and "Money Follows the =
Person"- from Steve Gold
There have =
been, for the last five years, vacant nursing home beds in every state in =
the 
country.  For advocates fighting for community-based services =
and particularly for 
advocates that are=
 urging their State to use a "Money 
 
Follow the Individual" program, the=
 nursing home vacancy rates are important to 
understand.   HHS =
Secretary Thompson suggested the "Money Follow the Individual" 
was an innovative model to increase community =
services.  Texas is =
successfully using it.
&=
nbsp;
Simply stated, the "=
Money follows the individual" means that when an individual in a 
nursing home or other institution chooses to =
leave that facility, the funds necessary to 
support the individual's service needs in the community are =
transferred from the budget of 
the =
institution to the community.
In the federal budget=
 for FY 2004, there will be a  "Money Follows the Individual" 
=
Rebalancing Demonstration --  $1.75 billion over five years, with $350 million proposed 
<=
PRE>for FY 2004. =
; This five-year demonstration would assist states in developing and=
 
implementing a strategy to "re-balance"=
 their long term care systems so that there are 
more cost-effective choices between institutional and =
community options, including 
financing =
Medicaid services for individuals who transition from institutions to the <=
/SPAN>
community.  
 
Federal grant funds would pay =
the full cost of home and community-based waiver 
services for one year, after which the participating states =
would agree to continue care at 
the=
 regular Medicaid matching rate.  This significant demonstration would build upon 
<=
SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-=
font-size: 10.0pt">existing state success stories and also provides =
incentives to states for increased use of 
  =
services and would help  =
provide information on costs of 
=
different approaches.
&=
nbsp;
WHY DOES IS IT SAVE $=
$$$$
 
Under Medicaid, nursing home services are=
 an "entitlement."  Therefore=
, any person who 
meets the "level of =
care" (disability) for your State's nursing homes has a right to receive 
services in the institution. Because =
there are vacancies in nursing homes, when a State 
adopts a Medicaid "money follows the person" program, there =
is NO ADDITIONAL 
COST to the State.<=
SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">  In fact there will be a =
saving of money since community-based 
=
services are in the aggregate cheaper than nursing homes.
=
 
An example: =
Person A resides in a nursing home funded by your State's  
  In your State, =
there is a nursing home vacancy rate.&=
nbsp; If Person A wants to live 
  irrelevant that Person B 
=

may want to move into a nursing home because (1)<=
SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">  whether or not Person A is =
in the 
nursing home or in the =
community, Person B has an right to reside in the nursing home, 
and (2) given the vacancy rates,  there are unused beds for Person B =
regardless where 
Person A lives so the<=
SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">  
 
State will =
pay for Person B wherever Person A lives.
 


Even though this new=
=20
demonstration money may be available in October 2003 you should pressure =
your=20
Medicaid Director and your state legislatures to begin now to do a Texas =
like=20
"money follow the individual" program (see Rider 37 article) so you will =
have a=20
head start when the new dollars becomes available.


 


On April 29, 2003; Kansas ADAPT Tent City sprang up =
again on=20
the Statehouse lawn to fight for the rights of Kansans with disabilities. =
In the=20
picture to the right we see members of Kansas ADAPT as they pause for a =
moment=20
of reflection at Tent City’s Cemetery, where lie the remains of =
Freedom, Justice=20
and Budget Fairness.


 


The following morning of April 29th, many =
people=20
began to stop by the express their solidarity with ADAPT’s mission, =
including=20
some legislators.  In the =
picture to=20
the left, ADAPT members thank Representative Jeff Jack for his leadership =
on the=20
“Freshman Tax Plan”.


 


ADAPT held daily press conferences and teach-ins at =
midday=20
all week. Pictured at right is Topeka Independent Living Resource Center=20
attorney Kirk Lowry conducting a teach-in on the “Money follows the =
person”=20
concept.


 


That afternoon officials from the Kansas Department of=
=20
Administration at fist tried to get ADAPT to leave, but later returned to =
say it=20
was a misunderstanding and it was OK to stay.  This picture shows Tent City =
Mayor, the=20
Right Honorable Becca Vaughn, negotiating with the Dept. of Admin.=20
bureaucrats.


 


On Thursday morning, May 1st, ADAPT members=
=20
congregated outside the House Chambers to listen to their deliberations. <=
SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-bidi-font-size: 13.5pt">As they listened the House voted 83-41=20
against the “Freshman Tax Plan”.


 


At midday everyone returned to Tent City for lunch at =
the=20
Road Kill Caf=E9.  The Road =
Kill Caf=E9=20
is actually a large tent that doubles as Tent City Town Hall.  In the picture to the right Sue=20
Christmas serves up lunch to her brothers and sister of ADAPT.


 


As the week progressed Tent City continued to grow.<=
SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">  Friday morning saw the opening of=
 the=20
new Tent City Historical Museum. =20
The grand opening will be held this Saturday, May 3rd.<=
SPAN=20
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">  See the community Calendar for =
other=20
Events of  Interest this=20
weekend.


 


At the midday press conference ADAPT organizer Mike =
Oxford=20
told the press that ADAPT was still looking for some political leadership =
for=20
inside the Statehouse. He told reporters, “Proposals such as the &#=
8220;Freshman Tax=20
Plan,” the repeal of sales tax exemptions toyed with earlier in the =
session, and=20
continued revenue stream proposals, not the use of one-time funding sources=
,=20
represent the only real =
solution to=20
the state of Kansas’ very =
real=20
budget problems.”


 


As this report is being written it is Friday afternoon=
 and=20
ADAPT is on the way to deliver a letter to Governor Sebelius asking her to =
“help=20
to design a revenue package to meet the need now and over the next 25=20
years.”


 


Be sure to pick up a copy of the Tent City Times =
Monday=20
morning to find out what happen at the governor’s office and over the=
=20
weekend.


 


FREE=
 OUR=20
PEOPLE!
 
--Boundary_(ID_SM0drTX/RUPfGcYcXD70oQ)-- From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Tue May 13 02:19:20 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 19:19:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] go team? Message-ID: <20030513021920.97649.qmail@web21408.mail.yahoo.com> --0-976003773-1052792360=:96887 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Ghetto girls hijack American tradition to chant: 'Who armed bin Laden?' Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Sunday May 11, 2003 The Observer Cheerleaders are a wholesome symbol of America. They feature at every major sports event, in films from American Beauty to Bring It On and are the source of a multi-million-dollar industry in costumes and training camps. Yet now cheerleading has become political. In the Los Angeles Superior Court, the mother of a would-be cheerleader has brought a civil action, claiming her daughter was wrongly excluded from the Quartz Hill High School cheerleading squad in suburban Antelope Valley. Liz Smith claims coach Tammy Stewart rejected Kelly, 18, partly because she had beaten one of Stewart's friends in the Miss Quartz Hill pageant. Stewart denies it, claiming Kelly's routine, to the tune of 'I Want Candy', was not up to scratch. One of the five judges claims Stewart told him before the trials that she did not want Kelly chosen, and changed the score he had given her to catch her out. Stewart and other judges deny this and say Kelly was out of sync with the music. The row has split the community. It has drawn attention to the 'cheer moms' with the same sort of vicarious ambition as fathers who bark from the touchlines at their football- playing sons. It has also reinforced a stereotype of suburban pettiness in places where some girls start cheerleader training at two. The dispute has provoked a backlash against the clean-cut elitism of cheerleading. Anyone attending recent political rallies in LA will have noticed the most visible sign of this, a team called Radical Teen Cheer, who chant: 'We're teens, we're cute, we're radical to boot!' Instead of backing the Oakland Raiders or the LA Lakers, they chant: 'Who trained, who trained, bin Laden? Who armed, who armed, Saddam Hussein?' Now other radical teams - among them the Dirty Southern Belles in Memphis and the Rocky Mountain Rebels in Colorado - are springing up in dozens of US and Canadian cities, shaking pom-poms for causes from gay and lesbian rights to foreign policy. Tricky - nicknames or first names are the style - of the Dirty Southern Belles says on the Radical Cheerleaders' website that it all started when two Florida women, Cara and Aimee, decided 'regular old protests on street corners holding signs and waving at traffic was not radical enough. 'They made pom-poms out of plastic bags and printed their cheers in fanzine form. Soon radical cheerleading spread like blue bonnet margarine on vegan biscuits'. Formed last year in LA, Radical Teen Cheer are from a working-class area with a large Latino population. There are around 20 of them, aged between 14 and 18, almost all pupils at Franklin High School. 'Cheerleading is just our way of getting our message across,' said Natalia, who is also in her school team. 'We get a lot of attention, people saying "wow, that's cool".' Her teammate Antonette said people had accused them at anti-war protests of being unpatriotic. A couple of girls had had to give up because of family pressure, 'but we love our country'. 'People always say to us "what do you want to do, change the world?",' said Yesenia. 'Well, kind of, yes.' They all felt films such as American Beauty create a wrong impression of cheerleaders as a 'bit ditzy'. Meredith Ryley, a teacher and a team organiser, said demonstrators were stunned by the cheerleaders bursting into action. 'One guy told me it was the coolest thing he'd seen in 20 years. 'The girls are from a low-income, minority, inner-city neighbourhood and they have to overcome many obstacles to get the opportunities many teenagers take for granted. And they defy the stereotypical images of the ghetto kid.' Ryley was thinking of encouraging girls to start a punk cheerleading team when she read about a radical team in Minnesota and decided to form Radical Teen Cheer. 'The stereotype of the cheerleader is snotty and superior but these are kids who want more. We found that people at demonstrations have been bored in the past. Our motto is what Emma Goldman said - "I don't want to be part of your revolution if I can't dance".' And they are open to all - Ryley said that if Quartz Hill doesn't have a place for Kelly Smith she is welcome to don the red and black of Radical Teen Cheer. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-976003773-1052792360=:96887 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Ghetto girls hijack American tradition to chant: 'Who armed bin Laden?'

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Sunday May 11, 2003
The Observer

Cheerleaders are a wholesome symbol of America. They feature at every major sports event, in films from American Beauty to Bring It On and are the source of a multi-million-dollar industry in costumes and training camps. Yet now cheerleading has become political.

In the Los Angeles Superior Court, the mother of a would-be cheerleader has brought a civil action, claiming her daughter was wrongly excluded from the Quartz Hill High School cheerleading squad in suburban Antelope Valley.

Liz Smith claims coach Tammy Stewart rejected Kelly, 18, partly because she had beaten one of Stewart's friends in the Miss Quartz Hill pageant. Stewart denies it, claiming Kelly's routine, to the tune of 'I Want Candy', was not up to scratch.

One of the five judges claims Stewart told him before the trials that she did not want Kelly chosen, and changed the score he had given her to catch her out. Stewart and other judges deny this and say Kelly was out of sync with the music.

The row has split the community. It has drawn attention to the 'cheer moms' with the same sort of vicarious ambition as fathers who bark from the touchlines at their football- playing sons. It has also reinforced a stereotype of suburban pettiness in places where some girls start cheerleader training at two.

The dispute has provoked a backlash against the clean-cut elitism of cheerleading. Anyone attending recent political rallies in LA will have noticed the most visible sign of this, a team called Radical Teen Cheer, who chant: 'We're teens, we're cute, we're radical to boot!'

Instead of backing the Oakland Raiders or the LA Lakers, they chant: 'Who trained, who trained, bin Laden? Who armed, who armed, Saddam Hussein?'

Now other radical teams - among them the Dirty Southern Belles in Memphis and the Rocky Mountain Rebels in Colorado - are springing up in dozens of US and Canadian cities, shaking pom-poms for causes from gay and lesbian rights to foreign policy.

Tricky - nicknames or first names are the style - of the Dirty Southern Belles says on the Radical Cheerleaders' website that it all started when two Florida women, Cara and Aimee, decided 'regular old protests on street corners holding signs and waving at traffic was not radical enough.

'They made pom-poms out of plastic bags and printed their cheers in fanzine form. Soon radical cheerleading spread like blue bonnet margarine on vegan biscuits'.

Formed last year in LA, Radical Teen Cheer are from a working-class area with a large Latino population. There are around 20 of them, aged between 14 and 18, almost all pupils at Franklin High School.

'Cheerleading is just our way of getting our message across,' said Natalia, who is also in her school team. 'We get a lot of attention, people saying "wow, that's cool".'

Her teammate Antonette said people had accused them at anti-war protests of being unpatriotic. A couple of girls had had to give up because of family pressure, 'but we love our country'.

'People always say to us "what do you want to do, change the world?",' said Yesenia. 'Well, kind of, yes.'

They all felt films such as American Beauty create a wrong impression of cheerleaders as a 'bit ditzy'.

Meredith Ryley, a teacher and a team organiser, said demonstrators were stunned by the cheerleaders bursting into action. 'One guy told me it was the coolest thing he'd seen in 20 years.

'The girls are from a low-income, minority, inner-city neighbourhood and they have to overcome many obstacles to get the opportunities many teenagers take for granted. And they defy the stereotypical images of the ghetto kid.'

Ryley was thinking of encouraging girls to start a punk cheerleading team when she read about a radical team in Minnesota and decided to form Radical Teen Cheer.

'The stereotype of the cheerleader is snotty and superior but these are kids who want more. We found that people at demonstrations have been bored in the past. Our motto is what Emma Goldman said - "I don't want to be part of your revolution if I can't dance".' And they are open to all - Ryley said that if Quartz Hill doesn't have a place for Kelly Smith she is welcome to don the red and black of Radical Teen Cheer.

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-976003773-1052792360=:96887-- From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Mon May 12 00:37:54 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 17:37:54 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] some of my plan Message-ID: <20030512003754.90270.qmail@web21405.mail.yahoo.com> --0-1414818883-1052699874=:90211 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii So anyway, today started slow with me getting up just before seven and starting the clean up rounds. Jimmy showed up obstensibly to finish the roof over Lang's and some work on the sprinklers but he was acting a mite on the bizarrre side. Nothing I could definitely say but he was raising the hackles on my neck and the sooner I was away the better. There are a couple of people who want me to room with him to keep an eye on him which is not what ither his mother or grandma want. Besides I didn't care for the way he was hitting me up for cash. I have much better use for my money. Haircut and more laundry this week. Computer time is free for me this week - I did a favor for them here and I am paid with free time online. I love my cheapo inverter. Four hundred blazing watts to charge laptop or cell phone now that I am looking into them. Trac phone offers no contract but first few minutes a day come to two-fifty and ten cents a minute after that. And if I use that as modem well at six bucks an hour to be online Cyberzone is cheaper at two an hour (unless they owe you favor and make it free and unlimited - unkless they are closed of course!). Nextel Ihave to call them because for under sixty a month I get four or six hundred anytime (forty cents per minute after that) and unlimited night and weekends. Additional ten bucks and they will give me email access and use of them as ISP and my phone as modem. That may be the best Thing is I have to give them a year contract with a two hundred buck fee if I cancell early. That part makes me worrry a little but it may be something I can live with. hell probably not as much of a problem as I can dream up; I do tend to be a worry-wart. Also have found nice not too expensive fifteen amp solar charger that I can mount on van roof or just plain old put ondashboard when not running. Plugs into cigarette lighter to charge car battery or into (Taaa-Dah) sealed storage rechagable battery meant for when you have a dead battery. It also has two plug outlets so you can charge laptops or cell phones or lights when camping. So for about a hundred/hundred twenty I can be independent of the power grid or running stuff with my ar engine running so my battery doesn't die. I am not sure what mmy cost of electricity is using my van as a gas powered generator but I assume it isn't cheap or anything near to "competative". Cost-effective? I doubt it but under the circumstances there isn't a lot of choice. Two solar panels wopuld be best maybe but that can wait. However it makes me wish the van was one of those camper RVs! They have showers and kitchens and a toilet (that has to be pumped out every now and then or hooked up to sewerage in campground.) ( You have no idea how attractive that sounds to me compared to what I am doing now!!!!) Last night had a treat, when pizza palor was closing the owner gave me the remaining half of a medium pie with chicken and garlic. He would have had to throw it out as it was what they were eating and it being only the two last night there were left-overs for once. It was pretty good I have to say. I'll order that nexttime I am getting a pizza! So anyway I had a beer I bought at Lang's - Arrogant Bastard Beer , it has a rather mean looking devil on bottle with caption "you aren't worthy". Went well with the pizza as I played a DVD on my laptop. Not to bad a way to end the day especially considering everything! Well okay so an anime feature and some writing for about half an hour and I was down to eighteen percent powerr on my battery and I decided to call it a night. No reading, no radio just straight to put stuff away. Brush teeth in the bathroom - lotsa fun when the power isn't on - which is why I am so rechargable battery oriented right now. Yes and I did see that nice solar-powered battery charger on Real Goods! So what am I just lucky but not lucky enough or some new type of homeless person or just a dumb schmuck who hasn't seen the wall approaching at about ninety miles an hour and will find out when I splat that this moth-race is over. See I told you I'm a worry-wart! Zen hugs, Joe --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1414818883-1052699874=:90211 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
    So anyway, today started slow with me getting up just before seven and starting the clean up rounds. Jimmy showed up obstensibly to finish the roof over Lang's and some work on the sprinklers but he was acting a mite on the bizarrre side. Nothing I could definitely say but he was raising the hackles on my neck and the sooner I was away the better. There are a couple of people who want me to room with him to keep an eye on him which is not what ither his mother or grandma want. Besides I didn't care for the way he was hitting me up for cash.
   I have much better use for my money. Haircut and more laundry this week. Computer time is free for me this week - I did a favor for them here and I am paid with free time online.
   I love my cheapo inverter. Four hundred blazing watts to charge laptop or cell phone now that I am looking into them. Trac phone offers no contract but first few minutes a day come to two-fifty and ten cents a minute after that. And if I use that as modem well at six bucks an hour to be online Cyberzone is cheaper at two an hour (unless they owe you favor and make it free and unlimited - unkless they are closed of course!). Nextel Ihave to call them because for under sixty a month I get four or six hundred anytime (forty cents per minute after that) and unlimited night and weekends. Additional ten bucks and they will give me email access and use of them as ISP and my phone as modem. That may be the best Thing is I have to give them a year contract with a two hundred buck fee if I cancell early.  That part makes me worrry a little but it may be something I can live with. hell probably not as much of a problem as I can dream up; I do tend to be a worry-wart.
  Also have found nice not too expensive fifteen amp solar charger that I can mount on van roof or just plain old put ondashboard when not running. Plugs into cigarette lighter to charge car battery or into (Taaa-Dah) sealed storage rechagable battery meant for when you have a dead battery. It also has two plug outlets so you can charge laptops or cell phones or lights when camping. So for about a hundred/hundred twenty I can be independent of the power grid or running stuff with my ar engine running so my battery doesn't die. I am not sure what mmy cost of electricity is using my van as a gas powered generator but I assume it isn't cheap or anything near to "competative". Cost-effective? I doubt it but under the circumstances there isn't a lot of choice.
   Two solar panels wopuld be best maybe but that can wait. However it makes me wish the van was one of those camper RVs! They have showers and kitchens and a toilet (that has to be pumped out every now and then or hooked up to sewerage in campground.) ( You have no idea how attractive that sounds to me compared to what I am doing now!!!!)
   Last night had a treat, when pizza palor was closing the owner gave me the remaining half of a medium pie with chicken and garlic. He would have had to throw it out as it was what they were eating and it being only the two last night there were left-overs for once. It was pretty good I have to say. I'll order that nexttime I am getting a pizza!
   So anyway I had a beer I bought at Lang's - Arrogant Bastard Beer , it has a rather mean looking devil on bottle with caption "you aren't worthy". Went well with the pizza as I played a DVD on my laptop. Not to bad a way to end the day especially considering everything!
  Well okay so an anime feature and some writing for about half an hour and I was down to eighteen percent powerr on my battery and I decided to call it a night. No reading, no radio just straight to put stuff away. Brush teeth in the bathroom - lotsa fun when the power isn't on - which is why I am so rechargable battery oriented right now. Yes and I did see that nice solar-powered battery charger on Real Goods!
   So what am I just lucky but not lucky enough or some new type of homeless person or just a dumb schmuck who hasn't seen the wall approaching at about ninety miles an hour and will find out when I splat that this moth-race is over.
  See I told you I'm a worry-wart!
                     Zen hugs, Joe

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1414818883-1052699874=:90211-- From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Tue May 13 22:23:16 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 15:23:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] hello Message-ID: <20030513222316.83955.qmail@web21414.mail.yahoo.com> --0-1612531605-1052864596=:83856 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii After a small scare today (loose ignition switch) I got a small solar recharger for car battery. Also retightened switch in place - whew, motor would barely turn over! Anyhow I can't run with inverter on all the time as battery does need a full charge somewhere along line! This way car will be maintained which is priority one. If no running van then all else falls down. However there are larger cheap panels and some not so cheap that will also keep the battery charged in car jumper back-up and in laptop. Just wwish finding a job ad place to live was as easy. That is the funny part, I mean I am making enough to make me partially independent of the "system" but not enough to be part of it? Welcome to the new America. Abandon all dreams beyond this point at least it says to above the portal... Decided to rent the remake of Lolita on DVD. Should be interesting, wonder if it will seem as funny as the one with James Mason and Peter Sellers did to me when I was a kid. (Sorry folks back then Sue Lyons never reminded me of the twelve year old girls I knew. Eighteen yeah but come on, she looked like a rown up to this kid!) Bit of excitment this morning looked like another break-in but turned out Gamar just forgot to lock up the carpet shop last night! Dropped in at John's and shared some coffee and time. We both are feeling a bit lonely. In his case the wife is now absent with her friends all the time. He is thinking of going up by family in Oregon. He mentioned some property one bought, slightly over two acres, small log house just off highway with all utilities and only cost three thousand... Of course the price is a dead give away there is zero work available in the area. Rats! Jumbo-sized Rats!!!!! Wll can't have it all, I guess! Take care, Joe --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1612531605-1052864596=:83856 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
After a small scare today (loose ignition switch) I got a small solar recharger for car battery. Also retightened switch in place - whew, motor would barely turn over! Anyhow I can't run with inverter on all the time as battery does need a full charge somewhere along line!
This way car will be maintained which is priority one. If no running van then all else falls down.
However there are larger cheap panels and some not so cheap  that will also keep the battery charged in car jumper back-up and in laptop.
Just wwish finding a job ad place to live was as easy. That is the funny part, I mean I am making enough to make me partially independent of the "system" but not enough to be part of it?
Welcome to the new America.
Abandon all dreams beyond this point at least it says to above the portal...
Decided to rent the remake of Lolita on DVD. Should be interesting, wonder if it will seem as funny as the one with James Mason and Peter Sellers did to me when I was a kid. (Sorry folks back then Sue Lyons never reminded me of the twelve year old girls I knew. Eighteen yeah but come on, she looked like a rown up to this kid!)
Bit of excitment this morning looked like another break-in but turned out Gamar just forgot to lock up the carpet shop last night!
Dropped in at  John's and shared some coffee and time. We both are feeling a bit lonely. In his case the wife is now absent with her friends all the time. He is thinking of going up by family in Oregon. He mentioned some property one bought, slightly over two acres, small log house just off highway with all utilities and only cost three thousand...
Of course the price is a dead give away there is zero work available in the area.
Rats!
Jumbo-sized Rats!!!!!
Wll can't have it all, I guess!
                 Take care, Joe

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1612531605-1052864596=:83856-- From under-the-bridge@juno.com Wed May 14 03:05:49 2003 From: under-the-bridge@juno.com (under-the-bridge@juno.com) Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 20:05:49 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] re: Ex-City Officer Charged ( May 13, 2003 Union Leader City edition) Message-ID: <20030513.200551.-580259.0.under-the-bridge@juno.com> May 13, 2003 Union Leader City Edition Ex-City Officer Charged Man allegedly stole donated soup kitchen food; said there was too much for the shelter. By Pat Grossmith Union Leader Staff A retired Manchester police officer said he dropped off donated food intended for the needy at the social club because the former soup kitchen and shelter director said if there is too much, "to put it where you want", according to court records. But he also told a detective investigating the incident he never had permission for his actions. William Egan, 70, of 1 Carpenter St., Hooksett, who retired from the Manchester Police Department in 1991, is charged with stealing the food donated by Hannaford Brothers supermarket in Goffstown to the New Horizons food pantry and shelter. "If you have too much donated food just put it where you want," Egan is quoted in court documents as saying he was told by the former New Horizons Director. That is why he dropped off the donated groceries to the Raphael Club, 237 Granite St., according to the affidavit of Detective Kevin E. Covey on file at Manchester District Court. At the same time, however, Egan told Detective Sgt. Kevin Kelly that nobody gave him permission to give away the food. According to court records, he acknowledged that the food belonged to New Horizons. Egan is charged with stealing the food. According to court documents, Raphael Club bartender James Athas 63, of 3 A Palomino Court Goffstown, also told detectives that "this type of activity has been going on for several years." Armand DuBois, president of the Raphael Club could not be reached for comment yesterday. The former New Horizon's director is not identified by name in court records. However, former Manchester Police Chief Louis Craig was the director prior to Michael Tessier. Tessier is also a former Manchester Police officer. "New Horizons has an established procedure for the issuance of food." Craig said yesterday. " IN all my years as executive director of New Horizons, no way have I ever, ever authorized the distribution of food in this manner." Craig also said that New Horizons never has too much food. "In fact, New Horizons is always scrambling for food donations for its food pantry and soup kitchen," said Craig, who is now the executive director of Serenity Place. Sgt. Shawn Fournier, police community information officer, said yesterday that the investigation is continuing. Egan retired from the police department in 1991 after a parking control officer accused him of sexually assaulting her. Craig was the police chief at the time. The parking control officer filed a lawsuit against the city in connection with the case that year. It was settled in 1995. According to court records, Egan told investigators last week that neither Tessier nor New Horizons volunteer coordinator Leona Martel knew what the volunteers were doing. "Hell, no, they don't know about this," Egan is quoted in court records telling Kelly. Tessier learned of the alleged theft from Martel, who, police said, told him that volunteers were allegedly seen each Thursday giving out donated food to people at the Raphael Club. Yesterday Egan pleaded innocent in Manchester District Court to a Class A misdemeanor charge of theft by unauthorized taking. His codefendants, Athas and Robert St, Onge, 67 of 59 Varney Street pleaded innocent to theft by unauthorized taking, and Athas pleaded innocent to receiving stolen property. All three men were released on bail with trials scheduled for July 17. Egan and St. Onge were accused last Thursday of dropping off $152 groceries, including meats, produce and deli items at the social club. Police said that two men had picked up the donated food earlier that morning at Hannaford Brothers supermarket in Goffstown. Athas is accused of letting Egan and St. Onge, who are club members inside with the food. According to court records, Egan and St. Onge made several trips into the club with boxes they removed from the van clearly marked "New Horizons for New Hampshire" on its sides. Manchester police began an investigation into the theft on April 24 after Tessier filed a report with them. Tessier told Kelly that volunteers were told to drive the cargo van to several local supermarkets in and around Greater Manchester and pick up the donated food. After making the pickups, they were supposed to bring the food back to New Horizons for New Hampshire, Inc. The food Tessier told Kelly, is then prepared and served or given away to the needy members of the community. According to court records early on Thursday, May 1, Detective Kim Goodrich and Brian Reil went to both the Goffstown and Bedford Hannaford Brothers' grocery stores and put red marks on each donated food item for later identification. At 8:35 a.m., Police began surveillance of Egan and St. Onge. Detectives followed them as they left the shelter at 8:35 a.m. from the shelter in New Horizons and arrived at 8:55 a.m. at the Goffstown supermarket. After the food was picked up, the detectives again followed the van as it drove from the supermarket to the Raphael Club and parked in its lot. At 9:27 a.m., Covey wrote, St Onge and Egan were videotaped by detective Scott Fuller as they carried boxes and bags of donated food into the club through a rear door. Bartender Athas was seen holding the rear door open as the men carried food inside , according to the court documents. Athas gave police consent to search the club, and the donated items were found in plan view on the bar, according to Fuller's affidavit in support of Athas arrest. Goodrich and Reil identified the items as the ones they marked at the Goffstown grocery store. Egan told detectives hat he and St. Onge volunteer every Thursday morning and pick up the donated food at both the Goffstown and Bedford Shop 'N Save (Hannaford Brothers) supermarkets. According to court records, St. Onge said he and Egan sometimes gave some of the food to the Raphael Club and its members and that the club sometimes served the food to its members. ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From lcsa@sbcglobal.net Sun May 11 17:00:24 2003 From: lcsa@sbcglobal.net (lcsa) Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 12:00:24 -0500 Subject: [Hpn] Happy Mother's Day to Homeless Mothers Message-ID: <000801c317de$d4148900$01f7fea9@x> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C317B4.E8006D00 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear Homeless Mothers, You, more than any other mom, deserve this holiday. You make the = world secure for your children even though they don't live in four = walls. If there's no food to eat you feed them with your love. When = they have nothing else in the world, they have your smile. If they = don't have blankets to keep warm, your hugs protect them from the cold. = Even though you are living under hard conditions and are sad yourself, = you still give 110% for your kids. You are truly heroes. Thanks for = all you do. Sincerely, Somebody Who Cares ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C317B4.E8006D00 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Dear Homeless Mothers,
    You, more than any = other mom,=20 deserve this holiday.  You make the world secure for your children = even=20 though they don't live in four walls.  If there's no food to eat = you feed=20 them with your love.  When they have nothing else in the world, = they have=20 your smile.  If they don't have blankets to keep warm, your hugs = protect=20 them from the cold.  Even though you are living under hard = conditions and=20 are sad yourself, you still give 110% for your kids.  You are truly = heroes.  Thanks for all you do.
    = Sincerely,
        = Somebody Who=20 Cares
------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C317B4.E8006D00-- From gbacque@colosseum.com Wed May 14 19:36:52 2003 From: gbacque@colosseum.com (Graeme Bacque) Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 15:36:52 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] FW: NO SECOND TRIAL FOR OCAP MEMBERS! Message-ID: This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C31A2E.A4359A60 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit -----Original Message----- From: John Clarke [mailto:johnclarke@sprint.ca] Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 3:43 PM To: unlisted-recipients:; no To-header on input Subject: NO SECOND TRIAL FOR OCAP MEMBERS! RIOT CHARGES AGAINST OCAP MEMBERS MUST BE DROPPED!! No Second Trial for Three Accused! A Canada Wide and International Appeal for Solidarity On May 11, the Judge declared a mistrial in the case of Stefan Pilipa, Gaetan Heroux and John Clarke. For four months, the three had been in a Toronto courtroom defending themselves on charges of ‘participating in a riot’, ‘counselling to participate in a riot’ and ‘counselling to assault police’. They faced maximum prison terms of up to five years in jail. This legal attack flowed from a March of homeless people and supporters on the Ontario Legislature that the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) organized on June 15, 2000. Instead of negotiating around a demand that a delegation be permitted to enter the building, the Government used riot police and mounted units to clear the grounds. In this way, a major confrontation was engendered that led to dozens of injuries on both sides and hundreds of criminal charges being laid. The case against Pilipa, Heroux and Clarke relied on antiquated and reactionary public order provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada. These had been seldom used since the attempt to crush unemployed organizing in the 1930s and the growth of industrial trade unions in the period just after World War Two. The attempt, however, backfired last week when a jury of nine women and three men became deadlocked, despite deliberations spanning five days, over the question of whether or not a riot had even taken place on that day. Reflecting the divisions that exist in Ontario society under its right wing Conservative Government, a section of the Jury had little interest in accepting police testimony and was not ready to convict the three OCAP members. The Prosecutions’s case fell short of the mark and a mistrial was declared. On June 18, OCAP will be back in court. At that time the Crown Attorney will reveal whether or not there will be a new trial. Already, the investigation and first trial have eaten up major public resources (well over $1 million, we estimate). For three years, these charges have hung over the heads of the three accused and serious bail conditions have limited their civil rights. For more money to be spent on continuing this legal persecution would be outrageous and a threat to all unions and social movements in Canada. Yet, there are those in high places who are serious about doing just this. This week, Norm Gardner of the Toronto Police Services Board, called for a retrial. We have to regard such statements as a serious threat. Over the next weeks, OCAP will be organizing a series of initiatives to kill off the prospect of a retrial. One thing that supporters throughout the Country and internationally can do to help is to rush letters into the Ontario Attorney General demanding the charges be dropped in this matter. Rather than draw up a form letter, we’d ask that people take a few minutes to write up short messages in their own words. Three key points strike us as especially important. THE charges should never have been laid in the first place. There was no ‘planned riot’ but a confrontation that the authorities created. To proceed with such reactionary charges poses a threat to civil liberties and the right to dissent that is unacceptable. THE Crown Attorneys have already spent long weeks presenting their case to a jury and failed to even convince them that a riot occurred, let aside that the accused played any criminal role in it. To put them at further risk on this basis would be monstrously unfair. PUT the money that would be spent on a new trial of the OCAP members into the creation of housing for some of the tens of thousands of women, men and children that the Ontario Government has made homeless. Below we list the contact information for the Attorney General of Ontario. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND COPIES OF ALL LETTERS TO OCAP. If you use e-mail and want to get a reply from the AG, you must include a mailing address. BY MAIL Norm Sterling, Attorney General of Ontario, 720 Bay Street, TORONTO, Ontario M5G 2K1 Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, 517 College Street, Unit 234, TORONTO, Ontario M6G 4A2 E MAIL jus.g.mag.webmaster@jus.gov.on.ca ocap@tao.ca BY FAX AG (416) 326-4007 OCAP (416) 925-9681 Please circulate this appeal far and wide. Thanks for your support and solidarity - OCAP --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.478 / Virus Database: 275 - Release Date: 5/6/03 ------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C31A2E.A4359A60 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
 
-----Original Message-----
From: John Clarke=20 [mailto:johnclarke@sprint.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 = 3:43=20 PM
To: unlisted-recipients:; no To-header on = input
Subject:=20 NO SECOND TRIAL FOR OCAP MEMBERS!

RIOT CHARGES AGAINST OCAP MEMBERS MUST=20 BE
          &nbs= p;            = ;        =20 DROPPED!!

No Second Trial for Three Accused!

A Canada Wide and International Appeal for = Solidarity

On May 11, the Judge declared a mistrial in the case of Stefan = Pilipa, Gaetan=20 Heroux and John Clarke. For four months, the three had been in a Toronto = courtroom defending themselves on charges of =91participating in a = riot=92,=20 =91counselling to participate in a riot=92 and =91counselling to assault = police=92. They=20 faced maximum prison terms of up to five years in jail.

This legal attack flowed from a March of homeless people and = supporters on=20 the Ontario Legislature that the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty = (OCAP)=20 organized on June 15, 2000. Instead of negotiating around a demand that = a=20 delegation be permitted to enter the building, the Government used riot = police=20 and mounted units to clear the grounds. In this way, a major = confrontation was=20 engendered that led to dozens of injuries on both sides and hundreds of = criminal=20 charges being laid.

The case against Pilipa, Heroux and Clarke relied on antiquated and=20 reactionary public order provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada. = These had=20 been seldom used since the attempt to crush unemployed organizing in the = 1930s=20 and the growth of industrial trade unions in the period just after World = War=20 Two. The attempt, however, backfired last week when a jury of nine women = and=20 three men became deadlocked, despite deliberations spanning five days, = over the=20 question of whether or not a riot had even taken place on that day. = Reflecting=20 the divisions that exist in Ontario society under its right wing = Conservative=20 Government, a section of the Jury had little interest in accepting = police=20 testimony and was not ready to convict the three OCAP members. The=20 Prosecutions=92s case fell short of the mark and a mistrial was = declared.

On June 18, OCAP will be back in court. At that time the Crown = Attorney will=20 reveal whether or not there will be a new trial. Already, the = investigation and=20 first trial have eaten up major public resources (well over $1 million, = we=20 estimate). For three years, these charges have hung over the heads of = the three=20 accused and serious bail conditions have limited their civil rights. For = more=20 money to be spent on continuing this legal persecution would be = outrageous and a=20 threat to all unions and social movements in Canada. Yet, there are = those in=20 high places who are serious about doing just this. This week, Norm = Gardner of=20 the Toronto Police Services Board, called for a retrial. We have to = regard such=20 statements as a serious threat.

Over the next weeks, OCAP will be organizing a series of initiatives = to kill=20 off the prospect of a retrial. One thing that supporters throughout the = Country=20 and internationally can do to help is to rush letters into the Ontario = Attorney=20 General demanding the charges be dropped in this matter. Rather than = draw up a=20 form letter, we=92d ask that people take a few minutes to write up short = messages=20 in their own words. Three key points strike us as especially = important.

THE charges should never have been laid in the first place. There was = no=20 =91planned riot=92 but a confrontation that the authorities created. To = proceed with=20 such reactionary charges poses a threat to civil liberties and the right = to=20 dissent that is unacceptable.

THE Crown Attorneys have already spent long weeks presenting their = case to a=20 jury and failed to even convince them that a riot occurred, let aside = that the=20 accused played any criminal role in it. To put them at further risk on = this=20 basis would be monstrously unfair.

PUT the money that would be spent on a new trial of the OCAP members = into the=20

creation of housing for some of the tens of thousands of women, men = and=20 children

that the Ontario Government has made homeless.

Below we list the contact information for the Attorney General of = Ontario.=20 PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND COPIES OF ALL LETTERS TO OCAP. If you use = e-mail and=20 want to get a reply from the AG, you must include a mailing address.

BY MAIL

Norm Sterling, Attorney General of Ontario,

720 Bay Street,

TORONTO, Ontario

M5G 2K1

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty,

517 College Street, Unit 234,

TORONTO, Ontario

M6G 4A2

E MAIL

jus.g.mag.webmaster@jus.gov.on.ca

ocap@tao.ca

BY FAX

AG (416) 326-4007

OCAP (416) 925-9681

Please circulate this appeal far and wide.  Thanks for your = support and=20 solidarity - OCAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

------=_NextPart_000_000D_01C31A2E.A4359A60-- From Bellcamacho@aol.com Wed May 14 20:34:38 2003 From: Bellcamacho@aol.com (Bellcamacho@aol.com) Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 16:34:38 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Happy Mother's Day to Homeless Mothers Message-ID: <4144C371.29D22707.354EC71F@aol.com> Let me say thank you, thank you. I was a mom who lived in the shelter for a few months during the Christmas holiday in "98 and in a transitional program for 2 years. My children and I were ashamed and embarrassed especially during the holidays. I am still rebuilding my life even after 4 years, however I went from homeless to homeowner. I thank God and the people that came into my life and continue coming into my life. Make Yourself Healthier with Bios Life 2 http://www.unicitynetwork.com/mc From HC Covington Thu May 15 04:22:12 2003 From: HC Covington (HC Covington) Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 00:22:12 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Fw: Taipei, Taiwan - Compassion for the homeless lacking - Taiwan News - May 13, 2003 Message-ID: <030001c31a99$90aed040$fda75341@icanamerica> . Editorial Compassion for the homeless lacking ________________________________________________________________ By Staff Writer - Taiwan News - May 13, 2003 Taipei, Taiwan - Since the shut-down of Taipei Municipal Jen Chi Hospital in Wanhua District on April 30 in connection with severe acute respiratory syndrome, widespread concern that the numerous homeless people in that area might be carriers of the disease has further stigmatized their already pathetic status as social pariahs. Following the subsequent contraction of SARS by two homeless persons in Wanhua and the death of one, the Taipei City Government conducted a lightning raid, beginning at 11:00 p.m. last Sunday, in which it forcefully rounded up whatever Wanhua homeless could be found, and sent them off for quarantine under guard in an abandoned army barracks in Hsichih specially refurbished for the purpose. However advisable such action may be, from the point of view of the homeless rudely awakened from their slumbers, it naturally smacks of stereo-typing prejudice and disrespect for their human rights and dignity. Indeed, as reported in yesterday's Taiwan News ("Taipei rounds up homeless in Wanhua"), some homeless persons were coaxed into cooperating with the "raiders" by being told that they were only going to be taken for a simple medical check-up, without mentioning that they would be "locked up" for ten days away from their customary haunts. As one measure of the degree to which supposedly responsible community leaders have allowed themselves to be overcome by irrational fear of the homeless, the head of a ward in Wanhua District even went so far as to inform the Creation Social Welfare Foundation - an organization dedicated to looking after the welfare of homeless people - that its operations in Wanhua were no longer welcome. Clearly this announcement was prompted by the ward leader's perception that the foundation was somehow responsible for maintaining the troubling presence of these "untouchables." With everyone hiding behind face masks in fear of germs lurking everywhere, we have already witnessed various instances of lapses in human kindness and rationality. And now, primarily out of selfish concern for our individual welfares, those of us who sleep in clean beds under roofs at night have in effect demonized those who do not. If we really cared for their welfare as much as our own, we might long ago have arranged sanitary housing and regular check-ups for them. Instead, some members of our society have publicly criticized the government for too generously providing them with air-conditioned, TV-equipped rooms. Perhaps to many people's minds it is not "politically correct" to give special attention to the matter of individual human rights in these extraordinary times, when the welfare of the entire society is at stake - especially not to the rights of "undesirable elements" in our society. We urge all members of society, however, not to forget that the homeless are our brothers and sisters, deserving our sympathy and respect no matter how bad conditions may become. Heretofore, humanitarian organizations such as Creation Social Welfare Foundation engaged in helping the homeless have had an extremely difficult time carrying on their missions due to little or no government support. Certainly, such organizations cannot be regarded as nuisances to the communities in which they operate. In fact, they are taking on burdens which ought rightly to be borne by government. Therefore, governments should give them much more financial assistance, while at the same time educating our society to realize that the problems of the homeless are our collective problems, and must be resolved with an attitude of loving kindness. There's a saying that goes: "No person is forever fortunate, no flower forever red." Last week, an elderly man returning home to Keelung after a visit to China, was locked out by his own daughter for fear that he might be carrying SARS. Finally, because returnees from China must immediately undergo home quarantine, there was no choice but for the police to take him in. Had this elderly person been locked out under different circumstances, he may well have been forced into the ranks of "street people." Homelessness is not a personal disease, and the homeless are not plague-carrying rats. Homelessness is indeed a social disease, however, reflecting our society's reluctance to deal comprehensively with social welfare issues which impact on all of us. If the truth were to be told, more and more of us have a growing, unspoken fear of becoming street people ourselves, as economic conditions become increasingly unfavorable and personal economic security less assured. When we see the homeless, abandoned by society, some part of us secretly sees ourselves on the street without anyone to turn to, and we recoil rather than reach out. The homeless are human beings - not criminals or scoundrels but just people down on their luck - and as such have inalienable human rights and a need to preserve their dignity. The SARS epidemic, then, constitutes not merely a test of our skill in evading its reach, but a test of our willingness to listen to our hearts and reach out a helping hand to people whose condition we may one day share in unless we change this society. ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/bpii H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From hobopoets@yahoo.com Thu May 15 19:39:38 2003 From: hobopoets@yahoo.com (Skald Hareksson) Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 12:39:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] Avoiding trouble while living in your car Message-ID: <20030515193938.31486.qmail@web20413.mail.yahoo.com> --0-1803775482-1053027578=:30289 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Here's a blurb I wrote for my website on how to avoid detection by the police and others when living in your car: The Importance of Stealth When Car Living Average suburbanites (and the police who serve them) are a pretty nervous and fearful bunch. They are easily scared by anything which is strange or different to them. Homelessness certainly falls into this category-- be it voluntary or involuntary. Therefore, it is very important to create a "stealth" vehicle for car living. The first step in this process is to choose a model that does not stand out (if you have the luxury of planning this ahead of time). I love VW vans as much as anyone... but to a cop they scream "hippy" (and therefore, harassment). I chose a Toyota Van for my most recent hobovehicle (dubbed "The Mystery Machine" by my cousin), but even it is a little too uncommon. I recommend a "soccer-Mom" mini-van, a plain work van, or any run of the mill sedan or compact. You should remove all bumper stickers and other distinguishing marks. You want it to be as non-descript as possible. Once you have a vehicle, pull out all rear seats.... this will create your living space. Next, block out all rear windows with black tinting (or use black spraypaint on the insides of the window). I sealed some insulation board to the windows after tinting them... in order to block out light (and drafts). The last step is to create a partition to hide the rear area from the driving area. I use a shower curtain rod that runs just behind the front seats. I hang a dark blue sheet from it (doubled) and can slide it open or closed quite easily. At night when I sleep, I slide the curtain closed. From outside, especially when its dark, you can't tell there's a curtain... it just looks like the rear area is in shadow. In summer, I'll usually put a sunshade on the front windshield, to provide an extra bit of concealment. With these modifications, I can park in populated areas and no one suspects that someone is living in the van (although choosing good parking areas is vital... a topic I'll cover at another time). In this sense, the suburban lack of imagination works to your advantage. It would never occur to most people that someone would choose to live in their car,.. therefore, with a bit of modification its quite easy to blend in.... even with a quasi-hippy van like mine. -- Skald Hareksson http://hobopoet.blogspot.com --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1803775482-1053027578=:30289 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Here's a blurb I wrote for my website on how to avoid detection by the police and others when living in your car:
 
The Importance of Stealth When Car Living
Average suburbanites (and the police who serve them) are a pretty nervous and fearful bunch. They are easily scared by anything which is strange or different to them. Homelessness certainly falls into this category-- be it voluntary or involuntary. Therefore, it is very important to create a "stealth" vehicle for car living.
The first step in this process is to choose a model that does not stand out (if you have the luxury of planning this ahead of time). I love VW vans as much as anyone... but to a cop they scream "hippy" (and therefore, harassment). I chose a Toyota Van for my most recent hobovehicle (dubbed "The Mystery Machine" by my cousin), but even it is a little too uncommon. I recommend a "soccer-Mom" mini-van, a plain work van, or any run of the mill sedan or compact. You should remove all bumper stickers and other distinguishing marks. You want it to be as non-descript as possible.

Once you have a vehicle, pull out all rear seats.... this will create your living space. Next, block out all rear windows with black tinting (or use black spraypaint on the insides of the window). I sealed some insulation board to the windows after tinting them... in order to block out light (and drafts).

The last step is to create a partition to hide the rear area from the driving area. I use a shower curtain rod that runs just behind the front seats. I hang a dark blue sheet from it (doubled) and can slide it open or closed quite easily. At night when I sleep, I slide the curtain closed. From outside, especially when its dark, you can't tell there's a curtain... it just looks like the rear area is in shadow.

In summer, I'll usually put a sunshade on the front windshield, to provide an extra bit of concealment.

With these modifications, I can park in populated areas and no one suspects that someone is living in the van (although choosing good parking areas is vital... a topic I'll cover at another time). In this sense, the suburban lack of imagination works to your advantage. It would never occur to most people that someone would choose to live in their car,.. therefore, with a bit of modification its quite easy to blend in.... even with a quasi-hippy van like mine.

-- Skald Hareksson

http://hobopoet.blogspot.com


 

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1803775482-1053027578=:30289-- From HC Covington Fri May 16 10:40:45 2003 From: HC Covington (HC Covington) Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 06:40:45 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Sacramento, CA - State wastes billions on drug treatment, commission says - The Mercury News - May 11, 2003 Message-ID: <00b201c31b97$a6028320$47a65341@icanamerica> . State wastes billions on drug treatment, commission says _____________________________________________________ By DON THOMPSON - The Mercury News - May 11, 2003 SACRAMENTO, CA - California annually spends billions of dollars to fight or respond to drug addiction - but not very effectively, the Little Hoover Commission said Tuesday. It cited a study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse that $11 billion from the state's cash-strapped general fund goes to addiction-related expenses annually, while the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs estimated California government and private enterprises lose $32 billion a year to drug addiction. The bulk of the state's spending goes for services like health care, foster care, police and prisons, education and child welfare, with a fraction for treatment and prevention. Most goes to treat the symptoms, even as people are routinely turned away from publicly funded substance abuse programs, the state advisory commission said in a 103-page report. Few treatment programs are available particularly for young people, the commission found, even those at a high risk of drug abuse. That money could be used more efficiently if there were better coordination of prevention, treatment and enforcement programs, the commission said. It recommended aiming treatment programs at those who could most benefit, and those who cost the most because of the burden they put on other public programs. "Public agencies have been so concerned about expanding the supply of treatment that we haven't paid enough attention to the quality of treatment," said commissioner Daniel Hancock, who chaired the subcommittee for the study. The commission recommended creating a state council to coordinate treatment programs; linking treatment with job placement, housing, mental health, education and other services to help addicts become healthy and self-sufficient; and measuring the success of treatment alternatives, so that the most efficient programs are used. The Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs already emphasizes quality control and interagency cooperation, said spokesman Les Johnson. "Unfortunately, it's often a little more complex than the easy answer," Johnson said. "You can't always get what you want that way." Most of the state's recent treatment expansion has been for criminals, in an attempt to break the cycle of addiction and incarceration, the commission found. Even that shift was mandated by voters who approved Proposition 36 in November 2000, requiring that first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders be sent to treatment programs instead of prison. The proposition has shown "some signs of success," the commission said, but the state needs to take the "next step:" focusing on programs proven to best reduce addiction's human and public costs. The bipartisan, independent state commission is charged with recommending ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of state programs. Its recommendations go to the governor and Legislature. The Drug Policy Alliance used the report to bolster its argument against Gov. Gray Davis' proposal to shift Proposition 36 funding and administration to counties, omitting from the state's budget $120 million in annual drug treatment funding required by the initiative. ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/bwqp § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From editor Thu May 15 06:29:50 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 02:29:50 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] St. Petersburg, FL - Police kill homeless man after he allegedly attacked them - Saratoga Herald Tribune - May 14, 2003 Message-ID: <03bb01c31aab$6b633760$fda75341@icanamerica> . Police kill homeless man after he allegedly attacked them Death while homeless: Another One Bites the Dust _____________________________________________________ By Staff Writer - Saratoga Herald Tribune - May 14, 2003 St. Petersburg, FL - Police shot and killed a homeless man after he allegedly used a makeshift spear to threaten a worker of a nearby business, then turned the weapon on an officer. The homeless man's name was not released. Police said he slept in an abandoned water tank in an industrial park, defending himself with a crowbar and a crude spear, composed of a 5-inch knife taped to the end of an aluminum pole. Police said they were searching for the man Thursday afternoon when he attacked one of the officers with the spear. The two officers who responded to the scene, Charles Barnes, 54, and Wesley Callahan, 42, both fired at the man. It was not immediately clear how many shots were fired or whether both officers shot the man. "He physically assaulted an officer. They were in fear for their safety," said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Doniel. "His knife was certainly large enough to kill a police officer." Barnes and Callahan were placed on leave with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. --- Information from: St. Petersburg Times, ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/bt2w § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From wch@vcn.com Thu May 15 19:05:38 2003 From: wch@vcn.com (Virginia Sellner) Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 13:05:38 -0600 Subject: [Hpn] APR=MAY WYOMING WINDS ON LINE Message-ID: <3EC3E502.E0AC844A@vcn.com> The April - May edition of Wyoming Winds is now on line at: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wyw403.htm information on HOW YOU CAN HELP the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless can be found at: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wchlp.htm WYOMING COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS 907 LOGAN AVENUE CHEYENNE, WY 82001 307-634-8499 307-634-9089 FAX WEB PAGE INDEX: http://www.vcn.com/~wch Wyoming Winds Index: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wchwyw.htm StreetViews Index: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wchsv.htm From under-the-bridge@juno.com Fri May 16 06:28:20 2003 From: under-the-bridge@juno.com (under-the-bridge@juno.com) Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 23:28:20 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] re: looking for Outreach job in CA? I found this located at yahoo HotJobs.com Message-ID: <20030515.232821.-691235.1.under-the-bridge@juno.com> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --Boundary_(ID_OydI17wYJWRw/UTloavLkQ) Content-type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Boundary_(ID_jmimc/vJ6sL2mRGQZ5tJmA)" This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --Boundary_(ID_jmimc/vJ6sL2mRGQZ5tJmA) Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit STREET OUTREACH WORKER Location: Oakland, CA Position Type: Employee Position Duration: Full-Time Date Posted: 05/02/2003 STREET OUTREACH WORKER ABOUT US: What began in 1971 as a store-front clinic on Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland, California, has grown into a multi-million dollar community institution. For more than twenty-five years, La Clinica de La Raza has delivered affordable, culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services to thousands of Alameda County residents. For many clients, La Clinica de La Raza has meant the difference between receiving care and going without. Dedicated to serving the entire needs of the family, La Clinica provides a comprehensive array of services, such as medical, mental health, health education and dentistry. Financial support from a variety of public and private sources makes it possible for La Clinica to serve any person or family, regardless of their ability to pay. La Clinica de La Raza is proud of its achievements and looks forward to continuing to build its capacity to serve the community. JOB DESCRIPTION: Under General supervision, the individual in this position will provide HIV transmission prevention education on the street and in other non-traditional settings. Target populations will primarily include injection drugs users however will include those not reached by current health education efforts such as the homeless, sex industry workers, runaway youth, undocumented immigrants, gay and bi-sexual males, and their partners. JOB REQUIREMENTS: Requires High School diploma or equivalent suplemented by one to two years experience working with the above groups as well as experience with HIV issues, community health education, and /or community organizing. Ability to keep clear, accurate, and accurate, and legible notes and statistics, good writing skills, essential. Ability to work with people of diverse ethnic, economic, and educational backgrounds, intravenous drug users, people of different sexual orientations, and people with HIV/AIDS. Ability to work independently as well as in a team; maintain good working relationships with staff and community members. Must have flexible schedule and be able to work evenings and weekends. Familiarity with Fruitvale?east Oakland area preferred. EXCELLENT BENEFITS 5 MINUTES WALKING FROM BART BILINGUAL ENGLISH/SPANISH --Boundary_(ID_jmimc/vJ6sL2mRGQZ5tJmA) Content-type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable STREET OUTREACH WORKER
Location: Oakland, CA
Position Type: Employee
Position Duration: Full-Time
Date Posted:=20 05/02/2003
3D""
STREET OUTREACH WORKER
3D""
<= FONT=20 color=3D#333333 face=3DVerdana,Arial,Sans-Serif size=3D2>ABOUT US:

What began in 1971 as a store-front clinic= on=20 Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland, California, has grown into a multi-million = dollar=20 community institution. For more than twenty-five years, La Clinica de La = Raza=20 has delivered affordable, culturally and linguistically appropriate health = care=20 services to thousands of Alameda County residents. For many clients, La = Clinica=20 de La Raza has meant the difference between receiving care and going = without.=20 Dedicated to serving the entire needs of the family, La Clinica provides a= =20 comprehensive array of services, such as medical, mental health, health=20 education and dentistry. Financial support from a variety of public and = private=20 sources makes it possible for La Clinica to serve any person or family,=20 regardless of their ability to pay. La Clinica de La Raza is proud of its=20 achievements and looks forward to continuing to build its capacity to serve= the=20 community.



JOB DESCRIPTION:

= Under=20 General supervision, the individual in this position will provide HIV=20 transmission prevention education on the street and in other non-= traditional=20 settings. Target populations will primarily include injection drugs users=20 however will include those not reached by current health education efforts = such=20 as the homeless, sex industry workers, = runaway=20 youth, undocumented immigrants, gay and bi-sexual males, and their partners= .=20

JOB REQUIREMENTS:=20
    Requires High School diploma or equivalent suplemented by one to two = years=20 experience working with the above groups as well as experience with HIV=20 issues, community health education, and /or community organizing. Ability= to=20 keep clear, accurate, and accurate, and legible notes and statistics, = good=20 writing skills, essential. Ability to work with people of diverse ethnic,= =20 economic, and educational backgrounds, intravenous drug users, people of= =20 different sexual orientations, and people with HIV/AIDS. Ability to work= =20 independently as well as in a team; maintain good working relationships = with=20 staff and community members. Must have flexible schedule and be able to = work=20 evenings and weekends. Familiarity with Fruitvale?east Oakland area = preferred.=20

  • EXCELLENT BENEFITS=20
  • 5 MINUTES WALKING FROM BART=20
  • BILINGUAL ENGLISH/SPANISH
--Boundary_(ID_jmimc/vJ6sL2mRGQZ5tJmA)-- --Boundary_(ID_OydI17wYJWRw/UTloavLkQ) Content-type: image/gif; name=blank.gif Content-transfer-encoding: BASE64 R0lGODlhAQABAID/AMDAwAAAACH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== --Boundary_(ID_OydI17wYJWRw/UTloavLkQ)-- From hobopoets@yahoo.com Fri May 16 20:19:54 2003 From: hobopoets@yahoo.com (Skald Hareksson) Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 13:19:54 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] Overnight Parking while car living. Message-ID: <20030516201954.75862.qmail@web20421.mail.yahoo.com> --0-1094734653-1053116394=:75793 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii A few more thoughts on car living: Overnight Parking While Car Living A stealth car and a good parking space are the essential ingredients to pleasant car living. I have already covered the essentials of stealth vehicles.. and they are essentials. A completely hidden rear-living area and a non-descript car will take you far. So where should you park at night? My first instinct was that a remote and/or concealed area would be best. During the Nissan Sentra experiment, I started by parking in an abandoned lot- concealed by trees. This worked for a few days and then the police found me. The Athens police have always been quite nice.... it was very obvious that I was living in my car (this was in my "pre-stealth days) but they didnt hassle me. They did tell me that I couldnt park on the lot. I was brash and asked them where I could park without them bothering me. They suggested any public parking space in the downtown area... especially if it didnt have a meter. I thanked them and found just such an area-- only 100 feet from the lot I had been in. The best parking spaces are, in fact, in populated areas... where your car will be one of many. Ideally, this should be in a multi-use area... a place with several different types of establishments. For example, my favorite area (where I have NEVER been bothered) is near a nightclub, an apartment building, a convention center, and office buildings. As a result, cars come and go at all hours. I could conceivably be at any one of these places, so no one pays attention. Other multi-use areas might include: a 24 hour grocery near apartments, a 24-hour gym near a motel, a late night restaurant with nearby offices, a bar with condos nearby, etc... But these aren't always easy to find,... especially in the suburbs. In the burbs, I usually park in large apartment complexes. I choose a spot that is caddy-corner to busy entrances or balconies.. I don't want to be in line with front windows. I arrive and leave at off-peak times and once I arrive I NEVER leave the vehicle. I quickly crawl into the back, and pull the partition that runs behind the front seats (a dark sheet on a shower rod works well for this). Also, I rotate between 5-6 complexes... going to a different one each night. When its time to go, I quickly crawl into the front seat, start the car, and leave. I did this for the last five months in Georgia and have never been discovered. Busy motels, truck stops, state parks, campgrounds, and the like are decent for one-night, occaisonal stops... but not great for extended periods of time. Multi-use areas with late night activity are best. Of course, the ideal place is the driveway of a sympathetic friend. I had this option last summer and it was perfect. A note about very bad places to park (other than empty lots): 1. Never park near a police station, as they are very observant of their immediate surroundings. 2. Never park in housing developments or UPSCALE apartment buildings... again, these people tend to be paranoid and hyper-vigilant. 3. Never park where there are alot of children (in a school zone or daycare area, for example), as you may be mistaken for a stalker. 4. Don't park near banks or other high security areas, as again, these people are hyper-paranoid. 5. In general, don't tell friends or others about the locations you park in. 6. If confronted by the police... NEVER admit to sleeping/camping in your vehicle even if its obvious!!!! (tell them you got tired and were "resting" before going home (or to a friends or whatever). Finally, try to keep your movements slow and gentle when parking overnight... as you don't want people to notice the car shaking or rocking !! -- Skald http://hobopoet.blogspot.com --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1094734653-1053116394=:75793 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
A few more thoughts on car living:
 
Overnight Parking While Car Living
A stealth car and a good parking space are the essential ingredients to pleasant car living. I have already covered the essentials of stealth vehicles.. and they are essentials.  A completely hidden rear-living area and a non-descript car will take you far.  
So where should you park at night? My first instinct was that a remote and/or concealed area would be best. During the Nissan Sentra experiment, I started by parking in an abandoned lot- concealed by trees. This worked for a few days and then the police found me. The Athens police have always been quite nice.... it was very obvious that I was living in my car (this was in my "pre-stealth days) but they didnt hassle me. They did tell me that I couldnt park on the lot. I was brash and asked them where I could park without them bothering me. They suggested any public parking space in the downtown area... especially if it didnt have a meter. I thanked them and found just such an area-- only 100 feet from the lot I had been in.

The best parking spaces are, in fact, in populated areas... where your car will be one of many. Ideally, this should be in a multi-use area... a place with several different types of establishments. For example, my favorite area (where I have NEVER been bothered) is near a nightclub, an apartment building, a convention center, and office buildings. As a result, cars come and go at all hours. I could conceivably be at any one of these places, so no one pays attention.

Other multi-use areas might include: a 24 hour grocery near apartments, a 24-hour gym near a motel, a late night restaurant with nearby offices, a bar with condos nearby, etc...
But these aren't always easy to find,... especially in the suburbs.

In the burbs, I usually park in large apartment complexes. I choose a spot that is caddy-corner to busy entrances or balconies.. I don't want to be in line with front windows. I arrive and leave at off-peak times and once I arrive I NEVER leave the vehicle.  I quickly crawl into the back, and pull the partition that runs behind the front seats (a dark sheet on a shower rod works well for this).

Also, I rotate between 5-6 complexes... going to a different one each night.  When its time to go, I quickly crawl into the front seat, start the car, and leave.  I did this for the last five months in Georgia and have never been discovered.

Busy motels, truck stops, state parks, campgrounds, and the like are decent for one-night, occaisonal stops... but not great for extended periods of time. Multi-use areas with late night activity are best.

Of course, the ideal place is the driveway of a sympathetic friend. I had this option last summer and it was perfect.

A note about very bad places to park (other than empty lots): 1. Never park near a police station, as they are very observant of their immediate surroundings. 2. Never park in housing developments or UPSCALE apartment buildings... again, these people tend to be paranoid and hyper-vigilant. 3. Never park where there are alot of children (in a school zone or daycare area, for example), as you may be mistaken for a stalker. 4. Don't park near banks or other high security areas, as again, these people are hyper-paranoid. 5. In general, don't tell friends or others about the locations you park in. 6. If confronted by the police... NEVER admit to sleeping/camping in your vehicle even if its obvious!!!! (tell them you got tired and were "resting" before going home (or to a friends or whatever).

Finally, try to keep your movements slow and gentle when parking overnight... as you don't want people to notice the car shaking or rocking !!

-- Skald

http://hobopoet.blogspot.com

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-1094734653-1053116394=:75793-- From gbacque@colosseum.com Sat May 17 00:56:54 2003 From: gbacque@colosseum.com (Graeme Bacque) Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 20:56:54 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Ontario Tory campaign platform: Homeless, 'illegal' immigrants to be made targets of sweeps Message-ID: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1052251589979&call_pageid=968332188492&col=9687939721 54 May 16, 2003 06:43 PM The Toronto Star Eves turns back clock with edgy campaign platform Tories veer right as engine revved for expected spring election COLIN PERKEL CANADIAN PRESS After months of depicting himself as a kinder, gentler leader, Ontario Premier Ernie Eves showed a steely pre-election edge today with promises to ban teacher strikes, scoop the homeless from the streets and crack down on illegal immigrants if re-elected. Eves also pledged further tax cuts, including one that would allow homeowners to save up to $500 a year by writing off mortgage interest from their provincial income taxes. With speculation mounting that Eves will call an election within weeks for a vote late next month, analysts said the premier was opting for a strategy that has worked successfully for the party in the past. "They're pushing some hot buttons and this is reminiscent of 1995," said Peter Woolstencroft, a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo. The Tory promises, which the party said would cost more than $600 million in the first year, are contained in a 60-page glossy document titled The Road Ahead. The money would be found in "efficiencies," Eves said. Among the pledges is a ban on teacher strikes, board lockouts or disruptions from school support staff during the school year. Teachers would also be prohibited from working to rule. Eves said the government would set "parameters" on how much arbitrators could award teachers to avoid costly settlements, a reason he has cited in the past when criticizing the idea of a strike ban. A senior party policy adviser involved in drafting the proposal refused to say what arbitration model Eves had in mind or how working to rule would be defined. The Tories are also promising to clamp down on illegal immigrants or deportees who access medical treatment through the province's medicare plan. But when asked to what extent the system is a victim of abuse, Eves instead railed against Ottawa for "losing track" of such people. The policy adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, later said there's "anecdotal evidence" that warrants a crackdown on what is already an illegal practice. Under a re-elected Tory government, "shared care teams" of doctors, nurses and outreach workers would be given the power to force the homeless off the streets during frigid weather or if they need medical attention. How the government intends to keep the homeless indoors was not immediately clear. "We are not putting locks on the doors of anything," the adviser said. In his campaign for the party's leadership last year, Eves portrayed himself as a pragmatic politician with a much softer touch than the often abrasive and divisive leadership of his predecessor, Mike Harris. However, the platform suggests Eves has abandoned that approach after a year of dwindling support that has left his party trailing by as much as 19 points in opinion polls. "This is a more right wing kind of positioning than Ernie Eves was suggesting when he ran for the leadership," said Woolstencroft. "For whatever reason, he's been hauled to the right." Speaking at an indoor go-kart track where he unveiled the platform today, Eves boasted about the Conservative government's eight-year economic track record of balanced budgets and tax cuts. All that would be threatened if the Liberals were to take office under Dalton McGuinty, he said. "I will keep our budget balanced, while Dalton McGuinty will go on a reckless spending spree," he said. "Dalton McGuinty, he's got what it takes to take what you've got." For his part, McGuinty said voters in Ontario will have a clear choice between "more of the same" and "real change" in the next election. He accused Eves of making promises he won't be able to keep. As Tory candidates and members of his caucus and government applauded loudly, Eves announced his plan to allow homeowners to write off up to $5,000 in mortgage interest from their provincial taxes, yielding a savings of up to $500. The plan, which many analysts have denounced as poor public policy because it amounts to a tax transfer from renters to owners, would cost $700 million a year when fully implemented over five years. Homeless activist Michael Shapcott called it an outrage to provide tax breaks to homeowners worth $700 million a year while spending $20 million over five years on new social housing. "Renters are suffering and homeless people are dying from a lack of affordable rental housing," said Shapcott. New Democrat Marilyn Churley called the platform "a dead-end plan that leads back to more privatized public services" that would end up costing people more. "The Road Ahead leads back to Walkerton," said Churley, a reference to the southwestern Ontario tainted-water scandal that killed seven people and sickened thousands more three years ago. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.481 / Virus Database: 277 - Release Date: 5/13/03 From wtinker@metrocast.net Sat May 17 19:53:29 2003 From: wtinker@metrocast.net (William Tinker) Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 15:53:29 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] SAVE THIS DATE December 3-6 2003 Message-ID: <007301c31cad$fd266e20$aeff05cf@new8bspgmfsgz7> **SAMHSA's National Training Conference on Homelessness for People with with Mental Illnesses and/or Substance Use Disorders** For further information information,contact: National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Health at 1-800-444-7415 or on the web at www.nrchmi.samhsa.gov Please at least check out above url whether you go or not. Thank you! A Brother In The Struggle Bill William Charles Tinker New Hampshire Homeless founded / 11-28-99 25 Granite Street Northfield,New Hampshire 03276 USA Advocates,activists for displaced, disabled and human rights. 1-603-286-2492 http://www.newhampshirehomeless.org http://pictures.newhampshirehomeless.org http://www.nationalhomeless.org/state/newhampshire.html NH-ADAPT / NOT DEAD YET From nh-adapt@juno.com Sun May 18 16:04:22 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 12:04:22 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] What I did on my summer vacation. Page one Message-ID: <20030518.120446.-261101.0.nh-adapt@juno.com> Action stories (for me at least) always start a period in advance of the fun-in-the-street. While I walk some, it is ever through a viscous syrup as I drag my unwilling body along. Spring is late this year and I have large plans of trying to move on to the next step of forming something that might some day become an actual job. Rustling 2000 gallons of manure would for an AB (able bodied) person be an active Saturday job. For me its more like a 10 day marathon. The machinery of automation in gardening also needs maintenance. More fiddling while I fume. When I'm not doing anything important I stick tomato seedlings into 72 count cells. The last possible day I could plant; 100 trees show up making launch time for the van set back to 3 PM on Friday. *Lift Off* Bunny has pulled herself out of her brandy new scooter due to holding onto both a door and her tiller as if her life depended on it. She insists that nothing is broken so a side trip to the hospital is out even though she rides in the van either sleeping or moaning. Yes, its going to be one of *those* action stories. The ride down to Sunshines is pretty good; traffic is more or less obliging. The run through NYC and the mid-atlantic coast shows just how late spring is far to the south of frosty New Hampshire. We're below Delaware before it becomes obvious as written on the landscape. We pull into Holiday Inn Capitol about 3 PM, we're home. Maybe the only home left where peer and natural support is something more than an abstract philosophical footnote. I won't get to nap for the week, but at least I'll be able to get off my feet the easy way (as in not falling on my ass) by riding. More later Tom C ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Mon May 19 16:56:37 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 09:56:37 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] SF Class War Update: Theology head-butts politics in 'Care Not Cash' exchange Message-ID: Love him or hate him, everyone agrees that California Senate President Pro-Tem John Burton is one of a kind... chance ========================================= http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/19/BA92628.DTL San Francisco Chronicle Theology head-butts politics in 'Care Not Cash' exchange Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross Monday, May 19, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ San Francisco -- Rough and gruff state Sen. John Burton and glitter author Danielle Steel couldn't be further apart when it comes to style -- but this past week they both came out swinging against San Francisco's new attitude toward the homeless. Burton -- who for a year has been biting his tongue over the rise of "Care Not Cash" -- came out the gate first with a series of campaign-style signs on telephone poles across the city that read, "Jesus gave money to poor people on the streets of Galilee." Steel -- who last made ink for having 26 residential parking passes assigned to her Pacific Heights mansion -- wrote an op-ed piece in The Chronicle calling "Care Not Cash" at best a "simplistic" attempt to solve a complex problem. "Care Not Cash" -- the plan to cut general assistance payments to $59 a month from the current maximum of $395 and give the money to homeless programs -- was the brainchild of Supervisor (and mayoral hopeful) Gavin Newsom. That's the same Newsom who's a good friend and frequent dinner guest at Steel's house. But you wouldn't have known that from Steel's op-ed piece, which blasts politicians for "pretending to care" about the homeless "while trying to shove them across state borders." The idea of society writer Steel playing homeless advocate could trigger a number of zinging comebacks, but not from Newsom. "Look, Danielle and I have had some very good conversations about mental health and drug rehabilitation, and to her credit her interest is on a very real and personal level," Newsom said. "I respect most of what she wrote, but I don't agree with it." How's that for walking the tightrope? He's a bit looser when it comes to the "Jesus gave money" signs his mentor Burton is plastering around town. "As a good Irish Catholic boy, I'm not sure the senator has got his theology right," Newsom said. "My understanding is that Jesus was talking about giving alms, which is material services rendered -- not coins. And I think Christ had it right." Burton appears to have been set on the warpath by those hard-hitting, anti- panhandling billboards recently put up by the San Francisco Hotel Council. The council's ad campaign featured good Samaritan tourists making such comments as, "Today we rode a cable car, visited Alcatraz and supported a drug habit." Burton dipped into his own election funds for his counter-campaign. Look for more signs soon -- "I gave money to a woman in the streets . . . and she bought food for her children," might be one. Or, "I gave money to a Vietnam vet . . . and he bought a blanket." Burton says there's no politics involved. "I'm just offended at people picking on the poor. It doesn't make me feel good about the city and humanity." For the record, Burton does put his money where his mouth is -- regularly dropping bills into the cups of panhandlers he passes on the street. "See that guy," Burton once said of a disabled panhandler on Fifth Street. "I used to give him a dollar every time I saw him. Then one night I saw him with a hooker." He shook his head. Then, with a wink of the eye, he added: "Now I give him a fiver." (snip) -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From nh-adapt@juno.com Mon May 19 02:56:41 2003 From: nh-adapt@juno.com (Thomas Cagle) Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 22:56:41 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] MiCASSA Co-sponsor list grows Message-ID: <20030519.235040.-144913.0.nh-adapt@juno.com> From: "Stephanie Thomas" The List of House MiCASSA Co-sponsors is already growing! HR 2032 MiCASSA Sponsors: Danny Davis D Chicago, Maywood IL and John Shimkus R Springfield, Collinsville, Centralia, Olney, Harrisburg IL Co-sponsors: Robert Brady D Philadelphia, Chester PA Donna Christian-Christensen D VI Lloyd Doggett D Austin TX Mike Doyle D Penn Hills, McKeesport, PA Eliot Engel D The Bronx, Mt Vernon, Yonkers NY Raul Grijalva D Tucson AZ Ruben Hinojosa D McAllen, Beeville TX Maurice Hinchey D Kingston, Binghamton, Ithaca, Monticello NY Joseph Hoeffel D Ambler, Philadelphia PA Tim Holden D Pottsville, Reading, Harrisburg, Lebanon PA Steny Hoyer D Greenbelt, Waldorf MD Dale Kildee D Flint, Saginaw, Bay City MI Barbara Lee D Oakland CA John McHugh R Watertown, Plattsburgh, Mayfield, Canastota, NY Michael McNulty D Albany, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Troy, NY Dennis Moore D Overland Park, Lawrence, Kansas City KS Frank Pallone D Long Branch, New Brunswick, Hazlet, NJ Donald Payne D Newark, Elizabeth, NJ Jim Ryun R Topeka, Pittsburg KS Janice Schakowsky D Chicago, Evanston, Niles IL Jose Serrano D The Bronx, NY Edolphus Towns D Brooklyn, NY Mark Udall D Westminster CO Rep Hoeffel, Joseph M. - 5/14/2003 [Ambler, Philadelphia, PA-13] Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice - 5/14/2003 [Dallas, Irving, TX-30] Rep Reyes, Silvestre - 5/14/2003 [El Paso, TX-16] Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh - 5/14/2003 [Rochester, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, NY-28] Rep Cooper, Jim - 5/14/2003 [Nashville, TN-5] Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy - 5/14/2003 [St Louis, MO-1] Rep Moran, Jerry - 5/14/2003 [Hutchison, Hays, KS-1] Rep Costello, Jerry F. - 5/14/2003 [Belleville, Granite City, Carbondale, East St. Louis, Chester, West Frankfort, IL-12] Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila - 5/15/2003 [Houston, TX-18] Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 5/15/2003 [Detroit, MI-14] Rep Miller, George - 5/15/2003 [Concord, Richmond, Vallejo CA-7] Rep Baldwin, Tammy - 5/15/2003 [Madison, Beloit, WI-2] Rep English, Phil - 5/15/2003 [Erie, Butler, Heritage, Meadville, PA-3] Rep Murtha, John P. - 5/15/2003 [Johnstown, PA-12] Rep Pastor, Ed - 5/15/2003 [Phoenix, AZ-4] Rep Green, Gene - 5/15/2003 [Houston, TX-29] As of May 18, 2003 NATIONAL ADAPT MAILING LIST - Adapt MiCASA List ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! From quixote@mts.net Tue May 20 04:57:16 2003 From: quixote@mts.net (Rod Graham) Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 23:57:16 -0500 Subject: [Hpn] (no subject) Message-ID: <002001c31e8c$49940d00$0100a8c0@net.mts.net> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C31E62.606A18A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I wanna thank all the nice people who helped me w info regarding my = fight with city hall in Winnipeg Canada. Some of the info was right on = and we used whatever we could.=20 Right now all our vendors are back out on the street because one old = politician at city hall raised hell with the license inspector = department on the phone and Nick Ternette, an old activist said he would = pay any fines and then picket the city if they returned to harass our = vendors. Now we are waiting to dialogue w the city. The situation is = not resolved, but we're off to a good start. Thanks to all the American = activists, writers and street paper people who responded. Thanks to the = Canadian paper people too! Hope to see you all in Quebec City and thank = you in person. Rod Graham. Editor. Street Sheet Canada. ------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C31E62.606A18A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I wanna thank all the nice = people who=20 helped me w info regarding my fight with city hall in Winnipeg = Canada. =20 Some of the info was right on and we used whatever we=20 could. 
 
Right now all our vendors are = back out on=20 the street because one old politician at city hall raised hell with = the license inspector department on the phone and Nick = Ternette, an=20 old activist said he would pay any fines and then picket the city if = they=20 returned to harass our vendors.  Now we are waiting to dialogue w = the=20 city. The situation is not resolved, but we're off to a good=20 start. Thanks to all the American activists, writers and street = paper=20 people who responded. Thanks to the Canadian paper people = too!  Hope=20 to see you all in Quebec City and thank you in = person.
 
Rod = Graham.
Editor.  Street Sheet=20 Canada. 
------=_NextPart_000_001D_01C31E62.606A18A0-- From wch@vcn.com Thu May 15 19:05:38 2003 From: wch@vcn.com (Virginia Sellner) Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 13:05:38 -0600 Subject: [Hpn] APR=MAY WYOMING WINDS ON LINE Message-ID: <3EC3E502.E0AC844A@vcn.com> The April - May edition of Wyoming Winds is now on line at: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wyw403.htm information on HOW YOU CAN HELP the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless can be found at: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wchlp.htm WYOMING COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS 907 LOGAN AVENUE CHEYENNE, WY 82001 307-634-8499 307-634-9089 FAX WEB PAGE INDEX: http://www.vcn.com/~wch Wyoming Winds Index: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wchwyw.htm StreetViews Index: http://www.vcn.com/~wch/wchsv.htm From editor Fri May 16 18:47:27 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 14:47:27 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Berkeley, CA - Re-entry grad's persistence achieves his dream - UC Berkeley Media Relations - 15 May 2003 Message-ID: <038301c31bdb$a08eb280$47a65341@icanamerica> . No job, no home, no limit: Re-entry grad's persistence achieves his dream “I came here homeless, and now I’m speaking to my graduating class” _____________________________________________________ By Carol Hyman - UC Berkeley Media Relations - 15 May 2003 BERKELEY, CA – When Duane DeWitt delivers the student address at his University of California, Berkeley, graduation ceremony on May 22, he may lose his composure. “I came here homeless, and now I’m speaking to my graduating class,” DeWitt admitted, with more than a hint of disbelief in his voice. But this 48-year-old re-entry student can thank his persistence and determination for graduating Phi Beta Kappa in Interdisciplinary Studies and gaining admission into UC Berkeley’s graduate program in city and regional planning next fall. Several years ago the Santa Rosa native was laid off as a respiratory therapist at about the same time his mother had a stroke. He took care of her while going to Santa Rosa Junior College, where he was gaining skills for a new career. After he finished at the college, he applied to UC Berkeley as a transfer student, but was not accepted. He applied several times, in fact, but was turned down. Finally, after the fourth turndown, he appealed and was accepted. When he arrived at UC Berkeley in fall 2000, DeWitt had no place to live. Housing was tight then, and he didn’t have enough money to put down a deposit on a rental apartment. But being homeless was not going to keep DeWitt from getting his education; he lived in People’s Park, and when the weather got cold, he slept in his car. In October, the only home he had – his car – was broken into, and everything he owned was stolen, including class notes and all of his belongings. He was referred by the Re-entry Center to the UC Berkeley Financial Aid Office to get an emergency loan, and then Michelle Kniffin at Housing Services took an interest in him and helped him find a place to live and navigate the system. “If it weren’t for people spread all through this wonderful campus, I never would be where I am today,” DeWitt said. He credits everyone from the dedicated staff at the Re-entry Program, which works with students who are transfers or are older than typical students, to clerks at financial aid, to his academic advisors and classmates who helped him reconstruct his stolen class notes. “Duane is an example of Berkeley’s work to reach out to older and low income students,” said Helen Johnson, director of the Re-entry Program. “It is students like Duane, whose different perspectives enrich classroom discussion, that have helped to create a more inclusive environment on campus.” Ron Williams, the Re-entry Program’s academic advisor, agreed. “Duane’ s influence on other students has been invaluable,” Williams said. “By example, he showed other students to never give up their dreams.” Through his Interdisciplinary Studies major at UC Berkeley — he combined city and regional planning, Scandinavian studies and journalism — DeWitt has pursued his goal to help poor people get adequate, affordable housing. During his three years at UC Berkeley, he spent one semester and a summer at the University of Copenhagen studying Denmark’s housing issues. With his graduate work, DeWitt said he plans to continue his studies to be a "houser." DeWitt hopes eventually to get his PhD. He feels that, at his age, he will not be able to compete in the job market without it. "I'm going to make sure I do so well that I'm credible,” he said. “It's not a glory field, but we really need ways to house people." When he addresses his fellow graduates next week at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, DeWitt plans to combine an old Ukrainian saying, “You can’t teach an old bear to dance,” with the similar American expression, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” But he will tell students that he is living proof that isn’t true. “This old golden bear has learned a lot of new tricks,” he said with a smile. “And I’m planning on learning a whole lot more.” ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/by1a § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From editor Sat May 17 20:01:20 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 16:01:20 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] El Cajon, CA - Bumfights' producer sentenced to work for homeless - San Diego Union-Tribune - May 16, 2003 Message-ID: <059901c31caf$4ee6a9e0$47a65341@icanamerica> . Bumfights' producer sentenced to work for homeless _____________________________________________________ By Staff Writers - San Diego Union-Tribune - May 16, 2003 EL CAJON, CA – A Las Vegas resident who paid homeless men to fight each other and perform dangerous stunts in the "Bumfights" video was sentenced Friday to probation and ordered to do volunteer work to benefit the homeless. Michael Slyman, 21, pleaded guilty March 17 to a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit a crime. Three other "Bumfights" producers, Ryan McPherson, 19, Zachary Bubeck, 24, and Daniel Tanner, 21, pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor conspiracy to promote illegal fighting. They face probation and possible jail time when they are sentenced June 20 by Superior Court Judge Charles W. Ervin. Ervin suspended a 45-day jail sentence for Slyman, provided the defendant successfully completes his three-year probationary term. The judge also told Slyman to do 225 hours of volunteer work at a place that benefits homeless people. Ervin also ordered the defendant to stay away from two transients who starred in the "Bumfights" video, Rufus Hannah and Donnie Brennan. "All persons are entitled to dignity and respect," the judge said. "The defendant is clearly an opportunist." © Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c08l § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From steveorchid@yahoo.com Sat May 17 22:59:30 2003 From: steveorchid@yahoo.com (steve argue) Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 15:59:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] Jerry Brown, Oakland's Richard Daley? Message-ID: <20030517225930.78936.qmail@web80505.mail.yahoo.com> In this mailing: 1. Jerry Brown, Oakland's Richard Daley? By SCOTT FLEMING 2. POLICE VS. PROTESTORS AT PORT By MUMIA ABU-JAMAL ********** Jerry Brown, Oakland's Richard Daley? Getting Shot on the Docks By SCOTT FLEMING [Scott Fleming is an attorney for the Angola 3 and peace activist who was shot five times and lives in Oakland.] Remarks to the Oakland City Council. My name is Scott Fleming. I am an Oakland resident and an attorney. On April 7, the Oakland Police Department shot me five times with wooden bullets, four times in the back, as I ran away from them during a completely peaceful protest at the Port of Oakland. I am speaking here today on behalf of all of the anti-war protesters who were attacked and injured by the Oakland Police Department. On the morning of April 7, a number of protesters gathered at the port and set up peaceful pickets in front of a handful of shipping lines. The protesters were doing nothing more than carrying signs and walking in circles. There was a brass band there which helped create what can only be described as a festive atmosphere. There were a number of middle-aged and senior citizens in the crowd. There was nothing about the tone of the protest or the actions of the protesters that could have led the Oakland Police Department to fear violence or confrontation. Nevertheless, when the police arrived on the scene, all of them were wearing gas masks, and a number of them were armed with what we later learned were wooden bullets, beanbag-firing shotguns, and grenades. I have been to countless demonstrations over the years, and I cannot recall a single instance in which any Bay Area police agency has displayed these kinds of weapons or worn gas masks to a political demonstration. I can only surmise that the Oakland Police Department would not have arrived at the demonstration with this type of weaponry unless they had a pre-planned intent to use it. The officers lined up on Middle Harbor Road in front of the entrance to American Presidents Line. When they ordered the demonstrators to clear the intersection, the demonstrators complied and the entrance was cleared. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for the demonstrators to go after they cleared the intersection. By blocking Middle Harbor Road, the police denied the demonstrators the nearest and most direct route to leave the port. As the crowd milled about, it seemed that nobody knew what to do or where to go. Many of the protesters, including myself, had never been to the port before and were unfamiliar with the geography there. After a few minutes, and for no obvious or apparent reason, the morning quiet was pierced by explosions as the Oakland Police Department opened fire on the crowd. Neither I nor anyone else I have spoken to is aware of any act on the part of any demonstrator that could have provoked this violence. >From this point on, the Oakland Police Department swept down Middle Harbor Road and Maritime Street firing repeated barrages, over and over again, into the crowd. They fired on the crowd for approximately an hour and a half to two hours as they pursued us for more than a mile. For much of this time, the Oakland Police Department repeatedly drove a line of large police motorcycles into the crowd. It is my understanding that a number of those who were injured by the motorcycles were terrified young women who were run over as they pleaded with the officers to allow them to escape from the violence. The munitions used upon us, especially the wooden and beanbag bullets, are extremely dangerous weapons, which was evidenced by the severity of the injuries that day. As we continued down the road, more and more people in the crowd were bleeding and bruised. A law student who was clearly identified as a legal observer by a bright green armband was shot in the head and had blood pouring down his face. A man who works as an environmental engineer for a federal agency was shot in the face and looked to me as if part of his nose was missing. I am told that one young woman had tire tracks up her leg after being run down by a motorcycle officer. And I think we have all seen the sickening and grotesque photograph of Sri Louise, the woman who was shot in the jaw and neck. I want to make clear that the use of these types of weapons against peaceful protesters is unacceptable under any circumstances. However, it is also clear that the severity of the injuries we saw that day was significantly increased because the Oakland Police Department disregarded the manufacturers1 safety warnings and misused these weapons. For example, we recovered a shell casing used to fire wooden bullets. The casing indicated that it was manufactured by Federal Laboratories in Casper, Wyoming, and fires 264W wooden baton rounds. The casing includes a very clear warning, which states: Do not fire directly at persons or serious injury or death may result. The warning then admonishes officers to fire the weapons at the ground, from which they are intended to ricochet into peoples1 legs. The fact that so many people that day received injuries to their heads, arms, and torsos strongly indicates that the officers were not firing these weapons as the manufacturers intended. The fact that so many people, like myself, were shot in the back, underscores the fact that the Oakland Police Department was firing on people who were running away. As reported by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the manufacturer1s training manual states that, when firing wooden bullets, areas such as the head, neck, spine, and groin . . . should be avoided unless it is the intent to deliver deadly force. Oakland Police Departmental General Order K-3, governing the use of force, similarly requires officers to avoid firing these weapons at these areas of the body. According to the Department1s use of force policy, beanbag (and presumably wooden) bullets are classified as the second most severe use of force in the police arsenal, second only to firearms. In fact, these weapons are classified as being more severe than a police canine bite. Therefore, according to the stated policy of the Oakland Police Department, if the police had been justified on April 7 in shooting us with wooden bullets, they would also have been justified in unleashing police dogs on the crowd. I think we all know exactly which images that evokes, and we all know exactly how wrong that would have been. The actions of the Oakland Police Department on April 7 evidenced not only an enthusiastic desire to use grossly unreasonable force against peaceful protesters, but also contempt for the exercise of First Amendment rights. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Chief Word sought to justify the shootings by stating that, the police decided to fire because they feared that more protesters would arrive later in the day. To me, this amounts to an admission by the police chief that he approved the shooting of demonstrators because he hoped the shootings would deter other people from exercising their First Amendment rights. I hope we can all agree that this is unacceptable. Word also told the Contra Costa Times that his decision to shoot at us was influenced by one of the shipping lines. According to the Times, Chief Word said that APL [American Presidents Line] told us, You have to clear the property. This sounds frighteningly like Chief Word allowed American Presidents Line to assist him in deciding when to use force against the citizens of Oakland. Those of us who were fired upon on April 7 demand that the Oakland City Council take immediate action by exercising the authority that you have over the Oakland Police Department. We support the idea of a truly independent investigation of the shootings, and believe that such an investigation should lead to terminations up to, and including the police chief, as well as a comprehensive reformulation of police crowd control and use of force policies. However, we also believe that the City Council should not wait for such an investigation before conducting its own inquiries. We demand that the City Council, at the very least, take the following three actions: 1. We want to know who made the decision to fire on us on April 7 and how that decision was made. It is obvious to those of us who were there that morning that the police were armed, wearing gas masks, and prepared to shoot and injure us from the moment they arrived. With only a few exceptions, the Oakland Police Department did not attempt to arrest us before they opened fire. These facts strongly suggest that the Oakland Police Department had decided sometime prior to April 7 to violently attack the port protest. We know from press accounts that the Oakland Police Department conducted prior meetings with individuals from the Port of Oakland, several shipping lines, and the San Francisco Police Department. Mayor Jerry Brown has enthusiastically supported the shootings. We want to know what role these individuals and organizations played in this decision. We also want to know whether or not the Oakland Police Department had any discussions with state or federal authorities prior to making this decision. 2. We want the officers who fired on us that day to be suspended from the Oakland Police Department. The Oakland Police Departmental General Order governing the use of force states that, any member or employee whose use of force results in the . . . serious physical injury of any person shall be placed on paid administrative leave for a period of not less than two days, unless otherwise ordered by the Chief of Police. The officers who injured us that day should be suspended. If Chief Word has overridden this policy and prevented any suspensions from occurring, the City Council should be asking why. 3. The Oakland Police Department should immediately cease the use of so-called 3less-lethal2 weapons. On April 7, the police showed that they are incapable of determining when this level of force is appropriate and they are incapable of following clear warnings on the proper use of these weapons, even when those warnings are written right on the side of the ammunition. The City Council should demand that the Police Department enact guidelines that prohibit the use of these weapons against demonstrators. If the Oakland Police Department is truly a democratically accountable institution, then all three of these demands can easily be met. In closing, I would simply like to say that the City Council is in a better position than most to know that the Oakland Police Department has an ugly and intolerable history of abusing the citizens of this city. The ongoing Riders scandal showed that the department has a culture which tolerates the abuse and brutalization of citizens in Oakland1s poorer neighborhoods. The jury verdicts in the Judi Bari lawsuit last year showed that the Department has manufactured evidence in order to discredit political activists. And the shootings of April 7 show that the Oakland Police Department is now willing to shoot and injure peaceful demonstrators for the apparent purpose of chilling and deterring First Amendment _expression in the City of Oakland. The City Council must exercise its authority to get to the bottom of these abuses and bring them to an end. POLICE VS. PROTESTORS AT PORT -------------------------------------------- [Col. Writ. 4/22/03] Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal Police, dressed in the ominous black uniforms, helmets and jackboots reminiscent of storm troopers, level their shotguns and fire into crowds of innocents. People standing around and people trying to run away are hit by wooden plug-like bullets, bean-bag projectiles and concussion grenades. The wooden plugs look like the spools around which thread is wound, and their wide, flat ends raise welts on the bodies of a score of people. One young woman's right jaw is swollen to the size of a baseball, her neck reddened and discolored. This is not Belfast at the time of 'the troubles'; nor is it a roiling Perpetual protest in the heart of the neo-dragon, South Korea. This is Oakland, April 2003, under the mayorship of Jerry Brown, the state's former Governor, who ran as a 'progressive' in recent presidential elections. The shot, wounded, arrested, and seized are legal protesters and bystanders at the Oakland docks, who have come to protest the then-raging Iraqi War. The police lash out at them with a vengeance that is stunning. Jack Heyman, the Business Manager of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) tries to approach police to speak on behalf of workers who were attacked, and then he finds himself arrested, and would be among 29 people held for 19 hours in jail before being released, for nothing more than exercising the alleged First Amendment right of protest, free assembly, and free speech. Why? Because the anti-war protesters were trying to block the work of the APL (formerly American President Lines) which stands to gain millions of taxpayer dollars from the Defense Department each year, shipping military cargo. It was to protect these private business interests that those sworn to 'serve and protect' the people, lashed out at the people, with weapons that caused broken bones, hearing loss, puncture wounds and abrasions. They may be sworn to protect the people, but they are paid to protect the established. As ever, when it's a conflict between labor and industry, labor is left holding the bag. The march, which began at Oakland's City Hall, originally featured the presence of national and local luminaries, including acclaimed singer and actor Harry Belafonte, film star Danny Glover, U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, various Bay Area artists like D'Wayne Wiggins, Goapele, boots of the Coup, and even the Vice-Mayor of Oakland, Nancy Nadel. But police follow the orders of business, not politicians. The unprovoked attack was an attempt by the state's armed forces to quiet the spreading anti-war movement, and to protect the wealth being made on this war by U.S. corporations. The police attack was designed to quiet the growing swell of anti-imperialism being heard across the land. That's why everybody was targeted, trade unionists, students, dockworkers, you name it. The formal stage of the Iraq War may have ended, but the war against Empire must still be waged. For millions of Americans, they never voted for, and do not approve the establishment of a Middle East Empire in their name. They know that such a state will do nothing to secure their security, but only makes their lives, and the lives of their children, woefully unsafe. That's why protests are so important. That's also why the state so opposes them. It is time for those who have always taken their alleged constitutional rights of free speech, freedom of assembly, and the right of protest to seriously question these actions by the police. They should call for the immediate dropping of all charges against the Oakland Port protesters (and, of course, those who were simply there, as workers and passersby). They should also demand that the police be held responsible for this violent attack on the people. ILWU business agent Kevin Willis declared the attacks were "unnecessary," and an "overreact[ion]". "This is the second protest in two months where the Oakland police reacted violently to anti-war protests," Willis charged. "The other time," he argued, "it was against the children." (San Francisco Bay View, 4/9/03, p. 12). People angry at this behavior should let the Mayor know about it. Oakland's Jerry Brown's number is (510) 238-3141. Drop all the charges now! Copyright 2003 Mumia Abu-Jamal The homepage for Liberation News can be found at http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/liberation_news People may subscribe to the list by sending email to liberation_news-subscribe@lists.riseup.net __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com From HC Covington Sun May 18 03:35:46 2003 From: HC Covington (HC Covington) Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 23:35:46 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Spokane, WA - Homeless Men Gear Up to climb mountains - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - May 17, 2003 Message-ID: <069701c31cef$6c6dc300$47a65341@icanamerica> . Homeless Men Gear Up for Expedition Homeless men training for mountain climbing expedition as part of life skills program. Homeless "Mountain Goats'' plan to climb peaks of Mount Rainier June 26 and Mount Baker July 16. The nine men, some of whom spent the past winter huddling in lobbies to escape winter temperatures, are now training with ice axes, harnesses and other survival gear. ______________________________________________________________ By AP NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - May 17, 2003 SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)--Scott Galloway used to get high on cocaine and meth. In July he'll get high on Mount Baker as part of an expedition of homeless men who are gearing up to scale the 10,700-foot peak. The men live at the Union Gospel Mission and are part of a program that turns outdoor skills into the confidence they need to succeed in life. Separate teams of the self-proclaimed ``Mountain Goats'' plan to climb Mount Rainier June 26 and Mount Baker July 16. ``They will learn that if they can summit something like Rainier, they can tackle any issue in life and succeed,'' said chaplain Steve Slover, who conceived and runs the program. ``For some, it's the first time they've had real success.'' The nine men, some of whom spent the past winter huddling in lobbies to escape winter temperatures, are now training with ice axes, harnesses and other survival gear. They hike with loaded packs, learn how to pull fellow climbers out of crevasses and get handy with an ice ax to prevent sliding off a mountain if they fall. Slover started the Mountain Goats in 1999 as a way to help homeless men develop trust in others and to realize they can set and accomplish goals. The Mountain Goats are based in an upstairs ``lodge'' at the mission that includes a pool table, leather couches and antique outdoor gear on the walls. Mark Tarbell, 43, was homeless for about a year before he arrived; suffering from depression and paranoia, he had contemplated suicide. But Slover insisted he join the Mountain Goats, and now the intense physical training makes him almost euphoric, Tarbell said. ``Three days a week, I feel good about things,'' said Tarbell. ``I have had no suicidal thoughts since the beginning of Mountain Goat training.'' Now he's thinking of completing college to become a math teacher. Galloway, 35, spent years abusing heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. ``I had exhausted all resources, burned every bridge and had nowhere else to turn,'' Galloway said. He came to Spokane for drug treatment last year, but lapsed back into the drug lifestyle and became homeless. He survived the winter by hanging around hospital lobbies as if he were waiting for someone. Galloway is set to climb Mount Baker on July 16, exactly one year to the day after breaking his leg during a drinking bout. It was February before he decided to turn his life around, he said. Each Saturday, the Mountain Goats hike with 30-pound packs. They work on conditioning and strengthening exercises twice a week, running stairs near the falls of the Spokane River. They run up hills, sometimes backward, and then run down. ``It's all hard-core, real mountain climbing,'' Slover said, requiring some six months of training. Three years ago, Slover took a team up to 14,400-foot Mount Rainier and had one man reach the top. Two subsequent attempts the next year where thwarted by avalanches. A longtime mountaineer, much of Slover's work on behalf of the Mountain Goats involves finding equipment to rent or borrow. He also accepts donations of equipment or money. ``We really need support on these things. A jacket is $300,'' Slover said. He still needs about $600 to complete this expedition's outfitting. Scott Lawson, 36, of Spokane, volunteered to be a Mountain Goat after hearing others at the mission talk about the experience. ``It's not for everybody,'' he said. ``Lots of people start the training but back off. The packs and the running get to them.'' He entered the mission on New Year's Eve 2002, after 22 years of drug and alcohol addiction. ``My income was selling drugs, basically,'' Lawson said. ``In that lifestyle, you could not trust anybody.'' But trust in fellow climbers is a key component of mountain climbing, Lawson said. Climbers are roped together and rely on each other in case of accidents. ``I know people I can lean on,'' he said. ``I know I can accomplish something.'' ___ On the Net: Union Gospel Mission Web site: http://www.ugmspokane.org ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c0un H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From editor Mon May 19 07:48:12 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 03:48:12 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Alameda County, CA - Kevin Freeman, 55: Death While Homeless: Another one bites the dust - San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 2003 Message-ID: <01c701c31ddb$27bc48c0$2a229b44@icanamerica> . Shocking Santa Rita Jail death prompts investigation Death While Homeless: Another one bites the dust. Kevin Freeman had been in jail for being drunk in public and homeless and was due to be released May 10, the day after he was killed. The second killing in the behavioral unit in 13 months, called "a strange anomaly." ________________________________________________________________ By Charles Burress - San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 2003 Alameda County, CA - The slaying of a longtime Berkeley homeless man at Santa Rita jail has shocked those who knew him for decades on Telegraph Avenue and prompted sheriff's officials to investigate why he was put in the same cell with a young suspect in a violent crime. The tall, bearded victim -- 55-year-old Kevin Lee Freeman -- was a homeless alcoholic with apparent mental health problems who was well known to Berkeley police and denizens of Telegraph Avenue. Often seen panhandling in his red tennis shoes, he was familiar also to Alameda County sheriff's deputies for his various stays at Santa Rita for drinking problems over the past 25 years, said sheriff's Lt. Jim Knudsen. Authorities say he was killed about 3 a.m. May 9 by his cellmate, Ryan Lee Raper, 20, of Copperopolis in Calaveras County. Raper had been in jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon in Union City, said sheriff's Lt. Greg Ahern. The commanding officer of the jail, Capt. Fred Hagan, said it "generally doesn't happen" that drunks are placed in the same cell with suspects in violent crimes. Jail officials are investigating the placement, he said. "What we have to do is take a look at it," Hagan said. "Anytime we have a death in the jail, that would cause us to review our policies and procedures." Raper was arraigned Friday in Alameda County Superior Court on charges of killing Freeman. Freeman died of "severe blunt trauma," Ahern said. He would not comment on reports that the scene was shockingly grisly. Attorney Osha Neumann, who served eight years on the Berkeley Police Review Commission, said, "It's very troubling that this person who clearly had mental disabilities of his own was put in with a violent young man." The pair had been placed in a two-man cell in the jail's "behavioral ward," a special section for those with evident mental problems, Ahern said. Hagan said prisoners are routinely screened for their "criminal sophistication" and "medical and psychological needs" before being assigned to cells. Ahern said Freeman had been in jail for being drunk in public and that he was due to be released May 10, the day after he was killed. It was the second killing in the behavioral unit in 13 months, which Hagan called "a strange anomaly." According to court records, Freeman had been sentenced to 30 days in jail on April 24 for violating his probation. (He was given an early release date of May 10.) The probation violation occurred shortly before midnight April 22 when he was arrested by UC Berkeley police for being drunk in public on Telegraph Avenue, said UC police Capt. Bill Cooper. According to court records, he had been ordered to stay away from Telegraph Avenue until Aug. 12 this year as part of probation in a July 2001 case in which he was convicted of public drunkenness and violating a court order. Questions over his death coincides with a new study criticizing Alameda County for being the only Bay Area county without a detox center for people like Freeman, said Kathy Berger, executive director of the Telegraph Avenue Association, a coalition of businesses, residents and community organizations. "We believe there is a very close correlation between the two (Freeman's death and the lack of a detox center)," said Berger, who released the yearlong study on Thursday. "We all knew him," she said. "He is one of those people who could have been helped a number of years ago had there been a detox center available to him." He sometimes panhandled in front of Shakespeare & Co. whose owner, Harvey Segal, described Freeman "as one of the least aggressive -- very quiet, innocuous." Another veteran of Telegraph, a man calling himself Huckleberry Finn who was selling the Street Spirit paper Friday, said Freeman was "a very, very quiet dude -- he was always by himself." Neumann said he's received calls from people saying the screening for cell assignment at Santa Rita is not done by mental health professionals but consists of deputies asking "perfunctory questions of whether they're (inmates) going to commit suicide or not." "There's a problem out at Santa Rita for sure," Neumann said. "There's a problem also for people out on the street who need to get treated. The only intervention is the criminal justice system." Ahern said the jail screening consists of "practices that we do according to the jail policies and procedures." The study sponsored by the Telegraph Avenue Association found that "an average three-day stay in a detox facility costs one-third less to taxpayers than the current approach of transporting people via ambulance to jails and psychiatric hospitals and then recycling the homeless back to the streets." The Telegraph area hosts more than 300 homeless people, about 25 percent of the city's homeless population, the study found. About 50 percent of the homeless statewide suffer from alcohol and drug addiction, compared with an estimated 70 percent on Telegraph who do, Berger said. E-mail Charles Burress at cburress@sfchronicle.com 2003 San Francisco Chronicle ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c3du H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From editor Mon May 19 07:48:52 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 03:48:52 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Santa Rita, CA - Kevin Lee Freeman, 55 murdered in Jail - Berkeley Daily Planet - May 16, 2003 Message-ID: <01ca01c31ddb$2dec2580$2a229b44@icanamerica> . Kevin Lee Freeman, 55 Murdered in Jail Cell Homeless man murdered in his cell in Santa Rita’s psychiatric ward while serving a 30-day sentence for being drunk in public. Freeman’s murder, the second of an inmate at the jail in 13 months, has raised concerns about Santa Rita’s Jail policies and procedures. ________________________________________________________________ By JOHN GELUARDI - Berkeley Daily Planet - May 16, 2003 Santa Rita, CA - For the last 25 years, Kevin Lee Freeman, who was murdered allegedly by his cell mate at Santa Rita Jail last Friday, was a fixture on Telegraph Avenue where he panhandled, kept to himself and collected dozens of citations for alcohol-related misdemeanors. As news of his death spread around Telegraph Avenue Wednesday, those who knew him — the homeless, store employees and beat cops — said they were stunned. “I was shocked when I heard,” said Berkeley Police Officer John Jones, who has arrested and cited Freeman many times since 1983. “He has been around here for so long, I thought he was going to outlive me.” Freeman’s murder, the second of an inmate at the jail in 13 months, has raised concerns about Santa Rita’s policies and procedures for classifying prisoners and has sparked an outcry by homeless advocates and substance abuse counselors who question the wisdom of jailing alcoholics alongside violent criminals. Freeman, 55, was murdered in his cell in Santa Rita’s psychiatric ward while serving a 30-day sentence for being drunk in public. His cell mate, Ryan Lee Raper, 20, a resident of the unincorporated town of Copperopolis in Calavaras County, was being held for allegedly attacking a stranger with a knife in front of a Union City restaurant on March 2, according to Union City Police Lt. Rob Romano. After Freeman was found dead, Raper was transported to John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro where he is being held without bail while the Alameda County District Attorney decides whether to charge him with Freeman’s murder. According to Lt. Greg Ahern of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Investigations Unit, the circumstances that led to Freeman’s murder are being investigated and a report will be submitted to the Alameda County District Attorney in the coming days. “We’re going to look at everything, medical history, criminal history as well as current charges,” Ahern said. “We’ll also look at the medical screening and jail classification for the two inmates.” Longtime Presence By most accounts, Freeman kept to himself and rarely spoke to anyone. Many of Telegraph Avenue’s denizens said they often saw him, a gaunt and bearded figure, eating alone during the evening meal at Trinity United Methodist Church or hanging out on the sidewalk in front of Shakespeare and Company Books near People’s Park. Freeman, who was a chronic alcoholic and possibly suffered from mental illness, apparently had no close friends or family in the area. A homeless man who gave his name as Mike said he’d seen Freeman around for years. “I never saw him bother anybody,” he said. “He was always walking around by himself, just surviving.” Perhaps Freeman’s most significant human contact in recent years was with the police who had arrested or cited him more than 50 times, according to Berkeley Police Public Information Officer Mary Kusmiss. She said Freeman could become belligerent when he was very drunk, but most often he was friendly, cooperative and even charming. The Final Arrest On April 22, University of California Police officers arrested Freeman around midnight on Telegraph Avenue near Blake Street. According to the police report, he was intoxicated and had difficulty walking. He was charged with public drunkenness and violation of a court order to stay away from an area known as “the box,” which is enclosed by Bancroft Way, Ellsworth Street, College Avenue and Parker Street. The area includes People’s Park and a section of Telegraph Avenue that Freeman frequented for at least twenty years. On April 24, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carol Brosnahan sentenced Freeman to 30 days in Santa Rita Jail for both charges, according to court documents. All Santa Rita inmates are psychologically evaluated by a licensed mental health care clinician, according to Barbara Majak, deputy director of Alameda County Behavioral Health Services. The clinician then makes recommendations for jail classifications to deputy sheriffs. Once classified, the deputies assign inmates to various housing units such as the general population, minimum or maximum security. Both Freeman and Raper were evaluated and assigned to a two-person cell in the Behavioral Health Unit, where inmates who suffer from mental illness or are mentally disturbed can better be monitored. However, the reason why Freeman, an older man with no history of violence, was put in a cell with Raper, a younger man suspected of committing an unprovoked knife attack on a stranger, is under investigation. “I can’t say why the decision was made,” Ahern said. “But so far there was no indication that there would have been a problem by putting the two men in the same cell.” A Grisly Scene Around 3 a.m. last Friday, several inmates, including Raper, called unit guards on intercoms to report a disturbance. When guards arrived at Freeman’s cell, they found a grisly scene. According to some reports, Freeman’s brain matter and internal organs had been smeared on the walls of the cell. Ahern would not confirm or deny those reports. “All I can say is that the victim died of severe blunt trauma,” he said. Another inmate was allegedly killed by a cell mate in the Behavioral Health Unit in April 2002. James Mitchell, 24, died from a skull fracture after a fight with his cell mate, Daniel Beltran, 22, who was later ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment. Mitchell, who had ties to Berkeley, also had a substance abuse problem and suffered from mental illness, according to Tom Gorham, a senior counselor at the 12-step program Options Recovery Services. “Outraged” Osha Neuman, a Berkeley attorney and homeless advocate, said Freeman should have been treated as a person with a disease and not as a criminal. “I’m outraged and disgusted that something like this has happened,” he said. He added that city and county officials should reevaluate how the criminal justice system deals with the mentally ill homeless who are severe substance abusers. “There are a lot of questions to ask the Alameda County sheriff about why a chronic alcoholic was sent to Santa Rita and, appallingly, put in a cell with a violent criminal,” he said. “But more than that this should be occasion for us to do a searching inventory of how we deal with this problem.” Gorham said Alameda County has a dire need for a detox center. “The way it is now, we drive local homeless people with substance abuse problems from the courts, jails and Alta Bates Hospital to San Mateo or Marin County where they can be treated at county-run detox centers,” he said. “Both Mitchell and Freeman’s deaths could possibly have been avoided if there was appropriate care for substance abusers in Alameda County.” Besides his extensive arrest record, not much is known about Kevin Lee Freeman. He was from Indiana where, an acquaintance said, he had been a state champion swimmer. He is survived by a daughter, Rasa-Lila Christina Lagaras, who lives in Cumberland County, Pa. ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c3d1 H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From editor Mon May 19 08:49:30 2003 From: editor (editor) Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 04:49:30 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] NYC, NY - City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003 Message-ID: <020b01c31de3$9eb43de0$2a229b44@icanamerica> . City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless ________________________________________________________________ By Staff Writers - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003 NEW YORK (AP) _ The city will begin to scale back its scattered site apartment housing program for homeless families this month, Homeless Services Commissioner Linda Gibbs said. Critics of the program have said that the program, which started as a temporary measure during the Giuliani administration, pays landlords as much as $96 a night for apartments that are often in poor condition. About 2,000 apartments are presently being used to help give shelter to the city's homeless families. Gibbs was expected to outline the beginning of the phase-out plan during a budget hearing in the City Council on Monday. Gibbs said the agency had intended to reduce the number of apartments. "It seems if we didn't just start doing it, it would never happen," Gibbs said in Monday editions of the Daily News. The Homeless Services Department rated the apartments based on overall quality, building violation status and performance of social service organizations that work with the homeless. Landlords with the lowest-ranked apartments are being targeted first. The department wants to remove about 20 apartments each month. Copyright © Newsday, Inc. ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c3h0 H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From HC Covington Mon May 19 09:40:34 2003 From: HC Covington (HC Covington) Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 05:40:34 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Wilmington, DE - Challenge rises for homeless group - The News Journal - May 19, 2003 Message-ID: <023601c31dea$b4b1a680$2a229b44@icanamerica> . Challenge rises for homeless group Economy adds to number of clients while decreasing amount of funding ________________________________________________________________ By MIKE CHALMERS - The News Journal - May 19, 2003 Wilmington, DE - A one-page letter and a small photograph, stuffed into a blue envelope from Germany, are links to the better life Barry Harms envisions for himself someday. They are from his daughter, whom he abandoned as a baby more than two decades ago in favor of a life of drinking. In the letter - delivered a few days ago to a Wilmington post office box near the homeless shelter where Harms is living - she forgives Harms for leaving her. "I broke down and cried," said Harms, 44. "It's a joy, a pain. Now I have more will to live than I did before." The post office box is one feature of Home Base, a program for homeless men and women run by the nonprofit Friendship House ministry. Through it, people get a mailing address, use of a telephone to look for a job and a storage locker for what little they own. The number of people like Harms who use the Home Base service is increasing dramatically because of the region's poor economy, said Bill Perkins, executive director of Friendship House. Already this year, more than 1,700 people have used the service, compared to 2,600 for all of last year, he said. Friendship House, a 17-year-old Christian ministry based in an old church at 3rd and Walnut streets, recently received $20,000 from three donors to help handle the increasing need. DuPont Co.'s Stine-Haskell Research Center in Newark donated $5,000; DuPont's Community Fund matched that with another $5,000; and Immanuel Church Highlands in Wilmington matched that total with $10,000 more. Perkins said the money will probably go to hire a part-time staffer to work on the Home Base program. The mission, which gets 70 percent of its money from local churches, had to cut several workers and $100,000 out of its $800,000 budget last year due to a decrease in donations, he said. "At the time when we're busier than ever, we have to do more with less," Perkins said. Harms said the Home Base services are essential to people like him, who are trying to piece their lives back together. Without them, he said, he would not be able to call about potential jobs or make medical appointments. Harms said he was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental illness that makes him alternately depressed and manic. "It took 40-some years to mess up my life, so it's going to take a while to straighten it out," he said. Harms said he has been sober for about six weeks and is staying at the Sunday Breakfast Mission, a homeless shelter about two blocks from Friendship House. "I wandered over here one day," Harms said. "To me, this place is filled with angels." Reach Mike Chalmers at 324-2790 or mchalmers@delawareonline.com ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c3k0 H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ From carmha-l@yahoogroups.com Tue May 20 21:50:57 2003 From: carmha-l@yahoogroups.com (Graeme Bacque) Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 17:50:57 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] FW: [E-LEFT] Needed: shared care teams that will speak out. Message-ID: -----Original Message----- From: e-left-l-admin@list.web.net [mailto:e-left-l-admin@list.web.net]On Behalf Of E-LEFT Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 2:30 PM To: e-left-l@list.web.net Subject: [E-LEFT] Needed: shared care teams that will speak out. The following is a synopsis of the Tory platform as it directly relates to homeless people and comments from Michael Shapcott - Research Coordinator with TDRC. I personally hope that Shared Care Teams, and other mental health agencies who work with people who are homeless will hold a provincial press conference to denounce this strategy ASAP and to call for the obvious solutions. Please circulate to groups concerned. Cathy Crowe, RN One of the many particularly cruel aspects of today's Tory platform is a plan for "Shared Care" teams that will have the legal authority to force homeless people (with police assistance, if necessary) to go into shelters. Here is the text from the Tory election platform: "To help reach out to these people in need, we will increase our funding of the Shared Care Teams (teams of outreach workers, nurses and physicians supported by psychiatrists) that bring health and Shared Care teams will be directed to make sure that people without a place to stay get the care they need, whether it's medical attention, addiction treatment or a shelter bed. When cold weather alerts are issued in Ontario communities, people living on the streets MUST be provided with adequate shelters, and should not be allowed to sleep outdoors. Legislation will give the Shared Care Teams the power to remove people from the streets and take them into care when, in the Teams' opinion, it is necessary for their protection. Allowing people to suffer frostbite or death by exposure is cruelty, not compassion. The police would be called in only as a last resort if necessary to protect the individual or members of the team." There's plenty of need for homeless outreach workers and lots of good success stories across Ontario (such as the Hostel Outreach Program in Toronto, which was created in the mid-1990s after political pressure following the inquest into the death of Drina Joubert). But the coercive aspect (which is typical of the Tories, who want to punish poor people for their poverty) raises serious concerns. It may force homeless people to hide deeper into the urban landscape, making them harder to reach. It leads to a continuing criminalization of homelessness. And it is based on the false notion that homeless people are "avoiding" shelters for irrational reasons. And, fundamentally, forcing homeless people into shelters ignores the basic fact that homeless shelters are already overcrowded in most parts of the province and conditions are appalling in many shelters, including disease transmission, lack of adequate sanitary facilities. Forcing more people into an already overcrowded system doesn't make any sense, common or otherwise. Then there's the fact that shelters don't exist in most small towns, rural, remote and northern communities. What homeless people need (those with mental health concerns and the rest) is safe, appropriate and affordable housing, along with the support services to allow them to live with dignity. The Tories should be funding more affordable social housing, and more supportive housing, not demonizing the homeless by threatening to arrest them. An urgent request for information: Please send any current numbers that you have on conditions in local homeless shelters (occupancy stats, other information) directly to me at: michael.shapcott@utoronto.ca as soon as possible. I will prepare a more detailed backgrounder on this. - Michael -- * * * * * * * * * * Michael Shapcott, Research Co-ordinator One Percent Solution research, education and action project Toronto Disaster Relief Committee and, Co-ordinator Community / University Research Partnerships Unit Centre for Urban and Community Studies University of Toronto Room 426A - 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 2G8 Telephone - 416-978-1260 Facsimile - 416-978-7162 E-mail - michael.shapcott@utoronto.ca "If medicine is to fulfil her great task, then she must enter the political and social life. Do we not always find the diseases of the populace traceable to defects in society?" Rudolf Virchow Cathy Crowe, RN cathy.crowe@sympatico.ca www.tdrc.net 416-703-8482 (117) ............................................................................ .......................................... The Metro Network for Social Justice (MNSJ) is a coalition of groups dedicated to the promotion of social and economic justice. Together we can turn our collective power into real political action. - ............................................................................ ........................................... TO UNSUBSCRIBE: http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/e-left-l ............................................................................ .......................................... To send a message on e-left or for any subscription problems mail to: e-left@mnsj.org Check out our www site at http://www.mnsj.org ............................................................................ ............................................. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/uetFAA/wrSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: carmha-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Wed May 21 16:26:23 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 09:26:23 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] SF Bay Guardian: While politicians spar in the headlines, life on the streets just gets tougher Message-ID: Homeless days While politicians spar in the headlines, life on the streets just gets tougher By Rachel Brahinsky Despite the cold and blustery weather May 14, almost two dozen wind-whipped demonstrators picketed for hours in the stone courtyard of the city's Department of Human Services building on Otis Street. In the middle of the courtyard someone had piled up a green couch with random personal belongings ­ including a lamp, a plant, and a sack of clothes. >From his perch on the couch, a man with a bullhorn chanted slogans condemning Proposition N, Sup. Gavin Newsom's Care Not Cash program, which has brought the homeless question to the forefront of city talk. The May 8 court ruling nullifying about half of the measure has thrown city hall into a swirling sort of fit: everyone's wondering what to do to help the homeless ­ and how to save his or her own political hide. Yet while homeless policy ­ in the abstract, legal, and political sense ­ has been center stage, the realities faced by people on the streets have largely been shunted aside. Mario Morales dressed for the DHS rally in a gray hooded sweatshirt and a baseball cap. Morales, who has been homeless for more than a year, told me in Spanish that the nation's leaders have their priorities backward. "This is a country that has money," he said. "If they can use it to go bomb other countries, they could use it to build housing." Morales, a Guatemalan immigrant, could no longer afford his room in a residential hotel after the economy went sour in 2001, when his previously steady work as a day laborer for a roofing company grew sparse. Since then, he has applied for supportive housing through a nonprofit group. In the meantime he either sleeps in the streets or plays the lottery for a bed in a city shelter. His situation became even less secure May 2, he said, when a shelter staffer announced a new way of assigning beds. She "came and said in English that people without G.A. [General Assistance] would lose their places," Morales recalled. "She said we had to go and register every day at 8 a.m. But I have to get up at 5 a.m. to look for work." Morales said he was told that soon he would have to go to the center each morning to ask for a bed for the night; in the past he was often able to secure a seven-day contract for shelter. Changes in the shelter rules ­ which DHS says are still being formulated ­ will be central to Care Not Cash if it's reinstated. Before the court ruling, the city was beginning to ask shelter seekers to step aside to make way for welfare recipients targeted by the measure ­ with plans to offer beds only when welfare clients didn't need or want them. € € € Across town the next day, mayoral candidate Angela Alioto unveiled her alternative, a plan called San Francisco Cares. Alioto is calling for closing the shelters completely and using the money that saves to fund successful housing programs and other services. The glaring omission of the plan, announced before television cameras on the lawn in front of City Hall, was the math. Alioto proposes closing inefficient clinics and slashing bloated executive salaries to fund counseling and housing for the needy but hasn't yet shown how it will work. Still, Alioto's convinced the numbers will ultimately add up: "If you had $110 million," she asked, "couldn't you help 5,000 [homeless] people?" Organizers at the Coalition on Homelessness hadn't seen the plan yet when we called, but director Paul Boden had this to say: "Until we develop a community plan ­ a plan that comes from those who live and work with the homeless ­ and until we hear from providers what's working, and until we get state and federal representatives together to demand [coherent] national policy, we are not going to change anything." E-mail Rachel Brahinsky -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From norsehorse@hotmail.com Fri May 23 00:26:21 2003 From: norsehorse@hotmail.com (Morgan W. Brown) Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 20:26:21 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Study: Spiritual & Alt. Healing Practices Facilitating Recovery from SMI's; ... Message-ID: Norsehorse's Home Turf Alternative Mental Health Links Page: http://nht_amhl1.blogspot.com/ Norsehorse's Home Turf Alternative Mental Health Bulletin Thursday, May 22, 2003 First Edition PSA (Public Service Announcement) Happy Spring - finally! I love winter myself, but this year, even I had enough already. Now that I am beginning to actually recover from my usual major bouts of "Spring fever" and associated ails, it feels good to move on. Speaking of moving on, just in case you have not already come across these items yet and while they have recently been posted at Norsehorse's Home Turf Alternative Mental Health Links Page, you and others whom you know may find the following of interest: "Have you used spiritual and/or holistic healing practices that had a positive effect on your psychiatric condition? "The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University is conducting a study to identify holistic and spiritual practices that benefit persons with disabling psychiatric conditions. If you have a psychiatric condition and your mental health has improved through the use of any holistic and/or spiritual practices, you have valuable knowledge that may help many other people with psychiatric conditions." If so, then the following active and ongoing study may be of interest to you. "A National [U.S.A.] Survey exploring the use of spiritual and holistic healing practices by people who have experienced a disabling psychiatric condition": Study of Spiritual and Alternative Healing Practices Facilitating Recovery from Serious Mental Illness: http://www.bu.edu/cpr/research/participate/holistic.html -- Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University ============= Alex Chernavsky's Blog: http://www.astrocyte-design.com/blog/ -- Blog subjects include "Pseudoscience in the mental-health industry" ============= * Highly Recommended * H13: http://www.h13.com/ -- Visions, Madness, Dreams ...; A Personal Blog; Excerpted from "About me": "What is madness like? I ask you, what is sanity like? I wish I remembered." ============= * Another Active and Ongoing Study * Professional Practices that Promote Recovery Internet Survey: http://www.bu.edu/cpr/recoverysurvey/ Purpose of the study: The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University is conducting a study to explore the ways in which mental health and rehabilitation providers can promote recovery from a disabling psychiatric condition. More specifically, the purpose of the study is to identify individual providers' core recovery-promoting competencies. Who can participate in the study?: Mental health consumers who have experienced a disabling psychiatric condition, consumer providers of mental health or rehabilitation services, and providers of mental health or rehabilitation services are invited to share their perspectives on how practitioners can facilitate and promote recovery from serious mental illness. ============= Web logs: 'Blogging' into the future: http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/2003_01/0103_psyber_psy.asp Current Psychiatry [Magazine] Online Vol. 2, No. 1 / January 2003 Psyber Psychiatry [column] by John Luo, MD Assistant clinical professor and director of psychiatric informatics Department of psychiatry University of California, Davis ============= Wire on the Web: http://machineanswering.me.uk/wire/ -- Creativity, autonomy and mental health "WIRE is a paper based community mental health newsletter produced in Kirklees, West Yorkshire by a group of volunteers. This web site is designed to be an addition to the newsletter. It allows people to create a site together and can be seen as a discussion engine." Hey folks, this site is actually a blog devoted to mental health, blogged by "people who provide and use mental health services"! ============= Have questions about blogs and blogging? To get some answers, check out: Things Blog : Blog Things: http://blogs_fyi.blogspot.com/ -- Norsehorse's Home Turf Blogs fyi links page: Links to selected information available online concerning things blog and blog things, as well as just about anything regarding blogging ============= Last, but in no way least: Zuzu's Place: Cooperative Living for Psychiatric Survivors: Whitham, Massachusetts: http://www.zuzusplace.org ============= Recommend an Alternative Mental Health Website or Page Link for Consideration: nahnn@hotmail.com -- * Subject *: AMHLinks ============= It is hoped that, however you honor or celebrate it, you have an enjoyable and pleasant memorial day weekend. In support, Morgan Morgan W. Brown Montpelier Vermont USA Norsehorse's Home Turf: http://nht.blogspot.com _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Fri May 23 15:27:50 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 08:27:50 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] SF Chronicle: Psychiatrists at S.F. convention get dose of reality Message-ID: Street attack stuns visiting doctors Psychiatrists at S.F. convention get dose of reality Katherine Seligman, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, May 23, 2003 ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/23/MN2041.DTL Members of the nation's largest psychiatrists association, meeting in San Francisco, were shocked when a prominent member of their group was assaulted by a man police said is homeless and has a history of mental problems. The apparently random attack near Union Square this week was a graphic illustration of San Francisco's homeless problem for attendees of the American Psychiatric Association's annual convention. Many of them said they were surprised by the legions of people living on the street. "It seems to be tragicly representative of what's happening these days," said Marcia Goin, president-elect of the APA. "Those who need psychiatric care don't have it readily available." The victim was Dr. Geetha Jayaram, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and "scientific program chair" for the conference. Knocked unconscious during the assault Sunday, she spent the week recovering at San Francisco General Hospital. She is expected to be released soon. Police arrested Aaron Matthew Hull, 33, who has no local address and has a history of being detained for psychiatric evaluations, according to law enforcement sources. He was being held in the county jail on two felony counts of assault and battery and is scheduled to appear in court today to determine if he is competent to face charges. The irony of the attack was not lost on the association's members and other convention goers, many of whom said that they'd been noting the large numbers of homeless people on the streets ever since they arrived Saturday. "It's kind of shocking," said James McNulty, head of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. "I've been walking around the hotels and up the hill to Fisherman's Wharf. It was very disheartening." Long before the attack happened, the APA had planned a news conference Wednesday to publicize past and future threatened cuts to what the group's leaders called the nation's "crumbling mental health system." More than 27 million people with mental health problems are facing "personal health care disasters," they said, because of Medicaid and state funding cuts to mental health programs. "Imagine what it would be like to have heart disease and be told, 'Sorry, there is a budget crisis, we can't afford your beta blockers,' " McNulty said at the news conference. "Can you imagine the outcry?" McNulty, who lives in Omaha, said he had "never seen greater contrast between degradation and great wealth" than in San Francisco on his current visit. "If you think things are bad in San Francisco now, wait until the cuts happen," he said. "And I'm not just talking like Chicken Little." McNulty said he saw a verbal fight among three homeless people on the street and found it troubling. "I can't believe closing (programs) would improve things," he said. "It's a frightening thought." Jayaram had come to the convention, which drew about 19,000 participants, to speak, among other topics, about outreach to indigent mentally ill people in India. Her husband, Jay Kumar, said his wife is "doing better but not 100 percent right yet." 'TALKING TO HIMSELF' He said he had been walking with her Sunday morning when he saw a man "talking to himself and eating" as he paced on a sidewalk near Post and Grant streets. Police said witnesses told them the suspect was making loud comments and yelling at Jayaram and her companions. Kumar said the suspect passed them and was about 20 to 30 yards away when he suddenly approached Jayaram from behind and struck her. Kumar said he did not know if the assailant used his fist or a weapon. Someone at the scene called 911, and Hull was arrested a short time later. Kumar said he was concerned that so many people who appear to need mental health treatment are wandering around the streets in San Francisco -- although he said he did not know anything about Hull's background. "I don't think proper treatment is being given to these people," said Kumar, who is not a psychiatrist. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a scary situation. . . . It is like a free ward for them. The whole place is like that. I, for one, will not want to come here again." Mental health advocates and psychiatrists cautioned against stereotyping the mentally ill, saying that although they are more likely to be homeless, most aren't violent. But advocates also warned that budget cuts may only exacerbate what violence does occur. CUTS IN HOUSING, TREATMENT "You have the federal governments cutting housing and the state cutting treatment, and you end up with all these mentally ill people on the street," said Paul Boden, head of the Coalition on Homelessness. "You have all these people wandering around with no housing or treatment." P.J. Johnston, a spokesman for Mayor Willie Brown, said the city is faced with a "vexing paradox" because it is inundated with people seeking mental health treatment "partly as a result of the fact that we do more than anyone else" to help people. "If you add to that the abandonment by the state and federal agencies that traditionally help people with mental health issues, you see that San Francisco is in a difficult position," he said. Some psychiatrists at the meeting said they were dismayed when they walked around their hotels and the Union Square area. Inside, they attended the hundreds of meetings on new drug therapies and scientific advancement in treatment. But outside, they couldn't help noticing the population they have dedicated their careers to helping. "It's ironic to see the number of homeless mentally ill on the streets here, " said John Kane, a psychiatrist at Hillside Hospital in New York, moments after attending a symposium on the relative merits of a new generation of anti- psychotic drugs. "It's striking, and I'm from New York." E-mail Katherine Seligman at kseligman@sfchronicle.com. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback   Page A - 1 -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Fri May 23 15:27:51 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 08:27:51 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] SF Chronicle: 'Revolving door' for mentally ill predicted Message-ID: 'Revolving door' for mentally ill predicted Budget cuts mean less psychiatric treatment Ilene Lelchuk, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, May 23, 2003 ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/23/MN276545.DTL This week's attack on a visiting psychiatrist by a suspected mentally ill homeless man underscores the problems facing San Francisco, where mental health experts say the pending budget reductions can only mean more sick, homeless people will be wandering the streets. "If people were concerned about homelessness before, they need to be a lot more concerned about homelessness now," said Jonathan Vernick, executive director of Baker Places, which provides residential treatment for the mental ill and drug addicts. Baker Places' Westside Lodge, the city's largest residential mental health facility, faces a $1.9 million cut as San Francisco struggles to close a $347 million budget deficit. The program would lose 20 of 36 beds, and its entire day treatment program serving 80 people would disappear. Many of the patients come from San Francisco General Hospital's acute care unit for people who were a danger to themselves or others. Vernick said that if the hospital can't find them a bed in a residential program -- a real probability because mental health facilities are full now -- the hospital must keep them longer at a greater expense. "And they are going to end up in a shelter or a hotel where they probably can't sustain themselves," Vernick said. "There's a good chance they'll end up back in psychiatric emergency. It's a revolving door." The full extent of San Francisco's budget cuts won't be known until Mayor Willie Brown presents his fiscal 2003-2004 budget plan to the Board of Supervisors on June 1. But as bits and pieces have leaked out over the last few months, social service experts say the picture is bleak. No one knows exactly how many homeless people live in San Francisco, but the official estimate is 8,500 to 15,000 people who are homeless or on the edge of homelessness. An estimated 30 percent are thought to suffer from mental illness, and about half are addicted to drugs or alcohol. In light of this week's attack, Vernick warned against stereotypes that mentally ill people commit more crimes than the general population. He said budget cuts won't mean more "wild and crazy" people will hit the streets but that there will be more people who can't function independently. Health officials are blaming the pending cutbacks partly on decreased tax revenues, especially in San Francisco where tourism has plummeted and dot-coms have gone bust. They also blame rising health care costs and reduced state and federal reimbursement for care. The potential San Francisco budget cut that has generated the most public outrage is the possible closure of the city's only locked psychiatric treatment program, the 147-bed Mental Health Rehabilitation Facility at San Francisco General Hospital. The program might be saved, however, if the city's largest public employees union agrees to accept a 7.5 percent pay cut. The union is voting next week. Meanwhile, the Lee Woodward Counseling Center for women, which treats about 100 women a year for mental illness and addiction, could lose its entire $500, 000 budget. And the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic is bracing for a $2 million cut into its $15 million budget. The effect could be a 25 percent service reduction in jail psychiatric services, the elimination of a 24-hour drop-in center for homeless women and the elimination of a program helping addicted mothers. In neighboring counties, Bay Area county health officials also are moving to shutter clinics and lay off employees to balance their budgets. Sonoma County supervisors have voted to close three mental health clinics. Oakland is considering closing two medical clinics. Santa Clara County could cut more than 200 jobs in its health system. E-mail Ilene Lelchuk at ilelchuk@sfchronicle.com. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback   Page A - 16 -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Fri May 23 22:15:29 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 15:15:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] showers... Message-ID: <20030523221529.90828.qmail@web21412.mail.yahoo.com> I had to laugh when I caught this bit on some newscast about the troops not being able to take baths or showers (Seems though the Kuwaitis have set up a couple of high priced MsD's and Taco Bells... for them, as long as they have cash or script, I asssume) and are using baby wipes just like I learned from some at the Men's Shelter. Great, the troops are living like homeless people. One's thatr get shot at a lot... Talk about stranger in a strange land... anyway, it didn't get into what they do about clean underwear especially in that heat and dust. I'm picturing rashes and sores. Babywipes only get the top not like a good hot shower or a soak in steamy tub! this is supporting the troops???? __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com From jiva20@hotmail.com Sat May 24 16:59:14 2003 From: jiva20@hotmail.com (david cayford) Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 16:59:14 +0000 Subject: [Hpn] showers... Message-ID: What happened to Cheneys' Halliburton Brown and Root Corp.Base in a box deal,,,he was supposed to furnish everything necessary for the operation of any occupying force anywhere in the world,for very big bucks,,sewer,water,food service,garbage collection,even base security included,,I guess they forgot about Showers,,after all,troops don't matter to the moneyed Classes,,an afterthought at best.. kokoro=(heartmind) >From: joe reynolds >To: HPN >Subject: [Hpn] showers... >Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 15:15:29 -0700 (PDT) > > I had to laugh when I caught this bit on some >newscast about the troops not being able to take baths >or showers (Seems though the Kuwaitis have set up a >couple of high priced MsD's and Taco Bells... for >them, as long as they have cash or script, I asssume) >and are using baby wipes just like I learned from some >at the Men's Shelter. Great, the troops are living >like homeless people. > One's thatr get shot at a lot... > Talk about stranger in a strange land... anyway, it >didn't get into what they do about clean underwear >especially in that heat and dust. I'm picturing rashes >and sores. Babywipes only get the top not like a good >hot shower or a soak in steamy tub! > this is supporting the troops???? > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. >http://search.yahoo.com >_______________________________________________ >HPN maillist - HPN@projects.is.asu.edu >http://projects.is.asu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hpn _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail From wtinker@metrocast.net Sun May 25 15:24:44 2003 From: wtinker@metrocast.net (William Tinker) Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 11:24:44 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] Homeless brothers and sisters demonstrate in Tokyo Japan Message-ID: <008c01c322d1$c51ce3e0$aeff05cf@new8bspgmfsgz7> The Japan Times OnlineFriday, May 23, 2003 Homeless people demonstrate in Tokyo By The Associated Press Nearly 200 homeless people staged a demonstration Thursday outside the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, calling on the government to create jobs and help those hardest hit by the country's economic woes. Homeless people chant slogans outside the Labor, Welfare and Health Ministry. Activists, demanding action, claimed that the government has done little to support the needy since the Diet passed a law last year pledging assistance to those living on the street or without jobs. "Concrete policies for the homeless!" chanted the protesters sitting near the entryway to the health ministry. Among the many signs and banners on display, one read "Put us to work!" The nation's homeless ranks reached 25,296 at the end of January, according to the most recent data compiled by the government. This figure -- activists claim that the actual number is at least double -- has risen sharply in recent years, with economic stagnation having provoked postwar record numbers of bankruptcies and unemployment. The jobless rate stood at a near-record high 5.4 percent in March, having hit a postwar high of 5.5 percent last August and again in January. The Diet approved legislation last year that makes the government responsible for providing shelter, medical facilities and job-training for the homeless. But activists claim the new law makes it easier to evict homeless people from parks, riverbanks and other public spaces -- without offering much of an alternative. Kazuaki Kasai, one of the protest organizers, said government housing remains scarce. "There isn't any place where the country's homeless people can go for help or a shower," he said. The government has about 20 shelters and homeless support centers nationwide, providing beds for a total of 2,600 people. There are plans to build more, according to health ministry official Naoki Morita. Kasai accused the government of failing to deliver the services it has promised and of shunning grassroots organizations that have run urban soup kitchens and private shelters for years. On Thursday, 10 people representing homeless groups from around the country met with ministry officials and submitted a list of demands for jobs and improved services. Koji Sato, who lost his construction job more than a decade ago, said he feels too ashamed to go back to his wife and two daughters in Yamagata Prefecture until he finds a job and saves some money. "I don't want them to see me like this," he said. "And I don't want to go home empty-handed." The Japan Times: May 23, 2003 (C) All rights reserved From wtinker@metrocast.net Mon May 26 10:46:21 2003 From: wtinker@metrocast.net (William Tinker) Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 06:46:21 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] CAMPGROUNDS ARE $180.00 A WEEK~OUT-RAGEOUS Message-ID: <009a01c32374$0bad9690$aeff05cf@new8bspgmfsgz7> ***ATTENTION HAVE ANY OF YOU CHECKED OUT*** CAMPGROUNDS FOR HOMELESS HOUSING? I have a homeless couple whom has a small truck camper and wanted a place to park it, and hitch up to electric, and have been calling all day to find a camp ground to park it in. The cheapest campground is $180.00 a week which is out of touch for some one on a SSI check of $554.00 So as of right now they are living in car again until they can find a place to park their camper if any one in Franklin,Northfield,Tilton,Laconia NH area has a place to let them park their small camper? Thanks for any response to this as I will forward any information you might give to this couple. William Charles Tinker New Hampshire Homeless founded / 11-28-99 25 Granite Street Northfield,New Hampshire 03276 USA Advocates,activists for displaced, disabled and human rights. 1-603-286-2492 http://www.newhampshirehomeless.org http://pictures.newhampshirehomeless.org http://www.nationalhomeless.org/state/newhampshire.html NH-ADAPT / NOT DEAD YET From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Mon May 26 22:32:40 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 15:32:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] !!!!!? Message-ID: <20030526223240.47607.qmail@web21413.mail.yahoo.com> --0-2143581736-1053988360=:46837 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I O N P O S T S T O R Y RELATED LINKS » Subscribe to INL Archives Skunk squad armed with fetid fluid 27 May 2003 By BERNIE NAPP AND AAP A skunk-smell repellent is being used on prostitutes, drug addicts and dealers in Los Angeles, to the amazement of the Lower Hutt scientist who invented it. Los Angeles police – nicknamed the Skunk Squad – were using Andrew Rakich's SkunkShot gel to keep squatters and other undesirables out of abandoned buildings in the crime-riddled suburb of Compton after other policing methods had failed, the Los Angeles Times said yesterday. . "It's an application I had never dreamed of," Mr Rakich, a physicist at Industrial Research Limited in Lower Hutt, said yesterday. He had been flooded with e-mails from people in Los Angeles wanting to buy SkunkShot. "I would imagine they would not all be policemen." SkunkShot, a waterproof gel sold in a tube, was developed for use against cats and dogs, Mr Rakich said. After testing on Porirua City Council rubbish bags, it went on sale in New Zealand in 1998 and on the Internet at twice the price in 2001. Mr Rakich said he was selling the product in Europe through distributors and had won a $25,000 registration fight to sell it in Australia. It would cost $200,000 for United States Federal Department of Agriculture registration. Lieutenant Shaun Mathers of Los Angeles police said he ordered SkunkShot over the Internet and tested it in a burnt-out motel in Compton by smearing it on two old sofas. It "was able to do what fences, gates and barbed wire" could not in deterring people from abandoned buildings and road underpasses. However, some squatters were fighting back with cans of air freshener to dampen the odour, Mr Mathers said. "We'd hit 'em with SkunkShot, and they'd come back with Glade." --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-2143581736-1053988360=:46837 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
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Skunk squad armed with fetid fluid

27 May 2003
By BERNIE NAPP AND AAP

A skunk-smell repellent is being used on prostitutes, drug addicts and dealers in Los Angeles, to the amazement of the Lower Hutt scientist who invented it.

Los Angeles police – nicknamed the Skunk Squad – were using Andrew Rakich's SkunkShot gel to keep squatters and other undesirables out of abandoned buildings in the crime-riddled suburb of Compton after other policing methods had failed, the Los Angeles Times said yesterday. .

"It's an application I had never dreamed of," Mr Rakich, a physicist at Industrial Research Limited in Lower Hutt, said yesterday. He had been flooded with e-mails from people in Los Angeles wanting to buy SkunkShot. "I would imagine they would not all be policemen."

SkunkShot, a waterproof gel sold in a tube, was developed for use against cats and dogs, Mr Rakich said. After testing on Porirua City Council rubbish bags, it went on sale in New Zealand in 1998 and on the Internet at twice the price in 2001.

Mr Rakich said he was selling the product in Europe through distributors and had won a $25,000 registration fight to sell it in Australia. It would cost $200,000 for United States Federal Department of Agriculture registration.

Lieutenant Shaun Mathers of Los Angeles police said he ordered SkunkShot over the Internet and tested it in a burnt-out motel in Compton by smearing it on two old sofas. It "was able to do what fences, gates and barbed wire" could not in deterring people from abandoned buildings and road underpasses.

However, some squatters were fighting back with cans of air freshener to dampen the odour, Mr Mathers said. "We'd hit 'em with SkunkShot, and they'd come back with Glade."

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The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-2143581736-1053988360=:46837-- From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Tue May 27 17:11:01 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 10:11:01 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] FYI: Boom Times in NYC's Housing Courts Message-ID: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/27/nyregion/27HOUS.html?th ------------------------------------------------------------------------ New York Times May 27, 2003 Boom Times in the City's Housing Courts By DAVID W. CHEN Since its inception 30 years ago, New York City's housing court has sometimes resembled a chaotic netherworld worthy of Dickens. There some of the city's poorest tenants, or the most litigious, quarrel eternally with their landlords in courtrooms so wretched that even judges have described them as black holes of Calcutta. But the daily combatants are a much more mixed lot these days. On any given day now, one might find Josie Gomez, a former dental-office manager who was making $52,000 a year plus bonuses before the office closed a few months ago. Unable to find a job, Ms. Gomez, a 29-year-old Queens resident, finds herself a couple of months behind in her $865-a-month rent and facing eviction. One might also bump into a former Bloomingdale's executive who once made $175,000 a year. She lost her job two years ago, bled through her retirement savings and ended up in Manhattan's housing court in October because she was three months behind on her $1,580-a-month rent. Eventually, she found a $26,000-a-year job and an apartment that was $500 cheaper. "You definitely see more working- and middle-class people coming through housing court," said Judge Fern A. Fisher, who was first appointed a housing court judge in 1989 and is now administrative judge of the Civil Court, which oversees housing court. "You see more nonpayments, you see more small owners, and you can expect that we all will be under the gun for the next few years." The changing face of housing court, then, is but one more graphic, often terribly sad reflection of the city's stumbling economy. Simple job loss statistics or budget deficit projections can seem antiseptically quantitative, but housing court provides intimate accounts of how individual worlds are becoming unglued, apartment by apartment, month by month. And no one ‹ not judges, tenants, landlords or housing groups ‹ believes that the situation will improve anytime soon. Middle class litigants are a further burden on a system already drowning in actions and petitions, eviction notices and stays. Discouraging signposts for the future abound, as well: thousands of municipal layoffs, the highest rent increases on regulated apartments in 14 years, soaring property taxes, dwindling emergency resources. Moreover, tenants' groups say, because the law now permits apartments with monthly rents of $2,000 to be taken off rent regulation (allowing landlords to charge whatever the market will bear), landlords of rent-regulated apartments have been aggressively trying to get tenants out and make upgrades that would allow them to charge the higher rent. And because the supply of regulated and cheaper housing has evaporated, the number of middle class litigants is proportionally greater than in previous slumps, said Judith Goldiner, a staff lawyer at the Legal Aid Society. Andrew Scherer, executive director of Legal Services of New York City, said, "It's as bad as it's ever been, and it's likely to get worse." The overall number of cases in housing court in the first four months of 2003 was 6 percent higher than in the comparable period last year. While evictions have declined slightly in recent years, the most current data are good only through 2001, or before the full effect of the downturn was felt. Still, last year Legal Services of New York City, which has traditionally assisted the most indigent residents, helped 69 people in five affluent ZIP codes, including the Upper East Side's fabled 10021, that had a total of zero cases in 2000. Those five ZIP codes ‹ all among the top nine in the city ‹ had median household incomes of at least $75,000, or double the citywide figure. Eviction Intervention Services, on the Upper East Side, receives 90 calls a day, overwhelmingly because of lost jobs or economic woes, it says, up from 40 calls two years ago. In addition, while the group has traditionally helped families who make less than $20,000 a year, it has recently helped people who have made up to $180,000 a year, said Karen Ingenthron, the group's executive director. The Bridge Fund of New York City, a nonprofit program that provides financial assistance to low- and moderate-income families in housing court, says it now helps some families who pay more than $1,100 a month in rent; a few years ago, $900 would have been the maximum level. Maria Toledo, the fund's director, says many applicants "typically don't access social services" and are from the airline, restaurant, hotel and investment fields. Ernest J. Cavallo, the supervising housing court judge in Manhattan, says he now sees up to 40 cases a month involving people who are in arrears on rents of more than $2,000 a month. Two years ago, he never saw such cases. "I always look at the addresses, and what I see is that I had just as many East Side and Greenwich Village and Midtown apartments as I had other places," he said. "We are seeing people working on Wall Street who got laid off, people with businesses whose businesses have collapsed." To new litigants, housing court, with its unruly atmosphere of lawyers and tenants negotiating in hallways or yelling into cellphones, can be overwhelming. While about 90 percent of the landlords have lawyers, perhaps only 15 percent of the tenants do, Judge Fisher estimated. The hearings before some of the most overworked judges in the system are usually brief, so litigants often have but a few minutes to recount their emotional slide into debt. Housing court is also more accustomed to handling poor tenants receiving public assistance, not unemployed middle class defendants who are delinquent on rent payments or co-op maintenance fees. "People say, `My rent is $1,100,' " Ms. Ingenthron said. " `I'm not a drug addict. I don't have H.I.V. I'm not an alcoholic. I just don't have a job.' " Because of the stigma associated with housing court, few litigants interviewed in recent visits to Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens housing courts would discuss their stories, but those who did said they wanted to remind people that all New Yorkers are vulnerable to economic changes, regardless of whether their rent is $300 or $3,000. One middle class professional in Manhattan, for instance, said she had operated a publishing business in her two-bedroom, $2,000-a-month apartment on the Upper East Side for 12 years. Two years ago, just before the 9/11 terror attacks, business began to tail off, she said. "It is embarrassing and it is humiliating," said the publisher, whose previous experience with courtrooms had been limited to jury duty. She said she was determined to pay the back rent. "The judges are very nice, and they try to help you get yourself together," she said. "I just better not get SARS or even a mild case of the flu." In Brooklyn, one litigant, Kara Rubinfeld, said she and her boyfriend, an ironworker, found themselves in a bind after she lost her job in a bakery and then gave birth to their son, Thoreau, who is now 13 months. They had been making $65,000 a year, but now find themselves about $5,000 in the red on their $1,200-a-month two-bedroom near Fort Greene. "I've never been in this situation before, and I don't want to be again," she said, adding that their case included concerns about lead paint. No doubt, numerous small landlords, unable to collect from chronically late or troublesome tenants, are reeling, too, because of rising fuel costs, insurance rates, property taxes and other factors, said Frank Ricci, director of government affairs, and Mitch Posilkin, general counsel, of the Rent Stabilization Association. More co-op shareholders have fallen behind their monthly maintenance fees as well. In Queens, the number of people in arrears on maintenance fees has climbed by perhaps 50 percent in five years, said Nicholas Bais, a legal aide to Judge Pam Jackman Brown. The demand for help may be greater than ever, but the resources remain constrained. While the court has largely escaped the budget ax, Judge Fisher said, the workload is greater: civil filings involving insurance cases, student loans and credit card debt are expected to double from only three years ago. The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, a tenants' group, is fighting for its survival because of the budget cuts. Legal Aid and Legal Services, both pressed for funds, must turn away far more people than they can help. Still, there is only so much that an emergency pinch of one or two months' rent can do, if the jobs are not there. Take the story of one female executive, in her mid-50's, who once earned up to $100,000 a year in engineering management. In 2001, she was looking for a job. But after Sept. 11, she was told she had a rare liver disease, and quickly fell behind on her $1,100 Mitchell-Lama apartment on the Upper East Side. She ended up in housing court. "I was surprised, because there were a lot of people who are not welfare beats, but who are professionals," she said. "And I was thinking to myself: `Here I am, going from managing jobs worth millions of dollars to fighting these goons? What am I doing here?' " At the last minute she received help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But that help expired recently, and now the woman, still unemployed, faces eviction again. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Tue May 27 22:44:26 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 15:44:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] so far Message-ID: <20030527224426.14052.qmail@web21409.mail.yahoo.com> --0-748445091-1054075466=:14013 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii - It has been a rough frustrating couple of days over in this corner of Heck. Last couple of days I haven't even gone out job-hunting, not that really had my hopes up so no big loss, I hope! Van is definitely acting like it wants a new alternator which will be the third I have installed in as many years. Must be somwething i'm doing wrong but for the life of me I can't figure. At least I still am sleeping in the unrented office but it is an odd feeling when some prospect comes by and i give them the application and all the contact numbers. Maybe I should start with stuff like "you know it's haunted don't you" or just talk it and the mall down. othewise I'll be soon sleeping in the van again and no electric outlets, no hot water for wshing and no toilet. Lots of things i was going to do with finding about school costs on computer repair have had to wait with all the emergencies the shop owners here have been having. A pain in the rear but when Lang came in and found his shop had been broken into from the roof I can understand him going off the handle a bit. I would have - and worse especially with it taking the cops three hours to show up and giving this "we're not all that intersted" attitude. Not to mrntion the roof coolers failing right and left. I'm no tech but I happen to be the guy they corner. Thankfully just a matter of replacing clogged intake filters but how come the guy getting five an hour handles it? Plus i am definitely on a dwnswing emotionally over it all. Wthat the hell do the rest of you do when all I want to do is throw things and yell "leave me alone" and just plain curse over the "rotten stuff happening to me". Makes it sound like nothing good happens doesn't that last? Actually a lot good has happened, just nothing in a big way and I let myself get blinded to that. What the hell do the rest of you do? I have to tell you that basically everyone else here at HPN seems to sound so normal and well adjusted and capable compared to the stuff I face each morning in my head and out in the world. You all seem to have better coping mechanisms or at least attitudes compared to me. How do you do it? Tell. Closest thing to a legitimate offer on sharing a space was with someone who went on to admit he hasn't used crack since two days back and maybe some coke a couple of times too (he wasn't sure). Yeah, right, like this is a dependable roomie and I'm the Queen of the May! Here in town the city council is pretty sure that the facility for homeless vets is dead and over with; they also talk heavily about supporting the troops. Is jt just me or does anyone else find this an funny? **************************************************************************** Another day in the ninties here in our litle valley, aka: the roasting pan. Well I am about to lose the spot on th floor I have been using. However something better may be opening up for me. Wish me luck, well or whatever I need to get in? Also I am picking up a lot of extra work at the mall. Stuff like switching filters on the airconditioners and giving their radiators a wash down as well as more clean-up rounds also I will be stripping down and cleaning out the suite I have been sleeping in getting it ready for the new renter. Most of which requires me to have lots of contact with people at a time when I find my temper short and I have to practice patience - when what I really want to do is run down the street with a machette screaming obsenities... The more I picture it the sillier that becomes! ********************************************************************* I am hoping that later when I talk to Pat we are able to work out me renting that room from her. I am so tired of living in this manner; the fact that she is one of the people who put me in this predicament is an odd note to it all. Still even if nothing concrete happens it will be nice to sit indoors and talk or watch a movie. The past few days have been frustrating like I wrote but I have a handle on my anger and haven't bitten the heads off people no matter how richly deserved! Besides who needs the nickname of "Hannibal"? As they say, "all clod's children got problems" so who am I to complain. I mean is my situation any worse than Morgan's up in Vermont , say in January or February? Or anyone else's on this list - come to think of it how about all the others not on this list because they don't have access to a bathroom much less online time at two bucks an hour! As any artistr knows, you have to have a bit of perspective on things. (Don't tell me you didn't know that was coming. For one thing it will only encourage me to do worse!) --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-748445091-1054075466=:14013 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii

- It has been a rough frustrating couple of days over in this corner of Heck. Last couple of days I haven't even gone out job-hunting, not that really had my hopes up so no big loss, I hope! Van is definitely acting like it wants a new alternator which will be the third I have installed in as many years. Must be somwething i'm doing wrong but for the life of me I can't figure.

At least I still am sleeping in the unrented office but it is an odd feeling when some prospect comes by and i give them the application and all the contact numbers. Maybe I should start with stuff like "you know it's haunted don't you" or just talk it and the mall down. othewise I'll be soon sleeping in the van again and no electric outlets, no hot water for wshing and no toilet.

Lots of things i was going to do with finding about school costs on computer repair have had to wait with all the emergencies the shop owners here have been having. A pain in the rear but when Lang came in and found his shop had been broken into from the roof I can understand him going off the handle a bit. I would have - and worse especially with it taking the cops three hours to show up and giving this "we're not all that intersted" attitude. Not to mrntion the roof coolers failing right and left. I'm no tech but I happen to be the guy they corner. Thankfully just a matter of replacing clogged intake filters but how come the guy getting five an hour handles it? Plus i am definitely on a dwnswing emotionally over it all.

Wthat the hell do the rest of you do when all I want to do is throw things and yell "leave me alone" and just plain curse over the "rotten stuff happening to me". Makes it sound like nothing good happens doesn't that last? Actually a lot good has happened, just nothing in a big way and I let myself get blinded to that. What the hell do the rest of you do? I have to tell you that basically everyone else here at HPN seems to sound so normal and well adjusted and capable compared to the stuff I face each morning in my head and out in the world. You all seem to have better coping mechanisms or at least attitudes compared to me.

How do you do it?

Tell.

Closest thing to a legitimate offer on sharing a space was with someone who went on to admit he hasn't used crack since two days back and maybe some coke a couple of times too (he wasn't sure). Yeah, right, like this is a dependable roomie and I'm the Queen of the May!

Here in town the city council is pretty sure that the facility for homeless vets is dead and over with; they also talk heavily about supporting the troops. Is jt just me or does anyone else find this an funny?

****************************************************************************

Another day in the ninties here in our litle valley, aka: the roasting pan. Well I am about to lose the spot on th floor I have been using. However something better may be opening up for me. Wish me luck, well or whatever I need to get in? Also I am picking up a lot of extra work at the mall. Stuff like switching filters on the airconditioners and giving their radiators a wash down as well as more clean-up rounds also I will be stripping down and cleaning out the suite I have been sleeping in getting it ready for the new renter.

Most of which requires me to have lots of contact with people at a time when I find my temper short and I have to practice patience - when what I really want to do is run down the street with a machette screaming obsenities...

The more I picture it the sillier that becomes!

*********************************************************************

I am hoping that later when I talk to Pat we are able to work out me renting that room from her. I am so tired of living in this manner; the fact that she is one of the people who put me in this predicament is an odd note to it all. Still even if nothing concrete happens it will be nice to sit indoors and talk or watch a movie.

The past few days have been frustrating like I wrote but I have a handle on my anger and haven't bitten the heads off people no matter how richly deserved! Besides who needs the nickname of "Hannibal"?

As they say, "all clod's children got problems" so who am I to complain. I mean is my situation any worse than Morgan's up in Vermont , say in January or February? Or anyone else's on this list - come to think of it how about all the others not on this list because they don't have access to a bathroom much less online time at two bucks an hour! As any artistr knows, you have to have a bit of perspective on things. (Don't tell me you didn't know that was coming. For one thing it will only encourage me to do worse!)

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --0-748445091-1054075466=:14013-- From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Thu May 29 00:00:49 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 17:00:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] Freedom House Message-ID: <20030529000049.68159.qmail@web21412.mail.yahoo.com> --0-716270377-1054166449=:68141 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Freedom House operating ‘day to day’ By Jim Kneiszel jkneisze@greenbaypressgazette.com Green Bay homeless shelters Freedom House • Address: 308 N. Irwin Ave. • Founded: 1992 • Capacity: Four families, either a single parent with children or married couple with children. • How it works: Stay limited to six weeks, during which residents must look for a job and attend budget and parenting classes. • Donations needed: Financial contributions a priority; also cleaning supplies, food, autos and furniture. • Phone: (920) 432-4646 NEW Community Shelter and Room at the Inn • Address: 401 and 409 N. Broadway • Founded: 1994 • Capacity: 45 men, 20 women, 24 emergency beds for singles. • How it works: Residents stay up to six weeks while they seek employment or save money for an apartment. • Donations needed: Personal-care items (personal hygiene products, laundry detergent, etc.), bedding and towels. • Phone: (920) 437-3766 Golden House • Address: 1120 University Ave. • Founded: 1979 • Capacity: Domestic violence shelter with 40 beds for women and children. Men receive services but are housed in area motels. • How it works: Usual stay is 30 days, but that can be extended depending on circumstances. • Donations needed: Special need for financial donations, but also accepts a variety of household supplies, including towels, sheets, diapers and food. Call for the wish list. • Phone: (920) 435-0100 Ozanam House • Address: 1660 Christiana St. • Founded: 2000 • Capacity: Eight or nine 17- to 21-year-old pregnant or parenting women and their children at House of Hope program. • How it works: House of Hope residents typically stay three to six months while searching for jobs, going to school and taking parenting classes. The program has been run by the Salvation Army, but starting Sunday, St. Vincent de Paul will take over coordination of the House of Hope. Changes to the program could be made at that time. • Donations needed: Volunteers and financial help, as well as laundry soap, cribs, blankets, baby toys, high chairs, dorm refrigerators and other items for children and infants. • Phone: (920) 884-6740 The only remaining shelter serving intact homeless families in Green Bay is on the brink of closing because of flagging donations. Freedom House, 308 N. Irwin Ave., has had difficulty meeting payroll and other expenses and nearly closed Monday after turning several families away over the Memorial Day weekend. Financial contributions are down about 40 percent from the last year, and a June golf tournament that is a major fund-raiser was canceled unexpectedly, according to Tony Harris, Freedom House executive director. “There’s no cushion whatsoever. It’s day to day and we’ll figure out what we should do today to keep the utilities on,’’ Harris said. Several area shelters report that tough economic times are chipping away at the bottom line and making it more difficult to continue. One single mom who credits Freedom House for preserving her family worries what other poor families will do if the shelter closes. “If it wasn’t for Freedom House, I probably wouldn’t even have my kids anymore,’’ said Brigette Thaxton, who wound up at the shelter after she moved to Green Bay from Chicago in February with her four daughters, ages 4 to 13. “Freedom House has the resources to help you kind of make your own little path. They’ve helped me focus on changing my life and bettering life for me and my girls.’’ A last-minute radio plea for donations and staff cutbacks allowed Freedom House to keep its doors open Tuesday, Harris said. But a firmer financial foundation is required to allow the Christian-based shelter to stay open for the long haul. While donations of food and other staples keep coming in, the money has dried up, and Harris blames the sluggish economy. “Brown County is seeing the trickle-down effects of it. It didn’t hit us right away, but it’s hitting us now,’’ he said. Shelter mission director Bobbi Sanders said she gets calls every week from people who want to come to Green Bay on its reputation for good jobs and ready financial assistance. But she said the jobs and rental assistance that people expect are no longer to be found here. “They’re hearing they can come here to get jobs, but that’s really not the case,’’ Sanders said. Harris said he’s going to keep pounding the pavement for donations to run the shelter, which costs about $8,500 per month. Other shelters report hitting the bricks as well to search for more funding through special events and contributions large and small. A recent phonathon to support Golden House — a shelter for women and children from abuse situations — raised considerably less than usual. Corporate and private donations are down as well, according to Kathryn Chapman, the shelter director. She said the Freedom House’s precarious financial situation is bad news for homeless families. “For a mom and children who are homeless, there’s simply no place for them to go in this community,’’ Chapman said. “That seems to be the emerging face of poverty: women and children. Years ago they used to think of the old bum on the railroad track as the poorest.’’ At Golden House, donations usually tail off while demand is on the rise in the summer months. The shelter is holding its own on the budget, but the economy is a source for concern, Chapman said. “Everybody is stretched. Way stretched,’’ said Lou O’Malley, who operated a shelter for families called Crossroads until last year. “As best as I can understand, the jobs are not there. (Companies) are laying off; the newcomers are the last to be hired and the first to be laid off.’’ O’Malley and his wife, Karina, have not found anyone interested in reopening Crossroads. Last week, O’Malley earned his law degree at Marquette University, and the couple intend to return to Green Bay in the fall to open an office to work on behalf of the homeless. “Nationally we got our attention diverted by 9/11 and the aftermath,’’ he said. “So the poor people in need are just not in the limelight. We’d rather not know about them.’’ At the NEW Community Shelter — which serves single men and women — the number of residents is up about 3 percent over 2002, said Kathy McMurray, executive director. The increase was much more dramatic from 2001 to 2002 when the NEW Community Shelter saw a 40 percent increase. Donations have kept up despite the economy, McMurray said. “I would say that the public has been generous, but overall we’re concerned about where that might go in the future,” she said. “We’re really always kind of in an unknowing situation.” The situation isn’t any better for poor people looking for long-term rental assistance when they leave the shelters. Rental assistance through the federal Section 8 program has dried up and now has 1,100 families on a waiting list for aid, according to Tamara Campbell, of Integrated Community Services, the agency that oversees the program. “The unemployment has skyrocketed. The waiting list continues to grow every day,’’ Campbell said. Section 8 gives an average of $400 to $600 in monthly rental assistance to 3,200 low-income families, and the waiting list to sign up is running about nine months, Campbell said. Two years ago, assistance came immediately, and the agency had money left over at the end of the year. As the threat of Freedom House’s closing lingers and people continue to have difficulty finding good jobs here, Thaxton worries that others won’t be as lucky as she was to find the help she needs. “If they can help somebody like me, they can do some work,’’ said Thaxton, now employed part time and living in her own apartment. “In my eyes, Freedom House has reached out and touched a lot of people, and I’d hate to see that go away.’’ --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). --0-716270377-1054166449=:68141 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Freedom House operating ‘day to day’

By Jim Kneiszel
jkneisze@greenbaypressgazette.com

Green Bay homeless shelters

Freedom House

• Address: 308 N. Irwin Ave.

• Founded: 1992

• Capacity: Four families, either a single parent with children or married couple with children.

• How it works: Stay limited to six weeks, during which residents must look for a job and attend budget and parenting classes.

• Donations needed: Financial contributions a priority; also cleaning supplies, food, autos and furniture.

• Phone: (920) 432-4646

NEW Community Shelter and Room at the Inn

• Address: 401 and 409 N. Broadway

• Founded: 1994

• Capacity: 45 men, 20 women, 24 emergency beds for singles.

• How it works: Residents stay up to six weeks while they seek employment or save money for an apartment.

• Donations needed: Personal-care items (personal hygiene products, laundry detergent, etc.), bedding and towels.

• Phone: (920) 437-3766

Golden House

• Address: 1120 University Ave.

• Founded: 1979

• Capacity: Domestic violence shelter with 40 beds for women and children. Men receive services but are housed in area motels.

• How it works: Usual stay is 30 days, but that can be extended depending on circumstances.

• Donations needed: Special need for financial donations, but also accepts a variety of household supplies, including towels, sheets, diapers and food. Call for the wish list.

• Phone: (920) 435-0100

Ozanam House

• Address: 1660 Christiana St.

• Founded: 2000

• Capacity: Eight or nine 17- to 21-year-old pregnant or parenting women and their children at House of Hope program.

• How it works: House of Hope residents typically stay three to six months while searching for jobs, going to school and taking parenting classes. The program has been run by the Salvation Army, but starting Sunday, St. Vincent de Paul will take over coordination of the House of Hope. Changes to the program could be made at that time.

• Donations needed: Volunteers and financial help, as well as laundry soap, cribs, blankets, baby toys, high chairs, dorm refrigerators and other items for children and infants.

• Phone: (920) 884-6740

The only remaining shelter serving intact homeless families in Green Bay is on the brink of closing because of flagging donations.

Freedom House, 308 N. Irwin Ave., has had difficulty meeting payroll and other expenses and nearly closed Monday after turning several families away over the Memorial Day weekend.

Financial contributions are down about 40 percent from the last year, and a June golf tournament that is a major fund-raiser was canceled unexpectedly, according to Tony Harris, Freedom House executive director.

“There’s no cushion whatsoever. It’s day to day and we’ll figure out what we should do today to keep the utilities on,’’ Harris said.

Several area shelters report that tough economic times are chipping away at the bottom line and making it more difficult to continue. One single mom who credits Freedom House for preserving her family worries what other poor families will do if the shelter closes.

“If it wasn’t for Freedom House, I probably wouldn’t even have my kids anymore,’’ said Brigette Thaxton, who wound up at the shelter after she moved to Green Bay from Chicago in February with her four daughters, ages 4 to 13. “Freedom House has the resources to help you kind of make your own little path. They’ve helped me focus on changing my life and bettering life for me and my girls.’’

A last-minute radio plea for donations and staff cutbacks allowed Freedom House to keep its doors open Tuesday, Harris said. But a firmer financial foundation is required to allow the Christian-based shelter to stay open for the long haul.

While donations of food and other staples keep coming in, the money has dried up, and Harris blames the sluggish economy.

“Brown County is seeing the trickle-down effects of it. It didn’t hit us right away, but it’s hitting us now,’’ he said.

Shelter mission director Bobbi Sanders said she gets calls every week from people who want to come to Green Bay on its reputation for good jobs and ready financial assistance. But she said the jobs and rental assistance that people expect are no longer to be found here.

“They’re hearing they can come here to get jobs, but that’s really not the case,’’ Sanders said.

Harris said he’s going to keep pounding the pavement for donations to run the shelter, which costs about $8,500 per month. Other shelters report hitting the bricks as well to search for more funding through special events and contributions large and small.

A recent phonathon to support Golden House — a shelter for women and children from abuse situations — raised considerably less than usual. Corporate and private donations are down as well, according to Kathryn Chapman, the shelter director. She said the Freedom House’s precarious financial situation is bad news for homeless families.

“For a mom and children who are homeless, there’s simply no place for them to go in this community,’’ Chapman said. “That seems to be the emerging face of poverty: women and children. Years ago they used to think of the old bum on the railroad track as the poorest.’’

At Golden House, donations usually tail off while demand is on the rise in the summer months. The shelter is holding its own on the budget, but the economy is a source for concern, Chapman said.

“Everybody is stretched. Way stretched,’’ said Lou O’Malley, who operated a shelter for families called Crossroads until last year. “As best as I can understand, the jobs are not there. (Companies) are laying off; the newcomers are the last to be hired and the first to be laid off.’’

O’Malley and his wife, Karina, have not found anyone interested in reopening Crossroads. Last week, O’Malley earned his law degree at Marquette University, and the couple intend to return to Green Bay in the fall to open an office to work on behalf of the homeless.

“Nationally we got our attention diverted by 9/11 and the aftermath,’’ he said. “So the poor people in need are just not in the limelight. We’d rather not know about them.’’

At the NEW Community Shelter — which serves single men and women — the number of residents is up about 3 percent over 2002, said Kathy McMurray, executive director. The increase was much more dramatic from 2001 to 2002 when the NEW Community Shelter saw a 40 percent increase.

Donations have kept up despite the economy, McMurray said.

“I would say that the public has been generous, but overall we’re concerned about where that might go in the future,” she said. “We’re really always kind of in an unknowing situation.”

The situation isn’t any better for poor people looking for long-term rental assistance when they leave the shelters. Rental assistance through the federal Section 8 program has dried up and now has 1,100 families on a waiting list for aid, according to Tamara Campbell, of Integrated Community Services, the agency that oversees the program.

“The unemployment has skyrocketed. The waiting list continues to grow every day,’’ Campbell said.

Section 8 gives an average of $400 to $600 in monthly rental assistance to 3,200 low-income families, and the waiting list to sign up is running about nine months, Campbell said. Two years ago, assistance came immediately, and the agency had money left over at the end of the year.

As the threat of Freedom House’s closing lingers and people continue to have difficulty finding good jobs here, Thaxton worries that others won’t be as lucky as she was to find the help she needs.

“If they can help somebody like me, they can do some work,’’ said Thaxton, now employed part time and living in her own apartment. “In my eyes, Freedom House has reached out and touched a lot of people, and I’d hate to see that go away.’’

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Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). --0-716270377-1054166449=:68141-- From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Thu May 29 00:12:25 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 17:12:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] This is "bringing democracy" to a people? Message-ID: <20030529001225.10662.qmail@web21411.mail.yahoo.com> --0-1509786971-1054167145=:10630 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii U.S. To Evict Homeless Iraqis From Public Buildings Iraqi families have no where to go if Americans force them out of public buildings BAGHDAD, May 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S.-led occupation forces decided to evict Iraqis, driven homeless by the Anglo-American bombardment of their country, including residential areas, from public buildings they have been taking shelter in. "Coalition forces want to take back and rebuild all public buildings," the occupation authority announced via an Arabic-language radio broadcast, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). Homeless and jobless Iraqis, who have taken over the abandoned governmental buildings following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, stand helpless before the U.S. orders and do not know where to go. Asked about the American decision to boot them from public buildings, Gharib Hassan answered "I am defenseless and so I will leave if they force me. But what would they do in this place? There's only nightmares and ghosts. "I have 10 children, and since I've been married I've never been able to offer a roof over the heads of my family," he lamented. In the wake of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, homeless Iraqi families annexed Iraqi government buildings, including prisons and military camps, and reshaped them into residential areas after the U.S.-led air strikes had razed their houses to the ground. Al-Rasheed military camp is now rife with signs reading: “family apartment” and “please, do not disturb.” Mortada al-Rabei and his family told IslamOnline.net correspondent they had to reside in the onetime camp because they could not afford renting a flat in Baghdad as prices skyrocketed after the end of the U.S.-led war on Iraq. “Getting a job under such hard times is a far-fetched dream…We cannot afford flat rentals, so we have settled here until life is back to normal in Iraq,” Rabei said. Abu Gharb military camp has completely changed into a residential area with “family apartment” emblazoned on every door. Likewise, children were playing football in the lawn of Baghdad University Agriculture College’s Ibn Rushd chemical laboratory, while their families appeared to take fixed abode in the lab’s premises. “There are some 27 families residing here…we have not anyplace to go,” some children told IOL. “The U.S.-led air strikes left many Iraqi families homeless,” said 14-year-old Abdul Latif. ‘We Will Move’ "We made the decision to leave this headquarters before the Americans asked us to leave," Chalabi said The new American decision will not only affect homeless Iraqis but also the fledgling parties in the war-ravaged country. Outlawed during Saddam's 24-year reign, political groupings have flourished and they have been looking for headquarters. Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim's Iran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) has taken over the defense ministry. The Communist Workers Party uses a bank in central Baghdad as its base. "The owner of the building thanked us for our presence because it stopped all the destruction and the Americans also sanctioned it. If they change their minds, we'll move," said party member Sabah Hussein. Even the strongest parties have taken over the best spots: the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC) of Ahmed Chalabi is installed in the summer quarters of the Hunting Club with several branches around town, including at the former passports department. Chalabi too said that the Hunting Club's owners had been grateful for the protection from looting which his party's presence had provided. "We made the decision to leave this headquarters before the Americans asked us to leave and in fact they didn't ask," the INC leader told a news conference Tuesday. He said the club, which used to be a favorite haunt of Saddam's elder son Uday, had formed an interim committee which had been purged of Baathists. "In the coming days we are going to hand the club back to this committee," said Chalabi. The "National Iraqi Gathering" of Hassan al-Jabari has moved into parliament. While the Iraqi parliament's main hall was destroyed in the looting that followed Saddam's ouster under the watchful eyes of the Anglo-American forces, masons are busy building a house in the garden. "They came a month ago and decided to develop the place. I hope they'll find me a job," said Abbas Abed, squatting on the premises with 22 family members. "On April 10, the day after coalition troops arrived in Baghdad, I drove by the parliament. The U.S. army was about to leave the place, so I proposed that I keep watch over it. They agreed and I've lived here since then," Abed said. The "New National Iraqi Progressive Party" has taken over a fine dwelling that used to house the "Peace, Friendship and Solidarity Association," a haven for all pro-Baath organizations worldwide. The "Iraqi Women's Union" has set itself up in the former conscription center, while the "Movement for Islamic Accord" has taken over the court house of the upmarket Mansur district and the "Islamic Organization for Workers" the national ballet school. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani can be found in the vast engineering building at one of Saddam's former palaces. Its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani, opted for the headquarters of the Republican Guard. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). --0-1509786971-1054167145=:10630 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii

U.S. To Evict Homeless Iraqis From Public Buildings

Iraqi families have no where to go if Americans force them out of public buildings

BAGHDAD, May 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S.-led occupation forces decided to evict Iraqis, driven homeless by the Anglo-American bombardment of their country, including residential areas, from public buildings they have been taking shelter in.

"Coalition forces want to take back and rebuild all public buildings," the occupation authority announced via an Arabic-language radio broadcast, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Homeless and jobless Iraqis, who have taken over the abandoned governmental buildings following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, stand helpless before the U.S. orders and do not know where to go.

Asked about the American decision to boot them from public buildings, Gharib Hassan answered "I am defenseless and so I will leave if they force me. But what would they do in this place? There's only nightmares and ghosts.

"I have 10 children, and since I've been married I've never been able to offer a roof over the heads of my family," he lamented.

In the wake of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, homeless Iraqi families annexed Iraqi government buildings, including prisons and military camps, and reshaped them into residential areas after the U.S.-led air strikes had razed their houses to the ground.

Al-Rasheed military camp is now rife with signs reading: “family apartment” and “please, do not disturb.”

Mortada al-Rabei and his family told IslamOnline.net correspondent they had to reside in the onetime camp because they could not afford renting a flat in Baghdad as prices skyrocketed after the end of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

“Getting a job under such hard times is a far-fetched dream…We cannot afford flat rentals, so we have settled here until life is back to normal in Iraq,” Rabei said.

Abu Gharb military camp has completely changed into a residential area with “family apartment” emblazoned on every door.

Likewise, children were playing football in the lawn of Baghdad University Agriculture College’s Ibn Rushd chemical laboratory, while their families appeared to take fixed abode in the lab’s premises.

“There are some 27 families residing here…we have not anyplace to go,” some children told IOL.

“The U.S.-led air strikes left many Iraqi families homeless,” said 14-year-old Abdul Latif.

‘We Will Move’

"We made the decision to leave this headquarters before the Americans asked us to leave," Chalabi said

The new American decision will not only affect homeless Iraqis but also the fledgling parties in the war-ravaged country.

Outlawed during Saddam's 24-year reign, political groupings have flourished and they have been looking for headquarters.

Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim's Iran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) has taken over the defense ministry.

The Communist Workers Party uses a bank in central Baghdad as its base.

"The owner of the building thanked us for our presence because it stopped all the destruction and the Americans also sanctioned it. If they change their minds, we'll move," said party member Sabah Hussein.

Even the strongest parties have taken over the best spots: the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC) of Ahmed Chalabi is installed in the summer quarters of the Hunting Club with several branches around town, including at the former passports department.

Chalabi too said that the Hunting Club's owners had been grateful for the protection from looting which his party's presence had provided.

"We made the decision to leave this headquarters before the Americans asked us to leave and in fact they didn't ask," the INC leader told a news conference Tuesday.

He said the club, which used to be a favorite haunt of Saddam's elder son Uday, had formed an interim committee which had been purged of Baathists.

"In the coming days we are going to hand the club back to this committee," said Chalabi.

The "National Iraqi Gathering" of Hassan al-Jabari has moved into parliament.

While the Iraqi parliament's main hall was destroyed in the looting that followed Saddam's ouster under the watchful eyes of the Anglo-American forces, masons are busy building a house in the garden.

"They came a month ago and decided to develop the place. I hope they'll find me a job," said Abbas Abed, squatting on the premises with 22 family members.

"On April 10, the day after coalition troops arrived in Baghdad, I drove by the parliament. The U.S. army was about to leave the place, so I proposed that I keep watch over it. They agreed and I've lived here since then," Abed said.

The "New National Iraqi Progressive Party" has taken over a fine dwelling that used to house the "Peace, Friendship and Solidarity Association," a haven for all pro-Baath organizations worldwide.

The "Iraqi Women's Union" has set itself up in the former conscription center, while the "Movement for Islamic Accord" has taken over the court house of the upmarket Mansur district and the "Islamic Organization for Workers" the national ballet school.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani can be found in the vast engineering building at one of Saddam's former palaces.

Its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani, opted for the headquarters of the Republican Guard.

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Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). --0-1509786971-1054167145=:10630-- From hic_mail@yahoogroups.com Mon May 26 09:07:35 2003 From: hic_mail@yahoogroups.com (hic_mail@yahoogroups.com) Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 11:07:35 +0200 Subject: [Hpn] [hic_mail] Mini village of without voice/sans voix in the counter G8 in Annemasse Message-ID: <002001c32366$6937b240$3ac807c4@new.co.za> Mini village des sans voix au contre G8 d'Anemasse No-vox, réseau de mouvements de lutte des sans voix (chômeurs, précaires, sans logis et mal-logés, immigrés, sans papier, handicapés, minorité opprimées ...) organise, avec les CCIPPP (campagnes civiles intern. de protection du Peuple Palestinien) et le réseau Résistance Citoyenne (habitants des quartiers populaires des banlieues) un mini village au contre G8 d'Anemasse. Il sera situé entre les deux villages principaux, car nous avons des amis de part et d'autres et souyhaitons y participer sans exclusive. Des débats seront organisés aussi sur place tout au long de ces journées, et SAMEDI 31 mai, à l'auditorium · à 10h : solidarités avec le peuple palestinien, · à 14h : guerre mondiale contre les pauvres · à 17h: AG des sans voix pour organiser les campagnes. A vous voire bientôt. Réseau No-Vox --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mini village of without voice in the counter G8 in Annemasse No Vox, net of grassroots and struggle organisations of "without voice" people (unemployed, ill-housed and homeless, migrants, sans papiers, disabled, oppressed minorities...) organises, with CCIPPP (campagnes civiles internationales de protection du peuple palestinien) and the net Resistances citoyennes (inhabitants of popular suburban areas ) a mini village in the counter G8 in Annemasse. The "without voice" area will be inbetwenn the two villages, because we have many friends in both of the villages, and want to participate to both without exclusive. Debates will be organised there during those days in the No Vox area, and on SATURDAY may the 31st , in the auditorium - MJC Sud Raphael: · 10 am : solidarities with palestinian people · 2 pm : world war against the Poor · 5 pm : general assembly of the "without voice" people to organise our campaigns Hoping to see you soon! No Vox Network ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get A Free Psychic Reading! Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Lj3uPC/Me7FAA/CNxFAA/KlSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: hic_mail-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From jos_reyn@yahoo.com Wed May 28 23:28:04 2003 From: jos_reyn@yahoo.com (joe reynolds) Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 16:28:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Hpn] &-) Message-ID: <20030528232804.13873.qmail@web21401.mail.yahoo.com> --0-2003201520-1054164484=:13778 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ''We Love The Police State'' : Mock Pro-War Rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Posted on Tuesday, May 27 @ 19:05:22 EDT by JohnBrown Submitted by lisa United For Peace [US] April 18th, 2003 With the anti-war movement in Milwaukee lacking a significant and consistent showing, when the Milwaukee police department tickets motorists who drive by anti-war rallys and honk in support of the protesters, in a time when the war is televised like a sporting event, a small group of Milwaukee artists, musicians, and outcasts decided to stage a mock pro-war rally to subvert the right! The street theater action was committed on April 4th in near blizzard conditions when 20 "fanatical pro-war" supporters occupied the opposite side of the downtown street to rally in support of the war and oppose of the peace activists who gather every Friday for the weekly peace vigils. The 20 "pro-war" supporters dressed in suits, waved American Flags, chanted slogans in fierce support of war, death, and killing. Rush hour traffic drove by and honked in approval to the flags and signs that read: "Freedom Is The Enemy", "Bomb My Car", "Get A Brain Morans", "Iraq Out Of Iraq", "Draft My Child", "Send Our Infants", "Soccer Moms For Blood", "I Want More Meat", "War Is Peace", "I'm Pro-Life And Pro-Death", "Stop Reporting The Facts", "Peace Is For The Afterlife", "Bush Is The Savior", "This Is No Time For Thinking", "Pro-Bush Lesbian", and "Ask Me About My Baby Killing Honor Student" among other slogans. Before the event the local media were called and told about the "Clear Channel" sponsored pro-war rally. The reporters failed to get an interview from the pro-war fanatics because every time they approached the demonstrators they chanted "Boycott The Liberal Media!". The riot cops were very confused by the heartfelt chants of "We Love The Police State!". And the anti-war protesters were perplexed by the "All We Are Saying Is Give Death A Chance" chorus. A few on-lookers with their jaws dropped may indeed never visit Milwaukee again, but all told the "Pro-War" reaction was a smashing success that demonstrates the kind of gung-ho patriotism that would make George W. proud. http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=1590 --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). --0-2003201520-1054164484=:13778 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
''We Love The Police State'' : Mock Pro-War Rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Posted on Tuesday, May 27 @ 19:05:22 EDT by JohnBrown
Submitted by lisa

Resistance United For Peace [US]
April 18th, 2003

With the anti-war movement in Milwaukee lacking a significant and consistent showing, when the Milwaukee police department tickets motorists who drive by anti-war rallys and honk in support of the protesters, in a time when the war is televised like a sporting event, a small group of Milwaukee artists, musicians, and outcasts decided to stage a mock pro-war rally to subvert the right!

The street theater action was committed on April 4th in near blizzard conditions when 20 "fanatical pro-war" supporters occupied the opposite side of the downtown street to rally in support of the war and oppose of the peace activists who gather every Friday for the weekly peace vigils.

The 20 "pro-war" supporters dressed in suits, waved American Flags, chanted slogans in fierce support of war, death, and killing. Rush hour traffic drove by and honked in approval to the flags and signs that read: "Freedom Is The Enemy", "Bomb My Car", "Get A Brain Morans", "Iraq Out Of Iraq", "Draft My Child", "Send Our Infants", "Soccer Moms For Blood", "I Want More Meat", "War Is Peace", "I'm Pro-Life And Pro-Death", "Stop Reporting The Facts", "Peace Is For The Afterlife", "Bush Is The Savior", "This Is No Time For Thinking", "Pro-Bush Lesbian", and "Ask Me About My Baby Killing Honor Student" among other slogans.

Before the event the local media were called and told about the "Clear Channel" sponsored pro-war rally. The reporters failed to get an interview from the pro-war fanatics because every time they approached the demonstrators they chanted "Boycott The Liberal Media!". The riot cops were very confused by the heartfelt chants of "We Love The Police State!".

And the anti-war protesters were perplexed by the "All We Are Saying Is Give Death A Chance" chorus.

A few on-lookers with their jaws dropped may indeed never visit Milwaukee again, but all told the "Pro-War" reaction was a smashing success that demonstrates the kind of gung-ho patriotism that would make George W. proud.

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=1590

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Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). --0-2003201520-1054164484=:13778-- From HC Covington Fri May 23 03:26:08 2003 From: HC Covington (HC Covington) Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 23:26:08 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] NYC, NY - City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003 References: <020b01c31de3$9eb43de0$2a229b44@icanamerica> <3ECA7697.000001.01724@your-1rnfg39627.ao.lop.com> Message-ID: <030a01c320db$1f7083e0$e6269b44@icanamerica> This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_uEgl+q6TdI+Hu72HTmfjyA) Content-type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Boundary_(ID_myTmUyLPvch1V9MARALEDw)" --Boundary_(ID_myTmUyLPvch1V9MARALEDw) Content-type: text/plain; charset=x-user-defined Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT Editors Comments to "Dear Judy:" Thanks for your note. Question: Does the city of New York think they are fooling anyone? ------- Actually, NO they do not. They know what they want to do, have a detailed agenda, and are going about destroying several homeless and housing programs that have worked well to help "those called homeless." The type of housing discussed in the previous article is actually one of the better scattered site housing program types in the country - perhaps there are some issues with some of the individual units in NYC, but the entire program appears to be closing, thereby hurting ALL participants not just the few offending parties. ______________________________ Question: This is just another instance where a governmental entity is cutting back on or targeting programs that benefit the homeless. ------- You are correct and well informed. This is what the City does NOT expect, a group of homeless or formerly homeless folks that understand what is being done to our Brothers and Sisters on the streets and in the housing of the City. By spreading and sharing the word and working together, we limit the ability of the Cities to continue to lie, steal, kill and destroy the lives of the homeless. Please continue to share your knowledge and your passion by writing to the News Papers and TV Stations that write the articles in the Homeless News Digest or are posted to the HPN server so they will receive hundreds of positive suggestion letters about what works and what CAN be done to End Homelessness for "Just one more...." so they will have reasons to expand the news coverage on the "War on the Poor in America." ( please not just complaining and only negative letters ) To continue to lose the war on the Homeless, all we have to do is say and do § NOTHING § more than we have been doing, BUT if we want to win at least a few battles, we must share real stories about real people in a logical but compelling manner that are focused on "Urban Campers and Nomads" not in Iraq, but here in the towns and cities of the United States. AND many more of us must begin to share our voices effectively not just among ourselves (singing to the choir), but in the places and faces of power that can change things. "Be well, continue to do good work, and keep in touch!" Sonny H. C. [Sonny] Covington Homeless and Housing Specialist Voice support 1-800-678-5774 editor@icanamerica.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ © The Homeless News http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ © GrantSource* Funding Alerts http://egroups.com/group/GrantSource/ © HUD Continuum of Care Forum http://egroups.com/group/HUD-CofC/ _______________________________ Remember, to be truly helpful to those called Homeless, we must make hope and housing possible, rather than despair convincing for "Just One More..............." ----- Original Message ----- From: Judi Sampson To: hccjr@bellsouth.net Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 2:40 PM Subject: Re: [Hpn] NYC, NY - City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003 Does the city of New York think they are fooling anyone? I lived in motels with my three children for years and though some of them were in "poor condition" it sure beats living on the streets. This is just another instance where a governmental entity is cutting back on or targeting programs that benefit the homeless. -------Original Message------- From: editor Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 9:00:33 AM To: The Homeless News Subject: [Hpn] NYC, NY - City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003 .. City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless ________________________________________________________________ By Staff Writers - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003 NEW YORK (AP) _ The city will begin to scale back its scattered site apartment housing program for homeless families this month, Homeless Services Commissioner Linda Gibbs said. Critics of the program have said that the program, which started as a temporary measure during the Giuliani administration, pays landlords as much as $96 a night for apartments that are often in poor condition. About 2,000 apartments are presently being used to help give shelter to the city's homeless families. Gibbs was expected to outline the beginning of the phase-out plan during a budget hearing in the City Council on Monday. Gibbs said the agency had intended to reduce the number of apartments. "It seems if we didn't just start doing it, it would never happen," Gibbs said in Monday editions of the Daily News. The Homeless Services Department rated the apartments based on overall quality, building violation status and performance of social service organizations that work with the homeless. Landlords with the lowest-ranked apartments are being targeted first. The department wants to remove about 20 apartments each month. Copyright © Newsday, Inc. ________________________________________________________________ source page: http://tinyurl.com/c3h0 H. C. Covington § THE HOMELESS NEWS § http://egroups.com/group/HomelessNews/ _______________________________________________ HPN maillist - HPN@projects.is.asu.edu http://projects.is.asu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hpn . ____________________________________________________ IncrediMail - Email has finally evolved - Click Here --Boundary_(ID_myTmUyLPvch1V9MARALEDw) Content-type: text/html; charset=x-user-defined Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
 
Editors=20 Comments to "Dear Judy:"
 
Thanks for=20 your note.
 
Question: Does the city of New York think they are fooling anyone? =
-------
Actually,=20 NO they do not.  They know what they want to do, have a detailed = agenda,=20 and are going about destroying several homeless and housing programs = that have=20 worked well to help "those called homeless." 
 
The type of=20 housing discussed in the previous article is actually one of = the better=20 scattered site housing program types in the country - perhaps there are = some=20 issues with some of the individual units in NYC, but the entire program = appears=20 to be closing, thereby hurting ALL participants not just the few = offending=20 parties.   
______________________________
 
Question: This is just another instance where a governmental entity = is=20 cutting back on or targeting programs that benefit the homeless.
-------
You are=20 correct and well informed.  This is what the City does NOT = expect, a=20 group of homeless or formerly homeless folks that understand what is = being done=20 to our Brothers and Sisters on the streets and in the housing of the = City. =20 By spreading and sharing the word and working together, we limit = the=20 ability of the Cities to continue to lie, steal, kill and destroy the = lives of=20 the homeless.
 
Please=20 continue to share your knowledge and your passion by writing to the News = Papers=20 and TV Stations that write the articles in the Homeless News Digest or = are=20 posted to the HPN server so they will receive hundreds of positive = suggestion=20 letters about what works and what CAN be done to End = Homelessness for=20 "Just one more...." so they will have reasons to expand the news = coverage=20 on the "War on the Poor in America."  ( please not just complaining = and=20 only negative letters )
 
To continue=20 to lose the war on the Homeless, all we have to do is say and = do =A7 NOTHING =A7 more than we = have been doing,=20 BUT if we want to win at least a few battles, we must share = real stories=20 about real people in a logical but compelling manner that are focused=20 on "Urban Campers and Nomads" not in Iraq, but here in the towns = and cities=20 of the United States. AND many more of us must begin to share our voices = effectively not just among ourselves (singing to the choir), but in = the=20 places and faces of power that can change things.  =
 
"Be well, = continue to do=20 good
 work, = and keep in=20 touch!"
 
Sonny
 
H. C. [Sonny]=20 Covington
Homeless and Housing Specialist
Voice support=20 1-800-678-5774
editor@icanamerica.org
~~~~= ~~~~~~~~~
=A9=20 The Homeless News
http://egroups.com/group/= HomelessNews/=20
 
=A9 GrantSource* Funding Alerts 
http://egroups.com/group/G= rantSource/
 
=A9=20 HUD Continuum of Care Forum
http://egroups.com/group/HUD-= CofC/
_______________________________
 
Remember, to be=20 truly helpful to
those called Homeless, we must
make hope and = housing=20 possible,
rather than despair convincing for
"Just One=20 More..............."
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Judi = Sampson=20
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 2:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Hpn] NYC, NY - City agency to scale back = apartment=20 program for homeless - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003

 
 Does the city of New York think they are fooling = anyone? I=20 lived in motels with my three children for years and though some = of them=20 were in "poor condition" it sure beats living on the streets. This = is just=20 another instance where a governmental entity is cutting back on or = targeting programs that benefit the homeless.
-------Original = Message-------
 
From: editor
Date: = Tuesday, May 20,=20 2003 9:00:33 AM
To: The Homeless = News
Subject: = [Hpn] NYC, NY=20 - City agency to scale back apartment program for homeless - New = York=20 NewsDay - May 19, 2003
 
..
City agency to scale back apartment program for = homeless
 
=
________________________________________________________________
By Staff Writers - New York NewsDay - May 19, 2003
 
NEW YORK (AP) _ The city will begin to scale back its = scattered
site apartment housing program for homeless families this=20 month,
Homeless Services Commissioner Linda Gibbs said.
 
Critics of the program have said that the program, which=20 started
as a temporary measure during the Giuliani administration, = pays
landlords as much as $96 a night for apartments that are = often=20 in
poor condition.
 
About 2,000 apartments are presently being used to help = give
shelter to the city's homeless families.
 
Gibbs was expected to outline the beginning of the phase-out=20 plan
during a budget hearing in the City Council on Monday.
 
Gibbs said the agency had intended to reduce the number = of
apartments.
 
"It seems if we didn't just start doing it, it would = never
happen," Gibbs said in Monday editions of the Daily = News.
 
The Homeless Services Department rated the apartments based = on
overall quality, building violation status and performance = of
social service organizations that work with the = homeless.
 
Landlords with the lowest-ranked apartments are being = targeted
first.
 
The department wants to remove about 20 apartments each = month.
 
Copyright =A9 Newsday, Inc.
=
________________________________________________________________
source page: http://tinyurl.com/c3h0
 
H. C. Covington =A7 THE HOMELESS NEWS =A7
http://egroups.com/group/= HomelessNews/
 
_______________________________________________
HPN maillist - HPN@projects.is.asu.edu
=
http://projects.= is.asu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hpn
.
____________________________________________________
  IncrediMail - Email has finally = evolved -=20 Click=20 Here --Boundary_(ID_myTmUyLPvch1V9MARALEDw)-- --Boundary_(ID_uEgl+q6TdI+Hu72HTmfjyA) Content-id: <02f901c320db$0d2bb240$e6269b44@icanamerica> Content-type: image/gif; name=IMSTP.gif Content-transfer-encoding: BASE64 Content-disposition: attachment; filename=IMSTP.gif R0lGODlhFAAPALMIAP9gAM9gAM8vAM9gL/+QL5AvAGAvAP9gL////wAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH/C05FVFNDQVBFMi4wAwEAAAAh+QQJFAAIACwAAAAAFAAP AAAEVRDJSaudJuudrxlEKI6BURlCUYyjKpgYAKSgOBSCDEuGDKgrAtC3Q/R+hkPJ EDgYCjpKr5A8WK9OaPFZwHoPqm3366VKyeRtE30tVVRscMHDqV/u+AgAIfkEBWQA CAAsAAAAABQADwAABBIQyUmrvTjrzbv/YCiOZGmeaAQAIfkECRQACAAsAgABABAA DQAABEoQIUOrpXIOwrsPxiQUheeRAgUA49YNhbCqK1kS9grQhXGAhsDBUJgZAL2D cqkk7ogFpvRAokSn0p4PO6UIuUsQggSmFjKXdAgRAQAh+QQFCgAIACwAAAAAFAAP AAAEEhDJSau9OOvNu/9gKI5kaZ5oBAAh+QQJFAAIACwCAAEAEAANAAAEShAhQ6ul cg7Cuw/GJBSF55ECBQDj1g2FsKorWRL2CtCFcYCGwMFQmBkAvYNyqSTuiAWm9ECi RKfSng87pQi5SxCCBKYWMpd0CBEBACH5BAVkAAgALAAAAAAUAA8AAAQSEMlJq704 6827/2AojmRpnmgEADs= --Boundary_(ID_uEgl+q6TdI+Hu72HTmfjyA) Content-id: <02fa01c320db$0d2bb240$e6269b44@icanamerica> Content-type: Image/jpeg; name=BackGrnd.jpg Content-transfer-encoding: BASE64 Content-disposition: attachment; filename=BackGrnd.jpg /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgAAZABkAAD/7AARRHVja3kAAQAEAAAAHgAA/+4AIUFkb2Jl AGTAAAAAAQMAEAMCAwYAAAHbAAAC1gAABZX/2wCEABALCwsMCxAMDBAXDw0PFxsU EBAUGx8XFxcXFx8eFxoaGhoXHh4jJSclIx4vLzMzLy9AQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEAB EQ8PERMRFRISFRQRFBEUGhQWFhQaJhoaHBoaJjAjHh4eHiMwKy4nJycuKzU1MDA1 NUBAP0BAQEBAQEBAQEBAQP/CABEIAGUAcwMBIgACEQEDEQH/xACAAAEBAQEAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAQIGAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARABAAICAwEAAgMAAAAAAAAA AQARIQIxQRIiQDIQMFARAAICAgIBBAIDAQEAAAAAAAERACExQVFhcYGRobECEsHh MtHxEgEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQ/9oADAMBAAIRAxEAAADtRZYE1ASghQFgUZoC kKSwLmhcllAEqkSkqFAlhUomoAS3IoJqFlDNpFEAQFE1AIVYAWIVKAJRNZpYCwVm mshKACA0CBAUCBYGwf/aAAgBAgABBQD8B/yP/9oACAEDAAEFAPz6/or8H//aAAgB AQABBQC2+ZeHjbD+saX6hwXeDW1Rg4xLLTa+m7ZiIEsI1MTiHP1dYpvFADiFM1/X 6nq9byuwdPPz5oFofWlEMQ9ULKrWq2ppG9Y2J6INQma9lVTRdlUKgHzXXSEECw1S Yu5WsGoJPkisZYpx31GvXZQ/JM3VwShzVTsp1EZbBI8LcaUSih86+s2Zl4Wp6+lA ZnVsDkjdku5m+lJTdXDG2SHM9M2wKX1YxsaZTTwmoVrYnqsMrM652yjs01K0mtbG Az6Y5dpfqNz06qpq5QNjiIjiZtbhtceNuf0jyeqGgu6rXMvI4omPWbPMYzEfMI+a xHnFvOP4/9oACAECAgY/AGP/2gAIAQMCBj8AY//aAAgBAQEGPwB72Yucb1BfIhFE aeZ+xRXFQELN+HEUQdjU0Xn4g9gRCQcpw1yajGYsP/kFvUzvjUBWrIMFHI2OJQNE AjiEEFdTmfG/MTHq5RFOnpTV3kzCBx7x4YOD1AV5uYJvnqMA0hepjfwpYCwC4Bx3 q55zeZRBCw9TkoIuHw78RdczSNH2mgqcLpRC+RASAkA3B13mcYd5mR84c/yOx4lW tRAZ6mGDhiP9WgXVyhWA+xDgMOWGMsTg/wBTz8SjjXrP8hHIlX1MZ6mDzgc/cIV/ iyN1GBR0MQMKjnEzvvMz8mUkErKlfqU63iV+IKNH7mNZBLFQEpEDeDOV32IVn8WR 4caoywqI2p695mbZzNUQIcKfk0bo+0NpCqn7CiQiNGXkdQen1DpjGeZ7WNw3pK+I 93maCPc16+Zkf6XxMCsFwAkaiIB57vc/IAhZ/HqZBBbB0ZokAEOGxsYqBgPp8agQ Bu4VSMJdqx6SwDsGBrTmAR93uZGX6KePowEADAIjoX8gw459CICaW/MLGvodQfkD W71zBxRHtB3j3jC4PMIYoAgKNfPMCQNN7jCzvlzXPopzhQvNZY3CRya9ZrEFfRE0 iCB5mscZuVYfKmAi94uE3Q8qfytQ7xD0svmFcmaxNPI8iMjh3pmF2HbzqeUi+Yki D/MrOl5LmbwPuWVfmXpv3hDH8qAjPpiZHXkRnSd6ZhB53mejzKV6US0K9TCCLyCe IhtETX5MsHBGJkD/ANiFkMCE2qGoCdZ8Q8AMGpYFqEhdhRIYH3CF3d1M/Mexma+4 CwdQ2Ddcx0exAlmj04QUQd8QWLB/iB5GxmEg5TENVZqPYzFV8eHAy9T/AEc8a4n3 Ov6g/VwvE6lpQ4VNysXzhS8esOO8w/rlF/rypjV3B5H1Knr8T//Z --Boundary_(ID_uEgl+q6TdI+Hu72HTmfjyA)-- From unclescam@buskers.org Tue May 27 23:53:07 2003 From: unclescam@buskers.org (unclescam) Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 19:53:07 -0400 Subject: [Hpn] so far References: <20030527224426.14052.qmail@web21409.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3ED3FA62.4EF7CF36@attbi.com> --Boundary_(ID_leVkadL2llionlFd6D7PVA) Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit tommy could ya push this on joe. i feel your pain. as with every year, after a jaunt to the warmth of the west coast and it's hard times finding a crash space, the search for a little room with the amenities necessary to complete my mission in life (vis; the education of the american tourist in the fine points of political domination of the masses by the rich,ie; themselves and their children) is more trying than ever. this years snafu came at the hands of the female friend of my last landlord. a perfect basement, only we when the rain comes from the north east, with electric and cable connection,(the puppets paid for both) . it seems she deems my avocation not worthy of being work, and not making enough money (true the rich cringe at shelling out money for their children to hear of the rape of the working/slave middleclass by their parents and grands), what? i paid the rent, cable, electric, and provided pastries fo every other day, while she slaved to feed the college/master class of cambridge in a restaurant she owns,( with a backer because she's working without a green card so she's payin usurious rates so he won't get her deported. hell,s bells but she's pissed that i don't get a "job". twelve hours a day of makin the rich squirm isn't enough. so i can't return. and i've known this guy for twenty years. first girlfriend he's had in 25 so i have compassion, but heeeey. so i on top of this the guy that lets me park my tryke won't lemme in til june, which means half of my income, the sale of puppets, is out cause i got no way to keeep them dry til then. then they cut my free care in cambridge cause i'm on mass general, but mass general only covers the cancer shit. what's up with that mitt? so joe i can't rant any more.. housing costs to much, and it don't matter whether i got the money or not, it still cost to much. greedy america keeps us from being iraq, but at what price our souls. i live on the scraps of the wealthy and i live better than 80% of the rest of the world. are you with me? join arto today. the American Retard Terrorist Organization. we're here to make you secure we'll scare the hell outa your odd neighbors join us today or you won't know who's watching you tomorrow joe reynolds wrote: > > > - It has been a rough frustrating couple of days over in this corner > of Heck. Last couple of days I haven't even gone out job-hunting, not > that really had my hopes up so no big loss, I hope! Van is definitely > acting like it wants a new alternator which will be the third I have > installed in as many years. Must be somwething i'm doing wrong but for > the life of me I can't figure. > > At least I still am sleeping in the unrented office but it is an odd > feeling when some prospect comes by and i give them the application > and all the contact numbers. Maybe I should start with stuff like "you > know it's haunted don't you" or just talk it and the mall down. > othewise I'll be soon sleeping in the van again and no electric > outlets, no hot water for wshing and no toilet. > > Lots of things i was going to do with finding about school costs on > computer repair have had to wait with all the emergencies the shop > owners here have been having. A pain in the rear but when Lang came in > and found his shop had been broken into from the roof I can understand > him going off the handle a bit. I would have - and worse especially > with it taking the cops three hours to show up and giving this "we're > not all that intersted" attitude. Not to mrntion the roof coolers > failing right and left. I'm no tech but I happen to be the guy they > corner. Thankfully just a matter of replacing clogged intake filters > but how come the guy getting five an hour handles it? Plus i am > definitely on a dwnswing emotionally over it all. > > Wthat the hell do the rest of you do when all I want to do is throw > things and yell "leave me alone" and just plain curse over the "rotten > stuff happening to me". Makes it sound like nothing good happens > doesn't that last? Actually a lot good has happened, just nothing in a > big way and I let myself get blinded to that. What the hell do the > rest of you do? I have to tell you that basically everyone else here > at HPN seems to sound so normal and well adjusted and capable compared > to the stuff I face each morning in my head and out in the world. You > all seem to have better coping mechanisms or at least attitudes > compared to me. > > How do you do it? > > Tell. > > Closest thing to a legitimate offer on sharing a space was with > someone who went on to admit he hasn't used crack since two days back > and maybe some coke a couple of times too (he wasn't sure). Yeah, > right, like this is a dependable roomie and I'm the Queen of the May! > > Here in town the city council is pretty sure that the facility for > homeless vets is dead and over with; they also talk heavily about > supporting the troops. Is jt just me or does anyone else find this an > funny? > > > *************************************************************************** > > Another day in the ninties here in our litle valley, aka: the roasting > pan. Well I am about to lose the spot on th floor I have been using. > However something better may be opening up for me. Wish me luck, well > or whatever I need to get in? Also I am picking up a lot of extra work > at the mall. Stuff like switching filters on the airconditioners and > giving their radiators a wash down as well as more clean-up rounds > also I will be stripping down and cleaning out the suite I have been > sleeping in getting it ready for the new renter. > > Most of which requires me to have lots of contact with people at a > time when I find my temper short and I have to practice patience - > when what I really want to do is run down the street with a machette > screaming obsenities... > > The more I picture it the sillier that becomes! > > ********************************************************************* > > I am hoping that later when I talk to Pat we are able to work out me > renting that room from her. I am so tired of living in this manner; > the fact that she is one of the people who put me in this predicament > is an odd note to it all. Still even if nothing concrete happens it > will be nice to sit indoors and talk or watch a movie. > > The past few days have been frustrating like I wrote but I have a > handle on my anger and haven't bitten the heads off people no matter > how richly deserved! Besides who needs the nickname of "Hannibal"? > > As they say, "all clod's children got problems" so who am I to > complain. I mean is my situation any worse than Morgan's up in Vermont > , say in January or February? Or anyone else's on this list - come to > think of it how about all the others not on this list because they > don't have access to a bathroom much less online time at two bucks an > hour! As any artistr knows, you have to have a bit of perspective on > things. (Don't tell me you didn't know that was coming. For one thing > it will only encourage me to do worse!) > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. --Boundary_(ID_leVkadL2llionlFd6D7PVA) Content-type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit tommy could ya push this on

joe.
  i feel your pain.
as with every year, after a jaunt to the warmth of the west coast and it's hard times finding a crash space, the search for a little room with the amenities necessary to complete my mission in life (vis; the education of the american tourist in the fine points of political domination of the masses by the rich,ie; themselves and their children) is more trying than ever. this years snafu came at the hands of the female friend of my last landlord. a perfect basement, only we when the rain comes from the north east, with electric and cable connection,(the puppets paid for both) . it seems she deems my avocation not worthy of being work, and not making enough money (true the rich cringe at shelling out money for their children to hear of the rape of the working/slave middleclass by their parents and grands), what? i paid the rent, cable, electric, and provided pastries fo every other day, while she slaved to feed the college/master class of cambridge in a restaurant she owns,( with a backer because she's working without a green card so she's payin usurious rates so he won't get her deported. hell,s bells but she's pissed that i don't get a "job". twelve hours a day of makin the rich squirm isn't enough. so i can't return. and i've known this guy for twenty years. first girlfriend he's had in 25 so i have compassion, but heeeey. so i
on top of this the guy that lets me park my tryke won't lemme in til june, which means half of my income, the sale of puppets, is out cause i got no way to keeep them dry til then. then they cut my free care in cambridge cause i'm on mass general, but mass general only covers the cancer shit. what's up with that mitt?
so joe i can't rant any more..
housing costs to much, and it don't matter whether i got the money or not, it still cost to much. greedy america keeps us from being iraq, but at what price our souls. i live on the scraps of the wealthy and i live better than 80% of the rest of the world. are you with me?
join arto today.
the American Retard Terrorist Organization.
we're here to make you secure
we'll scare the hell outa your odd neighbors
join us today    or you won't know who's watching you tomorrow
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

joe reynolds wrote:

 

- It has been a rough frustrating couple of days over in this corner of Heck. Last couple of days I haven't even gone out job-hunting, not that really had my hopes up so no big loss, I hope! Van is definitely acting like it wants a new alternator which will be the third I have installed in as many years. Must be somwething i'm doing wrong but for the life of me I can't figure.

At least I still am sleeping in the unrented office but it is an odd feeling when some prospect comes by and i give them the application and all the contact numbers. Maybe I should start with stuff like "you know it's haunted don't you" or just talk it and the mall down. othewise I'll be soon sleeping in the van again and no electric outlets, no hot water for wshing and no toilet.

Lots of things i was going to do with finding about school costs on computer repair have had to wait with all the emergencies the shop owners here have been having. A pain in the rear but when Lang came in and found his shop had been broken into from the roof I can understand him going off the handle a bit. I would have - and worse especially with it taking the cops three hours to show up and giving this "we're not all that intersted" attitude. Not to mrntion the roof coolers failing right and left. I'm no tech but I happen to be the guy they corner. Thankfully just a matter of replacing clogged intake filters but how come the guy getting five an hour handles it? Plus i am definitely on a dwnswing emotionally over it all.

Wthat the hell do the rest of you do when all I want to do is throw things and yell "leave me alone" and just plain curse over the "rotten stuff happening to me". Makes it sound like nothing good happens doesn't that last? Actually a lot good has happened, just nothing in a big way and I let myself get blinded to that. What the hell do the rest of you do? I have to tell you that basically everyone else here at HPN seems to sound so normal and well adjusted and capable compared to the stuff I face each morning in my head and out in the world. You all seem to have better coping mechanisms or at least attitudes compared to me.

How do you do it?

Tell.

Closest thing to a legitimate offer on sharing a space was with someone who went on to admit he hasn't used crack since two days back and maybe some coke a couple of times too (he wasn't sure). Yeah, right, like this is a dependable roomie and I'm the Queen of the May!

Here in town the city council is pretty sure that the facility for homeless vets is dead and over with; they also talk heavily about supporting the troops. Is jt just me or does anyone else find this an funny?

****************************************************************************

Another day in the ninties here in our litle valley, aka: the roasting pan. Well I am about to lose the spot on th floor I have been using. However something better may be opening up for me. Wish me luck, well or whatever I need to get in? Also I am picking up a lot of extra work at the mall. Stuff like switching filters on the airconditioners and giving their radiators a wash down as well as more clean-up rounds also I will be stripping down and cleaning out the suite I have been sleeping in getting it ready for the new renter.

Most of which requires me to have lots of contact with people at a time when I find my temper short and I have to practice patience - when what I really want to do is run down the street with a machette screaming obsenities...

The more I picture it the sillier that becomes!

*********************************************************************

I am hoping that later when I talk to Pat we are able to work out me renting that room from her. I am so tired of living in this manner; the fact that she is one of the people who put me in this predicament is an odd note to it all. Still even if nothing concrete happens it will be nice to sit indoors and talk or watch a movie.

The past few days have been frustrating like I wrote but I have a handle on my anger and haven't bitten the heads off people no matter how richly deserved! Besides who needs the nickname of "Hannibal"?

As they say, "all clod's children got problems" so who am I to complain. I mean is my situation any worse than Morgan's up in Vermont , say in January or February? Or anyone else's on this list - come to think of it how about all the others not on this list because they don't have access to a bathroom much less online time at two bucks an hour! As any artistr knows, you have to have a bit of perspective on things. (Don't tell me you didn't know that was coming. For one thing it will only encourage me to do worse!)

Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
--Boundary_(ID_leVkadL2llionlFd6D7PVA)-- From streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org Fri May 30 16:09:03 2003 From: streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org (chance martin) Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:09:03 -0700 Subject: [Hpn] SFGate: Homeless today, helping tomorrow Message-ID: Homeless today, helping tomorrow Joan Ryan Friday, May 30, 2003 ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/30/ED41164.DTL THE METAL FAN on Martha Ryan's desk barely moves the hot air that rises from Market Street nine stories below. From way up here, you can't see the homeless people huddled in doorways along this grimy stretch of San Francisco. But walk down the hall, or up a flight of stairs. There they are. Women from the streets. They are pregnant or pushing strollers. They sleep in shelters or under freeway passes. Some have drug addictions. They need prenatal care. They need to get off the street. If they don't, they doom another generation to poverty and sickness. This is why, with a small grant and two part-time workers, Ryan began the Homeless Prenatal Program 14 years ago. Last week, one of her funders called with some news. "We're going to be dancing on Market Street!" he said. He had just gotten off the phone with the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program. Ryan had been chosen, along with nine others from around the country (including children's nutrition advocate Arnell J. Hinkle in Berkeley), to receive the organization's highest honor. The best part: it comes with a check for $120,000. "I was shocked and stunned. It's just amazing to me that I got this," Ryan said. "If I could tell people how to build an agency like this, I'd say 'it takes a community.' I came up with the original idea, but so many other ideas came from the people we serve. That's why it works." Ryan is a nurse practitioner who, during leaves from her job at San Francisco General Hospital, taught women in Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan the fundamentals of health care so they could work in the village clinics, helping their neighbors. She decided to apply the lessons of Africa to her own city. She would train pregnant homeless women to help each other. It didn't matter to Ryan that there had never been a program directed at pregnant homeless women, or that she had no experience in raising the money essential to keeping it afloat. This is a woman who, with an associate's degree in nursing, refused to accept the rejection letter from UC Berkeley's graduate program in public health. She badgered the admission's director into meeting with her face to face. Ryan now has a master's degree from UC Berkeley. The Homeless Prenatal Program's success rate has been impressive: 92 percent of the babies born to homeless clients are healthy and drug free. Nearly 2,000 families come through the center every year. Ryan and her staff find them housing, get them into drug treatment, hook them up with San Francisco City College, get them prenatal care, provide parenting classes, computer training, therapy, cribs, diapers, groceries. When a woman is settled and healthy, she can participate in a 15-month training program to qualify for a job at the center. Of the program's 29 staffers, 20 had once been homeless. "My vision is that someone who used to be a client will be running this program one day," Ryan says. In a sitting room one floor up from Ryan's office, three pregnant women wait for case workers to call their names. Despite our exhaustion and exasperation with the homeless problem in San Francisco, Ryan sees in each of these women a pebble rippling across a lake. One mother who gives birth to a healthy baby and gets herself off the street touches other lives -- her children, her grandchildren, other homeless women who take hope from her success. Ryan won't get her award money until June 11, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., but she has already decided it will go into the the Homeless Prenatal Program's employee retirement fund. Right now, only Ryan has been participating in the retirement program. So with the $120,000, she will offer matching contributions of up to $50 a month. It will, she hopes, encourage her staffers to save for a future many of them had never envisioned. ©2003 San Francisco Chronicle   Page A - 27 -- chance martin, Project Coordinator STREET SHEET A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco 468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 415 / 346.3740-voice € 415 / 775.5639-fax streetsheet@sf-homeless-coalition.org http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org