Tick Tock Sheptock

 Below are 2 of the many "threats" of closure that CCNV has received over the years. The portion that describes the 2011 threat also explains why these threats should be taken seriously. Even so, I promote living-wage employment and affordable-on-the-open-market housing for able-bodied homeless people, not just a better shelter. (But "Dr. D.C. Houser" is currently doing triage -- housing the disabled and families with children in hopes that able-bodied, low-income, single, homeless people will just leave town or die) From 2012: On Friday, August 31st, 2012 all 300 men on the third floor of the CCNV shelter received notices from the CCNV administration which, among other things, stated that the shelter might close as early as next year. The Federal City Shelter (which actually has three separate shelters within it) holds 1,350 of what was DC's 7,000+ homeless people (a number we're trying to get back DOWN to in 2015). CCNV holds 950 itself. In Ap...

On October 31st, 2013 the CCNV Task Force which is headed by DC Councilman Jim Graham will meet on the 3rd floor (3-North) of CCNV which is located at 425 2nd Street NW, Washington, DC. It is located right on the edge of Capitol Hill and is metro accessible, being 2 blocks from the Judiciary Square Metro Station and 3 blocks from Union Station (both on the Red Line). The D6 bus stops right in front of the shelter (as long as the driver doesn't refuse to do so). The meeting is open to the public. Here's a brief account of what got us to this point..... The Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) homeless shelter was established in the 1980's by Vietnam-era veterans who'd renounced violence, thus the name. Through the direct action of Mitch Snyder and dozens of homeless people (many young and old veterans being homeless even in this day and age), a vacant federal building was wrested from the Reagan administration and given to DC Government with strings attached....

1 – SHARC has weathered the storm and made the best of a mess. Though Sandy “rained on our parade” by forcing the cancellation of an event which we spent five weeks planning and organizing, it hasn't discouraged us from trying again. We'll come back bigger and better the next time. There is no need to consider what possible shortcomings SHARC may have exhibited during the storm. Given the fact that we had many food donations, the rain date would have been the next day (Tuesday) during which the government was shut down. Sandy was an unpredictable storm which we only found out on the 26th was going hit us on the 29th of October (the day of our event). That said, the five weeks leading up to October 29th were a true show of our increased organizing ability. So, let's give ourselves a hand, dust ourselves off and chart the path forward. As a result of Sandy, SHARC members were able to: begin the conversation around bringing three councilmembers together in a meeting. Th...

In 2011 hundreds of homeless advocates and concerned citizens came out in force to demand that the DC Council find money to fill the gap for a $20.5 million budget shortfall in the Fiscal year 2012 homeless services budget. Had they not found it, DC's homeless community would only be guaranteed shelter for the five coldest months of the year. They found $17 million. This year the shortfall was only $7 million for FY 2013 which began October 1st but the same threat was presented along with a possible reduction in funding for feeding programs and transitional housing. It was determined in the last week of September that DC Government's tax revenue was $140 million above the projection. Additionally, the Dept. of Youth and Rehabilitative Services (DYRS) and the Dept. of Child and Family Services (DCFS) have underspent their budgets by a combined $36 million which leaves DC Government with at least $176 million to put in savings or reverse budget cuts. However, with the lingerin...

On Monday, March 12th at 10 AM, dozens of people gathered outside of the Wilson Building (DC City hall) to give Mayor Vincent Gray (or his staff) our budget recommendations for Fiscal year 2013. This year we came out about a week and a half BEFORE he is expected to issue his budget proposal to the DC Council, as opposed to the usual manner of reacting to the budget in mid-April AFTER it has been issued. This more PROACTIVE approach is what advocates decided on during a debriefing in June 2011, following last year's budget cycle. I'm glad to see that we're pulling it off. We got at least a dozen of DC's nearly 7,000 homeless people to come out and self-advocate. Several other people who would be directly affected if the mayor were to make cuts to human services spoke about their struggles. They included a blind, single mother of three and a man whose 7-year old daughter is chronically ill and presently in the hospital. Councilmen Jim Graham, Michael Brown and Tommy We...

This post is an addendum to "The Homeless Mentality: A Need for Love and Empowerment" which is 2 blog post below this one. I was ABSOLUTELY PLEASED by what I heard DC Councilman Jim Graham (who has oversight of the Human Services Committee) say at a hearing on March 1st, 2012. I was firmly convinced that he was extremely passionate about fighting for the city's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. It's safe to assume that others in the hearing chamber felt the same way. But, before I explain what was so admirable about the councilman's performance, let me describe the worsening crisis that he was responding to. It's budget season again for DC Government. Same song, different verse. Mayor Vincent Gray (who was the director of the Dept. of Human Services at one time and ran a homeless shelter) is threatening to make deep, hurtful cuts to the human services budget -- in typical mayoral fashion. This is a trend which advocates for the poor and homeless h...

NOTE: Please read the blog entry below this one, as this is a follow-up to the previous blog post. The investigation into the death of a homeless veteran right outside of Washington, DC's New York Avenue Shelter continues. As if his wrongful death isn't sad enough, those who work for DC Government's Department of Human Services (DHS) and for the shelter have gone into "self-defense mode" and seem to be more intent on covering their tracks than they are on finding out the truth. Should we expect more? also of note is the fact that the homeless and homeless advocates are gathering facts about this case more quickly than the government. DHS is doing its own internal investigation. And we all know how those things go -- self-defense all the way. On a more positive note, I was able to get the name of the deceased. The man's name was Luther "Sarge" Hill and he was ex-military. It's always good to be able to refer to a person by name, as the system ...

When will the national movement implement "stronger tactics" that effectively usher in the "revolutionary change" that we are working toward? Well, Gerald Celente of Trends Research Institute (a think tank on worldwide socio-economic trends) has predicted that this country will see food riots, tax rebellions and revolution by 2012. And his long track record for accuracy has some people worried. But you don't need to be a well-paid academic to see that societal conditions are ripe for revolution. The news is chock full of reports of increasing unemployment, a worsening housing market and struggling families. The U.S. economy is so bad that Obama himself recently told people in a small town in Iowa that he doesn't believe that Washington knows best (and it doesn't). People have begun to polarize around Tea Party/Congressional demands on the one hand and the demand for the state to fund human need on the other, with there having been a strong u...

I apologize for failing to post regularly, as I have been extremely busy lately. There is a lot happening in the way of homeless advocacy and activism as well as social justice. I am deeply involved in the planning of direct actions which are designed to speak truth to power and encourage the U.S. Government to fund human need here at home, not wars abroad and Wall Street. Even so, here is something I wrote yesterday and e-mailed to many people. It sums up the CONTINUING homeless crisis: FOREVER HOMELESS -- Forward widely Many poor people in what has been said to be the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world -- the United States of America -- are doomed to be HOMELESS FOREVER. Now there's no telling just how long this country will retain those titles and some people think we're losing ground rather quickly -- which is all the more reason (in the eyes of Congress and the president) to put our precious resources into imperialistic pursuits abroad rather than domestic ...

In case you didn't already know, politics are about power. Politicians are always looking forward to the next election unless serving their last allowable term. (Lame ducks seem to be those most likely to follow their conscience[?], as they can't run again anyway.) politicians are most likely to address the concerns of those who help them to remain in power. They kowtow first and foremost to those who contribute the most to their campaigns -- corporations. Next in line are wealthy individuals. Eventually and at long last, there are the voters. If you don't fit into any of these categories, your discontentment becomes an issue of "mind over matter". As you voice your opinions, the politicians don't mind; because, you don't matter. (Being a taxpayer doesn't impress them all that much; because, the government will MAKE you do that anyway.) Then there is the issue of "political will". Once a politician has taken the oath of office, they be...

Well, it's been 2 months since several homeless people and their allies began to hold weekly meetings in the basement of Washington, DC's CCNV (Community for Creative Non-Violence) Homeless Shelter. As you may recall from a previous post, several others and myself were discussing the impending budget cuts to Human Services while at a COHHO (Coalition Of Housing and Homeless Organizations) meeting on April 14th when someone asked, "Who's going to tell the poor and the homeless about these budget cuts that are going to affect them?" As a result of that question, arrangements were made to meet weekly in the basement of the shelter and the first meeting took place on Tuesday, April 26th at 11 AM. At that meeting we decided to meet every Monday at 1 PM and that remains the same to this day. (Meetings are open to the public.) On May 18th we held a march and about 75 people marched from the shelter to the Wilson Building (City Hall) to protest the threatened budge...