ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
· Sandy Ferreira, retired social worker and regular volunteer
at Loaves & Fishes
· Erik Lehmann a founding member of the Coalition, and staff
person for Cornell alumni relations/fundraising
· Claire Grady kitchen coordinator for Loaves & Fishes
· Chris Pothier Director of Loaves & Fishes
· Rose McGrady Outreach Coordinator for the Red Cross Homeless
Services Program
· Ron Passmore (sp?), community member doing research on homelessness
issues nationwide
OFFICERS PRESENT:
· David Baharvar, Co-Chair
· Jesse Boring, Volunteer Coordinator
ADVISORY INPUT:
HOW CAN THE COALITION BE MOST EFFECTIVE IN HELPING THE HOMELESS?
I. Rather than think of projects in advance and then tell the poor/homeless
what they will do, help people, such as the guests at Loaves & Fishes,
to do what they want to do.
· Educate
· Empower
· Do projects ìwith,î not ìforî them
II. Provide a mechanism for peopleís voices to be heard
· A ìcommunity meetingî?
· For instance, you could make announcements at Loaves &
Fishes before meals, or at the Friendship Center and post them up at the
Red Cross Shelter, that ìthere will be a public discussion about _____
on such a date and timeî
· Location: could have it at Loaves, or in the park, or at the
Red Crossí meeting room, or at the Friendship Center (that would also give
those guess a forum for their grievances, which would help the Red Cross).
At any rate, should be located on their ìturf,î not Cornell. Students should
try to experience, at least somewhat, what the homeless are experiencing.
The first step is to come off the hill.
· Another useful role that you could play, at such meetings,
would be to help organize people who want to lobby city/regional/national
government officials about a particular issue.
III. Help people to access what services are there for them
· For example: To do a job search
· To be creative, innovative in how they pull themselves out
of poverty, while still being safe
· But at the same time, take note that some people are content
with where they are
IV. Collection / donation drives are a great idea, and very useful.
People really appreciate them. For instance, the Coalitionís hygiene drive.
Other recurring needs include:
· socks (preferably white, cotton, unisex),
· anti-fungal foots crèmes and sprays (this is a common
problem in shelters),
· sneakers (used would be fine, too; Salvation Army also has
a recurring need for this)
· menís boxer shorts.
· On the other hand, it is necessarily effective or appropriate
to try to change peopleís ingrained habits by ìteaching themî to wash regularly,
brush their teeth, etc.
V. Other areas where there is a recurring need:
· Bicycles for the poor, or at least help them to build carts
to place on the back of their bicycles, so that they can carry stuff. A
location for this could be at Loaves & Fishes.
· Funds for bus tickets, so that poor people can go to see their
doctor, lawyer, etc. A limited number are currently given out by the Department
of Social Services and the Friendship Center, but more would be great.
You could either raise the funds, orÖ
· Help negotiate with TCAT to get them to donate the tickets
· In general, you can use Cornellís/your personal corporate
connections to write letters asking various places to donate their stuff;
or even create such connections from scratch.
· Help people to move their stuff. For instance, when people
move from one place to another and need to get their stuff out of their
old place before the landlord (illegally) throws it out on the street
· Collect donated furniture, and/or help to move such furniture
to wherever there are people who are transitioning out of homelessness
· There is a need for a new womenís community center. Help with
this?
ADVISORY INPUT:
HOW SHOULD THE COALITIONíS PROCEDURE / POLICY ON INDIVIDUAL MONETARY
ASSISTANCE BE GUIDED?
First of all, getting vouchers from business themselves is always a great way to ensure that funds you give to individuals are (probably) used in the way that you intended.
A lot of the time people who come to you need help with security deposits. The Coalition could have an understanding with human service agencies like the Samaritan Center or the Red Cross or Loaves & Fishes, who already help people outside of the normal bureaucratic structure of DSS, that they could only refer people to you when they have exhausted their available resources/options. For instance, the Samaritan Center will often help individuals with deposits to some limited amount, like $200 or so. But in Ithaca, thatís often not enough, people need around $350 or more. People could come to you when they canít conjure up the other $150 (or whatever relatively small amount) themselves.
A lot of the time peopleís welfare checks run out, or are cut off. And a lot of the time such people lose their benefits while their cases are in court. We usually refer such people to Neighborhood Legal Services, but perhaps the Coalition could help somehow.
WHAT ABOUT THE QUICK RESPONSE THAT IS OFTEN NECESSARY, SINCE PEOPLE COME TO US IN EMERGENCIES? HOW DO WE RECONCILE THIS WITH THE DESIRE FOR THE COALITION TO BE ABLE TO MAKE WELL-THOUGHT OUT DECISIONS SOMEWHAT DEMOCRATICALLY AND WITH AS MUCH INFORMATION AND INPUT AS POSSIBLE, WHEN THIS OFTEN TAKES MORE TIME?
Note that itís often not as urgent as people will tell you. Unless they have been given some sort of a legal document or notice, or a Sheriffís notice or something like that, thereís often more time than you think there is.
Totally democratic decision-making, with a vote or the approval of the entire organization before any money is dished out, is usually impossible. BUT you can and should have disclosure and approval after the fact, and get organization membersí input then, for future learning.
In the mean time, have a few people officially responsible for making such decisions quickly.
HOW DO WE PREVENT OURSELVES FROM BEING (A) TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT REALLY IN NEED; (B) BEING OVERLOADED WITH REQUESTS?
Ask the right questions, like ìHave you been to _______[a human service agency]? Who did you speak with?î Those in charge of handling whatever amount of funds are put aside for this potential purpose, should be trained in advocacy. [Perhaps through the yearly ìLoaves & Fishes Advocacy Training Programî?]
Only take people that were either referred to you by experiences human service workers who know the recipientsí situation, or, if you meet the person yourself, at least have a human service worker vouch for their situation.
Donít write checks to individuals; write them so that you know how the money can/will be spent.
Maybe you should have them sign a release of confidentiality form, so that you can ask human service workers to tell you about them. But maybe not, since this approach almost communicates that you assume they are lying to you, and have to prove things. But on the other hand, you do have to have some stringency, some guidelinesÖ
Maybe you shouldnít dispense money to individuals at all; just give it to agencies who will help those individuals. Itís your call, on a case-by-case basis. When youíre faced with a situation like having someone out shivering in the cold who obviously needs help and you canít possibly deny that thereís an issue, ìdo your diligence.î