Why Membership Matters to Katherine:

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NCH aims to create a national network of dedicated homeless advocates; read how intern Katherine is working to expand that network and why your Membership Matters to her work:

I am an Advocacy Fellow from the Bonner Foundation at the National Coalition for the Homeless. I am currently working on a project to create a program called Homeless People Action Network (HPAN). This is an initial organizing effort to connect existing local homeless-led advocacy groups and to create new local advocacy groups in different states and cities around the country. In other words, NCH wants to help people experiencing homelessness around the country to organize and congregate. We want to see less duplication of homeless advocacy groups and more collaboration among existing groups.

Ideally, these advocacy groups would be comprised of currently or formerly homeless people so that they could have the most authentic, direct voice for their concerns. Once these advocacy groups have been formed, the purpose of HPAN is to connect all of these advocacy groups into a central, independent, collaborative, national network that can act as a community and a guide for those seeking help and services. NCH would initially provide leadership training and support for HPAN groups. Once HPAN is formed and functioning independently, NCH would remain as an affiliate and resource center.

HPAN is a call for the homeless to be their own advocates. Membership in NCH would be greatly beneficial to the HPAN movement because it would increase public awareness and provide the funds for a greater range for outreach across the country. Membership in NCH not only extends to donors, but to people experiencing homelessness, for free. NCH can refer homeless members to their local HPAN groups to receive the support they need.

I am so lucky to be a summer intern. I feel as if I was waiting to do this kind of work for a long time. I am learning so much, since it is my first real job outside of my involvement in direct community service. Working here gives young adult students the chance to increase their awareness on social issues and policy, and to build upon skills such as research, event planning, and public relations.

Bobbie Ibarra is the Executive Director at the Miami Coalition for the Homeless. Below she answers our questions on why she supports NCH and how she makes her Membership Matter everyday. 

How did you first become involved with the National Coalition for the Homeless? In what ways do you continue to be involved with the Coalition?

Our organization has been involved with the Coalition for several years. In fact, our former Executive Director served on the Board of Directors. We are involved because we believe in the Coalition’s mission. It is important to our advocacy to stay aware of, and in partnership with, like-minded organizations.  We also appreciate having the great access to the AmeriCorps VISTA program as it has enabled us to accomplish more advocacy with less expense.

Why do you believe that your Membership Matters at NCH?

As stated above, like minded organizations build stronger advocacy platforms. I will say that there is a fine balance between membership fees and one’s perceived value from an organization, so I very much appreciate the Coalition reaching out to get a pulse on its members.

How do you interact with NCH? In what ways have you benefited from being a member?

I mostly interact with Michael Stoops, which has been phenomenal! Also Judy Bodnar (VISTA Leader located in Orlando) has been a tremendous help to us in the VISTA arena. Both she and Michael have mentored me, educated me and supported me and our Coalition in many ways. Whenever we need to connect with other resources across the nation on advocacy issues Michael has always been able to connect us and Judy has guided us in our VAD (VISTA job description) development, among many other aspects of the VISTA program.

Organizations, such as the Miami Coalition for the Homeless, support the movement to prevent and end homelessness by being a member of NCH, but they also benefit from their membership. To become an individual or organizational member click here!

Read why Membership Matters to law student, Alison Dinmore, and how she is working to support the National Coalition for the Homeless:

“Membership with the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) not only exposes members to issues affecting the homeless, but provides them with resources for how to affect change.  This summer, I am working on a handbook to assist communities and advocates combat acts of criminalization against the homeless.  The handbook is designed provide tools to educate, assess, and challenge unconstitutional laws in different communities across the United States.  The handbook will also provide resources and strategies for how to deal with the immediate effects of criminalization efforts for unhoused individuals who are negatively affected by these laws.

In addition, I will be analyzing policy regarding hate crimes and voting rights for the homeless. Understanding policy efforts at varying levels across the country can provide insight on successful, as well as unsuccessful attempts to firmly recognize and ensure basic human rights for the unhoused.  Understanding can lead us to create arguments, solutions, and ultimately laws that protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Membership not only means access to information that is invaluable for educational purposes and policy change, it also means being apart of a movement of dedicated advocates and giving a voice to homeless individuals.  Together, armed with common sense solutions and compelling arguments, we can affect broader reaching change that deals with the immediate affects of and ultimately putting an end to, homelessness.”

To become a member of NCH click here!

by Jin Zhao
Originally Printed in AlterNet
Thursday, August 9, 2012

Only 10% of homeless Americans vote each year, but they can still make a difference in elections.

Having a home is not a prerequisite to vote in the United States. But activists and homeless service providers still face major challenges trying to help homeless Americans register.

Pitts v. Black (1984) and several subsequent cases in the 1980s and ’90s established that homeless people could not be denied the right to vote because they did not live in a traditional residence. A shelter, park or street corner can be designated as a residence. In states that require a mailing address for voter registration, homeless voters can usually use the addresses of shelters, churches, friends’ houses, or P.O. boxes.

Still, turnout among homeless voters is one of the lowest for any demographic. In the 2008 presidential election, people with the lowest income (family annual income less than $20,000) and people with no reported income — the groups most homeless Americans fall into — had the lowest voter registration rate and the lowest voting rate. According to Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), only one-tenth of un-housed persons actually exercise the right to vote, and over the years, “the number has been fairly consistent.”

This is unfortunate, because homeless voters can make a difference. As the 2012 presidential election nears, issues that are relevant to homeless Americans, such as economic inequality, healthcare and job creation, will continue to shape the national debate. Although the homeless vote may not be a wild card for any candidate or party, with at least 1.6 million people experiencing homelessness nationwide, it does have the potential to change the game in some swing states.

Some advocates believe the real impact of the homeless vote lies in local elections. “Americans are most interested in national elections, which is ironic in a sense, because local elections are the ones that affect…your day-to-day life the most,” said Devo’n Williams of Homeless but Not Powerless, an advocate group that pushes for greater homeless engagement in local elections. Indeed, local legislation and policies about funding, housing, healthcare, transportation, and employment can often have a greater, more direct impact on homeless people’s lives than national policy.

Sill, the upcoming presidential election is a great opportunity for activists to raise awareness for the cause of homeless suffrage. From September 30 to October 6, NCH will sponsor the National Homeless and Low-Income Voter Registration Week to help its 4,000 organizations across the country boost voter registration. NCH has sponsored the week-long event every presidential election year since 1992 as part of its You Don’t Need A Home to Vote campaign, which has helped register tens of thousands of homeless voters.

This year, activists may have to work harder, for new voter ID laws and other restrictions introduced to states across the country will make it more difficult for some homeless Americans to vote. At least 34 states introduced laws that require photo ID for voter registration; at least 17 states introduced laws that require proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate. For homeless people, who do not have a steady residence, keeping documents such as a birth certificate is a challenging if not insurmountable task. Many also cannot afford the fees to apply for an ID.

Some states also introduced bills that would make voter registration harder by restricting voter registration drives, eliminating election day registration, reducing early voting periods, or making it harder to restore voting rights. Civil rights activists often organize voter registration drives to help and mobilize the homeless to register to vote, and these bills can make their work more difficult.

A battle is underway across the country over the constitutionality of these laws. We have seen new voter laws struck down or blocked as unconstitutional in several states such as Florida, Texas, SouthCarolina and Wisconsin. At the same time, activists are working to make sure that organizations engaged in homeless voter registration are aware of the laws. “Each state has different laws, different ways of addressing voter ID, and…it is important for most groups who are planning on doing any type of voter registration campaigns, especially dealing with people experiencing homelessness, [to] start reaching out to officials and try to figure out how to address some of the problems that some people are beginning to see related to voter ID,” said Isaiah Castilla of the Alliance for Justice, a national civil rights advocacy group. Castilla recommends that activists use the Brennan Center for Justice Web site, which offers comprehensive resources for voter registration and a summary of voting law changes in 2012.

NCH also published a 2012 Voter Rights and Registration Manual for organizations engaged in homeless voter registration and two weeks ago conducted a voter registration workshop during the 2012 National Conference on Ending Homelessness. “We talked about the nuts and bolts of not only how to do it, but why it’s important as well as informing people about the unique characteristics of their state,” said Neil Donovan. The workshop tuned out to be one of the most popular at the conference.

In addition to having a firm grasp of the law, activists working on the ground must be familiar with the logistics of each election. Simple things like making sure that a location is open during the hours it is supposed to be open can make a huge difference.

“The majority of the un-housed people who are our members are employed while they’re homeless,” said Donovan. “Many times the employment is from 7am to 3am, having a half hour for lunch, something like that, so what we need to do is to make sure that if voting officials say that they are going to open the polls at 6am in the morning, they are open at 6am in the morning. We’ll have local people go and just make sure that all commitments are honored.”

Homeless Americans are by no means a homogenous group. Despite some of the myths and misconceptions about the homeless population, many people who are homeless are technologically savvy and well informed. However, when it comes to elections, especially local elections, where there can be dozens of candidates on the ballot, learning about the platforms of all the candidates when one doesn’t have a stable home can be a challenge. That is why voter education is such a challenging but essential part of activists’ work.

To prepare for Atlanta’s recent primary election, Homeless But Not Powerless posted on its Web site candidate profiles with links to candidates’ sites. However, because of a lack of funding, the group could not afford to produce print materials for individuals who do not have access to the Internet. “Primaries are just really really difficult to educate everyone, let alone a population that traditionally does not have the easiest access to the latest technology,” said Williams.

Chicago’s Mercy Housing Lakefront, a nonprofit permanent housing program for people with special needs, relies on its residents to help with voter drives and education. Most of the residents in the program have experienced homelessness, and some of them used to be chronically homeless. As part of its Civic Participation Project, which helps residents reintegrate into society, residents can become “deputy registrars” and register their neighbors as well as homeless people in shelters or on the street. Residents also help research candidates and educate voters.

According to Lisa Kuklinski, Mercy Housing Lakefront’s regional vice president, 75 percent of the residents in the program are registered voters. The number is about 2.5 percent higher than in the general population (72.4 percent) in the 2008 election — a great success.

“For people who have been homeless or for people who have been marginalized by society, this kind of activity, being involved in their community and being civically involved, brings a return of human dignity, brings a return of purpose to their lives that maybe they never had before or that they used to have,” said Kuklinski. “Mostly, the thing that brings so much joy to people is to feel that they personally matter, that they have personal political advocacy that they had not felt before, and that just brings a sense of dignity that actually leads to other major changes in their lives.”

Jin Zhao is a freelance journalist, multimedia producer and photographer. Her work has appeared in the Nation and on AlterNet. Follow her on twitter @jinealogy and visit her blog thingsyoudontknowaboutchina.com.

Steve Thomas is a member of NCH’s Faces of Homelessness Speakers Bureau and an active advocate for the rights of homeless citizens. Read his story and hear why Membership Matters to him:

“I first became involved with NCH almost five years ago. After being addicted to drugs and alcohol for forty years and having had that lead to my living on the streets of DC, homeless, for almost two years, an outreach worker found me and got me into treatment. While undergoing treatment, I was introduced to a speaker from NCH that introduced me to the organization. Immediately I realized that NCH respected me as a human being. That my past addiction issues and homelessness didn’t matter in my assessment as a person. I learned that we all had a story, and that the telling of that story of my addiction leading to homelessness could be used to educate the public. To put a face to homelessness was an essential tool in the war to end homelessness. What I didn’t know or expect was the boost to my self-esteem (which had been very low my entire life) and the first time feeling of self-worth.

NCH ignited and fueled my passion for homeless advocacy. NCH taught me to be self respectful and to expect that of others. The last five years of being a member of NCH and being a speaker with the NCH “Faces of Homelessness” Speakers Bureau has made me a better person, a more concerned person, a more informed person and a more caring person. All this has allowed me to be a forceful advocate for the homeless, THE FORGOTTEN CITIZENS.”

Find your voice and support men and women like Steve by joining NCH and make your Membership Matter!

Taylor Southall and I (both AmeriCorps Summer VISTA volunteers with NCH’s VISTA Project) planned and organized an event last week called No Wrong Door. The idea was to get local organizations that serve the homeless together in order to teach them about the options available for homeless veterans, with the hope that if a homeless veteran ever shows up at their organization they would know exactly how to help.

We got in contact with the Veterans Administration and they sent representatives from the Veterans Health Administration, and the Veterans Benefit Administration. We also invited an attorney who has a practical and in-depth knowledge of accessing benefits and healthcare.

The event was held at the VA’s newly opened Community Resource and Referral Center, which is like a one-stop-shop for veterans seeking help.

More than 25 people show up the event, and we had a wait-list of over 50 people who wanted to come to the next training event. It was very interesting to learn about the different services provided by the VA, and great to see service providers connecting the dots to understand how to access VA benefits, and how they could be more effective when working with a veteran.

Throughout the summer Taylor and I have been working hard to make sure service providers in the DC area know what resources are available for veterans. We have met in person with many of the homeless service organizations and have developed a Homeless Veteran Resource Card that will be delivered to any organization where homeless veterans might go to for assistance. The Card has everything veterans can use in the DC area to access assistance, such as legal assistance, housing, and mental health services. This is the first card of its kind and we know it’s going to have a big impact on homeless veterans. We are glad we can help people who fought for our homes find a place to call home.

Taylor and I are also glad that No Wrong Door was a successful event, and that we were able to be a part of organizing the event.  We’re confident that the Resource Card will continue to help local organizations find the resources veterans need to get off the streets and that future No Wrong Door events will continue to build relationships between service agencies and VA Offices that will help more effectively provide for the veteran community.

Contact me if you’d like to know more about the Veterans Resource Card, or read more about the event on Friendship Place’s blog.

-Marc McCue
NCH Summer VISTA Volunteer

For the Membership Matters campaign, we have asked our current members why they support NCH.  In today’s installment, current Board Member Jeremy Haile shares his 15 year history with NCH, and talks about why he continues to support NCH:

“Some fifteen years ago, Michael Stoops came to Midland,Texas, and it changed my life. Midland is a town known more for its oil bust than for its political activism.  But that’s where I first heard Michael speak about the acute problem of homelessness, its causes, and what could be done to address it.  Michael was like a prophetic voice in the wilderness.  His intelligence and passion awakened in me a desire to join the fight for justice for marginalized people.

I doubt this story is unusual.  For decades, the National Coalition for the Homeless has been bringing attention to one of our nation’s greatest injustices — that too many people do not have a home.  Thanks to NCH, thousands of people, young and old, have been awakened to this challenge.  Many have made addressing homelessness their life’s work.  When NCH was established, federal funding for emergency shelters and affordable housing barely existed.  Now, thanks largely to NCH, such funds provide homes and services to people and families who need them.

Though much work remains to be done, the National Coalition for the Homeless is committed to protecting those who don’t have a home and fighting until all of us do.  NCH is truly the voice of and for the homeless.  That’s why I am honored to support them.”

Last Monday night, I arrived at the “Homeless Count” organized by the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID), nervous and excited to participate in a direct service activity, after a month and a half into my research and advocacy internship with NCH.

Volunteers were given a brief orientation session and were divided into groups, my group was assigned an area in the heart of Chinatown. We were given a map, a flashlight, several outreach service information cards, and some questionnaires. We were instructed to locate people who were experiencing homelessness, pinpoint their location on our map, ask them the questions on the questionnaire, and give them a service outreach card so they would be aware of the services available to them in D.C.

Being new to the count, I decided to sit back and watch how my fellow group members would approach people who were homeless. It seemed straight-forward, they would approach someone, introduce the organization we were with and explain how this homeless count was meant to help them.

At first, it seemed like our introduction made sense, we were helping them, right? However, I quickly began to wonder if I was helping them at all. We were demanding these people’s time, late at night, asking them personal questions, and I couldn’t help but wonder: what was I actually giving them? The only thing we had to physically give out was the outreach services information card that listed services these people might have already known about.

Feeling that I was not really doing anything of value for the homeless, we approached a an older gentleman, who made it clear to me what I should have been doing all along. The man, we’ll call him Jackson, was a Vietnam veteran who had originally come to D.C. for a job in construction. Unfortunately, when he arrived, the job fell through and as time went on, it became harder to make ends meet. Eventually he wound up living on the streets. Even at 74 years of age, Jackson said that he would still be able to do construction work, if there were any jobs available that is. This man had a lot to say but after 5 minutes with him, my group nudged me to move on.  I could tell Jackson had more to say so I stayed,  figuring that if all I had was a measly pamphlet to give him, the least I could do was give him my time and full attention.

When we met Benjamin, I was faced with an ethical dilemma. The last question on the survey was: “Is there anything we can do right now to help you?” But my question was: If there was something we could do, would we? No one made that more evident to me than Benjamin. Though he sat with us and answered all of our questions, when he asked for small meal because he had not eaten since the morning, my group and I quickly declined saying we had no food to give. I wondered why we had asked the question in the first place if we were not really going to do anything about it. I had money, I could have gone and bought him food, but the group assured me that that was not what we were here to do. We were here to count, not to feed and not to enable the cycle. Perplexed, I wondered how feeding someone kept them homeless…wouldn’t  it just keep them healthy and alive?

Finally, we met a couple named Mike and Chloe, who were traveling from Miami. They said they were trying to get to Maine, and when I asked why, they responded that they were going “home”. As Mike played the drums and Chloe danced around to the beat, they assured me that the money they were collecting was to catch a ride “home”. They didn’t seem down, on the contrary, they seemed to like an adventurous life on the road. Though not quite the average homeless couple, we counted them and headed back to the BID office.

By 12:30, our counting had come to an end. In total we counted 12 people who were experiencing homelessness, some sleeping, some walking, some working and some, just trying to get home. Hopefully, the BID’s count will ensure that all these people find permanent help.

*names have been changed to protect interviewees’ identities.

By: Kelsi Sullivan, NCH Summer Intern

Through being a member of NCH, find out how you can help LGBTQ youth deal with the risk of homelessness. Here is some insight from our summer intern, Meghana Sthanam.

This summer, I am fortunate to be able to advocate for a problem I am truly passionate about: the disproportionately large number of LGBT individuals facing homelessness everyday. I’m originally from Birmingham, Alabama, where, almost unsurprisingly, you find a sizable population of LGBT youth without consistent housing. Most live with friends or stay at clubs, hoping to find a bed for the night by whatever means. Although I recognized the problem, after joining NCH, I realized this is a problem that plagues the entire country. In the general population, 3-5% of people self-identify as LGTBQ. Furthermore, studies have shown that the homeless LGBTQ youth population in theU.S.can be as high as 40%, almost half of the entire homeless population. It’s easy to see that young LGBTQ individuals inherently face greater risks of homelessness and discrimination simply by identifying themselves as a different sexual orientation or gender identity. I believe this issue deserves as much attention as other LGBTQ issues, such as gay marriage and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell; we cannot continue with this ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thinking that has pervaded our culture.

There are so many ways our members can help. For those involved with shelters, whether an employee or shelter resident, using positive language to create a safe haven for LGBTQ individuals is essential.  By simply avoiding derogatory thoughts and actions, you can make a person feel more welcome, especially when that person is coming from a climate in which acceptance is lacking. For our youth members still in school: be a friend! The numbers show that an extremely high percentage of homeless LGBTQ have experienced harassment and abuse within their home and school. Thus, reaching out a friendly hand can make a huge difference in someone’s life. For individuals working with law enforcement, LGBTQ youth compose 13-15% of those currently in the juvenile justice system, often because of the school-to-prison pipeline, abandonment by their family or victimization in their schools. Lastly, to all our members: please continue to be an advocate!

Yesterday evening, NCH hosted an event called “Can You Hear Us?” outdoors in Shevchenko Park, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC . Four members of our Speaker’s Bureau presented their personal stories and advice to a group of young, well-engaged activists.

Each speaker addressed a different issue. David Pirtle began the event by talking about the violence he faced simply because he was homeless. T. Sanders inspired us all to advocate for an issue we feel passionate about. She chose to advocate for at-risk youth; this was due to the fact that she herself was in such a position. John Harrison, addressed the derogatory manor in which he was treated because of his appearance as a “bum.” Lastly, Steve Thomas discussed how one wrong decision can lead to the path of homelessness. Even at 51 years old, Steve said all he needed was his “mommy,” someone to care for him and encourage him to keep going.

While inspired, I was initially disappointed that on the surface, the mission of this event appeared to be unfulfilled. Though the speakers were clearly audible even over the bustling of traffic, they were not truly heard by the many people who chose to walk by. As our last speaker Steve Thomas said, “Homelessness is a matter of convenience for other people.” It was not convenient for most people to come to such an event when more exciting activities than a discussion on homelessness were taking place.  Homelessness is only “convenient” when it personally touches you.

Inevitably, the next question that came to my mind was how do we get this issue to touch others. I realized however, that the answer was to continue doing exactly what we had done. While this event may not have touched many, it transformed the way of thinking for those who attended.

After the event, one member of the audience told me,

“You really grabbed my attention. I have a completely different impression about homelessness than I did before and I would like to become more involved with this issue. Your organization and these speakers have made a great impact today.”

It was then that I understood: while it would have been wonderful if hundreds of people came to this event, our organization was still able to influence at least one person. This one person will in turn influence another person, and one will eventually turn into hundreds. A major goal of our organization is to inspire others to take action and yesterday, we did just that.

A special thanks must once again be given to our four wonderful speakers, without whom, we would not be able to effectively carry out NCH’s mission.

By Sahana Malik