One homeless woman told us that her building manager where she rented before she became homeless was a devout Christian who entered her apartment when she wasn't home and smashed up her Buddhist altar.
Another homeless woman who took Yoga at a gym while at a shelter says that the employment person there was a devout Christian who was horrified when she saw an image of a Hindu deity on her cell phone and would not work with her to find work telling other residents there "She isn't even a Christian."
A homeless man who grew up Jewish told us that at a shelter where he was staying he joined in Bible Study because he heard that people who did were favored by management. He feels no guilt in even claiming to be a Christian while there if it was what it took to get him housing.
Another person told us that the shelter where they stayed was taking all kinds of government funds but were pushing the Bible and that there was a school bus picking up people to take them to a certain ministry at another shelter on Sunday mornings.
A woman told us that other residents did not want to share a room with her because she was not Christian and that they called her "Satan possessed."
THIS SHIT HAPPENS and we don't think RELIGIOUS DESCRIMINATION should be tolerated in any program that takes government funds. It's one thing though for other homeless to be discriminatory and another for case managers, employment office workers, and shelter management to discriminate.
Showing posts with label Homeless Bill of Rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeless Bill of Rights. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
INDIANAPOLIS' INNOVATIVE HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS SHOULD SET EXAMPLE FOR OTHER CITIES - IMPORTANT!
THINKPROGRESS - INDIANAPOLIS HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS full article by Bryce Covert
EXCERPT:
As of January, volunteers counted 1,897 city residents going without shelter or permanent housing, a 19 percent increase over the year before. The bill ensures this population a number of rights, such as the right to move freely in public spaces, a reasonable expectation of privacy for their belongings, equal treatment by city agencies, and access to emergency medical care.
It also restricts the ways the city can interact with them. It would be required to give 15 days notice before displacing a homeless person from an encampment, although an amendment gives police the power to circumvent the requirement in case of emergency. The city would also have to store a displaced person’s belongings for 60 days and connect him with nonprofits that offer transitional housing and other assistance.
The version passed on Monday was narrowed from an original one that didn’t have enough support. A provision that would have protected the homeless from employment discrimination was taken out, as was funding for a new homeless engagement center, which has been broken out into a different proposal
...
But supporters point out that the bill isn’t just about increased protection for homeless people. It’s also about finances. “It is much more cost-effective to provide support services and assistance to those experiencing homelessness in our city, than to arrest them,” Councilman LeRoy Robinson (D) told The IndyStar. There’s plenty of evidence to back this idea up. A study in Florida found it costs the state $31,065 in medical and incarceration costs per each chronically homeless person left on the streets every year, compared to the $10,051 cost of giving the same person permanent housing and services like health care and job training. A shelter in Fort Lyon, Colorado will cost less than $17,000 per person versus the $43,240 it costs to leave her unsheltered and interacting with the police and hospital systems. An apartment complex intended for the homeless in Charlotte, North Carolina saved $1.8 million.
The Indianapolis bill is modeled after laws in Rhode Island and Illinois. Rhode Island’s law enshrines their right to move freely in public spaces, get equal treatment by state and municipal agencies, seek emergency medical care, and expect privacy for their belongings as well as additional protection from employment discrimination, voter discrimination, and the disclosure of records and information. Illinois protects the homeless from discrimination based on homeless status, including in employment. Connecticut also enacted a bill of rights in 2013 with nearly identical provisions as Rhode Island’s. Seven other states and two cities have considered such legislation.
EXCERPT:
As of January, volunteers counted 1,897 city residents going without shelter or permanent housing, a 19 percent increase over the year before. The bill ensures this population a number of rights, such as the right to move freely in public spaces, a reasonable expectation of privacy for their belongings, equal treatment by city agencies, and access to emergency medical care.
It also restricts the ways the city can interact with them. It would be required to give 15 days notice before displacing a homeless person from an encampment, although an amendment gives police the power to circumvent the requirement in case of emergency. The city would also have to store a displaced person’s belongings for 60 days and connect him with nonprofits that offer transitional housing and other assistance.
...
But supporters point out that the bill isn’t just about increased protection for homeless people. It’s also about finances. “It is much more cost-effective to provide support services and assistance to those experiencing homelessness in our city, than to arrest them,” Councilman LeRoy Robinson (D) told The IndyStar. There’s plenty of evidence to back this idea up. A study in Florida found it costs the state $31,065 in medical and incarceration costs per each chronically homeless person left on the streets every year, compared to the $10,051 cost of giving the same person permanent housing and services like health care and job training. A shelter in Fort Lyon, Colorado will cost less than $17,000 per person versus the $43,240 it costs to leave her unsheltered and interacting with the police and hospital systems. An apartment complex intended for the homeless in Charlotte, North Carolina saved $1.8 million.
The Indianapolis bill is modeled after laws in Rhode Island and Illinois. Rhode Island’s law enshrines their right to move freely in public spaces, get equal treatment by state and municipal agencies, seek emergency medical care, and expect privacy for their belongings as well as additional protection from employment discrimination, voter discrimination, and the disclosure of records and information. Illinois protects the homeless from discrimination based on homeless status, including in employment. Connecticut also enacted a bill of rights in 2013 with nearly identical provisions as Rhode Island’s. Seven other states and two cities have considered such legislation.
Friday, August 9, 2013
NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS ASKS YOU TO HELP GET THAT HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS PASSED
NATONAL COALITION FOR HOMELESS - BILL OF RIGHTS ACTION link to this paragraph.
July 26, 2013: Is your state legislator considering a Homeless Bill of Rights? Show your support and be heard by sending a letter to your State Representative or Senator. Click here to take action!
You will go to this statement:
Homeless Person's Bill of Rights Legislation
Years of research and advocacy around criminalization of homelessness and increasing violence committed against people experiencing homelessness has shown that added protections are needed to preserve the civil rights of people experiencing homelessness. NCH staff work to educate public officials and local advocates about the importance of passing protections for those without housing in the United States.
July 26, 2013: Is your state legislator considering a Homeless Bill of Rights? Show your support and be heard by sending a letter to your State Representative or Senator. Click here to take action!
You will go to this statement:
Homeless Person's Bill of Rights Legislation
Years of research and advocacy around criminalization of homelessness and increasing violence committed against people experiencing homelessness has shown that added protections are needed to preserve the civil rights of people experiencing homelessness. NCH staff work to educate public officials and local advocates about the importance of passing protections for those without housing in the United States.
We support the efforts of local advocates to pass Bill of Rights measures that include:
• Protections against segregation, laws targeting homeless people for their lack of housing and not their
behavior, and restrictions on the use of public space.
• Privacy protections for those experiencing homelessness, and the ability to vote or feel safe in the community.
• Providing broad access to shelter, social services, legal counsel and a quality education for the children of homeless families.
The following cities and states have passed or are considering homeless rights legislation:
California | Connecticut | Delaware | Illinois | Baltimore, Maryland | Minnesota | Missouri
Oregon | Puerto Rico | Rhode Island | Tennessee | Vermont | Madison, Wisconsin
* Is your state legislator considering a Homeless Bill of Rights? Show your support and be heard by sending a letter to your State Representative or Senator. Download our sample letter here!
For more information on homeless bills of rights, please contact Michael Stoops, the Director of Community Organizing, at mstoops@nationalhomeless.org or 202.462.4822 x234.
• Protections against segregation, laws targeting homeless people for their lack of housing and not their
behavior, and restrictions on the use of public space.
• Privacy protections for those experiencing homelessness, and the ability to vote or feel safe in the community.
• Providing broad access to shelter, social services, legal counsel and a quality education for the children of homeless families.
The following cities and states have passed or are considering homeless rights legislation:
California | Connecticut | Delaware | Illinois | Baltimore, Maryland | Minnesota | Missouri
Oregon | Puerto Rico | Rhode Island | Tennessee | Vermont | Madison, Wisconsin
* Is your state legislator considering a Homeless Bill of Rights? Show your support and be heard by sending a letter to your State Representative or Senator. Download our sample letter here!
For more information on homeless bills of rights, please contact Michael Stoops, the Director of Community Organizing, at mstoops@nationalhomeless.org or 202.462.4822 x234.
Friday, April 26, 2013
TOM AMMIANO'S HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS MOVES FORWARD TOWARD ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
RAW STORY : HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS link - one of many stories hitting the Internet this morning. See below for our commentary on Bill Handel, KFI Radio's, commentary this morning.
BILL HANDEL FKI AM 640 RADIO LINK
*******************************************
The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, would allow homeless people in California to legally sit, sleep and ask for donations in public without the threat of being arrested or cited. The bill would also allow homeless to reside in parks 24/7, regardless of their operating hours.
Ammiano explained the bill’s primary goal was to stop the criminalization of homelessness. Bill supporter and Coalition on Homelessness organizer Lisa Marie Alatorre told the SF Examiner:
“This bill calls for the immediate end of criminalizing homelessness. We need to stop allowing that to be our response to economic problems.”
The proposal lays out a “bill of rights” for people who are homeless including the right to:
“… move freely, rest, solicit donations, pray, meditate, or practice religion, and to eat, share, accept, or give food and water in public spaces without being subject to criminal or civil sanctions, harassment or arrest.”
If passed, the state would also be required to set up “health and hygiene centers” to provide showers and restrooms for the homeless 24 hours a day. Additionally, legal assistance must be available for anyone issued a citation for an activity related to their housing status.
While the state would foot the bill for these costs, the final price tag is still not known. Ammiano told the committee:
“Citations, arrests and jail time do not solve homelessness. They just route crucial public dollars that could be spent on housing to an already impacted court and corrections system.”
The new proposal would override San Francisco’s sit-lie ordinance passed in 2010 by voters. Sit-lie ordinances, though, would remain enforceable in cities that meet certain criteria, including having available public housing and have not been identified as “an area of concentrated unemployment.”
But sit-lie ordinances would be enforceable if strict criteria are met: the county provides adequate welfare assistance, the city isn’t identified by the U.S. Department of Labor as an area of concentrated unemployment, and the county’s public housing waiting list contains fewer than 50 people.
Assemblyman Donald Wagner, who voted against the bill Tuesday, told the committee:
“The homeless situation in San Francisco is going to be very much different from the homeless situation in Fresno, Los Angeles or central Orange County. By Sacramento passing this law, it doesn’t allow those cities to fix their own problems.”
While many local governments and business groups are in opposition of the bill, they’re probably thankful the current amended version of the bill no longer includes the controversial provision that would have legalized public urination by the homeless.
The legislation, passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee with a 7-2 vote, will now head to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations...
*****************************************
We heard the news as part of Bill Handel's Commentary on KFI this morning. He mentioned that people say to him that he hates the homeless. Well, we did get the impression, but we think Bill is mostly IGNORANT like a lot of people who rarely come in contact with homeless. As a lawyer Bill has legal knowledge that a lot of people don't have. He mentioned that this comes down to being a revenue issue. He mentioned that while SIDEWALKS are public property, what does a business owner do when some homeless guy is peeing on the sidewalk in front of your business. He also mentioned that Amiano sees this as a HUMANITARIAN ISSUE and so there will be LOCAL HYGIENE STATIONS open 24 hours a day so that homeless can have a place to wash, pee, whatever.
Needless to say we are all for THE HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS and feel grateful that Tom Ammiano had the guts to bring up the issue. He is representing ALL THE PEOPLE including HOMELESS PEOPLE, who are usually THE POOREST OF THE POOR. He's right that people who were never criminals are considered criminals just because they have nowhere else to go. Homeless people are transient because they are moved along by police wherever they go. Being harrassed from one community to the next, trying to stay out of trouble means walking till you can't walk anymore, going hungry or panhandling for money to feed yourself, and being under constant stress. Then some people yell at you to go get a job.
BILL HANDEL FKI AM 640 RADIO LINK
*******************************************
The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, would allow homeless people in California to legally sit, sleep and ask for donations in public without the threat of being arrested or cited. The bill would also allow homeless to reside in parks 24/7, regardless of their operating hours.
Ammiano explained the bill’s primary goal was to stop the criminalization of homelessness. Bill supporter and Coalition on Homelessness organizer Lisa Marie Alatorre told the SF Examiner:
“This bill calls for the immediate end of criminalizing homelessness. We need to stop allowing that to be our response to economic problems.”
The proposal lays out a “bill of rights” for people who are homeless including the right to:
“… move freely, rest, solicit donations, pray, meditate, or practice religion, and to eat, share, accept, or give food and water in public spaces without being subject to criminal or civil sanctions, harassment or arrest.”
If passed, the state would also be required to set up “health and hygiene centers” to provide showers and restrooms for the homeless 24 hours a day. Additionally, legal assistance must be available for anyone issued a citation for an activity related to their housing status.
While the state would foot the bill for these costs, the final price tag is still not known. Ammiano told the committee:
“Citations, arrests and jail time do not solve homelessness. They just route crucial public dollars that could be spent on housing to an already impacted court and corrections system.”
The new proposal would override San Francisco’s sit-lie ordinance passed in 2010 by voters. Sit-lie ordinances, though, would remain enforceable in cities that meet certain criteria, including having available public housing and have not been identified as “an area of concentrated unemployment.”
But sit-lie ordinances would be enforceable if strict criteria are met: the county provides adequate welfare assistance, the city isn’t identified by the U.S. Department of Labor as an area of concentrated unemployment, and the county’s public housing waiting list contains fewer than 50 people.
Assemblyman Donald Wagner, who voted against the bill Tuesday, told the committee:
“The homeless situation in San Francisco is going to be very much different from the homeless situation in Fresno, Los Angeles or central Orange County. By Sacramento passing this law, it doesn’t allow those cities to fix their own problems.”
While many local governments and business groups are in opposition of the bill, they’re probably thankful the current amended version of the bill no longer includes the controversial provision that would have legalized public urination by the homeless.
The legislation, passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee with a 7-2 vote, will now head to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations...
*****************************************
We heard the news as part of Bill Handel's Commentary on KFI this morning. He mentioned that people say to him that he hates the homeless. Well, we did get the impression, but we think Bill is mostly IGNORANT like a lot of people who rarely come in contact with homeless. As a lawyer Bill has legal knowledge that a lot of people don't have. He mentioned that this comes down to being a revenue issue. He mentioned that while SIDEWALKS are public property, what does a business owner do when some homeless guy is peeing on the sidewalk in front of your business. He also mentioned that Amiano sees this as a HUMANITARIAN ISSUE and so there will be LOCAL HYGIENE STATIONS open 24 hours a day so that homeless can have a place to wash, pee, whatever.
Needless to say we are all for THE HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS and feel grateful that Tom Ammiano had the guts to bring up the issue. He is representing ALL THE PEOPLE including HOMELESS PEOPLE, who are usually THE POOREST OF THE POOR. He's right that people who were never criminals are considered criminals just because they have nowhere else to go. Homeless people are transient because they are moved along by police wherever they go. Being harrassed from one community to the next, trying to stay out of trouble means walking till you can't walk anymore, going hungry or panhandling for money to feed yourself, and being under constant stress. Then some people yell at you to go get a job.
Friday, January 4, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO ASSEMBLYMAN TOM AMMIANO introducing CALIFORNIA HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS
CALIFORNIA HOMELESS BILL OF RIGHTS introduced by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco).
The California homeless rights legislation follows intense advocacy by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, Jericho: A Voice for Justice, the Western Regional Advocacy Project and other organizations.
"We need to stop criminalizing the behavior of people who have nowhere else to turn," said California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. "The Homeless Persons' Bill of Rights begins to give us a framework for appropriate approaches to protecting our communities and those who are vulnerable."
The California Homeless Persons' Bill of Rights and Fairness Act would guarantee certain rights for homeless people across the state, including:
•Freedom from discrimination in law enforcement,
•Freedom from discrimination in employment,
•Freedom from discrimination in housing and shelter,
•Freedom from discrimination in public benefits,
•Protection of the right to use public space,
•Protection of the right to keep personal property,
•Protection of the right to engage in life-sustaining activities,
•Protection of the right to legal counsel when prosecuted.
UPDATE AUGUST 2013 - PLEASE SEE OUR SIDEBAR FOR VOTING INFORMATION. YES YOU CAN VOTE THOUGH HOMELESS!
The California homeless rights legislation follows intense advocacy by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, Jericho: A Voice for Justice, the Western Regional Advocacy Project and other organizations.
"We need to stop criminalizing the behavior of people who have nowhere else to turn," said California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. "The Homeless Persons' Bill of Rights begins to give us a framework for appropriate approaches to protecting our communities and those who are vulnerable."
The California Homeless Persons' Bill of Rights and Fairness Act would guarantee certain rights for homeless people across the state, including:
•Freedom from discrimination in law enforcement,
•Freedom from discrimination in employment,
•Freedom from discrimination in housing and shelter,
•Freedom from discrimination in public benefits,
•Protection of the right to use public space,
•Protection of the right to keep personal property,
•Protection of the right to engage in life-sustaining activities,
•Protection of the right to legal counsel when prosecuted.
UPDATE AUGUST 2013 - PLEASE SEE OUR SIDEBAR FOR VOTING INFORMATION. YES YOU CAN VOTE THOUGH HOMELESS!
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