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HOMELESS AND HOUSING MEETING RECAP: MARCH 7, 2023

by midtownsouth

(MSCC) Sharon Jasprizza, Posted: March 23, 2023

SUMMARY

Rob Robinson, Senior Managing Director at Student Leadership Network, Teacher of the Master’s Program Urban Design and Ecology Program at the New School, Special Advisor for Partners for Dignity and Rights Partners for Dignity and Rights: Street Medicine Institute, US Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness (USICH) US Inter-Agency in New York City: All-IN at https://www.usich.gov/all-in. What Is the Federal Strategic Plan? All In is a multi-year, interagency roadmap for a future when no one experiences the tragedy and indignity of homelessness—and everyone has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home.

Rue Parkin, Executive Director, helpNYC: “Radical care village” and LavaMae, a nonprofit provider of mobile hygiene services, started a pop-up village in San Francisco in 2016. Lavamaex.org

CHAIR: John Mudd

POLICY MEETING UPDATES for 8.30 AM prior meeting 

John Mudd and Charisma White, MSCC discussed the the mayor’s program that removes homeless people from streets to shelters: 

  • The real issue is being avoided and the optics of doing something is present with this plan
  • Where are they going after hospitalization?
  • Where are the real solutions?
  • Rykers is the largest prison system and considered to be the largest mental institution in the nation
  • Charisma White, nyccoc, Safety net, MSCC, and The City and State want homeless people to live in shelters, but there is no support in shelters. Shelters should only be short term transitory solutions
  • John Mudd, MSCC,is working on the updates to the midtownsouthcc.org website. If anyone can help, please get in touch with john.mudd@usa.net
    • There is content management, design, and technical implementation which needs oversight
  • John Mudd, MSCC, updated the work of the Health Committee and the recent win for the NY Municipal Retirees.: The NYC Council decided NOT to amend the rules of the administrative code’s that would allow the mayor to force retirees into an corporate managed care. The Mayor will continue his push but the retirees will commence legal actions to stop him. Please get in touch with john.mudd@usa.net for more info and if you wish to be part of the work
  • John Mudd: The Penn Station development is on hold, Senator Comrie says the deal is dead. Vornado has been dreaming about their river to river commercial village for 30 years and will likely pick it back up.

CHATBOX

  • André P.: The City and State want homeless people to go to shelters but do nothing to make shelters any less dangerous and abusive. People stay outside for good reasons
  • Charisma White, nyccoc, Safety net, MSCC, The shelter has to have something more appealing than the streets because right now, the streets look better

FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION(S) AND OR UPDATES: 

Rue Parkin, Executive Director, helpNYC Corporation, rue.parkin@helpNYC.org, https://www.helpNYC.org, https://helpNYC.link/follow

  • Resource Navigator is now launched on all the NYC Link towers throughout NYC. https://helpNYC.link/follow, Resource Navigator: https://www.helpNYC.info
  • Upcoming Events, AWARE BRONX, https://helpNYC.link/awarebronx, April 14th. To table at AWARE BRONX, please join http://helpNYC.link/exhibitaware
  • We are looking for organizations to provide on-the-spot triage care. This is part of the radical care village” project across the city. LavaMae, a nonprofit provider of mobile hygiene services, started pop-up villages in San Francisco in 2016. Lavamaex.org
  • Spoken Word Jam and Resource Fair, April 13, 2023, at 6:00 PM
  • Garden Party, http://www.helpNYC.org/garden, May 23rd
  • Mpox Research Roundtable – Recording, http://helpNYC.link/mpoxevent

Christopher Policano and Tom Ferrugia, The Broadway League, wants support to block any Casino from coming to Times Square

  • CB5 is concerned about the effects on low-income housing, and the vulnerabilities of some people to gambling
  • John Mudd will bring this topic of casinos to another meeting
  • Broadway theaters has shapes the culture in Midtown

Rob Robinson, Partners for Dignity and Rights

  • Casinos will push people out
  • The drug of profit is rarely satisfied, so it is continually pushed even though collateral damage is enormous

CHATBOX

  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC Boston’s only doctor still making house calls for the homeless: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boston-doctor-jim-oconnell-house-calls-to-the-homeless/
  • André P, NYC has a program to provide healthcare to city residents regardless of ability to pay. Do you know if it works (or doesn’t work) for unsheltered homeless people?
  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC: Care for the Homeless, CFH, has clinics all over the city that exclusively works with those who are unhoused or in shelters
  • Janice Ollivierre, How can I get an HCV voucher?
  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC, HCV’s are Section 8 Vouchers….you have to join the waiting list when they open it.  It should open the waiting list in the Fall
  • Philip Malebranche, Care for the Homeless, Board member, CAB, Care For the Homeless, provides street medicine services. Tracy Kidder has written a book on Jim O’Connell in Boston, a doctor in this work. Philip Malebranche, Care For the Homeless: Philip, board member, CAB, Care For the Homeless
  • André P, Project Renewal medical buses only take people with Medicaid
  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC: The Housing First approach to homelessness. See Lloyd Pendleton at https://youtube.com/watch?v=5nys6iebjHw&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
  • André P, California proposes enacting a right to shelter and an “obligation to accept.” That could quickly morph into concentration camps for the homeless. There are also people who prefer a nomadic lifestyle, modern or traditional
  • André P, I confirm what Charisma says: shelter caseworkers send people on useless appointments that interfere with their work, (self-)education, or search for employment or housing
  • André P, you have a right to a bed, but only in the shelter you’ve been assigned, even for a year after you leave. If you’ve been mistreated in that shelter and left, no other shelter or drop-in center is allowed to take you in
  • Jay Jarvis, Financial Professional, 646-515-6047
  • Sueranna Antoine, MainChance Drop-in Center is at 120 East 32nd Street, between Park and Lexington Avenue.  A food pantry is a tomorrow, every second Wednesday from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM, and three meals a day, breakfast at 8.00 AM, lunch at 1.30 PM, and dinner between 4.00 PM – 6.00 PM. Sueranna will update John Mudd with the quantity of food MSCC donates from its urban farm weekly to Main Chance

NATIONAL RESOLUTIONS FOR HOMELESSNESS

Rob Robinson, Senior Managing Director at Student Leadership Network, Teacher of the Master’s Program Urban Design and Ecology Program at the New School, Special Advisor for Partners for Dignity and Rights Partners for Dignity and Rights 

  • Street Medicine Institute invited Rob to India because of his belief that housing and health are human rights. Rob met with the Street Medicine Institute in India over the last two weeks, arriving in New York last night. Rob met with Dr. Jim Withers, from Pittsburg, the leader of the Street Medicine Institute, which initially started with Mother Teresa in India, bringing health care to people living on the streets. The Mission: Inspiring and equipping communities worldwide to provide Street Medicine services to persons experiencing rough-sleeping homelessness.’

“Jim Withers, M.D., an internal medicine physician and the founder of Operation Safety Net in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the country’s first full-time “street medicine” practices. So, it should probably come as no surprise that when Dr. Withers checks on a patient living under a bridge, he’s not only treating a wounded body—he’s hoping to heal the soul of the medical profession itself.” 

“The people most at risk are my fellow doctors and me,” says Dr. Withers. “Our soul is dying. There is a sacred moment when you step outside of business as usual into the reality of people in need.” Dr. Withers believes that patients and physicians need to be liberated from the confines of an impersonal medical system mainly designed for practitioners’ comfort. “We need to get close to and respect the people we serve,” Dr. Withers says.

In 1992, Dr. Withers took to the streets, carrying his backpack of medical supplies to serve those who call Pittsburgh’s alleyways, riverbanks, and highway overpasses home. “I dressed like a homeless person because I wanted this to be a visual call to action to my peers,” Dr. Withers says. When others joined the work, Operation Safety Net was formed as part of the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System and Catholic Health East.” https://www.samhsa.gov/homelessness-programs-resources/hpr-resources/street-medicine-pioneer-heals-homeless

‘What is the Street Medicine™ Institute? https://www.streetmedicine.org/

The Street Medicine Institute (SMI) facilitates and enhances the direct provision of health care to the unsheltered homeless where they live. SMI provides communities and clinicians with expert training, guidance, and support to develop and grow their Street Medicine programs. SMI has become the global leader in developing the field and practice of Street Medicine and has helped cultivate or improve Street Medicine programs in over 140 cities in 27 countries across six continents. SMI is also a membership community that enables professionals and other individuals interested in the Street Medicine movement to collaborate to provide peer support, share best practices, seek advice, and learn about key concepts necessary for a successful Street Medicine program.

  • Rob met Corrine and Brett, who carry out this work on the streets in LA out of their SUV, loaded with medical supplies, delivering medical care at night.
  • Rob suggests that people connect with this group
  • On February 16, 2023, Rob met the Executive Director, Jeff Olivet, and Regional Director, Nichele Carver, from the US Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness (USICH), visiting people with lived experience and viewing the homeless situation in NY. The Obama administration started the USICH in 2010 to end homelessness in 10 years. It was realized that the goal was extensive, so the first focus was on veteran homelessness
  • Marcy Thompson, Director of Policy Initiatives, USICH, was the person who connected Rob with Jeff and Nichele. Rob met Marcy about ten years ago when the USICH was started. Marcy knew of Rob’s work with the Continuum of Care and has stayed in contact with Rob
  • The USICH has reorganized itself from 34 to 19 agencies, a new plan called All In to end homelessness by 2035, and a new 2-year goal to reduce homelessness around the country by 25%. It has new goals, which are copied below
  • Jeff and Nichele are concerned about the current approach in NYC of removing people from the streets
  • Jeff and Nichele are very influential on policy within departments such as HUD, Health and Human Services, and Department of Justice in terms of criminalization 
  • Rob is hoping for a more extended meeting with USICH when it returns to NY
  • RESEARCH for All-IN at https://www.usich.gov/all-in, What Is the Federal Strategic Plan? All In is a multi-year, interagency roadmap for a future when no one experiences the tragedy and indignity of homelessness—and everyone has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home.

Read All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.

USICH developed the plan with the collective thinking of 19 federal agencies that comprise the USICH Council. It will be updated annually to reflect the latest evidence, progress, and input.

To develop All In, USICH undertook a comprehensive and inclusive input process that included more than 1,500 online comments and 81 listening sessions that gathered feedback from thousands of providers, elected officials, advocates, and others—including over 500 who have experienced homelessness. The process included people from nearly 650 communities, tribes, and territories.

All In sets an ambitious goal to reduce homelessness by 25% by 2025 and encourages state and local governments to use the plan as a blueprint for developing their strategic plans and setting their own ambitious goals for 2025.

The plan is built around six pillars: three foundations—equity, data and evidence, and collaboration—and three solutions—housing and support, crisis response, and prevention. Within each pillar are strategies and actions that lay the groundwork for a future when no one experiences homelessness—not even for one night.

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DISCUSSION

  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC, spoke about groups who do street medicine nationwide. Rue notes it’s essential that NY has a full-time team of doctors on the street, so it becomes a continuum of care program
  • John Mudd, MSCC, asked about CCIT and others doing outreach in NY
  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC, suggests the following Ted Talk “The Housing First approach to homelessness” | Lloyd Pendleton, who talks about how his life changed at https://youtube.com/watch?v=5nys6iebjHw&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
  • Charisma White, nyccoc, Safety net, MSCC, notes that it’s not about whether people want to be on the streets or in shelters; it is about the system being effective for people to navigate; shelters have to be better than being on the streets; it’s about housing people correctly, at the moment in the shelter system people are moving backward. We need people to progress

ACTIONS

  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC, will connect MSCC with Jordyn Rosenthal, Advocacy coordinator at Community Access, https://www.communityaccess.org/home
  • Rob Robinson, Partners for Dignity and Rights, will connect Rue with Jim Withers because of the connection Rue has with the streets
  • Rob Robinson, Partners for Dignity and Right, suggests we learn more about Harsh Mander, an Indian social activist who works with victims of communal or religious motivated violence. He is the Director of the Center of Equity Studies; he fears his life because of his work. See the article by The Indian Express, March 21, 2023, at https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/harsh-mander-demolitions-of-homeless-shelters-in-delhi-supreme-court-8503969/
  • Rue Parkin, helpNYC, suggests we work with the shelter system to reform it so the bottleneck is eliminated. The policies that make shelters unattractive need to be addressed
  • John Mudd, MSCC, will connect with Rue Parkin to work on shelters. John will email Rue the work MSCC has already done before the Pandemic about reforming shelters

PUBLIC CONCERNS

  • John Mudd, MSCC, spoke about the Urban Farm Program and asked for volunteers to support the farm in midtown and upstate. The farms produce much food, and with more support, MSCC candistribute more fresh food
  • Alex HS Yong, WSNA NYC, Anti-warehousing coalition

https://facebook.com/EndApartmentWarehousing, Twitter: https://Twitter.com/nywarehousing

https://facebook.com/hashtag/Intro195

The sponsors of Intro 195 and its authors are making progress in ironing out a few wrinkles. The sponsors aren’t the authors. Essentially the bill would let tenants inform HPD via 311 of physical problems where the root cause is believed to be one or more.
Warehoused apartments. The bill would force landlords to invite HPD to inspect empty flats in the building. For more info, contact Sue Susman or visit endwarehousing.org.

  • Philip Malebranche, Care for the Homeless, Board member, CAB, Care for the Homeless, provides street medicine services. Tracy Kidder has written a book on Jim O’Connell in Boston, a doctor in this work. Philip Malebranche, Care For the Homeless: Philip, board member, CAB, Care For the Homeless. Philip will email John with some of his writing
  • Danielle Mindess, Project Director, Midtown Community Court, runs Community First, a homeless outreach service at Times Square, focusing on trust, relationship building, and connecting people to services. Looking for funding opportunities to support this work throughout Midtown

ACTIONS

  • John Mudd. MSCC will connect Danielle with Isaac Alderstein regarding medical outreach and will see if the Doctors Advocacy group is interested in discussing an ongoing group with the Community First program

NEXT Meeting Homeless and Housing Meeting: 9:30 AM Tuesday, April 4, 2023, Always the 1st Tuesday of every month

Contact hello@midtownsouthcc.org or john.mudd@usa.net for more information and Zoom invitations.