Possible lead...

Washington, D.C.'s homeless population may not have homes, but they do have a political voice.

Interview with Mark Raymond

This interview was conducted on April 11 with Mark Raymond, the head of administration at the Community Center for Non-Violence (CCNV).

Well, I can't seem to upload the audio from the interview onto this blog, so I am going to ask our wonderful professor how to do this in class!

However, in essence, Mr. Raymond said that homeless people vote and think about politics in the exact same way that non-homeless people do. When they register for food stamps, they are also given the option to register to vote. He said many of them have very educated backgrounds, so their understanding of the elections, candidates and politics in general is just as comprehensive as someone who is not homeless. In addition, at the CCNV, there are many forms of media from where the residents can get political information such as televisions, radios and various newspapers.

Quotes from Interview #1

The following quotes were from an interview with Professor Melodie Toby. She is a professor of Business Ethics courses at Kean University and is soon to be a member of the sociology department. Professor Toby has done lots of work with social justice and has had discussion with students about the homeless demographic. The following interview these quotes begins from talking about a class discussion Toby had about the relationship between government and corporations in regards to the homeless...

Notable Quotes:
"Those who are homeless are probably in survival mode and need help to be included in the political process. Community organizations, faith based organizations, and other non-governmental organizations are probably best equipped to help the homeless find a voice that would give them a fighting chance to be considered when benefits are distributed in society."

"I don’t see them participating without assistance from concerned individuals especially with regard to ensuring that the residency rules are met and their votes are validated. They need to be informed citizens...Voting is a step toward empowerment and it is important to assist them with getting to that first step."

When asked how concerned she believes the homeless population is with voting..
"They may be in survival mode as mentioned earlier but voting is a low risk strategy to moving beyond survival and possibly improving their situation."

April 16, 2008

Interview Ideas

Interview Subjects:

Mark Raymond-Head of Administration at the Creative Center for Non Violence (CCNV):
202-393-1909

Various residents of the CCNV, we will have the opportunity to talk to numerous men and women on day of our visit

Research Piece #2

Street Sense: Where the Washington area's poor and homeless earn and give their two cents, is a newspaper published to highlight issues of homelessness and poverty, specifically in the District. Some of the articles are written by members of the homeless population themselves. I picked up this paper from a homeless man in DC who was selling it outside of the CVS in Tenleytown. He was really greatful that I purchased the paper and took the time to speak with him in the middle of my day. He wished me a happy day, and told me that him and the rest of the homeless people in the area just want their voices to be heard.

This is an article in Street Sense that I wanted to use for our 2nd piece of research:
"Millions in Cuts to Aid Part of President's Budget Plan"
On Feb. 4, 2008, President Bush announced his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2009, which, if adopted, could lead to significant funding cuts at some programs designed to help homeless and low-income men and women.

The Emergency Food and Shelter program:
Bush proposed cutting $53 million, or a little more than a third of the funding of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Food and Shelter program. That program provides shelter, eviction prevention and food assistance to homeless people in the case of emergency.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program:
In the president's budget, funding for LIHEAP would be cut by $570 million, a 22% drop from last year's levels. LIHEAP provides money to low-income homeowners to help them pay for home heating and cooling costs.

Substance abuse and mental health services:
The president's 2009 budget proposed cutting $19 million from mental health and substance-abuse treatment and prevention programs.

Housing for the elderly and persons with disabilities:
These programs, which provide very low-income seniors and persons with disabilities with housing and other opportunities would lose more than $270 million under the president's proposed budget.

Job training:
The president's budget proposed cutting funding for employment and career centers from $820 million in 2007 to just $29 million in 2009. The budget would also reduce funding for job-training and employment services

Housing programs:
Bush proposed to cut public housing funds by $415 million from last year's levels, including $4.1 million from DC.


This article really stood out to me because it is especially relevant with our statement that DC's homeless are the lost demographic. Bush's budget cuts are thoughtless and prove that few recognize the need to help the homeless people in DC. With this upcoming election, it is especially important for the homeless people to vote and express their opinions when they are being effected so heavily.

The DC Homelessness Survival Guide

The Top 10 Best Places for D.C.'s homeless...(great article!)
http://gridskipper.com/357551/the-dc-homelessness-survival-guide

Research Piece #1

The U.S. Census Bureau does not produce counts of the population experiencing homelessness. However, special procedures were developed to ensure the Census 2000 included people without conventional housing, who may be missed in the traditional enumeration of housing units and group quarters.

These special procedures included counting people living at emergency and transitional shelters, receiving services at facilities providing free meals, as well as people staying at identifiable outdoor locations. Thus, these special procedures were designed to include in the overall population count people who might otherwise be missed during our regular enumeration.
(U.S. Census Bureau: https://ask.census.gov/cgi-bin/askcensus.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=316&p_created=1078412711&p_sid=VJSaiO_i&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MSwxJnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1ob21lbGVzcw**&p_li=&p_topview=1 )

Census 2000 Statistics: Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population
http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/censr01-2.pdf