NEOCH Membership Campaign Kicks Off for 2017

I read somewhere that Paul Newman and A. E. Hotchner would sit around a fire during the holidays with a fine scotch to decide on which charitable groups receive the profits from their Newman’s Own food line.  I am not sure that this is true, but it is a great image.  I hope that in these tough times when you gather with family or friends this holiday season that you will invest your hard earned dollars with NEOCH to continue our valuable work on providing Hope to the Homeless.

Social Justice Took a Real Hit This Year--We Need Your Help More Than Ever!

  • It was a rough year for social justice, with hundreds of families showing up seeking shelter and not able to find beds in Cleveland.   Those families are staying in a gymnasium after the City Mission stepped forward to help, but because of changes in national policy priorities, Cleveland lost 444 shelter beds in the last dozen years. 
  • It is going to be a rough year ahead with little opportunity for advocacy at the national level with all the changes in Washington. It is going to be tough to maintain the local guaranteed access to shelter in Cleveland with the huge loss in housing and homeless services expected in 2017.
  • There are only a few public policy homeless organizations left in the United States and we need groups who will get information out to the community about the rapid changes taking place in the social safety net. 

To meet all these challenges, we need a strong public policy group in Cleveland.  We need a group that will tell the public about the extent of the problem and possible solutions.   The community needs a group that has the trust of the media and elected officials to alert them of potential “canaries in the coal mine.”  Cleveland needs a strong resource of where to find shelter and homeless services locally. 

Would your family consider becoming a member of NEOCH to help support the advocacy, HousingCleveland.org, the Street Card and outreach coordination?

 Much of the work that NEOCH does directly benefits your community, such as

  • Working to limit laws that specifically target homeless people.
  • Updating and circulating the Street Card (a regular one, a veteran’s edition and a family edition).
  • Marketing and expanding the affordable housing website, HousingCleveland.org to assist those individuals looking for housing a place to go to find the housing.
  • Meeting with Congressional staff in the district offices and in Washington twice a year to assure that the problems faced by Clevelanders are heard in Congress. 
  • We have convened meetings with homeless people and regularly meet with County Council members and Cleveland City Council members to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness.
  • We gave away a quarter million in winter items as part of our “SocksPlus” campaign in the last year. 

The Coalition began in the mid 1980s, the last time there was such a sharp increase in family homelessness.  We need your support while as we work through this current crisis in family homelessness.    

Please consider joining NEOCH as an individual member and providing financial support, so that we can continue to work to amplify the opinions and recommendations of homeless people, and so that we can continue to bring additional resources to Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.  It is easy to donate:

This next year is going to be critical, and we need your support.  We need a strong local advocacy organization working on homelessness to assure that the interests of homeless families are heard.  Our goal, like yours, is to continue to make a difference in our community and in the lives of those experiencing homelessness in Cuyahoga County.  As partners with schools, shelters, politicians, and food programs, we can continue to work toward the much needed improvements in our community.

Brian Davis

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Chris Knestrickdonate now, membership