Ohio Renters Struggling to Pay Rent Should Send This Letter to Elected Officials

People at-risk in their housing need to share their story with our elected officials. Anyone who is struggling to pay their rent should let Gov. DeWine and our public officials know that now is not the time to be at-risk in your housing. We need a statewide 90-day moratorium on residential rental evictions with tenant protections for all Ohio renters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Molly Martin
Who Benefits from Free RTA Fare during a Pandemic? The Homeless Sheltering-In-No-Place & Low-Income Essential Workers

It is critical that public transit officials acknowledge that there are literally no places besides shelter for people experiencing homelessness to go. Those who are homeless are more likely to ride the bus if it's free, whether or not they are traveling to an essential destination. This is a form of discrimination against those without alternatives, and it also causes unnecessary burden for our community’s essential workers.

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Molly Martin
The Time to Act is Now: Critical Gaps in Cleveland's COVID-19 Homelessness Response

There are nearly 2,000 people utilizing emergency shelters and over 200 people are experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the greater Cleveland area. This pandemic will continue to disproportionately impact the unhoused people in our community, especially since many of the unhoused are over 60 and struggle with COPD, asthma, HIV, and other chronic health conditions. A new report from the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, and Boston University estimates that as many as 40% of people experiencing homelessness could contract the virus, up to 10% could require hospitalization and 2 to 3x as likely to die than the general population. The time to act is now.

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Molly Martin
The Role of Hotels in a Pandemic: How Do You Stay At Home When You Don’t have a Home?

Our community needs to be providing comprehensive support to those “sheltering-in-place” outside. Rather than wait for people experiencing homelessness to grow ill and require quarantine or hospitalization, we can be proactive by putting people who are vulnerable into hotel rooms. Hotel rooms are broadly unoccupied during this crisis and they meet the definition of non-congregate sheltering. What happens when our friends can’t practice social distancing because they must stand in line for shelter and meals? What happens when they can’t stock up on supplies, “go home,” and wait it out?

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Molly Martin
Coronavirus & Homelessness: How Our Community Can Be Prepared

As the number of coronavirus infections continues to rise, people experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable. Many people experiencing homelessness already have compromised health in many ways. Many have no choice but to be in congregate settings for sleeping and meals, which can increase the risk of transmission of the virus from person to person.

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Molly Martin
Determined to Sit on the Beach Looking at Water

“I was so incensed at that moment, I cried with anger. I realized that the utility companies are not very good neighbors, and that this scenario is yet another one of those insidious bricks in America’s system of structural racism,” recalls Garth. “I cried as I realized how easily one can slip into homelessness. I was told that some landlords will evict you if your utilities are off, including CMHA.”

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Molly Martin
New Food Stamp Updates for Homeless Service Providers

1) Homeless individuals can receive SNAP, even if they get meals at a shelter.
2) The 3-month time limit for SNAP is returning on April 1, 2020 in most counties.
3) Anyone unable to attend an in-person “work assessment” at 1641 Payne Ave (VEB Building) can request a good cause exemption by calling 216-987-6820.
4) Those who receive “expedited SNAP” must submit all requested verification to keep getting SNAP beyond the first month.

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Molly Martin
Myth Series #2: #REALFACTONHOMELESSNESS

Our friends at the National Coalition for the Homeless launched the Housing NOW! 2020 campaign, a national call to action that is designed to re-energize local, state, and national advocates to come together to demand a significant increase in federal funding that keeps pace with rising local needs. It is based on the premise that housing is a human right and homelessness is NOT inevitable.

The following myths are part of our Myths of Homelessness series to help expose #RealFactsonHomelessness related to housing, homelessness, and funding.

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Molly Martin
Targeted by The Police for Existing

By: Natalie Ziegler & Joe Gaston

Sleeping, a human necessity, is not free from the racism and classism that shape social and political life in the city of Cleveland. The conventional wisdom about sleep suggests that adults need at least seven hours of sleep in order to stay healthy and function well. Conventional wisdom also suggests that external factors and conditions necessary for an adequate amount of sleep include a comfortable sleeping position in a safe and secure environment.

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Molly Martin