The Route Taken to Meet Brian Davis While Serving Homeless People

by Denise Moore

On my route, serving homeless people, I would have people ask me, “Hey, do you know Jim Schlecht,” or “Hey Denise, do you know Brian Davis or do you work with NEOCH?”  My answer would always be the same…”NO, I do not know these men and I have never heard of NEOCH.”  I was told by the homeless population that these were wonderful men who do a lot to help the homeless population in Cleveland. 

My clients would tell me how they were filling out applications for housing and how they were selling the street newspaper to make a few bucks.  They always referred to programs that NEOCH ran.  The names of these men and NEOCH just kept popping up.  I was learning from the people on the streets about Brian Davis and the organization called NEOCH. 

I met a guy named Tyrone who was a NEOCH outreach worker and he seemed to be knowledgeable about resources available for the homeless.  He wanted me to meet Brian Davis, the Executive Director of NEOCH, and the man who was behind all the programming at NEOCH.  Tyrone suggested I apply for the open outreach training position at NEOCH.  I was hired. I learned a lot during the street outreach training. I learned about advocacy.  I, also, quickly saw that NEOCH was the missing piece to my puzzle of street outreach in Cleveland.

Brian has advocated on behalf of the homeless in Cleveland for 23 years.  When Brian was not at work advocating for the homeless, he was educating people and trying to organize individuals and groups to work together to come up with solutions to prevent homelessness.  He has involved the media to gain attention to issues that are urgent and need quick answers to avert a crisis. 

Brian’s goal was to amplify the voice of the homeless and bring attention to their plight.  Brian saw that homeless people were often a forgotten sector of our society.  He took the rights and issues of homeless individuals to city hall, to County Council, to the individuals who lead the shelters. Basically, he took upon himself the struggles of homeless individuals and families and he has taken their hardships to the people who could do something about it.  Brian’s most recent fight being the struggle to reform the horrible and unsafe living conditions at the women’s shelter on Payne Avenue.

He has worked hard to ensure that the homeless are treated with dignity and respect; that they are organized and empowered to change the things that stand in their way of having a productive life. Brian developed and led a program for homeless individuals to earn some money in a way that was not humiliating for them. They could sell the homeless newspaper, the Street Chronicle, and earn money on each paper they sold.  The paper is not only sold by homeless but written by them as well.  It gives them a way to have a legitimate income. There is also the Street Voices program that allows people who were formerly homeless to tell their stories in churches, schools and businesses.

He involves media, social justice groups and social service providers to bring the plight of the homeless to light with the goal of community leaders making changes.  Brian and NEOCH staff have hosted special training seminars and regular meetings to help keep the workers, leaders, case workers and social workers who work with homeless people up to date on services that are available to homeless people. 

The homeless in Cleveland are losing a champion who has given his all to make their lives better.  He has done this on a salary which is way lower than most directors of non-profits.  Brian has done it for the right reasons.  He has fought for the homeless people, to make their day to day lives better and he has worked hard to put an end to homelessness.   I am sad to see him go.  I have been able to learn so much from him.  He is a genius, a walking encyclopedia regarding homelessness.

There will be a new director of NEOCH but there will not be another Brian Davis.  I am assured that NEOCH will continue as an organization and that growth will happen.  I am not as confident that Brian will be replaced with someone that can fill his shoes.  It’s going to be a tough task to replace someone who has 23 years of experience, knowledge and success.  The loss of Brian Davis is already being felt in the homeless communities and will continue for years to come.