SINCE 2002
( )
Whats Up Vendor Ed Little
Learn why you need to stop supporting panhandlers. (pg. 7)
handup for
Get Educated About The Potential Harm Of Giving To Panhandlers And Learn How To Support Local Agencies (LIKE WHATS UP!) Making REAL Change!
Ho P E finding refuge in street papers (pg. 8)
ISSUES * INSIGHT * IMPACT volume 10 issue 2 distributed by and for the homeless and disadvantaged
future without vision (pg. 14)
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SUGGESTED DONATION
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whats up magazine
& The Homeless Empowerment Project Empowering St. Louis since 2002
Vendors Edward Little, Kathy K., La Maar Williams, John Edwards, Laura Thomas, Al Spinks, Lloyd Anderson, Clifton Sims, Paul Jackson, Pete Butler, Anthony Adams, Diane Crudup, Kelvin Dawson, Gail Chambers, George Morehouse, Tom Reed, Jonathan Sanchez, Christine Schuessler, Pat Malone & Brian McDonald. Founder/Program Director Jay Swoboda - editor@whatsupstl.com Features/Copy Editor Need Volunteers Contributors/Volunteers RJ Koscielniak, Annie Wentz, Ryan Albritton, Rebecca Clendenen, Darrell Page Sr., Joe Monahan, Eva Tucker, Terry Austin Sr., Vladimir Noskov, Rachel Brandt, Kate Ewing, Raju Mukhi and hopefully you! Development & Events Coordinator Amy Gonwa Volunteer Coordinator Call 314-241-7744 to find out how you can get involved! Printed By Woodard Printing Services - www.woodwardprinting.com Magazine Layout: Bootstraps Design
The paper’s mission aims to alleviate miscommunication between communities by educating the public about housing and poverty issues, and by giving the homeless a voice in the public forum. Whats Up also informs the homeless of shelter and occupational assistance, and acts as a creative self-help opportunity for those individuals who wish to participate.
Advertising Sales For rates, media kits, and deadlines contact us: (314) 241-7744 or advertising@whatsupstl.com
All correspondence can be sent to: Whats Up Magazine 906 Olive St., Suite PH9 Saint Louis, Missouri 63101 For information call: (314) 241-7744 or editor@whatsupstl.com Member of the North American Street Newspaper Association [www.nasna.org & www.streetnewsservice.org] Whats Up Magazine is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Contact us to find out how you can support our efforts! Submissions: All articles should be sent to the attention of the
Homeless Speaker Series Contact the Homeless Empowerment Project @ 314-241-7744 for more information.
editors at the address above. For further submission info, visit our website or contact us. We may edit submissions for clarity or length. Whats Up needs writers, photographers, graphic designers, marketers, administrative assistants, editors, and grant writers. Thanks to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, Bascom Foundation, The McPheeter Family, The Stern Family, Raj Sandhu & Mary Henry, Amos Harris, EHOC, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, Christian Service Center, WU’s Dept. of Student Activities, Justine Petersen Housing, Whats Up Boston, NASNA, and all the homeless vendors for all the time and energy that they have shared. Articles that appear in Whats Up reflect the opinion and perspective of the author and not the editors of Whats Up. Articles should not be construed as attempts to aid or hinder any legislative body.
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whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
Volume 10 Issue 2
ADVERTISING WITH
[ contents ]
YOUR BUSINESS AND
THE COMMUNITY IN MIND
6 vendor page FIND OUT WHO IS SELLING WHATS UP - KUDOS TO KATHY K. WHO WON THE KEITH AWARD! 7 editor’s note FORMULATING A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS IN DOWNTOWN 8 finding refuge
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UNDERSTANDING THE REASON 200,000+ VENDORS SELL STREET PAPERS WORLDWIDE 10 food prices THE INCREASING COST OF FOOD IS DESTABILIZING LIVES AND GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD 14 future without vision PREVENTABLE BLINDNESS AFFECTS 3% OF SOUTH SUDAN AS THE COUNTRY MOVES PAST WAR 18 c.h.o.i.c.e. NEW WHATS UP WRITER KENNETH COMPTON GIVES A SAMPLE OF HIS UPCOMING NOVEL OF THE SAME NAME ON ADDICTION AND POVERTY 27 arts & awareness
Keep in Touch!!! If you’ve got a comment or suggestion, we’d love to hear from you. Here’s how to contact us:
Whats Up Magazine 906 Olive St. Suite PH9 St. Louis, MO 63101 editor@whatsupstl.com Also, if you know any group or organization that may be interested in this magazine contact us!
UPCOMING EVENTS TO BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY AND THIS ORGANIZATION. HOPE TO SEE YOU OUT! [ concept ] Whats Up Magazine serves as a community-based media source. Our content combines social awareness and entertainment in a way that encourages the population of St. Louis to be socially conscious. Whats Up is also a human service provider aiding the homeless and economically disadvantaged by offering transitional employment. The homeless and disadvantaged take part in sales, advertising, and production of this publication. Street vendors are given twenty free isssues, and then pay 25 cents for additional copies. We are always looking for enthusiastic people dedicated to our causes of encouraging awareness and providing opportunities to the disadvantaged. volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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The Vendors of Whats Up Magazine
WORKING NOT BEGGING NEED CASH???
SAVING UP FOR A RAINY DAY?
OUT OF WORK?
TOM REED VENDOR #763
KELVIN DAWSON VENDOR #683
PETE BUTLER VENDOR #719
KENNETH HAYES VENDOR #371
GAIL CHAMBERS VENDOR #684
PAUL JACKSON VENDOR #698
LA MAAR WILLIAMS VENDOR #384
CLIFTON SIMS VENDOR #145
JONATHAN SANCEZ VENDOR #779
AL SPINKS VENDOR #421
PAT MALONE VENDOR #332
LLOYD ANDERSON VENDOR #703
CHRISTINE SCHUESSLER VENDOR #548
ED LITTLE VENDOR #682
WHATS UP MAGAZINE IS BOTH AN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SOURCE AND AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE IN NEED OF ONE. VENDORS PURCHASE COPIES OF THE MAGAZINE FROM WHATS UP FOR A QUARTER AND SELL THE MAGAZINE IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS FOR $1 ON THE STREETS FOR THEIR PROFIT. DON’T SUPPORT PANHANDLERS... REFER HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS TO US @ 314-241-7744!
KEITH AWARD RUNNER-UP!
NOT PICTURED:
GEORGE MOREHOUSE VENDOR #634 DIANE CRUDUP VENDOR #655 BRIAN MCDONALD VENDOR #382
LAURA THOMAS VENDOR #414
PLEASE ENCOURAGE VENDORS TO WEAR THE PROPER BADGE, PERMIT AND REPORT ANY PROBLEM VENDORS IMMEDIATELY TO (314) 241-7744.
The Keith Award
for questions or concerns regarding
KATHY K. IS THE VENDOR AWARD WINNER FOR PURCHASING 300 COPIES OF THE LAST WHATS UP MAGAZINE ISSUE. KATHY HAS BEEN A STAND-OUT ADDITION TO THE WHATS UP TEAM. THIS IS HER FIRST TIME RECEIVING THE KEITH AWARD - RECOGNIZING DEPENDABLE AND DEDICATED VENDORS IN MEMORY OF KEITH WHITFIELD. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE AWARD!
vendors, please contact the office @ 314-241-7744 or editor@whatsupstl.com
to Vendor WHERE YOUR 75 cents:18Directly cents: Printing Costs Services DOLLAR GOES... 5 cents:2Vendor cents: Administration
KATHY K. VENDOR #591
NOT PICTURED UPON REQUEST
Vendor Rules for the Streets
Whats Up Magazine vendors are instructed to adhere to the following codes of conduct: * Prominently wear and present a vendor badge and permit while selling the magazine. * Sell the magazine for no more than its $1.00 cover price.
* Refrain from asking for donations without a magazine or with just one magazine. * Avoid obstructing public walkways or selling near any stadiums or Bi-State property. * Do not follow customers more than 10 feet from contact or approach people in vehicles. * Be clean and sober when selling the magazine * All checks must be made payable to the vendor if vendor is to get any part of the amount. 6
whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
[ director’s corner]
(editor@whatsupstl.com)
don’t give up. get mad. We can all get tired of things. Life for the vast majority of us is no picnic. Many of us contribute our time, talent or treasure to causes and efforts that we believe make a difference, but we rarely see the full impact of our gifts. That doesn’t mean we should quit.
It isn’t easy to ever give up on something you’ve invested your heart and soul - but many of us have a breaking point and after 10 years of working on homeless and poverty issues...I’m tired. I’m fed up with the lack of substantive impact on the homeless population of Downtown St. Louis and the corresponding lack of supportive affordable housing that has been developed in the last 6 years since this was apparently a “focus” of our city, state and federal government. I do not have a confirmed number of permanent housing units that have been develped but it is less than 100 and in that same time over $70
million dollars have flowed into regional efforts to “end” homelessness. With all that money spent and down the drain...why are there 30+ homeless men and women in Lucas Park on any given afternoon? Why is 7-11 still serving single serving 24-oz. beers? Why are residents and business owners who have invested in the region forced to step over human feces and passed out human beings? Why can’t a hard-working person experiencing homeless find a decent place to call home? Lots of questions to explore, and after $70+ million dollars has been spent with limited results...it isn’t time to give up - but rather STAND UP and demand accountability and results. I believe the HandUp For Hope Campaign (see below & back cover) is a great start and I welcome more ideas! Don’t give up - Make a difference! Jay Swoboda, Founder/Director
How YOU Can With Housing & Homeless Issues!
Supported by
Give a Hand UP... not a Hand OUT. Support HandUP for Hope. Give your cash & change to agencies that build change in the lives of those in need.
To read more and see a listing of local service-providers helping those struggling with homelessness and poverty, visit
www.downtownstl.org/handupforhope
or HandUP for Hope on facebook. HandUP for Hope 720 Olive Street, Suite 450 St. Louis, MO 63101 314-335-2307
www.downtownstl.org/handupforhope
Our Mission: HandUP for Hope is a public awareness campaign in Downtown St. Louis that educates residents, workers and visitors about the potential harm of giving to panhandlers. HandUP for Hope instead encourages giving to local service-providers that are able to provide necessary resources for individuals to build lives of self-sufficiency.
Get Involved - Make a Difference volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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ww
or
www
street papers: finding refuge
( ) street papers provide refugue, income and dignity
Around the world, street papers have been welcoming people who felt too insecure to stay in their home lands. Whether or not they have official refugee status in their newly adopted countries, what these vendors often have in common is the fear to return to where they came from.
words/pics www.streetnewsservice.org
The reasons why people become street paper vendors are many and diverse. Some are homeless; others suffer mental or physical health problems, struggle with addiction or face unemployment. And some people do it because the magazines offer them the refuge they so desperately need.
reasons to fear staying in Nigeria. She grew up in a Yoruba family (a West African ethnic group) on the Niger delta, who lived from agriculture and fishing. When the time came, Marian knew she would be subjected to female genital mutilation, since no woman in the village was spared from this traditional practice. She was afraid because she knew that many girls died during the procedure. She asked a journalist to help her escape - she couldn’t guess at the time that she would one day end up working in the newspaper industry herself.
Marian Oshoshor does not like to talk about the reasons that took her to Austria. The Nigerian street paper vendor is cheerful and lively; she prefers to talk about her costumers and how much her German has improved since she arrived - she even offers to sing because “if you have a heavy heart, music is the best healer”. But Marian, who still remembers how thin she Marian is happy she escaped, but she was when she arrived in 2004, had serious still remembers bitterly the reaction of 8
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the Austrian authorities when she arrived: “The Austrian asylum authorities did not believe me. They thought I was lying”. Tapiwa Chemhere has a different story, one of violence and poverty, but a common thread remains: fear. He escaped with his family from Zimbabwe in 2005. “I lived in the city, but it was very violent. You were forced to support the main party, and if you didn’t they would bomb your house or kill you”. Tapiwa’s mother decided it was no longer safe for them to stay in Zimbabwe and escaped with her four children to Australia. Their story is far from being exceptional: the economic meltdown and repressive political regime of Robert Mugabe have led to a flood of refugees.
An estimated 3.4 million Zimbabweans, a quarter of the population, had fled abroad by mid 2007.
there have, luckily, been no complaints.”
Today Isaac has a different problem: he is still single. “I just can’t believe that I’ve Coming to a new country might save people been in Vienna for so long and still don’t from a potentially dangerous situation but have a girlfriend. Every woman in Austria it is not, by any means, a magical solution is taken!” he complains. He is thankful, for all problems. Many people struggled though, for the affection he gets from is before and even during their work as a customers: “I want to thank my costumers. street paper vendor. Being a black woman If I knew all their names I would name them in Austria, Marian was told she had only one by one. The Austrians are very, very
“I work for my customers. Some say ‘I’ll see on Thursday’ so I make sure I’m there. Sometimes, if you chat with someone selling the street paper, it makes our day. It makes us feel very encouraged.” one option to make money: “Every person I asked how I could survive here said ‘you have two options - prostitution in Prater, or prostitution at the West station’. But selling my body was not an option for me”. Isaac Nwankwere’s problems star ted right upon arrival in Austria. He escaped from Nigeria, trying to flee from a violent uncle. The local church found the possible, although quite irregular, way to take him out of the country: they smuggled him onto to a ship. Isaac, who had at that point little knowledge of the world, thought he was going somewhere else. “They told me that I was on my way to Austria. Only I didn’t know the difference between Austria and Australia. I thought I was heading for Australia.” Even though the country was a bit different from what he expected - no sunny beaches or rugby fans - Isaac was happy to be in Europe. But adapting to the Austrian way of life was a challenge during the first period has a street paper vendor. “When I star ted selling the Augustin [street paper] I was a black man in a country of white people and the norms of conduct, everything was different from what I had seen before in Africa. I approached my customers the way I was used to in Nigeria. I put on a lot of pressure. After two or three complaints found their way to the Augustin office I changed my behaviour. Since then
nice people, very kind. A big thank you to Augustin too!” Marian, who works for the same street paper, shares the feeling. The Nigerian refers to her regular costumers as “family”. And she has her reasons for it. “One man brings me tea almost every day, because I have to protect myself against catching a cold, he says”. Marian has almost ten pairs of gloves at home because people assume that African women are more vulnerable to the cold. One costumer, who learned from Marian’s identity card that she had the same birthday as him, invited her to his birthday party. And a teacher gave her what she considers her “biggest gift”: she paid for German lessons, so that Marian could improve her language skills. On the other side of the globe, in Australia, Tapiwa got in touch with street paper The Big Issue Australia, and soon started selling the magazine. He says the costumers play an important role in supporting street paper vendors in difficult times. “I work for my customers. Some say ‘I’ll see on Thursday’ so I make sure I’m there. I would like to thank my customers for helping me out. Sometimes, if you chat with someone selling the street paper, it makes our day. It makes us feel very encouraged.” Street New Service is an innovative online news agency that brings together the best of street paper journalism from around the world. INSP also works with media partners Reuters and Inter Press Service (IPS).
*SPECIAL REPORT*
INSP
2011 Annual Conference Glasgow, Scotland - July 2011 inspconference.blogspot.com/ So far, 200,000 vendors around the world have earned a living and changed their lives through selling street papers from the International Network of Street Papers - and recently, over 80 street paper delegates from 29 countries gathered in Glasgow, Scotland for the 16th Annual INSP Conference. INSP Executive Director, Lisa MacLean spoke of the tremendous efforts and quality work the network has produced over the last 17 years and highlighted the challenges that lie ahead for the INSP. She said: “The need for challenging, progressive and independent media voices will be stronger and more relevant than ever and if anything, tonight’s celebration demonstrates the strength and potential of global street papers to step up to the challenge. None of this comes easy.” INSP is in an enviable position, with its mission not to secure profit for its self but to secure profits for the less fortunate; it can make a change with its educated, socially aware and usually well off readers. In the next year, as the delegates return home their effor ts will continue with a focused on increaed collaboration and advocacy with a focus on sustaining our message and creating spaces of hope for our vendors. volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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Food Prices Mean Trouble for Poor and Politicians
words: Reuters / pic: Nguyen Huy Kham
Just a few months ago Alpheus Molepo’s daily lunch of “pap” or corn meal and meat cost 20 rand (2.04 pounds). Now it costs 25 rand.
“When food
prices go up, the ones who are on the lowerst incomes in the world may have to sell possessions or borrow money just to survive.”
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“This is why we are crying,” Molepo, 55, a Johannesburg taxi driver, said as he sat under the winter sun by his vehicle, complaining that business was down while food costs were up. Molepo is not alone. The impact of skyrocketing food prices is echoing across the globe, in households and in the corridors of power ahead of a summit in Paris of G20 farm ministers.
sparking a doubling in corn prices. Prices are also being bolstered by a wave of newly urbanised middle class families in emerging powerhouses such as China switching to diets needing more intensive agricultural inputs, but the impact of price spikes is uneven.
In some countries the cycle has boosted local currencies, shielding their economies to a degree from imported fuel costs, while On the ground, people like Molepo are the weather has brought bumper crops to being hit hard throughout Africa, Asia and some regions and drought to others. Latin America where poor families spend 50 to 90 percent of their income on food. Many governments, wary after riots The pain is compounded by a jump in fuel erupted during the last food price spikes prices. three years ago, are seeking to cool food prices through subsidies and other “When food prices go up, the ones who mechanisms while monetary officials worry are on the lowest incomes in the world about knock-on impacts on inflation. may have to sell their possessions or borrow money - just to survive,” said Heidi The lopsided impact of the global trends is Chow, a campaigner with the UK’s World on full display in Africa, where South Africa Development Movement. has had a good harvest of its staple maize, but the central bank there remains wary Global food prices hit a record high earlier of food price pressures which are seen this year, according to the UN Food and fuelling wage demands from the country’s Agriculture Organisation. unionised mine workers. Adverse growing weather has been the immediate trigger in sending wheat prices About 3,000 km northeast in Kenya, a 90 up 50 percent over the past 12 months and kg (200 lb) bag of maize is now fetching
”In some countries it is a matter of life and death. A spike in global oil prices by over 50 percent over the past 12 months has added to the pain.” about 4,000 shillings ($45.66), double the cost in 2009, when the country had a bumper harvest. It helped push the yearon-year inflation rate up to a seven-month high in May of 12.59 percent. In some countries it is a matter of life and death. “Animals have perished and so far some people have starved to death. If food prices continue to soar many Somalis will die,” Yusuf Moalim Amin Badiyo, Somalia’s agriculture minister, told Reuters. A spike in global oil prices by over 50 percent over the past 12 months has added to the pain. In a vicious circle, unrest in the Mideast and North Africa, partly inflamed by high food prices, led to a loss of supply from Libya and provoked fears of more supply shocks from the oil-rich region. South African taxi driver Molepo blames high fuel prices for his sluggish business, while food traders in a market in Burundi’s capital of Bujumbura see a link with soaring cooking oil and food costs.
food price index rose 7.70 percent in the poverty and negative welfare shocks.” year to April 30, the slowest rise since end-March 2009. In Honduras for example, food accounts for over 80 percent of the expenditure of In Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest the poorest 20 percent. economy, inflation in May eased to 5.98 percent to fall within the central bank’s And the commodity cycle has been a 2011 target range for the first time this double-edged sword there, with the terms year. of trade improving for some nations which produce food and other commodities. “We have seen food prices a little more contained in some of these Asian countries, “In a real sense, Latin American economies which is largely a result of pro-active are richer as a result of these terms of government policies,” said Luke Mathews, trade improvements,” Augusto de la Torre, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth the World bank’s chief economist for Latin Bank of Australia. America and the Caribbean region, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference “For example, China has been pro-active in Johannesburg. in managing supplies for grains, oilseeds and sugar. What we have seen is that when “However, the internal distribution of domestic food price inflation show signs of these gains is a very difficult issue. And getting out of control, they are more willing when you have this transference of food to put reserves back on to the domestic and fuel prices you get a lot of losers and market.” winners,” he said.
China just suspended regular rapeseed oil auctions and lifted a 7-month price cap on “The main cause of this is higher fuel retail vegetable oil prices, a possible signal prices,” one trader said, noting that it was that supplies may be plentiful enough to costing more to transport food from the ease food inflation worries. countryside to the market. India is expecting food inflation to fall While many African governments are facing further in the second half of the fiscal the tough choice of blowing their budgets year as forecasts of a normal monsoon on subsidies or risking street anger, many raise prospects of a bumper grain and Asian nations have already acted to cool oilseed harvest. food inflation. Still, analysts say Asia is vulnerable to food In Asia, blessed with a bumper rice crop, price shocks, given the volatility in global nations have used measures such as agricultural markets. offloading state grain reserves into the market, curbs on speculators and policy In Latin America, the World Bank says in a tightening. recent report that it does not expect “the latest acceleration of food prices to lead In China, food prices fell 0.4 percent in to a dramatic increase in poverty levels ... April from March but were 11.5 percent However, certain vulnerable groups and higher than a year earlier, while India’s countries are expected to experience rising
Street New Service is an innovative online news agency that brings together the best of street paper journalism from around the world. INSP also works with media partners Reuters and Inter Press Service (IPS).
3108 Morganford in Tower Grove South
www.localharvestgrocery.com http://www.tgmarket.org/ volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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GETTING USED TO FAILURE
words joe monahan pic paul knittel While St. Louis has always been near and dear to my heart, I have been something of a prodigal son to this fair town. After growing up in University City, I went to Boston for college (if I leave it that vague, it sounds like maybe I went to Harvard). Upon graduation I moved to Kansas City because, well, that’s where I got a job. Although I think Boston is a world-class city, and I have quickly grown to love KC, St. Louis has always been Home with a capital “H” for me. When I finished up teaching this year and people asked how I was spending my summer, I didn’t say I was going to live at my mom’s house. I simply said, “I’m going home.”
IF YOU HAVE A MIND FOR ACTIVISM OR THE ARTS JOIN THE WHATS UP MAGAZINE STAFF OF WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND PHOTOGRAPHERS 12 whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
Home and I had a little catching up to do. My passions for this city and for urban environments in general had blossomed since I’d been away, but they lacked the concrete grounding of daily experience. So, before I had even started unpacking my bags, I took off on my bike for a re-acquaintance tour with the city. I cruised down Lindell, passed SLU, did a quick loop of downtown, explored Citygarden for the first time (sue me), and then headed North. I feel like the North Side has taken on mythical status for many St. Louisans. While it has a very large number of very real problems, it has also become an easy repository for all that is wrong with this city. It is what inflates our crime statistics. It is where the bad schools and the vacant buildings are. It is what we have to deal with in order to go to Crown Candy, windows up, doors locked. The North Side? Don’t go there. So I went, pedaling slowly at this point, wishing I had eaten a smaller breakfast. I meandered through Old North, and down the beautiful (but very quiet) 14th Street Mall/Crown Square. I continued on through Hyde Park, up to the water towers on College Hill. Passing by Fairgrounds Park I was treated to a fantastic mid-morning roller disco show. At the risk of meandering, riding through the North Side was…nice. I didn’t feel unsafe or threatened, and I took in some
beautiful sights. This was not the bogeyman of an area that I kept hearing about through the media and local lore. Mild appreciation was not the reaction I expected to have. Although in many ways the North Side catches a bad rap, the statistics don’t lie: only 30.4% of residents 25 and older have a high school diploma, and only 63.9% of children ages 5-14 are even enrolled in a school (McEagle Properties’ Northside Regeneration website). In many ways, this is not an area that is down on its luck; it’s a disaster. If this is the reality beneath the peaceful surface I saw, then where was my indignation? Why wasn’t I fuming with righteous anger? I am not trying to universalize my experience, or claim that everyone feels the same way I do, but I doubt that I am the only one who has felt somewhat ambivalent about the area. If not, I think there would be a whole lot more people raising hell about the North Side’s condition. I propose that this dulling of my feelings about the North Side has several causes. First, I think media portrayal is the primary factor in influencing people’s perspectives of the area, more so than firsthand experience. If one based their opinion solely on mainstream news reports, they wouldn’t head North without a flak jacket and a police escort. In the context of these portrayals, the actual North Side takes on a feeling of benign blight, or tame chaos. When you expect the worst, finding something that is merely very bad is almost a relief. However, I think there is a deeper reason for why I wasn’t as upset by the state of the North Side: I had forgotten that it didn’t have to be this way. St. Louisans are so used to failure, crime, and blight on the North Side that even band-aid solutions are taken as a step forward. This way of thinking is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. True, the North Side will be a low-income area for the foreseeable future. I view this as a good thing. Low-income residents need a place to live from which they can access the resources of downtown. Any rapid increase in median income would be the result of gentrification and displacement, not empowerment and development. In order to see a better future for the North Side, one must break out of the “Poor area=Bad area” paradigm. A poor area
is an area in which people who don’t make much money live. A bad area is an area with some combination of negative features like high crime, poor infrastructure, few economic opportunities, and low social capital, to name a few. Just because poor areas and bad areas are so often one in the same does not mean they have to be. As a reference, I’d like to quickly point out the Dudley Street neighborhood in the Roxbury area of Boston. This area is often referenced as an example of successful community development, and rightfully so. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the Dudley Street area faced many of the same problems as our own North Side. Vacancies were high, and arson was extremely prevalent as owners burned down buildings in an effort to collect insurance money. The future seemed to be one of either complete collapse into blight, or one of possible “salvation” by way of the gentrification that was advancing from the neighboring South End. Instead, community members and concerned institutions rallied to turn the area around. They did this while putting a priority on ensuring that current community residents would be able to afford to stay. Today, Dudley Street is a diverse, vibrant, and low-income part of Boston. It’s not perfect by any means, but it is a successful community that meets the needs of....
Whats Up Magazine is a member of The North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) exists to support and build effective, self-sustaining street newspapers that promote power and opportunity for people living in poverty. NASNA wor ks closely with the International Network of Street Newspapers, which represents street papers in other parts of the globe. As a sister organization to the INSP, NASNA works to build and promote the street newspaper movement in North America. The mission of the Nor th American Street Newspaper Association is to support a street newspaper movement that creates and upholds journalistic and ethical standards while promoting selfhelp and empowerment among people living in poverty.
nextSTL first launched in 2004 as urbanSTL, nextSTL has become the preeminent online hub for those who wanting to know more about the St. Louis community. The forum has emerged as the go-to source for issues current and critical to St. Louis
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words danielle batist / sns
a future without vision ( ) images simon murphy
preventable blindness is just one fall-out from war in South Sudan
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”War has affected most of Razigi’s young life. His early childhod was marked by conflict when government soldiers and rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army fought in what became Africa’s longest civil war.” The road to the Kometi family’s hut is a rutted dirt track that cuts through tall grass and overgrown weed on either side. During the rain season, especially, it can be a struggle to reach the compound which is located about six miles off the main road. There are urban legends of aid workers who were stranded in mud in their cars overnight whilst hyenas circled close-by in the bush. Yet all this does not stop Andrew Maina from coming here at least twice a week. He has good reason, he says, and would make the journey despite the danger and even if he had to do so on foot. The reason becomes clear at the deserted compound. Maina walks up to one of only two mud huts and kneels in front of the entry. His voice is soft as he speaks. “Razigi, are you there?” A few seconds later a timid looking 13-year old boy appears in the clay doorframe. He wears a bleak, yellow shirt that is torn on one side and grey shorts with gaping holes in them. As he slowly steps outside in his bare feet, he runs a palm along the straw roof of the hut while his other hand grasps a bamboo stick. The boy’s eyes look glazed and lifeless and Maina explains that Razigi Kometi is blind. Maina takes him by the hand and leads him to a covered cooking area in the corner of the compound. They sit down on wooden stools and Maina places a pen on a table made of bamboo sticks. He asks Razigi to find the object and the boy places a hand on
the table and scans the surface until his skin touches the pen. He picks it up and feels it with both hands and for the first time, Razigi speaks: “pen”. It is simple exercises like this, Maina says later, that are of great importance for Razigi’s future. “He needs to learn basic skills to protect himself against injuries. We are teaching him methods like using the back of his hand to scan surfaces before he grabs something, so that he does not cut his fingers. Safety is our priority, but our biggest task is to try and give him his confidence back.” War has affected most of Razigi’s young life. He grew up in a small village called Lui in one of the poorest areas of war-torn southern Sudan. His early childhood was marked by conflict between the predominantly Muslim north and the Catholic and tribal religions dominated south, when government soldiers and rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) fought in what became Africa’s longest civil war. A peace agreement was signed in 2005, when Razigi was 7 years old and his mother Mary hoped the end of the war would mean a new beginning for her and her eight children. However, as with thousands of other people, disaster struck again when Razigi and his mother were bitten by a blackfly and
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developed a disease called Onchocerciasis, or river blindness. Over 37 million people are infected and 99 per cent of cases are found in poor African communities. The disease causes debilitating skin disorder and eye damage, and in the worst scenario leaves people blind. If detected and treated in time, blindness can be avoided. But the medical centre in the area was highly under resourced and no medication was available. By the time Maina’s colleagues from the Southern Sudanese disability charity SEM came in contact with the Kometi’s, both Razigi’s and Mary’s eyes were damaged beyond repair.
In the Kometi’s compound, efforts of the SEM team’s long, patient hours of training are slowly starting to show. Upon Maina’s inquiry about what Razigi has been up to since his last visit, the boy replies shyly: “I washed my own clothes last night.” “That is very, very good of you”, replies a broad-smiling Maina. And to his colleague, when Razigi has gone inside the hut: “This is a milestone.” Orientation and mobility training are of great importance to a blind person’s development and support from family and relatives is crucial. Maina and his colleagues want to work more closely with Razigi’s mother, teaching her skills to support herself and her son but a lack of resources means that their attention for now is focused on the child. An aunt who lives with the family helps out when the therapists are not around.
These are the hidden legacies of the civil war, says Maina. “When people think about war victims, they often envision shot wounds or landmine injuries. They don’t think about all those people whose illness or death could have been prevented, if only the right treatment would have been available. The war has stopped almost all development here. Many of our clients’ disabilities are With independence finally within reach, many South Sudanese directly related to the complete lack of medical resources during are hopeful for the future of their new nation. Despite on-going and after the war.” disputes over land and oil in the border areas, South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir is determined to avoid any actions that An estimated 3.2 per cent of the population of southern Sudan is might jeopardise long-longed independence. His party, SPLM blind, an exceptionally high rate even for Africa. Many cases are (SPLA’s political arm), has promised democratic governance and caused by parasitic infections, which often can be prevented. With development, but the challenges are massive. A report released support from Catholic aid agency Caritas Scotland, SEM reaches by the World Bank in 2010 stated that 85 per cent of citizens out to 6,500 people in rural areas across three counties. of Southern Sudan live below the poverty line, compared to 46 per cent in the north. Life expectancy nationwide is 58.5 years, One factor that complicates the situation in Sudan is the war but the unfair distribution of wealth and the consistent lack of trauma present in many people, says Maina who is an occupational development in the south mean that the real figure for the new therapist. In Western Equatoria State his young patients often nation is even bleaker. suffer from anxiety, fear of loud noises, unexpected movements and high levels of stress. It has made Maina all the more In a country that has to start from scratch on all levels, adequate government support will be a long way off. Charities and churches determined to do his job.
FIND OUT HOW YOUR COMPANY CAN BE FEATURED IN AN UPCOMING ISSUE!!!
CALL JAY SWOBODA @ 314.241.7744 16 whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
“A report released by the World Bank in 2010 stated that 85 per cent of citizens of Southern Sudan live below the poverty line, compared to 46 per cent in the north. Life expectancy nationwide is 58.5 years.”
in the meantime make small steps to improve the life of some of the nation’s most vulnerable. With a bit of luck, the village school in Lui might be able to teach Razigi basic Braille next year. One teacher has already expressed an interest, and SEM is looking into possibilities of funding the training. They also hope to purchase some special toys and tools, like a ball with a bell inside it. Football used to be Razigi’s favourite sport. Behind the two mud huts that make up the Kometi’s living quarter is a narrow, earthy path. It is only a few hundred yards long, but when Razigi became blind, it became endless to him. At the end of the path lives one of his two only friends. He used to know the road like the back of his hand, but without the ability to see, he is frightened to leave the compound. At the end of every visit, Maina and Razigi enter the track together. Razigi goes ahead, touching the grass left and right with his stick so he knows he stays on track. He counts the steps until he reaches the number where he ended last time. That is when Maina puts a hand on his shoulder, gently encouraging him to walk a few more steps before turning back. They hope to reach the end of the path in a few months’ time.
*MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE OF A YOUNG PERSON EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. *HELP ORGANIZE ROCK CLIMBING, HIKING AND OUTDOOR EVENTS. *DEDICATE YOUR CLIMBS TO POVERTY EFFORTS WORLDWIDE & FUNDRAISE TO RAISE AWARENESS OF POVERTY. *VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: 314-241-7744
To make a donation to Caritas’ work in Sudan and around the world, visit the Catholic Campaign for Human Development who support Caritas in the US (http://www.usccb.org/cchd/index. shtml) or call (202-541-3210). danielle batist / simon murphy Photographer Simon Murphy and journalist Danielle Batist set off to South Sudan, to witness the last days of Africa’s biggest nation. On July 9, the South split from the North and become the 193rd member of the United Nations.
ORGANIZE CLIMBS AND RAISE FUNDS FOR POVERTY EFFORTS WORLDWIDE volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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C.H.O.I.C.E. an excerpt from an upcoming novel of the same name
“Whatever had your attention just now…change it. Grab hold of some positive thoughts.”
words/art kenneth compton
A billow of pink above a streak of yellow on the eastern horizon, coupled with the squealing of steel wheels announced the arrival of the Metro and of a new day. I gazed at the red light atop the distant Gateway Arch. I then sat up and saw two pigeons among the rusty beams overhead. I moaned and reached for a pack of cigarettes under my cot, being careful not to touch the urine soaked mulch. The smell of smoke awakened a woman who slept nearby; she pulled a dirty blanket off her face. “Hey Keith, can you spare one?” “Yeah, Sherry. Here you go.” I tossed her a cigarette then slid my foot into a well-worn boot. “Thanks” as she proceeded to pick through items in a sardine can, she came up with a syringe, a spoon and two pills. She lit the cigarette and tied an old belt around her ankle.
Did that dope fiend shoot up two pills? Damnit! One was mine! Sherry! Sherry!” As Bob and Sherry argued over the morning hit, the fourth member of the under-the-bridge crew, John, dusted off his clothes. He started scratching and limped over as I loaded my truck.
“You leaving man?” John asked. “The Community Center is gonna help people find housing today,” she said as she brushed back her dirty blond hair and exposed a “Yeah, I’m moving out John. Sherry mentioned something about face as leathery as my boots. “I think I’ll go there. It will soon the Community Center offering housing today and I’m getting out be too cold to sleep outside.” of here.” I held her cigarette as she injected heroin into her ankle. She leaned forward and wiped at a spindle of drool that strung from her mouth. I looked over her shoulder at my black pick-up truck, squinted to make sure the hood and windows hadn’t been tampered with. “Hey!” I jumped at the voice behind me. “What ya’ll doing?” Bob asked as he stepped over a mulch pile and dusted off his clothes. His hair was wind-tossed and he shielded his steely blue eyes against the rising sun. “What’s up Keith?” He looked from me to Sherry then back to me. “Did she shoot up pills? 18 whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
John scratched his throat and said, “Those two fussing and fighting over dope every day don’t make things any better but you got your freedom under here.” I leaned on the truck bed and looked up at a chatty group of students that walked overhead towards the university. I looked down at John and said “This ain’t freedom.” “Hey Keith,” Bob yelled. “I thought you, me and John were going junkin. Now it looks like you’re moving out. What’s up?”
“I’m gonna get in a shelter before it gets too cold… Ya’ll can “Watch where you step, this is where we use the bathroom.” come to the Center with me.” I closed the truck door and looked back at the three of them. Sherry led the two men past the increasingly shortening concrete trestles until the Grand Ave Bridge were only a few feet above Bob said, as he looked at John, “Man, we gotta get me a couple their heads. pills before we do anything, I ain’t gonna mess around and get sick. So let’s go up to the filling station and hustle up The men get their crack pipes ready and Sherry reached for her some money.” Bob walked over to me. “Hey man, if you need sardine can. somebody to help you junkin or if you come across something we could use down here, just stop on in. You’re always welcome.” “I didn’t know men could get welfare,” Sherry said as she dumped We bumped knuckles and I drove away. two pills from her sardine can into a spoon. I drove to a fast food restaurant on Lindell and quickly begged up five dollars, then went into the bathroom to clean up. After I bit into my second sausage and egg sandwich I got the urge to hurry through breakfast and go to the west side of town and pick up some scrap metal that was set in the alley by a friend. My friend said that there were at least two loads, which I figured was worth $150.
“It’s called general relief,” one of the men said. “You get $150 if you apply for it within three days of getting out of prison.” “Oh yeah, it’s like how they used to give you a bus ticket and twenty dollars.” Sherry thumped the air bubbles from the syringe and noticed among the graffiti, someone had written: God forgives, Just believe.
Right away my mind wandered…I can have a load in the junkyard “Hey before you shoot that up, you need to pull your pants off by eight-thirty. I can drive to Taylor Ave and get $50.00 worth and make us feel good.” of crack and be in an alley with a crack whore smoking good by
“Right away my mind wandered...I can have a load in the junkyard by 8:30. I can drive to Taylor Avenue and get $50 worth of crack and be in an alley with a crack whore smoking good by about 9 o’clock.” about nine o’clock...I noticed the palms of my hands were sweaty “Hey wait over there, let me go first”, he said to his friend as he unzipped his pants, took a hit from his crack pipe and motioned and my jaws had tightened. for Sherry to come to him. “Change your thoughts and you change your destiny.” The priest who said that stood over me with a food tray. “You look like you Sherry tossed her hair back. “I’m gonna take care of both of are really worried about something,” he said, as he leaned in you, you kept your word and I’m gonna keep mine.” She pushed slightly. “Here’s some free advice. Whatever had your attention the rest of the dope into her swollen ankle. “This stuff is good.” just now…change it. Grab hold of some positive thoughts.” The She leaned over and fell face first into the soiled mulch and dirt. priest wiggled his eyebrows and walked away. Bob jumped when the two men ran past him, headed for the Metro. I shifted in my booth and caught my reflection. My eyes were sunk in, I needed a haircut, a shave and as of now I had no place He walked two trestles down and saw what he thought was a half to lay my head. To continue getting doped up would surely be nude, white mannequin slumped over a steel beam but instead disastrous but what else can I do? For a split I could think clearly, of a mannequin it was Sherry. She was cold and lifeless when he and I sincerely prayed for God to give me the strength not get touched her and he felt a morbid kind of relief. “No more torture high today. I’ll go over to the Community Center today… I’ll go for you,” he said. “Damn, Sherry.” junking some other day. I finished breakfast and drove off. I blew my horn and waved at Sherry as she walked with two men headed for the camp under the bridge. **************
Kenneth was raised in St. Louis and attended McKinley High, Forest Park Community College and Webster University. He worked as a certified Medical Technologist. One day he tried crack cocaine and wound up living in his truck and various shelters. He is working on his first book available for purchase in late 2011. You’ve got to make a CHOICE! volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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STUCK IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM In August, 2010, St. Louis issued a progress report for the county’s Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. The report detailed efforts to keep people off the streets and to reintegrate the chronically homeless into society. “The homeless ser vices providers and members of the Continuum of Care have put forward an outstanding effort over the last five years, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has contributed tens of millions of dollars to our housing programs,” Mayor Francis G. Slay remarked in his introduction to the report. Certainly it is a success worth celebrating, but the question lingers, behind the lime-light of all the county and non-profit initiatives, of whether or not efforts are all bearing in a similar direction.
words rebecca clendeden pics chris fenter/stock
age. For instance, St. Louis City Revised Code 15.142 states that “it is unlawful to bring into the city a pauper or insane person who is likely to become a charge upon the city.” Other such ordinances are still fully enforced, such as code 15.48 against Loitering and 15.44 against Aggressive Panhandling. To be fair, St. Louis isn’t really as mean as we are being lead to believe. It was 19th in the NCH top 20 list, and while many cities use such ordinances to encourage homeless persons to move along, the moderation in wording of these St Louis ordinances seems to discount that intent altogether. This is an attitude that holds true in the Police Department’s approach to enforcement as well. “The Police Department’s officers continue to work with the
”The issue lingers on whether citations and fines are appropriate deterrents for a population of homeless people who have a known inability to pay.” In 2006, a year after the Ten Year Plan was implemented, another report was published, this one by the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), which named the City of St. Louis in its list of “Top 20 Meanest Cities” in the United States, based on policies and ordinances that criminalize homelessness. The NCH report describes a court case from only 2 months after the city issued its plan. In the case, homeless persons were unlawfully detained and their possessions destroyed. The city paid out $80,000 in damages. The repor t also lists several ordinances which, in many federal court cases regarding similar laws, have been ruled unconstitutionally vague and unjust for targeting particular sorts of people- particularly the underprivileged. Some of these ordinances seem only to be remnants of a previous 20 whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
homeless population and we have designated an officer to specialize in working with and assisting the homeless,” says Erica Van Ross of the Municipal Police Department. “Officer Shelly Finn has developed a bond with many of those in the community and for her sensitivity and compassion; she was honored as the department’s Officer of the Year in 2008.” It seems evident that the City is doing its level best to approach homeless issues on a unified front, to genuinely protect and to serve, but the issue lingers on whether citations and fines are appropriate deterrents for a population of homeless people who have a known inability to pay? In the meantime, our public defender system is underpaid and overwhelmed. The accused sit in prison waiting for the city to deliver their right to legal defense. We’ve been named this year’s
most dangerous city in the United States by the US News and World routine ordinance violations such as begging or MetroLink fare Report, with five times the average risk of violent and property violations, to federal civil rights litigation challenging government crimes than other cities. action against the homeless” The cost of incarcerating non-violent criminals is “costing us our shirts,” says Missouri Chief Justice William Ray Price, as he continues to press for alternative sentencing. Nonetheless, the ordinances are enforced as usual.
The conclusion, then, is that while everyone seems to be approaching homeless assistance with a favorable attitude and due diligence, county and municipal service providers are frequently swimming upstream in their own river, working against the same policies they’re enforcing. So what is the solution?
Citations mount. Criminal records expand as Failures to Appear tick by. How many times are people going to show up for court on citations that they can’t pay? And who is going to stand beside them when they do?
Ultimately, the region needs to stop and reassess the utility of these ordinances, the methods of enforcement and the judicial processes in these cases. When this happens, it will be the citizens’ job to be attentive to the discussions and active in Most needs can be met by the available homeless services, vocalizing their position. including legal services for civil cases (i.e. Eastern Missouri Legal Services); however, there is a glaring shortage of legal services Reform is something that rarely happens without a stirred pot, for criminal defense. and constituents must be clearly supportive if they expect their representatives to brave those waters. Enter Arch City Defenders, a non-profit legal team dedicated to
“Warrant status makes it difficult for those homeless clients who are trying to get services from social services providers to help them get back on their feet. They sometimes cannot get housing or job training as a result of the outstanding warrants.
”
providing criminal representation to those who otherwise could not afford the guarantee of this constitutional right.
It’s fair to say that St. Louis is headed in the right direction with its efforts, and that alone is a success worth noting.
Thomas Harvey, an Arch City Defender, said: “I would say that more than 80% of our clients have municipal ordinance violations for some traffic related offense that has gone into warrant status. Clients get to warrant status because they cannot pay the fines they have been assessed or do not show up for court. “The warrant status makes it difficult for those homeless clients who are trying to get services from social services providers to help them get back on their feet. They sometimes cannot get housing or job training as a result of the outstanding warrants.” The Law School at St. Louis University also offers criminal legal assistance to homeless people through their Homeless Prevention Clinic. According to Clinic publications: “Students represent hundreds of homeless persons each year with a variety of legal needs, from
Rebecca is a freelance author and a graduate student in the International Relations department at Webster University. She specializes in topics related to human rights, policy analysis and Latin America. For more information, visit her online at: www.rebeccaclendenen.wordpress.com
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people, places and things
learning to live again, letting go and finding a more fulfilling life in healing & sobriety words darrell page pics whats up staff
“Now today as I struggle in a “fight-for-my-life” I must remain in constant touch with my spirituality, humble myself, and love me at all times. This mission is only one of the many that’s ahead of me...” Now, for you that don’t know me, and to the few that may have forgotten me, my name is Darrell Page and I’ve been working with Whats Up Magazine since 2008. Whats Up Magazine is a non-profit organization that’s designed to bring social and public awareness to the homeless and the disabled. I’m also a vendor and a writer for Whats Up, and I would like for you to take an interest in me, so I may have someone to take a special interest in myself.
Now today as I struggle in a “fight-for-my-life” I must remain in constant touch with my spirituality, humble myself, and love me at all times. I’m half the man that I used to be, but more man than I was. This mission is only one of the many that’s ahead of me as I take each step one at a time. I know that I am a recovering addict and my sickness/addiction will never be cured. It’s only in a state of “deep-sleep”. On any given day at any given time, it can happen to me. I could lose it all. Although this dark cloud will I recall my first time as an inpatient resident at a chemical threaten me for the rest of my life, I will forever remain grateful dependency treatment center it was a lot of work. The 12-Step to the many love ones that has stood by and supported me in this program for me consisted of an emotionally grinding and highly time of need. I’ve been truly blessed to be given this opportunity intensifying 120 days. I received a certificate for successfully to change: People, Places, and Things. participating in the program. Out of all the things that I got out of the program, there was this one thing that puzzled me. My I would like to now take this time to personally say thank you to counselor made it clear, that in order for me to have a higher Jay and Whats Up Magazine. Without your help and support, this rate with the success of my sobriety that I would have to change dream would have never come true for me…thank you again! people, places, and things. I would ask her, “Why would I want to I would like to also extend my thanks to all the staff, both past change all of the things that I know about, to none of the things and present at Whats Up. that I know about?” She gave me her best explanation of how important of a decision that this would be in my life. Though the wheels of life are turning so much faster, and yes there are dreams that I’ll never live to see, but as long as I believe When I got out of the facility and returned home, my family was in God…I will survive. happy to see me and they hoped that this was the beginning of a “new me”. Now being who I was at that time, I had a darkness Yeah just like that! lurking deep inside of me that was bigger than big. The very next day I ran into one of the “Ole-Crew” members. He said, “DP we’ve been missing you.” He then asked me, “What-cha darrell page has been an active got planned for today DP?” Before I could reply my mind shifted vendor and speaker for whats up into “stinking-thinking”. At that very moment I had begun to use and loves your feedback and support! mentally, and that led me into the physical act of getting high. All of those days that I was sober they just went up in smoke. 22 whatsupstl.com volume 10:2
image robert boettcher
Poll Results from UrbanReviewSTL.com: Q: What, if anything, should St. Louis do about the homeless camps on the north riverfront? • Provide alternate land to use that has running water,power, restrooms and some shelters (ie: campground) 20 [15.27%] • Force them to leave immediately 17 [12.98%] • Offer them annual lease option from City of St. Louis. Lease would require sub-leases with all residents. Rent would be paid with required volunteer service. 17 [12.98%] • House them in safe supportive apartments 17 [12.98%] • Put them on a bus to somewhere else 15 [11.45%] • Nothing 12 [9.16%] • Allow them to remain but charge for trash service and cite for maintenance violations 10 [7.63%] • Fund more emergency / transitional housing 9 [6.87%] • Arrest them for trespassing 5 [3.82%] • Other answer… 5 [3.82%] • Provide services to make them more comfortable 4 [3.05%] Fifteen people picked to bus the homeless elsewhere, they must not realize that St. Louis is where other cities in the region send their homeless. The safe & supportive housing option also isn’t realistic with this group unless you want to lock them up to make sure they stay. So what do you do? I think a campground with some basics is a good idea. This is also an idea that Larry Rice supports, which makes me question my own support. UrbanReviewSTL.com is St. Louis’ oldest urban blog, first published on Halloween 2004. Blogger Steve Patterson focuses on planning, policy & politics in the St. Louis region.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION @
***See more of Robert’s photography @ http://www.robertboettcherphotography.com/
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STREET SOURCES
INFORMATION FOR THE DISADVANTAGED AND HOMELESS OF ST. LOUIS AND THOSE WILLING TO HELP, AID AND ASSIST THEM IT IS A REQUIREMENT OF ALL SHELTERS THAT CONTRACT WITH THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS OR SAINT LOUIS COUNTY THAT INDIVIDUALS ACCESS SHELTER VIA THE HOUSING RESOURCE CENTER’S (HRC) HOUSING HOTLINE. LOOK FOR THE
HRC
LOGO IN THE SERVICE DIRECTORY.
Almost Home, Inc. 3200 Vincent See Key for Description W St. Louis, MO 63104 314/771-4663 Almost Home is a transitional living home for homeless young women who are primarily teenage. The young women may or may not be pregnant, or may have one or two children. The program is nine months and may be extended. Clients must be homeless, drug- and alcohol-free, and willing to participate in structured, goal-oriented programs. They must be willing to utilize counseling; seeking to live a functional, independent life in appropriate or permanent housing; and willing to change unsatisfactory living patterns. Clients will attend classes in budgeting, parenting, and child development. Gateway Homeless Services 1000 N. 19th Street F W HRC St. Louis, MO 63106 314/231-1515 The Christian Service Center is a 90-day, 24-hour shelter for 135 single women, single women with dependent children, married couples with or without dependent children, and single fathers with dependent childeren. Services provided include basic shelter services, individual case management, life skills program, medical and psychological services, educational assistance, permanant and transitional housing placement, self-esteem, emergency assistance, tutoring, employment referrals and activities for homeless youth. Centenary Methodist 55 Plaza Square W F M St. Louis, MO 63103 314/421-3136 This downtown faith community reaches out to the downtown homeless with compassion and a whole list of community resources from 7-9 AM for breakfast and 12 - 12:30 PM for lunch Tuesday-Saturday. Good Samaritan Center F 2108 Russell St. Louis, MO 63104 314/772-7720 The Good Samaritan Center offers stabilization and resettlement services for homeless families coming out of the shelter system. Services include transitional housing, case work training, support groups, life skills, follow-up, and referrals. Clients must be at least 18 years of age, have a family or children living with them, employable, and willing to work at their resettlement.
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Grace Hill Neighborhood Services: MORE Transitional Housing Program 3815 North 20th St. S W St. Louis, MO 63107 314/539-9659 Grace Hill provides transitional housing and emergency assistance (when funds are available) for single women and mothers. Clients must meet several criteria, including 1.) being homeless or in imminent danger of becoming homeless; 2.) having no more than two small children; 3.) having income or being eligible to receive income assistance; and 4.) being willing to participate in self-help activities (i.e., employment, training or GED classes). Haven of Grace W HRC 1133 Benton St. St. Louis, MO 63106 314/621-6507 Haven of Grace assists homeless, pregnant women ages 16-21 with shelter, goal-setting, education, employment, parenting, household management, and permanent residence. Hope House 1611 Hodiamont Ave. F St. Louis, MO 63112 314/382-3801 Hope House offers 50 transitional housing apartments for homeless families, comprehensive social services, family development, vocational and educational counseling, housing placement assistance, on-site living skills classes, and day care center. Clients must be prior St. Louis City residents and in a shelter for 15-30 days or referred by Housing Resource Center. After completing a comprehensive screening, the average stay is 12 months. Housing Resource Center 800 N. Tucker Blvd S M W St. Louis, MO 63101 Hotline for Services 314/802-5444 The Housing Resource Center provides centralized, comprehensive housing assistance for families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The focus is on prevention, but when prevention is not possible, emergency shelter placement and post-shelter placement is provided. Services include intake, assessment, and screening. Clients must be city or county residents (based on last permanent address). New Life Evangelistic Center (NLEC) 1411 Locust St. Louis, MO 63103 S W M F 314/421-3020 NLEC provides Christian outreach ministry to meet mental, physical, and spiritual needs of the City’s endangered residents. Among its services are: 24-hour hotlines, counseling, overnight emergency shelters at three locations (singles, men only, women only and families), rental/mortgage assistance, women’s services, utility assistance, transitional housing programs and shelters. Olive Branch W F HRC 5029 Vernon Ave. St. Louis, MO 63113 314.367-7676 Olive Branch provides 24-hour maternity shelter care for homeless/pregnant adolescents. Mother and baby may stay for up to three months after birth. Our Lady’s Inn W HRC 4223 S. Compton St. Louis, MO 63111 Phone: (314)351-4590 The Inn is an emergency shelter for homeless pregnant women. Clients must be pregnant, 18 years old or older, and City or County residents. Peter & Paul Community Services, Inc. Emergency Shelter/Transitional Housing 711 Allen M HRC St. Louis, MO 63104 314/621-5520 Peter & Paul Community Services assists homeless and near-homeless single men in several ways: a 50-bed year-round emergency shelter, a 20-bed year-round transitional program, meals, showers, lockers, medical referrals, living skills classes, and case management. Federal poverty guidelines apply and clients must be 18 years or older. Candidates for the transitional program must be sober and drug-free for a minimum of 30 days and have a willingness to continue treatment. Grace Chapel Ministries M 1230 California St. Louis, MO 63104 314/995-5013 Grace Chapel Ministries provides emergency and transitional housing for men, food pantry, clothing for homeless, permanent housing assistance, job placement, and transportation assistance for health services. The services are for adult male homeless clients with no serious chemical dependency problems.
ALSO, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT ST. LOUIS AREA RESOURCE DIRECTORY: http://www.StartHereSTL.org
Salvation Army CIP: Transitional Housing Program F HRC 4100 Snow St. Louis, MO 63120 314/389-9293 CIP offers 30 transitional housing apartments for homeless families in recovery. The center also accept homeless families that are not in drug recovery program and willing to work in our program. Families must have been in a shelter for 30 days prior to a referral being made. Covenant House Missouri Y HRC 2256 S. 39th St. St. Louis, MO 63110 (314) 772-6530 Covenant House Missouri provides emergency and long-term (12-24 months) transitional housing to prepare single women and men ages 17 to 21 for independent living. Services include individual counseling, family therapy and group counseling. Clients are homeless, single men and women 16 to 21 years old who need residential care and skill training to live independently, and who are willing to comply with program activities and structure. Redevelopment Opportunities for Women, Inc. W 2229 Pine Street St. Louis, MO 63103 314/588-8300 ROW effects positive change on behalf of homeless, abused and/or indigent women and families through programs and services that help individuals pursue economic self-sufficiency. Services include adult basic education and literacy, economic education, personal and life skills development, parenting education and support, domestic violence support and advocacy, and an early childhood program. Someone Cares Mission S 2718 N. 13th Street St. Louis, MO 63107 314-621-6703 Someone Cares Mission, a subsidiary of Christian Service Center, Inc., provides fresh and nutritious brown-bag lunches, personal hygiene products, and blankets for homeless and impoverished individuals and families five days a week. The Mission also distributes approximately 20,000 pounds of food daily to benefit bi-state regional homeless shelters and food pantries. St. Martha’s Hall W P. O. Box 4950 St. Louis, MO 63108 314/533-1313 St. Martha’s Hall is a confidential shelter for abused women and their children. Services include individual and group counseling, legal advocacy, information, referral, and follow up. Clients must be female victims of domestic violence, 18 years old and up. The Hall does not admit males older than 13 years of age. St. Patrick Partnership Center S 800 N. Tucker St. Louis, MO 63101 314/802-0700 The Partnership Center provides home living skills training and open market housing for individuals referred by agencies within the Homeless Services Network. Casework, employment training, child care, GED, and vocational referrals are available. The Center provides furniture and supplies to graduates of homeless and at-risk people referred by a member of the Homeless Network Board. St. Phillipine Emergency Shelter F 1015 Goodfellow Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63112 314/454-1012 St. Phillipine offers families with children 60-day shelter, providing hot meals, laundry and bathing facilities, referrals to transitional housing to women and children, medical referral, and access to City of St. Louis Homeless Services classes. St.Vincent de Paul Society S 4141 Forest Park Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108 314/531-2183 St. Vincent de Paul assists with transportation for the homeless. Service needs to an out-of-town location would be referred to Mullanphy Travelers Aid, and local needs would be provided by the Society via bus and MetroLink passes when available. Serves families and individuals facing homelessness in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Jefferson County, and St. Charles.
CALL THE HOUSING HOTLINE
314-802-5444
Sunshine Mission M 1520 N. 13th St. St. Louis, MO 63106 314/231-8209 Sunshine Mission offers a men’s emergency shelter, men’s long term rehabilitation program, women’s emergency services, food pantry, and youth programming. The men’s shelter is first-come, first-served. The Salvation Army F 10704 Page St. Louis, MO 63132 314/423-7770 This Salvation Army program is a year-round 50-bed shelter for County families who are homeless. Life skills training, legal assistance, child care, GED, and assistance into permanent housing are available for homeless families and abused women and children. United Methodist Metro Ministry Shalom House W 1040 S. Taylor St. Louis, MO 63110 314/534-1010 Shalom House is a 90-day shelter, which provides medical and dental services through Grace Hill Neighborhood Services, mental health services through St. Louis Mental Health Center, and a drug/alcohol day program through BASIC, D.A.R.T., or C-STAR programs. Clients are females (predominately mentally ill) aged 18 and older only. Veterans Affairs Homeless Veterans Program Healthcare for the Homeless 915 N. Grand Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63106 V 314/289-6547 The veterans’ program provides intake, assessment, referral, counseling, consultation for rehabilitative services, and residential placement through the program contract. The program serves honorably discharged veterans homeless for at least 30 days. C.A.L.L.-4-Life, Inc. S 4144 Lindell, Suite 136 St. Louis, MO 63108 314/652-0003 C.A.L.L.-4-Life outreaches St. Louis City residents who are homeless and were in special education while in school, and/or have a developmental disability. Services include connection to benefits, healthcare, housing/shelter, and long-term case management. Women’s Safe House W P.O. Box 63010 St. Louis, MO 63163 314/772-4535 The Women’s Safe House is a shelter for battered women and their children. Services include legal advocacy, community speaking and education, housing referrals, support groups, children’s programs, and limited transportation. YWCA-Phyllis Wheatley W HRC 3820 West Pine Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63108 314/533-9400 The facility provides housing for single women (up to two years). Personal and career development services include: Case Management Services, GED Certification, Educational and Vocational Assessment, Counseling, Job Readiness Training, Job Search and Referrals, Life Skills. Clients are single women, homeless or about to become homeless, 18 and older, and employed a minimum of 20 hours per week or with current written verification of income.
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SERVICES FOR THE HOMELESS OF SAINT LOUIS
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arts & awareness
REALLY...YOU’D RATHER STAY HOME???
AUGUST 25 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2011 @ The MX (www.mxstl.com) • BLUES SOCIETY COCKTAIL RECEPTION • SAINT LOUIS BLUESWEEK FESTIVAL • KDHX ALL-STAR BLUES BRUNCH • BLUES HISTORY PANEL DISCUSSION • SOULARD BLUES CRUISE • 2ND ANNUAL BLUES AWARDS • HARP & GUITAR WORKSHOPS
UPCOMING EVENTS FOR WHATS UP!!!
GO SEE SOME LIVE MUSIC!! {WWW.KDHX.ORG/CALENDAR} {WWW.BOTTOMSUPBLUES.COM}
9/3 - Hand Up For Hope Benefit: Hosted 10/21 - Dizzy Spell # 9: Get your spell on - with by Off Broadway & The LOUD Label featuring 3 amazing local acts. Music starts @ 8 PM! $10 Donation. Come see Bill Streeter’s film “Brick By Chance & Fortune” before!
teams at The Archive at 3215 Cherokee at 8 PM. $10 donation gets you registered to spell & one free drink. Great fun for a great cause!
Bill Streeter explores new territory in his latest venture, a documentary feature titled Brick by Chance and Fortune, about the history of the brick industry and brick architecture in St. Louis. 8/14/11 @ The Tivoli @ 4:30 PM.
www.stlbrickfilm.com (Events subject to change. Please check our website!)
WHAT TO DO IN ST. LOUIS / WWW.DO314.COM volume 10:2 whatsupstl.com
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www.downtownstl.org/handupforhope
28 whatsupstl.com volume 10:2