Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving!

May this be a time of joy, plenty, and - in the spirit of the Native Americans who fed and kept the pilgrims alive - welcome.


Thursday, November 19, 2015

Summary of Nov. 18, 2015 General Tenants Meeting

Thanks to Joan Browne, Rich Jordan, Steve Koulish and Na’ava Ades for the coffee, tea, and goodies that we enjoy at every meeting.

HOMELESSNES:  We welcomed Marc Greenberg, Executive Director of theInterfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing, and Orisha Jordan (born and raised in this building), Assistant Facility Director for the Doe Fund, to talk about the causes of homelessness and what can be done to help.    In carts provided by Joan Browne and Brenda Marshall, we collected contributions of canned food that took Paul Fisher two trips to bring to St. Michael’s Church for distribution to those who need food this season.   THANK YOU!!

Marc Greenberg spoke about history, policy, and what his group does.  He noted that we haven't always had rampant homelessness.  While there have always been some individuals who struggled to survive, widespread homelessness really began in 1980. The main causes:
  •       Between 1940 and 1980, 70% of affordable housing funds came from the federal government.  But in 1980,  President Reagan said housing wasn't a national problem and cut national housing funds by 2/3.  States have never been able to make up the difference.
  •         Mentally ill people were released from inhumane institutions to the community, but there were no (or insufficient) community groups to help them.
  •          Owners prefer to convert poor housing into luxury housing.  So about 300,000 Single Room Occupancy units (SROs) in NYC were lost.  The NYS Court of Appeals (the State's highest court) ruled that barring the conversion of SROs to luxury units would be a deprivation of property.
  •      Rent laws have been weakened (with vacancy decontrol and the 20% vacancy bonus) yielding a net loss of some 300,000 formerly-affordable units, and many more are being lost now.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Wed., Nov. 18th at 8 PM: Homeless in our neighborhood? Yes.

Got some cans ready?  We've got homeless people in our neighborhood, and predatory landlords are happy to create some more. 


Talk with

Orisha Jordan (raised in this building), Director of Social Services for the Doe Fund
on the causes and prevention of homelessness and what we can do.
  



Wed., Nov. 18, 2015 at 8 PM in the Community Room







Please bring some canned goods to donate.

Friday, November 6, 2015

General Tenants Meeting Coming up Nov. 18th!

Thanksgiving is coming.  We have homes, but many in our neighborhood have lost theirs. Some live in cars, others on the street. 

Hear Marc Greenberg, Executive Director of the Interfaith Assembly on Homeless & Housing on the causes and prevention of homelessness and what we can do.

Wed., Nov. 18, 2015 at 8 PM in the Community Room


Please bring some canned goods to donate.