Saturday, February 28, 2009

Photo: Bad news folks ...The lines are getting longer

Photo by Cindy Miller - 2007

The homeless and impoverished wait in line at Public Square in downtown Cleveland for a meal. The food was being distributed downtown by a church outreach ministry. Unfortunately they underestimated the amount of food to bring and soon ran out before many in this line were served.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Photo: Reinacting the original Second City TV intro -hood style

Taken on Euclid Ave. at the corner of Coit in East Cleveland, Ohio.
Homeless Grapevine Photography Program 2007
Photo by Cindy Miller


Certainly adds new meaning to Analog being out!

Seems like every time you pick up a newspaper, well, there I am!


"Herald Star" & "Toronto Scene" writer, reporter, photographer extrordanaire Mark Miller stopped by Thursday.

At the end of his columns in the "Toronto Scene" he always adds a blurb requesting the readers to contact him with any news and story ideas pertaining to Toronto.

Brilliant! Cast the line, dangle the bait; ask for referrals. It works.

Well, I bit.

In the below freezing bitterly cold still dark early morning hours of last Saturday morning I awoke at 5 a.m. to a cold house with no power. Prior to midnight, someone crashed into the power pole in front of my house snapping the pole three quarters of the way up. American Electric Power workers arrived at 3:45 a.m. to shut off my power and disconnect my lines.

So, fumbling around in the dark, I managed to find my torch lighter, light a few candles, slip sweat pants on over my PJs, find my shoes, grab Gary's and my cameras and head out the front door to shoot some video.

So once the power came on (at 7:20 a.m.), I powered up the computer, started uploading the vids and proceeded to shoot the following e-mail off to Mark.

Someone ran into the light pole in front of my house and AEP came out Satuday morning around 4 a.m. to replace it. I took loads of pix. Are you interested? I don't know if they caught the guy who ran into the pole. I called po-po around 8 this morning. Larry Fogle hasn't called me back.
Give me a buzz....(phone number).

I'm uploading vids onto my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/thiznat Check it out!
I'm starting a
Toronto channel featuring people in the community. I'd love to vid you since you are our reporter.

Well, Mark called Monday afternoon but he wasn't interested in the photos I took of the pole replacement. He was interested in my YouTube channels and wanted to interview me for a human interest story about those channels.

I asked Mark if he was sure if he really wanted to write a story about me since one written by Janice Kiaski appeared in the "Herald Star" and "Toronto Scene" in November.

Didn't matter.

So Thursday morning, along comes Mark armed with Portage Reporter's Notebook in hand and camera bag slung over his shoulder. We compared cool cameras. His and mine were Lumix digitals.































Thursday, February 26, 2009

...and I got this really cool camera too!

Top photo: Steve Cagan (left) and Howard Singleton (center) discuss camera functions while Jerome Pleasant (right) and Gary Waterbeck (foreground) listen.



Class participant Gary Waterbeck double checks camera settings prior to taking his first picture on his new camera.


Kevin Cleary "Homeless Grapevine"
reporter readies the laptop computer for use by class participants.



All photos from the 2007 photography program by class participant, Cindy Miller .


In 2007 and 2008 the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless received a grant from ODDC (Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council) for its "Homeless Grapevine" street newspaper photography program.

The course objectives were to: teach a marketable skill to the class participants; raise awareness of homelessness through advocacy photography in venues including public showings and publication and raise funds for NEOCH programs as the result of the sale of the photos. The class participants received 50 percent from the sale of each photo.

Grant money, awarded to the coalition for the photography program, paid for the purchase of a professional quality photo printer, digital cameras with software for each of the class participants (with one to be used by NEOCH), photo print paper, matting and frames. Each graduate of the course received a stipend upon course completion.

Gary (my significant other) and I were among the four people who completed the initial digital photography course in 2007. Noted Cleveland Heights activism/social justice photographer Steve Cagan taught the class through sharing his expertise in activism photography.

Each week we were given an assignment, set loose with our cameras and returned the following week to upload our images into the computer while learning to import and fine tune the images in Photoshop.

Our individual works were published in the "Homeless Grapevine" newspaper; a NEOCH publication that helps homeless and formerly homeless low income individuals earn an honest living as independent vendors.

Not only were our photos published in the "Homeless Grapevine" newspaper and on various pages of the NEOCH website but our photographic works were on display and for sale at the main Phoenix Coffee location on Superior Avenue.

Throughout this blog and the future postings, I will include photos by participants of the 2007 and 2008 "Homeless Grapevine" photography program.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Photo: Take time to enjoy...a sunset on a cold winter evening!

Sunset over frozen Lake Erie - Cleveland, Ohio Photo by Cindy Miller - 2008

Photo: Take time to enjoy... a sunrise

Photo by Gary Waterbeck - 2007

The southern view from our 12th Floor Section 8 apartment in East Cleveland.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I'll tell two friends and they'll tell two friends and so on.....

If you remember the Faberge shampoo commercials from the 1970's, you probably remember this slogan from an ad campaign that they used for many years.

If you are anything like me, I'm sure you recommend products and services to your friends and even strangers. And I bet you even tell people about your bad experiences too.

Years ago, I got involved with Mary Kay Cosmetics. I was living in Michigan at the time and didn't know anyone other than my coworkers and a few associates there that had previously worked with me in Medina, Ohio.

The opportunity (yes, being a beauty consultant with Mary Kay Cosmetics is an awesome home business opportunity) was offered to me and through it I made many friends; consultants and customers alike.

Anyway, I learned a lot of skills during the weekly Monday night meetings especially about goal setting and building a customer base.

One interesting fact presented at meeting was that, on average, each and every person knows 250 people. I thought that this figure was staggering but the director who presented this fact said that that figure pertains to the number of people we associate with in any given day, week or month and she was quick to point out who was on that list.

The people on that list includes, but is not limited to, the following: the cashier at the grocery store, hair stylist, bank teller, pharmacist, mail carrier, bartender, favorite server at a restaurant, co-workers, parents of children's friends, our friends, our classmates, the people who help us at our favorite clothing store and so on. Some of the people on this list helped me build my customer base and they told people.....

The advertising agency that created this advertising campaign for Faberge obviously was privy to this fact too.

The Homeless Task Force in Atlanta has produced a video with the Faberge 'and they'll tell two friends' ad campaign in mind.

Please WATCH and think about how you can organize the 250 people you know plus the 250 people that your friends know, and the 250 friends they know and so on to help any non-profit service organization in your community that needs donations.

This would also work for a clothing or food drive as well.



Saturday, February 21, 2009

FYI - Stimulus $ For Homeless

Homeless woman sleeping on RTA Rapid
Photo by Cindy Miller for the Homeless Photography Project 2007



If the impoverished and homeless had flown to Washington in private jets, they also would have been chastised. But would they have gotten their money anyway or just not as much?


A must read below by Brian Davis, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH)

Click On The Link: http://clevelandhomeless.blogspot.com/2009/02/economic-stimulus-and-homelessness.html#links

Friday, February 20, 2009

There's No Better Time & Place To Invest For Your Future Than Now & At Home!

It was October 2008 when Steubenville Herald Star writer Janice Kiaski made a plea to readers asking them to submit their personal stories as to what made them thankful in 2008 during the Thanksgiving season.

In 2008, I had a lot to be thankful for so I responded to her plea by e-mailing her the following:



Hi Janice!
I read in the Herald Star that you wanted to hear from readers about what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Here's my story briefly.

In 2005 I became homeless. I had been getting sick for many years, had difficulty working due to my disability and eventually lost my last job in 2003 because my symptoms interfered with my ability to function.

I struggled for over a year trying to fill out forms to apply for Social Security disability. I finally finished the forms in 2004.

After two denials from Social Security, I was evicted from my apartment of ten years. I was homeless for five months staying at a women's shelter in Cleveland, Ohio. Because of my disability, I was able to get assistance for a HUD funded apartment. On November 23, 2005 I received the key to my apartment. I will have to look at an old calendar but it was a day or two before Thanksgiving.

Because it was a holiday, the shelter permitted residents to sign out for the long holiday weekend without risk of losing our beds. Although I had no furniture, much less a bed to sleep on at the apartment, I decided to spend the long weekend there rather than at the shelter.

Thanksgiving Day I decided to take advantage of the free meal at The Hard Rock Cafe and stop back at the shelter to pick up some of my clothes. The weather was brutal and my legs cramped as if they were being crushed. I thought I was going to die waiting on a bus.

After the long weekend staying at my apartment sleeping on the floor, I went back to the shelter for a few nights until I got some furniture.

I was in HUD housing until I received my first lump check from Social Security in 2007.

I paid off 90% of my debt owed to creditors (the ones I could find), was approved for a mortgage and bought my first home. I moved back to Toronto in April 2008.

While in Cleveland I served on the Board of Trustees at The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (www.neoch.org) where I also volunteered and was a contributing writer and photographer for the street newspaper
"The Homeless Grapevine". I also served on the Advisory Board for Care Alliance; a health clinic that serves the homeless and poor of Greater Cleveland.

I have spoken about my experience with homelessness before The Truth Commission, at Case Western Reserve University and with various members of Cleveland City Council as a guest of Brian Davis, Executive Director of NEOCH.

I have been very busy remodeling, repairing and redecorating my home since moving in. I hope to get involved in the community next year regarding homeless causes. I have a wealth of information to share due to my association with the homeless coalition.

The title of my book (when I find the time to write it) will be "From Homeless to Homeowner". Michael Heaton of "The Plain Dealer" suggested "Homeless in 25 Minutes".

I have included some links:
http://homelessgrapevine.blogspot.com/ - see one of my many photos published in "The Homeless Grapevine" that was used on the masthead. Scroll down to stories about the photography program I participated in:
Plain Dealer Features Grapevine Photography Program & Grapevine Photography Program Celebrates Successful First Year

Stories I wrote:
http://www.neoch.org/grapevinearticles/72/fly_on_the_wall.htm
This was the first part of a series I wrote about conditions at Community Women's Shelter. I used the name Diana Dennis to mask my identity.

http://www.neoch.org/grapevinearticles/77/truth_commission_puts_poverty.htm
About the Truth Commission and my testimony in Cleveland.

If you are interested in my story, feel free to call me. I have also included some of the photos I took with the camera I received through the Homeless Photography program.



Several days later, Janice called me and interviewed me over the phone. Three personal stories were published in the Thanksgiving edition of The Herald Star with other personal stories appearing in the following Sunday edition.



Thankful for memories, miracles, having a home was also published in the Toronto Scene.



My intent of participating was to increase awareness about homelessness and from the positive feedback and acknowledgment I have received from friends, acquaintances and people who recognized me on the street, I accomplished my mission and made them aware that they too could become homeless at any time for any reason.



Due to the economic climate, not only worldwide but especially in their own hometown, the people here are fearful of loss of job, loss of family, loss of health with the additional financial burden of the associated medical expenses and potential loss of home. All three stories in Janice Kiaski's story bring those fears to light; that there are people in this community that they might know who experienced some sort of loss but have come through it with the help of friends, family or a non-profit social agency.



The population in the Ohio Valley has declined dramatically due to job loss in the steel industry. Other manufacturing facilities closed their doors for good in the late 1970s and my hometown with its much smaller population of close to 5200 has 158 families receiving groceries from the food bank in town.



But one thing this community does understand is volunteering and donating to the local charities that serve the people here. The residents here understand the possibility that they too may need help.



United Way surpassed their annual goal as well did the Toronto chapter of The Salvation Army. The people here come to the aid of anyone who needs help. They, as Congressman Charlie Wilson has said on numerous occasions "Get It!"



People often ask me about being homeless and how can they help others. My response as always is "support your community; the local small business owner and the charities that help your community". Friends want to help me put together personal care packets.



And, although she didn't publish everything that I sent in the e-mail sent her, Janice Kiaski told me I made her more aware too.

Longer Press Runs, Looking For Busy Work Means Unemployment

So You Think It Can't Happen To You. Well, Think Again!

Well, I thought so too but homelessness happens. Come to think of it, I've been homeless several times.

The first two times was in Niles, Michigan.

I had moved there in May of 1989 after taking a job offer from a commercial printing company there. I was offered a working interview upon the recommendation of two former associates who previously were employed by a web-offset commercial printing company in Medina, Ohio.

My job in Medina was secure. I was successful there. I received raises on a consistent, timely basis. My reviews were always good. I was trusted by management in my judgment and troubleshooting abilities. I worked overtime when asked, took on other responsibilities including supervising and quality control. I was the queen of multi-tasking; the model employee.

My resignation (in writing) shocked my co-workers, department manager and shift foreman. No one saw it coming. It even shocked me. I was leaving a job, friends and a three-bedroom condo in a town that I loved.

Depression can do that to a person. And I was very depressed. I didn't realize it at the time but I'll go into that at another time in another post.

Anyway, I started the new job in Michigan in April of 1989. It was a fantastic job at a progressive company. Twelve hour shifts; every two days off allowing me the ability to drive the 5 hours to Medina to pack, have a garage sale and make the full move to Michigan and into an apartment a month later.

Now, here's where the homeless part comes in - the first time.

There was a fire the evening of December 26, 1989. I felt it - I sensed it - I obsessed over it.

Mom came up to Michigan to visit and I scheduled a few days off to take her back to Ohio and have time to spend with friends and relatives. We were to leave for Ohio December 26, which we did do after several hours of leaving the house (duplex), returning to double check things such as plugs, making sure I had left nothing turned on and leaving the apartment key with Tricia who lived upstairs. The thermostat controlling the heat to both of our apartments was located in my downstairs apartment.

Two feet of snow had fallen overnight; mild by Western Michigan standards. Damn it was cold outside; below freezing with a wind chill of zero.

Finally I left Niles; got on the toll rode in South Bend and got as far as Elkhart, Indiana when the feeling of doom over took me. Back to Niles, Michigan to check again. Did I unplug my hot rollers?

Six hours later; it's 8 p.m. Mom and I had just ordered dinner at the Brown Derby on Cleveland-Massillon in Montrose, Ohio. The feeling of doom came over me again and I couldn't shake it. It was overwhelming and Mom noticed it too in how I was acting; fidgeting.

We ate dinner and left headed for Massillon. We drove two hours to my hometown of Toronto, Ohio the next morning to visit cousins and my aunts.

After a full day of driving, visiting and driving back to Massillon, the phone rang at my mom's. It was 10 p.m. My best friend Debby had called to tell me that there had been a fire; in Tricia's apartment at 8 p.m. (the same night and time I was at the Brown Derby fidgeting the night before).

I had tenant's insurance; Tricia didn't. I lost nothing. Tricia and her son Favian lost everything; Christmas presents, the cat died from the smoke. My apartment was sooty and smokey. Tricia's apartment was gutted. Both apartments were uninhabitable.

My insurance covered my motel stay, expenses to clean my clothes and furnishing, expenses to move. I received a check from the insurance adjuster for $1500.00. The Salvation Army took care of Tricia and Favian.

The fire department determined the cause of the fire to be an unattended candle burning in Tricia's living room while she, her son and company she had over for dinner were in the kitchen.
Tricia told me she heard a popping noise.

We found dangerous wiring outside my apartment the day I moved out. I purchased, from the landlord, the washer and dryer that was on the enclosed back porch. The dryer was connected to a stripped, exposed cable (a hot line) coming up from the basement.

Just makes one wonder!

So how did I become homeless the second time in less than 4 years? Read my next post: "Longer Press Runs, Looking For Busy Work Means Unemployment".

Let's Begin Shall We?

I began construction on this blog in 2007, less than a month after being approved by the administrative law judge for Social Security Disability. So much has happened and so much time has passed since starting to layout this blog.

Much time, energy, blood, sweat and tears have been spent to get to where I am today.

Contained on this blog will be the telling of my story of my life experience. The career I busted my ass for. The illness I fought to overcome. The discrimination I faced and tried to fight in the workplace to keep my job and prevent my health from deteriorating further. The job loss that a simple accommodation at work could have prevented. My eviction from my apartment of ten years. My time spent homeless in Cleveland, Ohio and the events leading to owning my first home.

So, let's begin, shall we?