S a f e t y N e tThe newsletter of Coalition for the Homeless Spring 2005

Usually when I tell someone Iwork at Coalition for theHomeless, the conversation

veers towards mental health issues,or their perception that more home-less people are sleeping in our parksand other public spaces.

People are often genuinelyshocked when I tell them that over15,000 of the people sleepingtonight in public shelters are chil-dren, or that twenty percent of theadults are working but unable toafford a place of their own.

Everyday at the Coalition’s head-quarters, we meet working men andwomen, some parents, many singleadults, who are trying desperately toboth keep their jobs and stabilizetheir lives.

Harry and Sheila were given amonth’s notice that their landlord inStaten Island wanted their apart-ment for a relative. They bothworked – Harry, full-time, makingdeliveries for a florist and Sheila,part-time as a waitress. Their son,Jared, was an honor student in thesixth grade and daughter, Jessica,

had just started kindergarten. They tried to find an apartment

on such short notice, but their mea-ger savings were not nearly enoughfor either rent deposits or brokerfees. Once they wound up at theEmergency Assistance Unit (theoffice where families apply for shel-ter) in the Bronx, they struggled tokeep Jared in his school back inStaten Island and their jobs going.Sheila lost her’s first, and Harryabout ten days later. Remarkably,through their three month ordeal atthe Bronx EAU, Jared kept going tohis gifted children’s program onStaten Island – such was theremarkable resolve of his parents.

Robert is another working per-son, who sought our help a fewmonths ago. Robert lost the roomhe was subletting when his friend,who held the lease on the apart-ment, moved to Florida. Unable tosecure another place, he wound upat the men’s shelter on Ward’sIsland. Robert worked as an assis-tant manager at Radio Shack andthe morning I met him, he hadjust been fired. He had been late

three times in the past two weeks,because the bus from Ward’sIsland had been late. He tried toswitch to the late shift, but couldn’tget a late pass from the shelteradministration.

I’ll never forget what Roberttold me that morning – that he wasso embarrassed to be homelessthat he simply could not confide inhis supervisor as to the real reasonhe was suddenly unreliable to openthe store.

Robert’s story has a happy end-ing – he was admitted to our RentalAssistance Program, rented a mod-est studio in Brooklyn, and hasfound another job.

People often ask Coalitionstaffers how we manage to do greatwork against great odds. It’s ourhomeless neighbors who show usthe true meaning of courage. Andsupporters like you, who make it allpossible.

Mary Brosnahan SullivanExecutive Director

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Safety Netis published by

COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS129 Fulton Street

New York, NY 10038Telephone: 212-776-2000

www.coalitionforthehomeless.org

MARY BROSNAHAN SULLIVANExecutive Director

EditorsSHELLY NORTZ, ADAM FRIEDMAN,

JOSHUA KLINSKI

PhotographyJOSHUA KLINSKI, IAN WINGFIELD

DesignCLARE MANIAS

A Letter from Mary

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By Adam Friedman

Ten years ago, when the Coalitionneeded a line of credit, EAB notonly approved our loan applica-

tion, but the President of theirCommunity DevelopmentCorporation was so impressed withthe Coalition’s services that he joinedour Board of Directors. Although hismain experience is in the financialservices industry, Rick Roberto is nostranger to the nonprofit world. Hehas served on the boards of numer-ous housing organizations includingthe Community DevelopmentCorporation of Long Island, theBronx Overall EconomicDevelopment Corporation, andNeighborhood Housing Services ofNew York City – where he was BoardPresident for 10 years.

As the Coalition’s BoardTreasurer, Rick’s decades of experiencein the banking industry are invaluablein overseeing the Coalition’s finances.This is especially critical now as wehave made the transition from tenantto landlord by purchasing and renovat-ing our new headquarters at 129Fulton Street in Lower Manhattan.Rick provided significant help with thisproject from start to finish. Althoughhis professional experience has beencritical, his commitment to our mis-sion earns him the most plaudits at theCoalition. When George Delaney, ourDeputy Executive Director forPrograms heard we were writing aboutRick, he charged over to gush, “Hishelp with our finances is invaluable,but I am most impressed with the pas-sion he reveals when it comes to fight-ing for justice and human dignityissues… While his guidance has beenvital to our growth, he constantly chal-lenges us not to forget our backgroundas a grassroots organization.”

Looking at his impressive resume– Rick is currently a Senior VicePresident at BPD Bank, an affiliate of

Banco Popular Dominicano – onemight expect an intimidating figure.However, his lighthearted sense ofhumor quickly puts everyone at ease.He immediately becomes serious,though, when discussing the issue of

homelessness. Fully aware that 20percent of homeless shelter residentsare employed, Rick recounts, “Beforejoining the Coalition’s board, I did notrealize how complex the issue ofhomelessness is. The average personthinks that homeless people are lazy;nothing could be further from the

truth. There are a lot of working peo-ple out there. I have known severalpeople who lost their jobs and narrow-ly escaped homelessness.”

As a long time board member,Rick has witnessed the homelessshelter population increase to recordlevels – over 36,000 people now stayin City shelters every night, morethan at any time since the GreatDepression. His vision is for the

Coalition to continue to grow to meetthe diverse needs of more homelessmen, women, and children.

“Government simply cannot do italone,” he asserts. “They need towork with a strong nonprofit commu-

nity if we hope to turn the tide.” Unfortunately, changes in federal

and City policy have halted the suc-cessful strategy of providing rentalassistance to homeless families byenrolling them in the Section 8Housing Voucher Program. This willtransfer more of the responsibility for

helping our city’s poorest familiesand individuals to an already over-stretched social service sector. TheCoalition is committed to continuingto work hard to meet the growingneeds of our homeless neighbors.With dedicated board members likeRick Roberto, and the help of gener-ous donors, we have the guidanceand support needed to help us fulfillour mission.

Spotlight on the Board: Rick Roberto

Rick Roberto and colleagues at the eleventh annual Women Mean Business Luncheon

“... I am most impressed with the passion he reveals when it comes to fighting for justice andhuman dignity issues… While his guidance has been vital to our growth, he constantly challenges usnot to forget our background as a grassroots organization.”

-George Delaney, Deputy Executive Director for Programs

By Joshua Klinski

“ Ichoose to work,” exclaimsDonna, a 41-year-old womanwho has been living in the New

York City shelter system for the pastfourteen months. After years of stay-ing in an abusive relationship, shefinally found the strength to flee, reluc-tantly choosing homelessness overabuse. Fortunately, Donna was notwithout career skills. Her educationalbackground includes two AssociatesDegrees – one in Law Enforcementand the other in Child Development.

Navigating the shelter system wasnot easy at first. After receiving vari-ous placements, Donna found herselfat a facility in Brooklyn that providedon-site job training and certificationin various fields. There she renewedher interest in law enforcement, andbecame certified in security, fire safe-ty, crisis intervention, anti-terrorism,first-aid, and CPR. She has sincebeen transferred to a different shelterin Brooklyn.

As of February this year, Donnaheld two jobs, and worked roughly 60hours per week. In addition to hold-ing a full-time position as a securityofficer and earning $7.57 per hour,she also worked the night shift at aconvenience store two or three timesper week. But making ends meet istough considering she lives in NewYork City, where the cost of living isamong the highest in the nation.“I’m just saving so I can leave theshelter,” she says.

Working the Late Shift Carries a Heavy PriceDonna is proud that she defied theodds and managed to secure employ-ment while fighting her way throughhomelessness. However, she neverexpected that once she finally foundwork, she would be penalized soharshly by the shelter system. “I lostmy shelter bed many times because I

was at work,” she says with frustra-tion. Her security guard positionrequired that she work from 4 p.m.until midnight, yet shelter policyrequires all residents to obey a 10p.m. curfew. Since Donna workedpast 10 p.m., and often continuedworking at the convenience store afterher security shift, she needed a spe-cial pass for employed residents whowork late hours.

Unfortunately, Donna oftenfound obtaining a late pass to be nosmall chore. While some case work-

ers at the shelter were happy to help,others challenged her on a regularbasis. One worker “wanted to seeproof that I had a job,” she explains.“And then when I showed them mywork ID, they accused me of makingit myself on a computer. So I showedthem a copy of my work schedule, butthat still wasn’t good enough.” Whenthe shelter worker threatened to callDonna’s employer for verification,Donna resisted. She had not dis-closed that she was homeless, andfeared that her job would be jeopard-

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Homeless and Working: Sometimes a Job is Not Enough

“They’re supposed to lift you up to independent living status,but that’s not always the case. All I want is to still have myjob and be respected.”

Donna had to choose between a bed and a paycheck.

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ized if her employer learned the truthabout her homelessness.

“It would compromise my wholerespectability and believability as asecurity guard,” said Donna. “Thecase worker told me ‘If you don’t letme call them, you won’t get a pass.’”

Donna had similar difficulty get-ting permission to leave for her job atthe convenience store. “They told methey needed a letter from the store,but since the store didn’t have letter-head, we just used regular paper. Thestore owner also only spoke Spanish,so what he wrote was kind of messy.So I copied the letter over neatly andhe signed it. But then my case work-er wouldn’t accept it.”

Tough ChoicesUltimately Donna chose to go towork, with or without a pass. Herjobs were her tickets to self-sufficien-cy, and not showing up would surelycause her to be fired. However,upon returning to the shelter afterher late shifts, she was continuallytold she had “lost her bed” for thenight. “When you lose your bed,”she says, “you can’t lay down. Theonly place to sit is in the dining area,on a hard chair.” Lack of proper resttook its toll on Donna. “I would beup late, having worked for twelvehours, and was extremely tired. AndI had no place to rest. I kept saying,“How many times are they going todo this to me?’”

In March, Donna decided to takea 60 day leave of absence from hersecurity officer job. She is optimisticthat during this time she will be ableto transfer to a new shelter, one shesays that will not compromise her abil-ity to work. “It’s very easy to get lostin the abyss of the shelter system,” shesays. “They’re supposed to lift you upto independent living status, but that’snot always the case. All I want is tostill have my job and be respected.”

Donna is Not AloneApproximately 20 percent of adultsliving in New York shelters areemployed. Donna's story illustratesjust some of the challenges that thou-sands of working homeless peopleface. Many individuals living in shel-ters or on the streets who are activelyseeking work find themselves at a dis-advantage due to a lack of properidentification, professional attire, anda phone number or mailing address.Those who do have jobs run the riskof being randomly transferred to ashelter far from their workplace, mak-ing their daily commute more diffi-cult and longer.

The staff at the Coalition for theHomeless meets several workinghomeless people each week in ourwaiting room. “They come to us forhelp with a number of differentissues,” says Tony Taylor, Director ofthe Coalition’s Crisis InterventionProgram. “People who begin a newjob must usually wait at least twoweeks to see their first paycheck, andfor someone without savings, thosetwo weeks can be very difficult. Weprovide subway fare, help people pur-chase work clothing – do what we canto help them start off on the rightfoot.” The Coalition also offers freevoicemail accounts and mailboxes forhomeless individuals, which allowthem to connect with potentialemployers and landlords.

Tony’s stories about the strugglesthat our employed clients face whileliving in the shelter system echomany of Donna’s difficulties. “Oneshelter told me that they wouldn’tissue a late pass to a woman becausethey ‘didn’t think she was ready towork,’ even though she had beenworking for three years prior,” hesays. “It didn’t make sense.” Hepoints out the injustice of makingsomeone choose between keepingtheir job and having a place to sleep.

“Either you lose your job or you loseyour bed. In theory the shelters wantyou to work, but in reality, there areso many roadblocks in front of you.”

Coalition for the Homeless regu-larly advocates on behalf of homelesspeople who work to help them secureshelter placements in which theirwork schedules can be accommodated.

Did you know...• According to surveys, about20 percent of homelesspeople in New York areemployed.

• Of these, 75 percent workmore than 20 hours perweek, and 11 percent workmore than 40 hours perweek.

• One-third of working home-less people are heads ofhouseholds with children.

• Nine out of ten of theseheads of households earnless than $10 per hour.

• Single homeless adults withjobs who earn more than$442.10 per month($5,280 per year, or abouthalf-time at minimum wage)are NOT eligible for publicassistance or new Cityrental vouchers.

• The number of homeless people has increased 75percent over the past fiveyears according to City shelter statistics.

By Adam Friedman

Judith-Anne Sadler-Bryan’s story isa classic demonstration of howalmost anyone’s life can unravel

into homelessness. She had been asuccessful corporate headhunter inAnguilla with a substantial nest egg.With the help of their savings, sheand her husband had the uncommonfreedom to travel for several years.Unfortunately, the marriage broke up

and she was then confronted withdevastating health news: Diagnosis,leukemia.

Judith-Anne came to New York toseek treatment at Sloane Kettering, theworld renowned cancer center.Although the treatment was eventuallysuccessful, Judith-Anne had no healthinsurance and the cost of treatmenteventually depleted her savings. Withno money or employment, she consid-

ered staying in a homeless shelter butthe conditions scared her away. “I’drather live on the street,” she remem-bers with disgust. Luckily, she wasable to avoid this fate as a friendly cou-ple allowed her to sleep in an emptyhome they owned in Castle Hill.

After a long and unsuccessful jobsearch, Judith-Anne received securityguard training from a welfare-man-dated training program. “That winterI patrolled dangerous demolition andconstruction sites from midnight to 6a.m. for $5.56 an hour,” she recounts.“I was grateful to huddle in minus-

cule plastic huts usually with nolight and often no heater.” Of

course this salary is nowherenear enough to afford hous-

ing in New York City’soverpriced market.

Fortunately, a compas-sionate woman she

met at church rentedher a room on a pay-me-

when-you-can basis. As is the case with

many New Yorkers who quali-fy for welfare benefits, Judith’s

payments were inexplicably cut offby the City. However, her life beganto turn around when she was referredto the Coalition’s Crisis InterventionDepartment. As the only program inNew York City that offers comprehen-sive walk-in emergency services with-out an appointment, CrisisIntervention provides assistance to80-90 homeless individuals and fami-lies every day. Not only was her crisisspecialist able to help Judith-Annewith her welfare benefits, but he alsoreferred her to the Coalition’s FirstStep Job Training Program.

First Step is a holistic job-trainingprogram for women that transformsnot only a woman’s job skills, but alsoher self-esteem and entire outlook onlife, enabling her to undertake thearduous journey from homelessnessto economic independence. BecauseFirst Step targets every single aspectof a participant’s life, women oftendescribe the program as a life-chang-ing experience. Judith-Anne’s reac-tion was no exception, “Quite simply,First Step saved my life. I was so sickand so depressed by the time I startedthe program that I’m not sure whatwould have happened to me withoutFirst Step… They had faith that Icould make it, and because theybelieved in me, I came to believe inmyself again. That was my first leap,and it was a leap of faith in myself.”

After the initial four weeks ofemployment training, First Stepwomen participate in an 8- to 12-weekinternship at a corporation or non-profit organization. This allows themto hone their classroom skills in areal-world environment while also giv-ing them professional contacts and anemployer reference. Like many FirstStep graduates, Judith-Anne washired by her internship provider –first as a temp and then as a full-timeColumbia University employee. Shenow lives in the Bronx. Far fromwhere she was when she arrived atthe Coalition for the Homeless,Judith-Anne looks to the future withhope. “I am in remission andemployed in a field I enjoy. I plan togo back to school for a Masters ineducational administration. Thankyou First Step for helping me get mylife back on track.”

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Another First Step Miracle

“...I’m not sure what would have happened to me without FirstStep… They had faith that I could make it, and because theybelieved in me, I came to believe in myself again.”

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By Jill Madeo

Supporters of the Coalition’s FirstStep Job Training Program filledthe ballroom at the Pierre Hotel

on Wednesday, March 16, 2005, forthe eleventh annual Women MeanBusiness Luncheon. The event raisesfunds for First Step and recognizesthe corporations, individuals, and vol-unteers who dedicate their time andresources to helping the low-incomeand homeless women served by thisinnovative program.

The highlight of the luncheonwas keynote speaker, Renee Brown,Vice President of the WNBA. Shespoke about her own personal tri-umphs and the impact of her visitwith First Step students during theirtraining. Ms. Brown testified to theincredible strength and perseveranceof First Step participants and urgedthem all to “keep on, keeping on.”

Many of New York City’s top busi-ness leaders joined the festivities.Among them were Todd Yannuzzi ofMorgan Stanley, this year’s CorporateAward winner, as well as representa-tives from Estee Lauder, JP MorganChase, Eileen Fisher,Newsweek, InterAsianResources, and many more cor-porations and foundations.Debbie Harwin and AnnSullivan represented VolunteerAward winner NAPO-NY(National Association ofProfessional Organizers). Since2002, NAPO has provided FirstStep participants with invalu-able classes on time, money,and paper management skills.Erin Camo and Amiyah Farrellrepresented Cutler Salon,which won a Volunteer Awardfor their generous donation ofhair makeovers for First Stepstudents.

Women Mean Business luncheonguests were deeply moved by a videofeaturing First Step graduate LauraMcNeill. Laura told of coming toFirst Step as part of her rehabilitationafter having been in prison for thir-teen years. First Step’s classroomtraining, her internship at Gay Men’sHealth Crisis, and the ongoing sup-port of her mentor have radicallychanged Laura's self-esteem and ledher to full-time employment with awell-known non-profit organization.

Those in attendancealso had the opportunityto hear other stories ofhow First Step trans-forms women’s lives asmany of the program'sgraduates joined ourguests for lunch. Theevent was a true successwith business leadersand donors learning firsthand how their generousgifts and volunteerefforts profoundly alterthe lives of some of themost vulnerable womenin New York City.

Women Mean Business: Renee Brown Inspires Luncheon Guests

Top: Renee Brown delivers the keynote speech. Middle: Deborah Krulewitch, Jane Hertzmark Hudis, Sue Grundfest, JaneLauder, and Phebe Farrow Port. Above Left: Taunya Patterson-Rivera, Renee Brown, Lou Lowenstein, and George Delaney.Above Right: First Step graduate Cynthia Sparks speaks with a First Step supporter.

A Plea From a Fellow New Yorker:Dear Coalition for the Homeless,

I am presently in a situation in which your help is needed. I am employed and very proud to have ajob, but what I am about to present to you is driving me insane and stressful. I am blessed to havea job and am able to be be free.

I have recently found a job in Brooklyn, which is the borough I know best, but I was transferredfrom the Bedford Mens Shelter in Brooklyn to Wards Island and it is now very difficult for me tomake it to work because (1) I am presently under Parole and participating in drug rehabilitation pro-gram. (2) I have to get up at 5:00 A.M. in order to make it to work on time putting me in violationof my Parole cur few which is at 7:00 A.M.

It is very hard for me because this will cause me not be able to make it to my program or my jobon time. Therefore, I am sending you this E-Mail so that you can see the situation I'm in and see ifsomething can be done so that I can be placed in a Brooklyn Working Shelter before my job goesdown the drain.

I pray that someone within this office be able to help me in finding a shelter in Brooklyn so that Iwon't have to lose my job down the road because of not being able to make it on time to work.

I will be contacting you soon! Please help me get to a Brooklyn Working Shelter!

Sincerely,Manuel