July - September 2006

Newsflash

Brief updates from our groups across the country

KALAMAZOO, Mich. Members of the Kalamazoo Homeless Action Network (KHAN) celebrated a victory in August when the City Commission ruled that homeless people would not be banned from city parks and public events, and changed the proposed 20-foot panhandling buffer to 10 feet from the entrances of public buildings and businesses. This compromise comes after the city had threatened to create panhandling-free zones in the downtown area and tighten restrictions on the hours and places people can use public parks for sleeping.

This sounds like a victory for the homeless community in Kalamazoo and lets keep it going in this direction, said Mike Kilbourne, KHAN staff involved in the struggle.

Author Barbarah Ehrenreich

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. What do Sheryl Crow, John Mellencamp, author Barbara Ehrenreich and workers at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum have in common? The three celebrities have joined workers and the Central Illinois Organizing Project (CIOP) in the fight for a living wage.

CIOP has led the living wage movement since Jan. 2004, encouraging legislators to raise the minimum wage from the current rate of $6.50 an hour to $8.58, and recently raising it to $9.55 per hour.

"It's only right that working people in this country earn a living wage. It's just basic to the value system that is part of being an American," Mellencamp said in a press statement earlier this summer.

"I stand with John Mellencamp in supporting the Central Illinois Organizing Projects efforts to achieve a living wage for the workers at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Earning a wage that will keep a person in poverty is wrong, and I look forward to one day returning to a living wage arena in Bloomington," said Crow in a statement to CIOP.

"Become activists for economic justice," Ehrenreich encouraged students at Illinois Wesleyan University in September. "Get involved in the local struggle to achieve a living wage in Bloomington."

Jack Porter

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. Jack Porter, member of the Central Illinois Organizing Project (CIOP), was recognized for his hard work in the community with the League of Women Voters Frances Fifer Bohrer award. Porter has worked with CIOP since 1999 and plays a large role in several of NTIC's community-corporate agreements.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. New York group Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN) has been selected as the recipient of a $10,000 national award from the MetLife Foundation. SUN was selected over 200 other applicants for the MetLife Foundation Community-Police Parternship Award.

"We are proud that we have forged responsible partnerships with the police department,mhousing non-profit agencies and government officials," said Board Chairperson Maria Johnson. "SUN may act as the catalyst, but it takes a number of players working together to affect real change."

ESOP members take on loan sharks to save homes.

CLEVELAND, Ohio The East Side Organizing Project (ESOP) was named the "Best Defense Against Predatory Lenders" in Cleveland Scene Magazine's "Best Of" issue. "With just two employees, ESOP has brought lenders to their knees by recruiting volunteers to picket the bankers' suburban homes, often donning shark costumes to make their point," the magazine states.