Fix It Don’t Fund It
The New Rochelle City Council recently approved a resolution to give $100,000 to fund a program at Oasis Homeless Shelter in New Rochelle, NY.
We ARE the homeless and we know that the Oasis Homeless Shelter is poorly run, lacking the basic necessities and full of bedbugs. We know first hand that the management of the Oasis Homeless Shelter is more interested in grabbing outside money to fund new programs when they cannot manage the programs they already have.
We know first hand that New Rochelle does need a day program to help the homeless of New Rochelle but Oasis, and the people at Hope Community Services are not the ones to run it. Hope Community Services is a group of well-intentioned people who currently support the homeless with a “soup kitchen” and other programs but they have no experience running the programs the City has agreed to fund.
City Council initially agreed to solicit proposals in an open competition for the best and most qualified providers. It has been acknowledged that an open bidding process would take less than a month to find a well-qualified organization.
As a result of pressure from Mayor Noam Bramson, Councilman Rackman and Councilman Fertel reversed their votes and gave the money away to these unqualified groups, one with a highly questionable track record.
We are a group of New Rochelle residents who happen to be homeless. We are intimately familiar with programs intended to help the homeless. We know what works and what does not work.
We want a fair and open process to select providers best suited to help the homeless in New Rochelle.
We are encouraging all those who wish to attend and support our efforts to show up at City Hall on Tuesday. T-Shirts and Signs with the “Fix It/Don’t Fund” message are welcome — or any you care to make to support our efforts.
WHO: Members of the homeless community in New Rochelle and their supporters including those among civic and religious organizations.
WHAT: A rally on the front steps of New Rochelle City Hall. Members of the homeless community will share there thoughts on being homeless in New Rochelle and the current situation, including speeches, anecdotes and creative endeavors such as relevant poetry.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 15th 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: 515 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY
For further information please contact Laura Case at cinderquil964@gmail.com
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In other news, the individuals given tickets for sitting quietly in the park were given up to 20 hours of community service. Something I find interesting in addition is that the list of approved community service opportunities is only five or six items long and includes Westcop and Hope but not the library or Dimensions or most other public service organizations (the humane society and Habitat for Humanity are on the list which is a good thing). I am not saying that those entities should not be approved, far from it. But they should not be among the only organizations so featured. Any New Rochelle based non-profit with official status should be approved.
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We hope to see you tomorrow.