Open letter to Brooks regarding homeless crisis
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Open Letter to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks Regarding Rochester's Homeless Crisis
Dear County Executive Maggie Brooks,
Monroe County has a moral and, under Article 17 of the New York State Constitution, a legal obligation to care for all its residents especially our street homeless. We implore you to reverse the lock out of homeless persons from the Civic Center Garage until Monroe County puts into place a permanent plan to house all homeless.
In April 2013, a group of concerned citizens, the House of Mercy, and St. Joseph's House of Hospitality met with representatives from the Civic Center Garage, the City of Rochester and the Monroe County Department of Human Services upon being informed that the Civic Center Garage would be locking out homeless people sleeping there,thus exacerbating the homeless crisis in Rochester. In her January2014 statement before the Civic Center Garage LDC board meeting Kelly Reed, Commissioner of Monroe County Department of Human Services rightly acknowledged that Monroe County homeless shelters are "often full". For over a year we have appealed to the county to act immediately on the severity of this crisis.
We urge the County to put together a permanent plan to house all our homeless with supportive services. We even presented a successful model that Syracuse implemented when they faced a similar homeless crisis in 1979. Onondaga County united with the service providers to open the Oxford Inn with public funding from Onondaga County Department of Social Services. Against all of our pleas, on August20, 2014, the Civic Center Garage LDC locked out our homeless. We have seen no plan from the County to tackle the crisis on a short,medium, and long range level—only redirection to existing shelters which are inadequate to house all the homeless. Instead, they were threatened with arrest should they remain. We cannot “arrest”our way out of the problem.
We are requesting the county to do the following within the next 3 days:
1.Release to the public Monroe County’s plan to house all homeless persons.
2. Release the current annual Monroe County budget showing how the County pays for overflow housing particularly that at the substandard Hotel Cadillac
3. Immediately reverse the lockout at the Civic Center Garage until a permanent solution is instituted by the County.
If the county is unable to act decisively to fulfill these requests we will escalate public action until this moral and legal obligation is met. We will engage in a campaign of nonviolent direct action and if necessary legal action against the County. We do not take these actions lightly. We've worked patiently and tirelessly with the County for over 16 months to find a viable and sustaining solution to the crisis. As Gandhi said, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” NOW is the time for the Monroe County to rise to the occasion and prove that it is willing to serve all its residents, especially the poor, with dignity, respect, and compassion. As Jesus said in Matthew 25:35“When I was hungry, you fed me, when I was thirsty, you gave me to drink, when I was homeless, you sheltered me.” This is our mandate.
Sincerely,
Coalition of Concerned Residents of Monroe County
CC:Governor, Andrew Cuomo
Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman
Mayor,Lovely Warren
Board Chair, Monroe County Civic Garage LDC, David Moore
Commissioner,Monroe County Department of Human Services, Kelly Reed
