PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Friday, January 17, 2025; Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Emergency Press Conference: Yvonka Hall, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition, lends her support to efforts to secure funding for a permanent seasonal shelter for Clevelanders living outside to have as an option during severe weather.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Friday, January 17, 2025; Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Emergency Press Conference: Loh, a longtime member of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, called upon the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to “come up with a real permanent effective solution” for unhoused people during severe weather.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Friday, January 17, 2025; Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Emergency Press Conference: Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Director of Organizing and Advocacy Josiah Quarles urged Clevelanders “to engage in the political process to put pressure on local politicians so the needs of Cleveland’s housed and unhoused can be met.” He called for a permanent winter shelter for the homeless, noting that severe winter weather in Cleveland is not a new thing.

by Chuck Hoven

   (Plain Press February 2025) Members and staff of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) held an emergency press conference on Friday, January 17^th to bring attention to the serious need for a permanent solution to the need for housing and seasonal shelters for homeless individuals sleeping on the streets in Cleveland.

   With temperatures expected to drop into single digits in the coming week, the NEOCH hoped the public attention would result in Cleveland City Council and Cuyahoga County taking immediate action to address the situation.

   Addressing members of the press, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Chris Knestrick said that as of the morning of the press conference, there was not a single seasonal shelter available for individuals who sleep on the street and refuse to go into the traditional shelter system. Churches that were available in previous years, were no longer available. Knestrick said that one homeless individual had already died this year due to freezing conditions.

   The only church lined up to serve as a seasonal shelter was Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Kinsman. Ward 4 Cleveland City Council Member Deborah Gray had taken steps to block the use of that church as a seasonal shelter. On December 24^th a legal order was issued to restrain the use of the church as a seasonal shelter due to the lack of a sprinkler system. The church appealed the order at the City of Cleveland Board of Building Standards and Appeals at its January 15^th meeting. Knestrick said he learned an hour before the press conference that the appeal was successful, and the church could serve as a seasonal shelter this year.

   Knestrick expressed frustration that the homeless community had to go through this type of effort each year to find seasonal shelters. He said it is no surprise that there is winter weather every year. He said Cuyahoga County needs to fund a permanent solution. He explained that already this year, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has dipped into its funding to provide hotel rooms for homeless individuals, so they won’t be outside in freezing temperatures.

   Yvonka Hall, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition, said “We are asking for a slice of the pie today. We want permanent housing.” She noted that the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County give millions of dollars to stadiums.

   Hall said that the City of Cleveland has declared “Racism is a public health crisis.” She said, “Housing is part of that crisis.”

   Hall urged Clevelanders to “Make sure City Council does the work they were elected to do and stand up for the least of us.”

   Josiah Quarles, NEOCH Director of Organizing and Advocacy, said the power of organizing is needed so the local “population can be engaged in the political process.”

   Quarles urged Clevelanders to put pressure on their political leaders “so the needs of Cleveland’s housed and unhoused can be met.” Referring to the need for seasonal shelter, Quarles said some permanent solution “needs to be put in place. Winter in Cleveland is not new.”

   Loh (pronounced Lu), a homeless member of the Homeless Congress of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, shared some of the history of seasonal shelters in Cleveland. Loh said that in 2019 there were lots of churches willing to help. She said then zoning codes became a problem and the number of churches able to help declined. She said the City of Cleveland has never come up with a winter or severe weather plan.

   Loh explained that in providing alternative emergency shelter, “Money becomes a weapon to go against people – hotels are not cheap.” To meet the needs of the unhoused, Loh urged the “City and County to come up with a real permanent effective solution.”