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Please check out our updates tab! Of
the 16 families impacted by this displacement, we believe only 5
families remain in their homes. The status of three more are
unknown. We have reached our $2k goal, and have expanded the goal
to $3,500 with a deadline of October 31st to meet changing needs of
the families. Thank you everyone for your continued support!
Support Displaced Families in Detroit Shoreway
On the west side of Cleveland, OH, 16 families are fighting
victimization on two fronts. Having spent years in conflict with an
unethical landlord they are now facing displacement at the hands of
the nonprofit Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization
(DSCDO), which took receivership of the properties on June 6, 2017.
At least three families have already had to leave their homes under
threat of an eviction that, once filed with the court, would create an
additional barrier to obtaining future housing. These families are not
yet in stable housing situations, and the minimal help DSCDO has given
($300 - $700) is not enough, especially when they’ve been told they
won’t get their security deposits back. Another family is
facing the threat of eviction this week.
Concerned neighbors have been organizing with many of the tenants
since mid July, and thankfully donors and volunteers have helped
several families narrowly avoid having to stay in a shelter.
The situation is evolving quickly, and many of the tenants'
needs are still unknown. The families being displaced
cannot wait for Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization to
offer more compassionate support, and need us to step up as a
community to generously donate to help them survive this hardship.
Please join us in raising $2,000 to support the most
pressing and immediate needs of these families, and show how
community - near and far - can come together to love and support one another.
To hear some of the families' stories, please watch this short video
by filmmaker Jasmine Golphin: http://welcome2midnight.com/displacement/
How We Got Here
Many of the families were given 30-day notices to leave their homes
in late July. The families were not able to meet this deadline, and
report that they were then given multiple contradictory offers of
“relocation assistance”, sometimes in addition to threats of eviction
from DSCDO, but have yet to get offers of assistance in writing.
Many acted based on promises made by other DSCDO employees that
evaporated when Jeff Ramsey, Executive Director of DSCDO, returned
from an extended trip. Some were made promises by Jeff Ramsey that
were rescinded or altered within days. There have been so many verbal
offers and withdrawals that tenants no longer know where they stand,
other than that they need to leave their houses, and their community.
The Impact of Forced Displacement
Rapidly rising housing costs in the “up and coming” Detroit Shoreway
neighborhood would pose a challenge for finding any one of these
affected families looking to find another affordable apartment in
their own community. That shortage has been exacerbated by the number
of families simultaneously searching for new housing just as these
units are being held empty. Those difficulties have been further
compounded by the uncertainty and pressure to find new housing quickly
or face an eviction on their record.
Some families want to fight to stay in their homes. Some residents
come from families that have lived in this neighborhood for
generations. They don't want to leave their churches, change doctors,
or find new childcare. Parents are worried about the consequences to
their children’s health, happiness, and education if they are forced
to move in the middle of the school year. Many residents have limited
mobility or transit options and are concerned moving will isolate them
from critical support networks.
Other families simply want enough time and money to reasonably move.
Many have overcome the trauma of being homeless in the past, and are
desperate not to become homeless again.
How Your Donation Will Be Used to Support These Families
Our neighbors need funds for rent, deposits, moving expenses, and
replacing appliances. Some who were forced to move quickly need
clothes, appliances, food, and money to catch up from lost wages from
having to take off shifts to deal with all of this. Some need extra
bus money or to pay for childcare in order to look for new apartments,
or to go to appointments with local charities. Several tenants are
disabled or have immediate medical needs that make this situation even harder.
Your donation will support the most immediate needs of the families
we are working with. As we meet the few remaining tenants we have not
talked to yet, we will update the fundraiser.
If Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization begins
offering more compassionate relocation assistance, and the families'
needs are met, any remaining funds from this fundraiser will be held
for future displacement support efforts.
Additionally, several families have insisted that they prefer to pay
back donations they use from the fund, so that other neighborhood
families facing displacement in the future have the support they are
getting now from neighbors and volunteers.
If you can’t donate money, but you'd like to offer time, skills, or
other resources (storage space, affordable apartments for rent, offers
to drive people to appointments, childcare) please email westside.cle.mutual.aid@gmail.com
For more video interviews with tenants, please check out Jasmine A
Golphin’s latest work at http://welcome2midnight.com/displacement/
http://welcome2midnight.com/displacement/
