Minutes

January 8, 2019

Marywood University, Scranton--Nazareth Student Center

Greeting & Opening

The meeting opened in prayer.

George invited the group to consider those in military service on our behalf and asked for a moment of silence.

Updates on the Coalition

Dec 24 Shannon met with group distributing dental packs with supplies donated by – Benco Dental. The packs are available for distribution and need not be distributed in this immediate area. If packs are needed, send email to greaterscrantonhomless@gmail.com, and we will forward the request for additional packs.

Announcements

Lackawanna County Housing Coalition – working on new website. Trying to provide a single place where people can go for info on housing. Hoping to be up and running by spring 2019.

January 20-21, 2019– Martin Luther King Commission having two days of programming.

Bethel AME hosting an interfaith service on January 21, 2019, at the culmination of the 2019 MLK Events.

Countryside Community Church UMC has an ongoing collection of tarps & moving blankets (coupons for Harbor Freight). Items taken to Keystone Mission. Collected 40 tarps so far, along with several blankets.Countryside is also collecting socks for those of all ages through Valentine’s Day.

St. Anthony's Haven Emergency Shelter reported receiving funds from Countryside for overflow lodging and for pet care.

Continuum of Care – count (point-in-time survey of the homeless) coming up around January 20. POST-MEETING CORRECTION: date set for January 30, 2019.

Presentation

Jenny Gonzalez, a paralegal with the Scranton office of the Community Justice Project, presented an overview of the Community Justice Project (CJP).

The CJP offers legal representation for policy issues related to immigration, mobile home rights, housing, employment law, civil rights, and consumer law. CJP has five offices with Scranton the newest. The CJP Staff currently includes

2 paralegals in Hazelton

3 attorneys in Harrisburg office.

1 attorney & 2 paralegals in Reading

2 attorneys & 2 paralegals in Pittsburgh.

Jenny has worked with immigrant office and with victims of crimes such as domestic violence, rape, and human trafficking. The CJP helps folks who are afraid to report crime, attend hearings, etc. especially for undocumented immigrants.

Jenny has dealt a lot with mobile home owner rights including access to water, sewage, and negotiating between residents and trailer park owners.

The CJP also helps with language access issues such as translation of legal documents, medical situations, and emergency room visits. Folks with language barriers often keep low profile rather than assert rights for fear of retaliation. Jenny works with helping folks understand legal rights despite immigration status.

CJP works with many other organizations including North Penn Legal Services, Lackawanna Pro Bono, and Catholic Social Services.

The three largest immigrant communities in our area:

1. Hispanic (Mexican & Central American, & Puerto Rico & Dominican – some moving from Hazelton),

2. Asian (Indian, Nepal, Bhutan),

3. African (Congolese – language access issues – harder to obtain interpreters – hospitals, school districts) Most Hispanics undocumented.

A growing area of need for persons in the area appears to be inability to pay rent. Similarly, a growing concern arises with the quality and adequacy of the housing available.Apartments or rentals may be deteriorated, and landlords not keeping up their property.

Small Group Time

The long-term/strategic group and the short-term-needs groups met for about 30 minutes. Both groups reported back to the main group.

Short-term Needs

The short-term group discussed needs in the area and concluded that additional information was necessary. The group with plans to ask Jason Griffiths ((570) 342-4298) with the Scranton Community Intervention Center (CiC) to present at a future GSHC meeting regarding the short-term needs for the homeless.

The short-term group will try to identify who provides the pavilion on Olive Street in Scranton. The group also discussed gaining trust with the street-homeless and cautions about not trying to enter camps without prior permission.

Long-term needs

The long-term needs group discussed stories as way to inform and educate the public regarding the diversity of homelessness. Future projects may include a "flow-chart" to show the relationships between the numerous groups working on homelessness, student participation in collecting stories, and continued outreach to community groups and faith groups working on homelessness in the area.

The long-term group plans to ask at least one person who experienced homelessness to present at a future meeting.

Thank You

Thank you to Professor Melinda Krokus and Marywood University for hosting the meeting.

Thank you to Mark Terwilliger for drafting minutes.