NEWSHEALTH & POVERTY

Advocates continue to fight for the 30 percent rent cap bill to aid New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.

This vital piece of legislation would provide housing assistance for thousands of low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.

This same bill was vetoed last year by then Gov. Paterson after it passed both the state Assembly and Senate. On March 11, the bill was formally re-introduced because New York now has a new Governor.

As we reported last month, previous New York State Governor Paterson vetoed a bill that would have provided additional rental assistance to residents who are living with HIV/AIDS. The legislation would have put a cap on rent paid by HIV+ persons based on a percentage of their income. Now New York has a new Governor, Andrew Cuomo, and activists are hopeful he will prove to be more sympathetic to the needs of HIV+ New Yorkers. They are hopeful this bill will finally be passed.

As we discussed in the original post, HIV management cannot exist without people having their basic needs met, especially housing.

Poverty in America is pleased to announce a quick victory in the fight against myths and discrimination towards the homeless!

On March 10, it was reported that New Hampshire's State Representative Martin Harty, a Republican, suggested that individuals with mental disabilities and the homeless should be sent to Siberia. He claims he was making a joke. No one was laughing.

State Rep. Harty made these comments to a woman over the phone who had called to discuss his state's homeless population. She was in support of providing services and financial support. He obviously is not. These were his words:

Activists continue to voice their demand for housing assistance for HIV+ New Yorkers.

As we reported, former New York State Governor Paterson vetoed a bill that would have provided additional rental assistance to residents who are living with HIV/AIDS. The legislation would have put a cap on rent paid by HIV+ persons based on a percentage of their income.

But now New York has a new Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who has demonstrated some empathy towards the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Activists are optimistic that this bill will finally be passed.

HIV/AIDS advocates in New York are hoping to prove to new Governor Cuomo that housing assistance is a necessity to HIV-positive individuals.

Back in September, we reported that then New York State Governor David A. Paterson vetoed a bill that would have provided additional rental assistance to residents who are living with HIV/AIDS. The legislation would have put a cap on rent paid by HIV+ persons based on a percentage of their income. For example, if a person receives $700 a month in disability income, her rent could be no greater than $210 a month (i.e., 30% of $700).

The bill passed in both the Senate and Assembly by wide margins, simply requiring the governor's signature as the final act of approval. He vetoed it, claiming his reasoning was purely financial.

Eating an apple a day to help keep the doctor away is sound advice for all of us, but following the old adage is particularly crucial for those who are living without a home.

A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), one of the nations top hospitals, reveals that homeless individuals without enough to eat have a much higher risk of being hospitalized and are more likely to require treatment from an emergency room than those who receive adequate nourishment.

The importance of eating well to maintain good health may seem fairly straightforward, but unfortunately there are some people, particularly in Gainesville, Florida, who need to be reminded of how vital hunger relief programs can be for those struggling with poverty.

She sat in my office, light reflecting from her rippling jet black hair, her dark eyes shining  with tears dripping incessantly over the chiseled planes of her face.

She told me the history associated with each scar and injury: this one from a stabbing, this one from a gunshot, this one from a beating by her man. It was easier for her to tell me those stories than to recount what brought her to my office that day. Finally she told me of the concussion, the broken jaw, the bleeding from her ears, and the reconstructive surgery she needed "down there."

She and her 11 year old son had accepted help from a man whom she didn't know well. He kidnapped her and shoved her son out of the car. He went to the police station, but she was not found until three days later. Fortunately, the kidnappers neighbor saw her emerge naked and bleeding from his apartment, and called the police. Her assailant had finally fallen asleep and she was able to untie herself and flee, shaking in fear that he would wake up and use the gun he had threatened her with so often.

Back in 2008 Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez was working in the grape vineyards of California in the 100 degree heat. The contractors she worked for denied her shade and water even though it is illegal to do so. Maria Isabel was 17 and pregnant, and she died of heat stroke in her fiances arms because of the illegal and immoral actions of these contractors. Her death was entirely preventable.

It is not an uncommon occurrence, having laws on the books to protect certain workers that are never followed in practice. Farm laborers are some of the most vulnerable. They are often immigrants, don't have any job security, face frequent threats and wage theft, and, as this case illustrates, face bosses that mistreat them despite rules meant to shelter them.

Health regulations should be designed to help and not harm, but it seems the city of Houston needs to be reminded of this seemingly common sense concept.

After helping to feed roughly 60 to 120 homeless individuals each night in downtown Houston for more than a year, the "Feed a Friend" outreach program has been shut down by the city's Health and Human Services Department for lacking a permit to serve food. And until Houston changes the requirements for obtaining the permit or finds some way to accommodate the program, hundreds of people will be forced to search for a warm meal elsewhere.

Bobby and Amanda Herring, the husband and wife team that started the "Feed a Friend" program, began their outreach efforts several years ago when they began bringing leftover food from her work to homeless individuals in downtown Houston. And for almost everyday last year, they handed out food donated by local businesses and prepared by volunteers in various home kitchens, distributing the food near the Harris County Jail. Then in November, the couple was asked by Houston police officers to relocate to a new location under an overpass, and that's where they ran into trouble.

A park ranger and two police officers informed the Herrings  that because they were now on city park land they were required to obtain permission and a permit from the health department and the parks department, and were ordered to stop serving until they did so. But in order to obtain that permit, which costs $17 a day even for charities, the food given out by the Herrings must be prepared in a certified kitchen under the supervision of a certified food manager. Unable to afford the high costs and the requirements, the Herring's have had to halt their efforts and the future of the program remains in limbo.

If ever there was a moment for the late Gary Coleman’s endearing but nakedly race and class-charged catchphrase, “What you talking bout Willis?” this may be it.

In late December, a new report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that the combined effect of the recession, rising unemployment and preexisting health care system dysfunction left a record-setting 50 million people without health insurance in 2010. In fact, there are now nearly as many uninsured Americans under age 65 as there are people enrolled in public health insurance programs such as Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and military/VA health care combined.

Sadder still, most of the people who don’t have insurance are members of households where someone works but can’t afford or does not have access to an employer-provided health insurance plan. In fact, 40 percent of the uninsured earn incomes that place them well below the poverty level, according to the Kaiser report. Just to put the situation in perspective consider this: in 2010, the federal poverty level for a family of four was $22,050 and the average annual cost of an employer-sponsored plan was about $13,770. The latter is typically shared by an employer and employee but in 2010, the employee share of the bill rose, on average, about 30 percent, the Kaiser study found.