Michelle Ross knows what it’s like to live on the streets. But after five years of being homeless, she strongly

Michelle Ross and Lisa Reneé Ward

believes every American citizen has the right to vote — whether or not they have a home.

Volunteers from 1Matters, a local advocacy group for the homeless, are working to encourage homeless people to vote in the November election.

“Homeless are American citizens and they have the legal right to vote just as we do,” said Lisa Reneé Ward, co-chairman of 1Votes, a voting program of 1Matters.

1Matters is hosting Tent City from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 at the Civic Center Mall Downtown.

“Tent City has dual purposes,” Ward said. “The first one is providing services to the homeless: medical services, additional services such as getting a driver’s license or ID, and also a social service aspect to Tent City. The second purpose is the homelessness awareness aspect. This year there’s a voter aspect of Tent City.”

Ross, who stayed at Sparrows Nest when she became homeless, discovered Tent City last year. She then decided to get off the streets and work.

“It made a big difference in my life,” she said. “Tent City helps [homeless] vote. A lot of people who don’t vote will vote this year. We vote so we can be taken care of. If we don’t vote, it’s almost as if we are saying nothing. We have to speak up and fight for it.”

Ward, a Toledo Free Press contributor who operates the blog site  Glass City Jungle.com, said under the Ohio Revised Code, homeless people are given the ability to register to vote if they are using a shelter.

“A lot of people in Toledo have a misconception to who the homeless are or how many there are,” Ward said. She said there are 3,000 to 4,000 homeless in Toledo.

Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said 44 percent of the homeless in the country are living outside.

“There are barriers of course because of your homelessness status,” Stoops said.  He said the homeless often use a shelter for their mailing address.

The coalition asks and recommends shelters to make the voter registration part of the intake process.

“Without any efforts, a third of the nation’s homeless are registered to vote,” he said.

If a homeless person does not have an ID or the last four digits of a Social Security number, they can’t vote, Ward said.

“Once they have that, then they’d be able to have an easier access to voting,” Ward said. She said the goal is to get 500 people to vote this year who have not voted before.

1Votes will be at Tent City, which will feature representatives from the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. This will give homeless access to the information on the candidates in order to make an informed vote, Ward said.

“If you’re living on the streets, you’re going to be able to see bits and pieces of what’s going on but won’t have the opportunity to know what the candidates really stand for,” she said.

There are critics of homeless people voting. Ward said some are opposed because they think organizations are not being nonpartisan.

President and CEO of Cherry Street Mission Ministries, Dan Rogers, says he cooperates with 1Votes because it is nonpartisan.

“If homeless people want to vote and they’re eligible to vote, then they should,” he said. “We’re nonpartisan.”

Rogers said there is a lot of exploitation going on, but for everyone — not just toward the homeless.

“[1Votes] is not exploiting the homeless or we wouldn’t participate with them,” he said. “We made sure there wouldn’t be partisanship involved.”

1Votes is providing transportation for the homeless from Cherry Street Mission Ministries to the voting polls, he said.

Rogers said the group does not hold rallies for political candidates because there are other resources out there such as reading the newspapers and going to the library. He said they will not influence or let other people influence the homeless on whom to vote for.

“Homeless men and women read just like everyone else,” he said. “They can form their own opinions and vote based on their opinions.”

Ward said homeless have been made to feel as if they can’t vote.

“This is a clear economic class war. There are many people in Toledo who are one paycheck away from being homeless,” she said.

The organization does not push a Democrat or Republican agenda

“We don’t care,” Stoops said. “We just want people to register.”

He said about 60 percent of homeless are Democrats, 20 percent Republicans and 20 percent independent.

“We see it empowering for homeless people to take leadership,” Stoops said. “There are apathetic homeless, but homeless people know what’s going on and they’re really excited about the change element in this election.”

Ross, having been there, knows it’s true.

“This is the only time that they’re going to get a chance to actively say what they want to say from their community and from their government,” Ross said. “This is a chance for them to be heard.”

For more information or to volunteer visit www.1matters.org or nationalhomeless.org

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Community, Election 2008, Uncategorized.
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