Members of H.O.P.E. and their allies breathed a slight sigh of relief as TheBeers Van Gogh Peer Center of Excellence has finally terminated Peer Counselor, Hervelle Williams for sexual harassment. The Beers Van Gogh Peer Center is a part of the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers Association and is supposed to provide housing, support and Medicaid services for individuals with mental illnesses in a peer to peer model. Over the past year H.O.P.E. has received numerous complaints from people experiencing homelessness and former Peer Center employees about instances of lewd and homophobic language and repeated unwanted sexual propositions from Williams.
H.O.P.E-Homeless Organizing For Power and Equality, is an “Asphalt Roots” organization sponsored by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. This group is made up exclusively of people who are currently or formerly experiencing homelessness.
Work on this issue began last summer when two members of H.O.P.E. shared their experiences of harassment by Williams with the group a weekly H.O.P.E. meeting.
“As I heard our members share their experiences I was stunned” says H.O.P.E. member Toni Whitfield, ” This situation with this staff person is out of control including offering one of our members $20 to show him her breasts and telling her and others about the size of his penis and asking a woman if she wanted to be in a “three way” with him and his girlfriend.“
Members of H.O.P.E. took immediate action by conducting street outreach to people experiencing homelessness to find other potential victims of harassment and sexual assault and launched a series of weekly protests outside of the Peer Center located at 669 Madison Ave. H.O.P.E. also partnered with the Memphis Public Interest Law Center to ensure that the rights of those stepping forward were protected.
“It did not take long before we learned that this was far from an isolated incident–in fact we think that this is part of a much larger systemic issue in our homeless services network. Folks on the streets call it “play to stay”, ” says H.O.P.E. Organizer Paul Garner.
“Play to Stay,” is a slang term coined by H.O.P.E. members and refers to the rumored practice of staff at some local homeless service providers allegedly coercing sexual favors from female clients in exchange to gain access to services.
“Whenever there are allegations like this one, the community must take it seriously! 92% of women experiencing homelessness have suffered severe physical and/or sexual assault in their lifetimes. Most people think that once you get off the streets and get housing or services, that you are out of the woods and finally safe but the sad fact is that there are predators in the system as well. For some of us out there, it’s only the beginning. This incidents with Hervelle is just the tip of the iceberg. This is much bigger than just one employee at one service provider.” Says H.O.P.E. members and former Peer Center employee Marian Bacon
As the weekly protest and calls to action continued, the group was contacted by several additional former clients and staff members of the Peer Center, each one had similar experiences of harassment. In addition to the charges of sexual harassment the group also raised concerns about allegations of physical assault and other issues at the Beers Van Gogh. Members of H.O.P.E. spoke with the leadership of TMHCA in the pursuit of justice for the membership, but did not stop there. The group met with and filed official complaints with all appropriate regulatory agencies.This led to investigations being launched by Memphis Housing and Community Development, Tennessee Department of Mental Health, and HUD-TN and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Now that Williams has been terminated amid new allegations of continued sexual harassment,the group wants to continue to push for greater oversight and transparency within our homeless services safety net. Every year H.O.P.E lobbies our local city and county governments for improved funding of homelessness services and was involved in drafting the TEN YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS, but they say that they are also going to be acting as a watchdog and work in concert with local agencies that are funded by taxpayer dollars to ensure that they are acting in a proper manner.
“We still live in a society where allegations of sexual harassment and assault are often swept under the rug and even women of means and wealth are not immune to this, so imagine how hard it must be for people who have no support system in place for the protection of their rights. That is what H.O.P.E. is for. The women and men who stepped forward and spoke out are truly courageous and we were proud to stand behind them, because it’s not easy.” Says H.O.P.E. member Kay Baker.
H.O.P.E. has also started a Women’s Caucus within its organization. This is a place where women who are experiencing homelessness can discuss issues, plan actions and campaigns around issues distinctive to women. One of the upcoming projects centers around a self defense class for the members combined with plans for peer to peer counseling. This project is co-sponsored by the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis, Women’s Caucus meets regularly for “Dinner and Discussion,” out of which a core group of organizers has emerged to focus on the unique challenges faced by women experiencing homelessness.
If you are the victim of sexual harassment or assault at a local homelessness service provider please contact Paul Garner Organizing Coordinator for H.O.P.E. at 901-300-0006 or by email at paul@midsouthpeace.org.
Fall Workshops and Trainings
On Wednesday, September 12th, one of G.O.T. Poder’s participants, a long time activist of the Latino community of Memphis and MSPJC board member, Cristina Condori, was arrested in Washington, DC with other 100 women from all over the country. They were part of the nationwide action organized by We Belong Together, urging the house of Representatives to keep families together, stop deportations of fathers, mothers and kids, and pass a fair immigration reform bill.
H.O.P.E. is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center-sponsored organization whose members are exclusively people currently, or have formerly experienced homelessness. For over a year now, H.O.P.E. has been organizing and agitating around the issues that are a priority to the homeless community. For meeting times and dates, call 
Research indicates that the majority of women who experience homelessness also experience violence, with domestic violence being one of the primary catalysts for homelessness in women’s lives. Homelessness is also associated with a variety of health issues, all of which can be difficult to address while meeting one’s basic needs.
In the next month, Women’s Caucus will begin a two-phase self-defense program. During the first phase, the core organizing members will take self-defense classes. These classes will meet twice a week for five weeks, and will equip participants with the fundamental skills needed to handle an attack, and get out of violent situations safely. In the second phase, members will participate in “train the trainer” style classes to learn the techniques of teaching self-defense strategies to other women. This two-phase model builds upon an evidence-based Lay Health Advisor model used around the country to implement community-based healthcare programs.
On August 31st, members of H.O.P.E.’s Street-Watch Initiative, hosted a ‘Know Your Rights’ forum at 
Background
HOPE Women’s Caucus will be preparing care packages to conduct outreach specifically to women experiencing homelessness. These packages would be small, but would contain essential sanitary items that can be hard to come by for many women who are without shelter.
Congress will vote on authorizing the President to go to war this very soon! Call your House Rep and Senators NOW!
Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU)
As MATA prepared to host public hearings on the upcoming route cuts, MBRU kept pushing the City Council to take another look into the budget and find the funding for public transportation. Bus riders increased the pressure with calls and emails to the Council and the Mayor’s office, and mobilized over 200 riders to the public hearings. All these efforts effectively shifted the conversation to focus on the problem of city funding and tax breaks for multi-million dollar corporations while public services are being decimated. As MBRU organizer Bennett Foster stated in a press release by the local Sierra Club “This resolution to amend the budget and restore some funding for MATA has the potential to protect a great deal of service hours, frequency and even entire routes that are proposed to be terminated this summer. Changes planned for the 10 and 43 could create a veritable wall between residents of North and South Memphis and the developing downtown area, not to mention the added hardship for bus riders from all over the city who must transfer downtown to get anywhere out east. The City has an opportunity to take action now before it’s too late. With unemployment at 10.3%, rampant poverty and the Mayor’s perpetual cuts to public services the question is whether the livelihood of poor and working class Memphians is worth taking another look at this budget. We think it is.”