The Dems hosted a panel on homelessness entitled “The Many Faces of Homelessness: A Panel Discussion,” on Monday, February 23. Our panelists discussed the impacts of homelessness as well as some proposals to help alleviate chronic homelessness. The panelists were Natalie Matthews, the Assistant Director of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, Alison Cunningham, Director of Columbus House, Fred Morrison, Project Manager of New Haven’s 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, and Bobby Bell, a former member of the homeless community. More photos can be found over at Picasa, where we’ll be hosting photos from now on.

Also, pictures are finally up from Inauguration:

Hey Yale Dems!

Our first major lobbying event is tomorrow! I hope you’ll join me
at the usual time and place to learn more about homelessness and what
can be done about it.

1. The Many Faces of Homelessness: A Panel Discussion - Monday,
   February 23 - 8:00 pm, Branford Common Room
   
2. YPEP - Tuesday, February 24 - 7:00 pm, Pierson Common Room
3. Lobbying Committee - Wednesday, February 25 - 7:00 pm, JE K22
4. Elections Committee - Thursday, February 26 - 8:30, Trumbull Seminar Room
   
5. Buy a Dems Shirt - Every Day, All the Time
   
6. Day of Service - Saturday, February 28 - Columbus House

1. The Many Faces of Homelessness: A Panel Discussion
   Monday, February 23 - 8:00 pm, Branford Common Room

   As I’m sure you’re heard already, Monday is our panel on homelessness. Come learn about this pressing issue and what we can (and are going) to do about it.

2. YPEP
   
   Tuesday, February 24 – 7:00 pm, Pierson Common Room

   This week we’re starting a new way of organizing YPEP. After updates and general announcements we’ll divide up into groups by school to plan and discuss PAC meetings for the week.

3. Lobbying Committee
   
   Wednesday, February 25 – 7:00 pm, JE K22

   Join us on Wednesday to go over our now-finished briefing booklets and finish planning our second panel.

4. Elections Committee
   Thursday, February 26 - 8:30, Trumbull Seminar Room
   

   The first meeting of the Dems Elections Committee is this week. The meeting will be in the Trumbull Seminar Room and should only last half an hour. (The seminar room is right above the dining hall and to the left.) With the Ward 1 Alderman race heating up and lots of stuff going on with the gubernatorial, mayoral, and other aldermanic races, there’s a lot to do! The elections committee will be putting together a New Haven issues guide to distribute to all Ward 1 voters and will be organizing an official, campus-wide debate between the Ward 1 candidates. RSVP to Chris Chen.

5. Buy a Dems Shirt - Every Day - All the Time
   

   By buying (and wearing) a Dems t-shirt, you can look flashy
   while supporting the Dems financially. To do so, find our dear
   Treasurer Tanya Fridland at a Monday meeting or email her at href="mailto:tanya.fridland@yale.edu?subject=Dems%20Shirt">tanya.fridland@yale.edu
   to arrange to buy one another time

6. Day of Service
   Saturday, February 28 - Columbus House
   

   On Saturday we’ll be heading over to Columbus House, a New Haven homeless shelter, to put our words into action by helping out the staff. Please RSVP to Ben Stango.

The Lobbying Committee has been hard at work researching homelessness and health care reform this past month, and last week we had the chance to put our results to good use. The Yale College Democrats submitted testimony to Housing Committee’s hearing on HB 5071, the bill discussed earlier. Our testimony can be found on the hearing’s webpage, or directly here.

The ward 1 aldermanic  race is now contested, following Katie Harrison ’11’s campaign kickoff yesterday. The campaign to secure the Democratic Ward Committee’s endorsement (though an election) now has 2 candidates, Harrison and Mike Jones ‘11. You can learn more about them at their respective facebook pages: Katie Harrison, Mike Jones for Alderman

UPDATE: With Minh Tran ‘09′s entry into the race this past Sunday, the race now has 3 candidates.

In 2007, the General Assembly passed a raising the age at which suspects are tried as adults from 16 to 18. Prior to passing this law, which is known as Raise the Age, only 2 other states automatically charge people over the age 16 as an adults. The legislation was supposed to go into effect in 2010, but Governor Rell has proposed pushing the implementation back 2 years as a way to save money.

The campaign that helped pass the bill is having a state-wide rally up in Hartford on March 2. Those interested should contact Nick Handler to find out details.

Among other things, we lose our parents’ health insurance coverage (if we had it in the first place). The NY Times has a relevant article about young New Yorkers living without health insurance, and figuring out how to pay for medical expenses (or not). This is just one more reason why we need universal health care, and why college students should be concerned.

1. Monday Meeting: YPEP Presentation Monday, February 9 – 8:00 pm, Branford Common Room Have you ever wondered what exactly it is that YPEP does? Well wonder no longer. Come to our Monday Meeting to hear a real live presentation by YPEP members. You’ll just how we’ve got so many New Haven students interested in politics, and maybe you’ll even want to get invovled!
2. YPEP Tuesday, February 10 – 7:00 pm, Pierson Common Room If your appetite was whetted by Monday’s meeting, come to Tuesday’s YPEP meeting to learn how to get involved. We’ll be planning this week’s visits, so if you’re new (or if you’re not) you can get involved right away.
3. Lobbying Wednesday, February 11 – 7:00 pm, JE K22The homelessness panel is a week from Monday, so we’ll be planning our publicicty strategy this week.
4. Elections Committee
   

   If you’re interested in city elections, contact Chris Chen to apply to be on the elections committee.

5. Buy a Dems Shirt - Every Day - All the Time
   

   By buying (and wearing) a Dems t-shirt, you can look flashy
   while supporting the Dems financially. To do so, find our dear
   Treasurer Tanya Fridland at a Monday meeting or email her at
   href=”mailto:tanya.fridland@yale.edu?subject=Dems%20Shirt”>tanya.fridland@yale.edu
   to arrange to buy one another time

6. Next Week: Homelessness Panel Monday, February 23 - 7:00 pm
   

   Mark your calendars for next week, when we’ll be hosting the first of our two lobbying panels. This one is on homelessness, and features an exciting lineup of very knowledgable and interesting people.

1. James Perry, Candidate for Mayor of New Orleans Thursday, February 19 - 4:00 pm, Trumbull College Master’s HouseCome hear the New Orleans mayoral candidate speak about his vision for revitalizing New Orleans. As the executive director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, James has been a strong voice and constant presence in New Orleans’ revitalization efforts, working tirelessly to ensure fair housing opportunities in the city. Recently, on behalf of residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina, James led his organization’s successful lawsuit against St. Bernard Parish, which passed an illegal ordinance mandating that landlords rent solely to blood relatives. James also testified before Congress six times about the critical importance of Gulf Coast recovery, a cause that he took up in presentations to both the Democratic and Republican conventions in the summer of 2008. Submitted by James Perry for Mayor.
2. Phonebank for Tom Geoghegan Saturday, February 21 - 3:00-5:00 pm, Pierson Common RoomCome phonebank for Tom Geoghegan, who’s running in the special election to replace Rahm Emanuel in Illinois’ fifth CD. Tom is a labor lawyer and a progressive hero, described as the “next Paul Wellstone.” This is going to be a very low turnout election, so we really need your help. Come to the Pierson Common Room at 3:00 with a phone and a laptop to put a real leader in Congress. Submitted by Students for a New American Politics.
3. Mike Jones for Alderman Fundraiser benefitting Shelter Now Saturday, Feburary 21 - 7:00 pm, Blue State CoffeeCome to Blue State Coffee to continue this effort and hear Ward 1 Aldermanic candidate Mike Jones discuss his views on the issue. Refreshments will be provided. Suggested minimum donation is $10 for students and $25 for adults. All proceeds will go to Shelter Now. Submitted by Mike Jones for Alderman.
4. Mayor DeStefano’s Reelection Announcement Monday, February 23 - 5:00-6:30, Columbus Family AcademyCome to Mayor DeStefano’s Reelection Announcement! DeStefano will be announcing his reelection campaign Monday, February 23, from 5 to 6:30 at the Columbus Family Academy. Transportation will be provided. Anyone interested in following the New Haven mayoral race or who wants to learn more about the New Haven mayoral race in general can email destefano2009@gmail.com. Sumitted by DeStafano for Mayor.
5. Celebrate Women in Public Service with WOWPAC Tuesday, February 24 - 5:30-7:30 pm, HartfordLearn more about women in public service, meet women newly elected to the General Assembly, and network with others working for womenfs advancemen. The event will take place at Hot Tomato’s at Union Place, 1 Union Place, Hartford. Special guests are State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, House Majority Leader Denise Merrill, State Senator Toni Harp, and PCSW Executive Director Teresa Younger. Submitted by WOWPAC.

State Rep. Ken Green recently introduced HB 5071, “An Act Concerning the Supportive Housing Initiative.” This bill would increase the maximum amount of funds allowed to be allotted directly for supportive housing.

Due to the budget crisis It does not provide those funds immediately, but it guarantees that when the funds are available, they can be channeled directly into the most effective form of anti-chronic homelessness program possible. Our work is an investment in the long term success of supportive housing and the institutionalization of this type of funding that will continue to prove a necessity in the decades to come. The the bill won’t cause more housing units to be build this year, but it will it lay an economic foundation for this type of growth in the future, almost doubling what was available originally.

YPEP has been making forays in classrooms across New Haven these past couple of weeks, and on an impressive scale. So far, YPEP members have given 20 in-class presentations and held 6 lunch meetings and 2 political action club meetings.

YPEP is currently working with 3 schools: Wilbur Cross HS, Hillhouse HS, and Metro Business Academy. At Hillhouse we’ll likely be working on issues relating to the financial crisis and state and local budgets. At Wilbur Cross we’ll be working on issues of comelessness, college loans and scholarships, sexual education in high schools, and environmental efficiency in high schools. Metro Business will likely hold its first PAC meeting in the next couple of weeks.

Political action clubs are the central component of YPEP. These clubs will meet once a week with a group of high school kids interested in working on political issues in their community. The clubs are focused on helping students educating students on these issues, showing them how to get involved with them, and teaching them the skills they need to do so successfully. Through workshops and political discussions, students will learn to engage their communities on political issues.

PBS Online NewsHour examines the impact of losing health insurance after being laid off. Watch this to learn about why our health insurance system is broken, and how these average people who had always been insured found themselves without health insurance.