{"id":15,"date":"2013-05-11T05:22:13","date_gmt":"2013-05-11T05:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/history.american.edu\/whosedowntown\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2014-11-16T17:11:20","modified_gmt":"2014-11-16T17:11:20","slug":"ccnv-1990-2013","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/?page_id=15","title":{"rendered":"CCNV After Mitch Snyder"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"By<\/a>
By the 1990s, the vision and activism of CCNV had dissipated as the group focused more on the bureaucracy of running a shelter. This photo taken by tonybabydc and posted on Flickr is used under the terms of its Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A key turning point in the homeless advocacy movement in Washington, D.C., and perhaps nation-wide, occurred after public icon and activist, Mitch Snyder, committed suicide in July of 1990. Arguably the most public advocate for the homeless in D.C. and former director of the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), Snyder was known nation-wide for his radical, direct action tactics in support of shelter for the homeless.\u00a0 Most famously he led an occupation of the Federal City Shelter followed by a 51-day hunger strike to secure federal funds to renovate the building.<\/p>\n

Mark Anderson, an activist who had been inspired by Snyder’s work, reflects on the significance of Snyder’s death.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Anderson_Lost its soul<\/a><\/p>\n

Following Snyder\u2019s death, tensions within CCNV flared.\u00a0 The 1990s, flanked with controversy, marked a turbulent and transformative time within the organization\u2019s history. Furthermore, these tensions were a part of a larger shift within the homeless and unhoused \u201cadvocacy\u201d movement from engaging in protest and radical direct action to promoting service delivery and organizational stability.<\/p>\n

The first years after Snyder\u2019s death were filled with many setbacks for the homeless and housing advocates in the D.C. area. First, Initiative 17 \u2013 the D.C. law that guaranteed overnight shelter to any homeless person \u2013 expired and was not renewed by District voters in 1991.\u00a0 Failure to abide by the right to shelter had cost the city over $3.6 million in fines.[2]<\/a> Furthermore, city budget dedicated to services for the homeless sharply decreased in the early \u201890s, with cuts as high as $4 million in 1994.[3]<\/a> \u00a0These setbacks signaled the emergence of a backlash against the homeless advocacy movement.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch<\/a>
Mitch Snyder, who committed suicide in July 1990, and fought passionately for people to recognize the humanity of people living without homes. Shortly before kiiling himself, Snyder lamented the societal ”backlash, a psychic numbing” towards the homeless issue. Image taken bydbking and posted on Flicker is used under the terms of its Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The death of Snyder left a public leadership vacuum at this pivotal moment in time. Christine Spolar, journalist for The Washington Post<\/i> wrote: \u201cWhat is apparent\u2026 is that no other advocate had his [Snyder] ability to make homelessness a headline, to infuriate the establishment into action or to command compassion for the jobless, the mentally ill and the addicted who end up in shelters\u2026 Who or what will take his place?\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Specifically at CCNV, scandal hit the shelter after a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d expose aired on national television in December of 1993 and showed some CCNV staff and residents \u201callegedly selling donated food and clothing and illegal drugs.\u201d[5]<\/a> \u00a0The episode escalated tensions within the CCNV community. In early 1994 the CCNV board voted to remove Carol Fennelly as shelter director and Cliff Newman as CCNV vice president. Fennelly had been one of Snyder\u2019s closest confidants and her and Newman had worked for seventeen as advocates within the shelter community<\/p>\n

Many of those who voted to oust Fennelly accused her of monopolizing power, and demanded greater input from more members to \u201callow the group to move beyond Snyder\u2019s immense shadow and mature as an organization.\u201d[6]<\/a> However, some housing advocates did not feel the same, and worried that Fennelly\u2019s departure removed a public spokesperson for the homeless at a critical time. \u00a0\u201cIt really is the end of an era. I think homeless people in the city, and to an extent in the country, are losing a champion and simply gaining a housing authority,\u201d said Cliff Newman of Fennelly\u2019s departure. Keith Mitchell, a former resident at the shelter, replaced Fennelly as the new director. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Fennelly\u2019s departure symbolized more than just a change in leadership, but a change in the dominant ideals and tactics of the homeless advocacy movement. Mitchell\u2019s appointment to the director position signified the first time a homeless person directed a shelter in the country.[8]<\/a> \u00a0CCNV, which had \u201clong been filled with \u201860s-style idealists\u201d was quickly transforming, filled with more members who were formerly homeless and less bound to the philosophy of CCNV.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Mitchell\u2019s approach to managing CCNV differed significantly from Snyder\u2019s, especially in their relationship with the federal government. Snyder had traditionally challenged the federal government in its approach to providing services for the homeless. Mitchell on the other hand, believed that the CCNV had become too isolated, and for the first time in the shelter\u2019s history had planned to accept federal funds.[9]<\/a> The two leaders also had extremely different views on tactics for advocacy. Mitchell made it very clear that he was not copying Snyder\u2019s activist style; Mitchell chose to focus his efforts on developing a case management plan and emphasized the need for moving people towards transitional housing instead of organizing direct action campaigns and hunger strikes to emphasize the moral right to housing.<\/p>\n

This shift at CCNV illustrated a larger change within the homeless and housing advocacy movement, from radical political protest aimed at changing the structures that perpetuate homelessness to that of bureaucratic service through treating the symptoms of the larger problem. In her dissertation, \u201cFrom Political Protest to Bureaucratic Service: The Transformation of Homeless Advocacy in the Nation\u2019s Capital and the Eclipse of Political Discourse,\u201d Christine Marie Elwell argues that the today\u2019s homeless advocacy movement has become more professionalized and is focused on \u201cmanaging the homeless problem instead of eliminating it or preventing it.\u201d[10]<\/a> Additionally, Elwell points out that what it means to be an \u201cadvocate\u201d has also changed, shifting from mainly a volunteer base in the 1970s-80s to paid advocates working for non-profits. These broader changes within the homeless and housing advocacy movement, beyond the drastic changes at CCNV, have had broad impacts on the movement as we see it today.<\/p>\n

For Mark Anderson, these changes may have been understandable, but they came at a considerable cost.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Anderson_Bureaucracy<\/a><\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Anderson, Mark. Interview by Beth Geglia. Digital Recording. Washington, D.C., April 26, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[2]<\/a> Rene Sanchez and Christine Spolar. \u201cDistrict to Overhaul Shelter Plan: Emphasis Shifting to Permanent Homes.\u201d The Washington Post. <\/i>7 March 1991.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[3]<\/a> Carlos Sanchez and Ruben Castaneda.\u201cCCNV Members Claim NW Center as Shelter.\u201d The Washington Post. <\/i>5 April 1991.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[4]<\/a> Christine Spolar. \u201cThe Void Mitch Snyder Left Behind.\u201d The Washington Post. 8 July 1991. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[5]<\/a> Brooke A. Masters. \u201cDC to Begin Probe of CCNV Shelter.\u201d The Washington Post.<\/i> 14 Dec 1993 <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[6]<\/a> Brooke A. Masters and Saundra Torry. \u201cCarol Fennelly Ousted from CCNV Leadership Post.\u201d The Washington Post. <\/i>14 January 1994.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[8]<\/a> Rene Sanchez. \u201cA Leader of Homeless Who Walked the Walk.\u201d The Washington Post. <\/i>14 February 1994.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[9]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[10]<\/a> Christine Marie Elwell. \u201c, \u201cFrom Political Protest to Bureaucratic Service: The Transformation of Homeless Advocacy in the Nation\u2019s Capital and the Eclipse of Political Discourse.\u201d 2008. Pg. 12.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Anderson, Mark. Interview by Beth Geglia. Digital Recording. Washington, D.C., April 26, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A key turning point in the homeless advocacy movement in Washington, D.C., and perhaps nation-wide, occurred after public icon and activist, Mitch Snyder, committed suicide in July of 1990. Arguably the most public advocate for the homeless in D.C. and former director of the Community …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326,"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15\/revisions\/326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whosedowntown.humanitiestruck.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}