Dec. 11—CUMBERLAND — Dozens of protesters rallied Tuesday afternoon at Riverside Park against a city ordinance that bans food and drink consumption in the park.
“Every part of this goes against our values that are enshrined in the Constitution,” said Elliott Slater, co-coordinator of the Maryland-based United Workers association.
The ordinance was approved unanimously by the City Council and mayor on Oct. 1, following complaints from the Daughters of the American Revolution Cresap Chapter regent, which has cared for the George Washington Headquarters cabin at the park for nearly 90 years, about vagrancy.
The park had provided a centralized location for area church groups to take food to people in need. Supporters of the ban said the park was plagued by vagrancy, trash and strong odors of urine.
The United Workers organized the protest to raise awareness on the growing issue of homelessness in and around Cumberland.
The ordinance has sparked debate and disdain surrounding the issue of homelessness from citizens and groups like the United Workers.
“They’re criminalizing homelessness,” Slater said Tuesday, “keeping the vagrants out of sight.”
Slater and other members of the group believe that the ordinance, among other things, is directly targeting the homeless population rather than helping to fix the issue at large.
‘Plight of homelessness’
Janet Heavner, the other co-coordinator of the United Workers, said the vigil was designed to bring awareness to the “plight of homelessness” directly to the city.
“People need jobs, people need affordable housing,” she said. “What we need to do is partner up with state and federal agencies to provide more opportunity.”
Heavner cited the decline in industry since the 1990s that has led to a dramatic reduction in the region’s job market and increase in the homeless population.
“The solution for the crisis we face is for everyone to come together and make choices that positively affect citizens,” Slater said.
Front lines
Ammie Balheim has experienced homelessness in the area firsthand. She gave an emotional speech at the vigil.
“I was told that there would be better jobs here, better opportunities,” Balheim said as she fought back tears. Her family came to Cumberland from neighboring West Virginia.
Instead of opportunity, Balheim was placed into the area’s lone homeless shelter, the Union Rescue Mission.
Jim Mundy, another local man who experienced homelessness, told a similar story.
Mundy left Cumberland for an extended period of time before the 1990s but eventually returned, only to find that the health care assistance that he has been receiving elsewhere had become more expensive.
“It was completely different than what it was when I left in 1990,” he said.
Rising costs, lack of resources
Tifani Fisher, Allegany County’s NAACP president who said she was a homelessness survivor, echoed the concerns of Mundy and Balheim.
“The city is depending on just one union mission,” she said. “They don’t want people getting off of (Interstate) 68 and looking at our problems.”
Nearly 50% of Cumberland residents are within what is known as the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) population — a group that earns above the federal poverty threshold but still struggles to afford housing and health care.
“I don’t have enough money to be able to get the credit to purchase my own home,” Fisher said.
According to Fisher, these individuals are the ones that are just a single paycheck away from becoming homeless.
Fisher said that the first step in resolving the complex issue of homelessness is to “actually acknowledge our problems and work together.”
Kevin Jones, a Cumberland native who recently joined the United Workers, thinks that the city needs to directly focus on homelessness rather than just use ordinances to “brush it under the rug.”
“You can do better,” he said. “Bring awareness to other things.”
Andrew Creelman is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4403 or email acreelman@times-news.com