Tribal-council-news

With winter fast approaching and the housing shortage in Ann Arbor becoming more and more severe, the Tribal Council Housing Committee has been attempting to find solutions to the problem. It becomes more apparent to us that someone has to begin to deal with the situation, especially when there are so many bogus things going on in regards to housing. For instance a couple of weeks ago, a blind man with a leader dog attempted to find assistance in Ann Arbor and a place to stay after having spent most of his money on his dog when he was sick. Unfortunately, places like the YMCA, which is funded in part by the United Fund, couldn't help him because he had a dog with him and it seems animals are not allowed. This sounds like blatant discrimination on the part of the YMCA, in fact it is Illegal, but what has been done about it?

The Housing Committee feels that this instance and many others cannot be ignored and are open to hear any other complaints and problems that arise in regards to housing. If you have any other complaints and problems or know of specific acts of discrimination, it is important that other brothers and sisters be told. So be sure to let us know in order that we may begin to work on changing the situation.

In the same sense we can all help ourselves deal with the housing shortage by using the Housing Switchboard. The purpose of the switchboard is to connect sisters and brothers looking for housing to other brothers and sisters who want to rent their places. Besides eliminating the landlord for awhile, unfortunately for the time being they still exist, you also can simply switch names on utility accounts rather than paying extra service charges opening and closing accounts each time a move is made. Hopefully, it will also become much easier to find the type of housing you want, plus know when you want to move on, that someone will be there to move in. You can cali the Tribal Network at 663-4208 to use the Housing Switchboard. It's really important that we help each other in all areas of the struggle and continue to communicate our ideas and thoughts. So even if you are not moving, cali the Housing Switchboard to rap about the housing situation and what kinds of things you'd like to see.

Another important part of housing is the fact that more and more brothers and sisters, as well as whole families of people are coming together in communal, collective situations. People everywhere are finding that the nuclear family situation will not succeed for everyone and are looking for alternative situations. Whether the reasons for coming together are economical, political or any countless others, it is happening, and so are problems are occur with anything new. We hope that by sharing experiences and solutions to various problems that groups have worked out, other brothers and sisters will develop a workable situation in their collectives much easier. So, someday soon a pamphlet will be put out dealing with the communal collective and how some groups operate, however, your energies and ideas are needed since there are all sorts of ways of living together communally. If you have any questions regarding communal living or have experiences and ideas to share, plug into the Network. Again, it is important for us to help each other.

Ozone House which s part of the People's Community Center, has been continually trying to help out brothers and sisters who are just traveling through town and need a place to crash for a couple of days. If you hve any floor space, or couches or anything, give Ozone House a cali at 769-6540. They really need the support of the community to do their part in order to have places for people to stay.

Remember the Housing Committee is open to the community and we hope to hear from sisters and brothers in regards to housing hassles and your ideas for better housing. Also remember to use the Housing Switchboard by calling the Tribal Network at 663-4208, or come to our meetings at Mark's Coffeehouse at 2:30 every Friday. We have to remain united in our struggle to survive and to continually strive toward alternatives to present situations. The struggle is just beginning and through the self determination of the people, we will have adequate housing for everyone! POWER!

People's Housing Committee- -

  _Joey Schwartz