http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/stories/MYSA021807.4H.cisneroscomment.45122bc.html>>
Henry Cisneros: Seize chance to end national tragedy of homelessness
Web Posted: 02/17/2007 12:00 PM CST
Special to the Express-News
The most recent estimate, and the first in more than a decade, shows that at minimum 744,000 men, women and children experienced homelessness in the United States on any given night in January 2005. Distressingly, about 23 percent had a disability and were homeless for long periods. These numbers are derived from taking a snapshot of the problem; the reality is that homelessness is quite fluid and that over the course of the year about 3.5 million people are without a home.
These grim statistics add up to a single truth: There are too many people who experience homelessness and far too many who spend years — quite literally — sleeping on the streets. What these statistics do not address, but what we know is also true, is that many more people are living on the periphery of homelessness, at risk of eviction or living in a precarious situation because they cannot afford their housing .Certainly we have the resources to end homelessness. And, importantly, we have the knowledge. Across the country, new solutions have emerged, strategies that focus less on shelters and soup kitchens — the proverbial hot and a cot — and much more on long-term solutions like preventing homelessness in the first place and getting people back into permanent housing rapidly instead of letting them languish in emergency shelter.
One breakthrough strategy is called Housing First. This approach minimizes the time people spend in a shelter by providing access to permanent housing and then, after people are stably housed, services that address other needs. That way, the individual or family has stable housing while they sort out how to make improvements in their lives. I have seen great success with this approach across the United States, with marked decreases in homelessness. In San Francisco, Housing First approaches helped reduce homelessness by 28 percent; in Columbus, 46 percent among families; and 43 percent among families in Hennepin County, Minn.
Yet, while imaginative approaches like Housing First are paving the way, if we are to bring successful initiatives to scale, the federal government must take on a bigger role.
Homelessness is the symptom of a much larger problem in our country — the lack of affordable housing. In the context of today's market realities, the federal government's role in providing, preserving and producing affordable housing is essential to getting homeless people back into housing (thus putting the housing in Housing First) and, equally as important, for preventing homelessness in the first place.
Dramatic cuts in the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget and reductions in the number of housing vouchers make it more difficult — if not impossible — to end homelessness. Without critical dollars for affordable housing, communities — even those early pioneers demonstrating results — are doomed to failure.
>>
Another article:
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/NEWS01/702170316Rallying cry sounded to end homelessness
Robert Warner
The Enquirer
Seeking to turn the Homeless Coalition's plan for ending homelessness into a movement, Erick Stewart rallied community leaders Friday.
"What's at stake here is the very dignity of our community," Stewart said. "It must be a collaborative effort of this community."
Stewart's heartfelt plea for action came near the end of the first public briefing on the group's 10-year plan to end homelessness countywide. The event drew about 100 people to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. A communitywide event is expected to be held later, organizers have said.
"We had been working within the coalition for years and we kept hoping that homelessness would end," said Marlene Lawrence, director of the Share Center, which serves as a daytime drop-in center for the homeless.
"And then we looked at homelessness over time and we realized that it hadn't ended. And in fact, in some cases it was getting worse. We knew then that we had to look at how we were going to work as a coalition."
Seeking a new route involved listening better to the homeless about their needs and reaching out to the rest of the community for help.
"Homelessness has been invisible in our community, and we need to educate members of our community about this issue and engage them in solutions," said Patti Staib of the Charitable Union, a coalition member.
"There's a lot of recycling of homelessness in our community — people moving from one homeless crisis to the next," said Lee Talmage, executive director of the Battle Creek Housing Commission and a coalition member.
"Many families are being rescued, but within a year's time they're back on the street again because there aren't the support services that are needed."
That's one of the issues the coalition aims to tackle with the support network that would be set up for each of the homeless families it places in housing.
The plan invokes a best-practice model chosen from several around the country, Lawrence said. The housing-first model puts the homeless in housing, then brings programs to them to stabilize their lives, at least.
The plan's six points are:
Build broad community awareness of the reality and impact of homelessness in Calhoun County.
Build an informed, aligned, accountable coalition of providers, private-sector partners and other key community leaders.
Develop an informed, aligned funding approach across organizations.
Increase access to quality, safe, permanent and affordable housing with permanent supportive services.
Ensure access to needed services for prevention of homelessness and for those facing homelessness.
Develop comprehensive and accessible permanent employment opportunities and education opportunities.
State Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Bedford Township, told the group he's a whole-hearted backer of the plan. In his scene-setting talk at the start of the program, Schauer noted that the homeless census taken Jan. 25 showed more than 250 people on the streets, and more than 25 children among them.
At the end of the program, Lawrence Bolen, who lives under the M-66 bridge over the railroad tracks just south of downtown, had a small request for those who see him on the streets.
"Take the blinders off," Bolen said. "A lot of people see me all the time. Just look at me. You'll see I'm a human being just like yourself. I'm human."
Robert Warner is senior writer for the Enquirer. Contact him at rwarner@battlecr.gannett.com or 966-0674.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
