Homeless advocates encouraged by ‘rapid-housing’ plan
GREENSBORO A local network of community agencies working on long-term solutions to homelessness is changing its approach.Its in getting them shelter first, and then you wrap them in all the services, City Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter said at a gathering of Partners Ending Homelessness Monday at the ACC Hall of Champions.
More than 75 people showed up for the discussion which was focused on the local faith community, with whom the city wants to work more closely with on the issue. The changing approach would mean, for example, that someone might go from living in a shelter to an apartment before getting help with budgeting or seeing a mental health counselor.
The emphasis is in getting them off the streets as soon as possible, even before connecting them to supporting services.
The idea runs counter to the long-held belief that the homeless need first to be housing-ready an oft-used term for having graduated from programs such as budgeting or job training and proven themselves worthy of getting the keys to their own home, said Darryl Kosciak, executive director of the partnership of more than 80 agencies, including Greensboro Urban Ministry and the Barnabas Network.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, this new approach has reduced the number of people in shelters and in places not intended for human habitation, particularly people with severe disabilities who have been homeless the longest.
The change was prompted in some communities by cuts to federal housing programs that had provided services such as case managers and substance-abuse programs.
Other meetings with the community to work through the plan and obstacles such as the lack of affordable housing locally and funding are scheduled for the months to come.
We thought half this number would show up, Greensboro Nancy Vaughan said about the crowded session. Its a very engaged group.
Guilford Countys Annual Point in Time survey, earlier this year, found 897 homeless people in shelters and living in make-shift camping communities. Homeless advocates point out that count was just a snapshot and didnt include the invisible homeless, such as families living in cars or couch-surfing. Officials estimate there are more than 2,000 homeless students in Guilford County Schools.
We know this isnt just about statistics. Its about real people, said Rabbi Andy Koren of Temple Emanuel.
That is why the faith community especially has focused on self-sufficiency first. You can teach a man how to fish and hell eat for a lifetime, said Pastor Richard Adkins of the Faith and Love Center of Christ Ministries in Greensboro. Give him a fish and hell eat for a day.
This rapid-housing process has been championed by the Rev. Mike Aiken of Greensboro Urban Ministry since 2005, when his agency and others visited a Housing First program in Washington, D.C. That was before the establishment of Guilford Countys Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, which is now Partners Ending Homelessness.
We saw it and were sold on it, Aiken said.
Its also how real life works, he said.
Its really simple I go to a fifth-grade classroom and ask them, How do you end homelessness? and they say You get people homes, Aiken said. Thats basically it. Then you provide the supportive services to stabilize them so they wont lose their home.
The supporting services have a range of components, including encouraging landlords to rent to homeless people, which the faith community already does informally. Other options include providing short-term rent subsidies, such as the security deposit and the first two months of rent, and helping with employment so they can continue to pay the rent.
Experience and national data show nearly all the people housed using this approach do not return to homelessness.
Eventually, the local group wants to provide a single portal of entry for the homeless to find housing. They hope a collaboration with community partners would increase access to services while reducing the number of people without homes.
Partners is working with a consultant who has helped communities make these transitions around the world.
Beth McKee-Huger of the Greensboro Housing Coalition, which works on some of the tougher housing issues in the community, said the more difficult issues will include expanding the supply of safe affordable housing and bridging the gaps between income and rents. Its possible but will require work, she said. But shes pleased with the discussion thus far.
Until we bridge the gap, its not going to work for very long in a sustainable way, McKee-Huger said. But weve got people thinking.
By Nancy McLaughlin/News & Record
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