Persistence.In most of the work we do at CitySquare that's the most important quality we bring to the task.
We don't like to give up.
For the past four years we've been engaged in a consortium whose goal is to provide high-quality, permanent housing to 50 of the "most expensive" homeless persons in Dallas County. We calculate cost by accounting for how often a person enters the ER or is admitted as a patient at Parkland Hospital, how often emergency medical services teams are called out to attend to a crisis, how many days a person spends in jail, how often a person is seen by a mental health professional or is hospitalized for mental health issues.
We know the names of the 250 most expensive homeless persons. Each costs Dallas County (not including costs to the city or to the non-profit sector) an average of $40,000 annually!
Our working group composed of representatives from MetroCare Services, Dallas County Criminal Justice, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, Central Dallas CDC, W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation and CitySquare continues to work on building a secure community where 50 of these special people can live, while surrounded by the supportive services that they will need to move forward in a productive manner. We estimate the annual cost for housing and supportive services to be less than $15,000. We estimate the savings to the community over the next 30 years to be in the neighborhood of $130,000,000!
Currently, we are working to secure the financing needed to deliver the project to the community.
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