Housing First. . .and Human Rights (Part II)

As I noted last Friday, over the next several days I intend to share a message that I recently delivered to a group of people who wanted to talk about housing for our homeless neighbors.  I will break it down into bite-sized pieces.  And, as always, I invite conversation.  

Efforts to end homelessness in Dallas face a number of obstacles, most of which appear in the form of what I call "unsatisfying half measures."  


Here's one:  Transitional housing or "We have a plan for your life!"

People who enjoy stable housing often believe that they know what's best for people who don't have stable housing.

Lots of us believe that homeless persons need to be made "housing ready" before being placed in a home.

Think about that for a moment.

If I'm homeless, what do you think that I think?

Would I consider myself "housing ready"?

What does that mean, after all?

One thing it means is that people with the resources believe that they need to put people through a prescribed plan before housing can be "awarded."

Two things here.

First, housing, in my view, is not an award, but a basic right that comes with being a human being.

Second, if someone else makes the plan for my life, what becomes of my plan or the expectation that I would even have one?

A couple of weeks ago, I visited with a man on the street just across from our new Opportunity Center.  He asked me if we were going to have housing in the new development.  I told him that we were not.  He continued our conversation and asked if we placed people in housing.

"Well, that depends," I said.  "What is your plan to get off of the street?"

"What is my plan to get off the street?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.  "What is your plan to get off of the street?"

He grew silent, as if he had never been asked that question before.

"I sure don't have a plan for your life," I informed him.

"No, man," he declared, "I don't really have a plan, but I do know I need a place to live."

"Well, in that case," I responded, "we may be able to help out because we do have some apartments and we would be glad to work with you."

About this same time, John Siburt (VP of Program Administration at CitySquare) encountered a gentleman named "Big Richard" during a street outreach at mid-night.

As they talked, John asked Richard if he stayed at the Bridge or in one of the downtown shelters.

"Naw, man," he replied, "I can't stay in the shelters, man."

John asked why that was the case.

"Man, in the shelters all they want to talk about is me going to 'a class,' man.  They got a class for alcoholics and a class for drug addicts.  Man, I don't need no class for that stuff.  I don't use that stuff," he reported.

"Then, man, they want me to see a psychic doctor!" he shared with incredulity.  "Man, I ain't crazy, I'm homeless!"

He went on, pointing down the street to another person, "Now that woman down there, she crazy!" he declared.  "But, I'm not!"

Sensing that John really cared, he went on, "Then, man, I went to another shelter once and man, they had church every day, they had church, six days a week, church!  Man, than's enough church to kill a horse!" he said.

Then, he summed up.

"Man, I don't need a class or a psych doctor or church. . . I need a place."

That's what all homeless people need: a place to call "home," a place to hang a picture.

Housing First. . .and Human Rights

Working the streets of Dallas drives me to one conclusion:  our city needs hundreds of additional housing units that could immediately be filled with people who live on our streets.  My experience over the past two decades has converted me to the "Housing First" model.

Simply put, "Housing First" directs us to solve a person's housing problem quickly and first, even before rendering other direct services.

Once a person has housing, supportive services and the assurance that their housing is permanent, then friends and advocates can go to work with a person on a life plan of the neighbor's own devising.  Managing change, providing treatment and further interventions for life and health, all happen best and most effectively when a person is working from the stability of having a place to call home.

Lots of people don't agree.

Over the next several days I intend to share a message that I recently delivered to a group of people who wanted to talk about housing for our homeless neighbors.  I will break it down into bite-sized pieces.  And, as always, I invite conversation.

Efforts to end homelessness in Dallas face a number of obstacles, most of which appear in the form of what I call "unsatisfying half measures."  

Here's one:  Shelters posing as housing.

Shelters operated properly can be humane, cheap and efficient ways to provide beds, a night at a time, for our homeless friends.

However, and listen hard just here, we must not regard night shelters as housing.  In my view, every night shelter in the U. S. should be required to put the word "Emergency" in their organizational titles.

If you can't hang a picture on a wall, what you're living in is not a home.  

For all the good a well-run night shelter may accomplish, let's just be clear, shelters don't provide a home for any homeless person.

What are we doing to prevent and end homelessness in Dallas?

CitySquare has five programs aimed at preventing and ending homelessness in Dallas County.

Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) – CitySquare deploys a team of workers that walks and drives the streets in and around downtown Dallas’ central business district to locate and engage individuals who are homeless.  HOT workers get to know these individuals and their unique situations.  Individuals are diverted to the services of various CitySquare programs, as well as the services of other community partners.  Services include food assistance, housing, health care, and case management, including the arrangement and coordination of transportation to cities of origin for the purpose of reuniting with families.  In 2012, CitySquare’s HOT team recorded 2349 encounters with homeless individuals and was successful in connecting 726 individuals with resources for food, housing, health care, and/or transportation.

Rapid Rehousing – In 2013, CitySquare received federal grant funds through the city of Dallas to house 45 homeless individuals.  CitySquare provides support services, including case management which connects individuals to services within CitySquare, as well as to our partners in the larger community. CitySquare’s case management focuses on working with individuals to provide short-to-mid-term assistance while helping individuals towards greater self- sufficiency. The Rapid Rehousing team and the Homeless Outreach Team work together to place some of the most service-resistant individuals from the downtown Dallas area into stable housing.

Destination Home – Since 2004 CitySquare’s Destination Home program has housed over 2,000 individuals who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Through U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, Destination Home provides permanent support housing and case management services to an average of 200 individuals annually. These individuals receive counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, job support/training and a variety of other services designed to stabilize their lives and establish a pattern of healthier behaviors.

Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) – TRAC provides a “one stop” assessment and referral facility for youth “aging out” of foster and juvenile care in the 19-county, Child Protective Services North Texas region.  TRAC brings together community resources and intensive case management services to benefit these special needs young people.  TRAC is the only program in North Texas that exists to comprehensively address the needs of this population which is at high risk of homelessness.  Annually, TRAC works with over 800 of the most challenged, at-risk teens and young adults in the region.  Participants craft an individualized life plan and acquire skills needed to survive on their own after”emancipation” from substitutionary care. TRAC provides transitional housing for many of the program’s most vulnerable youth.

CityWalk@Akard – CitySquare’s 15-story building in downtown Dallas is a unique and diverse vertical neighborhood housing over 200 low-income individuals, over half of whom were formerly homeless, or in grave danger of becoming homeless.   In addition, CityWalk provides much needed quality affordable housing for low-income wage earners who work Downtown. CitySquare Community Life Team provides counseling and case management services to a majority of the individuals and families who live at CityWalk.

100,000 Homes

CitySquare is a member of the "100,000 Homes" movement.  Proud of this important work seen in this CBS news report. . .

Steve Berg: What ending homelessness looks like

Steve Berg blogs. 

Here's one he titled, "What ending homelessness looks like." 

She’s not going to be homeless, even though her boyfriend beat her and disappeared with her money. Even though her job disappeared next, she and her babies had to move in with her mom, and now her mom’s boyfriend wants them out.


She’s not going to be homeless because the domestic violence counselor sent over a woman who mediated, found some places that were hiring, contacted a new day care center, connected her with a different landlord, and paid the security deposit and her storage bill.

She’s not going to be homeless.

She’s going to unwrap the dishes. On one of the newspapers she’s using there’s a story about The Last Homeless Person in America. She laughs, thinking, “That could have been me.” She’ll have to read it later.

*

He’s not going to be homeless even though he came back from overseas and couldn’t talk to anybody. Even though his girlfriend, his boss, his friends and parents all made him so furious he couldn’t be around them.

He’s not going to be homeless because the last time the doorbell rang, he let in the Veterans Affairs officer – a man who had rung twice before. Before he was ready. He’s not going to be homeless because the VA officer showed him how the Department of Veterans Affairs could help him – with job programs, benefits, landlord assistance, even a rent voucher if he can’t get work right away.

He’s not going to be homeless. He’s going to explore his options with the VA. Before he left, the VA officer showed him a newspaper clip entitled, The Last Homeless Person in America. He told him that not so long ago, tens of thousands of veterans would return from abroad only to live on the streets. “But no more,” he said. “’I will never leave a fallen comrade’ means that if it means anything.”

To read the entire post click here.

One Man's Treasure

I caught this image on my cell phone about three blocks from my house last week.

The gentleman struggled mightily with his cumbersome load, a large quantity of carpet padding.

I've wondered what plans he had for the treasure he had found.

Possibly he was going to use it as a pad for his "bed," wherever that might be hidden away.

Or, maybe he had plans to sell the padding. I can't imagine where, but who knows.

The picture represents just one moment in time--a moment in his life and mine.

I rushed on toward a day of work and challenge. He struggled on into his day as well, filled with work and challenge of a different sort.

One man's junk is often an other's treasure.

I've been thinking of the gentleman in my photo. I pray his "find" turned out to be worthwhile to him.

I'll be looking for him again.

"PUSH 50" and Housing First: LA's Solution to Homelessness

Last year I travelled with a group of service providers and political leaders to Los Angeles where we visited and observed several "housing first" programs.  We also met with leaders from the LA area who were involved in the growing "PUSH 50" movement.  These efforts identify the most costly homeless persons in an area or a city in LA County, and then respond by providing permanent supportive housing that employs the housing first methodology: basically using stable housing, not programs, as the primary intervention in the lives of chronically homeless persons. 

The following report substantiates much of what we witnessed.

Dallas can learn from LA's approach. 

'Housing first' and helping the homeless


Initial findings on 'housing first' programs, such as Project 50 in Los Angeles, show that they may be a solution to chronic homelessness and possibly save taxpayer money.
By Jon Morgenstern
August 15, 2010

In its recent series on a controversial program for the homeless, The Times described a project called Project 50 that seeks to put a roof over the heads of substance abusers without requiring them to undergo substance-abuse treatment, while still offering them as many services as they would use.

The new approach, known as "housing first," has been heralded in communities across the nation as a promising solution to end homelessness and save taxpayer money. Skeptics have asserted that the program is both wasteful and immoral because it simply warehouses substance abusers, enabling them to continue their self-destructive lifestyles with the support of taxpayer dollars.

The best answers to this debate will come through careful research. My colleagues and I are evaluating a similar program in New York City, which three years ago began the effort to house 500 chronically homeless individuals with alcohol and drug-abuse problems. While the results of this study are forthcoming, our initial findings on this and similar programs can help inform the current debate.

As with any social program, questions about the success of housing first depend on the expectations. Here are three useful measurements: Does it reduce homelessness, save taxpayer dollars and help rehabilitate individuals compared with other programs?

To read the entire story click here.

After you've read the story let me know your reactions.

Update on one of our next projects. . .

Communities Foundation of Texas and Meadows Foundation Join Forces to Fight Chronic Homelessness in Dallas
AP
April, 2010

DALLAS – April 6, 2010 – Communities Foundation of Texas and the Meadows Foundation have partnered to combat the problem of chronic homelessness in Dallas through a private-public partnership that involves a collaboration of six local organizations to create the first permanent supportive housing community for homeless individuals with histories of mental illness, substance abuse and involvement with the criminal justice system.

The three-year model program—called The Cottages at Hickory Crossing—will provide permanent housing and on-site support services to 50 people on a site just southeast of downtown Dallas. The W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation Fund at CFT has committed up to $3.5 million to the effort, with the initial $1 million being used to support pre-development costs and to provide immediate transitional housing services to individuals that had been served at The Bridge, the city’s homeless assistance center. The remaining Caruth Foundation contribution is a challenge grant, with one dollar matched for every three dollars raised, up to $2.5 million toward the costs of construction, support services for residents, and independent program evaluation over the three-year life of the demonstration project. The Meadows Foundation is providing additional support in the form of a $750,000 program related loan to support land acquisition and development. Private fundraising and government grants will fund the balance of project costs.

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing represents the first time that six leading agencies join the local effort to end chronic homelessness, and have come together on a single project. Project partners include Metrocare Services, Central Dallas Ministries, Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Dallas County Criminal Justice System.

To read on click here. 

Only one homeless man left in Times Square

While Rosanne Haggerty (Common Ground Community in NYC) was in Dallas for our annual prayer breakfast, she brought to our attention the following article that recently appeared in The New York Times.  The report points up the amazing impact of the development of permanent supportive housing on neighborhoods with a history of a high concentration of very poor and homeless persons. 

Developing housing for the homeless should not cause us fear.  To the contrary, such work should  inspire hope in everyone. 

We can end chronic homelessness in a city like Dallas, Texas. 

That fact is no longer in question. 

What remains very questionable is whether or not we've got the political will and the faith to move forward as a community to do exactly that. 

Here's the beginning of this must-read report:

Times Square’s Homeless Holdout, Not Budging
By JULIE BOSMAN
Published: March 29, 2010

Heavy, as he is known, is said to be the only person still living on the streets of Times Square.

As long as there have been homeless people sleeping in Times Square, there have been social workers and city officials trying to persuade them to leave.

The homeless man Heavy slept in a cardboard box on Sunday as a worker from the Times Square Alliance swept 48th Street.

In the past, the homeless were offered a free ride to one of the city’s warehouselike shelters. These days, workers for nonprofit groups help people move into apartments, keeping track as the number of the chronically homeless in Times Square goes down.

According to their records, by 2005, there were only 55. Last summer, it was down to 7.

Now there is one.

His name is Heavy, and he has lived on the streets of Times Square for decades. Day after day, he has politely declined offers of housing, explaining that he is a protector of the neighborhood and cannot possibly leave, the workers who visit him every day said.

Yet they are determined to get through to Heavy, the last homeless holdout in Times Square.

To keep reading click here.

Homeless neighbors: a very bad deal

We've known for a long time now that homelessness costs our city big time.

At Central Dallas Ministries and the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, we've conducted significant national research over the past several years into the costs to an entire community associated with not responding to the plight of the poorest among us.

Pick the city--you'll discover similar research results. New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and now Dallas. Allowing people to remain without homes costs communities more than what it would cost to provide decent, permanent housing to the same population.

The latest report by Dallas Morning News' reporter, Kim Horner, provides more data to substantiate the obvious.

Here's how Horner begins her report ("'Frequent fliers' run up Dallas County's homeless tab," Sunday, August 2, 2009):

Dallas County taxpayers spend about $50 million a year sheltering, treating and jailing the homeless.

Perhaps half of that is for the 600 to 1,000 toughest cases – many of whom visit emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, jails so often they're called "frequent fliers." These very ill people repeatedly cycle through a massive, uncoordinated system of local, state, federal and private institutions at alarming speed and alarming cost. And despite the millions being spent, many of these chronically homeless people remain in shelters and cardboard boxes.

"What do we get? They're still homeless," said Mike Rawlings, who serves as Dallas' homeless czar. "Somebody would be fired in the business world if they got those results."

The $50 million figure was arrived at by totaling the annual expenses of more than a dozen local taxpayer-funded agencies. It is a conservative figure because some agencies do not track how much they spend on the homeless. And it does not include at least $23 million in private funds spent locally caring for the homeless.

To read her entire report click here.

People who work to overcome homelessness in our nation understand the validity of the research. Further, the development of permanent supportive housing--that is, housing that is not transitional, accompanied by robust supportive or "concierge" services for tenants--produces clear and positive results in reducing the numbers of chronic, hardcore homeless from the streets of cities all across the nation.

More and more, cities are adopting strategies to house the most expensive "frequent fliers" who use up the majority of public services due to the fact that they do not have permanent homes. In Los Angeles County, municipality after municipality are embarking on projects designed to target and house the most expensive members of the homeless populations (usually starting with the top 50 on their lists). Utilizing a "housing first" intervention model, communities are realizing very good outcomes.

What we need is a better "return on investment."

[It is important to note that Horner's report does not address the positive impact that reducing the numbers of homeless persons would have on businesses and property owners located in and near the core of the city, to say nothing of the benefit to all of the taxing authorities depending on the success of these same property owners.]

All this makes perfect sense. And, thanks to Horner for bringing it to our attention one more time.

What makes no sense is the challenge associated with trying to site permanent supportive housing developments in Dallas.

When considered as a concept in the abstract, most people agree and even acknowledge the wisdom of the approach. After all, the data is hard to challenge.

The trouble comes when specific projects are proposed and city council support is called for district by district. Then attitudes of fine, but "not in my backyard" arise quickly.

Until a city's commitment to more effectively addressing the problem of needlessly expensive, chronic homelessness outweighs and overcomes the short-sighted concerns of district politics not much will change.

The business case for ending chronic homelessness is not only impressive, it is undeniable. In Dallas, we need to get our house in order. When we do, everyone will win.

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Mental illness, hard streets and public policy

Texas leaders boast about the state's financial surplus. Of course, they don't mention just how poorly Texas stacks up when it comes to providing for our most vulnerable residents.

Take the state's standing in mental health services for the extremely poor--48th!

The story turns terribly sad when you begin to put faces with the data. The movement to de-institutionalize treatment strategies for the mentally ill that swept the nation in the 1960 and 1970s dumped thousands of patients on the streets of Texas cities in hopes that breakthroughs in new medications would allow patients to live on their own. Trouble was funding for follow up, case management and a robust network of community support just wasn't funded.

Kim Horner's latest entry in her ongoing series on homelessness in Dallas, published by The Dallas Morning News, gets at the awful reality confronting the chronically homeless here in Dallas. This paragraph early in her report grabbed my attention:

"We've just come to accept the fact we have homeless people roaming the streets like we have rats roaming the alleyways," said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "We have grown accustomed to having human beings living on the streets. It's kind of a sad commentary."

Take a moment to read Horner's sobering report here.

Unknowing folks find it easy to dismiss the homeless poor as hopeless, lazy, shiftless bums who choose to stay on the streets rather than work to enter the mainstream. Not only is this analysis based on cruel and lazy thinking, it is simply incorrect.

Homeless persons need homes and they need them now. Housing allows everything else to fall into place, even for individuals with mental illness.

It's past time our leaders in Austin woke up. Huge surpluses in a day and time of such suffering on our streets is nothing about which we should feel any pride. Shame fits our circumstances much better.

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Plaza Inn Deal Fails: Takeaways

Update on the plan to redevelop and renew the Plaza Inn at I-30 and S. Akard Street on the southeast edge of Downtown Dallas:

It turns out to be quite a saga, maybe closer to an epic!

Chapter One: The Central Dallas Community Development Corporation places the property under contract and writes a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LITHC) application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). The first round scoring on the application places it at the very top of such applications in the entire state of Texas. We're feeling really very good about the prospects of the plan.

Chapter Two: We begin to explain our plans to the neighbors who live, work and own property around the project site. Lots of honest conversation ensues. After two large, well-attended public meetings and numerous, smaller private meetings, we continue to feel positive about the project. We adjust our plans to include everything over which we have control that the neighborhood association and various voices from the community suggest. Included in the changes are 72 units of new construction, market rate, multi-family homes.

The only part of our plan we did not alter were the homes we intended to set aside for 50 formerly homeless individuals and families. At last, when the neighbors vote on our plan, we are turned back and voted down. This means that we cannot hope to receive the backing we need from Council Member Pauline Medrano and her colleagues on the Dallas City Council.

Chapter Three: We exit the process, but turn over our position to Hamilton Properties, the owners of the Plaza Inn. They adjust the plan to make it more economically feasible and to further suit the wishes of the neighbors. Translation: The new plan eliminates all units of permanent supportive housing designed for formerly homeless persons. The plan goes forward with neighborhood support now that CDM and the homeless are out of the picture. No homeless housing will be provided, but high-quality, affordable housing will be developed.

Chapter Four: The TDHCA objects to the revised proposal, citing 33 reasons why the plan, as presented, is not worthy of funding. Many of the problems are technical and based on inaccurate information and details lost in the translation during the revision process from the original proposal. At the end of the day, it becomes clear that the only way to advance the proposal on appeal is to put the permanent supportive housing units back into the plan. The appeal is submitted with this provision for the homeless included once more. A subsequent meeting with the neighborhood association results in a final rejection of the revised plan. As a result, the tax credit application is withdrawn and the deal is dead.

Takeaways:

1) People in all parts of Dallas fear and do not understand the chronically homeless. As a result of the fear and lack of understanding, they will resist the development of housing for this subset of the population almost automatically and in every part of the city. Further, many people do not want to hear the facts about the homeless who receive the benefit of permanent housing. No amount of national, empirical evidence convinces most people. Clearly, we must work harder, start earlier and do a better job of presenting the truth about "housing first" and permanent supportive housing as a viable, community solution to chronic homelessness. At the same time, we must find ways to legitimately earn the trust of neighborhood groups. We continue to hope that the success of our project at 511 N. Akard in the heart of Downtown will help with community education and understanding.

2) Funding for the development of permanent housing for the homeless must come from public sources with great capacity. These deals are complicated and expensive. Because of neighborhood opposition, and short of significant breakthroughs in community understanding, Downtown areas remain the best and possibly only location for such developments. A logical source of funding will continue to be the LITHC funds from the TDHCA.

3) Having funds available does not guarantee success. We may need to face the fact that funding is easier to solve than location for these projects, due largely to neighborhood opposition.

4) Currently, site selection for these developments may need to be limited to locations where no neighborhood organization exists. This limits development to very weak communities, not a good choice for several reasons, or Downtown locations that tend to be the most expensive sites.

5) Providing lots of information and/or being responsive to community ideas and suggestions is no guarantee that development plans will be supported or accepted. Unfortunately, this is simply a fact of life in this sector of the housing development industry at this point. Again, building trust is key. The Plaza Inn project taught me that I need to exhibit more patience, kindness and respect for those who disagree, while at the same time providing useful information needed to change attitudes toward our homeless neighbors.

6) The current political process serves property owners before the larger good of the entire community. Property rights trump human or community needs/rights.

7) The need and the relief that certainly can be provided for the clear need make continuing the effort more than worth the struggle and the frustrations. At the same time, developers and city leaders must face the fact that these developments will take more time, effort and funding than other sorts of housing endeavors.

Back to the drawing board.

[Read a report in today's edition of The Dallas Morning News here.]

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The Bible and the Birth Certificate

Here's a local, Dallas blog written by Karen Shafer, an activist on behalf of the homeless here.

Goes along with my earlier post today. . .big time! Take a look.

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Conversations about my poorest friends--1

For a long time I've wished there were a way to carry on a conversation with those who visit this site on a regular basis.

Thanks to video technology, we can now get half-way there!

This is my first foray into video blogging. We'll see how it goes!

There is little effort here to be anything but informal, as would be the case if you visited me in my office where this was shot.

I'd love your reactions!



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Wonder if this would work in Dallas?

Here's a novel idea: get to know homeless people, in this case, homeless veterans.

Work with them.

Engage them as friends with real potential.

Find a way to provide high-quality housing in a good, mixed-income neighborhood and get them inside and off the streets.

Reaction has been mixed to this plan. Just "listen in". . .

"Downtown residents, business owners and developers have pushed for the city to aggressively attack homelessness. They say the homeless panhandling and hanging out in Lucas Park prevents the downtown neighborhood from becoming fully realized.

"But some of those same people say that putting such a high number of homeless veterans into one building is putting at risk one of the city's biggest success stories."

Read all about it here.

Hmmm.

Sounds familiar.

Wonder if it would work in Dallas?

Of course, Dallas is so unique, and it sure isn't St. Louis!

Oh, well. There I go again.

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Ending homelessness via homes

Thanks to The Dallas Morning News for publishing the Op-Ed essay in yesterday's edition written by new U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston and Jedd Medefind, Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

Mr. Preston and Mr. Medefind pointed to CDM's "Destination Home" effort as an example of how to cut into the homeless problem in our country. We enjoyed having both of them on a tour last week.

This is the sort of good news needed as we continue to address the difficult challenges of homelessness.

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Property Rights vs Human Rights

Over the past several years, since the time that our work led us deeper and deeper into the issues related to developing affordable housing for low-income working people and permanent supportive housing for our disabled homeless neighbors, I've learned more and more about the opposition to such work.

Just last week, while in discussions with city leaders about housing for the homeless, the power of the opposition became more evident than ever as we discussed the political realities of acting against the interests of home owners.

Property owners enjoy amazing power in our nation and in our economy.

The result?

A disproportionate percentage of affordable housing developments end up in neighborhoods and communities where the number of home owners is low and where the home owners who are present are not well organized.

NIMBYism is a well known problem for developers who seek to provide fit and affordable housing for communities. "Not in my backyard" is a cry we hear often, even before project plans are fully developed or made known.

We were dealing with it again last week at city hall. It became clear to everyone that a plan to develop a piece of property in the more affluent northern part of our city to benefit homeless men and women would be impossible.

What is it about property and property ownership?

Who says that ownership entitles people to completely lock up and fundamentally control housing development, city zoning and community planning functions?

Is it as simple as this: The rich just have more power because they are rich? Are the poor largely powerless simply because they lack material resources?

Is that how a democracy is supposed to work?

It certainly seems to be the way our democracy works here in Dallas when it comes to property owners and those who have very little in terms of material resources.

As I pointed out in the meeting at city hall last week, we must finally reach a point where someone needs to remind everyone that civil and human rights still count for something in this country and city.

And, if we determine that they don't, we should go to work making sure that they count again for everyone.

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People don't get it. . .

What follows are some of the "delightful" comments readers posted in response to The Dallas Morning News story about citywalk@akard, our Downtown affordable housing development that includes housing for formerly homeless individuals. Not everyone responded in such negative terms, but most did. Take a look for yourself:

Posted by Tiredofdowntown
Everytime I have to go to downtown Dallas I get a sense of dread and disdain. You cannot walk through downtown Dallas without being hit up for money by the dregs of society. Now they want to give these same people the right to live in a place they can't afford so they can continue their lifestyle of living off of other people's hard work. It just shows why Dallas is in decline and downtown Dallas will never become a desirable place to live.

Posted by Always Confused
Hmmm....Let me get this right...no auto body shops on the way to downtown but low income housing is OK in downtown proper.

Posted by sickofstupidpeople
Can someone tell my how I can live in a place I can't afford? Where can I sign up to live beyond my means at taxpayer expense?

Posted by sickofstupidpeople
What the heck is economic diversity? I don't see any advantage of living next to lazy mooching welfare slugs who are unable to use birth control. ACORN and other poverty pimp groups are a bane on society. They suck away taxpayer money and destroy good neighborhoods

Posted by frisco steve
I wish you all success. I want everybody to be successful. But where is the profit if you rent out at below market value? Just doesn't make business sense. It sound socialist. Everybody get the same stuff, but you must pay according to your income level. What is the motivation for people to then excell to get ahead if they can do less and get the same thing?

Posted by Ken325
We do not want to adapt the homeless policy that California has. San Francisco would be a nice place if it didn’t smell like urine from the homeless people reliving themselves in public. Dallas should outlaw panhandling in Downtown. We should install donation boxes where the money goes to homeless shelters and halfway houses outside of downtown. When you give a handout to an addict all you are doing is enabling them to continue their bad habits. We need a get tough homeless policy from city hall not more pandering. We dam sure don’t need a homeless shelter or public housing screwing with efforts to make downtown livable.

Posted by AvoidTheGroid
"Crime rate set to rise rapidly by spring in downtown Dallas"

Posted by frisco steve
how much tax abatement are you getting to allow low-income apartments to bring down the value of your building? I hope enouogh to cover the cost of your apartments, and make up for the lost value when you decide to sell in 2.3 yrs.

Posted by woolfmancamo
. . .I think what the people on this message board are TRYING to say (and you are not understanding) is that we are not happy with the people who EXPECT things for free. You, yourself, sound like you have your head on straight. I commend you for working and making the most out of what you can. What I DO NOT and WILL NOT understand is the people who feel that they DESERVE the best without putting forth any effort. No individual DESERVES anything. They must work for it, just like the rest of the working people in this World.

Posted by frisco steve
. . .Has anybody given you an opportunity to live in a high priced condo downtown at the same rate you are paying today? I'm thinking not. Why cant those that need help be as content as you are to live where they can afford withouot being given a high rent place at a low rent rate? I'm not judging anybody by their income. I have been low income in the past, and lived the life. I'm just saying, earn what you get.

Posted by onejoey
Once again, rich people buying their way into heaven by imposing their "good works" on others.... If its such a worthy idea, why don't they build low/no rent housing in their neighborhoods?

Posted by gfu
what????? there's going to be a "bridge" built from The Bridge to 511 N. Akard? is it another Calatrava? :-(

Posted by UNT_Flyer
Boy, and I thought the effort to revitalize downtown Dallas was really making progress.
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So many folks just don't understand our project, mission or values. Even more misjudge and cast aside those who are poor. At times, I've got to admit, it gets really tiresome and discouraging. Most days though the struggle, the fight is more than worth it.

I'm kept going by so many folks on our team here at Central Dallas Ministries. After reading many of these negative comments following the story about our construction launch media advisory, I received an email from a team member that read in part as follows:

"Not only do I love this sort of problem, I wish some of the dissenters could hear the excitement in the voices of the people who are calling. Their hope and faith are apparent. With few exceptions they end the conversation with a God bless you that is heart felt!"

Yep, I can keep going on the strength of that hope.

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Wisdom and permanent supprotive housing

Dr. Ron Anderson, CEO at Parkland Health and Hospital System, put me on to the work and writing of Bernard Glassman, a Jew turned Buddhist, who founded and leads the various works of the Greystone Foundation in New York City. The primary focus for Glassman and his team, beyond spiritual formation, is an incredibly innovative outreach to and among the homeless.

Glassman recognizes the importance of providing permanent housing to people who don't enjoy the benefits of a home. Consider some of his wisdom:

It quickly became apparent to us that the usual approach to caring for the homeless--which was to house them in motels at great expense--was not working, and in fact could not work. Since the motels could make more money on weekends by renting rooms to prostitutes and their clients, they would routinely turn out homeless families on Fridays. Mothers or fathers didn't know where they would be when their children returned from the schools they were bussed to, and the kids whose parents weren't there to receive them after school would be taken into custody by the welfare agencies and often never returned. As a result, parents kept their children out of school. Single mothers or fathers couldn't rent apartments without money, and they couldn't get jobs without training, and they couldn't get training without child care. Given this self-perpetuating cycle, it was hardly surprising that so many succumbed to despair and drugs.

Much of what passes for help is nothing more than a quick fix. You take, say, three thousand dollars and rent a motel room that puts a temporary roof over a person's head for a few nights. But the person is really being treated as garbage, that has to be hidden away for a little while. Nothing in that money helps the person get out of the cycle.

It's like eating fast food instead of a real meal. You provide an immediate rush of sugar, which creates a hypoglycemic condition. Your physical state actually gets worse after a quick fix of fast food. You could, for example, take people into the country for three months and provide them with jobs, housing and child care. But if they returned to the city after that time and there were no jobs, housing, or child care, they would be back in the same cycle.

Most people could see that only a holistic, totally integrated approach could break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. We had to include all the elements and ingredients of a good meal. the biggest and most immediate problem, of course, was to provide some kind of stability, which for the homeless meant permanent housing (Bernard Glassman and Rick Fields, Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master's Lessons in Living a Life That Matters, pages 100-101).

Our experience in Dallas confirms the truth of Glassman's perspective. Housing, permanent, fit, safe housing will be the key to ending homelessness in our cities.

Reactions from your experience? What are groups doing to address the problem of homelessness where you find yourself today?

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Mr. B and his community

I'll just call him "Mr. B."

He's been living in an apartment out in North Dallas that we've been able to provide him, thanks to a funding stream from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Like all of our tenants in "Destination Home," Mr. B is disabled. He endures many physical maladies with great grace and amazing courage.

He is seldom idle.

As a matter of fact, Mr. B has taken on the role of leader of our little community inside this one apartment complex. Everyone knows him, and he knows everyone, their issues, history and needs.

Not long ago, during a tour with some interested folks, the subject of access to reliable transportation came up. Mr. B and others explained that tenants enjoy easy access to DART (Dallas' rapid transit system).

Then, he went on, "Yeah, I catch the DART at least once a week and ride down to a nursing home on MLK where I visit folks who don't have anyone else visiting them."

"That's great," I told him. "Is this a program of your church?" I asked. Mr. B recently joined the New Mount Zion Baptist Church, one of the churches that supports our efforts in Destination Home.

"No, it's not. I've been doing this for years now."

Say what?

Mr. B, chronically homeless and disabled, has been visiting "shut ins" in a South Dallas nursing home for years while living on the streets of Dallas.

As Americans we need to "re-frame" our understandings of our homeless neighbors. I've known that for a long time.

Mr. B takes the discussion to a whole new level.

The problem is that we don't really know, I mean know, anyone who is or has been homeless.

I think we ought to work on that. How about you?

I can tell you for sure, as we do so, we are in for some real surprises.

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