THE FORCE

There is a "force" out there in our Opportunity Center courtyard. And, I confess, it always draws me toward it.

Very, very poor people, most without a home, a pillow or a bed, populate this wonderful space most days. Every morning we roll out the sacred coffee pot and serve cups of red hot encouragement.

There can be no glamorizing the poverty resident in the lives of these precious people. Poverty never deserves such a narcissistic response.

It isn't the poverty that draws me.

What pulls me toward the people, one at a time and in their small groups, is the heroic courage lived out day after day as each wages a battle to move on and up and out. Poverty remains a hard go.
The experts fill our courtyard every morning. Want to know poverty? Come here and ask folks about it.

When the air is chilly, as it was this morning, the magnetism feels strongest.

So, as usual, I find that I cannot possibly go to my office before sharing a cup with some friends. Several conversations ensued, all pleasant and full of smiles, as well as curiosity about each other. Watching these friends, talking to them, hearing their stories forces tears into my eyes and down my cheeks. . .every time.

As I prepared to leave, I stepped into a serious, intense conversation among four or five men who invited me to join their conversation. The focus of their hilarious conversation: March Madness and the Final Four!

Next year, if things go right, I get these guys to help me fill out my bracket with one change: everybody has a permanent place to live. I'll bring breakfast, and I know "the force" will be present to draw me in.

Race and Homelessness

The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance hosted representatives from the Center for Social Innovation to lead a discussion of race and homelessness in Dalllas. The presentation is the latest in MDHA's "Hard Conversations" serires.

Thought provoking and relevant!

Watch it!

Irish wisdom, delivered and received

Recently, John Greenan, Executive Director of the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, traveled to Ireland to present a paper at the Second International Housing First Conference at the University of Limerick.   No doubt, John represented us well with this presentation. 

While he was away, he sent me an email that made me think  (John's like that continually!).  Here's just a part of what he communicated to me: 

. . . going to the Housing First conference made me realize just how much we are doing. Combined, CitySquare and Central Dallas CDC are housing more formerly homeless people than any European country except France.

The Cottages themselves are a bigger project than any countries but France and Belgium have taken on.

France has now managed to house 600 homeless people for two years--after a full two-year planning process with real experts in the field--people with doctorates in the social sciences and psychology and the full support of the French government (which in France means a  lot). And the only reason the French were able to do so much is because their national health system is so robust that they didn't have to bring on or pay for additional support services. All they had to do was find the people and put them in apartments with vouchers. . . .

Actually, Denmark is doing a project for twelve homeless men, but that's it. Ireland thinks it has a terrible problem because Dublin, which is almost exactly the same size as Dallas, has 100 "rough sleepers" (the European term for unsheltered homeless people). We had almost three times that number in Tent City alone before it was taken down.

I understand John's point, and am encouraged by it.

But, there is something else here:  a troubling comparison.  European nations experience nothing near the terrible scale of our homeless population in the U. S. 

Why is that?

I'm sure there are contextual complexities that I don't understand.  However, it seems clear that European nations do a much, much better job at prevention than we do in this country.  Many of the factors that topple individuals and families into homelessness just aren't present in France. 

Why do you suppose this is true?  I

n large part Europe does better at preventing homelessness from ever happening because of things like: 

Universal health care

Mental health services

Living wages

Housing supports

Worker's leave benefits

Much of our hard work on housing development would not be necessary if we as a people decided to put in place systems of protection and support designed to assist and benefit neighbors who need a hand up, back onto the road to success.

Lots to think about here.

Needed: funding for a dog

My life is filled with unreasonable people.

For instance, a dear friend asked me just today why the city didn't build parks under our freeway overpasses.  His reasoning was that people without homes and nowhere to go but under our bridges would continue to be there.  So, in his words, "Why not make it nice?"

Of course, the answer is simple. 

The homeless hang out under our bridges in really terrible, unsafe and unsanitary conditions because they are not dogs.  In Dallas, we build dog parks under the otherwise useless TXDOT right away.  We do better by the canine population than we do by our homeless neighbors. 

Recently, we "emptied the animal shelters" as part of a nationwide effort. 

When was the last time we gathered support to empty the homeless shelters of men, women and children?  Like I say, dogs do better in Dallas. 

But, my friend got me to thinking. 

What if we buy dogs for our homeless friends? 

Then, they could legitimately use the dog parks that are springing up all over town! 

That just may be the ticket. 

Dogs to the homeless. 

Homeless neighbors finding a place to at least rest for a bit out of the elements in the shade provided by an overhead highway, complete with the company of a very loyal companion. 

What do you think? 

Cottages "portfolio" update

Photos below: 1-2) floor systems being built--Cottages with private bath and full kitchen 3) foam insulation being applied to flooring systems 4) flooring systems place 50 Cottages together in tight-knit community 5) CitySquare's new Opportunity Center located just across the street from new housing 6-7) insulation pumped to houses ensures dry and efficient climate control 8) more Cottages to be placed on open spaces 9) foundation for community services building in place.

One Voice

[What follows is an email message I received after the publication of my Op-Ed essay in The Dallas Morning News on last Monday.  I found it very helpful, as well as inspirational in its own very unique and personal way.]

 

I just read your article on Facebook concerning the homeless and the mentally ill. . . .I live on the poverty level and am mentally ill.  I have Bipolar Disorder with Mania and Depression.  I was a school teacher for 20 years in Lancaster, DeSoto and then Dallas ISD.  Because teaching 6, 7 and 8th graders are so challenging and dealing with the Standardized test, my PA suggested I retire on disability.  I did.  I then worked in retail for 7 years in a declining market.  3 of the 5 stores I worked for closed their doors.  I haven't worked in 4 years.  However,  I do have a interview with Nordstrom on Wednesday and maybe I can start getting back on my feet again.  I lost my car due to an accident and now take the bus.  It is going to be very challenging to take the bus, especially late into the night.  However,  I am going to try my hardest to accomplish this goal. With my little Teacher Retirement, I bring home $1,200 a month.  I cannot live on this. I have to work. I eat so many sandwiches and crackers it is not even funny.  I also take 6 medications to relieve my Bipolar Disorder and Anxiety.  Because I am not on Medicare or Medicaid, I make these co-pays myself. 

What has strengthened me more through all of this is my everlasting relationship I have found with God.  I no longer worry about my future like I use to, but it is very difficult and unnerving to say the least. I find myself on the streets riding the bus talking to all kinds of homeless people.  Most of them have a mental illness, most are very bright, and have at one time been successful.  I too, could follow in this footstep of not having a roof over my head.  The rent, water, electricity keep going up and my check stays the same.

It is very difficult to maintain any sense of normalcy due to my illness.  What I have found, is through my experience, I am able to filter a lot of the mental illness kind of like a schizophrenic not listening to voices.  

I think there is so much more American's can do to help the homeless.  I was very proud to have read your article tonight.  Right now I am not able to help the homeless or mentally ill, however, in my prayers tonight,  I will pray that I may be able to help in the future.

Thank you so much for your article that softens my heart concerning the homeless and mentally ill.  I may not be able to put my heater on as high as I would like, but right now I do have a roof over my head.  Thank you again for such a touching article.

Sincerely,

JS

 

Strong backs, unbroken spirits

[A slightly edited version of the following post appeared in yesterday's edition of The Dallas Morning News.]

Homeless people are human beings.   

As such, they must find restroom facilities.  They must satisfy their hunger.  They must identify places where they can sit and rest periodically.  And, just like me, they need at least a modest amount of capital to survive, even if hand to mouth.   

Most of my friends, who experience life today without a place to call home, face tough odds when it comes to landing a job.  Earning money is a huge challenge when your home base is an emergency, night shelter or worse, the hard, mean streets.  The countless day-to-day details and challenges of poverty this deep exhaust my capacity to comprehend. 

Like all human beings homeless people make mistakes.  By comparison, the mistakes I make seem to be much more forgiving than the missteps of a person so poor that they have no place to call home.  The social safety net beneath my feet is so strong and woven so tightly that my missteps don’t affect me for very long.  Such is not the case with my very poor friends who need a place to live.   

Recently, during a Dallas City Council Quality of Life Committee meeting, we heard harsh words about some of our weakest neighbors from more than one elected official.  Frustration over “panhandlers” escalated to the extreme counsel that the city needed to get tough on people who beg for money on our streets.  “Break their backs break their spirit — that’s the only way we’re going to win this battle,” one city council member demanded of police. Referencing the negative impact the presence of beggars had on business interests in his district and extremely frustrated, this otherwise, sensible, measured member of city leadership erupted in anger.  

Homelessness frustrates everyone who knows anything about, including and most especially those who live in its terrible grip. 

I would suggest that the person I meet on the street who begs for pocket change or a meal already has had his/her spirit broken at least to some extent.  I also know that the remedy to the frustrating reality of people begging on our streets will not be found by throwing folks in jail.   

So, what can we do? 

First, we need aggressive, stepped up outreach to chronically homeless persons who live on our streets.  The goal would be to assess vulnerability and to secure every available benefit for this segment of our community, including disability income, health care, SNAP (food stamps), shelter and ultimately permanent supportive housing.  This will require political will, an increase in public funding, and additional case workers from the public and non-profit sectors who willingly work together to deliver relief and hope.  The return on such investment for everyone would be substantial. 

Second, we must realize that our jails can no longer be allowed to serve as the public mental health system for the poorest people among us. Adequate funding for our mental health system would dramatically improve the “quality of life” all of us experience on our streets.   We’re paying today for three decades of under-investment in these vital services.

Third, we must develop hundreds of additional units of permanent supportive housing for those who live in shelters and/or on the streets of our city.  No matter how effectively we may intervene in the lives of people so poor that they are forced to beg on our streets, without real housing we will not achieve the outcomes we all desire.   

Homelessness frustrates everyone who knows anything about it.  Business owners and merchants, law enforcement personnel, homeowners in crossroads neighborhoods, drivers stopped at traffic lights at busy, urban intersections, couples out for an evening downtown—all share concern and some aggravation at the presence of homeless persons who beg for assistance.  However, none are more frustrated than those who know homelessness as a personal, defining experience and reality.  

Rather than breaking human backs and human spirits, the better approach would involve us in straightening and strengthening backs and restoring spirits as a community distinguished by its radical care for all of its members. 

 

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing

At last, after almost four years, construction begins on The Cottages at Hickory Crossing!

Use the Search Tool on this page to read more about The Cottages, one of the most unique and innovative housing developments in the region.

More images and updates as we move along.

Same

Stepping onto the light rail train in Minneapolis on the way to the airport before 7:00 a.m. yesterday, I noticed 4 or 5 men sleeping in their seats. 


Immediately behind me, a young man entered the train. 


He was ill-clad, not much over 20 and developmentally challenged. 


He turned to me with a look of panic on his face.


His speech sounded garbled. 


His demeanor somewhat timid. 


He drooled on this chin as he spoke.


"Could you give me $2.50 to make my fare?" he asked. 


Turns out you can ride a day pass for $6.00. 


The young man fumbled with money held in an open hand.  He tried to count it again and again, even as the train rumbled along.


I handed him a five dollar bill.  He thanked me and headed toward a seat to count his change again and again. 


A couple of stops down the line he exited the train.  I watched as he put his money in the ticket machine and received his day pass. 


Now, I turned my attention to the others on the car. 


Two men were urged off the train by transit officers under threat of a $180 ticket--one left thanking the officer again and again for not writing him up.  The officers had stepped onto our car to do their morning work.


The officers interviewed another young man with a bicycle.  They checked him for warrants.  Not sure how his situation ended, as he remained on the train when I got off. 


Most striking of all was an older gentleman with long, white hair. 


He sat in a corner. 


He held his head in his hands and moved his head back and forth, as if to declare a categorical "No!" on all of life as he knew it. 


The ride to my plane made me feel like I was home already. 

"Housing First". . .is Dallas ready?

The story of "Million Dollar Murray" and several national research trips convince me that the very best approach to overcoming the challenges facing our friends and neighbors who live without permanent housing is to provide them the housing they need first. 

Further, we must build into the provision of housing some "space to fail." 

Recovery doesn't happen over night for people who battled addictions.  Punitive approaches that terminate housing benefits following set backs, work against recovery, not for it.  Extending grace and coupling it with realistic expectations, turns out to be the most effective approach to overcoming homelessness in a city like Dallas.

In addition, providing permanent housing with "high-touch" support services (I like to use the word "concierge" right here), turns out to be less expensive by a factor of about three than maintaining people on the streets of our community. 

So, doing what is right by this special population,  turns out to also be doing what is best for everyone.

Funny how that works out. 

Our coming Cottages at Hickory Crossing project will embrace the strategies of "housing first" from the beginning.

 

 The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday on the story of a man who fits the profile of the men and women who will live in the new housing that we will complete by January 2015. 

We're ready for it at CitySquare. 

Hopefully, Dallas is as well.

"You remembered!"

A couple of weeks ago some of our volunteers from "the Corner" organized a fairly amazing event. 

We offered an old-fashioned foot washing service, not in a church, but out in a vacant lot. 

The event combined the spiritual and the utilitarian about as perfectly as any experience I've ever witnessed. 

Think about it.

If you are homeless, you walk a lot.  Your feet remain perpetually tired from the parade march that fills your days.  Your shoes may not fit.  A major challenge is finding some place where you can sit down to "get off your feet."  Having your feet washed is like a little taste of heaven, just for a short while. 

What made this event special was the fact that homeless people returned the favor.  Some of our homeless neighbors washed the feet of their housed friends. 

Special stuff.

In the midst of the activity, over at the edge, a friend of mine showed me the blisters that plastered his feet.

His foot is size 14 extra wide!  He has a big foot.

The shoes he wore were about size 11.  They were worn out.  They rubbed the top of his feet raw.

"Brother, Larry," he said, "do you think you could find me a pair of shoes that fit?  That's all I ask."

Of course, I said, "Sure.  I'll work on that." 

Later that day I learned that a size 14 extra wide shoe has to be special ordered! 

About a week later, after the shoes arrived, I found my friend out on the street. 

I pulled up beside him at the corner and presented him with new socks and a pair of 14 extra wide, New Balance walking shoes.

The first words out of his mouth stunned me.

"You remembered, brother Larry, you remembered!" he almost shouted.

I thought to myself, well, sure I remembered. 

Not a big deal.

But to him it was the whole deal.

He turned to a buddy standing behind him on the sidewalk at the corner and said, "They remembered me!  They didn't forget me!"

The shoes were nice.  They fit and everything.

But the great learning, the big take-away for me was the importance and the power of being remembered. 

Like I say, utilitarian:  sore, hot, blistered feet placed in comfortable new shoes.

But, also so spiritual:  "Do this in memory of me"--spiritual in a real world way.  A sacrament of the street.

Let's not forget to remember.

Making poverty illegal

Sunday morning as I walked across a parking lot to my car after church, a gentleman approached me. 

He asked if I could help him with a little money to help address his hunger.  I have no hard and fast, set rule on whether or not to grant such requests.  I almost always employ the time-tested "follow my gut" strategy. 

On this day my gut was telling me I needed to talk to the man, but not take part in his collection offering.  So, I began that conversation, or I almost began it. 

Before I could really engage the man, two police officers rushed across the lot on bikes to intervene on the man and our conversation that almost happened. 

One officer pulled me aside to ask if the man had requested money.  When I replied that he had, the policeman asked for my name and phone number, both of which he promptly wrote on the palm of his hand! 

As we talked, I noticed that a patrol car sped up to join the "apprehension." 

At this point it seemed a bit like overkill in real time to me. 

I tried to explain what I did on my day job, hoping to talk the policemen down a bit.  They were professional and determined.  They were not abusive toward the man, but neither was the man to them. 

The guy is very poor. 

He was very hungry.

He may be an alcoholic, though I had no inkling of that from his behavior.

Like I say, the guy is very poor with few options, save the charity of church-goers on a Sunday morning after worship. 

Lesson learned at church last week:  it is very clear that poverty is now officially illegal.  You can go to jail for being poor, if you seek assistance from your fellows around you. 

I mean there are laws to protect people like me from guys like him, and from having to face the fact that the Dallas dance just ain't playing out so well for lots of our people. 

I don't guess you can get locked up around here for telling the truth, can you?

Homeless Outeach

Every month I receive a report from our Homeless Outreach Team (HOT Team) that summarizes their activities in Downtown Dallas. 

For the past several years Downtown Dallas, Inc. has contracted with CitySquare to do outreach in Downtown Dallas among the chronically homeless neighbors who call these hard streets "home." 

Here's a snapshot of the November report (with annual totals/YTD included):

• HOT engaged 157 (2266 YTD) different persons
• 76 (1145 YTD) individuals allowed the team to conduct assessments
• 76 (845 YTD) happened to be first time neighbors
• 81 (649 YTD) were returning neighbors
• HOT referred 83 (1252 YTD) for more intensive/extensive case management services
• 1 (22 YTD) person was placed in permanent supportive housing
• 18 (153 YTD) were referred to and placed at local shelters
• 42 (98 YTD) were approved for Dallas Housing Authority apartments and were waiting to be placed
• 4 (38 YTD) neighbors received medical treatment
• 2 (35 YTD) received psychiatric services
• 1 (8 YTD) was referred for substance abuse treatment
• 10 (55 YTD) received bus passes for DART
• Funding was provided for 24 (199 YTD) persons to go back to their homes after a plan was worked out with family/friends at destination
• HOT provided 26 (207 YTD) local transport to various places/appointments
• 50 (211 YTD) received clothing
• 1 (14 YTD) person received food
• 13 (102 YTD) received hygiene packs

CitySquare's HOT team is making a big difference in the lives of homeless persons who move about in the central business district.  Friendships are being made and evidence of progress is seen daily.  Further, public safety has improved dramatically. 

That said, we expect funding for the continuation of these efforts to be under great pressure in 2014 to be cut.  I'm hoping the business community supporting Downtown Dallas will seriously consider extending the funding and the public service.  The benefit will be shared by all of us.

Football at "the Corner"

Last Thursday a great group from Texas Instruments found us at "the Corner."

Wooo Hooo!  did we have us a party!

Our new friends brought a giant grill on which they cooked over a hundred hamburgers and even more hot dogs with all the trimmings, including fresh fruit, fleece blankets and hundreds of hygiene kits.

Sure, it was another "stop gap" event; but something more was going on as well.

These volunteers from TI really "mingled" among the homeless friends who passed through the experience.

They actually took the time to talk, to question, to listen and to simply connect.

It was beautiful!

One white-haired gentleman approached and asked, "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, really" I replied.  "Just people hanging out with other great people, and a great group of folks from TI."  

"Have they come to give us jobs?" he asked.

I found out that he had made a career of driving trucks cross country.  He needed work, even though he appeared to be well past retirement age.

He settled for the meal and fellowship.  I'm praying for the day when real, living wage jobs show up.

About an hour into the "party" something told me to get a football out of my car.  I've had this seemingly crazy idea for several weeks.  I just sensed that barely beneath the surface I could find pent up energy and desire for games.

I started playing catch with my friend, Blue.

Soon several were wanting in the game!  Even Billy Merendino, the owner of the filling station on whose driveway we were playing was throwing the ball around!

It was magic!

But, no surprise, right?

People are born to play!

We are all the same.

Take it from me, all of us are the same.

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

As promised, I've been sharing, in bits and pieces, a message that I recently delivered to a group of people who wanted to talk about housing for our homeless neighbors.  What follows is the next "bite-sized piece" of that conversation.    And, as always, I invite comments.  

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 another of those:

When it comes to homelessness and solutions, we continue to go out "on the cheap."

Oh, we talk about all that we're doing, all that we've done, all that we plan to do.  We populate endless PowerPoint presentations with full-color photos and lots of number-laden charts and graphs, supposedly mapping our "progress."

The fact is we need more money, hard cash to really cut into the problems we face in overcoming homelessness in Dallas.

We need more funding for the development of much-needed, additional permanent supportive housing units--new construction and creative renovations.

We need additional funding for leasing existing apartments out in the private housing market of our community.

We need funding for adequate case management.  On this one, I believe if we employ Housing First models that include focused case management services (read "concierge" just here) we can have great impact with fewer workers than some social work professionals believe. Our problem is we haven't really given this approach a fair chance as a community.  

We need funding to beef up our city's housing department.  Virtually all of the revenue currently received for our housing department comes to us from Washington, DC.  Our city's annual, general revenue budget contains almost nothing for housing development and services, certainly not enough to really attack homelessness at scale.

We need funding to communicate the challenges to our entire community.  And, we need funds to authorize a modest amount of research to demonstrate the amazing impact of permanent supportive housing on the overall crisis and relief of homelessness.

On the funding side in terms of sources, I believe we need to include funding for the city's Housing Trust Fund in our next bond issue/election.  Before the "crash of 2008," Mayor Leppert was thinking in terms of a $50 million bond fund for this purpose.  That would have been a good start.  The idea is smart.

We need advocates from our city to press on the state of Texas to begin to develop special new, tax credit financial "products" for developers wanting the deliver permanent housing units to cities like Dallas. Permanent supportive housing units for homeless persons should not be lumped together with other affordable housing finance decisions, but deserve a special, new category all their own.

Finally, when it comes to innovation, I've thought for a long time that real estate closing transactions across the state should include a $.50 or $1.00 filing fee that could fund a state housing trust fund for developers of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless persons. Real estate folks don't like the idea, seeing it as a "slippery slope" to more and more fees for causes.  But the legislation could be styled to restrict such fund development policy to only this purpose.

In general, what's called for is a new community commitment.

People should not be living on our streets or in emergency shelters for years.

We can solve this problem.

But to do so, we must give up on "unsatisfying half measures."

Could hell be any hotter, good news any sweeter?

Thursday, August 29, 2013
4:09 p.m.

Just left the Corner where the temperature on my Jeep read 111.

If hell is hotter, I don't want to go!

The crowd of neighbors at the Corner was the largest to date.

Everyone was hot and thirsty.

Wendy, my friend, rushed me as I got out of my car wanting to know if I had the papers needed to get a copy of her birth certificate. We've been working on this project for a while.  If you've lost all of the documents proving you are who you say you are, how to you move forward?

Without the papers I can see how I might begin to think that in fact I'm nobody.

I worked down the list on the papers that I received from the state that instructed her as to what she would need since she had no documents proving who she was.  It is complicated.  No one could do this alone, including me.  Reality for the poorest of the poor.

Attitudes out on the Corner amaze me.

A smiling white dude in a cowboy hat walked up, shook my hand and replied to my inquiry as to how he was doing saying, "If I was any better, I couldn't stand it!"

He then begin to talk about his faith and his walk with God.

I thought of the church folk who are so quick to ask me if any "ministry" takes place in our work.

I'd say it does.

Except it's the homeless poor ministering to me, every single time.

At one point as I looked across the red hot pavement of Malcolm X Boulevard, I spotted a homeless black man assisting a blind, Latino man to the bus stop.  Community defined by compassion.

Preaching broke out when Robert, a regular at the Corner, told the story of Jesus and the woman caught in the act of adultery.

"'Who among you is without sin?' is what Jesus asked," the street preacher said.  "And everybody started mumbling and finally said, 'I'll catch y'all tomorrow.'"

"Yep," I replied, "they all started dropping rocks!"

"My favorite story, my very, most favorite!" Robert said.

Ministry, indeed.

Ice cold water,

Gatorade.

Snacks.

Someone to simply pat my back, tell me that I matter and urge me to be careful. Sincere thank yous tossed back into your heart.

Good news, in a very limited way, but good news just the same to the poverty in all of us.

Street stuff. . .

Thursday on "the Corner" turned out extremely hot and humid.  

We enjoyed the presence of some guests who came to "hang out"--a couple of young business people with an idea for locating a manufacturing facility in the S. Dallas/Fair Park area; six CitySquare team members besides myself.  Then of course, the "parade" of scores of homeless friends who passed by, took advantage of the ice water and the conversation.

People seemed exceptionally weak today:

• A sixty-year-old man with severe glaucoma which creates blindness that he can't afford to treat
• A chronically homeless woman who has become a regular at "the Corner" suffering from what may be walking pneumonia
• Several men and women with physical and psychological disorders who need treatment and can't seem to get it
• A woman who graduated from an overcoming drug abuse program but who needs housing desperately
• Several folks who went through our housing enrollment process who need housing so badly
• Hungry, hungry people
• Hot, tired, discouraged people
• People asking again and again for work
• A friend who is a chronic inebriate, but a friend who blessed me again, as he always does
• A friend whose 90-year-old mother came by with his sister--he hadn't seen them in months--tearful

My buddy Joe, when asked by one of our staff members if we could help him, instructed the "people helper" with his ckipboard that "I'm taking over the conversation."  

Joe made my staff guy sit down.  He then said to him, "Sir, may I help you?  We have cold water if you'd like some."

Our staff guy answered wisely, "Yes, I'd love some water."

Joe retrieved a bottle of water and delivered it to his new friend with flourish.  

"There you are, sir," Joe declared.  "May I help you in some other way?"

The entire production was to drive home the point that being asked if you need help again and again gets really old, especially when you know you could help yourself and anyone else if you had the chance provided by the resources.

Worn out by people offering to "help" you.  There is a new notion, but one so true.

A "Safety" Notice at a Christian Seminary

[Received this from a friend at a major private university with a  Christian theological seminary attached to it.  Maybe I'm missing something here???  This is advice communicated to students who are studying to be Christian leaders and ministers.

My friend, who shared the notice with me, responded in this way:  "i reckon, then, that the disciples of the Lord Jesus in this place have no ministry to a homeless human being struggling for existence in Indianapolis in this hellbent twenty-first century. We may simply consign him to the mercies of the [University] Police and the [state named] plutocracy. May God have mercy."

Indeed, Lord, have mercy on us all! This, in the shadow of a theological seminary?  It happens all the time here in Dallas in the shadows of many a Christian edifice where folks are called to join in grand entertainment.  Perchance we see the basis for the anemia of the church in the world today?  Luke 16:19ff????  Does anyone “see” this man, this child of God?  This “Jesus”? How welcome would persons like this man be in your church?]

PLEASE READ!

We have been alerted that in the late nights and early mornings near the [seminary named] apartments at the corner of [name of] street and [name of ] Avenue, a male 5’8-5’9” with a thin build is going through the trash there at the apartments.  We also have reason to believe that this person is homeless and could be sleeping in bushes between our apartment buildings.  You are advised to contact [university name] Police at [phone number] or call local police at 911 if you spot this individual or any other suspicious individuals. 

[University name] Police is aware of this report and have been providing extra patrols this area and areas around our campus.  Please be aware that you may see police officers on foot with flashlights patrolling these areas as well. 

[Seminary name] students, staff and faculty should also be alert and aware of your surroundings and what is going around you.   If you notice anything suspicious, a car that looks out of place, a person wandering around the parking lot or building or anything out of the ordinary, please contact the [seminary name]  Facilities Maintenance or the [university name] police.  Those numbers are [phone number] (Facilities Maintenance), [Phone number] ([university name] Police emergency) and [phone number] (university name Police non-emergency).  If you are the victim of a crime, call the police first and then Facilities.  We all must work together to make [seminary name] a safe place to live, work and study.   

Stay safe!

  

Signed,
Director of Facilities Management

A place to call "home". . .

Over the past 30 days CitySquare and the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation have managed to coordinate an effort that resulted in putting in place the financing necessary to construct 50 single family cottages that will provide permanent supportive housing for 50 of the "most expensive" homeless persons to Dallas County.  We refer to the project as "The Cottages at Hickory Crossing."

By "most expensive" I mean those persons who are currently homeless and who consume the most county services from the public health care system, the mental health system and the criminal justice system.  We know the top 250 most expensive homeless persons by name.  The average annual cost to Dallas County (costs to the City and to non-profit organizations are not included in this cost analysis) to support one of these people on the streets of our community comes in north of $40,000 each!  Once built, the Cottages development will provide high-quality, permanent housing with robust psychiatric services and high-touch concierge care for well under $15,000 annually!

The fact is providing permanent housing for our homeless neighbors is not only morally right, it makes sound business sense.  Talk about a better return on investment!

Recently, our partners from Abilene Christian University snapped the photo above of a gentleman stretched out on the property where the Cottages will be built.  He is reading a book.  Soon he may have a home, a roof over his head and a better place in which to study.

Progress, in more ways than one, I'd say!

3 bucks an hour for clean streets. . .

Last Friday morning as I drove down Elm Street toward Downtown, I noticed my good friend, "Blue" picking up cans as he made this way up the street in my direction.

I pulled up, rolled my window down and said, "What are you doing, man?"

"Pickin' up cans, Mr. James," he replied.

I pulled off the street and parked my Jeep.

We greeted each other with a hug and a handshake.

"How are you, Blue," I inquired.

"I'm blessed, blessed by the best!" somehow his answer beamed.  "I want that job, Mr. James, that's what I want," he reminded me of the focus of several conversations we've had out at "the Corner" across from the Opportunity Center site.

"All I want is the job," he repeated emphatically.

"I hear you, Blue, and I know," I tried to assure him that I had not forgotten.

"Where were you Wednesday night during the storm?" I asked him.

"Outside, under Billy's canopy at the gas station," he informed me.

"I was thinking about you as the sirens sounded and the rain poured down," I told him, small comfort, really no comfort in that report, but I wanted him to at least know that he had not been forgotten, though I did nothing to relieve his situation.

Golden Rule failure, big time there.

"What do you get for the cans, Blue?" I asked changing the subject.

"Fifty cents a pound," he told me.

"How many pounds you got? I asked.

"About 5 or 6, I'd guess," he said.

"How long that take you to pick up?" I probed.

"'Bout an hour," he said.

So, I figured in my head, "Blue" scourers the streets of inner city Dallas, in my neighborhood, for discarded cans and earns no more than $3 an hour.

Seriously?

"I need that job, Mr. James, I need that job," he pressed.

"I know, Blue, I know.  And, you need a place to live off these streets," I reminded him of the obvious.  "Nothing really changes until we find you a home," I repeated, more for myself than for him.

"That's right.  But, Mr. James, I'm okay.  Really I am," he noted in a thinly veiled effort to take care of me, patting his chest with his open hand.

"I'm blessed, Mr. James, I'm blessed.  Just don't forget that job!" he stated one more time.

"I won't," I told him.  "I won't."

As I drove away, I faced his simple request, and I wondered if we could connect the dots with my friend.

I pray we can.

But, frankly, I'm not sure.  I'm just not sure.