Racism, location and enduring poverty

Living in a poor neighborhood changes everything about your life

by Alvin Chang on January 12, 2017

In 1940, a white developer wanted to build a neighborhood in Detroit.

 

So he asked the US Federal Housing Administration to back a loan. The FHA, which was created just six years earlier to help middle-class families buy homes, said no because the development was too close to an "inharmonious" racial group.

Meaning black people.

Read and view more  here.

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. 

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.

Public Opinion Poll on Permanent Supportive Housing

Recently, the Metro Dallas HomelessAlliance commissioned a poll of Dallas residents to determine their attitudes and opinions regarding Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) and its development here in the city.  Here's what the pollsters discovered.

Poll Results

Survey results show that there is city-wide support, among Dallas voters, for permanent supportive housing (PSH) projects in their neighborhood. After hearing messages supporting and opposing PSH, 55% of respondents said they would support a PSH project in their neighborhood, while 38% said they would not be supportive.

The following five statements are the top reasons why Dallas voters would support putting a PSH project in their neighborhood:

1.  The organizations placing homeless individuals in permanent supportive housing projects will make sure the residents have demonstrated the ability to live on their own successfully.

73% of respondents were supportive of PSH after hearing this message

2.  Permanent supportive housing will help some of Dallas’ homeless population get back on the right track by providing services like counseling and health services.

73% of respondents were supportive of PSH after hearing this message

3.  Residents of permanent supportive housing projects must abide by lease agreements that prohibit them from any illegal activities and have consequences for anyone who breaks the lease terms.

71% of respondents were supportive of PSH after hearing this message

4.  Permanent supportive housing provides the necessary social services that these residents need all under one roof so they don't have to go to different locations throughout the City.

70% of respondents were supportive of PSH after hearing this message

5.  Permanent supportive housing projects have on-site services to provide the critical services these residents need to be good neighbors and successful members of their community.

69% of respondents were supportive of PSH after hearing this message

MDHA Dallas Poll Methodology

Calls were made over a three night period from August 6-8, 2010, to registered Dallas voters throughout each of the 14 council districts, with 350 completes. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 3%.

Gender Breakdown of Respondents:

Male 51%  Female 49%

Age Breakdown of Respondents:

18 to 35   2%
36 to 55   28%
56 to 75   47%
Over 75    22%

Reactions? 

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.

Basic human and civil right

Okay, 

I know.

I'll take hits for this one. 

But we have a real problem in this city. 

A civil and human rights problem. 

Kim Horner's story that ran in The Dallas Morning News on Sunday reports on the efforts of the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance and the Dallas Housing Authority to inform and work with homeowners near apartments where homeless persons will be provided homes, permanent homes accompanied by supportive services and, even more important, basic friendship.

I think it is important to read the story, like all of Horner's work.  To do so, click here.

Let's get the facts straight.

Fact:  The men, women and children renting the apartments in different parts of the city (we've funded projects in North Dallas and Oak Cliff) have found the funds they need to obtain good places to live.  They now have a means to move from the street and shelters to permanent homes.  Big deal, very big deal, at least for them. 

Fact:  In most cases the homeless and their housing providers aren't asking the City of Dallas to do anything, as is the case with the projects reported on in Horner's story.  The only time city approval is needed is when tax credit deals or city funds factor in the equation.  As a  result, providers or residents are not required to obtain approval from the City Council.  Funds, non-city funds, are in hand for the specific purpose of providing stable, decent, safe housing for those who qualify, for those who need it most. 

Fact:  To deny such people housing due to neighborhood objections is a violation of federal law.  Most of the population in question are disabled.  Thankfully, we have laws that protect the disabled in this country.  Denying housing to these folks also violates the Fair Housing Act.  Denying housing to the qualified homeless invites, possibly guarantees, a federal law suit. 

I'm all for informing the neighborhoods affected, so long as the process doesn't imply to neighborhood groups that people who need housing will not be able to get it. 

I'm all for "educating" citizens about the effectiveness of Permanent Supportive Housing, and it is very, very effective.  The people being informed need to match the efforts of public leaders by investigating the approach themselves before they close their minds to the benefits. 

I'm all for communication and conversation. 

But, at the end of the day, the folks are going to be housed. 

Concessions to opposition just aren't possible in view of the federal guidelines--read "laws" here, civil and human rights statutes. 

So, talk all we want. 

At the end of the day, homeless persons are going to be housed. 

Thank God.

[I wrote the post above last Sunday evening.  In today's edition of The Dallas Morning News, Kim Horner reports that the Dallas Housing Authority will begin moving hmeless persons into the Cliff Manor development.  To read her story click here and here.]

Poll Curiosity

If you note the results of the current poll opportunity at the right of this column, you find the expression of a curious, but common reality. 

Seventy (70) % of those polled want permanent supportive housing (PSH) spread out all over the city, neighborhood by neighborhood.   Three of 10 polled (obviously a very unscientific and low-participation poll!) think the best place for PSH is in the downtown area. 

The reality for PSH developers:  it is virtually impossible to get neighborhood groups to agree to locating such projects in their neighborhoods when the opportunity presents itself. 

Conclusion:  1) Downtown is not the place for these developments.  2) Neighborhoods make better PSH sites. . .just so long as they don't come to my neighborhood! 

So, let's all agree to have our cake and eat it too. 

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. 

John Greenan on the other Jon!

To check out John Greenan's blog today click here! 

Jon Bon Jovi on Channel 8 last evening. . .

To read more about Jon Bon Jovi's visit to Citywalk@ Akard yesterday click here.

Jon Bon Jovi visits Central Dallas Ministries and CityWalk!

Yesterday Jon Bon Jovi visited to Central Dallas Ministries and http://www.citywalkatakard.com/!

As a part of his current concert tour, the rock and roll celebrity, along with the leader of his foundation and his partners in Philadelphia, is visiting organizations dedicated to providing permanent supportive housing for the homeless.

What a boost to everyone at CDM and the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation to have this extremely commited public figure join us for a 2-hour tour.

His humility and unassuming attitude put everyone at ease as we enjoyed a substantive conversation about how permanent housing can radically address the nation's challenges with homeless person.

What a great guy!

What a great experience!

There is much yet to do.

Shelters and housing

Here are some shocking stats: 

• New York City spends $750,000,000 annually operating emergency shelters for the homeless.
• New York City spends over $2 billion annually on all services for its homeless population.
• It is reported that Dallas spends $50,000,000 on its homeless population--I have a hunch that number is low when we factor in all costs associated with the homeless in our community.

Quesiton:  How many permanent homes, complete with supportive services, could be developed annually if major urban centers like New York City and Dallas devoted just half of the current costs associated with serving the homeless to that end? 

Just wondering. 

Pew Report: Black children and poverty

What follows was published by the Economic Policy Institute.

Many people who spout off about poverty and how to overcome it have no real understanding of the pervasive and corrosive affect of dense poverty on the lives of children and their families.

Sobering data.

Business as usual charity won't move the needle on this social reality. This issue calls for bold, courageous public policy and consistent leadership to go with it.

Most black children grow up in neighborhoods with significant poverty

October 7, 2009
By Joydeep Roy

Two out of every three black children born between 1985 and 2000 were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared with just 6 percent of white children, a new report from the Pew Foundation finds. These numbers are virtually unchanged from thirty years ago. Among children born between 1955 and 1970, 62 percent of black children were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared with only 4 percent of white children, according to the Pew report. This gap persists even when the poorest families are excluded from the analysis. Among children from the upper three income quintiles, almost half of black children -- 49% -- lived in high-poverty neighborhoods, defined as those with at least a 20% poverty rate. Only one percent of white children from the upper three income quintiles lived in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Too many children, particularly those from minority groups, are growing up in poor communities. While most studies of child poverty look at the direct impact on children living in poverty, research also shows that proximity to poverty can limit a child’s job and education prospects, even if that particular child is not poor. With research showing that reducing the concentration of poverty in their neighborhoods significantly affects children’s future, including their prospects in the labor market and their chances of upward mobility, policies that foster such changes should be a top priority.