Efforts a mix of new and old

Most people agree that homelessness is a bad thing, but exactly how it should be eliminated is less cut and dry.

Last week government officials, social workers and concerned residents met in a round-table discussion to talk about a 10-year plan to end homelessness that was approved by the municipalities in 2004.

How that academic exchange of ideas will relay into tangible action remains to be seen - as does how the new initiative will tie in with pre-existing community efforts.

Philip Mangano, executive director for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the keynote speaker at last week's round-table, emphasized that including the entire community, from police to businesses to government officials, is key to bringing the plan to fruition.

But while municipal officials and social workers have by and large come on board with the plan, uncertainty and concern still exist in the community, especially as concrete details for the new project still are being worked out.

"Unless it's done pragmatically, I think the application could be more philosophical than real," said Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council.

The IFC is an alliance of groups including church congregations that traditionally has provided Chapel Hill with shelter services.

Moran also expressed concern about a new theory for combatting homelessness, Housing First, that Mangano pushed at the forum.

Housing First, a new policy from the Bush administration, proposes that it's better to put chronically homeless individuals into homes and then attempt to give them services than to follow the Clinton administration's Continuum of Care - which calls for a gradual transition from emergency shelters to self-sufficiency.

"I think that there's a lot of novel ideas out there, but nothing will work unless there's money," Moran said.

"I feel very strongly that we have been providing services for many, many years, and everyone knows that we could be doing a lot more if we had more support."

The IFC is currently working to relocate its men shelter, but has faced resistance when it has announced specific locations in the past, as well as major cuts to state and federal funding. Moran said that the IFC currently is evaluating possible locations for the new shelter.

But Housing First has a fan in Matt Sullivan, a crisis counselor with the Chapel Hill Police Department, who said that the plan makes sense from a financial perspective.

"Those folks that are homeless tend to use a higher dollar-per-service type of service," he said.

Ronnie Torain, of Mebane, who with his wife, Sharkita, has been working to help establish a homeless shelter in Hillsborough, echoed Moran's sentiments that the 10-year plan has promise if applied correctly.

"It's a great program, but what has to happen is that the needs of the homeless have to be identified before you even go through the process of helping the homeless," he said.

He said he doesn't know how much support is behind the project in Hillsborough and noted that he has encountered area residents unaware of the homelessness in their town. "You can't promise a solution to the problem unless you know that the problem exists."

Torain said that he hopes a group of churches will be able to begin sheltering the homeless in November.

Those wishing to help with the Hillsborough project should call Torain at (336) 562-5046. The IFC can be reached at 929-6380.

 

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.