How Many In Your Backyard?

For the past three years, we have heard and read about numbers and numbers of people who are homeless. In 2005, Los Angeles said there were 90,000 homeless people. Two years later it became 73,000. San Francisco announced 15,000. New York 35,000.

After a while these dizzying numbers just became an abstract. Sometimes it is just good to count the number of people who are homeless in your area.

The Hollywood initiative, called Project Y!MBY (Yes! In My Backyard), did just that. They picked an area of about 5 square miles in the Hollywood area. What did they find?

In that small area of their neighborhood, 384 people were sleeping on the streets or in cars. Of that number, a third were youth. A team of local neighborhood groups—business, faith, council office, service providers, and outreach teams—spent the whole night last month counting people.

In our treks to work, we don’t always see these people hidden in the cracks of society. Sure, we see them on freeway off-ramps or in the downtown areas of our cities. But they are there.

So how many are in your backyard?

Here is the press release:

(Los Angeles/Hollywood)—A recent street count revealed 384 homeless individuals in Hollywood living on the streets. The one night count was conducted by Project Y!MBY (Yes! In My Back Yard) Hollywood, in partnership with PATH Partners, The Hollywood Entertainment District, The County of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Council Districts 13 and 4, LAPD, The Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership (HYP), the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), as well as many other Hollywood volunteers and stakeholders.

The faces of homelessness in Hollywood are considerably different from the perceptions of the general public. Over one third of the population identified were homeless youth (persons less than 25 years of age).

"For the first time, we have worked to count and capture a snapshot of the men, women, youth, and children who are living on the streets of Hollywood,” says Council President Eric Garcetti. “This information will help us to more strategically and effectively provide the housing and services the homeless need to get off the streets so that we can end homelessness in Hollywood."

The one-day event relied on observation surveys (street counts) of homeless individuals. This method involved sending service providers, law enforcement, government representatives, business leaders, Faith communities and volunteers out to canvas five square miles of the Hollywood region to count the number of unsheltered homeless.

“Addressing homelessness is a major challenge for many communities,” says Joel John Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of PATH Partners. “Without understanding how many people are experiencing homelessness, we can only guess at what it will take to solve the problem. The significance of this snapshot is that it provides a starting point for which Hollywood can now address homelessness in the region."

Project Y!MBY Hollywood, a PATH Partners and Hollywood Homeless Youth (HYP) community mobilization initiative, is a local solution to ending homelessness by connecting people to existing care and resources. By mobilizing local community stakeholders, Project Y!MBY facilitates a collaborative approach to improve coordination of homeless services.

For more information about Project Y!MBY, visit www.epath.org/yimby.

(Pic from www.herhome.com)

Service Malls in the News

The city of Calgary in Canada is doing a Project Homeless Connect Day. They call it a temporary “one stop” service center (or a mall.) Critics say that services should not mix different populations—i.e., homeless mothers and children should not enter with chronic adults. The reporter goes on to say that this temporary “one stop” should (or could) be a permanent one stop—24/7—rather than just one day every other month.

In response to critics, as long as there is good security and management, and perhaps even separate entrances, it’s okay to mix populations. (The only exception would be victims of domestic violence and runaway, or transitional-aged youth. These should certainly be addressed differently.) The ideal would be a separate mall just for families and kids

The mall movement is certainly expanding around the country. There are successful permanent Connect Day facilities going on and being built throughout the country. Cities are using these as the entry point into a community’s system of care. Currently, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas are in the middle of building their 24/7 Connect Day facilities.

The key to these malls, is how to link these services to permanent housing.

In the LA Times today, there is an article about the chronic homeless issue in Laguna Beach, an upscale beach community in Orange County, south of Los Angeles. People are surprised because this is a community far from the urban grind of Los Angeles. But there they are. About 50 of them.

Laguna Beach is also talking about setting up a one-stop resource center to help address this issue. If only all of the cities in LA and OC county would respond like this, we could actually get a handle on seriously addressing homelessness.

(Pic from http://www.calgarybroadcasters.com/)

Who Is The Next Cover Person?

We are still working on the cover story and magazine cover person for PATH Lines Magazine, a community publication on homelessness and housing.

I blogged about this last month, and we have had many responses to this. Some of the nominations are terrific. Here’s the link describing this unique “contest.”

Here is the link if you would like to nominate someone.

Economy Is Biting The Hand That Feeds The Poor

It’s tough times out there. For everyday people, and especially the poor. When times are tough, people traditionally go to charities for help—the food banks, shelters, and emergency services.

CNN is reporting that charities are also getting hit hard. Donations are down, and the demand is up.

(CNN) -- Ordinary Americans aren't the only ones being punished by tough economic times. Charities say they need help, too.

Charitable groups that help the poor -- food banks, thrift stores, shelters -- say the slumping economy is eroding their ability to help the nation's needy. They report declining donations and a surge in people seeking help.

Bill Bolling, the founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, says he's experienced several recessions but never seen so many working people visit food banks. Bolling's charity donates food to 800 nonprofit groups in Georgia.

"This is new for us," Bolling said. "People are giving up buying groceries so that they can pay rent and put gas in the car.

"National charities like Goodwill Industries International Inc. and The Salvation Army give the same grim assessment -- donations are down, needs are up.

At least 1.3 million more people have enrolled in the federal Food Stamp Program compared to last year, says Ross Fraser, a spokesman for America's Second Harvest, one of the nation's largest hunger-relief groups. It donates food to at least 200 food banks.

"People who have been in food banking for years say it's the worst they've ever seen," Fraser said.People often assume food bank customers are homeless. But several food bank officials across the country say that many of their customers are working-class people and their numbers are increasing.

(Pic from http://members.chello.nl/)

While Pennsylvania Voters Go To The Polls, Penn’s Homeless Go To Overnight Cafes

With the pressure of more people ending up on the streets of Philadelphia, the city government is keeping their “overnight cafes” open all night. These “cafes” are drop-in centers for homeless people during the cold season. They are like L.A.’s version of Winter Shelters, but without the beds.

They provide warm food and a warm place to go when it is cold outside.

The city of Philadelphia is also committing to build 200 permanent supportive housing units per year. The city has 3,500 people who are homeless. So it will take 17.5 years to house the current homeless population, if you assume that no more people will be homeless during those years.

Providing warm places to go during the cold is a compassionate act. But it is not a long-term solution. Promising to build 200 housing units is also a compassionate act. But again, is not really a serious effort to truly resolve homelessness.

(Pic from http://gloucestercitynews.typepad.com/)

Best Panhandling City in America?

Local media in Atlanta are reporting on a study recently released by the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau confirming that panhandling is a significant problem in this southern metropolis.

Behind “traffic”, “panhandling” is the second highest issue that visitors dislike about Atlanta.

Interestingly enough, just two years ago, the city passed an anti-panhandling ordinance that basically banned begging in parts of Atlanta. In fact, the Mayor at the time said that panhandling would be eliminated because of this ordinance.

Well, it hasn’t.

Despite the terrific work that the city has done to mobilize a “Ten Year Plan To End Homelessness” (it was called the “Blueprint to End Homelessness in Atlanta”, and was implemented in March of 2003—five years ago), and its work to mobilize the private sector through the United Way, homelessness still seems to haunt the city.

The city even has a terrific multi-service center (“mall”) called the “Gateway” as their entry point into its service continuum.

I think good “plans”, terrific services and housing, and even ordinances is just not enough. Homelessness is a significant problem in our country. The lack of building a social infrastructure of affordable housing and live-able wage jobs in the past twenty years is not going to be overcome easily.

Significant resources invested into a stronger infrastructure is the only solution.

(Pic from http://cityguides.salsaweb.com/)