3-Cities making headway against homelessness – Bakersfield, Columbus, Houston

Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service

Homelessness is among voters’ top concerns in cities across the country.  Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked.   The EMS briefing on July 22 looked at 3 cities that are making dramatic gains in addressing the crisis: In January 200, Bakersfield achieved “functional zero” chronic homelessness — fewer than 3 people in the community experienced chronic homelessness. Houston placed more than 25,000 people in permanent housing since 2011, resulting in a 64% decrease in homelessness. In 2018, Columbus had a 70% rate of successful housing outcomes. Speakers from the frontlines in each city will address the strategies they used and whether they’re replicable. California’s homeless crisis is associated with high housing costs, inadequate shelter spaces, deinstitutionalization, and changes in the criminal justice system.

Mary Scott, Executive Team Leader of the Open Door Network (formerly Bakersfield Homeless Center and the Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault.)  Bakersfield nonprofit director highlighted how the city achieved zero people considered “chronically homeless” in March 2020. Our diversion program ensures that homelessness is brief, rare, and non-recurring,” Scott said. Bakersfield has been successful because the network meets people where they are. “Their barriers become our responsibility,” she said. Three or fewer homeless people determines a functional zero level of homelessness. The network has partnered with the local housing authority for rent vouchers and the Milestone Project. They refurbish old motels and turn them into multi-family housing. They engage landlords and have their own version of Zillow for their clients.  In practical terms, that means providers solve homelessness one case at a time.

Marcus J. Salter, Housing Stability Specialist at Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio said the Columbus Community Shelter Board developed a homeless prevention network made up of housing providers and mental health agencies. The board aligns housing planning with funding sources and collaborates with 20 local agencies to target resources to address needs of families, seniors, youth, veterans, and others who are chronically homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. He said we  reduce the number of evictions by intervening early with mediation.

Ana Rausch, Vice President of Program Operations at Coalition for the Homeless, Houston, TX  said we believe that housing  and supportive services is really the only way to permanently solve homelessness. Towards that end Houston and surrounding Harris County invested $65 million in the Community COVID Housing Program (CCHP) in July 2020. The goal was to house 5,000 people by October 2022. Already by January 2022, CCHP had housed 7,700 people and elected officials set aside another $100 million to house an additional 7,000 people by 2024.  We all came together to identify the common goals for the homeless response system. The end result is the structure that we have today with the Coalition for the Homeless as the lead organization.