Getting the Homeless off the Streets...start here

[sheclown]

I don't think it's going to matter that some other place is "perfect".  NIMBY will keep homeless services in the core.

If this is true, will a drop-in center help the downtown homeless problem or increase it?

[urbanlibertarian]

Having someplace other than the main library to get inside out of the heat/cold/rain and use the bathroom, clean up, use a phone, etc would be a huge improvement.

[sheclown]

The Cadillac of Drop-in Centers

New $21 Million Homeless Center Opens In Dallas
DALLAS (AP) ―

When Dallas' new homeless center opens on Tuesday, it will focus on the homeless who can be the most difficult to help -- those who are very ill and have been on the streets for some time.

The $21 million taxpayer-funded facility called The Bridge is designed to provide mental health and addiction treatment and place people in homes as quickly as possible. But difficulties in achieving those goals include the Dallas area lacking housing options and Texas ranking 48th in the nation in funding mental health and substance abuse treatment.

"The expectations of the homeless center should be high, but they should be realistic," said Mike Faenza, president and chief executive officer of the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, which will run the city-owned center. "The Bridge, as powerful and wonderful as it is, it's no panacea."

The center will be using new approaches to help homeless people. In one place -- a campuslike environment with a landscaped courtyard -- they will be offered everything from shelter and food to haircuts and housing assistance.

Unlike most area shelters, The Bridge will not require users to pay a fee or go into treatment. It will also stay open during the day, when most shelters close and many homeless people end up roaming the streets.

Officials say that the homeless will be treated as guests, with the idea being to build people's trust so eventually they will accept help.

Faenza said that the focus on the chronically homeless makes the center unique.

"The more ill you are, the less services you have, the more experiences you have being rejected from other services, the more we want you there," he said.

While The Bridge's solution to homelessness -- placing people in homes -- sounds simple, Dallas only has about 852 units of housing for homeless people who need mental health care or other social services, called permanent supportive housing. Officials say the area needs 1,000 to 1,200 more of these homes.

"The Bridge is only good if there's someplace to go" next, said Mike Rawlings, who serves as Dallas' homeless czar. "We need at least 1,000 new units of housing out there. We've got to find quick ways to do that."

The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance is working on a plan to open more permanent supportive housing over the next several years. That plan is to go before the City Council this summer.

Once chronically homeless people move into housing, many will still need intensive mental health care, addiction treatment or both. And those services are severely lacking.

Texas ranks near the bottom nationally in government spending on mental health services for the poor, including the homeless, according to the advocacy group Mental Health America.

The state hospitals remain full and do not provide long enough stays for many people to get stabilized, said Janie Metzinger, public policy director for Mental Health America of Greater Dallas. There's also a lack of prevention services.

Patients who need substance abuse treatment are limited to about two weeks of residential treatment, said Doug Denton, executive director of Homeward Bound, which will offer detoxification and substance abuse treatment to people at The Bridge.

http://cbs11tv.com/local/Dallas.Homeless.Center.2.727214.html

[CS Foltz]

Nice article sheclown.............and your right about the aspect of the "Cadillac" comparison..............right now I would take a Volkswagen setup since something needs to be done!

[sheclown]

I agree Foltz.

It is interesting to see what other locations are doing to solve this problem.

[sheclown]

Greensboro starts small

Homeless day center opens
Thursday, January 8, 2009

GREENSBORO â€" Volunteers painted the walls and screwed in the new light bulbs, and will soon have the showers flowing.

The city's new day center for homeless residents is now open for business.

Volunteers, with about $30,000 in local grant money, have transformed unused classroom space at Bessemer United Methodist Church of 3015 E. Bessemer Ave. into an "interactive resource center" where homeless people or anyone in need of help can spend the daytime hours, clean up, and connect with social services.

The center will act as a pilot program for a permanent program that is under development by local aid groups and volunteers and could be open by the end of the year.

Organizers plan to keep the resource center open through March 15, to coincide with the winter emergency shelter initiative that has placed dozens of people is temporary housing for the cold months.

"It's cold and windy and nasty outside, and we needed something," said Liz Seymour, who helped put the center together.

The center will officially start offering programs like support groups and GED classes on Monday. There will be an open house for the general public Wednesday between 4 and 6 p.m.

Volunteers, including homeless residents, have been helping get the space into shape for the last two weeks.

"They feel like they're family," said Brantly Grier, one of the managers of the center. "I'm proud to be part of something like this."

The classrooms had not been used for 16 years, said Pastor Nick Scandale, who has seen the project reinvigorate his church.

"For me, this is a holy spirit thing. We made ourselves available," Scandale said. "People came out of the woodwork to volunteer. People say, 'What do you need?'"

One room will be outfitted with computers and used for skills classes. A small space at the end of the hall will act as an office for a congregational nurse, a housing specialist and other support people.

On Thursday, crews were scheduled to turn one room into a shower room with lockers and clothes washing machines.

The wash room will provide an important service to homeless residents, said Michele Marsh, who is living at the emergency shelter at Grace Church.

"Showers and the laundry facilities â€" that seems to be the hardest thing," said Marsh, a former phone operator who is looking for a job in catering or customer service. "You just have to make the best with what you have some days."

So far, 10 to 15 people have been coming every day.

Grier said they could serve up to 50 people daily, but will need volunteers to help run programs, welcome guests and make meals.

"If they come and volunteer they will see there is a sense of community," said Paul Gydos, a volunteer who is living at the temporary shelter at the Hive. "Hopefully this project will be a model that can be replicated."

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/01/08/article/homeless_day_center_opens

[sheclown]

Homeless day center celebrates its first year
Friday, January 22, 2010

By Jennifer Fernandez
Staff Writer

    *     
GREENSBORO â€" Planners thought it would take a year to start a day center for the homeless.

Instead, the community came together and about two months after proposing a day center, the Interactive Resource Center opened at Bessemer United Methodist Church in January 2009.

In the year it has been open, the center has helped more than 1,100 people, officials said. Among them, 98 received help finding a job, said Skip MacMillan , chairman of the nonprofit’s board.

Those successes will be among the achievements celebrated today at a luncheon for supporters, volunteers and center participants.

“You know, we started with nothing,” MacMillan said. “Look where we’ve come from.”

The day center provides more than just shelter during the day for the homeless. It offers a place to shower and do laundry, somewhere to meet and discuss concerns and a jumping-off point for improving job skills and finding a job.

Much of the center’s success its first year is because of the many volunteers, said director Liz Seymour.

One volunteer is Craig Byrd, 35, a former client who started offering free haircuts as a way to give back to the center.

“It took me outside of myself, what I was going through,” said Byrd, who has been homeless for eight months and is now working at a church. “You’d be amazed what a haircut could do for someone.”

On Thursday, a haircut gave Dale Murray a little more pep to get through the day. He has been looking for work, struggling to pay his bills while on unemployment, Murray said. The center offered him a place to do laundry, pick up some food and get a free haircut.

“I just thank God for this place here,” he said.

In December, volunteers gave more than 1,500 hours of their time, Seymour said. About two-thirds of that time was given by current or former clients.

Next up for the day center â€" moving to a new home.

The center has raised more than $525,000 â€" including significant commitments from the city and county â€" to renovate a donated office and warehouse on East Washington Street into a permanent site.

The work will start once the permits are approved, a process that has begun, MacMillan said.

“Our plans are to be in here no later than early September, but hopefully, July,” he said.

The nonprofit has raised enough money to start renovations, but it will need money to furnish the new site and to pay operating costs. “We’re gonna have to count on the community,” MacMillan said.

He said he’s confident the response will be positive, based on what has been achieved in the past year during a deep recession.

The fundraising has already started, with the center reaching out to large donors and sponsors, MacMillan said.

The next phase likely will start this spring with grass-roots fundraising, such as bake sales and car washes, Seymour said.

“The reason we’re necessary is times are tough,” she said. “It has also meant we’re very good at leveraging everything we get.”

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/01/21/article/homeless_day_center_celebrates_its_first_year

[CS Foltz]

sheclown there appear to be many Cities which are taking upon themselves to address this probem. I seem to remember a "Bussiness Committee" forming up to promote downtown and having a say in what takes place, this was something in the TU and made a half hearted note. City is talking about the issue because Johnny is trying leave a legacy, right, but no funding nor much discussion other than lip service which is lots of help!

[sheclown]

This is an interesting concept -- a small church-run day center for families.

Day Center to offer shelter, assistance to homeless families
By Teresa Taylor Williams | Muskegon Chroni...
October 29, 2009, 2:46AM
MUSKEGON â€" Homelessness is difficult on individuals, but it’s often devastating for families whose members are separated because facilities are not large enough to house them.

Now, after years of planning and fundraising, help is on the horizon.

Family Promise of Muskegon is opening the doors to its Day Center, 1635 Kregel, Saturday. The building will serve as a resource center, offering laundry and shower facilities and computers to find jobs. The center also offers transportation for adults going to job interviews and children attending schools.

RELATED CONTENT

What: Open house for Family Promise of Muskegon, a nonprofit organization offering shelter and resources to homeless families.

When: Noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Where: The Day Center, 1635 Kregel.

Needed: Miscellaneous household supplies are still needed.

More information: To donate or for more information about Family Promise, call (231) 578-3872.
For those families seeking a warm, safe place to lay their heads, the doors of host churches are ready and waiting.

Family Promise of Muskegon is a nonprofit organization that runs the Interfaith Hospitality Network, where about eight host churches furnish clean, safe, overnight lodging and meals to homeless families from Muskegon and North Ottawa counties.

The purpose of the organization is to assist families with resources from employment to transportation to meals, so they can transition out on their own, she said.

“The unique thing about this is we cater to families, and no other facility in Muskegon does that,” Keener said.

To date, about $42,000 has been raised, and the organization will continue to raise funds to sustain the work.

The board of trustees also recently hired Destinee Keener as executive director.

Getting to the point of finally opening to the public has been a long logistical process, according to the Rev. Bill Uetricht, pastor of First Lutheran Church.

Churches were sought for the rotation to host families one week at a time. Vans are being borrowed for transportation. And volunteers still are being recruited.

“It feels very good. It’s extremely exciting that soon we’re opening up our program, but it’s also a little frightening” in terms of financing the effort, as donations continue to be sought, Uetricht said.

The Day Center property is made possible through the Church of God United, which donated the three-bedroom former parsonage. Carpet, flooring and plumbing work were donated, and volunteers have worked busily to prepare for the grand opening.

“Many community businesses came together to make the house work for us,” Keener said. “It looks like we might be full on our first day, as we already have 16 people, or four families all together.”

Participating churches are: Central United Methodist; Christ Community; Fellowship Reformed; First Evangelical Lutheran; Lake Harbor United Methodist; Lakeside United Methodist; Montague United Methodist; Mt. Zion COGIC; Temple United Methodist; and United Methodist Church of the Dunes.

Keener said the effort still is in need of host churches, volunteer drivers and volunteer workers at the Day Center.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/10/day_center_to_offer_shelter_as.html

[Ocklawaha]

From Homelessness to Entrepreneur in one easy step, Colombian Style.

Such a center to be truly useful must know that daily childcare is available 24/7m. Likewise educational training oj s with certificate or perhaps to allow one the chance to better themselves and learn a skill. A doctor program where they could visit the doctor and or dentist. A regular visiting Mental health professional's and a REAL doctor that actually learns your name. Perhaps a job exchange where one man helps the next in working through. The COJ should be totally committed to this new and bold concept in dealing with an age old problem.

Out of the box thinking works in Colombia, and it could work here, I've often cited the hemming Plaza Restrooms and the fact that we buried them, while larger and poorer city south of the border polished theirs which now includes night time care of these folks that do a pretty good job at keeping the streets safe for all. Medellin didn't build a "day center" rather it built a day center program... In this program, grants are issued for the care and feeding of homeless families or individuals. Huge tax benefits come with helping this community. Moreover many are in uniform! The COM provides mini-career positions at flower pots and plantings, public restrooms, garages, transit. How well does it work? Well if Medellin's government was running the office on Duval Street, those restrooms (under the fountain) would still have a public access. To use the restroom, one would descend the steps, and pause in front of a small ticket window. One would pay .50 cents to the uniformed attendant, who would then point out a freshly cleaned stall. Your attendant might show you a small collection of nice cologne, hair gel, combs, nail tools, he or she is free to sell a limited line of products (rule of thumb, if it fits on a serving tray, it's game to be sold). Done with your business, as you exit past the window again, you'll notice the "product sale" banner, and you leave a dollar in the tip jar thinking what a pleasure, I can't recall a cleaner or safer underground bathroom anywhere! Time to head for the train station on the Southside, as you approach the Skyway, a uniformed "conductor" offers to carry your bag... That's okay,

OCKLAWAHA

[sheclown]

It will take all the creative thinking we can find to solve this problem.

Thanks for the thoughts, Ock.

[sheclown]

scary videos

[Jerry Moran]

Stock up on Food, Gold, Propane, and lots of Ammo.  It's coming!  Not very different from what Celente has to say:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=43c_1267070684

[Dog Walker]

If it didn't happen in the 1930's (and there was talk and agitation then too) it ain't gonna happen now.

[CityLife]

http://www.youtube.com/v/ssZ-GmGK5g4

There are quite a few of those out in Jax Beach. Or at least there were when I lived there 2 years ago. There used to be one by the JTB/3rd Street interchange and one in the woods by the Publix on Atlantic in Atlantic Beach. My friend who lives off South Beach Parkway also says there is a small one in the woods behind his place.