Compilation of
Testimony to
Columbus City Council
Health, Housing &
Human Services Committee
November 5, 2003
Submitted by the
Community Shelter Board and its
Service Providers
Barbara
Poppe
Executive
Director
Community
Shelter Board
115
West Main Street, LL
Columbus,
Ohio 43215
614.221.9195
Executive Summary
Overview
Homeless
service providers came together to provide testimony to City Council’s Health,
Housing & Human Services Committee on November 5th. The committee heard from Barbara Poppe and a
range of providers from across the system who conveyed the strong collaborative
partnerships, the diversity and quality of programs, and the need for more, not
less, funding.
Resource Efficient – sharing resources to meet real
needs
The Winter Overflow Center process
begins with a simple phrase heard often around Faith Mission, “Hope begins with
a meal.” As those individuals seeking
shelter this winter arrive at the Winter Overflow Center, they are provided a
safe and warm place, a hot meal, and the opportunity to talk one on one with an
Intake Specialist about their needs.
With the assistance of the individual, the intake specialist makes a
determination of the individual’s need for shelter, and makes the most
appropriate referral to shelter and/or services available in the city.
Transportation, when necessary, is provided in the form of bus passes or cab
vouchers.
Eric Preuss, Director
Faith Mission/Faith Housing
I would first like to
say how honored I am, both professionally and personally, to be part of the
Winter Overflow Committee of the Community Shelter Board. Participation in this group has been one of
the most significant experiences of my 25 year career. Faithfully, each week,
professionals from agencies providing outreach and sheltering services to the
homeless, meet to problem solve and plan for issues related to winter
overflow. This is a group of very
committed, caring people who work very diligently by giving the best that their
organization and they, personally, have to offer. Our cooperation and willingness to collaborate with each other on
the most difficult of issues including differences of agency missions, our
rules of operation, and service provision philosophies coupled with the reality
of less and less financial resources, has created a unified front as we attempt
to assure the safety of the homeless in our community, especially during the
cold winter months.
Kay Spergel, Executive Director
Friends of the Homeless
As the “front door” to services for
homeless families in Columbus, the YWCA Interfaith Hospitality Network is the
first point of contact for families experiencing a housing crisis. In 2002, more than 1,200 families came to us
seeking assistance. Through close
coordination with community partners such as Gladden Community House and
Lutheran Social Services, we were able to link more than half of these families
with services to help them remain housed, thereby avoiding a shelter stay. Despite this remarkable effort, more than
620 families including 1,400 children had to enter emergency shelter during
2002 - 14% more than the previous year.
JoAnna Williamson, President
YWCA of Columbus
Maryhaven is privileged to be part
of Rebuilding Lives under the leadership of the Community Shelter Board.
Maryhaven’s part of Rebuilding Lives is the operation of the Engagement Center
at Maryhaven which of course is our community’s response to the challenge of
publicly inebriated homeless men and women. We are in our third year of
operation and our referral rate is about 20 percent which is quite remarkable
when you consider the profound illness of this population. Most recently, again
due to the leadership of the Community Shelter Board, Maryhaven has assumed management
of the outreach function.
Paul Coleman, President & CEO
Maryhaven
The success of Southeast’s outreach
programs is based on intense
collaboration with other homeless providers that has been established
through the years. On a weekly basis,
both programs’ staff members make stops at all of our community’s shelters and other homeless services
provider sites.
Sandy Stephenson, Executive Director
Southeast, Inc.
Results oriented – ending homelessness
Through the Family
Housing Collaborative, over 180 families per year are provided with short-term
financial assistance to quickly move out of emergency shelter into their own
permanent housing. With effective
short-term case management, over 90% of the FHC families do not return to
emergency shelter. The Salvation Army
believes that the Family Housing Collaborative and the Direct Housing model is
a unique approach to ending family homelessness. It provides an alternative for families remaining in the shelter
system for extended periods of time, and allows families to meet their basic
need for shelter quickly, so that they may begin to address the issues that led
to their homelessness in their own permanent housing within the community.
Beth Fetzer-Rice, Associate Social Service Coordinator
The Salvation Army
All of the Rebuilding Lives clients
are chronically homeless and suffer from long term unemployment due to mental
illness, chemical dependency issues, domestic violence, or a physical
disability. Our programs are successful based on the percentages of individuals
who leave the program and gain greater self-sufficiency and independence.
During this past year approximately 85% of our Rebuilding Lives residents who
left the program did so after gaining substantial employment and finding their
own apartment without the need for additional support.
John E. Bickley, President & CEO
YMCA
of Central Ohio
Demand for safety net services and housing continues
The YWCA has seen a 25% increase
in the need for shelter during the past 4 months compared to the same period
last year. Historically, the demand for
family shelter has decreased shortly after the school year starts. This year,
however, there are nearly twice as many families in emergency shelter than
there were last year at this time. This
growing demand for services occurs at a time when resources are scarce and
agencies providing vital services to those in need are experiencing budget cuts
on all levels.
JoAnna Williamson, President
YWCA of Columbus
The work that has occurred in
Columbus to address the housing needs for chronically homeless persons has
received national attention and is viewed as a model for other communities
across the country. A significant reason for the success in Columbus has been
because our City leaders have been committed to answering this great need and
have made meeting the needs of the homeless in our city a priority. Although we
all may take a moment to applaud and congratulate ourselves for our
accomplishments, there is still a tremendous need for housing for people
with disabilities and histories of homelessness. CHN continually has a waiting list of hundreds of people for our
programs alone. The ADAMH Board has identified a need for 8,000 affordable
housing units for individuals served by its provider agencies. The Community
Shelter Board has an identified need of 500 additional apartments for
chronically homeless individuals. Our job is far from over. We must continue to
work together to meet this great challenge.
Anthony Penn, Associate Director
Community
Housing Network
And many of us believe that it needs
to be stated: No matter how good the system is, there are still persons who are
not being cared for.
Mike Tynan, Chair
Columbus
Coalition for the Homeless
The City’s
annual, substantial and stable investment has significantly contributed to our
community’s response to the needs of homeless people. With flat safety net funding since 1996, CSB and its partner
agencies have been doing more with less for the past seven years. Inadequate funding for Safety Net and
Rebuilding Lives programs will be devastating to our community, as well as, the
men, women and children who need these services.
As Melvin
L. Schottenstein, CSB’s founder said,
“It is unacceptable for anyone in our community to go without food
or shelter for even one night.
We know
that the City of Columbus shares this belief.
We pledge to work with you to assure that we will fulfill our founder's
pledge and our community’s expectations.
Barbara Poppe, Executive Director
Community Shelter Board
The public
and private sector in the Columbus, Ohio community founded the Community
Shelter Board in 1986 in order to have a planned and accountable way to meet
the needs of individuals and families who are without a home.
The purpose
of CSB is to coordinate community based efforts, foster collaboration and fund
services to assist families and individuals in Central Ohio to resolve their
housing crises. CSB is committed to
ending homelessness in Franklin County.
As a small,
self-directed non-profit organization, CSB can react quickly to a changing
environment and has stayed in the forefront to develop solutions for ending
homelessness. The Community Shelter
Board’s accomplishments are a result of our four primary products services:
q Resource Development and Investment
q Service Delivery Coordination and
Planning
q Program Accountability
q Systems Change and Public Policy
Reform
Resource Efficient
¨
CSB
raised and allocated $6.8 million to support a range of housing and service
programs to prevent and minimize homelessness.
¨
CSB’s
leadership of the 2002 Continuum of Care application provided $6.4 million
dollars for 530 units of supportive and transitional housing for families and
individuals.
¨
CSB’s
leadership recently secured a competitive national grant to bring more than $3
million new dollars into our community over the next three years to develop 80 additional
units of Rebuilding Lives supportive housing.
Over the past
year, CSB has worked very closely with its public and private sector funders to
identify needed resources to meet the demand for services.
However, due to
the economic downturn, the growing cost of Rebuilding Lives as new projects
came on line, and the spend-down of our reserve, CSB was facing a deficit. We re-prioritized investment for fiscal year
2003 to reduce costs while preserving critical services.
v CSB reduced its internal costs by 15 percent.
Ø Eliminated
three staff positions;
Ø Held staff raises to 1.6 percent.
v Program
funding was cut 15 percent
Ø
Emergency Shelter operating grants were cut
3.5%
Ø Rebuilding
Lives Supportive Housing Programs were cut 9.5 percent – eliminating 65 units
of housing.
Ø Cut
Homelessness Prevention Program’s budget by one-third.
Ø
Supportive services in shelters were cut by
one-third.
Ø
Direct Client Assistance funds were cut by
nearly 40%.
CSB
projects a deficit for fiscal year 2004 even when 2004 Fiscal Year revenue and
expenses are held flat to 2003 levels.
CSB has
requested flat funding from the City for 2004:
|
City
of Columbus Total - all sources |
$2,866,000 |
|
Safety Net |
1,631,000 |
|
Rebuilding Lives |
505,000 |
|
CDBG |
430,000 |
|
ESG |
300,000 |
There
are three key funding issues under consideration by the City administration
that could result in more than a $700,000 cut to CSB – this represents an
overall 35% City General Funds reduction.
1.
The
$300,000 from the FY2003 Auditor's Reserve for Rebuilding Lives is not part of
the Finance Department planning for FY2004 -- this represents a 60% reduction
in Rebuilding Lives funding to CSB.
2.
$30,000
--14% reduction-- in the other RL contract
3.
$400,000
--25% reduction-- cut in Safety Net funding
To
address this funding shortfall, CSB would likely:
·
Eliminate
all supportive services in shelter
·
Eliminate
funding of one shelter program
·
Eliminate
more than 100 units of supportive housing.
The City’s
annual, substantial and stable investment has significantly contributed to our
community’s response to the needs of homeless people. With flat safety net funding since 1996, CSB and its partner
agencies have been doing more with less for the past seven years. Inadequate funding for Safety Net and
Rebuilding Lives programs will be devastating to our community, as well as, the
men, women and children who need these services.
As Melvin
L. Schottenstein, CSB’s founder said,
“It is unacceptable for anyone in our community to go without food
or shelter for even one night.
We know
that the City of Columbus shares this belief.
We pledge to work with you to assure that we will fulfill our founder's
pledge and our community’s expectations.
Speakers to
follow me are Eric Preuss of Faith Mission, Kay Spergel of Friends of the
Homeless, JoAnna Williamson of the YWCA, Paul Coleman of Maryhaven, Sandy
Stephenson of Southeast, Beth Fetzer-Rice of the Salvation Army, Anthony Penn
of Community Housing Network, John Bickley of the YMCA, and Mike Tynan of the
Columbus Coalition for the Homeless.
Barbara Poppe, Executive Director
Community Shelter Board
115 W. Main St., LL
Columbus, OH 43215
614.221.9195
Thank
you for this opportunity to speak to you regarding Faith Mission’s part as an
active participant in the fight to end chronic homelessness in central
Ohio. My name is Eric Preuss, the
Executive Director for Faith Mission/Faith Housing, a family member of Lutheran
Social Services of Central Ohio.
Faith Mission has served the local
community for over 38 years, operating two men’s shelters, Faith Mission on 6th
Street, and Faith Mission on 8th Avenue, and Nancy’s Place, a
shelter for women. This past Saturday,
November 1, 2003, Faith Mission, under a contract with the Community Shelter
Board, began operating the Winter Overflow Center, based out of our 315 E. Long
Street location. The Goals of the
Winter Overflow Center are to 1) Provide immediate
access to shelter for those in need this winter; 2) Move individuals seeking
shelter into program services/beds as quickly as possible; and 3) Minimize the
movement of clients in shelter system an any given day.
The Winter Overflow Center process begins with a simple
phrase heard often around Faith Mission, “Hope begins with a meal.” As those individuals seeking shelter this
winter arrive at the Winter Overflow Center, they are provided a safe and warm
place, a hot meal, and the opportunity to talk one on one with an Intake
Specialist about their needs. With the
assistance of the individual, the intake specialist makes a determination of
the individual’s need for shelter, and makes the most appropriate referral to
shelter and/or services available in the city. Transportation, when necessary,
is provided in the form of bus passes or cab vouchers.
When the
city shelters are determined to be at capacity, the Winter Overflow Center, as
part of the CSB contract, can access a total of 24 additional overflow beds at
the YMCA and a local hotel to assure that individuals needing shelter have a
warm and safe place to stay for the night.
The following morning these individuals are invited for breakfast at
Faith Mission’s Community Kitchen, and assistance is given to help them locate
shelter that day. This process happens
from now until April 15, 2004.
The shelter
system for men works collaboratively to make sure that men receive the services
that they are seeking. If substance
abuse is a problem, the Engagement Center, Volunteers of America, or Friends of
the Homeless have special programs that provide the opportunity for individuals
to break free from the self-destructive cycle of addiction. If a man is ready for assistance in looking
for employment and housing, Faith Mission has two resource centers to assist
them. Meeting weekly during the winter,
men’s service providers work through any of the “rough edges” to assure
adequate and effective communication exists between all the providers.
Thank you
for this opportunity to present these brief comments to you regarding the
Winter Overflow Center and the providers of men’s shelter services.
Eric Preuss, Director
Faith Mission/Faith Housing
315 E. Long St.
Columbus, OH 43215
224-6617
Kay Spergel, Friends of the Homeless
Good
Evening. My name is Kay Spergel. I am the Executive Director of Friends of
the Homeless, an organization which has served the Columbus community for 20
years as a partner in addressing the issues of homelessness and affordable
housing. Friends is a multi-service
organization which operates two shelters in Columbus, the Men’s Emergency
Shelter and Rebecca’s Place, as well as a variety of transitional housing
programs, two employment and housing Resource Centers, an ODADAS state
certified drug and alcohol treatment program, and Friends is also a
collaborative partner in three Rebuilding Lives permanent supportive housing
programs. I am grateful for this
opportunity to speak to the Health, Housing, and Human Services Committee of
the Columbus city Council this evening as a representative of the CSB women’s
sheltering system.
Before I
speak to the issue of the women’s sheltering system, I would first like to say
how honored I am, both professionally and personally, to be part of the Winter
Overflow Committee of the Community Shelter Board. Participation in this group has been one of the most significant
experiences of my 25 year career. I
have been a member of this group for three years. Faithfully, each week,
professionals from agencies providing outreach and sheltering services to the
homeless, meet to problem solve and plan for issues related to winter overflow. This is a group of very committed, caring
people who work very diligently by giving the best that their organization and
they, personally, have to offer. Our
cooperation and willingness to collaborate with each other on the most
difficult of issues including differences of agency missions, our rules of
operation, and service provision philosophies coupled with the reality of less
and less financial resources, has created a unified front as we attempt to
assure the safety of the homeless in our community, especially during the cold
winter months.
The CSB
women’s shelter system is part of this group.
It consists of Faith Mission’s Nancy’s Place providing 42 regular beds
with 8 overflow beds, Maryhaven Inc. Engagement Center with 8 beds for inebriated
women and four overflow beds, and Friends’ Rebecca’s Place which provides 35
emergency beds, 12 transitional housing beds for women in AOD recovery and 7
additional overflow beds. Last winter,
all of us were near or at 100% bed capacity each evening. All three organizations work diligently to
shelter women, including women from the land living in camps and from the
streets. We are in constant
communication with each other, all day and night, as we are continually placing
women into our services. The system
works closely with other agencies and programs including the Columbus
Neighborhood Health Care Center’s Health Care for the Homeless, the Outreach
Cluster, the Mobile Psychiatric Van and Project Liaison from Southeast, Inc.
and Netcare/Access. While we recognize
that there still are women in need of shelter and care, we are making every
effort with the support from all of these agencies, to engage and serve the
homeless women of our community. We
have all experienced the effects of a weakened economy, with the resulting
decreases in donations and funding, that have forced us to cut the most needed
services. Even so…we still endeavor to
provide the best services possible. Our
services are stretched; often to the limit…we all have served more women than
we have agreed to under our CSB contract.
We don’t do it because we have to… we do it because we want to. It is the right thing for us to do because
it is the right thing for the Columbus community. The women we serve come to us with a variety of issues; poverty
and hunger, unemployment and under employment, loss of housing due to a loss of
income, mental illness, and drug and alcohol problems. Because we want the homeless women of our
community to be safe and well provided for, we utilize our resources, space and
staff, in very cost effective and creative ways. We do this because we share the value of community service and
respect the financial support of the public.
As a community safety net we are an important public service. Thank you.
Kay Spergel, Executive Director
Friends of the Homeless
924 E. Main St.
Columbus, OH 43205
253-2770
Ext. 2
KSpergel@friendsofthehomeless.org
JoAnna Williamson, YWCA
As the
“front door” to services for homeless families in Columbus, the YWCA Interfaith
Hospitality Network is the first point of contact for families experiencing a
housing crisis. In 2002, more than
1,200 families came to us seeking assistance.
Through close coordination with community partners such as Gladden
Community House and Lutheran Social Services, we were able to link more than
half of these families with services to help them remain housed, thereby
avoiding a shelter stay. Despite this
remarkable effort, more than 620 families including 1,400 children had to enter
emergency shelter during 2002 - 14% more than the previous year. Of those 1,400 children, 80% were under the
age of 12. Nationwide, families represent the fastest growing homeless population
in our country.
Sadly,
current demand suggests that the situation may be getting worse. The YWCA has
seen a 25% increase in the need for shelter during the past 4 months compared
to the same period last year.
Historically, the demand for family shelter has decreased shortly after
the school year starts. This year, however, there are nearly twice as many
families in emergency shelter than there were last year at this time. This growing demand for services occurs at a
time when resources are scarce and agencies providing vital services to those
in need are experiencing budget cuts on all levels.
Social
forces such as the economic downtown, the lack of affordable housing, workforce
reductions, and the erosion of a “living wage” suggest that the situation will
not be improving in the foreseeable future.
The average
family entering shelter today consists of a single mother with 2-3 young
children and an average income of less than $500 a month – not nearly enough to
afford housing and food for her family.
Most of these families are experiencing homelessness for the first time
– usually as the result of a family break-up, a financial crisis, or the loss
of a job. There is one thing that all
of these families have in common – that is their desire to be good parents and
to provide a safe home where their children and family can prosper and grow.
Despite
these overwhelming challenges, nearly 70% of these families are able to move
quickly to next-step housing with the assistance of IHN staff and partner
agencies. The YWCA works closely with
the Family Housing Collaborative including Salvation Army, Jewish Family
Services, and Catholic Social Services to quickly move families from shelter to
their own apartment in the community.
Our “Tier
II” partners such as Volunteers of America, Lutheran Social Services, and the
Homeless Families Foundation, provide longer-term options such as transitional
housing for families who have barriers to obtaining permanent housing. New partnerships with Columbus Metropolitan
Housing Authority and other housing providers has allowed the YWCA to
facilitate the application process for families in need of subsidized housing.
All of
these efforts are borne out of our community’s commitment that no child shall
sleep on the streets in Columbus.
Family system providers engage in weekly planning meetings to ensure
that families have access to housing and that when no other options exist,
families experience homelessness for only short periods of time.
Despite the
accomplishments described above, the YWCA recognizes that our community needs
to do a better job in how we serve families.
For more than 15 years, the IHN has relied on the kindness and
hospitality of congregations from all over the city to provide overnight shelter
to homeless families. Their efforts have
been nothing short of heroic, and for that we are grateful. However, this model
of service is not only costly, it is disruptive to the children and families we
serve. Our current model of
transporting families twice daily to congregations around the city will be
replaced with a less more effective model that provides nurture and support in
a single, service-enriched location.
In our new
model, licensed onsite childcare and after school programming will ensure that
parents have access to quality child enrichment programs. An onsite Employment Resource Center will
provide workshops about needed skills such as budgeting, parenting,
resume-writing, and employment readiness.
A full-service kitchen and dining facility will ensure that families
receive three nutritional meals each day.
Continued partnerships with programs such as Columbus Public Schools,
Mt. Carmel Medical Center, the Columbus Bar Association, and Healthcare for the
Homeless will ensure that families have access to health, education, and other
services they need as they regain their dignity and reclaim their lives in the
community.
JoAnna Williamson, President
YWCA of Columbus
65 S. Fourth St.
Columbus, OH 43215
224-9191 Ext. 209
Paul Coleman, Maryhaven
Good
evening Councilmember Tavares, I am Paul Coleman. I serve as President and
Chief Executive Officer of Maryhaven. First of all on behalf of Maryhaven and
personally, let me congratulate you on your reelection yesterday, it was good
for you, it is good for your family, but with all due respect, it was better
for the City of Columbus. We are very pleased. Maryhaven is privileged to be
part of Rebuilding Lives under the leadership of the Community Shelter Board.
Maryhaven’s part of Rebuilding Lives is the operation of the Engagement Center
at Maryhaven which of course is our community’s response to the challenge of
publicly inebriated homeless men and women. In our first year of operation we
referred about one third of all men and two thirds of all women to Maryhaven or
some other addiction recovery or mental health services provider to enable them
to begin the process of restoring their lives. We are now in our third year of
operation and our referral rate is now about 20 percent which is quite
remarkable when you consider the profound illness of this population. Most
recently, again due to the leadership of the Community Shelter Board, Maryhaven
has assumed management of the outreach function. I think perhaps you had the
opportunity to see the recent newspaper article in the Columbus Dispatch about
the Pastor of the Homeless? The pastor by the way is here with me in Council
chambers tonight, Jerry Pierce, Jerry would you stand up?
This
particular function is an excellent example of the leadership of the Community
Shelter Board because the Community Shelter Board focused on continuing the
services rather than shoring up the former provider when it could not meet
standards. Instead of just letting the service go by or trying to shore up the
former provider, the Community Shelter Board decided to give this function to a
well recognized and established entity in our community. We were pleased that
Maryhaven was chosen. We are even more pleased to have Jerry Pierce on our
team. Finally Councilmember, there is no reason to believe that the Engagement
Center at Maryhaven differs from the research that has previously been done
showing that for every one dollar invested in services at Maryhaven our
community saves at least two dollars in just health and justice system costs so
we believe this is not only a compassionate response but it is also a response
that saves tax dollars. We thank Council for its time this evening, we will
provide copies of this article and if Council has any questions we would be
happy to answer them.
Paul Coleman, President & CEO
Maryhaven
1791 Alum Creek Drive
Columbus, OH
43207-1708
445-8131
Sandy Stephenson, Southeast
Since 1984,
Southeast has been providing Street
Outreach services to homeless
persons with severe mental illness and addictions through Project
Liaison.
In 1985, with a
federally funded grant, Southeast implemented Psychiatric Outreach and Treatment
for this same population.
Nineteen
years later, the staff from both of these teams number 10.5 people including a psychiatrist,
psychiatric nurse, chemical dependency specialists, social workers with mental
health and dual diagnosis specialties, a Community Living Specialist and
Community Support Staff.
The success
of these outreach programs is based on intense
collaboration with other homeless providers that has been established
through the years. On a weekly basis,
both programs’ staff members make stops at all of our community’s shelters and other homeless services
provider sites.
Services
provided include case finding and
engagement, facilitation and coordination of entitlements (SSI, Medicaid),
psychiatric interventions including medication, linkage to other service
providers as well as housing, and linkage to ongoing services.
The largest number of women “opened” for service by these teams were from
Friends Rebecca’s Place; the largest number of men were from the Open Shelter.
650 people (unduplicated count) received care from these
teams over the past year. Southeast’s
other homeless services met the needs of an additional 300 chronically homeless people with severe mental illness and dual
disorders. Southeast’s Rebuilding Lives
– scattered site supported housing -
funded by the Community Shelter Board, currently houses and provides
support services to 42 formerly homeless people with a target of 60…and over 60
homeless people are on a waiting list for this program.