<![CDATA[Insight]]> <![CDATA[Insight]]> /Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_fdsa4k55mbzd0x55gesj3lqk_b8025da3-920b-4442-9a74-a81c9ea63d87_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sat, 25 May 2013 23:24:27 GMT 15 <![CDATA[Variety of organiations join forces to aid areas's homeless: Public, private groups often have to provide more than mere shelter]]> By Jonathan Harris, Carnegie Vanguard High School


MAN OF THE PEOPLE: Citycouncilman Peter Brown works on providing housing for the homeless.

Help for Houston-area residents in need comes from hundreds of public and private agencies, many of them interconnected in a web of necessity.. The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County is one organization that works closely with city officials to create plans for combating homelessness and allocate resources towards other homeless agencies. "Our organization is an umbrella organization working in Houston and Fort Bend County. We develop solutions for the homeless," said Coalition’s president and CEO Anthony Love. "We work with officials to create ordinances and monitor issues involving the homeless." According to Love, the Coalition helps supply helpful information to those who are homeless and those who are at risk. The Coalition also gathers research on the homeless in Houston so that they can assess the information and present to groups to see how they can resolve any problems. "We collaborate with other agencies working with the homeless. We are not a direct service provider. We do not provide food. We help give resources to places like The Star of Hope," Love said. "Lately, we've noticed a decrease in the number of homeless in Houston." City Councilman at Large Peter Brown said he strongly believes in reform for Houston's work with the homeless. He has a passion for helping the homeless because he too is a veteran and feels that Houston is not doing a good enough job with dealing with the homeless. "The people running these programs won't tell you what the problems are," Brown said. "We spend all of this money and then the rate goes up. We are not getting the results because it's voluntary. There's not enough financial pressure." Brown suggests that in order to be successful, Houston will have to put more pressure on the homeless and the homeless agencies. He proposes that Denver's 10-year plan be implemented because it has been successful there. "We try to get all of the agencies to cooperate. I urge the use of the plan in Denver. There, they got all of the foundations that fund the homeless and if they provided service for the homeless they would receive funding. If the foundation didn't, then they did not receive funding," Brown said. "We have a timid plan and the soup kitchens only make it easier to be homeless. We need to make it more difficult for people to be homeless and we need more homeless." Brown said that Houston must solve the homeless problem because it sends the wrong message about Houston and invites unwanted trouble into the city. He feels that the homeless and veterans in general are not being treated as well as they could. "It gives the appearance that Houston doesn't have control. This tells the drug dealers that they can do what they do," Brown said. "A lot of them are veterans. We have to do a better job with our veterans. It's mostly the trauma of war or some experience. It's what causes them to be unable to continue their education or family life." The Coalition for the Homeless offers several forms of help for the homeless in Houston. They, like the City Council, focus on providing emergency housing for the homeless, along with other services to help get them on their feet. "The program is called Rapid Re-Housing and it entails a collaboration with other agencies to put homeless in emergency housing for 90 days," Love said. "We worked on this idea for a year. We have seen that 80 percent of people who enter get back on their feet afterward." "Through the community program, City Council provides single-living housing projects - which are probably around 1000 units by now. I think the idea is to get more housing." Brown said. The Coalition also helps the homeless get jobs while they are living in the emergency housing. It allows the homeless to be contacted about jobs and is available in most shelters. "The program is called Community Voicemail. We administer phone numbers to agencies so that each person can get their own number," Love said. "This allows them to give a number to the homeless person so that employers can reach these persons." Brown suggests that Houston take what is working in other cities and apply it to here. He suggests the introduction of a homeless park and a 10-year plan to end homelessness. "Some cities have homeless parks and in those places, they have counseling. I think we should have these. I think that the homeless should be in a place where they can get support services rather than just on the streets," Brown said. "We should have a 10-year plan to end homelessness. By five years, we should have 6,000 off of the streets or somewhere about half. Then the next 25 percent and the last percentage would the most difficult because there's more to overcome for them. These are the ones who will probably be chronically homeless because of mental illnesses which should be addressed through counseling." Jerry Lewellen said he and his wife have been unsuccessful in getting any help here. "I would like these foundations to do what they portray that they are doing. I wish they would help all homeless rather than only those with some type of addiction," Lewellen said. "We need more people to tell our story so that we can all be better helped." Brown said he agrees and feels that with more public knowledge about homelessness more can be done. Cooperation will ultimately be the key to change and reform, he said. "The general public doesn't understand why someone would be homeless. It's not on the public's mind and it's not discussed enough. These people don't have happy lives," Brown said. "The County Health Department and the City of Houston need to take a leadership role. The County Health Department and the city need more cooperation between one another for there to be real success and real change." ]]> Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:54:00 GMT