b"COMMUNITYA Tale of Three Cities How Bakersfield, Columbus and Houston Tackled HomelessnessBy Jenny Manrique theHomelessPreventionNetwork,aanumbrellaorganizationthatbringsdistinction of having the nations high-collaboration of housing providers andtogether more than 100 nonprofits andest homeless population, tallied at an mentalhealthagenciescreatedafterlocal government agencies.eye-popping 60,000 people. A ccording to the U.S. Department ofthepandemictoconnecthomelessOur partners and funders all cameAnd that's not because they're men-Housing and Urban Development,residents to support services. together to identify the common goalstally ill, on drugs, or because they're aroundhalfamillionindividualsI've heard landlords say, We had afor the homeless response system. criminals, said Matthew Lewis, direc-nationwide are currently experiencingtenant here, a situation happened, andtorofcommunicationsatCalifornia homelessness.Yetthreecitieshavewedidn'tknowwhotocontact.WeThe results: since 2011, the city hasYimby,astatewidehousingpolicy been able to make dramatic gains incan make those support services moreseen a 63% decrease in overall home- organization.It'sbecausetheylost tacklingtheproblemwithimportantaccessible, said Salter. lessness,a69%decreaseinchronictheir homes.lessons for the rest of the country.homelessness, and an 82% decline in Amongtheselessons:housingandCurrently, the Homeless Preventionfamilyhomelessness.Veteranhome- YIMBY is the acronym for Yes In My homelessnessarecommunityissuesNetwork is working to reduce demandlessnessendedin2015,andintheBackyard and refers to those who sup-requiring community solutions.atthecitysfivesingleadultcenterscurrent year, of the 3,124 individualsport greater housing developments in andtwofamilyshelters,allofwhichexperiencing homelessness, 1,622 aretheir own neighborhoods.In March, 2020 the city of Bakersfield,are filled to capacity, by moving peoplenow residing in a shelter.DespiteCaliforniascontinuedeco-Californiaachievedfunctionalzerointo more permanent housing.AndaccordingtoRausch,95%ofnomicgrowthifitwereanation, chronic homelessness, while Houston,AccordingtoScott,thenetworkindividuals supported stay housed. Californiawouldrankastheworlds Texas placed more than 25,000 peoplediverted 311 people away from enter- fifthlargesteconomyzoninglaw in permanent housing, resulting in aingsheltersbetweenJanuaryandWeusetheHousingFirstmodel:restrictions and a legacy of redlining, 64%decreaseinhomelessness.AndMarchofthisyear,withatotalofwe take someone from the streets andwhich prohibited minorities including in2018,Columbus,Ohiohadsuc- 2,035long-termhomelessresidentsweputthemintoaplaceandthenAsians, Latinos and African Americans cessfully housed 70% of its homelessserved by permanent supportive hous- once they feel safe, having a roof overfrompurchasinghomesincertain population.ing. their head and food in their belly, thenneighborhoods, are impeding the con-DuringaJuly22ndEthnicMediathey can begin to focus on the issuesstructionofaffordable,multifamily Services briefing, front line workers inHoustontookasimilarapproach,that might have led to them becominghousing. all three cities explained the strategiesmoving 25,000 people from the streetshomeless, she noted. that led to their success. andintopermanenthousingoverHarrisCounty,whereHoustonisCalifornia Yimby works at the state thepastdecade.Backin2012,thelocated,alsomanagedtodecom- leveltotrytoreformthelegislative Weaccomplishedthisbecausewenations fourth most populous city hadmission57homelessencampments,frameworkaroundhousing,which, changed our mindset and our beliefs,the sixth largest homeless populationthanksinparttoadditionalCOVIDaccording to Lewis, stands in the way said Mary Scott, client services directorin the country, with service providersresourcesfromthefederalgovern- ofseriousattemptstoaddressthe at Open Door Network in Bakersfield.operating in silos.ment,withindividualsbeingmovedhomeless challenge.We now believe homelessness is notWe were not looking at our data tointo permanent housing.Thelegacyofsegregationliveson an individual issue. Homelessness is amake sure that the decisions we werein these neighborhoods and our cities community issue.makingwereinlinewithwhattheWe had a lot of [open] market-ratehavemadeitvirtuallyimpossibleto Withthatnewmindset,organiza- community needed. And our recidivismunits, said Rausch, but it's gotten toadd housing at all ends of the income tions, government agencies, landlords,was very high, said Ana Rausch, vicethe point where there's really not manyspectrum,hesaid.We'retryingto andhomelessresidentswereabletopresident of program operations at thevacancies left. reverse those historic mistakes.partner to create support services andHoustonCoalitionfortheHomeless,Californianowholdsthedubious permanenthousingforthecommu-nity, Scott explained. Workbeganwithacomprehensive registerofeverypersoninthecoun-tyexperiencinghomelessness,with names listed under the following cate-gories: chronically homeless, veterans, youth, elderly, and families. We [meet] with the different organi-zations and go one by one to each per-son, to find out what the service pro-vider is providing, what their status is, and what are the barriers, Scott said. Housingvouchers,low-income units, landlords working with housing locators,andtheMilestoneproject whichisrefurbishingmotelsand turning them into permanent housing unitsare all part of the strategy. Someofourcontinuedchallenges are the lack of affordable housing: we have a 2% vacancy rate, and we identi-fied 1,603 unduplicated homeless indi-vidualsinour2022headcount,she continued. It is also a struggle finding landlords and property owners who are willing to rent to our clients who have little to no income.Evictionsareanotherchallenge. InColumbus,Ohio,addressingthe homeless crisis meant getting ahead of eviction filings. Wearebringingmorelandlords onboard,nottosellthemonthe tenantsthemselves,butonthesup-port services that we have in place to keep people housed, said Marcus J. Salter,housingstabilityspecialistat the Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio. His agency is one of several that form 18 AUGUST 2022 BOCNEWS.com"