On this Veterans Day, it’s troubling that new estimates show the number of homeless veterans in Kansas has been increasing, as is the case nationally. There were 712 homeless vets in Kansas in 2008, up from 689 in 2007 and 601 in 2006, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. To its credit, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is launching a comprehensive plan to end homelessness among veterans that includes expanded support services and help with education, jobs, health care and housing. Local efforts to combat chronic homelessness should also help veterans get off the street and into stable housing. As Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said last week, “Those who have served this nation as veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope.”
A proposed housing facility in Wichita for homeless veterans could be a great addition to our community. The Department of Veterans Affairs is considering building the facility on the grounds of the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center. About 1 in 5 homeless people in Wichita are veterans, and our country needs to do more to help those who served it. The proposed facility could fit well with the city and county initiative to combat chronic homelessness by moving people into permanent housing with intensive support services.
A memorial service Sunday was a needed reminder of the hardship the homeless face this time of the year and our responsibility to help them. The service, held by Advocates to End Chronic Homelessness, was for those who died while homeless — at least eight people in Wichita this year. Thankfully, the city’s faith community has stepped up to provide an overflow shelter during cold months. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, also announced last week that Kansas was awarded $1.3 million to assist individuals and families needing food and shelter. But the city government needs to follow through with its commitment to provide more assistance to the chronically homeless and help them move into permanent housing.
President Bush can’t point to a lot of signature successes on the domestic front, but fighting homelessness might be one of them.
A new survey of the chronically homeless indicated that between 2005 and 2007, the numbers of those living in shelters and on the streets dropped about 30 percent, from 176,000 to 124,000, according to Bush administration housing officials.
If so, that’s a remarkable accomplishment, and it’s largely because of the administration’s embrace of the “housing first” model that’s been used successfully in many American cities (and is at the heart of Wichita’s new homelessness strategy).
In the past four years, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has backed the development of more than 40,000 new units of housing with support services for the homeless — the idea being to get the homeless off the street and get them the help they need (such as mental health and alcohol treatment) to become self-sufficient again.
It appears to be working.
Kudos to the Wichita City Council, which voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse a plan by the city-county Taskforce to End Chronic Homelessness that would create a new downtown homeless resource center as well as a “housing first†program.
Interim City Manager Ed Flentje called it a “moderate†plan and said the city, having created the homeless task force, “has some obligation to move this forward.â€
“This is a true commitment,†said Mayor Carl Brewer, noting that the action calls on city staff to work with Sedgwick County officials to develop a funding plan.
It’s encouraging that the city already has committed $60,000 in community development block grants to fund a staff position for the housing program.
No one is asking local government to foot the entire bill for the homelessness fight — but city and county officials need to do their fair share. Council member Jeff Longwell rightly said that “we’re going to see a cost benefit to tackling this problem.â€
Not only do the homeless need protection against the elements, they also need protection from teenagers who think it’s fun to attack vulnerable people. Nationally, there were more than 142 unprovoked attacks on homeless people in 2007, a 65 percent increase since 2005, the New York Times reported. And most of the attackers were teenagers and young adults. Why the increase and why such inhumanity? “I think it reflects a lack of respect for the homeless that has reached such extreme proportions that homeless people aren’t viewed as people,†said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.
Janet Valente Pape, executive director of Catholic Charities, told The Eagle editorial board Wednesday that she thinks the plan released by the city-county Taskforce to End Chronic Homelessness is a “big step forward.â€
But she pointed to what she considers two missing pieces:
A community housing trust fund is needed, she said, to ensure sustainable operating dollars for the “housing first†part of the plan, which places the chronically homeless in their own apartment units.
And the one-stop center “really needs to be 24 hours,†she said, and it needs some beds. Otherwise, she believes, some homeless will continue to fall through the cracks.
The plan “just doesn’t go far enough,†she said, echoing the view of some other homeless providers.
Wichitans looking for a meaningful way to focus on human needs this Christmas season should attend the memorial service tribute being held today for homeless people who have died in the past year.
One year ago, on Dec. 21, a homeless man named Michael Mosseri was found dead in a sleeping bag on the streets of Wichita.
The service, to be held 7 p.m. today at First Presbyterian Church, 525 N. Broadway, reminds us that homeless people like Mosseri deserve their measure of respect and dignity.
And they need a helping hand and loving kindness, not just during the holiday season but throughout the year.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Maybe all the good ideas were already taken, but a few young designers in Los Angeles decided a homeless man named John Wesley Jermyn would make a great brand for their latest line.
The designers say that Jermyn, who occupies a street in a trendy shopping district (and was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1969), signed a contract allowing them to use his name and likeness on clothing and in slogans. The contract entitles him to 5 percent of earnings, but he often wishes to be paid in food, liquor or supplies.
His sister says the designers are exploiting her brother, who has schizophrenia and other personal demons. “I don’t want to see my brother get hurt,†she said to the Wall Street Journal. “They’re taking advantage of someone who is very vulnerable and very trusting.â€
As the designers continue to sell the $98 hoodies with his face on the back, Jermyn continues to live on the streets.
Posted by Kristin Mehler
Here is something to consider this Veterans Day: Homeless shelters and agencies are seeing a steady increase in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
More than 400 veterans of these wars already are homeless, and an estimated 1,500 are at high risk of becoming homeless, the New York Times reported. Some of the factors leading to the surge are post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, high housing costs and sexual assault suffered while in the service. Overall, 1 in 4 homeless men are veterans.
“We’re beginning to see, across the country, the first trickle of this generation of warriors in homeless shelters,†said Phil Landis, chairman of Veterans Village of San Diego, a residence and counseling center. “But we anticipate that it’s going to be a tsunami.â€
Posted by Kristin Mehler
It was a hopeful sign that nearly 200 people attended a town hall meeting Sunday on homelessness. They discussed the problems identified by the Task Force to End Chronic Homelessness, such as a lack of emergency shelter beds and affordable housing units. They identified other problems, including the key one: lack of funding. Maybe enough people do care about the homeless to compel city and county governments to take action.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
In today’s Reader Views, Mary Caruso of Goddard (a WE Blog regular) draws an important connection between Wichita’s homeless problem and the closing of most of the state’s hospitals for severely mentally ill patients. “The theory that all people with severe mental illness can make it with community support services has been proved ineffective,” she wrote. “The answer is not building a 24-hour homeless shelter, but actually giving the mentally ill a place to live and the help they need.”
Turning back the clock in Topeka on community mental health care would be politically difficult, and surely an overreaction. But legislators should be looking at the intersection of these issues — and not viewing homelessness as a local problem.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Chip Ward, who recently retired as assistant director of the Salt Lake City Public Library, has a must-read piece about how America’s urban libraries have become de facto homeless shelters, with librarians expected to be social workers.
It’s a national shame.
He writes eloquently of the discarded and damaged men and women who seek shelter at the library, and of our society’s responsibility to help them. “When the mentally ill whom we have thrown onto the streets haunt our public places, their presence tells us something important about the state of our union, our national character, our priorities, and our capacity to care for one another,” he writes.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It’s wonderful how Wichitans will help those less fortunate when they become aware of a compelling need. Case in point — all those who have contributed to help homeless children attending Wichita public schools. After reading about the students in the Sunday Eagle, citizens began donating money and clothing. Their generosity is greatly appreciated by the students, their families and the district. To make a donation to help these children, send “Homeless Gifts” to Sue Steele at the Wichita Children’s Home, 810 N. Holyoke, Wichita, KS 67208.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Funny how in turning a famous lyric about New York City on its head, a turn of phrase in Thursday’s front-page homeless story managed to encapsulate Wichita’s low self-esteem. A 48-year-old homeless man who’d passed up a ride to California to work on his problems in Wichita said, “If I can’t make it here, I can’t make it anywhere.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Litigation seems an offensive and pointless way to solve the homeless problem. But a New York City antiques dealer has sued four street people to keep them away from his store and from “performing various bodily functions such as urinating and spitting” outside, even seeking $1 million from them. Store owner Karl Kemp also apparently wanted to protest the lack of police response to his complaints, suggesting he pays taxes to maintain decent shelters for such people. What say you, bloggers?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
If you haven’t already, be sure to read the Rev. Sam Muyskens’commentary on today’s Opinion pages about his experience at the funeral of a homeless veteran who died alone in a Wichita alley last month. As Muyskens wrote, we don’t know the man’s story and circumstances. But that’s the problem. How many other people will battle tonight’s low temperatures outside and alone? Do we care?
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
In observance of Veterans Day, here is a powerful and moving photo we thought we’d share with WE Bloggers.
The image speaks for itself about a sacrifice that spans generations.
Our editorial on today’s Opinion page calls for better community treatment of homeless veterans.
James Geary, a homeless man, was found dead of heat exposure in a downtown park last summer.
Turns out Geary was an honorably discharged veteran of the Vietnam War, where he served in combat in 1967-68.
People should think about that the next time they’re tempted to judge a ragged figure sleeping under a bridge or in a car.
About 1 in 3 homeless men are veterans, and many suffer from addictions and combat-related mental health problems.
They served their country. It’s time to better serve them.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
As a recent Eagle article reported, the city’s homeless can often be found at the Central Library, where they tend to gather during the day because of the lack of a daytime shelter.
The library staff has done an excellent job of trying to accommodate these citizens, who have a right to use the library’s resources.
That said, the library can’t serve as a homeless shelter. That’s not its mission. Many homeless people suffer from mental illness and drug addiction, and need help and counseling. Allowing them to sleep and hang out in the library on a daily basis can invite problems and discourage other patrons from visiting the facility.
As our editorial today argues, the situation is further evidence of the need for a new 24/7 homeless shelter.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It’s good that local efforts to end chronic homelessness aren’t waiting on the often foot-dragging efforts of government leaders.
Inter-Faith Ministries last week announced a new $4 million apartment project in Midtown for low-income residents that will reserve some apartments for the homeless.
The project in the 900 block of North Market involves building a new 32-unit complex and renovating an existing building with eight apartments — and it adds to Inter-Faith’s two existing apartment complexes on North Market.
It is part of Inter-Faith’s strategy — affirmed by national experts and the experience of other cities — that chronic homelessness can best be ended by providing permanent housing with support services such as job counseling and addiction and mental health treatment.
The permanent housing strategy likely will be a prominent part of whatever action plan is produced by the new city-county homeless task force. Meanwhile, Inter-Faith’s strategy is leading the way.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
