It’s here. With all of its 850 billion dollar weirdness, 2009 is now full throttle. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA funds are all printed up and stacked high and proud, standing by and at the ready. And with a wink and a nod they’ll be slung from their super powered, high hoped, low drag American made titanium reinforced sling shot in D.C. Their target is a community near you. And when it comes to dollars to help the homeless I know what you are thinking. How will this change what we do as a community when it comes to addressing homelessness?
If you’ve been reading my blogs you pretty much can guess what I am thinking. My thoughts are generally on whether this whole ARRA thing, when it comes to helping the homeless, is going to be the mother of all containment operations. With all the free housing being offered up now around these funds and added to the changing policies around the “Housing First” model the real question is: will these AARA funds essentially put a giant dome over the battle against homelessness and call it “housed”? Are you following me?
Here is an example. There are some folks that I know around the region that run programs that help the homeless solve the root causes that led to their homelessness. If we walked into those places today with a sign that said “free housing”, how many would bail and abandon their programs? I know that I am simplifying this but really, I want you to think. If it comes down to these funds being used to allow folks to bypass solving the real reasons that got them homeless and get re-housed or stayed housed are we really solving homelessness or just containing it like the disease we as a society treat it as?
It’s human nature for us to be drawn to the “easier and softer” way of dealing with our problems. Now what about the person or family who is experiencing the consequences of those causative factors, maybe the recession is acting as a natural intervention and putting pressure on them to get help. But instead of addressing their causative factors and solving the real problem, they can get “symptom relief” by getting free housing. Yeah and I know all about those housing vouchers coming with a “case management” carrot and using that as some sort of accountability badge. Comon now.
Let’s pluck one of those San Diego folks asking for or getting help and give them housing along with a service contract that says they must see a case manager once a week to “address” their issues. Bingo. For some (maybe 15%) that might work. But for the huge majority of homeless folks in crisis, where is the motivation, the community partnership and the accountability to solve the real problems? Who pays for their free housing? Let’s connect the dots. Homeless person/family in crisis seeking help + given free housing + little or no direction, motivation, partnership and accountability around solving their causative factors + tax payer funded = mother of all containment operations.
INCOMING! – Here come the HPRP’s and the EHCY’s and an EFSP. Oh no…not an NSP! Duck, run for cover! The list below (according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness)shows the funds hitting the streets IN ADDITION to the billions already allocated through our regular annual planning and budgeting process:
- 1.5 billion dollars in Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).
- 70 million dollars in Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program (EHCY).
- 100 million dollars in Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP).
- 2 billion dollars in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).
- 50 million dollars in Transitional Housing Assistance Grants (THAG).
- 510 million dollars in Native American Housing Block Grants (NAHBG).
- 1 billion dollars in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
- 1 billion dollars in Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
- 5 billion dollars in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Here are the questions that I (and I hope you) will ask yourself and others responsible for doling out these funds.
Will these ARRA homeless assistance related dollars be used to solve the root causes of homelessness thereby resulting in less homeless people and a lesser need for more dollars?
After the billions on top of billions of ARRA Bucks are all used up and gone, after this epic landmark effort is all said and done, how many people will these dollars have truly solved homelessness for?
And the biggest question of all…
Is this battle plan a stealth containment (dependency program) operation? Meaning will this be that “dome over the battlefield” example I used earlier where we are essentially employing the mother of all containment operations?
I have this fantasy that somehow we won’t let that happen and that some way we will activate the collective will of us Americans to use these funds to solve homelessness for kids, adults and communities. It’s a really far out fantasy I know. But something tells me that if you really read this whole blog that there might now be another person out there who like me, has the same crazy idea. We have a real opportunity here to use the ARRA Bucks to solve this thing. Spending tens of billions of dollars to simply provide housing with “voluntary case management” WILL NOT end or solve homelessness. For the vast majority of homeless out there right now we must invest these funds into plans, people and programs that can solve the root causes around the specific needs and causative factors that led the person or family to become homeless. Everyone is talking about hand up not hand out and teaching folks to fish instead of giving a fish but what good is it if every year there is more homeless, more impacts on our communities and more ARRA Bucks being slung?
May 12, 2009
April 28, 2009
Kill the supply lines - Win the war
If you've ever been in a combat situation or know someone who has then you know that interupting the supply lines of the enemy is a high level tactical priority. Without food, ammo, fuel and reinforcements the enemy can not win.
America has been battling homelessness, poverty, addiction and domestic violence to name a few for decades. We spend billions of dollars and deploy thousands of programs. Yet today there is more homelessness then there was 10 years ago. Why do you think that is? I have my own opinions, but I'd love to hear yours.
These opponents love it when we whack away at their symptoms instead of going after the root causes. We come up with new and very cool sounding appoaches. The new attitude is: well we'll just put a big dome over the battle, call it "housed" and that will be it. Problem solved. But stand by. Because someone (as in you) will be paying for that free housing.
America has been battling homelessness, poverty, addiction and domestic violence to name a few for decades. We spend billions of dollars and deploy thousands of programs. Yet today there is more homelessness then there was 10 years ago. Why do you think that is? I have my own opinions, but I'd love to hear yours.
These opponents love it when we whack away at their symptoms instead of going after the root causes. We come up with new and very cool sounding appoaches. The new attitude is: well we'll just put a big dome over the battle, call it "housed" and that will be it. Problem solved. But stand by. Because someone (as in you) will be paying for that free housing.
April 24, 2009
Solutions for Change Goes Global
Solutions for Change has joined the Face Book World
The orgaization that Tammy and I founded together in 1999 has joined the ranks of the millions on FaceBook.
You can become a “fan” of Solutions for Change by clicking here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-County-Solutions-for-Change/72803892299
By becoming a fan you will get regular updates on Solutions for Change latest efforts to solve family homelessness for kids and communities in North San Diego County California.
- You will hear about the Leadership Consensus Building effort around an innovative model and exciting new plan to solve family homelessness in North San Diego County California.
- You will get regular updates about the plan and how it is progressing.
- Some of the regions top leaders and strategic thinkers are joining this battle to defeat family homelessness. See who is signing up!
Join the cause and build a future for a homeless kid. Get in here, stay connected and work with us as we scale a solution to one of the toughest social problems facing America today: kids with no homes!
We've been working for 10 years developing a model based on accountability, partnership and compassion. It's a real solution around big impact.
The orgaization that Tammy and I founded together in 1999 has joined the ranks of the millions on FaceBook.
You can become a “fan” of Solutions for Change by clicking here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/North-County-Solutions-for-Change/72803892299
By becoming a fan you will get regular updates on Solutions for Change latest efforts to solve family homelessness for kids and communities in North San Diego County California.
- You will hear about the Leadership Consensus Building effort around an innovative model and exciting new plan to solve family homelessness in North San Diego County California.
- You will get regular updates about the plan and how it is progressing.
- Some of the regions top leaders and strategic thinkers are joining this battle to defeat family homelessness. See who is signing up!
Join the cause and build a future for a homeless kid. Get in here, stay connected and work with us as we scale a solution to one of the toughest social problems facing America today: kids with no homes!
We've been working for 10 years developing a model based on accountability, partnership and compassion. It's a real solution around big impact.
April 20, 2009
Defeating Family Homelessness – One Family, One Community At a Time
What’s needed: A Battle Plan, Americans Helping Americans, A few Axes and a couple Pitchforks
There is a battle going on right here in our own neighborhoods and the enemy just got some heavy reinforcements courtesy of this recession. The negative consequences of homelessness, poverty, addiction, domestic violence and unemployment are worsening and their effects are impacting innocent children and each of us in profound ways. They are hard-hitting opponents that unless dealt with accordingly will wreak havoc on the core of the American institution: the family. We all know we cannot let that happen yet it is happening right now here and in communities across the country. The reason why is because the community as a whole doesn’t have a plan with clear objectives related to how we are going to defeat these guys.
Defeating family homelessness (the lowest rung of poverty here in America) won’t happen with programs that give free housing like we see happening in communities across the country around the “housing is a right” banner. And it absolutely will not happen with the old models of feeding, sheltering and servicing the homeless. Those approaches will only at best give most folks a short reprieve from homelessness. But worse they will lead us back to an experiment that failed us miserably: free housing (Google: “free housing to homeless”).
Reacting and servicing people in need by giving quick fixes instead of recognizing the cause of the grief and setting out to jointly solve the underlying root problem only enables what was once a little suffering to become huge monsters. The sight of those monsters then produces more reaction and even bigger band-aids. The recent trillion dollar bailout package suggests that this phenomenon is true. It’s a cycle that you should view as a real threat. Our collective indifference might even be revealed one day as the REAL enemy. You can stop the merry-go-round by refusing to stay on it and refusing to spin it.
Yes we need to feed the hungry and care for the hurting. But that is just the beginning of the battle that we as a community face. And we are losing that battle today not because we don’t have the heart, but because the battle plan we’ve been using sucks.
We are losing because we respond to these opponents like wimps with kid gloves. We treat the symptoms instead of going after the supply lines of poverty. Giving a bowl of soup is a wonderful way of showing we care; it treats the symptom of hunger. But to solve hunger we must go way beyond the bowl of soup. Providing a warm bed on a cold night to a homeless person shows compassion, it treats the symptom related to exposure. But to solve homelessness requires that we go way beyond the shelter bed. We haven’t gone way beyond for most. We do just enough to relieve the symptoms. Our opponents love that about us. Their secret weapon is our self imposed mediocrity.
The very fact that there are far more homeless in our communities today instead of far less proves my point. The plan most communities are using is a containment based plan. It seeks to contain this problem not solve it! This not only hurts our communities but often harms the very people being served.
70 years ago the guiding principles around solving poverty were compassion with discernment, work and accountability. The entire community worked together – businesses, churches, elected and civic leaders – to build purposeful relationships designed to solve the tough issues of poverty. As social issues grew, the government stepped in and huge social programs were born to try and manage the increased problems. Nonprofit organizations sprang up everywhere, yet their approach has all too often been to only treat the symptoms rather than to provide solutions. My intent is not to give you a history lesson but to help you realize that we didn’t end up here by mistake. We are reaping the consequences of 70 years worth of programs that were primarily geared around containing social problems instead of solving them at the core.
No matter how well intentioned our government programs are, and no matter how far reaching or how many billions of dollars they can throw at it, there is nothing that can respond to a social issue like Americans helping Americans and communities coming together around a good plan with a clear goal.
Given a good plan with clear goals rooted in the guiding principles that made this country great: hard work, accountability around ethics, integrity of purpose and sound leadership from all sectors of the community, we Americans can win this battle.
Solving family homelessness for kids and communities is really hard work. I’ve been leading efforts in North County for 17 years around a model based on accountability and partnership to solve homelessness. I can tell you first hand that defeating homelessness for a person or a family is a tough battle. Even with the amazing team of dedicated and talented professionals that work every day leading families out of homelessness, it’s hard. It’s hard because we aren’t just in the business of making transactions of compassion around a bowl of soup or a shelter cot. We are in the business of building strategic partnerships with the community to crush this thing called poverty, permanently. And that takes a community with some guts. And it takes a really good plan. But at the end of the day when we get to “take off our pack” and reflect on the fight, it was a good fight because a kid now has a future that doesn’t include soup bowls, shelter cots and welfare lines.
There is a battle going on right here in our own neighborhoods and the enemy just got some heavy reinforcements courtesy of this recession. The negative consequences of homelessness, poverty, addiction, domestic violence and unemployment are worsening and their effects are impacting innocent children and each of us in profound ways. They are hard-hitting opponents that unless dealt with accordingly will wreak havoc on the core of the American institution: the family. We all know we cannot let that happen yet it is happening right now here and in communities across the country. The reason why is because the community as a whole doesn’t have a plan with clear objectives related to how we are going to defeat these guys.
Defeating family homelessness (the lowest rung of poverty here in America) won’t happen with programs that give free housing like we see happening in communities across the country around the “housing is a right” banner. And it absolutely will not happen with the old models of feeding, sheltering and servicing the homeless. Those approaches will only at best give most folks a short reprieve from homelessness. But worse they will lead us back to an experiment that failed us miserably: free housing (Google: “free housing to homeless”).
Reacting and servicing people in need by giving quick fixes instead of recognizing the cause of the grief and setting out to jointly solve the underlying root problem only enables what was once a little suffering to become huge monsters. The sight of those monsters then produces more reaction and even bigger band-aids. The recent trillion dollar bailout package suggests that this phenomenon is true. It’s a cycle that you should view as a real threat. Our collective indifference might even be revealed one day as the REAL enemy. You can stop the merry-go-round by refusing to stay on it and refusing to spin it.
Yes we need to feed the hungry and care for the hurting. But that is just the beginning of the battle that we as a community face. And we are losing that battle today not because we don’t have the heart, but because the battle plan we’ve been using sucks.
We are losing because we respond to these opponents like wimps with kid gloves. We treat the symptoms instead of going after the supply lines of poverty. Giving a bowl of soup is a wonderful way of showing we care; it treats the symptom of hunger. But to solve hunger we must go way beyond the bowl of soup. Providing a warm bed on a cold night to a homeless person shows compassion, it treats the symptom related to exposure. But to solve homelessness requires that we go way beyond the shelter bed. We haven’t gone way beyond for most. We do just enough to relieve the symptoms. Our opponents love that about us. Their secret weapon is our self imposed mediocrity.
The very fact that there are far more homeless in our communities today instead of far less proves my point. The plan most communities are using is a containment based plan. It seeks to contain this problem not solve it! This not only hurts our communities but often harms the very people being served.
70 years ago the guiding principles around solving poverty were compassion with discernment, work and accountability. The entire community worked together – businesses, churches, elected and civic leaders – to build purposeful relationships designed to solve the tough issues of poverty. As social issues grew, the government stepped in and huge social programs were born to try and manage the increased problems. Nonprofit organizations sprang up everywhere, yet their approach has all too often been to only treat the symptoms rather than to provide solutions. My intent is not to give you a history lesson but to help you realize that we didn’t end up here by mistake. We are reaping the consequences of 70 years worth of programs that were primarily geared around containing social problems instead of solving them at the core.
No matter how well intentioned our government programs are, and no matter how far reaching or how many billions of dollars they can throw at it, there is nothing that can respond to a social issue like Americans helping Americans and communities coming together around a good plan with a clear goal.
Given a good plan with clear goals rooted in the guiding principles that made this country great: hard work, accountability around ethics, integrity of purpose and sound leadership from all sectors of the community, we Americans can win this battle.
Solving family homelessness for kids and communities is really hard work. I’ve been leading efforts in North County for 17 years around a model based on accountability and partnership to solve homelessness. I can tell you first hand that defeating homelessness for a person or a family is a tough battle. Even with the amazing team of dedicated and talented professionals that work every day leading families out of homelessness, it’s hard. It’s hard because we aren’t just in the business of making transactions of compassion around a bowl of soup or a shelter cot. We are in the business of building strategic partnerships with the community to crush this thing called poverty, permanently. And that takes a community with some guts. And it takes a really good plan. But at the end of the day when we get to “take off our pack” and reflect on the fight, it was a good fight because a kid now has a future that doesn’t include soup bowls, shelter cots and welfare lines.
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