Emily Cahill of the Heart of Illinois Homeless Continuum of Care (HOIHCOC) presented their 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness tonight. Why do we have an HOIHCOC and a 10-year plan?
In 2001, President George W. Bush set a national goal to end chronic homelessness within 10 years. In response to that goal, and a mandate from Congress, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued direction to all recipients of HUD grants, including local jurisdictions and all Continua of Care, to develop a local plan to end chronic homelessness.
In other words, it’s a federal requirement. This was a long, but interesting presentation and discussion with the council. Some of the interesting facts they presented:
- Families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population
- 30% of homeless persons are homeless with their families—one-third are children
- At least 20% of homeless children do not attend school
- Over half of the homeless people in Illinois live outside of Chicago
- 41% of homeless are single men
- One third of homeless persons experience a mental illness
- Less than one-third are addicted to drugs or alcohol
To combat chronic homelessness*, they want to see 250 more safe and affordable housing units by 2016, implement a data-collection system so they can track their progress, improve the emergency shelter system, increase public awareness of the 10-year plan, and most importantly, focus on prevention.
They request that the community do three things:
- Review the Plan
- Share your comments, suggestions, and concerns in writing (by March 15 — e-mail comments to the Continuum at hoihmis@mtco.com – Subject: 10-Year Plan, OR mail comments to HOIHCOC, c/o Emily Cahill, P.O. Box 3855, Peoria, IL 61612.
- Attend March 23 Homeless Breakfast (sorry, I have no further info on this event)
My comments: One of the most interesting comments was that the biggest thing our community could do to help end chronic homelessness is provide higher-paying jobs because it’s too hard to support oneself, let alone a family, on minimum wage.
What is Peoria doing about providing higher-paying jobs? One thing they’re doing is trying to attract high-tech and medical jobs to Renaissance Park. However, this isn’t going to help out the homeless because, according to the presentation tonight, one of the reasons for homelessness is undereducation.
This highlights the need for job diversity in Peoria. I’m excited about Renaissance Park and the jobs they’re trying to draw, so I’m not trying to take anything away from those efforts. But what is Peoria doing to bring in jobs that require less education in order to help those citizens who can’t get a high-tech/medical job?
Some light industry/manufacturing jobs would help meet this need. I’m not saying that one doesn’t need any education for these kinds of jobs, but there are certain manual-labor jobs associated with these industries that could allow some of the chronic homeless to make a living wage. What is Peoria doing to attract these kinds of jobs?
* “Chronic homelessness” is defined as “An unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.”
I thought the most telling comment of the evening was the one made by Nichting when instead of saying chronic homeless he called them chronic nuisance. Freud couldn’t have slipped any better. If they were put in his district that’s exactly what they would be called. Also he stated that he didn’t understand why there were only a small number of them not making it on minimum wage when others where able to do it. Hummmmm 3000 families on Section 8 explains how they “make it on minimum wage. They also referred to a study on affordable housing abundence in Peoria, yet also have noted in a report by their own city staff that 10-15% of Peoria’s housing stock is substandard. Here’s the circular arguement, you’re homeless and need a job, you can get a Grand Prairie job and still would be homeless because you don’t make the $11.18/hr needed to maintain a 2bedroom house or appartment in Peoria. If you are educated and homeless you still can’t get a job because there aren’t any of those, but on the slight chance that they are, you have no home address, no resume, no phone number, and am guessing your good suit and Prada shoes are at the cleaners.
Our council does not get it. By the same token the coalition is marketing their plan all wrong. Of all the council people only Sandberg and Spears got that older neighborhoods are full of such housing and really can’t absorb any more. Unfortunately it is the older neighborhoods that have the most active people in them and the most likely area for a good community partnership, but the coalition did not approach them to be part of their stakeholders. Nor the faith community, nor financial institutions nor …Now as an afterthought, they are, but the damage in that has been done. It’s a shame because this really needs to be done, and not because it’s tied to funding.