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Plan made to aid the homeless

Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Task Force on Homelessness. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs
By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD In what was supposed to be a showing of united support behind a long-term plan to end homelessness in the city, there was still a bit of controversy.

For one person attending the packed announcement of the city's new plan to end homelessness in 10 years, there was a surprise. Mayor Charles Ryan announced the Warming Place, the over-night homeless shelter operated by the Open Pantry, would be closed by July.

"It doesn't make any sense," Open Pantry Executive Director Kevin Noonan told Reminder Publications after the event

Noonan said that while the closing of the shelter had been discussed a week earlier, the parties were not in agreement over it. He explained the city does not operate the shelter, the Open Pantry does and it is funded not with city dollars but with state funds.

Noonan agreed with the city's plan, which he called "a wonderful thing," but said that the city "can not throw out the safety net."

Controversy has dogged the subject of how the city should respond to the needs of the homeless since January 2004 when Larry Dunham, a homeless man, died of exposure on the steps of City Hall. The establishment of a "tent city," first on the lawn of St. Michael's Cathedral and then in the lot behind the offices of the Open Pantry that summer called attention to the problems of the homeless.

Those events were coupled with the forced departure of Friends of the Homeless Executive Director Francis Keough, who recently pled guilty to corruption charges at the homeless shelter.

Both Noonan and Michaelann Bewsee of Arise for Social Justice have been critical of the city's response to the homeless problem. Ryan thanked them during the press conference for their advocacy.

Ryan said that he realized "these are complex problems with no easy solutions." He assembled a task force in 2004 to begin a comprehensive assessment of the city's situation and how best to solve them. More than 40 institutions and individuals contributed to the plan.

The result, "Homes Within Reach," is a plan that mirrors the efforts in other cities in which the homeless are put in stable housing first and then receive social, medical and educational services they need. The concept is called "Housing First."

Ryan explained there are four key elements to make the plan a success: naming a point person for the subject of homelessness, who is Gerry McCafferty; establishing cooperation from the private sector, which will be headed by Robert Schwarz, vice president of Peter Pan Buslines; implementing the "Housing First" program; and building a Homeless Assistance Center, which would augment the current Friends of the Homeless Shelter on Worthington Street.

In the introduction of the report, Ryan wrote that in the next 30 months the city will seek funding from the state and the private sector to construct the Homeless Assistance Center, which will serve 150 people a day and will be open 24 hours a day. The goal for the fund-raising effort will be $2.3 million.

Springfield Housing Authority (SHA) will be taking the lead in finding housing for the chronic homeless, Ryan said.

Referring to the corruption investigation that removed Raymond Asselin from the leadership of the SHA, Ryan said, "Three years ago the Housing Authority was in tatters. That's behind us. This can not work without their cooperation."

The plan calls for developing housing for 300 chronically homeless individuals or families within the next 10 years in the city.

With chronic homeless being placed into housing, Ryan said the use of the Warming Place shelter should diminish enough so it could be closed by June 30 and then the jail complex could be demolished for further development along the river front.

Ryan said the Open Pantry would continue "to play a significant role" by being the agency to undertake the in-home visits of the homeless placed in housing.

Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Task Force on Homelessness, praised the city's plan and said it was important because it could become a model for other cities Springfield's size.

Mangano said that 285 cities have adopted 10-tier plans to address homelessness. He said that in the past the homeless have been shuffled from program to program without long-term success.

He said this plan is a result-oriented plan that provides the one thing all homeless people say they need: a home.

He noted a study in San Diego, Calif., in which 15 homeless people were followed for 18 months. During that time they received $3 million in services, but their homelessness was solved.

While he said Springfield's plan is "thoughtful and realistic," he added it wasn't perfect. He encouraged city officials to eliminate elements that prove not to work and incorporate new ones.

In 30 cities with similar plans, there has been a significant reduction in shelter occupancy in the first two years, Mangano said.