By Lori Lee
NDG Contributing Writer
On January 18, Dallas City Council met with the Task Force on Homelessness Organizations, Policies, and Encampments (HOPE) to discuss their recommendations to reduce homelessness in Dallas. Council chambers were filled with people who care about or are involved in the City’s effort to reduce homelessness.
Jesse Moreno opened by asking, “When we walk outside or drive to work, what world do we want to see around us? I want to see unsheltered folks receiving the support and help away from the elements and away from the situations in which they could endanger each other or other residents.”
Almost a year ago, the HOPE Task Force was tasked with deciphering root causes that drive homelessness, while considering the effects of the housing shortage, mental health and substance abuse and domestic violence–potential causes suggested at the February 2023 meeting. The task force was also charged with assessing current efforts and making recommendations to improve local efforts to reduce homelessness.
The two co-chairs took turns presenting the HOPE findings, Peter Brodsky, Chair of Housing Forward, describing the over 20 hours of meetings and discussions with national experts in review of the data.
Brodsky graphed steep increases in homelessness from 2014 to 2020, noting Dallas had far outpaced nationwide growth, with the exception of the past three years, when Dallas was one of the few markets in the country to show reductions in homelessness.
Brodsky explained that despite common assumptions that the homeless have mental health or drug issues, only 58%, in fact, suffer from these issues. Though many do need health care, he said, the one thing they all have in common is a need for housing.
Co-Chair and CEO of Family Gateway, Ellen Magnis discussed Dallas’ cumbersome zoning and permitting practices and the city’s deep shortages of affordable housing. With a 33,000-unit deficiency to serve those 50% below median income, the shortage will continue to drive people into homelessness, Magnis said.
The City should change the processes that slow down its response, including the processing of permits for new construction. Creating a faster and less expensive environment for development will support new housing to fill our long-term shortages, explained Brodsky.
Having considered Texas House Bill 1925 banning encampments, the task force recommended the City address the camping ban, while working toward a balance of short- and long-term solutions, she said. Displacing an encampment without resolving issues of homelessness “is just kicking the can around the city,” said Magnis. Further, interim solutions deplete monies that could be put toward solving long-term homelessness, she said.
Decommissioning encampments should be sought and voliolent encampments prioritized, said Brodsky. However, a systematic process is needed to move people into temporary and eventually permanent housing. A simple closure and movement of people from camps will lead to new camps arising elsewhere in the city, he said. After decommissionment of camps, they should then be fenced and monitored to prevent reuse, he said.
These efforts will require increased street outreach, which Brodsky gratefully said had been budgeted for.
Alternative temporary housing should include inexpensive hotels or expansion of existing shelters to maximize space, added Magnis. The task force recommends the City take a hard look at using the buildings already purchased for housing as temporary, hybrid or permanent housing solutions. The Miramar, she said, has been empty since it was purchased back in 2020, she said.
Magnis also recommends maximizing shelters, which are just coming on board, such as the Salvation Army shelter, whose capacity has been limited because the community didn’t want a large shelter. Magnis emphasized this $120 million private investment should be expanded and the space fully utilized to make it safe.
Magnis emphasized that the community needs to share efforts to reduce homelessness, while spreading shelters and supportive housing across all districts and avoiding concentration of these uses in certain areas.
To prevent people from falling into homelessness, Brodsky calls for the allocation of current and future bonds to drive development of deeply affordable housing. He also recommends making city-owned land available for affordable housing development, while calling for a wider array of different housing types, including more registered boarding homes, groups homes, and SROs.
Brodsky warns, however, that the efforts should not stop at housing but also include support for substance abuse and mental health. While the City cannot mandate housing be accompanied with behavioral support, it can encourage and prioritize collaboration to increase county and state support for substance abuse. There’s just not enough drug treatment for people who need it, he said.
The Harris Center has taken the collaborative process to the next level, and it should be used as a model, he said.
With only 1% of bond money allocated to fight homelessness, some people in the community have suggested Mayor Johnson does not prioritize the homelessness issue. This, despite a recent public survey indicating homelessness is a top concern for Dallas residents.
Former school teacher, Robert Ceccarelli, who has experienced homelessness off and on, explained that he had avoided being on the streets through the jail system and other measures.
“Homelessness just takes you down all the way. You get sick. You can’t survive the cold … People die in the streets,” he said.
Many homeless will not seek help in shelters, which have rules against drug use Shelters also require residents to leave the premises first thing in the morning, which can make life uncomfortable.
Cumbersome paperwork can also lead to long delays in accessing permanent housing, he explained. What is worse, housing available to the homeless through government sponsored programs is also often located in low-income neighborhoods where drug use is prevalent. People who congregate near these facilities can also provide access to drugs, making breaking addictions difficult for those who have a problem.
The endorphins associated with drug use can be too tempting, explained Ceccarelli, making breaking drug habits difficult, especially since drugs can usually be accessed in shelters and where drug users congregate. For a person who is addicted to these substances, money needed for food and shelter is often diverted to support drug habits, making living a healthy life often next to impossible.
Ceccarelli suggests that in order to build trust and encourage the homeless to seek help and shelter, city officials should go out and engage with the homeless. Letting them know the city cares about them and that their opinions are welcome could go a long way toward gaining useful information and encouraging their cooperation.
Ceccarelli also suggests case workers assign ratings to the homeless, assigning them credibility and helping them to gain public trust. After gaining a case worker’s stamp of approval, former homeless people could be accepted into job or housing programs and prove they can be responsible with their earnings, he said. Bus passes or other transportation should also be made available to get them to job interviews and help them reintegrate into society.
