Dallas voters will decide the outcome of 10 proposals that appeared on the ballot for the May 4 city bond election, including funding for projects that would provide shelter and rehousing to homeless people.
Proposition I allocates a total of $19 million for projects addressing homelessness, including $1.8 million for HVAC and generator upgrades at Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, which will soon celebrate its 16th year of serving Dallas’ homeless residents.
Bridge President and CEO David Woody said the overnight emergency shelter in the Cedars neighborhood is a vital part of the city’s system to help homeless people find case management and a path to permanent housing.
The shelter has had to forgo many maintenance tasks over the years, including upgrading the building’s generators and heating and cooling systems, in response to the global health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If we lose power, I will be scrambling to get assistance from other providers in the homeless assistance system to meet the needs of 700 to 1,000 people who would otherwise have no place to stay,” Woody said.
Bridge provides food, shelter, showers, medical care and case management to about 1,000 homeless people. At night, only about 400 people can sleep inside the shelter due to limited space.
“Right now, our challenge is we have so many people in the homeless assistance system who need overnight shelter,” Woody said. “We just can’t meet their needs.”
Woody said the facility, located near south downtown, sometimes experiences unexpected and long power outages, disrupting staff work and ultimately slowing their efforts to help people transition out of homelessness.
A June 2023 report from the Homelessness Task Force appointed by Mayor Eric Johnson said permanent housing options, especially affordable housing for the lowest income earners, are a key solution to rehousing people.
In its report, Johnson’s task force recommended that Dallas use city-owned facilities acquired with pandemic relief funds as temporary shelters and permanent supportive housing while it continues to remove outdoor camps.
But only one city-owned facility is operational, according to the report, which cited “inefficient practices within the city” as the slow progress.
About $6.7 million in bond funds will replenish funds needed for permanent supportive housing projects, which provide people with disabilities with permanent rental assistance and supportive services such as case management and bus passes.
Of the $19 million dedicated to addressing homelessness, approximately $10.5 million will be allocated to various projects in Districts 1, 2, 7, 9, 10 and 13.
Dallas City Council members allocated millions of dollars of their $5 million discretionary budget to homelessness projects in their neighborhoods.
In previous bond elections, Dallas residents approved $3 million for homeless assistance projects in 2003 and $20 million in 2017.
About $6.3 million in homeless assistance funds from 2017 were then used for housing-related projects in the Mill City Infill and Jefferies Myers neighborhoods in South Dallas and parts of West Dallas.
Early voting for the bond program will begin on Monday, April 22nd and run through April 30th.
