Activists seeking to end homelessness in the Dallas area reached a major milestone Tuesday after an ambitious effort to house more than 2,700 of the region's most vulnerable people over two years reached its goal. Ta.
Now they say they are ready to house even more unhoused people over the next two years.
“We're ready to help our neighbors access housing resources, but we're not done yet,” said Joli Angel Robinson, director of Housing Forward, which coordinates the Dallas and Collin Counties' homelessness response network. ” he said.
In 2021, a large coalition of local governments, nonprofits, foundations, and other advocacy groups launched a $72 million effort to improve homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties.
They gave it a bureaucratic name and a goal: the Dallas Real Time Rapid Rehousing Initiative. It will “help move more than 2,700 unhoused people out of homelessness by the end of 2023 by moving them into their own homes and providing them with a range of services to keep them housed.”
That goal was met this month, and advocates say the effort will reduce the number of people on the streets, bring more federal resources to the effort and help people get the help they need more quickly and efficiently. It claims that the entire system is integrated.
Robinson said the system is housing people at a faster pace than ever before.
“Our focus on providing housing for our most vulnerable neighbors, especially those living outdoors, has and continues to produce great results,” Robinson said. he said.
“Speed of trust”
Most of DRTRR's funding came from federal pandemic relief money sent to local governments. Dallas County, the Dallas Housing Authority, the City of Dallas, the City of Mesquite, the City of Grand Prairie, and the City of Plano have donated more than $60 million to support this program. Private donors contributed an additional $10 million.
Of the 2,700 people housed through DRTRR, approximately 200 were living in camps prior to registration. Robinson said it can sometimes take weeks to build up enough trust to get those who have failed the system to agree to enroll in the program.
Robinson calls it “moving at the speed of trust.”
Practical considerations can also slow down the process for some people, such as those with complex health or legal issues or special housing needs.
“That money allows us to work to remove barriers and hurdles to housing people,” Robinson said.
The funds paid for additional case managers and outreach staff, the cost of helping replace important documents such as ID cards, and staff who worked to find landlords with available apartments to participate. This money paid for rent and utilities, moving costs and furniture, and a range of ongoing services to help people adapt.
The availability of a once-in-a-lifetime huge amount of coronavirus funding to fight homelessness coincides with a multi-year effort to make the entire homeless response system work better together and support people more efficiently. .
From homelessness to housing
Supporters say the plan worked.
Research in early 2023 showed a 14% decrease in chronic homelessness and a 32% decrease in people sleeping rough compared to the previous year, but the total number of people experiencing homelessness The number of people decreased by just 4% to 4,244.
As a result of the Rapid Rehousing Program and other efforts, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is funneling even more funding to Dallas and Collin Counties to curb homelessness.
The region won a $22.8 million grant to reduce unsheltered homelessness and build a diversion program that catches people on the verge of losing their housing and connects them with resources to keep them from falling into homelessness.
Last month, HUD delivered a huge check for $9.4 million to support efforts for youth experiencing homelessness. The federal government is also increasing technical and programmatic assistance to combat homelessness and increasing annual funding for local homeless service systems.
Robinson said the additional $36.4 million in federal funding will increase the system's budget by more than 70%.
This will further the scheme's new goal of housing an additional 3,300 people experiencing homelessness by the end of 2025.
become even more homeless
But even as the system does a better job of helping people find housing, there are headwinds that push more people into homelessness.
Peter Brodsky, chairman of Housing Forward's board of directors, said rising housing costs in North Texas are pushing more people to the brink.
“The root cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing,” Brodsky said. “They can have all kinds of mental illnesses and some use drugs, but they are still housed if they can afford it.”
Behind affordable housing is income, and a large portion of the workforce, especially women and people of color, do not earn a living wage.
According to Oxfam America, 40% of adult workers in Texas earn less than $15 an hour. That's less than the $15.24 living wage researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology calculated as a living wage for childless adults. And that's far less than the $21 an hour “housing wage” needed to rent a modest one-bedroom apartment.
Brodsky said the market is not producing enough affordable housing, so the region should increase subsidies for affordable housing while also helping low-wage workers improve their skills to increase their wages. said it was necessary to do so.
“We need to both enable more people to buy market-rate housing and build more affordable housing. That's the list of things we have to do. 1 to 10,” he said.
Brodsky also said that helping people return home from prison or jail find stable housing and preventing discrimination against people who use housing vouchers to pay rent will reduce the number of people who become homeless. He said it was an additional method.
Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax said a key challenge moving forward is figuring out how to preserve funding. He said the city is committed to increasing affordable housing and developing programs to strengthen people's financial stability and help them access assistance in times of crisis. “This is not something that can be resolved overnight,” he added.
Broadnax said more neighboring cities in the region need to step up to address the structural issues that drive homelessness.
“It’s bigger than the city of Dallas,” he said.
Any tips? Christopher Connelly is KERA's One Crisis Away reporter, investigating life on the financial side.Email Christophercconnelly@kera.orgYou can follow Christopher on Twitter. @hithisischris.
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