Dallas city officials and residents are considering a recommendation by city staff to use another former hotel as housing for the homeless.
As previously reported, dallas expressOffice for Homeless Solutions (OHS) director Christine Crossley briefed the city council's housing and homelessness committee on the plans last month.
The “temporary housing” project will be a partnership between the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and the City of Dallas. AHF will pay for the facility's management, but the city will pay $3 million in taxpayer dollars for case management and support services for the facility's formerly homeless residents.
The building that will be used as housing is the former MCM Elegant Hotel located at 2330 W Northwest Hwy. AHF purchased it in January of this year.
During last month's meeting, Councilwoman Carla Mendelsohn (District 12) said the city has two other facilities that were purchased with taxpayer money to be used for homeless services, but are not yet open. He questioned whether it was wise to fund this project, given that it was not. The former Miramar Hotel and former hospital in Hampton Roads.
Mendelsohn argued that OHS should sort out other projects before starting another effort.
“I think we need to look at selling something. There are some projects that are totally stalled,” she told Crosley. “I don't think we have the staff to handle another project.”
Crossley told NBC 5 DFW she is confident her office can successfully complete the project.
“City Council has previously asked us to find ways to do more with less and consider more private partnerships. ” she said. “They can say what they want, but the general consensus we have is that there is a lot of support moving forward.”
Holly Lewis Johnson, a resident who works across the street from the former Elegante Hotel where the project was slated to be developed, said she believes it could be effective.
“When it comes to homelessness, it's already an epidemic around here,” she told NBC 5. Median. ”
“And that probably makes sense because it's very discouraging,” Johnson continued. “I'm not against it. I'm not 100 percent behind it. But it feels isolated because it's not adjacent to the neighborhood.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's concerns about the homelessness epidemic are consistent with recent opinion polls conducted by the US government. dallas expressThe survey found that more than 80% of city residents are dissatisfied with homelessness, vagrants and panhandlers in their neighborhoods and throughout Dallas.
Meanwhile, in San Antonio, Haven for Hope is credited with reducing homelessness in San Antonio by 77%. Haven for Hope operates a “one-stop shop” for homeless services, providing both housing and support services such as counseling, rehabilitation and job skills development on the same campus.
This strategy has been popular among Dallas residents. Mayor Eric Johnson recently visited the campus, but it remains to be seen whether Dallas will pursue a similar approach.
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