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Macomb Homeless Coalition
The following individuals and agencies collaborated in the development of the 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Macomb County:Carlton Allen The Interagency Council on Homelessness defines a chronically homeless
person as an unaccompanied individual who is disabled and either has
been continuously homeless for a year or more or has had at least four
homeless episodes during the last three years. Disabilities or disabling
conditions often include severe and persistent mental illness, severe
and persistent alcohol and/or drug abuse problems, and HIV/AIDS. The
federal government estimates that this sub-population makes up 20% of
the homeless population as a whole, but uses 80% of the available services.
Those services include shelter, medical care/hospitalization and jail
space. Promote an Understanding of Homelessness Too
often the homeless are thought of drug addicts and alcoholics who just
need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” Although
38% of Macomb County’s homeless are chronic substance abusers (Point
in Time Survey conducted January 31, 2004), this is not the entire
picture. Mental illness is admitted by 38% of the homeless (Point
in Time Survey conducted January 31, 2004). Domestic Violence is
cited as the main reason for homelessness by 9.5% of the homeless that
entered Macomb County shelters between January and August 2004. Also,
27% of the sheltered homeless stated that they were working at least
part-time at the time of intake. Inadequate income was cited by 22% of
the sheltered homeless as the main reason for their situation. Address Community Barriers Many community barriers face the homeless and the providers who service
them. In a 1999 report, 23 of 26 cities surveyed identified a lack of
affordable housing as a major cause of homelessness (US Conference
of Mayors on Hunger and Homelessness in American Cities). According
to the 2000 Census, the average rent in Macomb County is $603. The fair
market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Michigan is $692. In Macomb
County it is $801. This means that a person working 40 hours per week
would have to make approximately $15.40 per hour in order to afford a
two-bedroom apartment in the county. Someone making minimum wage would
have to work 120 hours per week to afford that same apartment. (National
Low Income Housing Coalition/LIHIS) A disabled individual collecting
Social Security Supplemental Security Income (SSI) at the maximum rate
of $564 per month would be precluded from renting it. Certain zoning
ordinances prevent the creation of affordable housing and must be addressed. Increase Housing Stock to Include an Increase in Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing and Safe Haven Beds As outlined above, affordable housing is minimal in Macomb County. This
means that the homeless rely on the Continuum of Care system of emergency
shelters, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing. We currently
have 115 emergency shelter beds, not including the warming center that
runs November through March. These 115 beds provide shelter for homeless
individuals and families who are drug and alcohol free. Thirty-eight
percent (38%) of the chronic homeless are not. There are 52 transitional
housing beds for homeless individuals in the county. They all require
a person to be drug and alcohol free. There are currently four (4) permanent
supportive housing beds in the county. They are reserved for homeless
with developmental disabilities who are drug and alcohol free. Perform Street Outreach to the Current Homeless Street outreach is another area of homeless services that has been lacking in Macomb County. There has been a belief that there is no reason to have street outreach when there aren’t any beds available. There must be a shift in this thinking because there are many other benefits of street outreach. With many new lunch programs being developed, referrals for meals are always helpful. Often times there are blankets and clothing available. Information also needs to be disseminated about events and meals for the homeless. Consistency of the same person checking on a homeless individual facilitates easier access to public benefits such as Social Security. The outreach specialist can also serve as a contact for agencies that require an address when applying for benefits. Outreach teams are needed in order provide referrals, points of contact and, most of all, encouragement to those homeless living on the streets. These teams need to be made up of individuals with different areas of expertise in order for the homeless to fully benefit. Educate the Chronically Homeless on Preventing Relapses Far
too often a homeless individual is able to get into a permanent living
situation only to lose their housing a few months down the road. Some
of the most common reasons for this include high rent, low pay, job loss
and illness. The solution is to educate the homeless, formerly homeless
and low-income individuals on services available to prevent homelessness.
These services include public benefits from mainstream resources, mental
health services, substance abuse counseling, and employment services.
Ending chronic homelessness is so much more than providing a bed for each homeless person. The Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Macomb County is ambitious, but attainable. By accomplishing the five goals developed by the Ending Chronic Homelessness Taskforce, we will eradicate chronic homelessness in Macomb County within the next ten years. To be a part of this exciting and necessary endeavor, contact the Macomb Homeless Coalition at (586) 783-0916. Goals and Strategies Goal A: Promote an understanding of homelessness within the communityStrategy A1: Solicit press coverage, including newspaper articles Strategy A2: Create a panel of homeless & formerly homeless persons to speak at community and Coalition events Strategy A3: Hold at least
one public awareness event yearly Strategy A5: Give yearly presentations
to corporations and businesses on homelessness
in the County and their ability to combat the
issue Strategy A6: Solicit public service announcements on the causes of homelessness, showing the face of homelessness
Goal B: Address community barriers Strategy B1: Request that the County do a study of zoning impediments to affordable housing and then follow up the study by addressing city and County zoning laws that preclude affordable housing Strategy B2: Hold public awareness events to dispel the NIMBY attitude toward shelters, transitional housing and affordable housing in neighborhoods. Strategy B3: Work with the SMART bus system to develop bus routes past 23 Mile Road and Gratiot. Work with SEMCOG’s ride share program. Strategy B4: Continue to develop and monitor discharge policies of Macomb County Jail, local hospitals, Martha T. Berry, and the Family Independence Agency’s foster care system. Strategy B5: Develop relationships with local temporary employment agencies in order to address low wages paid to homeless temporary workers. Goal C: Increase housing stock to include an increase in emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and safe haven bedsStrategy C1: Creating 25 transitional housing beds and 25 permanent supportive housing beds in Macomb County every 18 months. This will create approximately 266 new beds for the chronically homeless. Strategy C2: Creating a Safe Haven in Macomb County, which will create 25 new beds for the chronically homeless. Strategy C3: Extend Warming Center’s months of operation Strategy C4: Move emergency shelter providers into a Housing First model that will free up their shelter beds quicker while placing their current clients into permanent housing Strategy C5: Create additional transitional housing beds with services for certain populations (domestic violence, youth, mental illness and substance abuse) by following the Transitional Housing Committee’s protocol. Strategy C6: Solicit housing from additional permanent supportive housing programs, increasing permanent supportive housing. *** Funding for the new beds may come from:
Goal D: Perform street outreach to the current homelessStrategy D1: Hold yearly Community Connection Days (stand-down type events) for the homeless that includes food, clothing, and access to social service agencies’ personnel Strategy D2: Open a one-stop shop for the homeless to access safe haven transitional housing, mainstream resource programs, job training, life skills/soft skills training and services such as health and dental care. Strategy D3: Regularly perform public awareness campaigns in areas frequented by the chronically homeless (laundry mats, soup kitchens, etc) Strategy D4: Re-design the current street outreach teams to include additional participants (such as paid staff, professionals, etc) and additional components (such as mentoring, advocates, health care, etc.). This should be modeled after the PRT Team in Ann Arbor. agencies at
risk of homelessness mentors health
professionals Outreach Teams Goal E: Educate the community on preventing relapses Strategy E1: Promote self-sufficiency by having people help themselves. Provide
Strategy E2: Educate the public regarding
available prevention services
Strategy E3: Include prevention services in an educational forum annually Strategy E4: Use outside sources to assist in educating at-risk and formerly homeless on housing issues, including their rights as tenants. Promote educational programs/information provided by financial institutions, consumer/community groups (i.e. ACORN) that prevent and fight against home loss. Goal F: Advocate to and Educate the Decision-Makers Strategy F1: Advocate to the Michigan Department of Human Services and the Social Security Administration to ensure that available financial resources are reaching clients that qualify. Strategy F2: Conduct a new outreach campaign to hospital CEOs that encourages hospital administrators to develop policies on identifying/discharging homeless persons and educates discharge planners & hospital security to know contact persons for shelters, finances, information, transportations, free/low cost services, etc. Strategy F3: Advocate to local, state and federal elected officials for policy and funding changes that would increase affordable housing and end homelessness. (i.e. A team of advocates structured to identify compelling topics, diverse venues and hold events that bring important topics to the forefront while offering attendees networking opportunities. Strategy F4: Support national organizations in their efforts to convince HUD to broaden the definition of “homeless.” Strategy F5: Work with local businesses and landlords to create a “fresh slate” program which helps individuals with unfavorable credit, employment and criminal histories. Strategy F6: Identify and partner with community action and volunteer groups, such as ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), who already exist to advocate on behalf of citizens for fair, affordable housing. Use their lobbing resources and clout to increase the effectiveness of local needs campaigns. Strategy F7: Create a specific team to affect institutional policy change. Identify institutions that create barriers to preventing homelessness.
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