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A renewed crisis of homelessness:
Solutions, possible and proven, must be combined with fresh thinking and less-stingy U.S. policies

By Sister Mary Scullion
August 23,2007
The Philadelphia Inquirer

It all sounds distressingly familiar: growing numbers of homeless people on the streets, Center City residents and businesses increasingly frustrated. Meanwhile, opposition from neighbors squashes planned housing and services for homeless individuals and families.

These could be headlines from the mid-1990s, when the problem of homelessness - which already had plagued Philadelphia for more than a decade - seemed intractable. In 2007, with a renewed sense of crisis about men and women living on our streets, it is tempting to believe that we have made little progress.

This is no time to lose heart. Nor can we afford to settle for misguided measures, such as policing and forcing people off the streets.

The fact is that solutions are possible. The majority of people living on the streets suffer from serious health needs, including mental illness. This would seem to make the problem even more complex. But, in fact, chronically homeless persons with mental illness can, with the appropriate service-enriched "safe havens" and supportive housing, break the cycle of homelessness.

In recent years, quality programs such as Project H.O.M.E., Horizon House and Bethesda Project have helped thousands of homeless Philadelphians achieve stable and healthy lives. We are not alone: Studies from around the country have documented success rates of 80 percent or higher for chronically homeless people with addiction and/or mental illness in supportive housing. Philadelphia's highly regarded Department of Behavioral Health, in partnership with several private organizations, is developing treatment and supportive-housing initiatives targeted to homeless individuals who sleep on city streets due to severe mental illness and addiction. However, the need is far outpacing the demand.

We also should pay attention to many new and promising proposals. Under the city's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, the prestigious Center for Urban Community Services has developed concrete recommendations for housing and services to significantly reduce the number of people living on the streets and in shelters. One idea, a program of rent subsidies, would provide families in shelters the ability to live in apartments at a third of the cost to the city, reducing the shelter population while saving money and improving the quality of life for kids and parents.

The advocacy coalition Vote For Homes! has drafted a strong set of proposals for the next mayor, including a one-stop shop designed to meet people's multiple service needs, modeled on successful programs across the country and on the city's own effort to assist Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

The Philadelphia Campaign for Housing Justice is working for an inclusionary zoning ordinance, which would increase the supply of affordable housing as development continues in Philadelphia.

It is encouraging that many representatives of the business and tourism industries are part of these conversations.

While many of these proposals build on best practices and proven solutions, they also contain some urgently needed fresh thinking. Recent experiments in overnight drop-in centers housed in churches have demonstrated that large numbers of supposedly "shelter resistant" homeless people will come in, be engaged, and accept housing. Advocates and service providers are urging a transformation of the city's shelter system away from large "warehouses" that foster recidivism, toward smaller, more humane, service-enriched emergency, transitional and permanent housing.

We also can find hope in our history. In 1998, as the Sidewalk Behavior Bill was hotly debated, homeless advocates, business representatives, Center City residents, and city officials found a way to work together on effective solutions. A city commitment of $6 million resulted in new outreach, housing and services - and a subsequent dramatic drop in the number of homeless people in Center City. The result: Philadelphia became a national and international model of public-private cooperation to reduce the street census.

There is much we can and must do to muster local resources, expertise and commitment. But the most foreboding obstacle to making real progress in Philadelphia is the stingy political climate in Washington. Much of our success during the 1990s was due to significant funding from the federal government, especially in subsidies that enabled the development of thousands of supportive housing units. Since 2003, Philadelphia's share of federal funding impacting homelessness has declined 23 percent. As federal aid to cities has shrunk under the Bush administration, it is hardly surprising that poverty and homelessness have risen - not only in Philadelphia, but around the country.

Solutions to homelessness are possible, but only with a vibrant partnership of all levels of government working together with the private and nonprofit sectors. We have an impressive track record to build on in Philadelphia. Now is the time to work together, with vision and resolve, to mobilize our local resources and expertise and to advocate for more constructive policies from Washington.

The stakes are high - both for the lives of men or women who find themselves homeless and for the health and vitality of Center City and of the broader community.

Sister Mary Scullion (maryscullion@projecthome.org) is a cofounder and executive director of Project H.O.M.E. She has been working on issues of homelessness in Philadelphia for more than 20 years.