Mobile Loaves & Fishes Blog

Should the disabled #homeless be fined for sitting down?

Richard Troxell is the President and Founder of House the Homeless in Austin, Texas. First and foremost he is an advocate for the rights and dignity of the homeless.  Today as this blog posts the Health and Human Services Committee of the City of Austin is debating whether to amend the no sit/no lying down ordinance to exclude people with verifiable known disabilities.  Incredulously there is a lot of opposition.  Here is Richard's point of view.  We would welcome other points of view and would gladly post.  Needless to say I support Richard's efforts to amend the ordinance.

 Between 2008 and 2010, House the Homeless (HTH) conducted several surveys and gathered others conducted by both the City of Austin and the City of Houston that demonstrated that a majority of people experiencing homelessness want to work. To that end, we have been collaborating with Mobile Loaves and Fishes in our "Let's Get to Work" Jobs Initiative.   A more recent survey conducted in 2010 by House the Homeless shows that 48%, or about half of those experiencing homelessness, are suffering debilitating health problems that are so severe that they are rendered incapable of working.

472 of the 501 people surveyed in this most recent survey felt that they periodically needed to sit down and rest from time to time, but 94% said they were unable to do so as they could not find a bench.  Compounding the situation, there exists a "Quality of Life" ordinance in Austin that prevents people from sitting or lying down making them subject to fines of up to $500.  This ordinance contains only one medical exception and that's for people already sitting in a wheel chair.  There aren't even exceptions for people on crutches or using orthopedic leg braces.   With health concerns ranging from Degenerative Heart Disease to Parkinson's Disease to Degenerative Rheumatoid Arthritis, half of the homeless population is in need of exceptions to the ordinance.

We are now promoting 19 possible exceptions that range from Disability Award letters from the Social Security Administration or the Veterans Administration to participant letters in the David Powell-AIDS Program to people standing in line at a health clinic and so on. Two city-wide stakeholder meetings resulted in two additional recommended exemptions: evidence of taking psychiatric medications or when the heat index hits 100 degrees or more.

House the Homeless has met with all members of City Council and received  favorable support.  We pointed out that if exceptions are granted (as they should be) then people will be sitting down all over the city.  We do not feel that people suffering disabilities should be sitting on the sidewalks etc. House the Homeless took 350 signatures of people requesting benches to the Mayor.  We think that as we encourage people to be more "Green" and to leave their automobiles to create a "world class city" we should provide an ample number of benches to accommodate all citizens. This should include pregnant women, people with Christmas packages and those suffering disabilities.  In response, Mayor Lee Leffingwell has directed the City Council Health and Human Services Committee to review the 19 "exemptions" requested by HTH and consider benches as part of the mitigation response.

Some social service providers have been opposed to benches suggesting their use may lead to illegal drug sales.  HTH contends that drugs can be sold in either a sitting or standing position and in any event, this is a question  of enforcement.  The benches that House the Homeless recommends  have center dividers so as to deter lying down.

The "Stakeholders" who attended the two meetings consisted of the Downtown Austin Alliance, The Austin Chamber of Commerce, about 10 uniformed police officers, their attorney, an attorney for Travis County, Downtown Community Court, City Staffers, a representative from the Omni and the Driscoll Hotels, downtown neighbors, representatives from the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, ARCH and a representative from Caritas.  They were all joined in opposition and led by Charles Betts from the Downtown Austin Alliance.  As a group and to the last person, they opposed any exceptions or any additional benches intended to be a response to this issue.  Really? A doctor working for the United States Government, determines that a person is disabled after a process that often takes up to 15 months to complete its findings is somehow unacceptable to this group? Or finding of a disability of a Military Medical Review Team for a person willing to sacrifice a leg in Afghanistan  is unworthy of either an exception or a bench?

Today, HTH continues to look toward the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, as possible legal recourse to provide the health relief associated with this issue. 

Finally, City staff members have reported that, "the Ordinance is working."  Really? For whom?  In reviewing COA No Sit/No Lying Down ord. citations secured under the Open Records Act, the Community Court  showed 2,729 tickets were issued between January 2009 through December 31st 2009. 70 tickets were subsequently dismissed with 708 convictions.  So while the HTH Survey indicated 48% of these folks had major disabilities, only 2.6% were dismissed on the basis of disability through the court.  At the same time, it has been observed by advocates that this ordinance has been used indiscriminately to sweep areas of people regardless of their disabilities.  Using the Community Court as a filtering mechanism in this instance, has proven unduly burdensome on this disabled population and ineffective. It would seem more humane and more cost effective to properly train police officers in an amended ordinance that clearly  states specific exceptions.

While it is recommended that a strict list of exemptions be identified by Council, it is none-the-less the belief of HTH that the best common sense, practical response to the issue in a city seeking to attain world class stature, would be for us to simply  provide an ample supply of benches available to all citizens.

At one point in time, it seemed ok to value other people in this country as 3/5ths of that of other people.  Almost everyone lined up behind that concept...but not everyone.

Richard R. Troxell

President House The Homeless

Author of the soon to be released book on Ending Homelessness:

Looking Up at the Bottom Line

URGENT Call to Action for the #Homeless! Please Help Mobile Loaves & Fishes Now!

Mobile Loaves & Fishes needs your help now to advocate on our behalf to the Austin City Council for a resolution that is coming before the Council this Thursday June 24th.  We need you to email, call or communicate NOW to the Council in support of the pending resolution.  The fastest most immediate way is to send one email that will reach the Mayor and each Council Member by clicking on the following link:

Email Mayor & Council Members NOW

This resolution will instruct City Staff to work with Mobile Loaves & Fishes on either gaining approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use a tract of land out by the airport or to find another suitable tract of land for us for our groundbreaking Habitat on Wheels RV Community housing model.  This is currently item # 83 on the morning Council Agenda.

You could email something like this:

Dear Mayor and Council Members:

I am writing in support of Item # 83 on the June 24th, 2010 City Council Agenda.  This resolution on behalf of Mobile Loaves & Fishes will place a very powerful tool into the continuum of care tool box by providing permanent, supportive and affordable housing to those that find themselves chronically homeless.

Thank you,

Your Name

You can learn all about our Habitat on Wheels  model by clicking on the link below:

Habitat on Wheels RV Community Model

For over five years Mobile Loaves & Fishes has been lifting chronically homeless brothers & sisters off of the streets of Austin into affordable and permanent RV's and Park Model Homes.  Today we own about 45 of these RV's that house over 55 people.  Many of our residents have been with us since its inception and over 85% have maintained stable housing for well over a year.  We are asking the City to merely provide us with a tract of land suitable for our purposes and we will raise all of the capital necessary to build and operate the community.

Thank you for your attention to this very important issue.  The community needs your help now.  Your voice (and emails!) make a big difference and are heard.

-Alan

Get the official windfall numbers here for the "I Am Here" Texting Campaign #iamhere

1,373

That's right...1,373 texts.  Let me spell that out for you so there is no misunderstanding.  One thousand three hundred seventy three!!  At $10 a pop that adds up to $13,730!  That is a mere $1,730 above our goal of $12,000 to get Danny & Maggie off the streets.  Not quite the windfall some are erroneously reporting.

As many of you recall we had this powerful campaign in April where we put Danny a homeless guy up on a billboard and asked people to text "Danny" to 20222 to donate $10 to help us get he and his wife Maggie into a home.  Go check out the I Am Here website to get a full description of what we accomplished.

For those wondering what we did with all the money we hauled in...well, we got Danny & Maggie into a home. For those reporting we hauled in $100,000 please correct your dis-information.

-Alan

Why Don't Danny & Maggie Just Behave!?? "That Is, The Way We Want Them To Behave." #iamhere

Tuesday evening June 15th KXAN the NBC affiliate in Austin ran a story on Danny & Maggie about how they are back on the corner of Braker Lane and IH 35 panhandling.  You can see the story by clicking here.  We are grateful to KXAN for continuing to elevate the dialogue of the chronic homeless here in Austin and we are happy to be a part of that dialogue.  We do take one extraordinary exception to one part of their story however.  KXAN implied that they tried to reach me for comment repeatedly but without return phone call but the truth is that I was out of town on a fishing trip with my church and was not reachable.  They were told this by our staff.  They were also told this by our official spokesperson.  As the spokesperson for Mobile Loaves & Fishes I look forward to every opportunity to speak on behalf of those brothers and sisters whom we serve.

Now on to Danny & Maggie.  It is with pure joy that I am able to report to you that for nearly three months Danny & Maggie have a place off the streets that they can call home.  They are progressing just as we expected. While making this radical transition they have longed to reconnect with old friends; both those on the streets and those that served them in ministry while they were on the streets.  This longing led them back to their old stomping grounds at Braker and IH 35.  Of the almost 90 days  they have been off the streets they have spent about 5 days out on their old stomping grounds.  Folks, this is a celebration!  Now personally I wish they would not go back there but we live in a free world and they are allowed to do so.  I respect and honor their decision.  I do pray that as time goes on there will be a greater connection in their new community and a lesser longing for their old.

We are learning that for anyone, much less those that have experienced this type of homelessness, it takes about one month for every year you have lived in a place or a lifestyle to make the adjustment.  For folks like Danny & Maggie this may mean an adjustment period of a year or longer.  For those of you with families that have had to transfer from one city to the next think of the extraordinary adjustments you have had to make.  So too for Danny & Maggie.  Merely receiving a place they can call home does not allow us to say they have been fixed and repaired.  It is a giant step though.

Now let's talk about panhandling.  Virtually everything I have to say about panhandling can be found at www.mlfnow.org/panhandling.  Simply, I would prefer no one felt compelled to have to panhandle for any reason.  Those that do find it humiliating.  Read the citeable studies found at the above link to get the facts.

When questioned by the reporter about why they needed to panhandle Danny & Maggie responded that they needed the money to live and pay bills now that they are housed.  Let me go on record by stating emphatically that in the almost six years we have been housing formerly chronically homeless brothers and sisters 100%, YES 100%, of them have struggled in almost a life and death situation to pay their bills every month.  Come on folks!  These people live in poverty and we are grateful every month that any of our residents are able merely sustain themselves.  We are not moving this population of people into a middle class lifestyle.  What is really incredible though is our residents level of happiness however, not without the pitfalls of life.

"Why don't they just get a job!", many would say.  For a variety of reasons many of our brothers and sisters have a difficult time gaining employment.  Their fault, our fault or nobody's fault the fact remains that many of the chronically homeless are unemployable in the way you and I typically think of employment; the forty hour week 8 to 5 type of job.  You can read a lot about how we view this by going to www.mlfnow.org/jobs.  We talk extensively about why and then offer a program as to how we can begin to change this for some.  We have been changing the lives of several formerly chronically homeless through our micro economic jobs model.  If the only answer is to stuff them into the 8 to 5 box we are only going to be marginally, if that, successful.  We are thinking outside the box with results.

We would love for you to go read about our Community First! approach to home by going to www.mlfnow.org/how.  Here you will find our business plan for the RV community we are proposing as well as a number of other documents that details very specifically our philosophy.  No secrets here as these documents have only been up on our website for several years now.

Everyone wants to know how much money we made on the I Am Here campaign.  Many suggest or allude that there was a windfall.  Let me assure you there was no windfall.  We are grateful that we exceeded the goal to raise enough money to get Danny & Maggie into a home plus a little more to perhaps get another chronically homeless individual off the streets of Austin.  We were blown away by the national attention the campaign received and are ecstatic with how viral the campaign elevated this very important issue.  Mission accomplished!

Let's celebrate a victory and continue to dialogue together on how our community can best tackle this very pressing issue.  Mobile Loaves & Fishes is committed to this mission of serving our most vulnerable.  We love to love those whom many choose to despise.  We welcome those who want to join us in this effort.  We are making a powerful difference.

-Alan

What If Danny & Maggie Don't Make It? #iamhere #homeless

The very powerful I Am Here campaign that lifted Danny & Maggie off of the streets of Austin has accomplished its initial goal; to lift a chronically homeless person off of the streets.  In fact the campaign was so penetrating that the national media coverage is something just short of miraculous.  Go check out www.iamheremlf.org for a complete synopsis of the campaign.  The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive but there have been a few negative naysayers.  Some particularly in the neighborhood immediately around the area where Danny & Maggie lived and panhandled are very pessimistic about the prospect of their success to stay off of the streets.  Their concerns are legitimate.  What if Danny & Maggie don't make it?  What does it mean to Mobile Loaves & Fishes and what does it say about the I Am Here campaign?

First, it is important to understand the population that Mobile Loaves & Fishes has discerned to serve.  The chronically homeless; those by definition who have been living on the streets continuously for over one year or three long-term bouts with homelessness over a three year period AND have a corresponding disability.  This disability could either be physical, mental or addictive or any combination of the three.  Bottom-line is that Mobile Loaves & Fishes' sweet spot of service is to the despised and outcasts of our society.  We love to serve and love on those whom many would hate and despise.  In fact over the course of the five and a half years we have been housing the chronically homeless (serving them now for over twelve years) we have seen some extraordinary success.  We have also been saddened several times when one or more of our brothers or sisters finds their way back to the streets.  It is during these times that our hearts are heavy but in spite of this our hope remains eternal.  Regardless, we now have over an 85% success rate at keeping folks housed for longer than a year; many have now been home for three, four and five years!

Now please understand that Mobile Loaves & Fishes is not a fix and repair, catch and release model.  Our goal is to simply get people into housing they can call home.  We know now nationally that by merely housing people is a more cost effective strategy than keeping people on the streets.  Simply, because of the reduction in use of the health care system and the criminal justice system it costs our communities less money when people are housed.  And we know that without housing it is impossible, to maintain a job, to battle physical and mental illnesses, battle addictions or to improve yourself through education.

We think that coming off of the streets should be easy for people but it is not.  It takes months for folks to acclimate to this new way of life.  The first several months are critical.  People are leaving their known way of life and their known community and being uprooted into a very new way of life and an entirely new community.  It is disruptive to say the least and it is in this adjustment that our efforts are so fragile.  In fact for a few of our residents we have seen them cycle back to the streets a couple of times before we are able to achieve a modest amount of success.  It remains a risk that we are willing to take and continue to pursue.

Danny & Maggie have now been off the streets and away from their known street corner for over a month. Danny has reconnected with his family, particularly his daughter and his son.  We love the progress they are making but also know that it is and will continue to be a struggle for them for some time.  We pray that this time they are able to rediscover their respective purposes in life and be able to heal from the ravages of living on the streets.  Please pray with us!  If they don't make it this time we here at Mobile Loaves & Fishes will continue to love them and to serve them as if they were Christ Himself.  We will continue to remain hopeful for them and provide them with other opportunities to escape from the streets if they wish.  We know in the end that we can only be a vessel for their success but they are the ones who are truly in control.  As for their home so many generously provided through their donations?  Well, someone else will then get the opportunity discover what home is; a place of permanence, a dwelling place, a storied place, a safe resting place, a place of hospitality, a place of embodied inhabitation, a place of orientation and a place of affiliation and belonging.

-Alan

Powerful Metrics from I Am Here Campaign

Incredible metrics from the powerful I Am Here campaign created for Mobile Loaves & Fishes by T-3.

This report was as of Friday May 7. But we know that the campaign is still getting lots of air time.

With the social media traffic we are now over 10,000,000 impressions.

Total Story Count: 231

Total Nielsen Audience: 9,182,034

Total Run Time: 5:06:05

Total Calculated Ad Equivalency: $179,056

Total Calculated Publicity Value: $537,135

Did I Wash the Feet of a Saint? Duane Severance Pastor to the #Homeless

On January 7th Duane Severance was killed in a single car single occupant accident. His untimely death provoked within the Austin community a lot of emotions.  Duane is married to Brandy and they have three children and another on the way due February 14th.  Duane was the pastor to the homeless on the streets of Austin, Texas. After reflecting on his death for some time I offer the following thoughts.

 Duane and I began to be aware of each other probably in 1999 or 2000 when Church Under the Bridge was getting started and my parish was contemplating taking on adopting CUB for one week per month.  That never came to fruition but as we were building Mobile Loaves & Fishes we frequently encountered Church Under the Bridge on our Sunday runs.  It was wonderful to watch such a diverse group of people all gather to worship the Lord; black, white, brown, male, female, rich, poor, homeless, mentally ill, addicts, disabled, trans gendered, gay you name it and it was there mostly in harmony.  Truly amazing to watch.  At the helm was Duane Severance, Pastor to these brothers and sisters each made in His image.  Makes me think of Acts 2:42 and on when the church was just getting off the ground after the death of Christ.

But it was in May of 2003 when I REALLY met Duane.  I had organized Mobile Loaves & Fishes' first Street Retreat (www.mlfnow.org/streetretreat). This retreat was 72 hours and is a one on one retreat between the retreatant and God with our retreat center being the wall-less streets of downtown Austin.  We had heard while out on the streets that there was a bible study held in East Austin on Tuesday nights where one could grab a meal and a place to sleep while also entering into some powerful praise and worship.  When asked where this place was no one knew; all they could tell us is that if you go to the corner of Congress Avenue and 7th street at around 5:30 a little pickup truck would come and pick you up.  Several of us decided to go.  Standing on the corner kind of felt like Pinocchio waiting to go to Pleasure Island.

The evening was phenomenal to say the least!  I will never forget it.  The music, the bible study, the teaching, the fellowship and the community of broken brothers and sisters all worshiping together.  It was transforming to say the least.  Duane and I grew in solidarity to our missions but clearly on differing paths.  There was a mutual respect for each other.

Since that time I have facilitated a whole bunch of Street Retreats.  Nearly 200 people have participated and now we always do our 72 hour retreat beginning at 5:00 on Palm Sunday and ending on Wednesday.  Almost always we end up at the Tuesday night bible study which since its inception has been moved to the New York Avenue Christian Center near 12th and Chicon.  As of about six months ago because Duane needed a change of pace and moved to West Texas the bible studies ended.

Well, a few years ago one of our veteran retreatants Judy Knotts (read this article in the American Statesman) had the idea that we should wash the feet of the homeless while at the Tuesday night bible study.  Since we are out during Holy Week it makes sense to do this.  In the Catholic Church we celebrate Holy Thursday and the institution of the priesthood.  This institution begins with Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples.  Very powerful!  Now Judy wants to bring this celebration to the homeless.  Quietly, I am reluctant as I try not have any "agenda" while out on the streets; only doing what God calls us to do at any given time.  I am glad I was quiet on this; not normal for me.

So here we are at the New York Avenue Christian Center on a Tuesday evening of Holy Week praising the Lord and the time came for the ceremonial washing of the feet.  The crowd was stunned that we wanted to do this and some were ashamed.  Ashamed because the condition of their feet was something that we did not anticipate.  Our feet for the most part were nice and soft and free of callouses and crevices.  We could afford quality foot care; a fresh clean pair of socks everyday; a bath everyday.  Heck some of us (women particularly) could afford regular pedicures. Not the homeless.  No siree! As anyone involved in going out on a Mobile Loaves & Fishes truck knows socks are the single most popular item on the trucks.

It is hard to describe the condition of these feet.  Some were so injured that you questioned the sanity of even touching them.  But here we were girding ourselves as Jesus did and committing to something that we had to fulfill.  For all of us this was a powerful moment.  People were weeping and crying.  The presence of the Holy Spirit in that room that night was palpable.  Emotions were running on high.

The plan was to wash the feet of those who were homeless; to let them know that we were, as Jesus, there to serve them. We did not understand that it would be important for them to wash our feet but that is precisely what happened.  More weeping and crying!

What was remarkable and providential was that I was about to wash the feet of Duane's and he mine.  At the time I weighed nearly 330 pounds so getting down much less back up was difficult.  As I went down on a knee I gently needed to support myself by leaning onto his knee.  As I came closer to the ground his feet began to come into focus.  Now understand that Duane rarely was seen wearing anything but flip flops; no socks and no supportive shoes.  I on the other hand always wore socks and I am disciplined about having a high quality supportive tennis shoe.  I, because of my weight, battled diabetes.  Foot care was essential.  My feet were soft and without callouses. Duane's feet on the other hand were the feet of a true servant; the feet of someone who lived simply and with profound Gospel focused purpose.  Duane's feet were heavily calloused with crevices running through the callouses as the Grand Canyon slices through the landscape.  Was I holding in my hands the feet of a Saint?  The feet of Jesus?  I hearkened back to Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.  Knowing that their feet too had many unprotected miles of servant love embedded deep in their landscapes.

As I reflect on the death of Duane I am always drawn to this moment in our ministries where we had the opportunity to wash each others feet.  I am drawn back to the servant life he lived.  I am drawn to his feet.  I am drawn to the landscape of the good servant who girded himself with a towel and washed their feet everyday. 

I believe I washed the feet of a Saint!

-Alan

Ending #Homelessness from a Socio-economic Perspective

Ending Homelessness from a Socio-economic Perspective
Guest blogger -  Richard R. Troxell
President House the Homeless
Livable Incomes Coordinator
National Coalition for the Homeless

Richard is a personal friend of mine and one of the strongest advocates for the homeless I have ever met.

-Alan

News Flash; If you think that we can just put homeless people back into a broken socio-economic system ...think again.

As we look at the socio-economic condition of homelessness, we recognize that we can view homelessness into two major categories, those who can work and those who cannot work. 

Hard working people are falling out of our work force. They are ending up homeless on our streets.  We see these people as broken individuals standing on our street corners, painfully visible and asking for help; some call it begging, others know it as panhandling.  In any event, they are no longer seen as members of a family that they once were.  Now, she lives in a shelter and he stands on a street corner...broken and pleading for help from his fellow human beings.

We respond as best we know how.  We, “the community,” brush these individuals off, detoxify, them, teach them the art of resume writing and interview talking and place them into jobs and point them to the general housing market.  Well done!  Bravo!  Everyone pitched in to help.  The entire community rallied behind our needy...our homeless.  But what has really occurred?  Who knows?  Without follow-up evaluation one year later, we won’t learn if the minimum wage job or even the $10.00 per hour job into which they were placed was or wasn’t enough to sustain them through the economic bumps ahead.  However, we do know that the minimum dollar amount needed to sustain them can be simply stated with the phrase: “Living Wage.”   A “Living Wage” is the base amount necessary for a person to afford basic food, clothing and shelter...no more no less.  This is the same vision and understanding embraced by the U.S. Congress following the Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression in the 1930s.  Then, in 1938, in response to the wage problem, the U.S. Congress created the Federal Minimum Wage.  This worked fairly well until the 1980s when because the wage was not indexed to the cost of living, or anything for that matter, our nation’s housing rents outstripped the wage being earned.  So now we must “reset” the wage just like a clock and index the wage to the local cost of housing throughout the entire United States.  Therefore, that is what we have done.  Using existing Government Guidelines, we have devised a single national formula that ensures that if a person works 40 hours in a week, they will be able to afford basic food, clothing, and shelter (including utilities).  In other words, a roof over their heads...other than a bridge.

But in further examining the idea of simply putting people back into the work force, we must explore what that looks like. Minimum wage workers work 5-6 days a week, fifty-two weeks a year.  They are only assured (hopefully) of a day off to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Additionally, the rigorous demands of daily work are ever accelerating and continue to expand exponentially.  Think about the technological advances in the last ten years alone that range from desk top computers to laptops, cell phones, camera phones, Blackberries and i-phones with Apps.  Think of the world as a merry-go-round full of a dozen kids spinning like crazy and holding on for dear life.  As the merry-go-round accelerates, regardless of the strength of their white knuckle grips, some can’t hold on and they go flying off as the speed continues to increase.  It’s the same in the work place.  Minimum wage workers don’t get two weeks paid vacation.  They don’t get vacation time, personal time or even the luxury of getting sick.  Minimum wage workers are subject to endless stress.  As the stress demands increase, so does the pressure on the individual worker.  They must show up day in and day out regardless of their problems at home, their energy levels, or routine bouts of depression.  The instant they say, “I can’t go in tomorrow, I’m calling in sick,” they get replaced. They spin off the merry go-round of life and end up homeless on the streets of America.

It makes little or no difference what kind of worker you’ve been.  To the employer, what matters is that you show up day in and day out...no matter what.  Failure to show up every single day will get the minimum wage worker the instant boot.  Someone else is waiting in the wings who is desperate to fill the worker’s vacant slot.  Clearly, the employer must have workers present everyday to accomplish what needs to be done to advance the business.

But, what if we start “thinking outside the box with both employer and employee’s welfare in mind?  Example:  Employer with financial means purchases production equipment beyond the means of the individual workers such as a $5,000 hot dog stand.  The employer leases the use of the equipment to an individual worker or workers.  The worker operates the equipment on a daily basis as one would expect.  However, to address the employee needs for time-off, another (swing) worker is tapped to come to work and fill in the vacant times so that the equipment is used to its fullest. This is referred to as “flex” work  (please see www.mlfnow.org/Jobs fo learn about about micro economic business model to employ the homeless). In this fashion, both the employer and the employee attain what they need and want: job stability and economic growth.  This is one simple example of the kind of change and flexibility needed to enhance our chances of successfully ending homelessness for workers. 

For those who cannot work, the U.S. Congress established a government based financial support system, Supplemental Security Income, SSI, designed to provide a small monthly monetary stipend.  This is presently set at $674 nationwide.

However, ours is a nation of thousands of local economies ranging from poverty in Clay, West Virginia to the opulence of New York City. And yet, the current approach is to award a single uniform dollar amount to every individual with disabilities no matter where they live throughout America. Clearly, this “one size fits all” approach is an illogical response that has the result of leaving millions of recipients susceptible to the economic forces of homelessness.

This solution is simple.  We must index this stipend to the local cost of housing throughout the United States.  As with the Universal Living Wage, we can use the Housing and Urban Development, HUD, Section 8 Fair Market Rents to ensure that we properly index the SSI stipend to local economies across America.  This will ensure that whether someone is working forty hours in a week or struggling with disabilities, they will be able to afford the basics of life: food, clothing, shelter (utilities included) and have access to the emergency room.  And finally, if others are working by utilizing  flex work days of an unlimited nature, they will be able to re-enter the work force in a calm, productive, stress free manner, that provides them a living and the employer the work performance required for a successful business. 

We are committed to creating the systemic and attitudinal changes necessary to prevent and end homelessness.

Duane Severance Pastor to the #Homeless Has Gone Home

This past Thursday January 7th Pastor Duane Severance went home to be with the Lord.  I have known Brother Duane for over ten years and served with him to serve the homeless.  I call him our modern day St. Francis of Assisi.  Words can't describe the impact he had on the lives of the homeless here in Austin, Texas.  He will be missed.  Below is an email from his wife Brandy with details of his funeral.

-Alan

This is Duane's wife Brandy and for those of you who have not yet heard the news, Duane has departed this life to be with the lord following a car accident yesterday.

We are holding a funeral service for him on Monday January 11th at St Lukes Episcopal Church, (www.stlukesonthelake.org) 5600 Ranch Road 620 North, Austin TX  overlooking Lake Travis at 11:00 am. All friends are invited and welcome. There will be a reception afterwards at the church followed by a burial service at Cook-Walden in Pflugerville at 4501 IH-35. Their number is 512-251-4118.

If you need to get hold of us, please call or send a note to Peter Lloyd at [email protected]. I will be staying with the Peter & Debbie through the weekend. We have  set up a memorial web site for Duane where you can read and leave messages and photos at http://duane-severence.memory-of.com.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Thank you all for your prayers and support in this difficult time.

God Bless you,

Brandy
[email protected]

Press Release from City of Austin Regarding the #homeless and Pets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2010
Contacts: Barbara Rush: (512) 925-2271


Plan Implemented to Provide Shelter for the Homeless & Their Pets During Extreme Cold Weather


The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department has implemented a plan to shelter pets for homeless Austinites during cold weather events. A priority of the emergency response plan calls for sheltering pets at the same location as the pet owner.

“Our primary concern is that we provide our homeless citizens and their pets a safe and secure place to stay,” says Council Member Laura Morrison. “When the temperature dips to extreme lows, we want people to know they can come in from the cold and feel assured that they and their pets will be cared for.”

The City of Austin’s recreation centers, used as temporary shelters when demand is high, have indoor spaces that can be used to shelter animals with their owners. When a homeless individual is being transported to a recreation center, the animal control staff will transport their pets to the same facility.

The ARCH and Salvation Army are Austin’s primary shelters, but cannot accommodate animals indoor. For pets whose owners are sheltered at those locations during extreme weather, the pets will be transported to off-site shelter for the night and returned to their owner the next morning.

All Austinites in need of shelter, including those with pets should go to the ARCH. Located at: 500 East 7th St. (7th at Neches)
For help transporting pets to the ARCH – Call 305-4160 (ask for Manager on Duty)



Barbara Rush
Policy Advisor
Office of City Council Member Laura Morrison
512-974-1625 / 512-974-1886 (Fax)
[email protected]
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/morrison.htm