51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The story is the same nearly every year as fall turns to winter.

Alderman Christine Ingrassia has seen it happen over and over again. A cold snap hits. The agencies that provide food, clothing and shelter to people who don鈥檛 have roofs over their heads suggest the city isn鈥檛 working fast enough to ease the problem of homelessness.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been the same for me under three different (mayoral) administrations,鈥� says Ingrassia, a member of the Continuum of Care board, an umbrella organization for nonprofits that provide services for the homeless.

This year, the warming buses and walk-up shelters have been slow to get operating as temperatures drop. Two years ago, nonprofit leaders were trying to get the administration of former Mayor Lyda Krewson to move faster in protecting homeless people during the pandemic.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 make them do anything,鈥� Shanna Nieweg, executive director of the Horizon Housing nonprofit, said at the time. 鈥淲e can just keep asking and asking and asking.鈥�

Nieweg then was chairperson of the Continuum of Care. Now she鈥檚 joined a new nonprofit board 鈥� House Everyone STL 鈥� that hopes to break through the annual delay in connecting money to services.

Following a successful model in Dallas, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders want House Everyone STL to take over from the city as the conduit for federal money to provide homeless services. The nascent nonprofit, with an initial burst of private funding, was created by Continuum of Care for that specific purpose.

House Everyone STL has already become the support agency that manages and staffs the Continuum of Care, something the organization never had.

But replacing the city as the lead applicant for millions of dollars in Housing and Urban Development funding would be a huge step. And it will face pushback from the administration of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.

Indeed, the city intends to hold onto the purse strings controlling the federal money.

In a written statement, Yusef Scoggin, director of the Department of Human Services, said the city is best positioned to manage homeless services because it can provide 鈥渁ccountable administrative oversight and a lens on racially equitable housing practices.鈥� He also said Human Services can work with other city departments to improve the stock of affordable housing.

The conflict between providers and the city doesn鈥檛 have to exist, says Peter Miller, if leaders come together and find better ways to deliver services. The 51黑料 native is president and CEO of The Meadows Foundation, which led the charge to change how Dallas tackles homelessness.

The problem in most cities is quite similar, Miller says: 鈥淗omeless shelters were never designed to be a solution.鈥�

But much of the infrastructure around homelessness, including many of the biggest nonprofits, are built around shelters or the latest trend in transitional housing, like tiny homes. The best solution is permanent housing, most advocates believe, and to provide services 鈥� mental health, drug and alcohol treatment, job training 鈥� once people obtain housing.

Those concepts aren鈥檛 new in 51黑料 鈥� nor were they in Dallas. But a divided system with multiple nonprofits often competing for money, and a city government that isn鈥檛 always the most efficient fund distributor, is designed to fail, Miller believes.

鈥淪olving homelessness takes a village and all the village has to offer,鈥� he says. 鈥淣either the city nor the nonprofit community can do this alone.鈥�

Ingrassia supports a potential new leader for the city鈥檚 request for federal funding. She believes the time is right for 鈥渟ome soul searching鈥� to determine if the city 鈥渋s getting the job done.鈥�

Last month, Miller came back to 51黑料 along with Mandy Chapman Semple. She helped design the new model in Dallas, where a nonprofit called Housing Forward is serving as the lead agency for homeless services. That model is what House Everyone STL hopes to emulate. Miller hopes 51黑料 hires Semple to work with local leaders to redesign the system of homeless services.

鈥淥ther cities that have done this have had outrageous success,鈥� says Suvir Dhar, a 51黑料 attorney who is on the board of the new nonprofit. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to follow the Dallas model and adapt it to 51黑料.鈥�

To get there, the nonprofit and its supporters have to convince the Jones administration that the city will do more to battle homelessness if it serves as a partner.

That won鈥檛 be an easy sell. No politician wants to give up control over millions of dollars and the staffing that goes with it. Then again, no mayor enjoys the yearly headache of having business and nonprofit leaders complain that the city isn鈥檛 ready to get people off the streets.

Dhar believes the nonprofit model gives the city political cover while designing a more efficient way to get people into housing more quickly.

鈥淲e have a real opportunity to help the people who are living on the streets and are homeless right now,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e will all benefit from this.鈥�