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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/28/2016 00 Distributed at the Meeting Frequently Asked Questions about Homelessness 0: Why does Neighborhood Health give tents to the homeless encampment? A. We provide a wide range of services, from dental and medical care to pharmacy, vision and behavioral health. Homeless services represent about 10 percent of what we do, and many people, including churches, donate items for the homeless. The cooks at Davis High, for example, held a donation drive this spring and received many tents, which they asked us to distribute Q. What happens at The Depot now? Can the homeless use the bathrooms at The Depot? A. They access services such as housing assistance or help with food and transportation We arrange appointments for health care and employment. And yes, they can use the bathrooms until we close Q: Isn't Neighborhood Health just using this homeless problem as leverage to open Roy's Market? A. We have offered homeless services since 2007 so the encampment has nothing to do with Roy's Market, which we hope will be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Q: I've read that those chronically homeless people are mostly drug addicts or mentally ill and don't want help. A. While it's true that some struggle with substance abuse, addiction is an illness requiring treatment and, with support — namely supportive housing — can be overcome. Q. The homeless are causing an increase in crime at nearby businesses. I read that one threw rocks through Santiago's windows. A. That incident was not related to the encampment as those folks don't travel that far down Yakima Avenue They like to stay close to their belongings and each other Yakima Police statistics show no measurable increase in crime reports in the 600 block of East Yakima Ave Q: Where did these people come from? They choose to be homeless, don't they? A. A survey conducted in January found 93 percent had a last, permanent address in Yakima County, so they are not coming here from other cities. Nobody chooses to be homeless. Job loss, family crisis, disability and inability to pay rent or mortgage are the leading causes of homelessness. Q. But why all the sudden do we see them so close to downtown and the Convention Center? A. Last fall, Neighborhood Health was asked by the Homeless Network and YVCOG to take over the Extreme Winter Weather Shelter program, using the Depot as the "Staging Area," registering and transporting the homeless to the churches in the evening and bringing them back in the morning So naturally they began to assemble at The Depot during the day Q: Are we going to see the same thing this winter? A. While we are hoping to house as many homeless as possible before then, we expect to operate the Extreme Winter Weather Shelter program again Nobody wants the homeless to freeze Q. Are there more homeless people now than in years past ? A. No, the work of the 40+ agencies in the Homeless Network has been successful. Homelessness in Yakima County has been reduced by more 60 %. The number of UNSHELTERED homeless has been reduced by more than 77% in the last ten years. Y A K M k 7� Yakima Neighborhood Health, and the some I J hborhooLL a 40 agencies we partner with to combat ��� l HEALTH homelessness, welcome all ideas for solutions. 509.853.2357 from The New Yorker February 13, 2006 DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES Million - Dollar Murray Why problems like homelessness may be easier to solve than to manage. by Malcolm Gladwell "If he was on a runner, we under the equivalent of 1. could pick him up several house arrest, and he thrived. times a day," Patrick O'Bryan, He got a job and worked Murray Barr was a bear of a who is a bicycle cop in hard. But then the program man, an ex- marine, six feet downtown Reno, said. "And ended. "Once he graduated tall and heavyset, and when he's gone on some amazing out, he had no one to report he fell down —which he did runners. He would get picked to, and he needed that," nearly every day —it could up, get detoxed, then get back O'Bryan said. "I don't know take two or three grown men out a couple of hours later and whether it was his military to pick him up He had start up again. A lot of the background. I suspect that it straight black hair and olive guys on the streets who've was He was a good cook. skin. On the street, they been drinking, they get so One time, he accumulated called him Smokey He was angry They are so incredibly savings of over six thousand missing most of his teeth abrasive, so violent, so dollars. Showed up for work He had a wonderful smile. abusive. Murray was such a religiously Did everything People loved Murray character and had such a great he was supposed to do They sense of humor that we said, 'Congratulations,' and His chosen drink was vodka. somehow got past that. Even put him back on the street. Beer he called "horse piss " when he was abusive, we'd He spent that six thousand On the streets of downtown say, 'Murray, you know you in a week or so " Reno, where he lived, he love us,' and he'd say, 'I could buy a two-hundred- know'—and go back to Often, he was too and - fifty - millilitre bottle of swearing at us." intoxicated for the drunk cheap vodka for a dollar- tank at the jail, and he'd get fifty If he was flush, he "I've been a police officer for sent to the emergency room could go for the seven- fifteen years," O'Bryan's at either Saint Mary's or hundred - and -fifty- millilitre partner, Steve Johns, said. "I Washoe Medical Center bottle, and if he was broke picked up Murray my whole Marla Johns, who was a he could always do what career Literally " social worker in the many of the other homeless emergency room at Saint people of Reno did, which is Johns and O'Bryan pleaded Mary's, saw him several to walk through the casinos with Murray to quit drinking. times a week. "The and finish off the half -empty A few years ago, he was ambulance would bring him glasses of liquor left at the assigned to a treatment in. We would sober him up, gaming tables program in which he was so he would be sober enough to go to jail. And we would articles in the newspapers, O'Bryan and Johns called call the police to pick him and the police department someone they knew at an up In fact, that's how I met came under harsh criticism on ambulance service and then my husband." Marla Johns local talk radio The contacted the local hospitals is married to Steve Johns crackdown on panhandhng "We came up with three amounted to harassment, the names that were some of our "He was like the one critics said. The homeless chronic inebriates in the constant in an environment weren't an imposition on the downtown area, that got that was ever changing," she city; they were just trying to arrested the most often," went on "In he would come. get by "One morning, I'm O'Bryan said. "We tracked He would grin that half- listening to one of the talk those three individuals toothless grin. He called me shows, and they're just through just one of our two 'my angel ' I would walk in trashing the police hospitals. One of the guys the room, and he would department and going on had been in jail previously, smile and say, 'Oh, my about how unfair it is," so he'd only been on the angel, I'm so happy to see O'Bryan said. "And I thought, streets for six months. In you.' We would joke back Wow, I've never seen any of those six months, he had and forth, and I would beg these critics in one of the accumulated a bill of a him to quit drinking and he alleyways in the middle of the hundred thousand dollars — would laugh it off. And when winter looking for bodies " and that's at the smaller of time went by and he didn't O'Bryan was angry In the two hospitals near come in I would get worried downtown Reno, food for the downtown Reno It's pretty and call the coroner's office homeless was plentiful there reasonable to assume that When he was sober, we was a Gospel kitchen and the other hospital had an would find out, oh, he's Catholic Services, and even even larger bill. Another working someplace, and my the local McDonald's fed the individual came from husband and I would go and hungry The panhandling was Portland and had been in have dinner where he was for liquor, and the liquor was Reno for three months. In working. When my husband anything but harmless He those three months, he had and I were dating, and we and Johns spent at least half accumulated a bill for sixty - were going to get married, their time dealing with people five thousand dollars The he said, 'Can I come to the like Murray; they were as third individual actually had wedding ?' And I almost felt much caseworkers as police some periods of being sober, like he should. My joke was officers And they knew they and had accumulated a bill 'If you are sober you can weren't the only ones of fifty thousand." come, because I can't afford involved. When someone your bar bill.' When we passed out on the street, there The first of those people was started a family, he would was a "One down" call to the Murray Barr, and Johns and lay a hand on my pregnant paramedics There were four O'Bryan realized that if you belly and bless the child. He people in an ambulance, and totted up all his hospital really was this kind of light." the patient sometimes stayed bills for the ten years that he at the hospital for days, had been on the streets —as In the fall of 2003, the Reno because living on the streets well as substance- abuse- Police Department started in a state of almost constant treatment costs, doctors' an initiative designed to intoxication was a reliable way fees, and other expenses — limit panhandling in the of getting sick. None of that, Murray Barr probably ran downtown core. There were surely, could be cheap up a medical bill as large as anyone in the state of hundred of the eighty -five inappropriate behavior), and Nevada. hundred officers in the one shooting. Another had L.A.P D The broad middle six excessive -force "It cost us one million had scarcely been accused of complaints, nineteen other dollars not to do something anything. Furthermore, more complaints, ten use -of -force about Murray," O'Bryan than fourteen hundred reports, and three shootings. said. officers had only one or two A third had twenty -seven allegations made against use -of -force reports, and a 2. them —and bear in mind that fourth had thirty -five. these were not proven Another had a file full of Fifteen years ago, after the charges, that they happened complaints for doing things Rodney King beating, the in a four -year period, and that like "striking an arrestee on Los Angeles Police allegations of excessive force the back of the neck with the Department was in crisis. It are an inevitable feature of butt of a shotgun for no was accused of racial urban police work. (The apparent reason while the insensitivity and ill N Y P D receives about three arrestee was kneeling and discipline and violence, and thousand such complaints a handcuffed," beating up a the assumption was that year) A hundred and eighty- thirteen- year -old juvenile, those problems had spread three officers, however, had and throwing an arrestee broadly throughout the rank four or more complaints from his chair and kicking and file. In the language of against them, forty -four him in the back and side of statisticians, it was thought officers had six or more the head while he was that L.A.P D 's troubles had complaints, sixteen had eight handcuffed and lying on his a "normal" distribution— or more, and one had sixteen stomach. that if you graphed them the complaints. If you were to result would look like a bell graph the troubles of the The report gives the strong curve, with a small number L.A.P D , it wouldn't look like impression that if you fired of officers at one end of the a bell curve. It would look those forty -four cops the curve, a small number at the more like a hockey stick. It L.A.P D would suddenly other end, and the bulk of would follow what become a pretty well - the problem situated in the statisticians call a "power law" functioning police middle. The bell -curve distribution —where all the department. But the report assumption has become so activity is not in the middle also suggests that the much a part of our mental but at one extreme problem is tougher than it architecture that we tend to seems, because those forty - use it to organize experience The Christopher four bad cops were so bad automatically Commission's report that the institutional repeatedly comes back to what mechanisms in place to get But when the L.A.P D was it describes as the extreme rid of bad apples clearly investigated by a special concentration of problematic weren't working If you commission headed by officers. One officer had been made the mistake of Warren Christopher, a very the subject of thirteen assuming that the different picture emerged. allegations of excessive use of department's troubles fell Between 1986 and 1990, force, five other complaints, into a normal distribution, allegations of excessive force twenty -eight "use of force you'd propose solutions that or improper tactics were reports" (that is, documented, would raise the performance made against eighteen internal accounts of of the middle —like better training or better hiring— homelessness is understood. nineties, Culhane's database when the middle didn't need Homelessness doesn't have a suggested that New York help For those hard -core normal distribution, it turned City had a quarter of a few who did need help, out. It has a power -law million people who were meanwhile, the medicine distribution. "We found that homeless at some point in that helped the middle eighty per cent of the the previous half decade — wouldn't be nearly strong homeless were in and out which was a surprisingly enough. really quickly," he said. "In high number But only about Philadelphia, the most twenty -five hundred were In the nineteen - eighties, common length of time that chronically homeless. when homelessness first someone is homeless is one surfaced as a national issue, day And the second most It turns out, furthermore, the assumption was that the common length is two days that this group costs the problem fit a normal And they never come back. health -care and social - distribution that the vast Anyone who ever has to stay services systems far more majority of the homeless in a shelter involuntarily than anyone had ever were in the same state of knows that all you think about anticipated. Culhane semi- permanent distress It is how to make sure you never estimates that in New York was an assumption that bred come back." at least sixty -two million despair if there were so dollars was being spent many homeless, with so The next ten per cent were annually to shelter dust those many problems, what could what Culhane calls episodic twenty -five hundred hard - be done to help them? Then, users They would come for core homeless "It costs fifteen years ago, a young three weeks at a time, and twenty -four thousand Boston College graduate return periodically, dollars a year for one of student named Dennis particularly in the winter these shelter beds," Culhane Culhane lived in a shelter in They were quite young, and said. "We're talking about a Philadelphia for seven weeks they were often heavy drug cot eighteen inches away as part of the research for users It was the last ten per from the next cot." Boston his dissertation. A few cent —the group at the farthest Health Care for the months later he went back, edge of the curve —that Homeless Program, a and was surprised to interested Culhane the most. leading service group for the discover that he couldn't They were the chronically homeless in Boston, recently find any of the people he homeless, who lived in the tracked the medical had recently spent so much shelters, sometimes for years expenses of a hundred and time with. "It made me at a time. They were older nineteen chronically reahze that most of these Many were mentally ill or homeless people In the people were getting on with physically disabled, and when course of five years, thirty - their own lives," he said. we think about homelessness three people died and seven as a social problem —the more were sent to nursing Culhane then put together a people sleeping on the homes, and the group still database —the first of its sidewalk, aggressively accounted for 18,834 kind —to track who was panhandling, lying drunk in emergency -room visits —at a coming in and out of the doorways, huddled on subway minimum cost of a thousand shelter system What he grates and under bridges —it's dollars a visit. The discovered profoundly this group that we have in University of California, San changed the way mind. In the early nineteen- Diego Medical Center followed fifteen chronically thousand dollars Meanwhile, The leading exponent for the homeless inebriates and they are going through power -law theory of found that over eighteen alcoholic withdrawal and have homelessness is Philip months those fifteen people devastating liver disease that Mangano, who, since he was were treated at the hospital's only adds to their inability to appointed by President Bush emergency room four fight infections. There is no in 2002, has been the hundred and seventeen end to the issues. We do this executive director of the U S times, and ran up bills that huge drill We run up big lab Interagency Council on averaged a hundred fees, and the nurses want to Homelessness, a group that thousand dollars each. One quit, because they see the oversees the programs of person —San Diego's same guys come in over and twenty federal agencies. counterpart to Murray over, and all we're doing is Mangano is a slender man, Barr —came to the making them capable of with a mane of white hair emergency room eighty- walking down the block." and a magnetic presence, seven times who got his start as an The homelessness problem is advocate for the homeless in "If it's a medical admission, like the L.A.P D 's bad -cop Massachusetts. In the past it's likely to be the guys with problem. It's a matter of a few two years, he has the really complex hard cases, and that's good crisscrossed the United pneumonia," James news, because when a States, educating local Dunford, the city of San problem is that concentrated mayors and city councils Diego's emergency medical you can wrap your arms about the real shape of the director and the author of around it and think about homelessness curve. Simply the observational study, solving it. The bad news is running soup kitchens and said. "They are drunk and that those few hard cases are shelters, he argues, allows they aspirate and get vomit hard. They are falling -down the chronically homeless to in their lungs and develop a drunks with liver disease and remain chronically lung abscess, and they get complex infections and homeless. You build a hypothermia on top of that, mental illness. They need time shelter and a soup kitchen if because they're out in the and attention and lots of you think that homelessness rain. They end up in the money But enormous sums of is a problem with a broad intensive -care unit with money are already being spent and unmanageable middle. these very complicated on the chronically homeless, But if it's a problem at the medical infections These and Culhane saw that the kind fringe it can be solved. So are the guys who typically of money it would take to far, Mangano has convinced get hit by cars and buses and solve the homeless problem more than two hundred trucks They often have a could well be less than the cities to radically reevaluate neurosurgical catastrophe as kind of money it took to their policy for dealing with well. So they are very prone ignore it. Murray Barr used the homeless. to just falling down and more health -care dollars, after cracking their head and all, than almost anyone in the "I was in St. Louis recently," getting a subdural state of Nevada. It would Mangano said, back in June, hematoma, which, if not probably have been cheaper to when he dropped by New drained, could kill them, and give him a full -time nurse and York on his way to Boise, it's the guy who falls down his own apartment. Idaho "I spoke with people and hits his head who ends doing services there. They up costing you at least fifty had a very difficult group of people they couldn't reach social wrong. You should be downtown worry that the no matter what they offered. ending it." presence of the homeless is So I said, Take some of your scaring away customers. A money and rent some 3. few blocks north, near the apartments and go out to hospital, a modest, low - those people, and literally go The old Y M C.A. in slung detox center handles out there with the key and downtown Denver is on twenty -eight thousand say to them, 'This is the key Sixteenth Street, just east of admissions a year, many of to an apartment. If you the central business district. them homeless people who come with me right now I The main building is a have passed out on the am going to give it to you, handsome six -story stone streets, either from liquor and you are going to have structure that was erected in or —as is increasingly the that apartment.' And so they 1906, and next door is an case —from mouthwash "Dr did. And one by one those annex that was added in the - -Dr Tich, they all it —is people were coming in. Our nineteen - fifties. On the the brand of mouthwash intent is to take homeless ground floor there is a gym they use," says Roxane policy from the old idea of and exercise rooms. On the White, the manager of the funding programs that serve upper floors there are several city's social services "You homeless people endlessly hundred apartments — brightly can imagine what that does and invest in results that painted one - bedrooms, to your gut." actually end homelessness." efficiencies, and S R.O -style rooms with microwaves and Eighteen months ago, the Mangano is a history buff, a refrigerators and central city signed up with man who sometimes falls airconditioning—and for the Mangano With a mixture of asleep listening to old past several years those federal and local funds, the Malcolm X speeches, and apartments have been owned C C.H inaugurated a new who peppers his remarks and managed by the Colorado program that has so far with references to the civil- Coalition for the Homeless. enrolled a hundred and six rights movement and the people It is aimed at the Berlin Wall and, most of all, Even by big -city standards, Murray Barrs of Denver, the the fight against slavery "I Denver has a serious people costing the system am an abolitionist," he says homelessness problem The the most. C.0 H went after "My office in Boston was winters are relatively mild, the people who had been on opposite the monument to and the summers aren't nearly the streets the longest, who the 54th Regiment on the as hot as those of neighboring had a criminal record, who Boston Common, up the New Mexico or Utah, which had a problem with street from the Park Street has made the city a magnet for substance abuse or mental Church, where William the indigent. By the city's illness. "We have one Lloyd Garrison called for estimates, it has roughly a individual in her early immediate abolition, and thousand chronically sixties, but looking at her around the corner from homeless people, of whom you'd think she's eighty," where Frederick Douglass three hundred spend their Rachel Post, the director of gave that famous speech at time downtown, along the substance treatment at the the Tremont Temple It is central Sixteenth Street C C H , said. (Post changed very much ingrained in me shopping corridor or in some details about her that you do not manage a nearby Civic Center Park. clients in order to protect Many of the merchants their identity) "She's a chronic alcoholic. A typical make it work," Post said. 'You won't be able to get there day for her is she gets up go out there and you find these are, after all, hard and tries to find whatever 's people and assess how 're cases. "We've got one man, going to drink that day She doing in their residence. he's in his twenties," Post falls down a lot. There's Sometimes we're in contact said. "Already, he has another person who came in with someone every day cirrhosis of the liver One during the first week. He Ideally, we want to be in time he blew a blood alcohol was on methadone contact every couple of days of .49, which is enough to maintenance. He'd had We've got about fifteen people kill most people. The first psychiatric treatment. He we're really worried about place we had he brought was incarcerated for eleven now " over all his friends, and they years, and lived on the partied and trashed the streets for three years after The cost of services comes to place and broke a window that, and, if that's not about ten thousand dollars Then we gave him another enough, he had a hole in his per homeless client per year apartment, and he did the heart." An efficiency apartment in same thing." Denver averages $376 a The recruitment strategy month, or just over forty-five Post said that the man had was as simple as the one that hundred a year, which means been sober for several Mangano had laid out in St. that you can house and care months But he could Louis Would you like a free for a chronically homeless relapse at some point and apartment? The enrollees person for at most fifteen perhaps trash another got either an efficiency at the thousand dollars, or about a apartment, and they'd have Y.M C.A. or an apartment third of what he or she would to figure out what to do with rented for them in a building cost on the street. The idea is him next. Post had just been somewhere else in the city, that once the people in the on a conference call with provided they agreed to program get stabilized they some people in New York work within the rules of the will find jobs, and start to pick City who run a similar program In the basement of up more and more of their program, and they talked the Y, where the racquetball own rent, which would bring about whether giving clients courts used to be, the someone's annual cost to the so many chances simply coalition built a command program closer to six encourages them to behave center, staffed with ten thousand dollars. As of today, irresponsibly For some caseworkers Five days a seventy -five supportive people, it probably does. But week, between eight -thirty housing slots have already what was the alternative? If and ten in the morning, the been added, and the city's this young man was put caseworkers meet and homeless plan calls for eight back on the streets, he painstakingly review the hundred more over the next would cost the system even status of everyone in the ten years more money The current program. On the wall philosophy of welfare holds around the conference table The reality, of course, is that government assistance are several large white hardly that neat and tidy The should be temporary and boards, with lists of doctor's idea that the very sickest and conditional, to avoid appointments and court most troubled of the homeless creating dependency But dates and medication can be stabilized and someone who blows .49 on a schedules "We need a eventually employed is only a Breathalyzer and has staffing ratio of one to ten to hope. Some of them plainly cirrhosis of the liver at the age of twenty -seven doesn't another Social benefits are unpleasant choice. We can respond to incentives and supposed to have some kind be true to our principles or sanctions in the usual way of moral justification. We give we can fix the problem We "The most complicated them to widows and disabled cannot do both people to work with are veterans and poor mothers those who have been with small children Giving 4. homeless for so long that the homeless guy passed out going back to the streets Just on the sidewalk an apartment A few miles northwest of the isn't scary to them," Post has a different rationale It's old Y M C.A. in downtown said. "The summer comes simply about efficiency Denver, on the Speer along and they say, 'I don't Boulevard off -ramp from I- need to follow your rules ' " We also believe that the 25, there is a big electronic Power -law homelessness distribution of social benefits sign by the side of the road, policy has to do the opposite should not be arbitrary We connected to a device that of normal-distribution social don't give only to some poor remotely measures the policy It should create mothers, or to a random emissions of the vehicles dependency• you want handful of disabled veterans. driving past. When a car people who have been We give to everyone who with properly functioning outside the system to come meets a formal criterion, and pollution- control equipment inside and rebuild their lives the moral credibility of passes, the sign flashes under the supervision of government assistance "Good." When a car passes those ten caseworkers in the derives, in part, from this that is well over the basement of the Y M C.A. universality But the Denver acceptable limits, the sign homelessness program flashes "Poor " If you stand That is what is so perplexing doesn't help every chronically at the Speer Boulevard exit about power -law homeless homeless person in Denver and watch the sign for any policy From an economic There is a waiting list of six length of time, you'll find perspective the approach hundred for the supportive- that virtually every car makes perfect sense. But housing program, it will be scores "Good." An Audi A4 from a moral perspective it years before all those people — "Good." A Buick Century — doesn't seem fair get apartments, and some "Good." A Toyota Corolla — Thousands of people in the may never get one. There isn't "Good." A Ford Taurus — Denver area no doubt live enough money to go around, "Good." A Saab 9 - 5 — day to day, work two or and to try to help everyone a "Good," and on and on, until three jobs, and are tittle bit —to observe the after twenty minutes or so, eminently deserving of a principle of universality —isn't some beat -up old Ford helping hand —and no one as cost - effective as helping a Escort or tricked -out offers them the key to a new few people a lot. Being fair, in Porsche drives by and the apartment. Yet that's just this case, means providing sign flashes "Poor " The what the guy screaming shelters and soup kitchens, picture of the smog problem obscenities and swigging Dr and shelters and soup you get from watching the Tich gets. When the welfare kitchens don't solve the Speer Boulevard sign and mom's time on public problem of homelessness Our the picture of the assistance runs out, we cut usual moral intuitions are homelessness problem you her off. Yet when the little use, then, when it comes get from listening in on the homeless man trashes his to a few hard cases. Power -law morning staff meetings at apartment we give him problems leave us with an the Y M C.A. are pretty much the same Auto stuck open, the catalyst 's not town without emissions emissions follow a power- unusual that these failure testing or arrive at the test law distribution, and the air- modes result in high site "hot " — having just come pollution example offers emissions. We have at least off hard driving on the another look at why we one car in our database which freeway —which is a good struggle so much with was emitting seventy grams of way to make a dirty engine problems centered on a few hydrocarbon per mile, which appear to be clean. Still hard cases. means that you could almost others randomly pass the drive a Honda Civic on the test when they shouldn't, Most cars, especially new exhaust fumes from that car because dirty engines are ones, are extraordinarily It's not just old cars. It's new highly variable and clean. A 2004 Subaru in cars with high mileage, like sometimes burn cleanly for good working order has an taxis One of the most short durations. There is exhaust stream that's just successful and least publicized little evidence, Stedman 06 per cent carbon control measures was done by says, that the city's regime of monoxide, which is a district attorney in L.A. back inspections makes any negligible. But on almost in the nineties. He went to difference in air quality any highway, for whatever LAX and discovered that all of reason —age, ill repair, the Bell Cabs were gross He proposes mobile testing deliberate tampering by the emitters One of those cabs instead. Twenty years ago, owner —a small number of emitted more than its own he invented a device the size cars can have carbon- weight of pollution every of a suitcase that uses monoxide levels in excess of year " infrared light to instantly ten per cent, which is almost measure and then analyze two hundred times higher In Stedman's view, the current the emissions of cars as they In Denver, five per cent of system of smog checks makes drive by on the highway The the vehicles on the road little sense. A million Speer Avenue sign is produce fifty -five per cent of motorists in Denver have to attached to one of Stedman's the automobile pollution. go to an emissions center devices. He says that cities every year —take time from should put half a dozen or so work, wait in line, pay fifteen of his devices in vans, park "Let's say a car is fifteen or twenty -five dollars —for a them on freeway off -ramps years old," Donald Stedman test that more than ninety per around the city, and have a says. Stedman is a chemist cent of them don't need. "Not police car poised to pull over and automobile - emissions everybody gets tested for anyone who fails the test. A specialist at the University breast cancer," Stedman says. half -dozen vans could test of Denver His laboratory "Not everybody takes an AIDS thirty thousand cars a day put up the sign on Speer test." On -site smog checks, For the same twenty -five Avenue. "Obviously, the furthermore, do a pretty bad million dollars that Denver's older a car is the more likely job of finding and fixing the motorists now spend on on- it is to become broken. It's few outliers. Car enthusiasts— site testing, Stedman the same as human beings with high- powered, high- estimates, the city could And by broken we mean any polluting sports cars —have identify and fix twenty -five number of mechanical been known to drop a clean thousand truly dirty vehicles malfunctions —the engine into their car on the every year, and within a few computer's not working day they get it tested. Others years cut automobile anymore, fuel injection is register their car in a faraway emissions in the Denver metropolitan area by with a contraption about the political intuitions as well. somewhere between thirty- size of a suitcase. Can such a It's hard not to conclude, in five and forty per cent. The big problem have such a the end, that the reason we city could stop managing its small -bore solution? treated the homeless as one smog problem and start hopeless undifferentiated ending it. That's what made the findings group for so long is not of the Christopher simply that we didn't know Why cbn't we all adopt the Commission so unsatisfying. better It's that we didn't Stedman method? There's We put together blue - ribbon want to know better It was no moral impediment here. panels when we're faced with easier the old way We're used to the police problems that seem too large pulling people over for for the normal mechanisms of Power -law solutions have having a blown headlight or bureaucratic repair We want little appeal to the right, a broken side mirror, and it sweeping reforms But what because they involve special wouldn't be difficult to have was the commission's most treatment for people who do them add pollution- control memorable observation? It not deserve special devices to their list. Yet it was the story of an officer with treatment, and they have does run counter to an a known history of doing little appeal to the left, instinctive social preference things like beating up because their emphasis on for thinking of pollution as a handcuffed suspects who efficiency over fairness problem to which we all nonetheless received a suggests the cold number - contribute equally We have performance review from his crunching of Chicago-school developed institutions that superior stating that he cost - benefit analysis Even move reassuringly quickly "usually conducts himself in a the promise of millions of and forcefully on collective manner that inspires respect dollars in savings or cleaner problems Congress passes a for the law and instills public air or better police law The Environmental confidence." This is what you departments cannot entirely Protection Agency say about an officer when you compensate for such promulgates a regulation. haven't actually read his file, discomfort. In Denver, John The auto industry makes its and the implication of the Hickenlooper, the city's cars a little cleaner, and— Christopher Commission's enormously popular mayor, presto —the air gets better report was that the L.A.P D has worked on the But Stedman doesn't much might help solve its problem homelessness issue tirelessly care about what happens in simply by getting its police during the past couple of Washington and Detroit. captains to read the files of years He spent more time The challenge of controlling their officers. The L.A.P D 's on the subject in his annual air pollution isn't so much problem was a matter not of State of the City address this about the laws as it is about policy but of compliance The past summer than on any compliance with them. It's a department needed to adhere other topic. He gave the policing problem, rather to the rules it already had in speech, with deliberate than a policy problem, and place, and that's not what a symbolism, in the city's there is something public hungry for institutional downtown Civic Center ultimately unsatisfying transformation wants to hear Park, where homeless about his proposed solution Solving problems that have people gather every day with He wants to end air power -law distributions their shopping carts and pollution in Denver with a doesn't just violate our moral garbage bags He has gone half -dozen vans outfitted intuitions, it violates our on local talk radio on many occasions to discuss what gurney and was coming at me, the city is doing about the and Murray dumped off his issue. He has commissioned gurney and shook his fist and studies to show what a drain said, 'Don't you touch my on the city's resources the angel.' You know, when he homeless population has was monitored by the system become. But, he says, "there he did fabulously He would are still people who stop me be on house arrest and he going into the supermarket would get a fob and he would and say, 'I can't believe save money and go to work you're going to help those every day, and he wouldn't homeless people, those drink. He would do all the bums. "' things he was supposed to do There are some people who 5 can be very successful members of society if Early one morning a year someone monitors them. ago, Marla Johns got a call Murray needed someone to be from her husband, Steve. He in charge of him " was at work. "He called and woke me up," Johns But, of course, Reno didn't remembers. "He was choked have a place where Murray up and crying on the phone. could be given the structure And I thought that he needed. Someone must something had happened have decided that it cost too with another police officer I much. said, 'Oh, my gosh, what happened ?' He said, 'Murray "I told my husband that I died last night.' " He died of would claim his body if no one intestinal bleeding. At the else did," she said. "I would police department that not have him in an unmarked morning, some of the grave." officers gave Murray a moment of silence. © 20 06 Malcolm Gladwell "There are not many days that go by that I don't have a thought of him," she went on. "Christmas comes— and I used to buy him a Christmas present. Make sure he had warm gloves and a blanket and a coat. There was this mutual respect. There was a time when another intoxicated patient dumped off the i 1 Vil t,TrOl. YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY i, VI 1 i 2010 It's all about Communit . A AL Letter to OUR COMMUNITY • I Dear Friends and Neighbors: This past year has been challenging for all of us and especially to the neediest of our residents. With unemployment continuing to grow, it became increasingly difficult for residents of our community to afford ri 4 their basic needs. During this past year, the Yakima Housing Authority helped nearly 2,500 family members have a safe and affordable place `-•t to call home. As a result of the economic downturn, one of our largest programs, the Housing Choice Voucher Program (also known as Section 8), came under increased financial pressure to meet the needs of the community. We worked closely with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on creative solutions to help stabilize the Section 8 program, which included receiving additional funds. During the year, the Section 8 program served over 1,300 family members contributing approximately $2.7 million to the community, in the form of rental assistance, to over 250 landlords. With the downturn in the economy, we recommitted ourselves to serving those whom lost everything and now found themselves on the streets with no place to call home. We set aside 75 Section 8 vouchers to -. help these families. In addition, we partnered with Yakima County's Department of Human Services and Grants Management so that each of these families will receive services to help with health issues, substance abuse, and job training. Our country remains at war against terrorism, and we began focusing on bringing additional resources to the families who have sacrificed the most for our freedoms. We were able to secure 35 new Section 8 vouchers for the Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing program. In partnering with the Walla Walla Veteran Affairs Facility, each family will receive help from the Veteran Affairs Office to sustain them in permanent housing. I As we move forward to a new year, we will continue to help build stronger communities through our commitment to safe and affordable housing. Please join us in this commitment to our community through your continued support. 7 A / t ' i 4 4 17 Lowel Krueger Robert Wardell Executive Director Chairman of the Board • 2 r ) \' Meet the YHA LEADERSHIP TEAM . . NI ,....., 0 -Mi , t 1. P ' '' . r -i 3) At fi la jt 4 !!' : 1. I 1 FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Brian Johnson Kelly Nielsen FINAN5 & IT Commissioner Housing Manager MAINTENANCE Bob Wardell Mamie Barboza 12 Chairman of the Board Vice- Chairperson Lowel Krueger Sharon Wandler HOUSING Executive Director Director of Finance 10 Linda Orozco Christine Goodwin DA MIN Commissioner Commissioner 2 Ted Layton Maintenance Manager Employee Total: 29 Taking pride in our ACCOMPLISHMENTS 0 0 Yakima Housing Authority's Major Initiatives: • Continue to modernize its public housing units by using Recovery Act funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Funds total $328,000 —some of which was used to replace cabinets in 35 units at the Fair Avenue, Eastwood, and Cascade apartment complexes. Original cabinets were donated to the Habitat for Humanity Restore. • Awarded $48,000 to stabilize Section 8 program, which recently came under increasing financial pressure as a result of the economic downturn. • Secured 35 additional Section 8 vouchers for the Veteran Affairs Supporting Housing (VASH) program, totaling $130,000. Each VASH voucher includes a case management component supplied by the Veterans Affairs Office, which helps keep families in permanent housing. • Reaffirmed its commitment to Yakima County's homeless by setting aside 75 of its Section 8 vouchers, or approximately $360,000, for HAP payments. FARMWORKER ADULTS: 173 DISABLED /FARMWORKERS ELDERLY 1,070 244 nUIRIY 38 Section 8 (HCV) VETERANS 618 35 CHILDREN 1,158 MULTI - FAMILY 189 RESIDENTS TOTAL: 2,472 UNIT TOTAL: 1,053 4 Initiatives Continued... • Partnered with local nonprofits, landlords, and the Homeless Network of Yakima County in providing case management to help families adjust to living in permanent housing. • Nearly $2.7 million was paid to more than 250 landlords throughout Yakima and Kittitas Counties. • Continue to provide safe housing to its residents by partnering with the Yakima Police Department and the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which employs a police officer for its public housing units, costing approximately $185,000 over the life of the four -year contract for the officer and a patrol vehicle. • Secured funding for a Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) coordinator, totaling approximately $41,000. The coordinator will help families receiving Section 8 vouchers become self- sufficient. Each successful family will have a trust account (administered by YHA) remitted to them upon the completion of the program. • Continue efforts to become more energy efficient. YHA has partnered with the Washington State Department of Commerce and the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Washington, to begin weatherizing all of its units. Currently, YHA has had over 100 units (or 25 percent of its managed units) weatherized with approximately $22,000 worth of contributed assets. 5 s r The GABRIELE CARIGNAN STORY 0 0 • Gabriele Carnigan was born in was left homeless for a time. She Germany and moved to the United depended on the hospitality of States at a young age along with friends to get her through until her family. They lived in Michigan she became involved with YHA. and when Gabriele was old Through the VA Center in Yakima enough she joined the US Army in 2009, Gabriele was introduced in 1969. After being stationed in to YHA and their Veteran's Affairs Japan for nine years, Gabriele Supportive Housing program decided she would retire from (VASH program). She was one of the Army and move back to the the first people in Yakima to receive US. She arranged for a job as a a voucher for the program, which nanny back in Michigan and was allowed her the resources to rent looking forward to returning to her a duplex for her and her dog, a home state. Sadly, that job never Siberian husky who means the came to fruition and Gabriele world to her. Living independently '‘ 11) ki. i tA 4 - i4Pf,,, , ,itir . , - # 11 ) r , to , a • l i k II* r M a,C 6 II I ____._.. ._. Our PROGRAMS 0 0 Housing for Families the U.S. Department of Housing and The Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) Urban Development. has three programs helping to alleviate Housing for the Homeless a family's cost-of-living expenses. YHA has partnered with several not - First, YHA owns and manages 150 for - profit organizations and Yakima public housing units throughout the County's Department of Human city of Yakima. Services and Grant Management to provide housing and services to Second, YHA owns and manages the homeless. There are 75 units 39 units in Yakima that were primarily funded with revenue throughout Yakima specifically set bonds. To help families with rent, aside for individuals and families the YHA accepts families receiving who qualify as homeless. In addition, each individual receives assistance from Section 8. help with health care, substance Third, YHA administers 618 abuse, and job training. Section 8 vouchers for Yakima and Housing for Veterans Kittitas Counties. Families receiving assistance from the Section 8 In 2009, YHA received 35 Section program have the most flexibility in 8 vouchers for the Veteran Affairs their housing choice as they may Supportive Housing program. choose to rent from any landlord Veterans who qualify for this who accepts Section 8. A portion program receive assistance from the of rent and utilities is subsidized by Veterans Affairs Office to sustain 10 FINANCIALS 0 0 Revenue MARCH 2010 Revenue MARCH wi Government Grants $4,365,129 Government Grants $3,246,805 Tenant and Other $1,594,457 Tenant and Other $1,359,707 Capital Grants Capital Grants and Contributions $363,484 and Contributions $198,282 Investment $8,641 Investment $17,431 TOTAL $6,331,711 TOTAL $4,822,225 o o Expenses MARCH 2010 Expenses MARCH 2009 Housing Assistance Housing Assistance Payments $2,691,392 Payments $2,785,701 Administration $1,102,432 Administration $982,928 Ordinary Maintenance Ordinary Maintenance and Operations $956,747 and Operations $815,891 Depreciation $905,727 Depreciation $902,067 Utilities $391,885 Utilities $390,490 Mortgage Interest $172,527 Mortgage Interest $178,340 General Expenses $161,517 General Expenses $177,691 TOTAL $6,382,227 TOTAL $6,233,108 EXCESS (DEFICIENCY) REVENUE OVER EXPENSES 2010 Total Revenue $6,331,711 2009 Total Revenue $4,822,225 Total Expenses $6,382,227 Total Expenses $6,233,108 Total Deficiency - $50,516 Total Deficiency - $1,410,883 9 because of YHA and the VASH stay here where she has made i program has changed Gabriele's many friends and a church family. life in such a tremendous manner; She gives credit to YHA for she admits, "I probably would helping her reach this point, have ended up in a truck with my "The people are friendly, dog. Lord knows where I would be without them." everyone here has a smile and they make me feel welcome. They've given me Although Gabriele still has family a place to call home." ties in Michigan, two sons and three grandchildren, she also has family in Yakima, a daughter. In November 2010 her daughter, , - who is also serving in the US Army, o * 32 was deployed to Afghanistan. She 3 USA serves as a Blackhawk mechanic a ', 4 rr k4 crew chief and medic staff W N '" / �4 1 - sergeant. Gabriele takes great w pride in her daughter's service. Gabriele feels she has found a . You home in Yakima and intends to .. r a 1 I I iiiiii ‘i 1 _,,.: 171 I de, kt )1 01110 : , , 430 r ii I ! them in permanent housing. In YHA plans to build ten seasonal addition, the veteran and his or housing units which will house her family will be able to choose up to 76 individuals in Granger. to rent from any landlord whom Beginning in 2012, beds can be accepts Section 8 in Yakima and rented for $5 a day. Kittitas Counties. To help with the Each of these programs require an individual to have minimum income amounts earned from farm labor and initial costs of renting a unit, YHA has partnered with local banks to provide assistance for first and last to have documents for residency in month's rent and deposits. the United States. Housing for Farmworkers Housing for the Elderly YHA has three programs for YHA owns and manages a 38 -unit farmworkers and their families. apartment building in Yakima for YHA manages 147 units throughout the elderly. In order to qualify Yakima County receiving support for the one - bedroom units, the from the U.S. Department of individual and his or her spouse Agriculture's Rural Development. must be 62 or older. 99 of the 147 units receive rental Housing for the Disabled 1 assistance, which reduces the cost of f f rent and utilities. All of YHA's programs are available f It also owns and manages 26 units to individuals with disabilities. Staff reaches out to disabled individuals for farmworkers in Yakima who pay and works with each situation. reduced rents. Pr ogram Revenue 2010 } O O Section 8 (HCV) $3,299,237 $1,679,013 Multi Family lo t F armworker $1,060,367 Elderly $228,299 Veterans $64,795 i ii Total $6,331,711 11 vii io r k YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY 0 0 810 N 6th Avenue Yakima, WA 98902 P.O. Box 1447 Yakima, WA 98907 PH: 509.453.3106 FX: 509.453.3111 TDD: 1.800.545.1833 ext 560 .l' 4,4 ,, ►,, = L ■A _ • • ► • MISSION Building stronger communities through our STATEME \T commitment to safe and affordable housing provides rental assistance to veterans. Primary Goal: • Assist veterans and their families in ending homelessness • Improve each family's physical and mental health • Enhance each family's ability to sustain permanent housing VASH vouchers and VA's case management services. Veterans who are admitted to the HUD -VASH program are assigned a VA case manager for assessment and treatment planning Assistance in obtaining the VASH voucher is also provided There is no time limit for being in the HUD -VASH program The HUD -VASH program is intended for veterans and their families who: • Are eligible for VA health care services • Are motivated to improve the quality of their lives by working with a VA case manager and actively participating in treatment for their conditions Veterans who are interested in the HUD -VASH program should contact their local VASH representatives at 509 -453 -3106 YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Office Hours Monday - Thursday 8 30- 5 30 1 Closed 12.00- 1 00 and Fridays Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) provides rental assistance to Farm Workers. Yakima Housing Authority owns and manages 173 units of agricultural rental housing which are located on 46 sites throughout Yakima County Our units range in size from one to five bedrooms Eligible tenants must be: • Low income • Earn part of their income from farm work • Have no felony convictions in the past three -years Rent subsidies may be awarded based on availability. Our Farmworker Housing units are located at the following communities: • Cowiche • Granger • Tieton • Toppenish • Yakima Apply on line at www YakimaHousing.org Applications will also be accepted during regular business hours or can be mailed to PO Box 1447, Yakima, WA 98907 _11vk YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Office Hours Monday - Thursday 8:30 - 5.30 ( Closed. 12 00 -1.00 and Fridays What is FSS? An opportunity to set education and /or employment goals and work towards them with a coordinator that will create an individual service plan for you A savings account will be set -up and deposits will be made by YHA as your wages increase Who is eligible? Individuals who are currently receiving rental assistance under the Section 8 (Housing Choice Voucher) program Are you currently: • Unemployed with a desire to be employed? • Employed and want to increase your wage? • In school or a fob training program? • Receiving TANF or unemployment benefits? If you answered yes to any of the above, the FSS program could be for you! You'll Receive: • Advocacy from your FSS Coordinator • One -on -one support • Referrals to service providers • FREE money upon program completion Contact us to learn more about eligibility, goal - setting, and how the savings account works. YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Office Hours Monday Thursday 12.30 - 5.30 1 Closed: Fridays and Federal Holidays Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) provides rental assistance to seniors. Glenn Acres Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) owns and operates Glenn Acres a 38 unit senior housing facility All units are one bedroom and YHA pays all utilities including electricity Eligible residents must meet the following requirements: • At least 62 or older • Low income • Legal U S resident or citizenship status • No felony convictions in the past three -years Rent will be approximately 30- percent of household monthly income Persons with disabilities who require assistance in completing the application may call YHA to make special arrangements TDD line is available for the deaf at 1- 800 - 545 -1833, ext 560 Apply on line at www YakimaHousing org Applications will also be accepted during regular business hours or can be mailed to PO Box 1447, Yakima, WA 98907 YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Office Hours. Monday - Thursday 830 - 530 ( Closed 12:00 -1.00 and Fridays Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) ofrece ayuda para alquilar a los veteranos. Objetivo primario: • Ayudar a los veteranos y sus familias para poner fin a la falta de vivienda • Me]orar la salud fisica y mental de cada familia • McJorar la capacidad de cada familia para mantener una vivienda permanente Vales de Vash y servicios de VA de manejo de casos. Los veteranos que son admitidos en el programa de HUD -VASH se les asigna un administrador de casos de VA para la evaluation y planificaci6n del tratamiento Tambien se provee asistencia en la obtencion del bono VASH No hay limite de tiempo para estar en el programa de HUD -VASH El programa de HUD -VASH esta destinado a los veteranos y sus familias que: • Son elegibles para los servicios de atencion m6dica del VA • Estan motivados para me]orar la calidad de sus vidas al trabajar con un administrador de casos de VA y participar activamente en el tratamiento de sus condiciones Los veteranos que esten interesados en el programa de HUD -VASH deben comunicarse con sus representantes locales al 509 - 453 -3106. YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Horario de ofiana. Lunes - Jueves 8.30 - 5 30 1 Cerrado 12:00 -1:00 y los Viernes Yakima Housing Authority(YHA) ofrece ayuda de asistencia de renta para los trabajadores de Campo. Yakima Housing Authority es el propietario y administra 173 unidades de viviendas agricolas que se encuentran en sitios localizados en el Condado de Yakima Nuestras unidades varean de tamano, desde una a anco recamaras Inquilinos elegibles deben ser: • De bajo ingreso • Obtener parte de sus ingresos en trabaJo agricola • No tener ninguna condena de delito grave en los ultimos tres anos Asistentia de renta sera disponible segun la disponibilidad Nuestras unidades de Vivienda para Trabajadores Agricolas se encuentran en las siguientes comunidades: • Cowiche • Granger • Tieton • Toppenish • Yakima Aplique en linea en el www YakimaHousing org Las aplicaciones tambien seran aceptadas durante el horario normal de la ofiana o puede ser enviada por correo a PO Box 1447, Yakima, WA 98907 -'1*VL YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Horano de ofiana Lunes - Jueves: 8:30 - 5.30 1 Cerrado: 12.00 -1.00 y los Viernes ZQue es FSS? Una oportunidad para establecer metas sobre education y/o empleo y a trabaJar hatia alcanzarlas Junto con su coordmador que creara un plan de servitio individual para usted. Se establecera una cuenta de ahorros y se haran depositor por YHA (Yakima Housing Authority [Autondad de vivienda de Yakima]) segun aumente su salario lQuien es elegible? Los individuos que actualmente retiben asistencia de alquHer baJo el programa de la Section 8 (Housing Choice Voucher [Cup6n de selection de vivienda]). Jsta usted actualmente... • desempieado con el deseo de tener empleo? • empleado y le gustaria aumentar su salario? • en la escuela o asistiendo a un programa de capacitation para el trabaJo? • retibiendo TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [Asistencia temporal para familias necesitadas]) o benefitios del desempleo? Si usted contest6 si a cualquiera de las preguntas antenores, iel programa FSS podria ser pars usted! Usted recibira: • Apoyo de su coordinador de FSS • Ayuda individual ('uno- a -uno') • Referencias a los proveedores de servicios • Dinero GRATIS al terminar el programa Contactenos para aprender mas acerca de la elegibilidad, establecimiento de metal y como funtiona la cuenta de ahorros "'Vk YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Horano Lunes Jueves 12 30 - 5.30 1 Cerrado Viernes y Dias Feriados Federales Yakima Housing Authority ofrece ayuda para alquilar personas mayores. Glenn Acres Yakima Housing Authority es propietaria y opera una instalacion de Glenn Acres de 38 viviendas para personas mayores Todas las unidades son de una recamara y YHA paga todo los servicios publicos incluyendo electricidad Los residentes elegibies deben cumplir los siguientes requisitos: • Por to menos 62 anos o mas • Ba]os ingresos • Residente legal de EE.UU o tiudadano • Sin antecedentes penales en los ultimos tres anos El alquilar sera aproximadamente un 30 por tiento del ingreso mensual del hogar Las personas con discapacidad que requieren asistencia para completar la solititud puede Ilamar a YHA para hacer arreglos espetiales La linea TDD esta disponible para los sordomudos en 1- 800 - 545 -1833, ext 560 Aplique por internet en la pagina www YakimaHousing org Las aplicaciones tambien seran aceptadas en la ofiana durante las horas de negotio o por correo a PO Box 1447, Yakima, WA 98907 YAKIMA HOUSING AUTHORITY Horano de Ofiana Lunes Jueves 8 30 -5.30 1 Cerrado 12.00-100 y los Viernes