What will happen to the ultra-poor under Ballard?

Take a walk with Indy's next mayor, by Matthew Tully, Indianapolis Star November 18, 2007

I want to like Greg Ballard. I really do. But this quote just sounds kinda Scrooge-y*. Here's hoping that the Spirit of Christmases Yet to Come pays him a visit before he takes office.

At another point, we walked past a panhandler who pointed to Ballard, recognizing the newly famous face. The man was one of several panhandlers we walked by that afternoon. When he talked about the issue, Ballard no longer sounded like a bleeding heart.

"I don't like it," he said. "It's one thing to have the resources of a compassionate society, but it's another to show the tough love that might be needed to get them to use the resources."

There will be less panhandling Downtown within six months after his term begins, Ballard said, adding he would use police to address the issue. That, he said, would help send a message about the city.

And what about his vision for the city?

"Really, I want to have an urbane, warm city that welcomes business," he said.

* In case you haven't read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in a while:

"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."

"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.

"Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

"And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"

"They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."

"The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.

"Both very busy, sir."

"Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course," said Scrooge. "I'm very glad to hear it."

I Heart My Housemates

Life is rolling along at the OPA house. Here's a quick update:

We currently have 5 housemates (Mark, Ken, Maureen, Sarah, & Ryan) and 5 VERY attention-deficit pets. Everyone is reasonably happy and healthy.

Now that the kitchen is functional, we're learning that Mark has special chef super powers. His potato curry soup is exquisite.

Ken is still trying to find a job. If you know of any hair stylist jobs that are on commission (not booth rental), keep Ken in mind. He pretty much rocks the hair world.

Maureen is a breath of fresh air. We are really enjoying having her be part of the house.

We are putting the finishing touches on our in-progress remodeling projects. The construction chaos is at a minimum now. We are not planning to start anything new until after the holidays.

Mark & Sarah are starting online courses through Ivy Tech in "Starting a Nonprofit" and "Nonprofit Management". They hope to get OPA (or something similar) up as a nonprofit in early '08.

Mark was on the panel for the Spirit and Place event Living Generously When You're One Paycheck Away, which happened last Thursday. The general feeling was that people were stirred by what our friends who have experienced homelessness firsthand had to say.

Progress for the second-to-the-least

Just a few things I want to highlight in this article from the Evansville Courier and Press:

On any given night in Evansville, about 30 people sleep in places not meant for habitation.

Approximately 400 men, women and children spend their nights in transitional housing.

Evansville is in the third year of a 10-year program designed to end homelessness.

"We're making progress," Hayes said. "We've hired a development director from Indianapolis to work on establishing a 60-unit housing project."

Long-range plans include building 500 units of single-room occupancy and 1,500 rental-assistance dwellings.

I am happy to hear that it sounds like they are adding enough units to help take care of all the people in Evansville who are living on the streets. Homes for everyone - yea!

But the article goes on to talk about what seems to be a trend in homeless shelters, towards program-based shelter.

The rules have changed at a local institution that has long been an emergency shelter for men.

"We're trying to end the merry-go-round," said Steve Hale, chaplain at the Evansville Rescue Mission. "I've been here 10 years, and I've seen some guys go through here 15 or 20 times."

New arrivals stay for a 10-day evaluation period. Then they begin a two-year training path, where they receive instruction in anger management and how to keep track of their finances. The next step is learning vocational skills.

"If they're not serious about changing their lives, they can only live here for the 10 days," Hale said.

I have mixed feelings about the "getting off the merry-go-round" philosophy that is being adopted at the Evansville Rescue Mission and at other major shelters here in Indy (Lighthouse/Wheeler).

I affirm that any service provider has every right to limit their services to those that they have the energy, resources, and expertise to actually help. Even with my limited experience, I know that if you try to help those who have problems you aren't equipped to deal with, you can easily just leave them worse off than they were before. And it is frustrating to not be able to force "grown-ass adults" to make an effort to improve their lives.

However, I guess the dilemma is for those who are unable or unwilling to enter the program. Essentially, what you have is the absolutely most broken people who end up staying on the streets. These are often your hard-core addicts, your seriously mentally ill folks, and your ex-felons who have lost hope after trying and trying to re-integrate but having every opportunity closed to them.

Where do we put "the least of these"? At OPA house, we know that we aren't ready to invite guests who are actively facing addictions. We tried it (albeit inadvertently) and know that we aren't equipped to offer the structure and discipline necessary to help with that. We also know that we can't allow people who have been convicted of certain felonies live with us, due to our proximity to schools and child care centers.

While I would love to go all Dorothy Day and offer OPA House radical hospitality to everyone, we just can't do that right now.

But my heart still breaks for those who have nowhere else to go.

Resident Evil

Ever have one of those weeks where the negative energy is so thick you could cut it with a knife? That seems to be this week at OPA House.

Without going in to too much detail, lots of things just seem to be unraveling. And when they're not unraveling, they're breaking at their weakest points. And when they aren't breaking, they seem to be sitting by, just waiting for an opportune moment to fall apart.

So if you think about it, pray with us that peace, balance, and restoration would come back on the upswing over here. The sooner, the better...if this downward slump keeps up, we'll have horrible icky ruts stuck in our brains that will take years to get over.

Thanks.

Supportive services at Horizon House

In the course of the past year, I've spoken with many people who are surprised to find that the number of homeless people in Indianapolis is growing. Many of these people have been faithful supporters of Wheeler Mission, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, and other great organizations that they assume are taking care of our city's homeless folks.

As I talk to people, they seem to pretty much universally believe that if the homeless would just use these services, then they will be able to get their life back on track and within a few months will have a nice apartment in Pike Township, a used foreign car, and a manager position at a fast-food restaurant. After all, if the genius Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness could become a multi-millionaire, then a normal person should at least be able to get off the street and into a happy lower-middle-class standard of living.

In the Sept 11 Indianapolis Star, Carter Wolf wrote a very nice piece titled "Programs for homeless work if funded, supported" This article provides a succinct snapshot of the scope of homelessness in Indy. It also provides an overview of the supportive services that are currently available to homeless and near-homeless folks here in Indy.

I wanted to re-post the following reasons that Mr. Wolf gives to explain why the number of people without homes in Indy seems to be growing:

1. The organizations listed above (e.g., Wheeler Ministries, Holy Family shelter, Second Helpings, food pantries, the Homeless Initiative Project, Midtown Mental Health) are pressed for funding.
2. Minimum-wage and part-time jobs no longer provide enough for housing.
3. There are fewer homeless programs statewide than five years ago.
4. There are fewer case managers at all agencies to assist the homeless than five years ago.
5. There are fewer emergency shelter beds than three years ago.
6. There is only one day shelter left.
7. There is an increase in the number of individuals being released from incarceration.
8. It is more difficult for mental health providers for the homeless to receive Medicaid.
9. Section 8 vouchers are so difficult for this population to get, it is rarely is worth the effort.
10. There is a shortage of beds for indigent detox and extended addiction support.
11. There is a shortage of clean, safe low-income housing.
12. HUD, the governmental agency that provides most of the homeless support dollars, has shifted away from service-only programs such as Horizon House (currently supporting 40 percent of our budget).

Take a look at #12. Horizon House, which seems to be the first place people now go when they need resources to get off or to stay off the streets, could be losing 40% of its funding. You think there are a lot of homeless-looking people on the streets now? If the day center and supportive services that they provide are reduced, do not be at all surprised to see even more.

Please take a look at Horizon House and see if it might be something you, your friends, a class, or your church community would be interested in supporting.

You see, it isn't always simple

Today, we're getting the opportunity to find out just how difficult it is to keep someone at risk of being homeless from actually becoming homeless.

We met "Rick" through One Paycheck Away. Rick is a convicted felon and a registered sex offender. But on top of his legal status, Rick is also pretty low functioning (mentally), and in poor physical shape. He's not crippled or blind or anything like that, but he's probably a short jog away from a heart attack and I'd be shocked if he isn't borderline diabetic.

The conditions of Rick's parole stipulate that he must find housing and he must find a job.

For the past few months, some folks have chipped in to take care of Rick's rent, in exchange for him doing some light work. In addition, we have contracted with The Social Worker to help Rick navigate the system. The Social Worker has been taking Rick on some serious job searches lately, but due to the felony/low-skills/lack of transportation issues, they have had zero luck so far.

Rick's rent is due today. We really aren't comfortable with paying for another month, and though we're a pretty open house, we legally can't offer him a spot on our couch since OPA House is near a few daycare centers.

Rick losing his apartment will likely mean that he gets sent back to jail on account of the parole violation.

Here's what we've done so far to help Rick.

1. Call 211. I asked for any referrals for rent assistance, but the operator I spoke with there didn't know of anything. She did, however, give me the phone numbers for Good News Mission and Lighthouse Mission. Unfortunately, the number I was given for Lighthouse is not in service. I called Good News, and they are full (with a waiting list, and that's for a "hard wooden cot", as they put it). Plus, they don't accept people with a criminal history that involves children.
2. Go to the Center Township Trustee. The Social Worker took Rick down there last week, but they had to leave after waiting 2 1/2 hours. The case workers there told them that since it's first-come, first-served, you really need to get there about 7:30 AM, and you can easily end up waiting until after noon. Being somewhat desperate, another friend from church took Rick there again today, where they were told that they can't help you if you're unemployed, and that he shouldn't have got an apartment in the first place. I find this ironic, since their website says that to be eligible for assistance, you must "Have little or no income or assets." They also are supposed to have an employment referral service, but I haven't yet heard if this was offered to Rick.
3. Call the landlord and ask for an extension. OK, we were able to do this and get Rick an extension until Monday, Sept 17.
4. Call Wheeler Mission. Because, you know, things aren't looking good. They said
   they do have availability for homeless men, if you get there between 3:00 and 4:30 PM. I think they are just putting people on mats right now.
5. Call 211 again. You never know. The second time, the operator immediately knew that Lighthouse was closed and recommended Wheeler Mission. She also recommended looking at programs offered by PACE/OAR (an agency that helps ex-offenders to re-integrate into society), and the Indianapolis Urban League (I'm not sure this one will apply, since Rick isn't African-American).

Please let us know if you hear of someone who is willing to hire someone like Rick. He can do janitorial work pretty well; he just can't do it anywhere near a place a child might potentially show up. He also needs a good deal of supervision, since he tends to succumb to inertia pretty easily. That said, he's dependable and generally friendly.

What would your next steps be?

Welcome Caoimhe

On Monday, we welcomed the newest member of the OPA House family...

Caoimhe (pronounced Kee-vah) is just the biggest, sweetest, laziest dog you'll ever hope to meet. She's a "big snuggle bear" (to quote Shannon Abbott). Her interests include laying around, smiling, shedding, and getting attention. She prefers cat food over dog food.

"Caoimhe" is a gaelic name (actually quite popular in Ireland) that means "beautiful, gentleness, loveliness, grace". We also like it because it sounds like Kiva, which is the name of our favorite microfinance you-lend-it organization.

Ryan is trying to get me to scratch IN her ears...he swears that she loves it. I'm sure she does, but my dog love only goes so far...

Caoimhe wants you to stop in, say hi, and give her some love.

OPA!

The OPA House. I have to admit, I'm not thrilled with the name. I wanted something much more frilly-sounding...something like "Sunshine and Puppy Palace" or "PeaceLily Place". The OPA House sounds more like a place full of crusty old men in lederhosen..or at best, a biergarten.

But since our first housemates are our friends who started One Paycheck Away, OPA House seemed to be an appropriate nod to both our roots and what is likely to be our mission for the foreseeable future...providing a home and community to folks who are or have been homeless, or who just like being around them.