It was an opinion piece signed by Mar-Quetta Boddie, Rebecca Callahan, Keith Stahl and Fred Berry AND "the view of 11 other members of the Continuum of Care for the Homeless"
It was entitled "Second Chance Village is not a solution to homelessness" and was written on July 11, 2018.
I often focus on Mayor Horrigan's ham-handed response to the work we were doing with homeless people in our tent village.
But this Summit County Continuum of Care opinion letter is possibly more important in understanding the state of homeless services in Akron Ohio.
Before I discuss that letter, I want to show you a brief email that was sent to me on July 3, 2018 from someone at the Summit County Continuum of Care:
The CoC had to come out with an agreed upon statement.
There is NO WAY that we believe people should be in tents or under bridges, but they do not need to be.
There are options.
The people are not taking advantage of all the services that are available to them.
They could all be in homes today if they were encourages and supported to do so.
There is a critical part of this email, which is the premise for the July 11 op-ed is this statement: "they do not need to be."
They are stating that we have homeless people but they do not need to be homeless.
Initially I wasn't sure if this was a lie or if they actually believe it. But I knew one thing for sure: they definitely said it. They said that people do not need to live in tents or under bridges.
My response was this:
Well lets put them in houses today.
I will force them to go. That would be a super happy 4th of July.
The next email from the Continuum of Care makes me think that they weren't lying. That they did actually believe this statement. They wrote:
Im not sure if you are serious.
But if you want to help the current residents secure better housing, I can notify the other housing representatives and we can start the wheels in motion today.
I think we could have all of them out in the next week.
Let me know if you are 100% sure you are ready to do this, because the residents will really look to you for leadership on this move.
It looks to me like they were surprised that I would want people to get into houses. Did they think I was hoarding people in tents and trying to actually NOT get them into housing?
It was such a surprising and, honestly, bizarre response.
Of course I wanted these people in housing.
We learned some very important things after this letter. We learned that the statement "They could all be in homes today" was not only false but they couldn't get everyone from our village in homes six months later.
I detailed this here, but here are the final numbers of those housed when they shut our village down in January 2019 (6 months after this July declaration that everyone could be housed in a week)
Housed in January 2019:
Yes: 32
No: 5
Self Resolved: 8 (these are people that disappeared along the way)
And then, I reviewed those same people as to where they were on March 13, 2019:
Housed on 3/13/2019:
Yes: 26
No: 12
Not Sure: 7
So, not only could we not house all the people from our village ("next week" as was suggested in July), 3 months later, the following March, a significant portion of those housed left their housing.
There is another sentence in the email chain above that is really troubling to me. This person said: "The people are not taking advantage of all the services that are available to them."
So, this is how they make sense of people living on the street. It's the homeless people's fault. They aren't taking advantage of all the services that are available to them.
I now believe they felt that we were all just playing pretend campground over in my backyard. If these homeless people would just do what they were supposed to do everyone would be in a house and we all could live happily every after.
This is their actual belief.
They believe that homelessness is just a fluke that would completely go away if homeless people would just get their act together.
Meanwhile, Wooster (a city near us) just did their first ever summer homelessness point in time count. The results came out 4 days ago:
It showed that homelessness is up in Wayne County
They found that homelessness was up 29% when compared to their January point in time count.
As they probably would admit, this is one of those "duh" moments. Of course you are going to find more homeless people to count in the summer than in January. Homeless people are out and about less when its freezing.
This is important for what the Summit County Continuum of Care pointed out in their op-ed piece.
They wrote:
Since the opening of the village, our unsheltered homeless population grew by 71 percent in one year.
But they didn't have the "duh" moment. They didn't come to the conclusion that of course! the homeless numbers would increase because we pulled people out of the woods, out of abandoned homes and gave them a safe place to live in our tent village.
Their conclusion was that WE were the reason homelessness increased. Their statement was:
In exploring the cause of this increase, it appears the growth and development of the Second Chance Village is a primary factor.
They didn't say our village enabled them to count homeless people more easily. They said WE WERE A "PRIMARY FACTOR" for the increase in homelessness.
When you put all the pieces together I now truly believe that they actually thought more people became homeless because we made some fun tent village people could hang out at. That was their actual belief. (Don't forget these are the people in charge of homelessness in Akron and all of Summit County.)
They didn't think these people were homeless and chose to move to our village because it was safer and they had more resources than the woods. They believed we created homeless people.
How are we ever going to address the homeless condition when the people in charge of helping the homeless believe:
This is dangerous thinking.
If the people in charge have so little understanding of why people are homeless, why they aren't in houses, why they are living unsheltered on the street and, most importantly, why they gravitated so strongly to a homeless-run tent village we have little hope of actually solving homelessness.
There's another issue in their op-ed that really bothered me. They came out against you, the supporters of the homeless. They wrote:
Our best intentions of delivering a meal or other resources meet the needs of the moment but do not provide a long-term solution. Long-term solutions encourage people to lift themselves up while providing other critical support. It is important to focus on the root cause or the issue that has led to the homelessness episode.
They are saying:
I know this is true because they told me on two separate occasions that "the street is motivating." What they mean by that is if homeless people suffer long enough and hard enough on the street they will eventually "choose" to get into housing.
When you put all these pieces together you can see how their bizarro world makes sense to them.
This is the belief system of the Summit County Continuum of Care. This is at the core of everything they do. But this is a huge logical fallacy. This is a fundamental flaw in their reasoning.
This is critical to understand because this belief system they have created prolongs suffering, promotes isolation and ends in needless deaths from exposure and dying from overdoses alone in the woods.
Ironically, the CoC are the ones who are not following their own advice when they say, "It is important to focus on the root cause or the issue that has led to the homelessness episode."
They don't appear to have the slightest idea what the "root cause" of homelessness in Akron is. How could they when they have such out of touch beliefs about what a homeless person is and even what their own services are capable of?
This isn't some philosophical, theoretical debate that only results in the intellectual amusement of elitist navel-gazers. This is creating policy that promotes torturous living conditions and ultimately kills people.
Fortunately, there are those in the homeless services community that don't think the way these power brokers of the Summit County Continuum of Care think. But they are afraid to come out in the open. They are afraid to stand up to these people. And the reason is simple: They'll lose money: like a lot of money. If you are not on the inside of the CoC you are on the outside looking in. And it's likely your entire organization is based on the good graces of getting money from federal, state and local governments that hand it directly to the Summit County Continuum of Care to do with as they see fit.
We have to stand up and talk out against these oppressive and dangerous policies. The Continuum of Care does not understand what being homeless is truly like.
They need new leadership that is willing to look at homelessness in 21st century America. The playing field is different today than it ever was before. Unemployment is very low. The economy is very high and yet places like Wooster Ohio are willing to admit that homelessness is increasing despite all the economic signs that should mean a decrease in homelessness.
When the Summit County CoC looks at a 71% increase in homelessness and blames it on you and me and a tent village you know we have serious problems.
(I've copied and pasted this op-ed below. It is a very important piece of the puzzle in understanding why homelessness is increasing in Summit County.)
You can find the original here: https://www.ohio.com/akron/editorial/mar-quetta-boddie-rebecca-callahan-ken-stahl-and-fred-berry-second-chance-village-is-not-a-solution-to-homelessness
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Housing is the cornerstone of stability for individuals who struggle with addiction, mental health issues and/or unemployment. Homeless by definition is an individual or family living on the streets or in a place not meant for human habitation, an emergency shelter, transitional housing program or safe haven.
We know that people who live in tents, sheds, abandoned houses, cars or other places not meant for human habitation are less likely to attend appointments, take medications as prescribed or gain employment. Failing to follow through with treatment often leads to hospitalizations, interactions with emergency services, ER visits and incarcerations. All of these outcomes are detrimental to the individual and the community.
Our homeless prevention system, better known as the Akron/Barberton/Summit County Continuum of Care for the Homeless, has 1,340 beds available to provide housing for people experiencing short-term or long-term homelessness. The county will have 76 additional beds designed to serve homeless people, not unlike the individuals at the Second Chance Village, available this month.
Summit County boasts a robust system of services and housing options for individuals who are homeless. For the past five years, the county has seen a reduction in the number of people living homeless, culminating in the declaration of functional zero for veteran homelessness.
This past year we have seen an increase in homelessness. In exploring the cause of this increase, it appears the growth and development of the Second Chance Village is a primary factor. Since the opening of the village, our unsheltered homeless population grew by 71 percent in one year.
Like all persons experiencing homelessness, the people staying at the Second Chance Village do not have utilities, running water, sanitary facilities, permanent shelter from extreme weather conditions, a listed address or a way to prepare and store personal food items. Additionally, they do not have a door to properly secure themselves from unwanted visitors in this type of environment.
The Akron/Barberton/Summit County Continuum of Care for the Homeless believes the Second Chance Village is not a solution to homelessness.
As a community, we have paid much attention and directed significant energy to the Second Chance Village with the best intentions. This attention comes from local politicians, reporters, faith-based groups, students, well-wishers and service providers. In our community, we pride ourselves on making a difference and lifting people up in down times.
Our best intentions of delivering a meal or other resources meet the needs of the moment but do not provide a long-term solution. Long-term solutions encourage people to lift themselves up while providing other critical support. It is important to focus on the root cause or the issue that has led to the homelessness episode.
As a collaborative of providers committed to addressing the issue of homelessness in all communities we serve, we have had many conversations with the people involved with the operations of the Second Chance Village. Our focus was to brainstorm alternative options to provide more housing opportunities to the people sleeping in tents that would be safe and sustainable.
We all agreed it is shameful that people are sleeping in tents because it is perceived to be the only option available to them. We have performed and will continue to perform outreach in an effort to engage the homeless there and show them that tents are not their only option.
We have done intakes with many to initiate their transition into permanent housing. Some of our efforts have been successful, but challenges still exist.
The member organizations of the Akron/Barberton/Summit County Continuum of Care for the Homeless do not believe that it is acceptable for people to live in tents, on the streets, in sheds or in other places not meant for human habitation. As stated above, the community has the beds available, the community has the financial support available, and the community has the support services in place and available for every resident of the Second Chance Village.
We cannot support or endorse any establishment that facilitates or encourages living in tents or other places not meant for human habitation. The Continuum of Care for the Homeless will remain committed to providing housing opportunities to all the homeless individuals living in tents at the Second Chance Village. We will continue to engage the individuals and offer permanent housing solutions. However, our outreach can only be successful if we have the full support of those operating and giving to the Second Chance Village.
We welcome new ideas, energy and the commitment to help people achieve housing stability and self-sufficiency. We sincerely appreciate the dedication of those who have sustained the Second Chance Village.
Nevertheless, the homeless people in our community would be best served by the development and support of permanent housing solutions, of which many are already available in our community.
Boddie is the manager of the Continuum of Care for the Homeless. Callahan is the executive director of the Community AIDS Network/Akron Pride Initiative. Stahl is the director of residential services at Community Support Services. Berry is the president and chief executive of Humility of Mary Housing. This column reflects the view of 11 other members of the Continuum of Care for the Homeless.
Paid For By The People for Sage Lewis