1,000 Volunteers Needed for MDHA 2017 Homeless Count – Registration Now Open

On Thursday night, January 26, 2017, 8:00pm–1:00am, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) will conduct its annual Point-In-Time (PIT) Homeless Count. MDHA is actively seeking the help of the community in recruiting volunteers for this task.

The Count, a requirement under federal law, helps communities and the nation as a whole, identify and understand the extent and nature of homelessness, changing trends in this area, and the measure of our success in ending homelessness. Results of the Count will be shared with the community during the “State of the Homeless Address” in March 2017.

That night, volunteers will fan out from two staging areas, First United Methodist Church of Dallas, and Wilshire Baptist Church, across Dallas County, to count the unsheltered homeless, while partner agencies will count the sheltered homeless. The volunteers will follow routes created with geographic information system (GIS) mapping software, canvassing under bridges, in parks, in cars, and in (safe to investigate) wooded areas and abandoned buildings, as well as other areas where persons may be seeking shelter from the cold.

“In order to conduct a full and accurate count of the unsheltered homeless, MDHA will need 1,000 volunteers, registered as teams of 3-5 persons,” said Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO. This event, which requires a 4-6 hour one time commitment, makes for an excellent short term service project for congregations, companies, non-profits, service organizations, and neighborhood associations. Advance online and on-site training will be provided. Similar counts will be conducted in Collin County, as well as in Garland, Irving and Mesquite, and the results will be reported with the results from the main Dallas Count.

Volunteers may register their teams at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PITCountDallas, and learn more about the Count at http://www.mdhadallas.org/2017-homeless-count/. “Please share the news offline with your friends, and on social media using hashtag #dallascounts2017,” said David Gruber, MDHA Development and Communications Director. “Thursday night, January 26, 2017, 8:00pm–1:00am, let’s make this statement as a community: In Dallas everybody counts.”

SPARC Dallas - Racism and Homelessness - Addressing Inequity in 10 American Cities

African Americans make up 13% of the population, both in the U.S. and in Dallas. Across the country, on average, African Americans make up 40% of the homeless population, and 28% of the unsheltered homeless population, which is troubling, in and of itself. However, in Dallas, African Americans make up 67% of the homeless population, and 70% of the unsheltered homeless population! This cannot stand. This cannot continue.

We must and we will tackle this overrepresentation of African Americans in the homeless population. With the help of a generous grant from United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ Unite Dallas Relief Fund, we will do so through a new research and action program from the Center for Social Innovation (C4) titled “Racism and Homelessness - Addressing Inequity in 10 American Cities”. In the words of C4, “While no single initiative can end structural racism across all systems, we believe,” that through this initiative we can, “create positive change in attitudes and behaviors that will begin to close the racial gap that has led to the disproportionate prevalence… of homelessness among African Americans.”

The local iteration in each of the 10 cities will be referred to as SPARC (Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities) followed by the city name. Hence, heretofore we will refer to our research and action program here in Dallas, as SPARC Dallas. C4 staff will spend the week of January 30-February 4, 2017, here in Dallas, to launch the yearlong SPARC Dallas program.

Jeff Olivet, CEO of C4

This Friday, November 18, 2016, 12.30-2.00pm, Jeff Olivet and Marc Dones, of C4, will lead another installment in our Hard Conversations series, this time on Racism and Homelessness, at the J. Erik Johnson Central Public Library. During the last 20 minutes of the session, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas representatives will briefly talk about the Unite Dallas Relief Fund and why the fund Task Force decided to fund “Racism and Homelessness - Addressing Inequity in 10 American Cities”, Jeff and Marc will give an overview of the general plan for SPARC Dallas, and we will introduce the members of a small local planning body of local leaders, who will help C4 and the staff of the local partner agency (in Dallas, MDHA) plan the program launch week, and shepherd the yearlong program.

We look forward to continuing to update you on this important initiative, as it progresses. Please follow our social media on Facebook and Twitter, and if you are not already receiving our e-newsletter, text keyword MDHA to 22828. 

#GivingTuesday

What is #GivingTuesday? #GivingTuesday is an annual international day of giving, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, this year on November 29, 2016. In the U.S. it builds on the momentum of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and encourages people to fit giving into these already established shopping days.

Our good friends at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas are bringing this growing international movement to Dallas! They will even be providing a special Big D Gives platform for #GivingTuesday. (We will add a link to that platform here, once it is up, so bookmark this page now.) However, they are taking #GivingTuesday one step further, and encouraging all of us to not only give money that day, but take impactful action. They are calling for as many (of what they are playfully calling) "impACTs" as possible throughout the Dallas area on that day.

So, we encourage you to take advantage of #GivingTuesday to: 

• Give to MDHA! or
• Make an impACT by registering your team for the Point-in-Time Homeless Count or
• Preferably doing both!

 

Now, don't worry, even if you can't give or register that day, you can before or after it. Our end of year campaign goes through, well, the end of the year, and registration for the Count goes well into January.

Since we are on the topic of Thanksgiving and the giving season, these two provocative and thoughtful blog posts from our good friend, Dr. Iain De Jong, are very helpful in understanding what type of giving and action is helpful and what type of giving and action is unhelpful in ending homelessness: Gobble, Gobble: Charity Instead of Action is for Turkeys, and An Open Letter to the Faith-based Group that Wants to Help People that are Homeless.

Ending Unsheltered Homelessness in Dallas

Homelessness is a failure of our society, and nothing highlights this failure more than unsheltered homelessness. This is why (and if you are a regular reader of our e-newsletter and of our blog you know this already) under the leadership of Cindy J. Crain, our President and CEO, we have paid particular attention to this issue. We and our partners have devoted many resources to helping the unsheltered homeless move into sheltered settings, and more importantly, into housing, as soon as possible.

Beyond the personal challenges faced by the unsheltered homeless, large encampments present acute health, safety and legal concerns to those residing there. This is why MDHA developed formal evidence-based guidelines for encampment clearings, in consultation with the City of Dallas, following the clearing of Tent City in April-May of this year. The most important guideline is that a clearing not be initiated, without identifying appropriate placements for at least half of the residents.

Street Outreach Initiative mobile office at the Haskell Encampment

In October, the encampment area located between S. Hill and Haskell Avenues under I-30 was formally closed. MDHA and collaborative partners agreed at the end of September, that the Street Outreach Initiative could reasonably house half of the then population of eighty-two encampment residents, once again, a requirement under the above guidelines. In fact, we and our partners managed to successfully place 45 persons, just above the goal of 41. We continue to engage and work with those who could not be placed.

We encourage you to read more about this specific clearing here on this blog: Housing and Shelter Targets Exceeded as Haskell Encampment Closes; Street Outreach and Case Management Continues. You can read more about this general effort in Cindy's recent piece in the Dallas Morning News: How Dallas is starting to solve its homeless problem, as well as here on this blog: Supportive Services and Assessments Increased at Haskell Homeless Encampment - Racial Inequities Must be Addressed.

Racism and Homelessness

African Americans make up 13% of the population, both in the U.S. and in Dallas. Across the country, on average, African Americans make up 40% of the homeless population, and 28% of the unsheltered homeless population, which is troubling, in and of itself. However, in Dallas, African Americans make up 67% of the homeless population, and 70% of the unsheltered homeless population! This cannot stand. This cannot continue.

We must and we will tackle this overrepresentation of African Americans in the homeless population. With the help of a generous grant from United Way of Metropolitan Dallas' Unite Dallas Relief Fund, we will do so through a new research and action program from the Center for Social Innovation (C4) titled Racism and Homelessness - Addressing Inequity in 10 American Cities. In the words of C4, "While no single initiative can end structural racism across all systems, we believe," that through this initiative we can, "create positive change in attitudes and behaviors that will begin to close the racial gap that has led to the disproportionate prevalence... of homelessness among African Americans."

The local iteration in each of the 10 cities will be referred to as SPARC (Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities) followed by the city name, hence here in Dallas, SPARC Dallas. C4 staff will spend the week of January 30-February 4, 2017, here in Dallas to launch the yearlong SPARC Dallas program.  

Jeff Olivet, CEO of C4

Jeff Olivet and Marc Dones of C4, who will be leading SPARC Dallas, will be visiting Dallas November 17-18, 2016, to conduct training and facilitate the next installment in our Hard Conversations series, co-sponsored by the Dallas Public Library, which will also be on the subject of Racism and Homelessness.

We hope you will join us for this exciting event on Friday, November  18, 2016, 12.30-2.00pm, in the Auditorium (1st Floor) of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St., Dallas, Texas 75201. Follow signs to underground parking on Wood St. Coffee and water will be provided. Attendees may bring a brown-bag lunch.

During the last 15 minutes of the Hard Conversation, Jeff and Marc will present a general overview of the SPARC Dallas program, launching next year. Please RSVP to me, David Gruber, if you wish to attend, at 469-222-0047 or david.gruber@mdhadallas.org.

Finally, if you did not have a chance yet, please take the time to read this essay on our blog, which speaks to this important subject, in its larger context: To Bigotry No Sanction, To Persecution No Assistance.  

We Don't Want You to Miss Any of This!

This month there is so much going on, primarily, but not only, related to National Runaway Prevention Month and National Homelessness and Hunger Awareness Week!

The following events are open to the general public (click on the titles for details):
November 6 - Service of Light and Remembrance
November 8 - See Me Now Summit (on youth homelessness)
November 12 - Youth Kickback Party (for youth experiencing homelessness)
November 14 - 2017 Point-in-Time Homeless Count Volunteer Registration Kickoff
November 15 - Special Screening of the Movie Signs of Humanity
November 16 - Summit on Homelessness in Collin County  

November 18 - Hard Conversations: Racism and Homelessness*
November 29 - #GivingTuesday*

And last month was crazy busy too! Hopefully, you know that already, because you follow this blog, and our Facebook and Twitter, but we wanted to make sure that you did not miss two great Flex Fund stories we posted: On the Road Again - with the Help of Austin Street Center and the MDHA Flex Fund and Dana Turns a House into a Home - with the Help of the Dallas Furniture Bank and the MDHA Flex Fund.