Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) Holds First Annual Landlord Appreciation Luncheon

Irving, Texas - It’s one of the most basic ideas at the core of every economy: For your product to reach its customer, you need a delivery system. Take the phone in your pocket, for example. If all Apple or Samsung did was manufacture the phone, it would never arrive in the country you live in, much less in your pocket. If this is true regarding phones, which are abundant, how much more so regarding housing for those who are experiencing homelessness, a much scarcer resource. 

This is why the 2009 HEARTH Act and Opening Doors, the national strategic plan to end homelessness, established under the Act, call for a homeless response system in each and every community, to be developed and operated by backbone organizations like the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA). Over the course of the last three years, MDHA has developed the extensive infrastructure necessary for a well-functioning homeless response system, to manage both the demand for and the supply of housing for those experiencing homelessness. Landlords and property owners are key to any such effort. 

On March 1, 2018, MDHA held its first annual Landlord Appreciation Luncheon, at the Las Colinas Country Club, in Irving, Texas, to thank those landlords who rent units to those who have experienced homelessness, and encourage other landlords to join their ranks. At the luncheon, Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, emphasized, “Both landlords and MDHA want basically the same four things: Rent paid on time, a long uneventful lease, no police calls, and a well-maintained property.”

Stewart Hill, Pinnacle (left), and James McClinton, MDHA

James McClinton, MDHA Housing Resources Director, highlighted landlords that have translated this common set of goals into a win-win proposition: “There are some exceptional efforts taking place among you, through companies like Lumacorp, Pinnacle, Walker Holder and Lane Star Properties.”

Crain mentioned several steps MDHA has taken, over the last 12-18 months, on the supply side of the housing equation, to make renting to those experiencing homelessness an attractive option:
 

• Created a dedicated housing supply staff at MDHA;
• Developed a landlord incentive approach to building supply of housing options;
• Assisting agencies to negotiate for rental units;
• Expanded the MDHA Flex Fund to cover more deposits and fees;
• Provide housing search training on site and in house;
• Developed “insiders” list of open units;
• Providing client pre-application background checks to develop more strategic housing planning.

Edd Eason, CitySquare (left) and Michael Walker, Walker-Holder

Crain also described a few of the steps MDHA has taken to streamline the demand side of the housing equation: 

• Established a baseline Case Management standard of care for supportive housing;
• Established common criteria and documentation and prioritization processes that organizes the demand for housing based on vulnerability, acuity and need;
• Established a system-wide central housing list (the “Housing Priority List”) that is updated weekly;
• Created a Homeless Crisis Helpline 1-888-411-6802;
• Expanded homeless response system coordinating resources in Collin County;
• Conducting continual countless trainings to improve the quality of care and the knowledge of case managers.

 

These steps have enabled MDHA to paint a true picture of the demand side of the housing equation, with hard data to back it up. “As of Monday, February 26, 2018, we have 787 households (families and individuals) on our Housing Priority List,” said Lester Collins, MDHA’s Performance Analyst, “This means that they have been assessed, prioritized, and have all their documents in order. They are ready to be housed.”

 

 

“That means that there is a great business opportunity here for landlords,” said Cynthia Scaife, MDHA Housing Resource Liaison, a licensed real estate agent, “We stand at the ready to help any and all who wish to take advantage of this demand, and help the most vulnerable citizens in our community in the process.”

Crain closed her remarks to the landlords with this message, “If we know one thing, it is this: We cannot make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring, without a trusting, honest, practical relationship with the rental housing community. So, today, we salute you, landlords who rent to our homeless friends. May many more join your ranks!”

Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities

One glaring fact that "jumps out" at anyone who analyzes the data on homelessness in Dallas, is the overrepresentation of African Americans in the homeless population. Since late 2016, with the support of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas' Unite Dallas Relief Fund, we are partnering with six other cities, towards establishing more racial equity in homeless services, through SPARC (Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities), a new research and action program from the Center for Social Innovation (C4).
 

Cindy J. Crain and Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters

In Early February the Raikes Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invited all of the six cities, as well as national leaders and funders to participate in the Center for Social Innovation's first-of-its-kind national summit on Racial Equity and Homelessness, at the headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in Seattle, Washington. Representing MDHA and Dallas were Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, David S. Gruber, MDHA Development and Communications Director, and Rev. Dr. Michael W. Waters, Pastor of Joy Tabernacle AME Church.

We are already putting what we learned into action, and Cindy will share more of our upcoming plans in this area during the State of the Homeless Address. That's just one more reason to RSVP today!     

Our Homeless Response System at Work

At the last Continuum of Care General Assembly meeting, Lester Collins, our CoC Performance Analyst walked us through the newest MDHA Homeless Response System Community Dashboard. The Dashboard provides a snapshot of the core system metrics that inform us on achievements in moving individuals to permanent housing. In the next few days, we will be publishing the latest iteration of the Dashboard, which will include a brief executive review of what the data tells us, methods for systemic improvement, and other impacts to the system of care.  

As part of his presentation, Lester also shared the latest Housing Priority List (HPL) Tracker (pictured below). The HPL has been operational since early 2016. It represents the demand side of the housing equation. It is managed by the Documentation and Prioritization Status (DOPS) Coordinator, who ensures that the persons on it have not only been assessed and prioritized for service, but also have all necessary documents, so they may be housed without delay. Housing providers are expected to house those with a lower P number (indicating greater need and vulnerability) first.  

 

 

Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, emphasized that what the HPL now tells us, with more than 750 individuals on it ready to be housed now, is that our Homeless Response System is working, and that what we really need is more housing. This is important information for local governments, who now have the hard data they need to act to create more housing.

We will be sharing a refresher/update of the workings of our Homeless Response System on this blog, Ending Homelessness, in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

My Invocation at the Dallas Furniture Bank CHAIRity Friendraiser Luncheon - Furnishing Hope for 15 years

Friends, allow me to begin by applauding you for being intolerant. Yes, you heard correctly, if you are here, you are intolerant, and you should be commended for it. Allow me to clarify, though, before I am dragged off stage.  

 

Before the Dallas Furniture Bank, folks exiting homelessness often moved into empty homes, where they had to sleep, sit and eat on the floor. In 2003, a group of people decided that they would no longer tolerate this. The founders of the Dallas Furniture Bank could not fathom that in the 21st Century, in Dallas, Texas, human beings should have to live like that. It was wrong, it was unjust, and they would no longer stand for it. 

Therefore, they founded the Dallas Furniture Bank. The idea was simple. Folks don’t have furniture. Give them furniture. It was so crazy; it just worked. 

By joining us here today, fifteen years later, you state, that you too will not tolerate other human beings living in a barren home. By giving to the Dallas Furniture Bank, you are ensuring that such injustice will not stand, especially when the solution is so simple. 
 
This gives me great hope. Why? Because it shows me how we can end homelessness itself. You see, Dallas’ homelessness crisis is quite similar to the crisis the founders of the Dallas Furniture Bank confronted fifteen years ago. 
 
In what way? Well, we now have 15-20 years of research that shows us how to end homelessness. The idea is simple. Folks don’t have homes. Give them homes. It’s so crazy; it just works. Sometimes they need some additional supports, but in essence that is all there is to it. 
 
In the 21st Century, in Dallas, Texas, human beings shouldn't have to experience homelessness. It is wrong, it is unjust, and we should not stand for it, especially when the solution is so simple. All we need is the will to make it happen, the same will that the founders of the Dallas Furniture Bank had fifteen years ago. For, as a great man named Theodor Herzl wrote in 1902, if you will it, it is no dream. 

In Dallas Everybody Counts. OK, What Happens Next?

Wow. What can we say? Thursday night, you showed that, in Dallas, everybody counts.   

We had so many volunteers at our largest site, First United Methodist Church, Dallas, that the first floor of the sanctuary, which seats 800, could not fit everyone. Some of our volunteers had to go up to the balcony! Altogether, we broke the record we set last year, in what was, once again, the largest Homeless Count in Texas history, with over 1,500 volunteers.

 So many organizations and individuals helped us pull this off. There is no way we could thank everyone who helped us. We did want to highlight First United Methodist Church, Dallas, and Wilshire Baptist Church, who hosted our two Dallas sites. And, as usual, our friends at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas proved indispensable, in spreading the word about the need for volunteers, and in running a special campaign, Warm a Sole, to give a pair of socks to every person experiencing homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties.

 
Do you have pics, stories or impressions to share about that night, which you have yet to post? Please share them, using: #dallascounts2018.

If this is your first Homeless Count, and even if you have done a few before, you might be asking, OK, what happens now? Great question!

First of all, as we mentioned on our blog before, the use of the Counting Us app helped us and our partners immediately connect persons experiencing homelessness to services. Since the app automatically records the exact latitude and longitude of each person counted, we were able to supply outreach teams with this information. They were then able to go out the very next morning to assist individuals who might qualify for specific programs, specifically, youth, veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS, and pregnant women.

 The main thing we will do now, though, is compile all of the results we collected, of both sheltered and unsheltered counts, "clean" them up, correcting for duplicates and other errors, and "slice and dice" them by specific demographic groups. We will carefully analyze the results, and figure what they tell us about trends in homelessness, what is working in our homeless response system, and where our community needs to course correct.

On Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 9.30-11.30am, we will hold our annual State of the Homeless Address at Goodwill Industries of Dallas. Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, will share the results of the 2018 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, and the progress of the Homeless Response System. Please save the date!

 

Finally, we will submit the results of the Count to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These results will go into a national report HUD will submit to the U.S. Congress in late 2018. You can check out the 2017 report by clicking here. 

Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance Recruits Record Number of Volunteers for 2018 Homeless Count

Dallas, Texas – This Thursday night, January 25, 2018, 7pm-Midnight, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA), and its partners in Dallas and Collin Counties will conduct the annual federally required Homeless Count, and for the third year in a row, the Dallas homeless response system’s backbone organization will be breaking records.

Volunteers prepare for the Homeless Count on the night of January 26, 2017

 

“We are still compiling final numbers, but as of Tuesday morning, we are looking at about 1,550 registered volunteers in Dallas and Collin Counties, who will fan out across over 250 different routes, to count our homeless friends,” said David Gruber, MDHA Development and Communications Director. In 2017, MDHA and its partners conducted the largest homeless count in Texas history, to date, with an estimated 1,300 volunteers in both counties. That year, volunteers found 1,087 unsheltered persons, out of a total of 3,789 persons experiencing homelessness that night. (The remaining 2,702 persons were in shelter, safe haven or transitional housing.) 

 

MDHA leveraged its relationship with its many service providers, funders and supporters, in a recruitment effort that began in late November, and ended Monday. Notably, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, an MDHA funder, lent their hand to the recruitment effort, and even launched a campaign to give every person experiencing homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties a new pair of socks the week of the count. “We are tremendously thankful to everyone who helped us spread the word, and organize this year’s count. We could not have done this alone,” said Rebecca Cox, MDHA’s Vice President, who is spearheading the Count, “It is quite humbling.” 

 
MDHA radically changed the way it counts the homeless in 2016. It began recruiting more volunteers than before, and utilizing them to count the unsheltered homeless, exclusively. Shelters, in turn, provide an accurate count of their guests, electronically. “By recruiting more volunteers, and focusing their efforts on counting the unsheltered, we can canvas more areas, and improve the accuracy of the count,” said MDHA President and CEO, Cindy J. Crain. Impressed with the record breaking recruitment in the 2016 and 2017 counts, the National Alliance to End Homelessness invited Crain to present about homeless count volunteer recruitment, at their recent annual conference in July 2017.
 
Technology plays a part in improving accuracy too, as well as making for a smoother volunteer experience. Since 2016, MDHA has utilized geographic information system (GIS) mapping software to plan volunteer routes, as well as tier them, according to the likelihood of the presence of homeless persons in any given area. And, beginning in 2017, in place of paper surveys printed out on double-sided legal-size pages, MDHA began using the Counting Us app from Simtech Solutions. The app eliminates the need for volunteers to return to their deployment sites to drop off completed surveys, as well as the need for more volunteers to transcribe hundreds of surveys in the weeks following the Count. Instead the app uploads each survey immediately. It also allows MDHA to gather data more accurately, and better analyze the results after the Count.

Counting Us app (Courtesy of Simtech Solutions)

Use of the app can also help MDHA and its partners connect persons experiencing homelessness to services. The app automatically records the exact latitude and longitude, of each person counted, using GPS. Then, the night of the count MDHA can supply outreach teams with this information, so they can go out the very next morning to assist individuals who may qualify for specific programs, including youth, veterans and persons with specific medical diagnoses.

Dallas Counting Us command center – January 26, 2017

 

Thursday night, volunteers will gather at First United Methodist Church Dallas and Wilshire Baptist Church, as well other sites throughout Dallas and Collin Counties to check in and receive their routes, as well as receive final training and instructions, before they fan out across the two counties. Meanwhile, MDHA will monitor the data as it is being gathered in real-time, in a virtual command center. MDHA will share the results of the Count, with the community, at its annual State of the Homeless Address, on March 21, 2018, at 9:30am, at Goodwill Industries of Dallas.

The 2018 Homeless Count - There’s an App for That!

It’s time for the annual Homeless Count, Thursday, January 25, 2018, 7pm-Midnight, and if you’ve seen one Homeless Count, you’ve seen them all, right? Wrong! In 2016 and 2017, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) radically changed the way it conducts its annual Homeless Count, in order to get much more reliable data. So, what changed?

Volunteers prepare for the Homeless Count on the night of January 26, 2017
 

• We recruit more volunteers – With more volunteers, we can canvas more areas, and that means improved accuracy.
• Volunteers count the unsheltered homeless only – We know where the sheltered homeless are. They are sheltered, after all! Shelters provide MDHA with an accurate count of these folks, electronically. That way our volunteers can concentrate on finding the unsheltered homeless.
• We use geographic information system (GIS) mapping software – The software helps us plan volunteer routes, as well as tier them, according to the likelihood of the presence of homeless persons in any given area.
• We ask volunteers to register in advance as teams – This helps us plan the exact routing of volunteers, streamline the Count, and utilize volunteers’ time during the evening of the Count. 

Counting Us app (Courtesy of Simtech Solutions)

• There’s an app for that – If in previous years, we used paper surveys printed out on double sided legal-size pages, in 2017 we said goodbye to paper, with the Counting Us app from Simtech Solutions! This app eliminates the need for volunteers to return to their deployment sites to drop off completed surveys, as well as the need for more volunteers to transcribe hundreds of surveys in the weeks following the Count. Instead the app uploads each survey immediately. The app also allows us to see survey data as it is being gathered in real-time, in a virtual command center, full of intuitive dashboards and maps, and better analyze the data after the Count.
• We use the information we collect to connect people to services – We ask volunteers to collect names and contact information of those they count (with their permission), and the app automatically records their exact latitude and longitude, using GPS. Then, the very night of the count we can supply outreach teams with this information, so they can go out the very next morning to assist individuals who may qualify for specific programs, including youth, veterans and persons with specific medical diagnoses.

Register today to volunteer for the Homeless Count, Thursday, January 25, 2018, 7pm-Midnight: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PITCountDallas. For more details: http://www.mdhadallas.org/2018-homeless-count/

 

Dallas Counting Us command center – January 26, 2017