10,000 Books

I am more than somewhat partial to United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. I have blogged about the reasons for this in the past. Today I blog not about United Way, in general, but about a specific campaign happening right now, which I was profoundly touched by, Change a Child's Story. The reason I was touched is personal to me, but who knows, it may inspire others, and so I share it. 

Like many great campaigns, the idea of this one is simple. With 38% of children in Dallas living in poverty, most live in homes that don't even have one book. There is clear research on the fact that owning and reading books makes a huge difference in a child's future. Through this campaign, United Way will get 10,000 books into the hands of these children. You give $5, and a child gets her first book; pretty simple. Now, keep that number in mind, 10,000. 

Why did this campaign hit such a personal chord with me? Allow me to explain. I am named for my grandfather, the longest serving rabbi of Tree of Life Congregation in Columbia, South Carolina, and one of that great city's prominent civic leaders in his day. Though I never met him, I have spoken to some of his congregants, who fondly remember him to this day, as a great scholar and teacher. He was born in the Ukraine, and at the age of two arrived with his parents and older siblings on these shores. They settled in the Boston area, he eventually attended Harvard University, and then became a rabbi. 

Tree of Life Congregation's former building, now a Unitarian Church

When he was hired by Tree of Life in 1950, the congregation's board members were struck by the number of times he stressed how imperative it was that they cover ALL of his moving costs from Virginia, where he had been serving another congregation since 1945. Once they had moved all of the family's belongings, they discovered WHY he had been so insistent. My grandfather owned one of the largest privately held Judaica libraries in the American South. The move put the congregation's bank account, literally, into the red. 

How many books did my grandfather have?  Well, remember that number I asked you to keep in mind. Strange to relate, but by the time he died in 1970, he had... 10,000 books. Upon his death, my father and my uncle donated 70% to the University of South Carolina, and split the rest. Both men then proceeded to add many more books to their respective collections in the 46 years since. 

I remember growing up in a house full of books, and taking this for granted. I just assumed every house had numerous bookcases in every room, their backs bursting, as they groaned at the weight of the many tomes. I couldn't imagine it otherwise. There were old books and new books, fiction and (mainly) non-fiction. As a child I was most impressed by the old ones. Standing tall were the gigantic musty volumes of the classic 19th Century edition of the Talmud. Beside the TV, was an English Bible from 1712. Behind other books, safely tucked away and carefully wrapped in brown paper, was a Latin book on grammar from 1676 or 1616. (The third digit was unclear.)

My grandfather's plaque at Tree of Life

Though this book collection featured primarily books related to biblical and rabbinic scholarship, and research of the Ancient Near East, there were other books too. There was an ornate collection of the full works of Shakespeare. There was the World Book Encyclopedia. (Now I am showing my age!) There was even an "illegal" English edition of Mein Kampf. This book, purchased by my grandfather, was published before WWII and in purposeful violation of copyright law, in a failed attempt to warn Americans of the designs of the German chancellor. 

It was clear, without being ever said so explicitly, that books were the lifeblood of our family and our people. Books were the vehicle, through which of all the peoples of antiquity in the West, we alone had survived. Wherever we went we took them with us, from the Promised Land to the diaspora, through all of our travels, and eventually to this land of promise, which Eastern European Jews, like many other immigrants, believed had streets paved with gold. My grandfather carried on this heritage, wherever life took him, as did his sons. We were the People of the Book. He was a man of 10,000 books. How could it be any other way?

This is why I have given to this campaign. This is why I take this campaign personally. I am named for a man I never knew, who carried our heritage to these shores, and became a man of 10,000 books. The least I can do is put what might be the first book, hopefully of many, in the small hands of one of 10,000. 

Much More Than a Pair of Boots – Back to Work for Just $69.78

One of the important new tools we use in helping individuals, who are experiencing homelessness, is the MDHA Flex Fund. The Flex Fund is designed to pay for minor, but impactful expenses, that help clients resolve their housing emergencies. We have written about this on our website, and in a number of instances on this blog, most recently in a posting titled, Not without Simon – Another Happy Flex Fund Story. Also, Courtney Collins interviewed Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO about this: Losing An Apartment Because You Can’t Pay The $45 Application Fee. The initial funding ($38,742) for the MDHA Flex Fund was generously given by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.  

Herman Survivor Men's Bison Steel Toe Waterproof Work Boots (Courtesy of Walmart)

In that interview, Cindy mentioned steel toe work boots as an example of an MDHA Flex Fund expense. In the article cited on our website, Kiley Gosselin tells us about a Gates Foundation supported five year pilot at the Washington State Coalition against Domestic Violence, that used a flexible funding mechanism. She also gives a steel toe work boot example:

One advocate cited an instance where a survivor had obtained a new job and spent her own funds for a new apartment and security deposits, but was told on her first day of work she needed to purchase steel-toed boots at a cost of $100 in order to keep the job. Just $100 of the pilot program funds allowed for the purchase of the boots, supporting her ability to maintain employment – critical to her ability to maintain stable housing. Without the flexibility to cover these minor but impactful expenditures, advocates are often challenged with having to identify new housing options for the survivor – a much more difficult and costly endeavor than a pair of boots. (Emphasis mine – DSG)

I was therefore excited when our Vice President, Rebecca Cox, walked in today, and shared our first very own steel toe work boot story!

One of the best things about the Flex Fund, is that it empowers arguably the most important persons working for non-profits – case managers. These frontline workers are the “tip of the spear” in the fight to end homelessness. This last Monday, Walter*, a case manager at Austin Street Center, was happy to hear from his client, Paul, that he had found a job, with a start date of the following Monday. However, Paul was required to show up on day one with Herman Survivor Men's Bison Steel Toe Waterproof Work Boots (cost - $69.78). Fortunately, unlike the program Gosselin mentions, at least they told him in advance! Paul told Walter, what Walter, as his case manager, knew already – Paul could not afford this expense. Walter also knew that Austin Street Center could pay for only certain things with the tight funding streams available to them. They could not pay for this type of expense.  

Walter spoke to Linda, his supervisor, and she suggested that the MDHA Flex Fund might be a good tool to use in this case. Linda reminded Walter, that they both would need to sign off not only on the well evident fact that this minor, but impactful expense, was vital to Paul’s path to resolving his housing emergency. They would also have to affirm that they knew of no other resource in the community, that could directly supply or pay for steel toe work boots. With some quick research, Walter and Linda discovered, what they had suspected already – that was indeed the case. The only quick and readily available resource for this type of minor, but impactful expense, was the MDHA Flex Fund. Walter and Linda filled out the simple one page Flex Fund request form, where they documented all of this, and sent it in to Rebecca. Paul had told them that the Herman Survivor Men's Bison Steel Toe Waterproof Work Boots were available at Walmart. Walter called Walmart, and asked them to put a pair on hold. Rebecca went to Walmart, paid for the boots out of the MDHA Flex Fund, and delivered them to Austin Street Center.

Paul is overjoyed with his new pair of boots, but what really makes him happy is the fact that he is on the road to self-sufficiency. With his new job, he will be able to get his life back on track. His already existing faith in Walter has grown even more, since he was able to help him get what he needed to begin new employment. He knows that with Walter’s help, he can achieve housing too. All of that – for just $69.78. Not a bad return on investment…  

 

* Names of the client, case manager and supervisor have been changed. Boots are actually named Herman…

 

 

We Can't Have Our Cake and Eat It Too

Last night I attended a fascinating event put on by a few wonderful organizations here in Dallas, led by United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, around "The Raising of America - Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation". It included a screening of excerpts of this thought provoking series, and a panel discussion of experts.


Susan Hoff, Chief Strategy Officer of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas

(Photo Courtesy of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas)

One of the concepts they discussed is the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score. In short, more adverse childhood experiences, the higher the score. Research shows that the higher the score, the more likely it is that the individual will suffer adverse long term effects across all areas of life. This has to do mainly with the influence of stressors such as poverty, food insecurity, housing instability on the development of the brain of the child. It is no surprise that the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Robert Block, has stated, "Adverse childhood experiences are the single greatest unaddressed public health threat facing our nation today."

Another important idea discussed is that social and economic stressors influence children on the epigenetic or genetic expression level. This happens already in utero, and once again has the potential to effect children for years to come. Give children a positive environment to grow up in - get good epigenetic results. Give children a negative environment to grow up in - get bad epigenetic results.

We, in America, contend that everyone should be treated equally. We like to believe that we can and should expect everyone to thrive, and that if one does not, it is their fault. So, it does not matter where you grow up. You should be able pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

It should not matter that we, as a country, have stopped investing in the working poor. It should not matter that we have put in place policies that have eroded the middle class. It should not matter that we have condemned 25% of American children to grow up in poverty, lacking the necessities they need to thrive.

Right, because that makes sense... We should definitely be able to have our cake, not invest in what we need to, and eat it too, expect the results that would come about had we invested in what we needed too. Right?

Well, no, wrong. This does not make sense, and never really made sense. Now, science shows how little sense this actually makes. The question, as Susan Hoff, United Way Chief Strategy Officer, posed it last night, is: Do we have the will to do what we KNOW we need to do? Or will we continue, as we talked about in the last blog post, to waste the vast human potential that we have in this great city, and across our nation?

Only time will tell.

Why I Give to United Way?

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD) invests in Income, Education and Health, and is making measurable progress in these three areas. 

My organization, MDHA, leads the development of a homeless response system, that will make homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties, rare, brief and non-recurring. How does that connect to what UWMD is doing?

Picture this: It is August 2015. There are tents and other temporary structures, that have formed a tent city under I-45. Our multi-agency Outreach Taskforce has been working with the folks living there for two or three months, getting to know them, building rapport, and connecting them to housing solutions. The Taskforce knows they are making progress, but it is a process. 

Then, our VP, Rebecca, sees something she has never seen in any of her previous visits - a one year old baby. She immediately calls our CEO, Cindy, and they, being moms themselves, decide then and there, that this baby is not sleeping outside of a home that night. Rebecca asks the mom a few simple questions, and Rebecca discovers that the baby's mom has a housing voucher and an apartment waiting for her. So, why on earth is she in a tent? Well, she can't afford the $45 application fee for the apartment. And the program that got her the voucher is funded by a grant, that does not fund application fees. So, she is stuck!

Fortunately, MDHA, with the help of UWMD, had created the MDHA Flex Fund. This fund is designed to pay for minor, but impactful expenses, that can and do make a huge difference. So, Cindy had a $45 check for the application fee immediately cut. Rebecca ran back to the office to pick up the check and deliver it. The problem was solved. Mom and baby were housed. 

Think about the ripple effects of that $45. In the business world we would call it the ROI, the return on investment. Better still, think about what happens without that $45. Without that $45, that baby does not have a home. Without a home, how do you escape poverty? Without a home, how do you raise a healthy child? Without a home, how can you and your child concentrate on a kid's number one job, learning? That $45 gets you the package deal - Income, Education and Health. 

That is why I run a United Way campaign at our office. That is why I give to UWMD. That is why I call on you to give to UWMD. So, so do what I do. Figure out how much you can give, and then give that much, plus 10%. On behalf of UWMD, on behalf of MDHA and on behalf of the baby and her mom, thank you for giving. 

The MDHA Flex Fund

So, here is the next thing I shared with folks I met at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’, “Chat. Connect. Repeat. Speed Networking Event.” The theme for the event was “Referral Guide: Criminal History Backgrounds”:

The Need

The question effective homeless response systems ask is: “What solutions best match the needs of this person or household, and will end their homelessness quickly and permanently?"

This question leads to the most humane, most efficient, less disruptive and less costly solutions. Leading sociologist of homelessness, Dennis Culhane, states^[i], “The majority of homeless households are able to resolve their housing emergencies in a relatively brief time. Given this, providing such households time limited assistance either avoids or limits the private trauma and public expense of a homeless episode.”

There are many challenges consumers deal with, that prevent them from self-resolving their housing emergencies in a relatively brief time. These include, access to critical documents (photo identifications, birth certificates, social security cards, documentation of homelessness), security deposits, transportation (bus passes or car repair), medical and dental costs (glasses, medication, medical equipment, wheelchairs), job placement, job related expenses (tools, uniforms, boots, certification, licensing), mainstream benefits (SNAP, TANF, SSI, SSDI), food assistance, legal services, basic furniture and household items. Most of these minor but impactful expenditures may not be covered through existing federal, state and local grant funds.

The Solution – the MDHA Flex Fund

During her tenure as Executive Director of the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition (TCHC), Cindy J. Crain, current MDHA President and CEO, designed the Direct Client Services Fund (DCSF), in partnership with Directions Home Fort Worth and United Way of Tarrant County. This was designed to provide case managers with a fund of last resort to pay for expenses associated with resolving the type of challenges discussed above. Clients served must be enrolled in a program or participating in active case management, and the maximum award is $800 per annum. Case managers are required to document the need for the funds, how they will help the client self-resolve, and why the need cannot be funded through other available resources.

Kiley Gosselin^[ii] cites a recently completed five year pilot program in Washington State, where flexible funding played a major role. The success of this program provides powerful evidence for the success of flex funds:

In 2009, with the financial backing of the Gates Foundation, the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCADV) launched a five year pilot program testing the success of a survivor-centered, Housing First approach to preventing homelessness for survivors of domestic violence and their families… Funding for the pilot was flexible, allowing advocates to address survivors’ self-identified needs including transportation, child care, school or employment supplies and more direct help such as rental assistance…The results of the pilot… are impressive. Of pilot participants, 96% remain stably housed after 18 months… And the cost to the participating programs… also went down - 76% of survivors received only minimal services… at minimal costs… Participating programs repeatedly cited the flexible spending and organizational change brought about by the survivor-driven approach… The ability to offer survivors the things they needed… was powerful…

Gosselin’s actual examples of how such assistance works are edifying:

One advocate cited an instance where a survivor had obtained a new job and spent her own funds for a new apartment and security deposits, but was told on her first day of work she needed to purchase steel-toed boots at a cost of $100 in order to keep the job. Just $100 of the pilot program funds allowed for the purchase of the boots, supporting her ability to maintain employment – critical to her ability to maintain stable housing.  Another advocate echoed that the ability to buy new tires for a survivor, whose abuser had slashed hers, was a small expenditure that allowed the survivor to attend legal hearings required to maintain her housing and meet the obligations of other program services. Without the flexibility to cover these minor but impactful expenditures, advocates are often challenged with having to identify new housing options for the survivor – a much more difficult and costly endeavor than a pair of boots or new set of tires…

Gosselin aptly summarizes, in a statement MDHA would wholeheartedly endorse: “While few homeless service providers are lucky enough to have a Bill Gates in their backyard, the pilot highlights that the power of flexible philanthropic dollars, even in small amounts, is real and worth pursuing…”

In her 2015 State of the Homeless Address, Crain called on funders to partner with MDHA in establishing such a fund for Dallas and Collin Counties. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas answered this call, and stepped forward to fund a pilot program, modeled closely on the above DCSF, to be called the MDHA Flex Fund. They have given MDHA $38,742 of seed money for this purpose. MDHA will need an estimated $250,000 annually to fully fund this program.

Interested in giving to the MDHA Flex Fund? Contact David Gruber, Development and Communications Director at 469-222-0047 or david.gruber@mdhadallas.org

 

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[i] http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=dennis_culhane

 

[ii] http://www.funderstogether.org/positive_outcomes_for_victims_of_domestic_violence_and_families_through_housing_first_pilot_program All emphases mine.

  

What I Shared at United Way’s Speed Networking Event: Housing Folks with a Criminal Background is about to Become a Lot Easier in Texas

Today I participated in a really cool networking event at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, “Chat. Connect. Repeat. Speed Networking Event.” The theme for the event was “Referral Guide: Criminal History Backgrounds”. I got to meet some great providers, who are doing excellent work in this area. We each were able to share what each of our organizations do, and how we can mutually learn how to help each other in this area.

Carol Lucky, CEO of Child and Family Guidance Centers, at Chat. Connect. Repeat. (Picture courtesy of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas)

So, first I shared what we do: MDHA leads the development of an effective homeless response system that will make the experience of homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties rare, brief, and non-recurring.

Then I shared just two system level items we are working on to help with folks’ reentry into society, after coming out of prison. I told them about HB 1510. Here is the summary of this important bill from the Texas Legislature Website:

House Bill 1510 amends the Property Code to establish that a cause of action does not accrue against a landlord or a landlord's manager or agent solely for leasing a dwelling to a tenant with a criminal record. The bill does not preclude a cause of action for negligence in leasing if the tenant was convicted of certain more serious offenses or is subject to sex offender registration and the landlord, manager, or agent knew or should have known of the conviction or adjudication.

Let’s “translate” that into English (with the obvious disclaimer, that I am NOT an attorney, and so none of this should be construed as legal advice). As Calvin Coolidge famously said, the business of the American People is business. And the business of business is to make money. Unfortunately, a corollary to that, is that folks do not want to get sued out of business. So, my business may be to rent out my apartments. However, if I think that if I rent to you, I could get sued, guess who I will not be renting an apartment to? You.

Why might I get sued? Well, say you have a criminal background, and I rent you an apartment. Then you beat up your neighbor. Your neighbor, in our litigious society, might claim that I was negligent simply for renting you the apartment, and I could get sued. Makes sense, right?

Well, no, not really. The facts do not bear out such a concern. As the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition argued in advocating for this legislation, studies have actually shown that, “leasing property to someone with a criminal history who meets the application criteria actually serves to decrease the risk that he or she will commit a new offense… Housing stability has been identified as one of the most critical factors in preventing recidivism and parole violation…”  So, what HB1510 does is remove the danger of that type of lawsuit. Property owners will no longer have to face the danger of a lawsuit, simply for renting property to someone with a criminal history (with some obvious exclusions). This law goes into effect on 1/16/16.

Now, getting the law passed is just the start. Now, we need to educate everyone, landlords, social service providers (especially front line case workers) and consumers about this. The beauty of this is that this is a system change, that requires little if any investment. We don’t need another costly program or complicated grant to use this law to decrease homelessness. We just need to increase knowledge across the system. 

What else did I share with the folks I met with today? Well, we’ve gone a little long, so in the next blog post I will tell you all about that.

(Really) Coping With Tent City (and Homelessness, In General) by Building an Effective Homeless Response System

Two-three months ago Cindy Crain, MDHA President and CEO pulled together a multi-agency Outreach Taskforce to help the folks living in the encampment under I-45. We have been meeting regularly to methodically and thoughtfully address this challenge, with the ultimate goal, of connecting every one of those folks to housing.

On Wednesday morning, MDHA Vice President, Rebecca Cox, along with other members of the Taskforce, was doing her regularly scheduled weekly visit with the folks at the encampment. She discovered something she had not seen during previous visits – a one year old baby.  Rebecca texted Cindy, and they decided then and there that that child and her mother would NOT spend another night there. It turned out that the mother had been connected to housing already. Why was she still there? She needed about $50 for the apartment application fee. This was a classic case of the agency connecting her to housing not being able to pay for that fee due to the specifications of their housing grant. Cindy immediately had cut a check for this. Rebecca picked it up, and hand-delivered it, and the problem was solved.  


Courtesy of Edd Eason, CoC Chair

This is just the type of small expense that often prevents folks from resolving their homelessness situation, and which necessitates a quick, nimble, red-tape-free "Flex Fund." This is one of the programs Cindy mentioned to me her first day on the job in Dallas. She called for it explicitly in her State of the Homeless Address, and we incorporated it into the Continuum of Care Strategic Work Plan. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, stepped up to the plate, and offered to fund a pilot program for just this purpose. Officially this program hasn’t even begun yet, and we have already helped one mother and her child with it! I will be writing more here and elsewhere about the idea of flex funds, and how they can help make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.

On Friday, following careful and methodical work these last two-three months, the same Taskforce was able to connect a good number of folks in the encampment to housing. The Taskforce members will continue to work with the others to connect more and more of them to housing. As part of this effort, Cindy had invited Christopher Herring, of the University of California–Berkeley to advise us, homeless advocates, and community leaders on this issue. 

Chris, who has done extensive field research on tent cities, delivered a fascinating, erudite and down to earth presentation titled, “Coping With Tent City” during our “Hard Conversation” at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (co-sponsored by CitySquare), with about eighty people in attendance. He talked about commonalities and differences in the roots, nature and character of such encampments, and the constructive and less constructive responses to them. His main argument is that encampment growth correlates not with rises in poverty and homelessness, rather with criminalization of various acts associated with homelessness. This pushes folks experiencing homelessness figuratively and literally to the margins.

You can read more about Friday’s exciting developments and Chris’ presentation in this great piece by our good friend, Tasha Tsiaperas, on the Dallas Morning News blog: Social workers find housing for 21 people living in homeless camp under I-45 - http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/08/social-workers-find-housing-for-21-people-living-in-homeless-camp-under-i-45.html/  Tasha references a promising development. The Justice Department just announced last week, that they are taking legal action to contest laws that criminalize homelessness, as violations of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Hopefully, this will encourage other communities to approach this issue in a more constructive way, as we are here in Dallas. It’s about time we as a nation, solve problems and not just slap ill-fitting dehumanizing “band-aids” on symptoms. How do you do that? You do that, by building an effective homeless response system, as we are doing at MDHA today.

Interfaith Seder Focusing on Poverty

Jews, Christians and Muslims
sitting around one table to discuss poverty

Monday night, MDHA President and CEO, Cindy J. Crain, and I had the great pleasure of attending the Jewish Community Relations Council 3rd Annual Interfaith Seder at Congregation Anshai Torah in Plano. The theme this year was "Confronting Poverty". The purpose of this inspiring event was to use the traditional Seder meal, which Jews practice on the first two nights of Passover, as a model to highlight and indeed confront the issue of poverty in Greater Dallas. Many people in Dallas remain virtual slaves to their difficult circumstances, just as in the Passover story the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt.

Susan Hoff

The Seder was led by Congregation Anshai Torah's Senior Rabbi, Stefan Weinberg, and included readers from the clergy of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. Our good friend, Susan Hoff, CSO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, was the keynote speaker. She urged those present to be mindful of the fact that for too many people the American promise - that if you work hard, you can rise out of poverty - is slipping away. She reminded all of us that through collective action we can change this.