Homeless Helping Homeless Blog

A dozen HHH members arrived at the Government Center early in the morning on Friday , January 15th.  We were filled with anticipation.  After naming homelessness as one of his top concerns in his swearing in speech, Mayor Foxx wrote an op-ed piece in the Observer, stating that the city making a real commitment to ending homelessness would be a great way to honor the legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Hence, the Friday before our government buildings would close to honor the life and death of MLK, the mayor had called the community together to tackle the vexing social plague of homelessness. 

The group was not disappointed, especially when the Mayor declared if we were looking for a champion for a dedicated funding source for housing, we had found one in our new mayor. 

The group looks forward to continuing to work with the new mayor, the city and county, the faith community, Homeless Services Network, Foundation for the Carolinas, and anyone and everyone else committed to ending homelessness.

HHH has just finished three straight weeks of hosting public officials at our Wednesday meetings.  These meetings are a great way to get to know our officials, as well as for them to get to know HHH and our advocacy agenda.  Below is a brief recap of the meetings.

1/13 - HHH hosted newly elected David Howard.  Though Councilman Howard has plenty of experience in affordable housing development, he is fairly new to the issue of homelessness.  The group took the time to give a "Homeless 101" overview and Councilman Howard took time to ask thoughtful questions.

1/20 - Patrick Mumford, who had previously attended HHH when he was a Councilman, revisited the group, this time as a city employee who heads Neighborhood and Business Services.  The group was eager to hear more from Mumford about the mayor's and city's commitment to implementing the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.  Group members also took the opportunity to air their concerns about the lack of public restrooms uptown.  Mumford's office has already been back in touch to see if there is a way we can remedy the situation.

1/27 - Newly elected Councilman Cannon returned to HHH, after visiting a meeting during election season.  Beyond listening to the advocacy agenda, Councilman Cannon provided great insight into the next logistical steps we might take to move our agenda forward.  In addition, he encouraged members to fill out application at the company he owns, which handles the management of parking lots and parking decks. 

 Thank you to all the officials for taking time to meet with HHH!

Eight members of HHH made their way to the swearing-in of new mayor Anthony Foxx.  Seven members crammed in one of the several overflow rooms, while member Elijah Kelly, known for being early, was able to have a prime spot in the chamber to watch the action live.  The group faithfully watched as the city bid farewell to Mayor Pat McCrorey and Councilman John Lassiter (who faithfully attend HHH meetings whenver invited).  But the real excitement came at the end of Mayor Foxx's first speech of mayor.  After saying all the things you would expect the new mayor of Charlotte to say, Mayor Foxx paused and then said something that shocked all the members watching on.  Mayor Foxx said he wanted to get seriousness about implementing the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness.  After years of making speeches asking for such leadership from the City, HHH members were encouraged, to say the least.

Thank you, Mayor Foxx, we look forward to working with you towards the same goal.

In December, HHH leadership team members stowed away to Lake Norman to plan the coming year of HHH.  The focus of the retreat was on story-telling, and we enjoyed practicing telling our own story and the story of HHH, as well as learning from the story of Nelson Mandela.  Along with team-building, the group did the hard work of setting the 2010 HHH Advocacy Agenda.  See below for the 5 items we will focus on in 2010:

1. 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness: Ask the public and private sector to fund and implement the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness, with focus on the 2,500 supportive housing units called for in the plan.

2.  Ban the Box: Ask the city and county to remove the box from their job application, as well as all their contractors, that asks an applicant if he/she has been convicted of a crime. 

3.  Jail Diversion: As the county prepares to spend a quarter of a BILLION dollars to build a new jail, we are asking the county to instead invest in treatment programs for those with mental illness and substance abuse, the two largest factors impacting our jail population.

4. Employment Incentives: With stimulus dollars, Washington, DC has designed a program to get green jobs to the homeless and disabled.  Could Charlotte follow suit?  We are asking the city to look at creative ways to fund employment incentives to the private sector to employee the homeless.

5. Overcrowding of Women's Shelter: For years, the Salvation Army women's shelter has been operating not just at capacity, but over capacity.  It is time that our community take a serious look at the crisis of shelter options for women and children and adequately address the overcrowding at the women's shelter.