By Emily Alpert
In Chicago, one local organization is working to end city homelessness—for good.
Nancy Radner is executive director of the Partnership to End Homelessness, a collaborative effort between 88 Chicago service agencies. In the 1980s, said Radner, 'we saw [ homelessness ] as an isolated problem, and so we had isolated solutions. In the early '90s, it became clear that homeless service agencies needed to collaborate. It was time to redo our approach to homelessness.'
The Partnership originated as a demonstration project of the now-defunct Community Emergency Shelter Organization. In 1999, the group established itself as an independent organization, albeit one with no money and no staff. Radner recalled meeting in her livingroom until 2001, when the group had raised enough money to rent an office.
By working collectively, the group was able to advocate more effectively for homeless services.
'If there's a problem in the system with how [ housing ] vouchers are being distributed, for instance, we're able to have 90 agencies signing on and trying to get a response—it's much more powerful than if one agency is doing it,' said Reverend Stan Sloan, chair of the Partnership's board. 'We're stronger together than we are apart.' [ Sloan is also executive director of Chicago House, which provides housing for people impacted by HIV and AIDS. ]
Pooling their expertise was also productive. Through their collaboration, said Radner, ' [ w ] e realized that homeless people are not one monolithic thing. They fall into many different categories: families fleeing violence, people with mental health problems … . We actually have solutions for each of those categories. We concluded that we could not only better manage homelessness, but that we had enough expertise to end it.'
In 2002, the group launched its 10-year plan to end homelessness in Chicago, 'Getting Housed, Staying Housed.' The plan was the first of its kind in the country, as well as the first to receive government sanction. A year later, Mayor Daley endorsed the plan, putting Chicago at the forefront of the national movement to end homelessness.
'Our plan calls for a transition from a shelter-based system to more permanent housing,' said Sloan. 'The philosophy is that people are much more stable and it ultimately costs the system less if they're in stable housing. It allows more growth for clients, as people.'
Under the plan, said Sloan, clients would immediately be assessed by the Chicago Department of Human Services, which would match them with appropriate services and a placement in permanent housing.
'After they're in that permanent housing, they keep the programs that are needed to keep them stably housed: addiction counseling, food and nutrition programs, etc.,' said Sloan. 'That's called wrap-around services: services are wrapped around the person like a blanket, to allow them to move forward with their lives.'
Over the past three years, the Partnership to End Homelessness has been 'redirecting our resources wherever possible to build more permanent housing,' said Radner. Many overnight shelters have converted into interim housing; interim housing is being converted into permanent housing.
The plan is being carried out by an entity called Continuum of Care, which represents government agencies, corporations, foundations, individual providers and their collaboratives.
'As we were writing this plan, we said, it'll take all of us to end homelessness,' Sloan said. 'Government can't just take care of it, and private dollars and private agencies can't just do it. It's going to take a coordinated effort. The Continuum of Care is that collective group, and it has all of the different players there at the table together.'
Enacting the plan while maintaining current services has been a challenge. 'We're transforming an entire system … while continuing to serve people effectively,' said Radner. 'We don't want homeless people to experience any negative effects from this change process.' As a result, Radner added, 'we've had to find new resources to build permanent housing without closing down shelters in the meantime.'
In addition, said Sloan, federal housing support has declined.
'The climate in D.C. right now is such that we're fighting to stay flat, let alone to have growth' in services, said Sloan. Though Mayor Daley has committed significant funds to 'Getting Housed, Staying Housed', national cuts to domestic programs have hindered the Partnership's efforts.
However, Radner said that the biggest challenge is also the simplest: 'Overcoming the disbelief that we can really do this. There's so many negatives—from how the federal government is approaching human services, to how difficult it can be to get public attention to the issue of homelessness … . Believing that this isn't folly, that this will make some difference, is a challenge almost every day.'
Radner encouraged supporters of the partnership to attend its annual meeting, to be held in July in downtown Chicago, and to petition for the Innovative Grants Program, a law that would guarantee funding for similar 10-year plans nationwide.
