According to the Center City District, the number of homeless people in Center City has more than doubled since 2000.
Can this problem be addressed in any fashion other than increased funding for or enforcement of current programs, and, if so, how?
WANT TO COMMENT? Learn how to add your comments.
Homelessness should not be blithely accepted in the City which gave birth to this nation. Philadelphia desperately needs a concerted effort to combat and conquer the ongoing problem of homelessness in the City. Combating the issue of homelessness will be accomplished through the adoption of a coordinated and focused housing policy.
At present, a number of City agencies and non profit groups are responsible for different components of housing development. As resources for affordable housing diminish, the Mayor must take ownership of the development process to ensure that new transitional housing facilities are developed. With the potential to provide not only shelter, but badly needed social services, transitional housing not only gets people off of the street, but rebuilds lives.
As Mayor, I will advance three key issues, with regard to housing, that will impact the development of transitional facilities. First, when I am elected Mayor, I will appoint a Deputy Mayor of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation (DMHNP). The DMHNP will serve as the chief policy decision maker for housing, community development, and neighborhood economic development through the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation. The DMHNP will also coordinate activities of the Redevelopment Authority (RDA), the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC). In doing so, the City agencies and non-profit entities will become interlocked with one another, allowing the City to efficiently deploy the diminishing federal resources dedicated to affordable housing.
Secondly, the DMHNP will be able to coordinate the substantial resources of the PHA in a manner that is consistent with an overall housing policy plan for the City of Philadelphia. Instead of being viewed as a stand alone agency, the PHA would be brought into the fold as part of a coordinated effort to address housing issues, including homelessness, within the City. Engagement of PHA would also include providing operating subsidies to organizations who wish to establish transitional housing facilities.
Thirdly, I will advocate legislation which would redirect unclaimed Sheriff’s Sale proceeds to our Housing Trust Fund. Since 2000, the federal funds which support affordable housing development have been under assault. Yearly reductions have created an affordable housing crisis which must be addressed at the state and local level. Funds from our Housing Trust Fund would be used to supplement those provided by the federal government, and restore affordable housing funds to a reasonable level. As part of this effort, funds from the Housing Trust fund would be used to finance new transitional housing facilities within the City of Philadelphia.
WANT TO COMMENT? Learn how to add your comments.
While additional funding and programs are needed to meet the rising demand for affordable housing, coordination between public housing assistance programs and community organizations can also improve services for housing. As Mayor, I will provide leadership on this issue and ensure that our government is coordinating its services for these at-risk individuals.
WANT TO COMMENT? Learn how to add your comments.
We must ensure that those being served by these city service systems have housing during and after their involvement with these service systems. The Office of Supportive Housing can provide counseling to these populations and training for case workers, parole and probation officers and other on the ground service providers who can work directly to ensure that Philadelphians in these systems have access to housing.
Similarly, for those in supportive housing, we can bring these other services to them to ensure that they simply and easily get the help they need. My Administration will also aggressively partner with community organizations and faith-based organizations to expand outreach efforts and provide safe shelter for Philadelphia’s homeless population.
WANT TO COMMENT? Learn how to add your comments.
First, create a strategic plan to serve the needs of the chronically homeless. The shelter system should serve as an emergency resource and not long-term housing.
Second, get the chronically homeless out of the shelter system and into supportive housing. We can then better serve the needs of Philadelphians facing an emergency. Third, prevent homelessness by building more affordable housing and eliminating barriers to workforce entry such as addiction, mental illness, and lack of marketable job skills due to poor workforce training and education.
WANT TO COMMENT? Learn how to add your comments.
As Mayor, I will (1) create an Interagency Council on Homelessness of Cabinet-level heads to coordinate activities and to ensure that discharge practices do not increase homelessness; (2) create a clearinghouse of resources for those on the edge of homelessness, including first month rent, tenant rights education and representation, and employment and health services; and (3) meet with the City’s state and federal delegations to reverse the decline in funding, which fell this year from $23 to $16 million.
WANT TO COMMENT? Learn how to add your comments.
