Brief summary of IDA homelessness team meeting with DDD Monday 12/15/03.

IDA Mission Statement: "The International Downtown Association (IDA) is a world leader and champion for vital and livable urban centers. Through its network of committed individuals, its rich body of knowledge, and its unique capacity to nurture community-building partnerships, IDA is a guiding force in creating healthy and dynamic centers that anchor the well being of towns, cities and regions throughout the world."

IDA website: www.ida-downtown.org provides some information, but much is "member only" accessible. Their August 2000 report "Addressing Homelessness: Successful Downtown Partnerships" a report for a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded project regarding strategies to assist homeless persons with various mental illnesses, is downloadable and free.

IDA Addressing Homelessness, Technical Assistance Visit, New Orleans, September 25-26, 2003

Goal: to build a role for the Downtown Development District, in partnership with the social service and shelter communities, and the City of New Orleans, to more effectively address homelessness in the community.

OBSERVATIONS

Accomplishments

New Orleans offers an array of services to people suffering from homelessness. However, . . .can benefit from additional coordination, resources, and good ideas.

• Decent emergency shelters exist within the downtown . . both the Ozanam Inn and the Brantley Baptist Mission were well-run shelter operations that were respectful of their impact on the surrounding area and are willing to find ways to improve their operations. (Emphasis added)



• UNITY - the one-shop funding shop for homeless services funding - is a sound operation. Again, some stakeholders unfairly hold UNITY responsible for the failure of the "Legacy" project a few years ago. But the Team disagrees . . .



• Programs of for [sic] transition and supportive housing exist and are well respected. . . . such as Volunteers of America, Catholic Charities, and Baptist Community Ministries . . .

Challenges and Impediments

• A climate of mistrust exists amongst some stakeholders. . . Particularly among a subset of the downtown residential community, there seems to be a need to maintain an environment of finger pointing and blame, rather than one in which common solutions can be identified and all stakeholders can take responsibility for their part of the solution.



• Re-establishing a relationship with all the necessary stakeholders is impeded by misconceptions - This was particularly evident in terms of people's sense of the "facts" regarding the Ozanam Inn and UNITY.
• Supportable statistics on the demographics of homelessness seems to be missing - Certainly, organizations like UNITY and its service providers must keep track of their activities, but it is not clear that (1) anyone has conducted a comprehensive count of the homeless populations; (2) tracked the nature and condition of homeless; or (3) plotted the use and movement between shelters, meals programs, service centers, transitional housing, and the like.



• NIMBYism is alive and well - The Team was startled by the virulence with which a small number of residents of the warehouse district described the homeless of New Orleans, including the use of epithets like "degenerates" to describe the people using the facilities of the Ozanam Inn.

RECOMMENDATIONS

. . . [t]wo types of homeless populations. The first - and typically largest - are people trying to find their way to services like temporary shelters, support services, and meals. These are people who may have been living on the margins for years and suffered a setback that put them on the street. . . The second group is usually much smaller. . .referred to as 'service resistant,' and usually suffer from serious mental illness, drug addiction, or both. . . .many panhandlers are not homeless, but may be suffering from drug and/or alcohol addiction for which they panhandle. In New Orleans, the size of this second group of people is unknown but quite likely smaller than perceived by the business community.

• Begin with incremental projects, not "home-run" initiatives - smaller projects to improve existing operations; fill gaps; and prepare for more major projects.
• Develop a real, honest-to-goodness homeless strategy
• Increase the resource base



• Create a homeless triumverate - the business community, the advocate organizations and service providers, and the city

Short-term Recommendations

• DDD leadership as co-convener for the "homeless road map"



• Re-organize DDD's maintenance and ambassorial staff to work directly with homeless outreach programs



• Look into relocating and/or managing the day labor pick-up locations - It's no surprise that day labor pick-up locations are found near emergency shelters...but the shelters are not responsible for behavior around these locations.
• DDD to partner with the Ozanam Inn to control behavior around the property. As mentioned earlier, the Team found the Ozanam Inn to be a reputable, well-run shelter with some support services for men looking to change their lives. Having said that, there will always be conflicts with the surrounding property owners and businesses, most of them related to behavior on the streets and sidewalks around the Inn.