By Gerald Skoch

So how do we get out from under the bridge? Brian Albrecht's July 26th article about the homeless couple living under a bridge was a poignant reminder that our community safety net still has large holes. [more]

Faced with a lack of employment, a landlord who defaulted on his mortgage and a criminal history this couple is forced to live under a bridge. Men's shelters are for men, women's shelters are for women and there are no shelters for married couples. With no home their chances of employment are slim.

There are ways however for couples like this to restore there lives and become self-sufficient. The public should be aware of the tremendous, progressive, and successful efforts to get families out from under bridges, off the streets and out of shelters into homes of their own. These efforts need to be highlighted and supported.

How many of us are aware of the HOUSINGfirst initiative? The solution to homelessness is so painfully obvious that it has been overlooked for years. The first step out of homelessness is housing; not treatment, not employment, not rehabilitation, but housing. All the other steps to self-sufficiency rest on the platform called "home." Housing First recognizes this essential truth and works to place homeless persons in a home of their own as a first step in addressing other barriers to self-sufficiency they face.

These programs are successful and have been so for years. Housing First initiatives and similar model programs helped to reduce family homelessness in Columbus by 40% from 1995 to 2004. In four years Hennepin County, Minnesota reduced the family homeless population by 43%. In New York family homelessness dropped 19% over three years.

Fortunately Cleveland is not far behind. There has been, for years, wide spread efforts to end homelessness in our own County. Our own Housing First initiative has provided over 225 permanent supportive housing units for chronically homeless persons in the last several years and hundreds more are in process. These housing solutions provide a way out for long-term residents of shelters and the streets.

This housing is modest, attractive, safe, humane, and dignified. There is another benefit to such human treatment of our fellow human beings; this housing is less expensive than the alternatives. A study of a similar program in Portland, Oregon demonstrated that the costs of shelter, outpatient health care, emergency rooms, jails, and police services averaged $42,000 of public resources each year. Once housed the total public resource burden, including the housing provided, dropped to $26,000 per year. They were able to provide a humane dignified housing solution, reduce the population living on the streets and save $16,000 per year, per person, in the process.

The same efforts are under way here in Cleveland; the same cost savings are possible and the agencies involved are a model of collaboration. Our Housing First initiative is collaboration among: The Enterprise Foundation, Sisters of Charity Foundation, Mental Health Services, Emerald Development & Economic Network, Famicos Foundation, Cleveland Housing Network, the Office of Homeless Services, and others.

Here at the West Side Catholic Center we have served the materially poor in our community for over 30 years and have always recognized the need for housing. Our recently launched, "Zacchaeus Housing Solutions" project, begun in partnership with the Community West Foundation is today providing homes for 118 previously homeless men, women and children. We witnessed what our comrades were able to accomplish with the Housing First initiative and joined in the battle. We urge others to do so as well.

If you want to learn more about any of these programs, or how you can help, contact any of the agencies listed above or email me at gskoch@wscccenter.org If you are interested in learning more about the tremendous potential of these housing solutions the National Alliance to End Homelessness web-site is a great resource: www.endhomelessness.org

It is a biblical truth that the poor will be with us always, but homelessness is a solvable problem. Other cities have made remarkable progress in doing just that and Cleveland needs to broaden its efforts so no one needs to live under a bridge again.

Gerald Skoch
Executive Director
West Side Catholic Center
3135 Lorain Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44113
216-631-4741
gskoch@wscccenter.org