Re: [Mpls] Is it your job to help end homelessness or just the governments?
Mark says: Can anyone share ideas or experiences on how to overcome this far more treacherous obstacle? I say: The federal fair housing act prohibits discrimination in this area which is why the city has been able to continually concentrate it in Whittier and Phillips against huge resistance including law suits. If the City Council follows the law, the NIMBY cries from some people in neighborhoods that have none of this type of housing in their neighborhoods should not be a barrier. Where there is a will, there is a way so to speak. But, it there truly the will? IMHO, I think part of the problem here is that there are "well-meaning" people out there who truly believe that the people who need this type of housing need it in a neighborhood like mine and not in a neighborhood like theirs (i.e. the ones that don't have any affordable, transitional, supportive or shelter care housing). I have met them at Planning Commission meetings. I believe they must think that the city charter established some neighborhoods as the ones that should shoulder all the people with problems. The churches in my neighborhood that provide shelter care services receive stipends from the county for doing so. I am sure they aren't getting rich from them but they seem to cover the expenses like insurance, building mtc. etc. I am sure that the parishioners also share some of the cost. So, instead of dropping money into the offering plate for someone to do missionary work in Africa they do the missionary work right here in their own church. Barb Lickness Whittier = "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Is it your job to help end homelessness or just the governments?
>>>Can anyone share ideas or experiences on how to overcome this far more treacherous obstacle? I know folks in some neighborhoods like Whittier or Ventura Village would say that neighborhoods like mine need to suck it up and take on some of the load, but I don't think that kind of argument is going to fly very well with NIMBYs or folks leaning that way. What kinds of strategies might there be for either opening NIMBY minds or at least, getting other members of the neighborhood to look past the NIMBY ranting?<<< What about appealing to human nature and responsibility? If we're approaching it as a "we've got to help each other out and pull together" rather than a "y'all better suck it up" idea, it's much more doable generally. Another approach is exposure, get people to see that homeless people are human and the reality of the issues. One of the things that Mitch Snyder's organization did in DC was to bring a group of elected officials together for a dinner which was served to them. Midway through they explained that all of the food was harvested from what restaurants and stores throw away. The point was twofold: to show the quality of food that was being wasted, and to get officials to ease up on the laws surrounding the discarding of food and the recovery of it by homeless people. After that, the City eased up on the regulations, and restaurants and stores began to separate out usable food and make it accessible. One of the other groups I worked with challenged people to simply spend time, you would be surprised at the stories, history and experience the homeless have. Once I got into working with the homeless, I spent a lot of time talking on the street. We had one guy (he was called Skyking) who was always intoxicated and incoherent, but he could play Bach and Jerry Lee Lewis. Rachmaninoff and Billy Joel. Get people to know the homeless and see them as people, and they'll be less resistant to shelters and other solutions in their neighborhoods. Jonathan Palmer Victory REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Is it your job to help end homelessness or just the governments?
On 2/18/04 12:05 PM, "Michael Hohmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I agree that faith-based organizations hold potential as shelters. However, > I'd suspect that adequate staffing, security and liability issues, along > with insurance represent significant barriers for many of them to overcome > in any such effort. In terms of government efforts, Hennepin County with > it's social service-related programs (with fed/state/local funds) should be > the main provider of shelter facilities, not Minneapolis with it's more > meager stream of property tax revenue. And, as Barb suggests, there's no > reason the city and County can't work together, possibly hand-in-hand with > some faith-based groups. As for the topic thread title above, all efforts > like this begin and end with individual efforts. Hopefully we've seen the > last of the severely cold weather for this heating season. I think Mike raises some good points about why some churches might not enter the shelter business, but there are churches in Minneapolis that have figured out how to do this and are even doing the partnerships that Barb and Mike have suggested, so I don't think any of these are insurmountable challenges to an organization that really wants to help the homeless. I know there was some talk last year of establishing a homeless shelter up near my neighborhood and predictably, there were some NIMBY-types that came out of the woodwork to decry any such thing that might attract "those" people to the area. Can anyone share ideas or experiences on how to overcome this far more treacherous obstacle? I know folks in some neighborhoods like Whittier or Ventura Village would say that neighborhoods like mine need to suck it up and take on some of the load, but I don't think that kind of argument is going to fly very well with NIMBYs or folks leaning that way. What kinds of strategies might there be for either opening NIMBY minds or at least, getting other members of the neighborhood to look past the NIMBY ranting? Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
Re: [Mpls] Is it your job to help end homelessness or just the governments?
How about using the umpteen churches we have all over the city. I would wager a guess that there are somewhere between 300 - 400 churches in Minneapolis. They are spread out pretty evenly around the city. Most of them have large social gathering areas in them as well as kitchens. How convenient they would be. In the daytime, the church could engage in "missionary" work. They could work with these folks and figure out why they are homeless and try to help them overcome those barriers and achieve a life that has stable housing as a desired element. I am sure the county and the city would even partner with that effort. Everyone can lobby the churches near their house to open their doors to the homeless. Neighborhood groups could partner with them to make it happen. Barb Lickness Whittier = "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
