homeless092606

A new game plan against homelessness

Titled "Heading Home Hennepin," the plan crafted by the county and the city of Minneapolis aims to connect homeless people with the help they need to get off the streets.

By Terry Collins, Star Tribune

Last update: September 25, 2006 - 10:37 PM

Seeking to reduce shelter beds, panhandling and a revolving-door cycle for thousands out on the streets, leaders in Hennepin County and Minneapolis announced an ambitious plan to end homelessness across the county within 10 years.

Titled "Heading Home Hennepin," the initiative seeks to coordinate the fight against homelessness with $45 million in new spending. The plan would integrate existing resources, such as affordable housing and job training, while adding features such as around-the-clock street outreach.

"We don't want to just manage homelessness any more. We want to end it," said Cathy ten Broeke, the county-city coordinator, at a news conference Monday at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. "We want to go from serving those homeless to making them more self-sufficient."

Between 2,000 and 3,000 people are homeless every day in Hennepin County, said ten Broeke. Earlier this year, meetings of government, business and religious leaders produced a 100-page report that cited obvious and new solutions.

Among the goals are providing 5,000 housing units, 2,000 of them new; "one-stop shops" with social services in one place; support programs for homeless families entering a new home either with a faith-based organization or neighborhood group; and improving indigents' health care.

The report will be forwarded to the Hennepin County Board and the Minneapolis City Council for review. If approved, the plan would cost an estimated $45 million over three years, over and above existing funding that totals $102 million. The plan offers a number of options for raising that money from government and private sources.

The Rev. James Gertmenian, senior minister at Plymouth, said the cycle of homelessness is ultimately more costly to taxpayers than solving the problem.

"It is ambitious," ten Broeke said. "But it is doable."

At Monday's news conference, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said the city will have two outreach workers next year to help curb the problem. He hopes the 10-year plan will eliminate panhandling and other nuisances related to homelessness, so businesses and neighborhoods can prosper.

"Together, we have the power to solve it," Rybak said.

For ten Broeke, who spent several years as director at St. Stephen's shelter in south Minneapolis, a joint effort of government, community and clergy to alleviate homelessness has been long overdue.

She's inspired by the reductions in homelessness in other cities that have adopted similar plans, including Philadelphia, Denver, Miami and San Francisco.

Despite their optimism, the leaders of the effort know they have embarked on a difficult task. A group of homeless people gathered outside a Catholic Charities drop-in center on E. 17th Street and Chicago Avenue S. in Minneapolis threw their hands up in disbelief when told about the 10-year plan.

Some didn't want to talk about it. Others shook their heads and walked away.

"I think it's lip service," said Anthony Williams, 38, who has been homeless for seven months. "Actions speak louder than words. Stop talking and show some results. We need help now."

Allyson Hoberg, who took over as shelter director at St. Stephen's, believes a coordinated effort, despite continuous budget cuts on all levels, will be effective.

"A lot of people in the business community didn't know there were these gaps when providing for the homeless," Hoberg said. "Hopefully, there will be some things in this plan that will have immediate impact and everybody will say, 'Hey, this can work.' "

Terry Collins • 612-673-1790 • tcollins@startribune.com