Forum focuses on Homeless

By Chris Joyner Staff Writer

The city official leading Chattanooga’s effort to eradicate chronic homelessness said a brainstorming forum Thursday brings the goal that much closer.

"We need your ideas," city finance officer David Eichenthal told a group of more than 100 government officials and homeless advocates. "The best ideas will not come from a consultant. They will not come from a steering committee. The success or failure of this project depends on you."

The forum at First Baptist Church of Chattanooga brought together government and quasigovernmental groups, private charities, faith-based groups and several area homeless people to discuss how to end chronic homelessness in the Chattanooga area in the next 10 years.

Attendees worked in small groups to discuss ideas, some of which will be used in a blueprint plan expected to be completed by the end of the year, Mr. Eichenthal said.

"We had about 100 people put in two hours working on this problem," he said. "We’re now 200 hours... ahead of where we were when we started this morning, and that’s going to show up in the final blueprint document."

Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker announced in September that the city would join the Bush administration and cities across the nation in attacking homelessness by targeting resources at the estimated 10 percent of homeless people who are on the streets for extended or repeated periods of time. The federal government’s goal is to end chronic homelessness in participating cities in the next decade.

Mayor Corker tapped Mr. Eichenthal to lead the city’s efforts. At Thursday’s meeting, guest speakers from Savannah, Ga., and New York City discussed how their cities are approaching the problem. The Rev. Michael Elliott, president of Union Mission in Savannah, said the coordinated approach adopted in his city has reduced the homeless population from 6,511 in 1992 to just over 4,000 today.

Mr. Elliott said residents of Savannah noticed the difference and have been supportive of the effort.

"The public will buy into success," he said. "After a few years, people began to notice a decline in the number of homeless people in the parks."

Sam Tsemberis, executive director of Pathways to Housing in New York, discussed his program’s approach of putting homeless people in apartments without first requiring them to beat an addiction to alcohol or drugs. In most cities, homeless people must be sober before they can get into a housing program.

"The problem with that system is that it wasn’t what the people on the street wanted," he said. "We’ve set up services where people have to earn their way into housing. ... There’s something not quite right about that." Mr. Eichenthal said a similar program is being considered for Chattanooga.

While chronic homelessness has not been wiped out in New York, Savannah or any other city that has signed on to the program, local officials said they have a leg up on the problem. Last month, a coalition of seven Chattanooga organizations received a $2.2 million federal grant targeted at chronic homelessness.

"You guys have a great jumpstart," Mr. Elliott said.

According to the Chattanooga Homeless Coalition, 4,300 people in the city used homeless services last year. About 625 are considered chronically homeless.

E-mail Chris Joyner at cjoyner@timesfreepress.com

This story was published Friday, November 07, 2003