Support for the Unsheltered in Columbia
Update May 27th, 2021.
A full year after this discussion, there is finally some movement. First, Voluntary Action Center has hired a Project Coordinator for an Opportunity Campus. https://www.facebook.com/vacboone/ In addition, the mayor presented a Rapid Access Treatment Center as part of a broader proposal around how to spend money from the American Rescue Act.
May 2020
We are neighbors and friends who want to apply pressure to the city of Columbia and Boone County to do something to help the unsheltered. If you have any resources or perspectives that need to be here, please let us know by sending them to the wiki editor susancomo@gmail.com. A variety of people in Columbia have noticed with concern the lack of sufficient services for the unsheltered people in Columbia. The Covid-19 emergency makes this impossible to ignore. Several individuals and organizations are encouraging the city to improve its response to helping the most vulnerable among us. If you would like to add your name to this effort, please email transparencymatters65203@gmail.com.
We ask for the following:
- An emergency response team to work with Public Safety to help during mental health crises- Possible model
- A 24/7 shelter with wraparound services. - A model shelter in Columbia, SC
- The Housing Justice Committee of Faith Voices has gone public. The Missourian published an op-ed from this group asking the public to start supporting them. We are finding out more information about this project.
- The members of the Housing Justice committee met with city staff and neighbors to discuss options. The meeting was large, but people got a chance to speak. The neighbors expressed difficulties with living with the unsheltered and the people doing the work expressed their desire to be able to move the services outside of a neighborhood and that they are just beginning to plan for the new unsheltered service center and are two to three years away. In a later meeting with neighbors, a member of this committee said that their plan would not be able to use Covid stimulus money and they wanted to be part of a neighborhood.
Many local organizations and government entities have worked with unsheltered in Columbia. Some are being supported with vouchers and programs for veterans and some have been helped by the Functional Zero task force. This leaves a large population with no options. The emergency response team is the minimum we expect. The shelter has been worked on by a variety of organizations over the years. It is time for Columbia and Boone County to work with appropriate organizations to make this happen.
Our letters are available below. If you wish to add a letter to this page, please email it to our wiki editor susancomo@gmail.com with your name or organization in the subject line. We will add all appropriate letters to the list below.
Update May 10th -- During the City Council Meeting on May 4th, both Mayor Treece and Second Ward Councilperson Mike Trapp discussed The Kitchen as a possible model. Discussions with REDI and the Business Loop CID are needed to start working to make it a reality.
The Kitchen is an organization to help unsheltered people in
Springfield, Missouri. It provides a variety of services including job training and housing. It is run by a variety of churches and not for profits in the area. What capacity do we have to create something similar in Columbia?
Letters to Council
Letters to Council week of May 4
Letters to Council week of April 27
Supporters continue to be added:
| Jack B. Clark | John Conway. | Valerie Carroll, PhD | Carol Greenspan | Tara Warne-Griggs |
| Shaunda Hamilton | Jan Swaney, MD | Christine Gardner | Timothy Ellis | Sylvia Sutton - OpSafeWinterCo CoMo |
| Ana Lopez | Lynn Maloney | Dr. Pamela S Cooper | John McFarland | Ian Thomas, Councilmember Ward 4 |
| Janet Hammen | Rosemary McCain | Frances E. Reynolds, Ed.D | Alejandra Gudino | John Brown Gun Club |
| Zandra de Araujo | Kimberly Dollens | Kathie Holaday Bergman | Kristie Loveall |
|
Doris P. Littrell, Ph.D.
| Pat Kelley | Renee Maxwell | Renee Carter
|
|
How do we pay for it?
We do not minimize the cost of these solutions, but assuming they are out of our reach is no longer acceptable.
The lack of support for unsheltered people by the city during Covid 19 crisis demonstrates that even the threat of a deadly illness moving through the unsheltered community does not make them a priority. It is up to us, the Columbia and Boone County community to force the issue. The Health and Human Services budget is a miniscule part of the city budget.
Money is coming in from the state and the federal government to address needs in the community. The stimulus of 2008 got us Garagezilla, maybe we can get a homeless shelter setup during this crisis.
- Boone County will be getting $21.2 million from the Cares Act.
- Comohelps.org has raised almost $400,000 as of two weeks ago. Source
- Just this year, the city found $3 million dollars it could access in Water & Light - Source
Money is always available in Columbia for things we want. If the will is there, funds will follow.
Local Resources
Shelters and support centers
Readings
New readings this week:
Week of April 27 Readings
Toronto's Response for an Overwhelmed shelter system during Covid - To be constructed on city-owned land, the first phase of the project will include 110 pre-fabricated units expected to be ready for occupancy by September 2020 and another 140 units by April 2021. The plan passed 23-1, with only councillor Stephen Holyday opposed. How Abilene TX, with a population matching Columbia MO used "Build for Zero" and ended Veteran Homelessness. Read here Build for Zero is a way to rethink what we are and can be doing to end homelessness. Columbia is one of 80 nationwide communities participating. All we need is the will and the funding.
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