Since I arrived in Nashville, I've been arguing that we must create public-private partnerships in order to fully fund and support the progams and resources needed to assist those experiencing homelessness beyond the "3 hots and a cot" band-aid approach currently employed by most of us who do this for a living.
Progress has been slow, but has occurred. A recent trip to Atlanta was taken by some of the key players and potential stakeholders of Nashville's homeless assistance effort to understand how that city was able to raise the huge amounts of money they did.
To be sure, Atlanta's homeless "interdiction" leaves a lot to be desired by many of us charged with assisting the homeless, but how they were able to raise the level of cash they did is of interest to us.
One of the participants on the bus ride stated that overall, the members who visited Atlanta felt that Nashville's business and non profit communities were fully able to duplicate the fundraising efforts of Atlanta without having to resort to what many advocates and sympathizers with the homeless feel are overly harsh ways Atlanta uses to address and service them.
Whether anything concrete arises from this trip remains to be seen. In the meantime, it looks as though the status quo will remain for the homeless here in Nashville....
Nation's Mayors Look To Miami Homeless Programs
Mayors From Around The Nation Toured Miami Homeless Facilities Saturday
Officials Want To Understand How The City Has Dramatically Reduced Homelessness
MIAMI (CBS4) ― It may not seem like it to the people who live in South Florida and who deal with homeless people at intersections or in vacant lots, but among the nation's big cities Miami is considered a model for other cities to follow in managing the issue of homelessness, a role which was acknowledged Saturday as the nation's mayors gathered for the US Conference of Mayors.
Saturday, mayors from around the nation toured the Community Partnership for the Homeless, an organization which was founded in part after Miami received a national black eye, and an adverse court decision, for what many considered callous treatment of the homeless in the 90's.
The partnership, working with government, public and private organizations has aggressively worked to provide temporary housing for those homeless people who want it, and over time, has helped reduce the number of homeless people on Miami streets by 83%.
In the past, homeless advocates offered some programs like health care, but most services centered around "3 hots and a cot", food and a place to sleep.
The Community Partnership claims it's success can be found in the ways it goes beyond that, offering Homeless people assistance in finding jobs, medical care, counseling, and eventually a place to live.
"We've done something probably few others have done," said Miami mayor Manny Diaz, who joined visiting mayors bin Saturday's tour. "In terms of bringing together the private sector, government, the non-profit sector, all coming together to make a commitment."
"This could well become a national model and start to be incorporated with the leadership of the group here in other cities throughout America."
