.....
click here to return to June index

The opinions expressed in these articles and features are those of their author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of McANA or the opinion of its Directors or Officers.

Indianapolis Determined to End Homelessness
by Mayor Bart Peterson

This month, I would like to share my thoughts with you about homelessness, particularly what this community is doing to address an issue that affects both our city and our neighborhoods.

Consider these numbers: on any given day in Indianapolis, more than 3,500 people are homeless.  Approximately 15,000 people in our city are homeless at some point during the course of a year, 30 percent of whom are children.  And, 45,000 of our neighbors are at risk of homelessness each year.

Each number represents a person without a permanent place to call home.  A breadwinner is laid off, forcing the family to find shelter with relatives or friends.  A parent can’t make the rent payment again, and arrives at a shelter with young children in tow.

Each number represents the face of homelessness.

The 1990s were a decade of unprecedented prosperity; however, what are we prepared to invest in the lives of those who did not share in that prosperity?

The Indianapolis Housing Task Force recently released the Blueprint to End Homelessness - a comprehensive and streamlined 10-year strategic plan to wipe out homelessness in this city.  It is a call to action for our community to work together more effectively to stem the tide of homelessness.

For more than a year, task force members and hundreds of citizen volunteers – homeless neighbors, national experts, elected officials, and members of my administration – diligently collaborated to develop this plan.  They took a long, hard look at the entire continuum of care affecting the homeless, and proposed a number of aggressive steps that I believe will help our neighbors find homes that they have lost, and more importantly, will prevent more families and individuals from becoming homeless in the first place.

There are several proactive components to the Blueprint to End Homelessness.  These include:

* helping 2,100 households obtain and retain affordable, stable housing within the first five years;

* streamlining and linking both services and funds;

* using a “strengths based” approach that engages the people who receive assistance by capitalizing on their skills and interests; and

* preventing homelessness for those at-risk by providing much needed access to medical and child care.

It is an ambitious plan, but it is grounded in reality. Philip Mangano, appointed by President Bush to head up the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, recently visited our city to learn more about the Blueprint.  During our meeting, he expressed his belief that our plan will be a model for other cities to follow.

On the morning the Blueprint was unveiled, I realized that there is a new burst of energy to solve the housing problems in our community and a great deal of enthusiasm for this new initiative aimed at helping people in our city.

Perhaps this enthusiasm is the natural next step in our evolution as a city.  We can boast of wonderful local amenities like great parks and thriving neighborhoods, but when we look around and see the many faces of homelessness, it shakes us out of complacency and prompts us to act.

As neighborhood leaders, I strongly encourage you to read the Blueprint at www.chipindy.org.  Or, you can contact the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, the organization charged with implementing the Blueprint, at 630-0853 for a copy.

I hope you will join me in making the Blueprint to End Homelessness become a reality in this city.  And please, let me know your thoughts about this very important community initiative.