Are we helping or hurting our downtown?
Driving through downtowns across the country, you see people who appear to be homeless with signs asking for money, jobs or food. City centers are attractive for a number of reasons ... pedestrian traffic, festivals and events that draw visitors, benches to sit on and wide sidewalks, alcoves that are away from view and a captive office crowd all factor in.
Persons with needs are also drawn to downtowns because of the number of well-meaning individuals and groups who give out everything from full hot meals to money.
On any given day, you can spot someone pop open their car trunk and begin handing out toiletries, gift bags and Styrofoam containers of food.
Hope for the Homeless, the professional homeless coalition made up of over 60 agencies and individuals dedicated to ending homelessness, once counted that eleven meals were available for free in one day. They say many of their clients knew exactly when and where the next meal or clothing giveaway will be and go from one to the next.
This is a difficult question to ask, but is this really helping? Many people believe it is not; that real help comes from dealing with underlying problems such as mental disorders and issues of addiction, and in teaching the homeless or near-homeless the skills to help themselves.
The Community Foundation of North Louisiana has been involved in this conversation for some time and is concerned that limited local dollars go into the right programs and assistance.
“We must be good stewards because there will never be enough money for everything,” Community Foundation Executive Director Paula Hickman said. “It’s not about choosing between good and bad, it’s about choosing between better and best. We as a community need the greatest impact from the dollars used.”
To that end, the Community Foundation, the Franks Foundation, the University of First Presbyterian and Faith Works in Caddo-Bossier are bringing author Robert Lupton to Shreveport at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 for a free talk at First Presbyterian Church.
That day he will also meet with nonprofits, especially the many local churches who assist in homeless outreach. Lupton, the founder of FCS Urban Ministries, wrote “Toxic Charity” to help communities see their efforts and dollars have the impact they intend.
The title comes from his contention that “churches and charities have fallen into the bad habit of creating programs to help the poor when in reality the only people they are helping are themselves, creating a toxic charity that needs to be reexamined and fixed.”
In his book, Lupton shows how goodintentioned people are actually hurting the very people they’re trying to help.
HOPE for the Homeless Executive Director Christa Pazzaglia sees that on a daily basis.
“We know people experiencing homelessness are dealing with complex medical and clinical behavioral health issues, and until a person has safe, affordable housing, they will not be able stop living in survival mode long enough to address those issues with trained professionals in a consistent way,” Pazzaglia said.
Pazzaglia and her social services partners are hard at work trying to make that happen with the Hope Connections project on Levy Street, a one-stop location for housing, food, medical and many other services.
Pazzaglia does not believe their goal to end local homelessness is too lofty; but she is going to need the help of manyindividuals, businesses and the faith community – to do it.
If this is a conversation you would like to be a part of, if you give money to organizations now but wonder if their outcomes may be more toxic than helpful, or it you would just like to know more, there is a seat for you Oct. 20 at First Presbyterian.
Liz Swaine is the executive director of the Downtown Development Authority. She can be reached at liz@downtownshreveport.com.
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