Knoxville City Council invited the Ten-Year Plan to a workshop last Thursday evening to discuss the TYP’s communications plan and to hear from Brad Greene, the systems engineering consultant who is helping to refine the system of service delivery to people who are homeless. We’re grateful to City Council for the opportunity to provide a significant update, and we’re also grateful for the meaningful engagement offered by Council members in attendance.

Council held a public forum at the end of the workshop and several members of the community spoke, most of them to express support. One remark calls for some illumination.

In his public forum comments, Ron Peabody reported that Sam Tsemberis’ New York-based group, Pathways to Housing, had housed a mere 600 people there. Mr. Peabody asked how can that be considered success, given the size of New York’s homeless population.

Once again, Mr. Peabody misinterprets and misuses data in what seems to be an effort to create false impressions. The report that Mr. Peabody referenced was Pathways to Housing’s 2007 annual report (you can get your own copy here at Pathways’ Research Library), which notes 585 people housed by their organization. What Mr. Peabody appeared to insinuate in his use of this figure is that Tsemberis, a noted leader in the Housing First movement, and his organization, Pathways to Housing, represent the failure of the Housing First approach.

What Mr. Peabody left out of his analysis is the fact that Pathways to Housing operates in a number of cities, and that the number reported in their 2007 annual report is for their organization in all those locations. Mr. Peabody insinuated that the referenced number was the sum total of people housed in supportive housing in New York City. This is a substantial misrepresentation.

In fact, New York City has made great strides in reducing chronic homelessness and serves as an excellent example of the success of Housing First. Pathways to Housing is only one of many organizations offering permanent supportive housing in New York City. According to New York’s 2009 Continuum of Care report to HUD, NYC has 13,167 Permanent Supportive Housing beds for single individuals, 6,299 for mixed populations, and 4,651 PSH beds for families.

Dr. Tsemberis is a nationally respected leader and researcher in efforts to end homelessness. In fact, he was a featured panelist at a HUD conference in Atlanta attended by TYP staff member Michael Dunthorn this week. In Dr. Tsemberis’ presentation on “Housing First” as an important component of the national effort to end homelessness, he noted that research evidence continues to demonstrate that Housing First yields high residential stability, with 85% annual retention rates in this type of housing; reduction in residents’ utilization of publicly resourced services; improved mental health status for residents; reductions in drug and alcohol consumption, and cost effectiveness as compared to the status quo.

Thank you

Thank you for taking the time to be engaged with the issue of homelessness and our community’s work to address it. If you have questions or concerns about anything related to the TYP, please do not hesitate to let us know.

MPC staff had recommended approval of  the Flenniken Housing proposal because it conforms to local zoning ordinances and adopted plans. The appeal is filed on the grounds that MPC’s decision was inconsistent with City of Knoxville zoning ordinances and adopted plans and was contrary to staff’s recommendation for approval.

The TYP office anticipates that at its July 14 meeting, City Council will vote to hear Flenniken’s use on review appeal at the  August 25 City Council meeting at 7pm in the Large Assembly Room at the City County Building.  Click here to go to the City website’s City Council meeting schedule page.

The News-Sentinel’s Hayes Hickman has been covering the Minvilla saga and reports here.

If you want to know more about the project, you can visit our Minvilla website. This is cross posted there.

The TYP is committed to a scattered-site approach to developing housing to end chronic homelessness. In order to reach its goal of creating 400 units of permanent supportive housing, the TYP will need to encourage construction and/or rehabilitation of perhaps a dozen or more apartment complexes scattered across the city and county.

Last week the Ten-Year Plan conducted a joint City Council/County Commission workshop. This workshop came about as the result of interactions with County Commission over the allocation of funds for Minvilla Manor. Commission considered an amendment to the resolution making that funding available only on the condition that any further project seeking to use public funds to build permanent supportive housing (PSH) would be built outside the city limits. That amendment was defeated, but it raised the issue of public input into siting of PSH and other kinds of supportive housing. The TYP asked for this joint workshop to begin to address that issue.

This joint City Council/County Commission workshop had two main goals.

• One was to begin a process for defining the siting considerations that would inform location of permanent supportive housing developments in various parts of the city and county to meet TYP objectives.
• The other was to begin the process of discussing the guidelines by which developers of this housing will engage neighborhoods where such housing may be located. A good process for neighborhood engagement is critical to the success of the TYP’s efforts to develop necessary permanent supportive housing stock.

To begin this process well, it was essential that Council members and Commissioners understand permanent supportive housing. Tim Klont from the Corporation for Supportive Housing spoke about what permanent supportive housing is, how effective it is, how it affects property values, the different models of development, how different communities site this type of housing, and other points of interest. Tim’s presentation was extremely informative. Click here for a copy of his detailed PowerPoint presentation.

The Task Force on PSH Siting Considerations

A good portion of the meeting was spent discussing issues related to specific permanent supportive housing projects. By the end of the meeting, however, Council and Commission approved the formation of a Task Force to do the following specific tasks:

• Generate a thorough list of site considerations for the development of permanent supportive housing.
• Develop a working definition of each site consideration. This definition will fairly represent the interests of all stakeholders.
• Present this list of site considerations and the working definitions to both City Council and County Commission for comment.
• Once all comments are processed and incorporated into the definitions, then the definitions will become usable by the developers of permanent supportive housing.

The members of the Task Force will be composed of representatives from each stakeholder group. (Note: The following list is updated as necessary. Updated Feb 23, 2009.)

• Three members of City Council
  • Joe Hultquist
  • Marilyn Roddy
  • Chris Woodhull
• Three members of County Commission
  • Mike Brown
  • Mark Harmon
  • Finnbarr Saunders
• Five members from the various neighborhood organizations (the TYP envisions COIN volunteering two members with the other three coming from other neighborhood organizations)
  • Diana Conn, COIN
  • Dan Smith, COIN
  • others TBD
• The Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness Office: 3 Members
• Two members from the Support Service Community
  • Ginny Weatherstone, Volunteer Ministry Center
  • Jim Warchol, Open Arms Care Corporation
• Two Developers
  • David Arning, Southeastern Housing Foundation
  • other TBD
• Two residents of permanent supportive housing (TBD)
  • Glen Jackson
  • Robert Clark
• Other
  • David Waite, Attorney at Law
• A Facilitator (TBD)
  • Jeannie Dulaney, Leadership Knoxville
  • Dawn Ford, Consumer Awareness Management
• The two Mayors will have an open invitation to attend the meetings
• All other Commissioners and Council Members can attend the meetings in a non-participatory role.

The Task Force will meet for the first time on March 12, 2009, from 7:30am to 1pm at the United Way of Greater Knoxville. This meeting is open to the public. The majority of the time will be used for education and to focus the group on its purpose. Workgroups will form at this initial meeting. They will meet independently to explore issues that are critical to the work of the Task Force and will bring their findings together to create the final product. We anticipate that the Task Force will complete its work within three months of its first meeting.

The Task Force will meet at least every other week for twelve weeks for at least two hours per meeting. The TYP office will look to the members to decide on the regularity and duration of the meetings after the first meeting convenes. The goal is for the Task Force to have a final product to present to the two legislative bodies by April 1, 2009.

If you have questions about anything related to the Task Force, permanent supportive housing, or anything else related to the TYP, please don’t hesitate to contact us or ask your questions in the comments below.

One goal of this workshop is to start a process for defining the siting considerations that would inform location of permanent supportive housing developments in various parts of the city and county to meet TYP objectives.

Another other goal is to help define the guidelines by which developers of this housing will engage neighborhoods where such housing may be located. A good process for neighborhood engagement is critical to the success of the TYP’s efforts to develop necessary permanent supportive housing stock.

At tonight’s meeting, as at last night’s, Tim Klont from the Corporation for Supportive Housing will speak about what permanent supportive housing is, how effective it is, how it affects property values, the different models of development, how different communities site this type of housing, and other points of interest. After his presentation, Mr. Klont will answer questions.

The TYP is committed to a scattered-site approach to developing housing to end chronic homelessness. In order to reach its goal of creating 400 units of permanent supportive housing, the TYP will need to encourage construction and/or rehabilitation of perhaps a dozen or more apartment complexes scattered across the city and county.

The meeting will take place at on December 10, 2008 at 6pm in the small assembly room in the City/County Building.

According to TYP Director Jon Lawler, one major goal of this meeting, and the joint City Council/County Commission workshop on the following day (this meeting is also open to the public), is to start a process for defining the siting criteria by which permanent supportive housing would be located in various parts of the city and county to meet TYP objectives.

The other goal is to help define the guidelines by which developers of this housing will engage neighborhoods where such housing may be located. A good process for neighborhood engagement is critical to the success of the TYP’s efforts to develop necessary permanent supportive housing stock.

At each of these two meetings, Tim Klont from the Corporation for Supportive Housing will speak about what permanent supportive housing is, how effective it is, how it affects property values, the different models of development, how different communities site this type of housing, and other points of interest. After his presentation (20 – 25 minutes), Mr. Klont will answer questions.

The TYP is committed to a scattered-site approach to developing housing to end chronic homelessness. In order to reach its goal of creating 400 units of permanent supportive housing, the TYP will need to encourage construction and/or rehabilitation of perhaps a dozen or more apartment complexes scattered across the city and county.