Feb 16, 2023– The Dallas Morning News– Everton Bailey Jr.
Mayor Eric Johnson says his new task force of homeless service advocates will help speed up city progress in helping people without stable shelter.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said Thursday he is appointing a group of local homeless service advocates to come up with new strategies to help the city more quickly aid people without stable shelter.
Johnson said the new volunteer, independent group will assess current policies, research other plans to address homelessness and issue a report of recommendations to his office by June 15. The suggestions would later go to city and regional officials for consideration, and help them better collaborate on plans, he said.
The mayor said he felt the task force was necessary because the city needed to “throw the kitchen sink” at the issue and draw from all available resources to address homelessness in the Dallas area.
“While the city of Dallas has stepped up in major ways over the years, this cannot continue to be a Dallas city government problem alone to solve,” Johnson said. “We need Dallas County, we need our neighboring cities, we need nonprofits, we need medical institutions, and we need other levels of government to play a role in this as well.”
Thursday’s announcement comes after Johnson said he intended to create a task force to address homelessness during his State of the City address in November. The mayor has previously formed similar temporary task forces, such as one to help the city address public safety and another aimed at developing more entrepreneurs.
The mayor’s new Task Force on Homelessness Organizations, Policies, and Encampments will be led by Dallas Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Chair Betty Culbreath, Family Gateway President and CEO Ellen Magnis, and Housing Forward Board Chair Peter Brodsky. Housing Forward used to be called the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance.
The trio said Thursday that they planned to used their experience to explore existing plans, but were open to exploring new ideas for Dallas to consider.
More housing options other than apartments, such as tiny homes and single-room occupancy units, was one example.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel here,” Brodsky said. “We want to take what’s going well and enhance it, and take what’s not going well and figure out how to fix it and add some new things to the mix.”
Dallas has an office dedicated to addressing homelessness and has been involved in a regional effort since 2021 to house more than 2,700 unsheltered people in apartments by fall 2023. Brodsky said the initiative, led by the city and Housing Forward, has housed more than 1,500 people so far.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Dallas and Collin counties would receive $22.8 million over three years to aid programs meant to address homelessness.
“I believe it is our responsibility as [a] community to help those who have lost their way,” Magnis said. “Not to blame them, not to blame the agencies that are trying to help them, and to accept responsibility that there are many factors, many complexities that have brought us to where we are.”
Obie Bussey, executive director of the Adult Rehabilitation Ministry
Darilynn Cardona-Beiler, vice president of Systems Integration and Policy Implementation for the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
Judge Glock, director of research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Larry Gordon, chief of public safety and field operations of Downtown Dallas Inc.
Ikenna Mogbo, chief housing officer for Metrocare Services
Daniel Roby, CEO of Austin Street Center
Dave Woodyard, president and CEO of Catholic Charities Dallas
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