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YouTubeAbel Harding: Don’t Balance The City’s Budget On The Backs of the Most Needy
Abel Harding
Audrey McKibbin Moran, CEO of the Sulzbacher Center, is a master of the data that is essential to understanding the city’s homeless problems. The facts she shares poke holes in many of the common perceptions of the nearly 3,000 individuals who find themselves homeless on the streets of Jacksonville. During a recent tour of the Sulzbacher Center, located just north of the Duval County Jail in the shadows of the Hart Expressway, Ms. Moran shared many of those statistics---and the story of the Sulzbacher Center---with me.
For starters, contrary to commonly held beliefs, Jacksonville’s homeless population doesn’t come from other areas of the country. They are, on an average of seven out of ten, actually from Jacksonville. Once neighboring counties are factored in, an average of eight out of ten hails from Northeast Florida. At one time or the other, it’s entirely possible that they were our middle school classmates, our co-workers, our neighbors---even, perhaps, our friends. These individuals (and families) find their way to the Sulzbacher Center for a wide variety of reasons. Some have battled drug and alcohol addictions throughout their lives and they are searching for a place that will help them overcome their own demons. An extraordinary number are families where parents have lost their jobs and can no longer afford to make their monthly rent or mortgage payments.
And, those numbers are increasing. The Sulzbacher Center, whose doors have been opened for nearly 15 years, is bursting at the seams. It is home to 334 men, women and children on a daily basis; yet the Center has been unable to respond to over 20,000 requests for help since June of 2008---an average of 55 requests per day. According to the Center, they have sheltered 2,164 people this year---a 20% increase over the prior year.
The Sulzbacher Center was formed in 1995 as a coordinated effort to provide comprehensive services for Jacksonville’s homeless population. Those services include shelter services, health (medical, dental and mental) services, children’s services, employment services, housing assistance services and HOPE teams that target the often isolated segment of the homeless population that suffers from severe mental illnesses.
At the time of its inception, the City of Jacksonville pledged $600,000 in funding for the operation of what was referred to as “the city’s homeless shelter.” That $600,000 comprised 1/3 of the Center’s funding, with state and federal funds and private and corporate donations comprising the rest. Since that time, despite the fact that Jacksonville’s homeless population has swelled and demand for their services continues to grow, the City of Jacksonville’s contributions have continued to decline in terms of a percentage of the Center’s funding. The Center’s $750,000 request from the City this year will comprise a mere 11% of their funding---an average annual increase of only $10,000.
In the last 10 years, the Sulzbacher Center has sheltered 13,300 people (2,215 of whom were children); served 3,435,857 meals (including 431,596 meals this year) and treated 306,968 medical, dental and mental health care patients at its federally accredited clinic.
With the news last week that the City Council Finance Committee has ordered a 2% across the board cut in public services grants, the Sulzbacher Center is bracing for the worst at an organization where even a cut as small as $500 could mean that 500 people would be left without an evening meal. The Center has identified several areas that they would be forced to cut. First on the list would be the two family dorms. These dorms, two of the few in the city, allow families to stay together when they are forced to enter the Center. In most homeless shelters, for example, a mother who is forced to seek shelter with her 14-year old son would find herself separated from her own child---a scenario that would be difficult for any parent to accept. The Center has also said that they will be forced to stop serving meals to individuals who are not living in the shelter. Currently, the Center serves an average of 500 meals per day to anyone who comes to their doors. Lately, these individuals are often families where both parents have lost their jobs and they are doing everything they can to stay in their homes.
Touring the Center was an emotional experience for me personally. My grandfather, who had led a relatively successful life, spent the last 20 years of his life on the streets. Unfortunately, the mental illness that he most likely suffered from was something that was never diagnosed or treated---those services weren't widely available 30 years ago. That illness, combined with an alcohol addiction that he never conquered, resulted in a rather confusing childhood for his grandchildren. I've often wondered how life might have been different for our entire family if he had ever gotten help.
The Sulzbacher Center is a place that offers those very services that my grandfather never had access too. A small portion of the multitudes that have seen their lives changed by the work of the Center have been featured in the annual Transformations dinner. Their stories are heart-warming and real reminders of how blessed so many of us are.
To be certain, Jacksonville is in the midst of a tough economic environment. Balancing a budget during tough times is not easy, but cuts should never be achieved on the backs of the most needy and vulnerable among us. If anything, the City should be moving to increase its funding to organizations like the Sulzbacher Center during a recession.
Many of the city's non-profits have formed together to launch a website, http://www.igetitjax.com. They are asking for the community's help in communicating their message to the City Council. The premise is rather simple---taking care of Jacksonville's needy and assisting them in getting on the right track is all about economic development. A city that fails to lend a helping hand will become a city overrun with discontent and crime--it's certainly not the Jacksonville I envision.
