"WHAT'S WORKING" IN THE NATION TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS?
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP MANGANO
In a recent on-line Q and A with Philip Mangano, Affordable
Housing Finance magazine asked wide-ranging questions about what's working in
the nation to end homelessness. The magazine's introduction is below, followed by the Q and A.
Philip Mangano began working with the
homeless as a volunteer on a Boston breadline in the 1980s.
He was most recently executive director of
the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, where he had the job of
coordinating the federal government's efforts to end homelessness.
He stepped down from the post in May but
not before telling us what he looks for when he visits a new housing
development, the local innovations that have him excited, and who would make
his guest list for dinner.
Q: Why is it so hard to end
homelessness?
A: Well, in a good economy housing costs go up,
low-rent apartments disappear, and some are left out. In a bad economy, you
have the "double trouble" of housing foreclosures and job losses. Either way,
boom or bust, the poorest are at risk.
We know what to do. The central antidote is housing. Our good intentions and
well-meaning programs aren't enough. We need sustained political will at every
level of government to create that housing. Recent cost studies demonstrate
that managing homelessness is more expensive than solving it. That's
stimulating new government and private-sector resources and housing solutions.
We've seen some progress in the last few years, but maintaining the reductions
will be difficult.
Q: Are cities prepared for a sharp
rise in homelessness if the economy continues to worsen?
A: More ready then they've ever been. There are now
more than 850 communities* across the country that have created local 10-Year
Plans that have put innovative ideas and business practices to work for
homeless people. And they've received record resources for the past eight
years. Both the president and the Congress are focusing on preventing
homelessness through a variety of initiatives including the president's
recovery package and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program targeted to
mitigate the foreclosure crisis. So, better strategies and more resources. The
hope is to put a tourniquet on the hemorrhaging of human misery.
*[Editor's note: This number has climbed to 1,000 cities and counties since the interview was conducted.]
Q: How did you get interested in
homelessness?
A: Years ago, I walked into a movie theater to see a
[Franco] Zefferelli film entitled Brother
Sun, Sister Moon. Had no idea what that meant. But the film turned
out to be the story of St. Francis of Assisi, who committed his life to the poorest of the
poor. While I understood charity and compassion, I'd never heard of anyone
investing their whole life in the poor. At that time, the poorest were those on
our streets. I went in thinking one way about my life and came out thinking
another.
Q: Give us a statistic or fact
about homelessness to think about.
A: I'll give you two. Between 2005 and 2007, the
number of Americans living with disabilities on our streets and long term in
shelters dropped by nearly 30 percent, more than 50,000 fewer. Given an average
of a five-year history of homelessness per person, that first national
documented decrease in homelessness ended more than 250,000 years of
homelessness.
The cost of a person experiencing chronic
homelessness randomly ricocheting through expensive health and law enforcement
systems in 65 cost studies from around the country ranges between $35,000 and
$150,000 per person per year. The cost of housing and support services for that
person in those same cities ranges from $13,000 to $25,000 per person per year.
You don't need to be Warren Buffett, or even Suze Orman, to figure out which is
the better investment.
Q: What is a recent accomplishment
that you are most proud of?
A: The reduction in homelessness of our poorest and
most disabled neighbors accomplished in partnership with mayors, county
officials, governors, and the private and faith sectors.
Q: What has been a disappointment?
A: That the deteriorating economy has put more
people, especially families, at risk of homelessness. Often families playing by
the rules, paying their rent, now undermined by job loss and economic
machinations beyond their control. We had demonstrated a reduction in families
between 2005 and 2007. That is now overwhelmed by the economic tsunami.
Q: Share with us a brief update on
how many communities have adopted 10-Year Plans to End Homelessness and how
these plans are working.
A: There are now more than 850 mayors and county
executives* partnered in more than 350 10-Year Plans to End Homelessness across
our country.
Communities large and small, coast to coast, all committed and
learning from one another. Many cities have seen decreases in street and
chronic homelessness. And that is the single metric in any 10 Year Plan-that
fewer of our neighbors will be experiencing the long misery and human tragedy
of homelessness.
*[Editor's note: This number has climbed to 1,000 officials since the interview was conducted.]
Q: What's a local innovation to
combat homelessness that you are excited about?
A: No question, the whole rapid rehousing effort, often
called Housing First, is the most important innovation in our effort to reduce
and end homelessness. Offering the customer a place to live in permanent
supportive housing as quickly as possible has answered the question of "how" to
reduce homelessness. Cost studies tell us it's cost effective. Consumers tell
us that it's their preference. Taxpayers are happy for the investment that
solves problems and saves public money. We are indebted to Dr. Sam Tsemberis of
New York's Pathways to Housing for his determined
initiation of this practice as a national model.
A second innovation would be Project
Homeless Connect developed in San Francisco as a one-day, one-stop bringing
together all of the referral and quality of life resources people need-from
housing to haircuts, from transportation to treatment. More than 200 cities are
now participating and the trajectory out of homelessness is being realized.
Q: When you visit a new housing
development what do you look for?
A: I am most interested in how much the units
cost. We have finite resources. Maximizing the number of units now that we
recognize housing is the central antidote makes sense, and we need to be
certain of the dollars and sense.
Q: Tell us about a recent homeless
person that you met.
A: Having lived on the streets off and on for a
dozen years and in shelters in the intervening time, Joe had given up. On
himself and any hope of living a "regular" life. He had served in the Army,
been married, fathered, and divorced. He used substances. Had been incarcerated
briefly. Suffered from depression. A little more than two years ago, he came
off the streets into a Housing First apartment. He's now on SSI, volunteering
in programs, connecting with his children. Most importantly, he's happier and
one of the most cheerful rent payers you'd ever see!
Q: If you unexpectedly had
the day off, where would we find you?
A: Trying to get to the ocean.
Q: If you were hosting a dinner
party, who would be on the guest list?
A: Well, I love that movie Places in the Heart, where the living
and those who have lived before share supper. In that spirit, gathered round
the table would be lifelong heroes including abolitionists William Lloyd
Garrison and Susan B. Anthony, spiritual mentors St. Francis of Assisi and the provoking Simone Weil, Victorian critic
John Ruskin, poets Ann Sexton and Mary Oliver, and dropping by for dessert
would be Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. For entertainment, Mark Twain,
Mort Sahl, and Bono.
Q: What's on your iPod?
A: As soon as my nephew provides the tutorial, I'll
let you know. Certainly Judee Sill, Bach, and U2.
Q: What's the last book you read
or last movie you saw?
A: I just finished a book of excerpts of Bobby
Kennedy speeches contextualized by events of the day. It's called The Gospel According to RFK. Had me in
tears more than once. And, I just saw the documentary about high-wire artist,
Philippe Petit entitled Man on Wire.
While it's a stimulating view of his personal and professional life, the movie
is about doing what others think is impossible.
Q: What's next for Philip Mangano
and the council?
A: There's no "next" until homelessness is ended.
Another of my abolitionist heroes, Wendell Phillips, wrote that "nothing is
done, until it is done right." The only future for homelessness is abolition.
And Susan B. Anthony got it right about social wrong, whether limited suffrage
or homelessness: "Failure is impossible."
Thank you to Affordable Housing Finance magazine for permission to reprint this interview.
To read the entire issue of the magazine, including the interview with Philip Mangano, click here: www.housingfinance.com.
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