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Fair ~ River stage: 33.98 Falling Saturday, November 21, 2009 |
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Cape Girardeau County seeking $172,000 grant to prevent homelessnessThursday, July 2, 2009Cape Girardeau County will apply for almost $172,000 to combat homelessness, part of $12 million set aside statewide from the stimulus bill approved by Congress in February. The money, which can be used to help pay rent, apartment deposits and utility bills, is something the county can't pass up, Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said Wednesday. The funding will help fill a gap in services -- there are funds available from some agencies to help with deposits and other agencies have money to help with utility bills, but dollars to help someone catch up with past-due rent payments are scarce. "It is a real problem," Jones said of evictions related to job losses. "They usually are not eligible for anything." Under the program, Cape Girardeau County and other counties in Missouri can apply by next week for an allocation based on poverty rates, unemployment and food stamp usage. While the counties make the application, actual operation of the program will be turned over to local agencies already dealing with housing issues on a daily basis, said Scott Rowson, director of communications for the Missouri Department of Social Services. Along with Cape Girardeau's $171,392, other Southeast Missouri counties are also in line for help. Scott County is eligible for $136,156, Perry County can obtain $41,196 and Bollinger County can apply for $39,144. "The counties and other local government entities have pretty substantial discretion in terms of how they use this," Rowson said. "The intent is that they will pass it along to other local agencies, community action agencies, the Salvation Army or the United Way, and they will use it to help direct recipients." The money comes at a time when Cape Girardeau leaders have mobilized opposition to converting the Broadway federal building into a homeless shelter. The application from the Rev. Larry Rice, leader of the New Life Evangelistic Center, was rejected, but he has said he will file a lawsuit challenging the decision. A previous lawsuit by Rice over a federal building in St. Louis was dropped when he said that city had made a substantial new commitment to help the homeless. Accepting the money does not obligate the county to continue the program once federal funds are spent, Rowson said. Nor will the counties be required to put up any matching money, he added. In Cape Girardeau County, Jones said he has already contacted Roy Jones, no relation, who is in charge of housing programs coordinated through the Community Caring Council, and Maj. Ben Stillwell, director of the Cape Girardeau Salvation Army office. "I am sure we can have a million dollars' worth of requests and $171,000 to work with," Jones said. "I told Roy Jones that 'you have done so much with so little for so long you can do a lot with nothing.'" The rules for using the funds allow help for short-term needs as well as longer periods. When an applicant is approved for short-term help, the maximum award would be three months' rent. Under what is called medium-term help in the state action plan, an applicant could receive rental assistance for up to 18 months, including the payment of up to six months back rent. On utility bills, the money could cover up to 18 months of bills, including six months of past-due bills. The Scott County Commission today will finalize its letter of intent to apply, said Jamie Burger, presiding commissioner. He said he has been speaking with the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corp. and Mission Missouri, a Sikeston-based organization, to administer the fund. "This really would go to the needy and people who have hit hard times," Burger said. "It will help them get through the storm and get these people back on their feet." 388-3642 Pertinent addresses: 1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO 339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO
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MMMM Hmmm, That's because they don't want Reverend Rice putting a homeless shelter smack dab across the road from the tower club baby.
It's telling that Cape Co. officials are now willing to apply as sponsor for homeless funds when The Revival Center was told, after a presentation to the county over 7 years ago, by Co. officials they they "could not sign any legal documents for the county" to apply for emergency shelter grant funds. These funds were then and continue to be used state-wide in about 50 other counties to support shelters that work to prevent homelessness. The Revival Center now serves 2,000+ homeless people a year, much more than any similar shelter between St. Louis and Memphis, yet, only Scott Co. is talking with their county shelter, Mission MO, which often sends homeless people to The Revival Center. Mission MO can only serve a limited number of people in post-treatment recovery not nearly the 50 to 60 people often staying for less than 30 days at a time at The Revival Center. If Cape Co. is really serious about addressing homelessness, there are 2 things the county should be doing: 1) talking with The Revival Center to help with the cost of assisting 2,000 people a year in Cape County to address being homeless and building their capacity to maintain employment, manage their income, acquire and maintain an apartment or home, etc. and 2) seriously consider continuing the ongoing sponsorship of The Revival Center to access the unused Emergency Shelter funds of nearly $75,000 / year that remain unaccessed for Southeast Missouri. Perhaps The Revival Center could then hire some trained, dedicated staff, instead of operate totally on their own good-will with time given to run the facility by volunteers from within. There is no telling the positive transformations in life that could be accomplished by The Revival Center working closely with their guests, who come there homeless in Cape County. After all, during the application of Larry Rice for the Cape Federal Building, The Revival Center was touted by many people as "THE, great, successful" local solution to addressing homelessness, and this is being done with only sparce donations and nothing from city, county, state or federal support, other than the Cape Police Department Chief's agreement to do all background checks for potential guests at no charge to The Revival Center, thus saving the Center nearly $15,000.00 per year in costs.
More waste.
I need to add that the Jackson Police Department is most recently handling all the background checks for The Revival Center to help with the assistance to people who are homeless in our county.
Yeah, and we all see how well using "guests" to run NLEC illegal shelters work. Darin Robinson's (a manager of NLEC) utterly transformed his victim's life. Robert Gamble, another "guest" transformed another victim after he stabbed and killed him at the main St. Louis NLEC "building".
Go away Rice. No one wants your "brand" of social services. You're not wanted in any community.
I guess it would be alright to help people that REALLY need the help, BUT I know of a couple that have three kids, and they will rent a house, pay the rent for a couple of months then stop paying rent. They know exactly how long the proceedure is for eviction. Then when the eviction goes to court, and the judge sets the date that they have to be out... they move out the day before, and fix it so the landlord has a hard time getting into the house. Oh and if they ask the landlord for a little more time, and the landlord agrees... they have to start the eviction process all over again from the beginning. That is how this couple lives. I am not saying that everybody does that, but this couple makes it harder on the people that really do need the help.
I know this because they did this to my landlady.
Hookie98,
Seems like your landlady could benefit from a Cape Girardeau housing authority. What you discribed shouldn't happen, and landlords as well as tenants need some form of housing agency.
The agencies listed in the article do screen their cleints to make sure that the people who REALLY need the help do get it, pending avialable resources.
That's exactly why we prefer initially sending people to a shelter, never a comfortable, likable place to make a "home", so they can get serious about paying their bills and getting on their own 2 feet. Just paying bills that are owed is NOT the answer, unless a life plan is made by the family or individual that includes paying back all that is owed. People who end up living for a time in a shelter environment often head in a new direction; however some people need a more intensive plan to transform their lives. This is why we need a community transition / job training center that equips people looking for living-wage employment that will truly support them as contributors to the community economic system!
How about a grant of $172,000 to buy one way bus tickets out of town.
Help lower the tax rate as well and lower the crime rate with all these dead beats assaulting our hard working productive citizens.