Nonprofits step in to help community's homeless as governments falter

The issue of homelessness continues to permeate our community. It is a big part of our affordable housing discussion and continues to be a challenging problem. We struggle with how to deal with it on the local level, including the number of dollars needed to address it. But while local governments struggle, we have nonprofits who have been quietly plugging the holes in the safety net for years.

This month, The Argus Foundation brought to Sarasota the regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Denise Cleveland-Leggett, to tell us about the direction HUD is taking on affordable housing and homelessness. Cleveland-Leggett oversees seven states plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cleveland-Leggett told us about the programs and solutions available to us here. Some of these programs were brand new, others have been around for a long time. Many in our audience had heard of some of the programs. Most of them need the private sector to be involved. She stressed the importance of public-private partnerships in solving the problems of affordable housing and homelessness.

While Cleveland-Leggett was here, HUD was putting its money where its mouth is. HUD announced Homeless Assistance Awards in the Continuum of Care Competition. HUD’s website describes these awards as designed to “quickly rehouse” homeless people to “effect utilization of mainstream programs” and to “optimize self-sufficiency” for homeless individuals and families.

Sarasota and Manatee counties received a total of $874,382 to be used for supportive housing and rental assistance by different nonprofits who come to the rescue of our local governments. These agencies include Harvest House, Renaissance Manor - CASL Inc., The Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and the Jewish Family and Children’s Services.

These awards are a drop in the bucket, however, compared with the costs these agencies incur. They fulfill their mission while raising money and shouldering the burden of this problem for the taxpayer.

These unsung heroes are the ones who step up and step in when government can’t figure it out. They sometimes must deal with the interference of local governments setting them back and with having to listen to some elected officials or administrators disparaging them from the dais because it is the politically convenient thing to do at the moment. Despite the red tape and politics, they put their heads down and move forward because they care for their clients and believe in their missions.

One by one, they take on veterans, runaways, single parents with kids, the addicted and the mentally ill. They take on many repeat clients who have relapsed and lost jobs repeatedly and those who have been set back by medical bills.

Harvest House and Catholic Charities took on our family portals in north and south county; Renaissance Manor and the Salvation Army took on our chronically homeless; and Jewish Family and Children’s Service helped veterans. Most of these agencies also crossed into and helped in all three areas.

These agencies don’t just provide their clients with housing — they provide wrap-around services that include counseling, treatment, jobs, connections to other nonprofit support and, most-important, dignity.

The reality is that the common citizen is shielded from the volume and other realities of homelessness here. These nonprofits contribute in a major way to our quality of life and economic well-being and deserve to be recognized by the business world for their success and progress.

On behalf of The Argus Foundation, we thank these agencies for their quiet service. We appreciate your willingness to serve and adjust to each local political turn of events. You give your clients — and the rest of us — hope.

Christine Robinson is executive director of the Argus Foundation and was on the Sarasota County Commission from 2010 to 2016. Contact her at christine@argusfoundation.org.