Simpson Housing donors see the power that one person can have

Clare visits Simpson Housing Services' Bell House

A post by Nancy and Clare Bossert

When Clare was younger, she accompanied me to work one Saturday morning.  As we exited the freeway, there was a man standing at the top of the off-ramp.  Clare saw him and asked why he was standing there and what his sign said.  I explained that sometimes people who do not have a job and/or a home would hold up a sign asking people who were driving by to help.

She then wanted to know why we didn’t stop. I am sure it is a dilemma that we have all struggled with at one time or another:  Do we have money in our purses or wallets to share?  Will it be used for drugs or alcohol?  Is it our right to judge?

Clare kept raising the issue in the days and weeks to come.  Coincidentally, there was an article in the newspaper in which several people who stood at highway off-ramps were interviewed.  Their stories of how they came to be there were fascinating, and it struck me that there but for the grace of God go many of us.  I was most impressed with the words of one man, who said that it was okay to not give him any money, but please don’t look away as if he was not there.

As a consequence of Clare’s ongoing interest and the newspaper article, we decided to make “Homeless Kits”.  We started with gallon zipper bags and into each one we put a bottle of water, a new pair of athletic socks, a granola bar, a small box of raisins, a toothbrush and toothpaste, travel size deodorant, lotion, shampoo, and hand sanitizer.

Then Clare got out her “sharing” bank (she has to divide any money she earns or receives into 3 banks – savings, sharing, and spending) and put $2 into each gallon bag.  We then put the kits in the car.

Our first opportunity to hand out a Homeless Kit came a couple of weeks later.  We were going home from visiting a friend in south Minneapolis and I deliberately chose a route that would take us past an area where I had previously seen people holding signs asking for help.  And sure enough, there was a man at the corner.

He had tan, weathered skin and snow white hair, mustache, and beard.  With Clare watching, I opened the window and as he came near, I handed him a bag.  He got a big smile on his face and said, “I don’t even know your names.”  I told him who we were and he told us his name was Bimbo.  He then said “God Bless You”, and we drove away with big smiles all around.  It was a very positive first interaction and Clare was thrilled.

In the last several years, we have since given out many Homeless Kits, all of which have been received gracefully.  We make one addition to the kit in the winter – a polar fleece scarf.

It goes to show that one person can make a difference in this world.  We believe that if just one person is helped by our Homeless Kits, then the effort is worthwhile.  We understand that not everyone is willing or able to make Homeless Kits.  And that is okay.

We simply would say that when you see a person holding a sign asking for help PLEASE DON”T LOOK AWAY.

- Nancy and Clare Bossert

Testifying at the capitol

Linda testified this week at the capitol. This is her powerful testimony:

Linda B., Representative Jeff Hayden and Simpson Housing Executive Director Julie Manworren

Thank you Madame Chair and Members. My name is Linda Buechner, and I would like to share my experience of working with the Family Roots Alliance, which is funded by the state’s long-term homeless supportive services fund. If it wasn’t for the services that Family Roots Alliance provides, my family and I wouldn’t be where we are today.

I grew up in St. Paul, MN, and now live in Minneapolis. I have 3 children—2 boys and a girl. Before I became involved with Family Roots Alliance, I had been homeless for 9 out of the past 13 years. I was able to get various apartments, but would lose them after about 3 weeks because I wouldn’t pay the next month’s rent. My kids were bounced from school to school, and didn’t have any stability. I was chemically dependent, with my drug of choice being crack cocaine. I was addicted for 10 years, and thought that because I never did drugs in front of my kids that they didn’t know about my addiction—turns out they knew the entire time. I had been in denial for a long time. I was more focused on partying than being a parent.

In December of 2005, I was arrested and spent a little over 3 months in jail. During this time, my boys were staying with my brother Ron, and my daughter was put in foster care. After my jail time, I went to chemical dependency treatment, and then stayed with a friend. I entered a halfway house, but then left early to stay with my sister. I lived with my sister for a short time, and then left to go to a shelter in Minneapolis—my sister’s lease was being jeopardized by my staying there. It took me a while to realize that the only way that I could get help was to reach out for help and work on myself. I didn’t want to “stoop so low,” as I thought then, to have to stay at a shelter, but I had no choice. I took one of my sons with me—the other son stayed with my relative, and my daughter was still in foster care.

Being homeless is scary. My son and I almost didn’t make it to the shelter by close one night, and almost had to spend the night outside. My son was 10 at the time, and was very afraid. It’s hard to put a child through that.

In January of 2007, I was referred to the Family Roots Alliance. They helped me to find an apartment in less than 2 weeks. My son that had been with me in shelter lived there right away, and my other son was able to come home by the end of that month. My daughter was still in foster care, and she was able to come home in June of 2007. The judge was amazed at everything I’d accomplished in less than 6 months—accomplishments that I couldn’t have done without the support of the Family Roots Alliance program. Making changes in your life is hard work. They supported me, but I was the one who had to change. The staff provide support for me and my kids—they don’t just put us in housing and forget about us. Travis, my educational support advocate, was able to help find a school that is a good fit for my kids. My advocates help out with bus fare for school, and with school supplies. My kids now have more one on one time with their teachers, and are learning to control their emotions. Family Roots Alliance also has a Teen Group, and put on different activities that my kids look forward to. They helped my family to be “adopted” so that we could get assistance with Christmas gifts.

Today, I have been sober for over 3 years. I can talk about it with my kids now, but it was a hard transition. My kids weren’t used to a “sober mom,” and had to get used to the adjustment. The advocates at Family Roots Alliance are helping me with my parenting skills, and with helping my kids learn responsibility. When I was using, I would give my kids whatever they wanted—I didn’t know how to manage my priorities and responsibilities, and therefore definitely didn’t have a way to teach my kids about responsibility. My family advocate, Lee, helped me to come up with a system to help me and my kids budget.

I want to get to the point where I can help homeless people that are in the situation I used to be in. I want to let folks know that it’s hard to be homeless, but help is out there—don’t be ashamed to ask. I look forward to opening the blinds every morning—I love my new life. When I was addicted and homeless, I didn’t realize my responsibilities—now, with the help of my advocates, I do. I don’t want my kids to make the same mistakes I did. There have been times in my life, even while in this program, that I was ready to give up—if it wasn’t for the Family Roots Alliance staff, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I always try to find a way to work out issues on my own first, but I know that my advocates are only a phone call away. My testimony today isn’t just for myself—it’s for everybody out there who needs a hand up. I hope that my story helps bring about the opportunity for others who were in my situation to turn their lives around, too.

Thank you for listening, and for this opportunity.

Linda Buechner.

Time magazine reports: nearly 1 in 10 children attending public school in Minneapolis is homeless.

In a March 12 article, Time magazine reported that nearly 1 in 10 children attending public school in Minneapolis is homeless. According to preliminary figures, districts are reporting nearly 16% more homeless students in the 2007-08 academic year than in the previous year. Read the full article.

Every school district in the United States has a liaison for homeless and highly mobile students, Elizabeth Hinz is the Minneapolis Public Schools liaison. The Minneapolis school district provides each child a new backpack full of grade appropriate school supplies (paid for by private donations and federal funding). An effort is made to make sure the backpacks aren’t the throw-away kind. “We don’t want backpacks that look like they came from a shelter,” says Hinz, as quoted in the article.

Last year, Simpson family housing programs served 622 children throughout the Twin Cities Metro area. Every school-aged child is assigned an Education Support Advocate (ESA) to help them succeed in school. On an lighter note, advocates report that they do not see a lot of the children in the program bearing the stigma of being homeless or highly mobile.

“I see parents protecting their children from knowing that they are homeless,” says Jean Lloyd, ESA. “Sometimes a child won’t want me to see them at school, but that is usually not the case. I remember one little girl proudly saying out loud ‘This is my advocate!’” Rachel Kuehl, ESA says. Read about a day in the life of a Simpson Education Support Advocate.

$1.5 billion is being distributed by HUD for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing

As part of the Economic Recovery Act, $1.5 billion is being distributed by HUD for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing. The city of St. Paul is scheduled to receive about $3.3 million and Minnesota Housing will receive over $10 million for the balance of state, which could include Ramsey County agencies as well.

The purpose of this fund is to identify people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and through the provision of short to intermediate term rental assistance (1 – 24 months) and appropriate support services, prevent or resolve the homelessness as rapidly as possible.

Community discussions
On Thursday, March 19th at 10:00 a.m. at the Union Gospel Mission, 435 East University Ave., there will be the second in a series of community discussions about the best use of this money.  All are welcome to attend.

More info

A Reflection on Planning Signing the Streets, an event to raise public awareness of the issue of homelessness

On Feb. 18th we will pick up our signs from the shelter, head to our assigned street corners, and spend a few hours in the cold asking cars passing by for help in ending homelessness. The signs we will be holding will have statements such as:

• Homelessness is not a choice.
• 9,300 Minnesotans are homeless on any given day.
• You can make a difference. Cost? 5 Minutes.  Ask me how  (need better wording)
• Every person has a right to safe and affordable housing.
• No one should be homeless. [We can do better.]
• Over 2000 people are turned away from shelter and sleep outside each night.
• 550-650 Minnesota youth are homeless without parents on any night.
• 45% of homeless Minnesotans are under 21 years old.

We aren’t asking for money. We are asking for change. We are asking for action. We are asking everyone to begin by taking five minutes to call their legislator and encourage them to protect the homeless this session at a time when help is needed the most.

Budgets may be cut this year, and the number of homeless will go up. But the shelters are already overflowing TODAY! Around 2,000 people are turned away from shelter in the state of Minnesota each night! No one should have to live in a shelter, sleeping on the floor in a room packed with strangers, or even worse, be turned away to camp outside in frigid temperatures. We can do better!

We want everyone to know that they have the power to make a huge difference. There is a statistic that many legislators agree with- one phone call has the influence of at least 10 constituents. Imagine 10 people calling…with the power of 100. Or 100 people calling…with the power of 1000.

This event started as an idea that came to a co-worker wondering about what we could do to raise awareness. Soon our newly formed Advocacy committee jumped at the chance of planning something quickly to create a stir at the beginning of the legislative session. There may be 50 people out holding signs, 75, 100, 200…we have no idea what the turnout will actually be, but in our minds any number is better then none. Even 3 people may hold signs read by hundreds. But it is up to those hundreds to use their voice to speak up for this great injustice.

Full event info

10 ways to help a person experiencing homelessness

1. Don’t look away. If you notice someone who appears to be in need of a smile, give them one. If you are unable or don’t want to give someone with a sign any money, give them a friendly look and a silent blessing. It’s that simple. I have also heard of people keeping granola bars in their glove compartment to hand out at intersections.

2. Cook and serve a meal at a shelter. You’re giving a lot more than just meat and potatoes. It’s about creating community for people who may feel disenfranchised and disconnected. Diners will enjoy and be thankful for your food, but most of all, they will remember that you took the time to care.  Read more.

3. Save the little bottles of toiletries from hotels and donate them to a shelter. It feels good to use your own shampoo or lotion, even when you have to share a shower. When you have to spend all day on your feet, it’s nice to be able to freshen up in a library restroom or park. Some people think that people experiencing homelessness don’t care about their appearance, but this is not what we see. Basic human pride is present at all economic levels.

4. Read to a child. Create art with them. Encourage them. Praise them. Love them. Challenge them. If you witness a child falling behind in school, investigate what you can do. Generational poverty is a huge factor contributing to the cycle of homelessness in families and education is one sure way of breaking it. You can even volunteer your time as a tutor.

5. Gather gloves, mittens, long underwear and scarves. The warmer the variety, the better. Donate these to a shelter or housing program or simply carry them around in your car and hand them out when you see someone who needs one.

6. Remember that homelessness doesn’t go away when the weather warms up. A need for blankets is replaced by a need for clean socks and t-shirts in the summer. Typically, volunteerism in the shelters goes down in the summer, so it is a great opportunity to get your feet wet. The Simpson Men’s Shelter is staffed every night of the year by volunteers (men and women). It was voted by City Pages as “The Best Way to Cleanse Your Soul.” Overnight volunteers make an incredible difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness and are quite often the highlight of someone’s day. Try it. You’ll like it.

7. Adopt a family at holiday time. Also, remember single adults when dispensing holiday cheer. Shelters take gifts of bus cards, gift cards, gloves, anything portable that you could imagine wanting.

8. Talk to people about the issue. Brainstorm ways to help out. Join forces in your church, school, community, or neighborhood. Alone you can make a big difference. Together we can make lasting change.

9. Don’t be discouraged by what could seem to be an enormous problem. Experts in the field believe that this problem is eventually fixable. Counties and cities have stepped up with definitive plans to end homelessness in 10 years.

10. Contact your legislator. Let them know that you feel strongly that now, more than ever when the need for these services is great, that we do not cut services to people experiencing homelessness. For more ideas of how to advocate and to find out your legislator, go to the Simpson advocacy page.

Voice Lessons: advocating for people experiencing homelessness

Yesterday afternoon, Mike Davey from the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless spoke at Voice Lessons, a Simpson Housing Services event that brought people together to learn skills to speak to their legislators. The talk was specifically geared towards issue around funding for programs for people experiencing homelessness.

The current legislative session is looking to be a tough one, with cuts almost certain. The sad irony is that we are seeing an ever-increasing need for our services, just at the time when the slashing of programs is looming.

Generally speaking, people tend to shy away from speaking to their legislators, so a visit or phone call can hold a lot of weight. It has been said that every meeting or phone call a senator or representative receives is viewed as representing the sentiments of 100 constituents.

You don’t need to be an expert on the situation. You are a concerned citizen. If you have a passion for or personal experience with an issue, you are an expert.

A few other points brought up at the session:

Be as specific as possible about whatever you are calling about.

If you hear “You are speaking to the choir” from your elected official, remember that the choir can get rusty and need practice. Continue to express your thoughts.

The idea of focusing on what we need in the budget vs. what we have the money for is key.

Be sure to “get the ask.”

Go to to find your legislator.

Last night we attended the 24th Annual Homeless Memorial Service at Simpson United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.

This is a powerful event,  honoring homeless who have died on the streets in Minnesota in the previous year.  Last night’s memorial was no exception.

Over the years, I’ve done a number of the walks preceding the
event, and last night I did as well.  The walk of 26 or so city blocks in
decent, but ordinarily cold weather is an effort to call attention to the homeless.

Those walking the route, which includes the Nicollet Mall, carry
simple white wooden signs, each with the name and age of one homeless person who died last year. The walk is a silent vigil.

A speaker said that the average age of homeless who die on the streets is about 43 (73 for the rest of us).  The youngest remembered yesterday was “Unknown baby girl, 1, Minneapolis”.  The oldest, James Schichel, 79, St. Paul.  There were about 60 on the list last night, plus a similar size list of “Formerly Homeless”, and six “Advocates”.

Dr. John Song of the U of M Medical School gave a brief but very
moving talk, reading real comments of homeless folks who feared for what would happen to their bodies when they died.  It is no surprise: they are just like us in so many ways.  They just happen to be homeless.

Last night, as they were reading the names and lighting a candle
for each who had died, the name “Greg Horan, 60, St. Paul”,  jumped out at me.

I knew Greg.  At his death he was listed as an Advocate for the
Homeless; when I met him, strictly by coincidence, he was not too manyyears off the street, living in a room in St. Paul.  Until I read his age, I had no idea how old he was.

It was maybe a dozen years ago that I met him.

I was with a group that had been to a St. Paul Saints game, and
afterwards was walking to where my car was parked.  As I was walking I struck up a conversation with a big guy next to me, in the pack.  He asked if I could give him a ride home, rather than waiting for the bus. “Sure”, I said, a little unsurely.  It was late, and it could be a long wait for a city bus on Snelling Avenue.

It was obvious from our conversation that Greg was an educated
guy.  I think the topic of homeless came up during the ride at some point. He talked about a periodical he had been publishing for and by street people, and I asked if I could have a copy.  At his home, an otherwise nondescript St. Paul neighborhood house in which he had a room, he went in and grabbed a handful of the newsletters, which turned out to be very remarkable publications, full of stories, poetry and art by street people.

I kept them for a long while, but ultimately gave them to a Native
American author I know who used to be on this list, but now no longer has a computer and lives in rural Deer River MN and (I’ve learned since) has a passion for Elvis Presley!  (Her recently received Christmas card featured Elvis this year.)  She went through Greg’s periodicals, and found some literature or art by someone she knew.  I’m going to write her and see if, by some wild chance, she still has the newsletters.

Greg and I were more or less in each others lives for awhile.  He
didn’t seem to have a phone or a computer or even a reliable address, so it was almost impossible to stay in touch, and I didn’t wander in his circles.  Serious cancer entered his life.  The last time I saw him, as I told the mostly filled church last night, was at that very service, perhaps three years earlier.

The guy immediately ahead of me read a truly incredible piece of
Greg’s writing, about life on the St. Paul streets.  I hope I can get a
copy and share it with you. (Read here)

In our few visits, I picked up pieces about Greg’s life: growing
up in the hardscrabble anthracite mining country in Pennsylvania;
developing a talent for writing, moving up rapidly in the big city
publishing world on the east coast, until a series of catastrophes ended with his being flat broke and a street person at the Union Gospel Mission in Minnesota.

Greg had every reason to say “the hell with it” but he hung in
there, apparently advocating to his death for the community he had never planned to be part of.

As I once heard a minister eulogize someone else I knew, who’d
died in a car crash, and contributed mightily to his passion, Greg “lived before he died, and died before he was finished.”  Not too bad a legacy.

As I write I keep thinking of two of those endless sayings that
float through my head: “There but for the grace of God go I”; “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.

-Dick Bernard

Increases is the numbers we serve

For single adults in our shelters we have definitely seen an increase in numbers. The number at our weekly lottery has been steadily increasing. As of the end of the 3^rd quarter we had served almost the same number of people in both our shelters as we had in all in 2007. The most significant things we have noticed about the population, is that some of the people we’ve helped move into housing are coming back after job losses. When the economy struggles, often the folks we serve are the first to lose their jobs, or have a harder time finding work. Also, our shelter director, Brian, says that he’s been seeing a lot more folks that are homeless for the first time ever coming to the lottery.

As far as families, we have seen a huge increase in shelter use in the past year. The number of families we turn away from our housing programs continues to vary between 50 and 70 families each week. We have experienced an increase in Native American and Latino families, and an increase in large families (families with more than 4 children). Initially we saw a lot of families who were renters whose landlords had lost their property to foreclosure thus making the family lose housing; however, lately we’ve had more families call who were homeowners that have been foreclosed upon.

Simpson Housing is part of a collaboration chosen as finalist in national competition for $250,000 prize

Economic tumult around the world has made collaboration among nonprofits more essential than ever. Earlier this year, in an effort to increase nonprofit efficiency, The Lodestar Foundation of Phoenix, Ariz., in association with the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan (AIM) Alliance, created The Collaboration Prize, a cash award of $250,000 that will be presented to the most successful collaboration in the nonprofit world.

On Nov. 12, Lodestar announced 30 semi-finalists, selected from a pool of 644 U.S.-based nominations. The Minneapolis-based Collaboration of Housing Resources is one of the semi-finalists chosen for the prize.

Four organizations comprise the collaboration: Spectrum Community Mental Health (a division of RESOURCE), Simpson Housing Services, St. Stephen’s Human Services, and the American Indian Community Development Corporation.

“Each possesses unique strengths, capabilities and community relationships to provide housing and support services for long-term homeless individuals in Minneapolis,” according to Julie Manworren, executive director of Simpson Housing Services.

“The collaboration operates four distinct teams under one umbrella,” adds Karen Hovland, vice president of RESOURCE and head of Spectrum Community Mental Health. “By collaborating, the organizations avoid duplication and leverage their strengths to benefit their common goal of ending chronic homelessness. The collaborating agencies streamlined administration of housing subsidies, developing areas of expertise or specialization within agencies.”

“The collaboration set up an interesting and flexible structure that spreads the risk, income, and expertise fairly among the partner agencies,” says Manworren. “This partnership can be replicated, saves the community money, and focuses scarce resources in effective service delivery. The collaboration is helping 225 very long-term homeless adults to find permanent housing.”

Financial support for the collaboration comes from the Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department, Minnesota Department of Human Services, State of Minnesota Partner’s Fund, Hearth Connection, Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, Bush Foundation, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Greater Twin Cities United Way, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation, and the WCA Foundation.

The next phase of The Collaboration Prize selection process will involve an in-depth review of each of the 30 semi-finalist nominations by a distinguished Final Selection Panel, chaired by Sterling Speirn, president of the Kellogg Foundation. The Final Selection Panel will narrow the semi-finalist field to eight finalists, to be announced in early December.

Lodestar will announce the winner on March 5, 2009 at a seminar on collaboration among nonprofits sponsored by the Association of Small Foundations and Lodestar. The finalists will be invited to participate in the Spring Forum on Nonprofit Effectiveness at Arizona State the following day. The most outstanding models will be compiled for study and used as blueprints by academics, nonprofit leaders and grantmakers in order to advance the practice of nonprofit collaboration.

UPDATE/Feb. 27: Our collaboration was not chosen to move forward in the competition, but continues to help many long-term homeless adults achieve stability.