Catalog Design

HOMELESSNESS 2020 Cumberland County, New Jersey

by Robin B. Weinstein, Ed.D.

PIECING TOGETHER THE PUZZLE: Ending Chronic Homelessness in Cumberland County by 2020 By: Robin B. Weinstein, Ed.D.

President & Founder, The M25 Initiative September, 2015

“The thing we must bear in mind is that the Good Samaritan did the right thing when he picked up the bandits’ victim, but if every day two or three people get mugged on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, there comes a point at which we must realize that being Good Samaritans is not enough…In short, it’s one thing to care for the casualties from the system, but sooner or later we have to change the system so as to not have so many casualties in the first place.” –Dr. Tony Campolo

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INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to outline why homelessness is an important issue for the Cumberland County community. Throughout my time as a pastor, professor, government administrator, and nonprofit leader, I have often become frustrated and disillusioned by the ignorance, apathy, indifference, and complacency that seems to be running rampant throughout our society. In an age of instant information, our inability to discern fact from fiction is costing our society fiscally, socially, intellectually, and morally. We simply cannot afford to remain in the caves of ideology and prejudice. We must shake loose the chains of dogma and partisanship and walk into the light of truth so that we can confront the issues that we face together.

Homelessness is not a “sexy issue.”

I would not have sought out this

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issue to be on the mantle of my life’s work, but it has sought me out. In the faces of the homeless, I have seen myself. I have seen my addictions, my pathologies, and the consequences of my indifference as I recently learned of the passing of a homeless man—my age—who was shut out of society by a system that kept him in poverty and hopelessness. Over 5,000 homeless teens are buried each year in unmarked graves and I cannot imagine how we can continue to accept statistics like these and not be moved to change the system that is simply not working.

water. On the opposite wall, there would be dozens of buckets and mops.

The insane would run desperately to grab a mop and bucket to keep the room from flooding. The sane individuals would turn off the faucet.

The way in which we address issues in our society seems to be more reflective of the actions of the insane; we exhaust our human and financial capital addressing symptoms, while never dealing with the disease. Homelessness is a symptom that, if we address, can lead us to finding the cure for the disease that is plaguing us all.

Often I tell my students and congregation a story about the entrance exam that was once used by the staff of an insane asylum.

Candidates would be led into a cementlined room with a row of faucets along one wall that were open and gushing

This paper presents my story, a plan for our story, and a chance to make history. We have the ability to end homelessness in Cumberland County by 2020. It is not a question of “Can we do it?” Rather, the question is: “Will we do it?”

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GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS: AN OXYMORON?

HOMELESSNESS: WHY DO I CARE? The beginning of my involvement with the issue of homelessness began in 2007 while serving as Deputy County Administrator of Salem County. The Board of Chosen Freeholders appointed a task force to develop a ten-year plan to address homelessness in the County, which included myself and a number of individuals from throughout the community. The United Way of Salem County was the lead agency charged with making this plan come to fruition.

To be honest, I remember only a couple of the meetings—perhaps because it has been over eight years or perhaps because the attempt was unfruitful, more an exercise in futility. Rarely in my years in the sectors of government, non-profits, and education, have I witnessed the resolve necessary to make a positive difference; rather, it appears we are each consumed with the tyranny of the daily mundane, all the while ignoring the disasters that swirl about us. Perhaps it is a lack

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of will, altruism, intellectual depth, attention, or some toxic combination; but our inability or unwillingness to address the issues we face in the present only leads to greater problems tomorrow, and even greater suffering for those on the fringes of our society.

Now, let’s flash-forward to 2011. I had been Deputy County Administrator, while serving concurrently as a pastor in my hometown of Bridgeton. Wilmington University hired me to join their faculty and I resigned my government position. I was fortunate, able to walk with Senators and scholars and holding the esteem of those much older than me, having been elected to serve in a number of leadership capacities in the nonprofit community. I was content with enjoying a life outside of the “public sphere” and decided it was time to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Plus, I got to give off the appearance of being a “good guy” by “serving” on nonprofit boards that promised to change the system. I would serve as a pastor and professor, seek to be published, see the world, and from time to time dabble in some intriguing social justice issues.

Then along came Lloyd, a homeless man that began sleeping on the concrete slab behind my church.

Many in the Bridgeton community know Lloyd, since he has been a frequent visitor to the jails, hospitals, and social service agencies. Like other homeless individuals, he suffers from addictions and mental illness. At first, my congregation and I approached him with skepticism. Eventually, we began to offer him food and occasional assistance. On a cold night during the Christmas season, while I sat in my comfortable living room and watched my flat-screen television, I was convicted: “How can I be a follower of Jesus and be content with just giving Lloyd our left-overs and leaving him in the cold?” With a resolve to change Lloyd’s life I got up from my recliner, picked him up from behind our church, and took him to the motel. I told Lloyd that I, along with some of the other people that are crazy enough to hang with me, would walk him through the “system” and get him the help he needed. After all, he clearly qualified for Social Security disability. With my government contacts and knowledge, I thought this would be a slam-dunk.

THINK AGAIN… The bureaucracy of government agencies and nonprofits is frustrating to

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most of us, but it is simply impossible for those in crisis and/or dealing with a disability. Complicating a system that is fragmented and inefficient is the variable of homelessness that Lloyd, along with over 200 individuals in Cumberland County, faces. Sitting with Lloyd in the Cumberland County Board of Social Services, I saw first-hand how ill-equipped our system is to address the myriad of problems he faced. Sitting with him for over two hours in a waiting room was tiring enough, only to be told, finally, after we got to see someone, that he had to come back again in a few days in order to call a phone number in Trenton. Long story short—no one really wanted to be bothered by Lloyd. I tried to help, but he eventually dropped off our radar by landing in jail and/or the hospital. I experienced the broken system with Lloyd, but part of me was relieved that it was no longer my problem to deal with.

THE MISSION FIELD IN THE BACKYARD I love Disney World and relish in any opportunity I get to go enjoy the “happiest place on earth.” It was during

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my fourth trip in two years that I once again felt a conviction come over me: “How can I be a follower of Jesus and be content with gorging myself with food and fun, while doing nothing about the 30,000 children that die everyday of hunger and preventable diseases? Go to Africa.” Now, this was simply annoying to me because I had no interest to go around the world to a dangerous and dirty place. Another long story short, I did go and it changed my life. After describing the trip to my congregation I felt quite proud of myself. But as I unpacked my bags from the trip, the conviction came again: “Go to the mission field in your backyard.” Not only were these convictions annoying, they were getting downright dangerous. Would God actually want this recovering government bureaucrat turned professor and pastor to spend a weekend on the streets of Bridgeton as a homeless man?

Yes… Lloyd was supposed to spend the weekend with me during this social experiment as a homeless man, but he was in jail again (probably for a failure to appear citation). There I was,

alone in a city I had called my home since first grade. It was during this experience that my eyes were opened: Bridgeton was a city of churches that were closed to the public, while I, along with homeless men and women, had no place to lay our heads, go to the bathroom, or get a drink of clean water. Mayor Albert Kelly and I began developing plans for a Code Blue program—for the future. Then, our community’s consciousness was opened by the tragic death of Mr. Hanshaw, who suffocated in his attempt to escape the brutal cold by seeking refuge in a Salvation Army clothing bin. Overnight, the Code Blue program came to fruition in Bridgeton and is now in all three major municipalities in Cumberland County.

Code Blue has been a tremendous success in that it demonstrates what happens when ordinary people resolve to do something in the face of big problems. It may be easy and even justifiable to rest on our laurels and say that we have done enough, the rest is someone else’s problem. But this is not worthy of the ideals for which we pledge our loyalty: dignity, determination,

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compassion, and leadership. Code Blue is a grassroots band-aid for an epidemic of poverty and homelessness.

It is one piece of a puzzle that needs to be completed. The necessity for its completion arises from both a moral base and a fiscal reality.

THE COST OF POVERTY Cumberland County’s economy is grounded on two major cornerstones: poverty and crime. We have allowed this area to become the home to federal, state, and local prisons & jails.

Since U.S. America leads the world in locking up its citizens, more prisons are always needed, and are especially embraced by poor communities that lack any plans for other economic development possibilities. Prisons and law enforcement provide jobs, while social services provide another source of employment to take care of a community that has been left behind by partisan rancor and empty promises. The Cumberland County Board of Social Services provides aid to approximately 40,000 residents of Cumberland County’s 157,000 residents. Twenty five percent of our population receives assistance!

The 2015 Point-In-Time Homeless Count found that Cumberland County has over 200 individuals experience homelessness, with approximately 53 individuals classified as chronically homeless. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development defines chronic homelessness as “an individual or family with a disabling condition who has been continuously homeless for a year or more or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.” The cost to the taxpayer for the way in which we currently deal with an individual who is chronically homeless is between $31,000 and $40,000. And after all that money,

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the individual is still homeless! This number consists of costs associated with jail, hospital, and social services.

Therefore, using the most conservative estimate, the taxpayers of Cumberland County are spending $1.6 million, while changing very little, if anything!

It should be noted, moreover, that 13 individuals in our homeless populations are veterans.

THE PATH FORWARD: PUTTING THE PUZZLE TOGETHER

do what is truly necessary to help the poor; and, (2) without the poor we would never learn compassion. While we may find comfort in our apathy and indifference—believing the homeless and poor to be simply lazy—it is neither a helpful exercise, good public policy, nor reflective of the morality we claim to maintain. So, where do we go from here? I propose that we can end homelessness in Cumberland County by the year 2020! It is not impossible, because it is being done throughout this country and in other parts of the world. Utah has ended homelessness and if they can do it, so can we!

“The poor you will always have with you,” Jesus tells us in Matthew 26:11.

I believe that He makes this statement for several reasons: (1) we will never

We should start with our veterans that are homeless and get them off the streets by the end of 2016. Then we can make sure that no families with

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children are homeless by 2017. Finally, we can work together to end chronic homelessness by 2020. We face a challenge not of numbers, but of our own will and resolve.

Church and Civic Engagement. Code Blue has demonstrated what ordinary people can do when they open up their hearts, minds, wallets, and doors to the poor and homeless. Last year, Code Blue provided shelter in our churches to over 100 individuals.

Individuals who would have otherwise been sleeping in temperatures well below 20 degrees. What if every church and civic organization attempted to make a difference? I believe in the power of faith, compassion, and sheer determination to change things!

This is why we have started the M25 Initiative, a new nonprofit with the sole goal to equip and empower churches to address the problems facing our community. M25 will provide the financial resources to keep Code Blue going, while granting seed money to new innovative ideas of churches to help the poor and homeless.

Homeless Trust Fund. Earlier, I admitted to being a recovering government bureaucrat. I got into government because I believe that government should be a place where we come together to address the fundamental issues affecting our community. I have been advocating for the Board of Chosen Freeholders to adopt a Homeless Trust Fund. This fund would generate approximately $75,000/year from a $3 fee charged when certain documents are filed in the County Clerk’s office. Three dollars is less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks, and

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these funds would be utilized to end homelessness in Cumberland County, which costs the county $1.6 million/ year. Some say it is another tax, and they are right. I do not believe taxes are the problem, however. I believe inefficient and mediocre government services are the problem. My grandfather used to tell me, “Robin, if you are going to do something, do it right the first time.” The problem with government is that it keeps doing the wrong thing, and repeatedly at a very high cost. The trust fund, then, is our opportunity to do something right on both a fiscal level and a moral level.

Housing First. All throughout the nation, the practice called “Housing First” is being adopted with incredible results. The idea is simple: the way to end homelessness is a home. Housing is a basic human right. Everyone should have a place to call home. We need policies that keep people from becoming homeless, and we need great effort to get people off of the streets.

Housing First can save approximately $10,000 per individual—who is chronically homeless—in Cumberland County, which equals $530,000/year!

The premise is that you put people in housing first, then you give them the help they need to rehabilitate their lives. Jobs are hard to come by in our area, but they are even harder when you are dirty, hungry, lacking identifying records because you do not have a home, and of course you are without an address to put on your application.

Getting people off the streets is the first step to getting them on a path to recovery. Our current model is unsustainable, costly, ineffective, and bad public policy.

Over the past couple of months I have been working with a team of people from the sectors of government, nonprofit, healthcare, education, and finance to explore how we can implement Housing First in Cumberland County. Many people have given reasons why it cannot work, or at least that it cannot work so quickly. My sixth grade teacher once told me, Robin: “Can’t means you won’t and won’t means you’re lazy!” Quite frankly, there are those in our community who do not want this to work because it may threaten the way we have always done business. Well, the way we have always “done it” does not work and change is not only needed, it is required. We must change from a crime & povertybased economy to one that is based on innovation, success, and opportunity for each person.

At our last meeting I was delighted to announce a new Cumberland County Housing First Collaborative Joint Taskforce between numerous organizations: Gateway Community Action Partnership, PRAC of Southern New Jersey (formerly the Puerto Rican Action Committee of SNJ), CompleteCare, and Resources for Independent Living. Nonprofits do not generally work together because they are often competing for the same resources. However, the CEOs of these organizations have agreed that the issue of homelessness is too important

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to ignore and to big to solve on their own. Together, these organizations will form a Joint Taskforce to design a Housing First Collaborative Model for Cumberland County that addresses housing, healthcare, and social services by redesigning the system, refocusing the funding, and realigning services to be less bureaucratic and more clientfocused. I have also issued this charge to the Board of Social Services and to every nonprofit and government agency in our area. More on this project will be

announced in September, but I applaud these leaders for demonstrating a tangible commitment to transforming Cumberland County.

CONCLUSION Who am I to make this challenge? The fact of the matter is I am just a guy.

A guy who pays my taxes and goes to work, but is still holding on to a shred of optimism about the future of our

country and community. Our nation is founded upon the principle that we are governed not only by the will of the people, but upon certain inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We, the people, have the power to change the world. Margaret Mead said it best, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Will you join me in the challenge to end homelessness by 2020?

To join the movement to end homelessness in Cumberland County go to: www.endhomelessness2020.com.

About the M25 Initiative- The M25 Initiative is a fundraising nonprofit for the purpose of fostering positive social change through local churches and faith-based organizations in the Cumberland County area. M25 provides the community with a one-stop shop to support grassroots initiatives designed to holistically address issues related to homelessness, hunger, poverty, health, and crime. To learn more, visit:

www.m25initiative.org

About Rev. Dr. Robin “Rob” Weinstein- Rev. Dr. Robin B. Weinstein is an altruistic, high-impact, positive change agent, and thought leader who envisions integrated solutions for the ‘greater good’ across community + society + education + the workplace through a 360-degree perspective. This holistic viewpoint has fueled a remarkable career that has synergistically progressed on several fronts. Those who know Robin would say he is an ‘out-of-the-box’ philosopher and stirring orator [with a dose of humor] who is characterized by inspiring energy that makes everyone want to ACHIEVE, BECOME, and GIVE more! He is a true believer in human potential and gifted at harnessing that latent power through all of his personal and career endeavors. He believes in uniting people to achieve amazing things and this conviction sustains the courage to tackle the most entrenched problems impeding the integration of faith, reason, and justice, which leads to human ingenuity and growth.

Dr. Weinstein is the founding pastor of Bethany Grace Community Church in Bridgeton, NJ, Assistant Professor/Chair of Human Resources in the College of Business of Wilmington University, President & Founder of the M25 Initiative, and is one of the co-founders of the Code Blue Coalition in Cumberland County. To learn more about Dr. Weinstein, visit: www.robinweinstein.org

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www.endhomelessness2020.com