HLCC October Meeting: Homelessness with Third Door Coalition and Downtown Emergency Service Center

On Thursday, October 1st, Haller Lake Community Club and the Broadview Bitterlake Community Council co-hosted the Third Door Coalition (TDC) and the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC).  They gave a gripping presentation and then took our questions about homelessness, and especially the solution of Permanent Supportive Housing.

Chad Mackay is a businessman and co-founder of the Third Door Coalition.  He got involved because he saw the many problems of homelessness and his mother told him that if you're going to complain, put up or shut up.  So he helped form this coalition between business leaders and relevant non-profits to figure out what could be done, and they became convinced that a big part of the solution is Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH).

Unlike shelters, PSH stays are indefinite, so the tenants feel ownership and can plan out their lives.  They have on-site staff to help deal with housing and life issues.  The tenants sign a lease and pay 30% of their income in rent.

PSH is a fiscally conservative solution in that one year of supported housing costs the same as three months in jail or three days in the hospital.

Del Lausa (with the DESC) told us about how PSH actually works in practice, and Catherine Hinrichsen, also with TDC, helped in answering our questions. You can see Chad's excellent slides at https://www.thirddoorcoalition.org/our-work (click on "Our Proposal").  We recorded the presentations and Q&A; I highly recommend viewing it!