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By Jim Coggins
 CANADIANS are used to Americans coming to Canada to preach the 'good news.' But such preachers are not usually high-ranking members of the U.S. government.
Philip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, came to British Columbia May 10 - 11 to make three presentations -- preaching the good news that the problem of homelessness can be solved.
Mangano's agency was mandated by U.S. President Bush's 2003 budget to end homelessness among those most vulnerable and disabled within 10 years.
In his presentations, Mangano said the push to end homelessness arises out of moral, spiritual and humanitarian concern: "We have a moral and spiritual responsibility to act . . . Some of our neighbours don't have a place to live. We have become anaesthetized to the incredible simplicity of that fact." He called for commitment to "the simple affirmation that you will be tolerant of your homeless neighbours, but intolerant of the social and moral disgrace of homelessness."
Mangano said moral and spiritual concern are not enough. Describing his experience working on a bread line in Boston, he said: "We thought a bowl of soup and a blanket were the best we could do . . . We felt great, but people were still homeless." He added, "If good intentions, well-meaning programs and police sweeps could do it, it would be done."
Therefore, Mangano said, it was necessary to "disturb the status quo," to get beyond the assumption that nothing can be done. In particular, he said it is important to move from a social service focus, which is concerned with serving and "managing" the homeless, to a business model which is "performance-based and results-oriented."
Research
Citing the popular definition of insanity as "doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different result," Mangano said a key factor in the fight against homelessness is research -- to understand homelessness, find out what works and what doesn't, and "steal" whatever good ideas can be found.
Research in the last few years has helped overcome a number of stereotypes, said Mangano. For instance, contrary to the assumption that the homeless have come from somewhere else, research has shown that a larger percentage of the homeless come from the local area, compared to the general population. In other words, homelessness isn't "someone else's problem," and the homeless may have "a greater claim to local resources" than the general population.
As well, research has shown that only about 10 percent of the homeless are chronically homeless -- and dealing with problems such as addiction, mental illness, and disabilities. The rest are low-income people who drift in and out of homelessness and "can get out with only a little help," Mangano said. He cited one study, which found the average length of homelessness to be 47 days over two years.
Partnership
Mangano said the key to resolving the problem of homelessness is partnership and overcoming partisanship: "No one level of government or sector can get the job done alone."
The U.S. effort began with bringing 20 US government departments together to work on the problem. The U.S. government then made agreements with 49 of the 50 U.S. states, including a broad range of state agencies. This coalition then made agreements with over 300 U.S. cities to develop 10-year plans to solve homelessness.
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These 10-year plans require broad partnerships, involving health care providers, librarians (because many homeless spend their days in libraries), parks departments, police departments, academics, business leaders, developers, non-profit organizations, faith communities, the general public and homeless people themselves. Mangano also said he makes a point of meeting homeless people wherever he goes.
Mangano said there is no place in Canada or the U.S. where moral and spiritual concern alone could "drive enough political will to remedy homelessness." It was assumed the homeless didn't cost society anything, but that providing social housing would be very expensive. However, he said, research has showed that "managing homeless people is very expensive."
An individual homeless person can incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in social, medical, and policing/court costs every year. Now that it is clear that providing housing is actually cheaper, he said, "the economic argument is driving the political will to solutions."
Mangano cited The Tipping Point, written by Malcolm Gladwell -- whom he termed "one of Canada's best thinkers" -- and said Gladwell's research demonstrated that applying a modest amount of new resources across a broad range of social issues does little good.
Instead, said Mangano, it is better to concentrate those resources "through intelligent action . . . on the most visible and seemingly intractable part of a problem." Once it has been demonstrated that success is possible, people "move from being demoralized to remoralized," and the effort attracts new investment of resources.
Mangano also cited business theorist Jim Collins, who has argued that "results are infectious" -- and that people are unwilling to keep giving money to an effort that does no good, but are willing to invest money in an effort which shows results.
Although some of the 10-year plans are only in the early stages, many of them have shown remarkable results, such as a 70 percent decrease in chronic homelessness in Portland, Oregon, in just two years. Other cities have reported decreases of 20 percent, 27 percent, 41 percent and 55 percent.
Mangano said some of the "best practices" which have been shown to work include: providing social and health services as well as housing; giving people a place to live first and then working on problems such as addiction and mental health problems; assertive treatment teams; family reunification; and "zero tolerance" for discharging people from hospitals, mental health facilities, and other institutions if they have nowhere to stay.
Christian involvement
Key partners in many of these programs are faith communities.
Tom Cooper, executive director of City in Focus, a Christian social action agency which co-sponsored one of Mangano's British Columbia presentations, told CC.com the Christian community "has been very active in this issue for years -- because our faith compels us."
At Mangano's presentation in Abbotsford, BC, there was also a presentation by Gordon Wiebe, a pastor who quit his job to minister in a rooming house in Vancouver bought by a Christian businessman. The rooming house provides 24-hour-a-day social services to the residents at almost no cost -- other than the residents' social services housing allowances.
Cooper said Mangano had shared with him privately that he is "a very committed Christian," and is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Like good sermons, he said, Mangano's presentations were polished and passionate -- sprinkled with subtle references to prayer, Bible citations and church.
May 18/2007
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I have worked with the homeless in the lower mainland for a decade. Seems many are waiting for the magic pill of government to fix the ills. I think government needs to put funding into addiction services, and then christians can fill the housing, discipleship, restoration gap.
My suggestion is hurry, and pick the one least repugnant to you, because they arent getting any prettier as time moves on. Jesus wont send revival till we are ready, and we arent ready till we prove ourselves with the small things, then he will bless us even further. Every church in the lower mainland should commit to taking 2 homeless into their fold and under their wing. The practical love of Jesus reflected through our working faith will break the walls of the most hardened. All people want and desire to belong and be a part, we have an obligation and a blessing to include the least of these in our witness, compassion, and nuturing.