North Dakota Coalition
for Homeless People

Press Releases

HOEVEN, CITY AND TRIBAL LEADERS RECOGNIZED FOR EFFORTS TO END CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS IN NORTH DAKOTA BISMARCK
04/23/2008

Gov. John Hoeven, the mayors of eight North Dakota cities and two tribal chairs were honored today by Philip Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, for their efforts to end long-term homelessness in North Dakota . The governor and community leaders were recognized during an event entitled “A Partnership to House Every North Dakotan.”

“The partnership of every level of government, and the innovation, investments and results demonstrated in North Dakota illustrate the strong political will of these jurisdictional leaders to abolish long-term homelessness,” said Mangano. “I am pleased to be able to thank them personally for the work they are doing to end the misery of homelessness for our poorest neighbors.”

Mangano formally presented Hoeven with the “Home for Every American” Governor Award during the Wednesday afternoon ceremony. He also recognized the Cities of Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Mandan, Minot and Williston, and the Mandan , Hidatsa & Arikara Nation and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians for addressing the issue within their communities.

“By working together to help these individuals and families, we are lighting a path to independence and security,” Hoeven said. “Together, we are building an economy that provides opportunities that can lift every able North Dakotan out of poverty and into independence and self sufficiency.”

Hoeven was one of three governors honored by the USICH in 2008. Mangano lauded the governor’s lead and praised him for forging partnerships to address the issue of long-term homelessness in North Dakota . Hoeven established the North Dakota Interagency Council on Homelessness (NDICH) by executive order in 2004 with a mandate to create a state 10-year plan by encouraging the development of local plans.

The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA) provided grants to communities and with the largest concentrations of homelessness to help defray the cost of developing plans. NDHFA Executive Director Mike Anderson chairs the NDICH.

“Our goal of ending long-term homelessness has brought together public officials, service providers, housing providers, businesses, law enforcement, and other stakeholders to collectively utilize our strengths to provide lasting solutions,” said Anderson.

The long-term homeless include chronically homeless individuals and families that have been without a permanent place to live for a year or more, or have had four or more episodes of homelessness in the last three years. Typically, these individuals or a family member has a disabling condition such as a mental health or addiction issue.

“On any given night, there are more than 600 homeless individuals in North Dakota . Approximately 25 percent of them are the long-term homeless,” said Anderson . “They cycle in and out of the system and put a strain on the limited resources available.”

The NDICH is currently reviewing the local plans, and is expected to adopt a statewide plan this summer.

"Lives Changed Through Homeless Grants"
Brandi Powell KFYR TV
1/23/2008

Governor Hoeven says meeting the needs of the homeless helps give them greater independence and security.

Hoeven announced today that 11 North Dakota organizations and 6 communities are receiving more than $1 million in Continuum of Care grants to assist the homeless.

The money will go toward transitional and permanent housing projects.
It will also help provide housing for people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and children.

The North Dakota Coalition of Homeless People is leading in the planning for the projects. the Abused Adult Resource Center in Bismarck gets some of that funding for programming, too. "It feels good," says Lavonne Wingerter when she talks about her positive life transition. Funding for people dealing with homelessness isn`t just helpful for the time being. It helps create success stories for people like Lavonne. "The shelter gave me the help I needed," says Lavonne. "I didn`t have to worry about finding a place to live, what I was going to eat for supper, where was I going to get the money." Lavonne got help from the Abused Adult Resource Center in Bismarck. "the important part of that is to be able to have people stay in their independent living settings, stabilizing them, finding them a way to keep product in their house on a daily basis, furniture, counseling skills, or whatever those needs are. And it makes a difference," says Diane Zainhofsky, Executive Director of the AARC.

About $79,000 of that $1.3 million goes toward programs at the AARC. A portion of that goes to advocates that help women in need. "The program has been very helpful in helping the women maintain permanent housing and the support system and the supportive services that we offer," says advocate Beth Melancon.

The funding is not a shoe-in. Agencies say North Dakota is unique since it`s secured this highly competitive grant 8 years in a row. "the projects that are funded through the COC, or the Continuum of Care, they provide housing and services daily for 400 individuals, that includes children, across North Dakota," says Jeannie Messal.

Without this money, North Dakotans who have housing needs who deal with abuse and who have disabilities would not get the skills necessary to become independent.

"I felt like I was just a bunch of pieces and they helped put me back together," says Lavonne. Now Lavonne is filling the gaps, volunteering to help people where the money can`t reach.

"Homeless coalition has long-term plan"
Jun 13, 2007
TONY SPILDE/Bismarck Tribune

Life. It is all pomp and mitigating circumstance. It happens to you as much as you happen to it.

You've seen the bumper sticker with a terse message to that effect. It happens.

Last month, life and its circumstances conspired to deliver 70 wayward souls to Brenda Kriedeman's front door. Half of them had been there before.

She propped them all up and sent them on their way. Many have blended back into the workaday world. Success stories. But not that pesky half. Those 35 people that traveled the familiar path to the Salvation Army last month will be back again this month. And next month. They will drain more than their share of resources.

And that, Kriedeman said, is a problem. It's particularly noticeable in the Bismarck-Mandan area, which has the highest percentage of long-term homelessness in the state.

So, the mayors of the two cities have vowed to find a solution.

Soon.

On Tuesday afternoon - amid the population of homeless men at Bismarck's Ruth Meiers Hospitality House - the mayors and representatives of the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People announced the genesis of a plan designed to eliminate long-term homelessness here. They said it could be done in 10 years, if the right people came up with the right ideas right now.

"I think the plan is to come up with real solutions, not to put a Band-Aid on the problem," Kriedeman, who works at the Salvation Army and also chairs the Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People, said. "Another shelter isn't the answer. That's short-term. We're looking at what we have to do to get these people off the streets, out of the shelters and into permanent housing. We need to fix it in a way that these people can then fix things for themselves. We need to change our way of thinking, and we need to change their way of thinking."

The effort is being coordinated by the Consensus Council, a local nonprofit group that was approached by the offices of Bismarck Mayor John Warford and Mandan Mayor Ken LaMont. The agency has invited 30 stakeholders to take part in four major discussions, where they will brainstorm ideas that eventually will form the 10-year plan.

The goal is to stem long-term homelessness.

"There's a difference between homelessness and long-term homelessness," Mike Anderson, director of the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, said. "You're never not going to have people who are homeless. But the long-term homeless are the people who get into the system and can't get out. It'll probably never end, but you can create programs to minimize the effects for people, and help keep some people out of the system."

The state Coalition for Homeless People took a point-in-time survey in January that revealed 247 homeless people in Region 7, the 10-county area that includes Burleigh and Morton. Of those people, 243 were from Bismarck or Mandan. Eighty-three of them were children.

And 50 of them were long-term homeless, which means they have a disabling condition and have been continuously homeless for a year, or homeless more than four times in the last three years. Although those 50 people account for just 20 percent of the local homeless population, they regularly occupy 40 percent of the shelter beds.

"It's a very big problem," Sue Martin, director of the Ruth Meiers shelter, said. "Long-term homeless people use the highest percentage of the services. They come into the shelters and they leave the shelters, they come in and they leave. We need to help them get stabilized, help them have a better quality of life for themselves and at the same time help the shelters and the other social-service systems better manage their resources."

The first meeting of stakeholders will be held July 12 at the Salvation Army. Other meetings - all of which are open to the public - will be held Aug. 16 at Spirit of Life Church, Sept. 13 at Bis-Man Transit and Oct. 4 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Early ideas have centered on creating a larger number of affordable-housing units and better access to case managers, social workers and doctors, Kriedeman said.

When the plan is finalized, it will be presented to both city commissions for adoption. The hope is that the cities can use the plan to prioritize any possible funding for future projects related to homelessness.

The Bismarck-Mandan initiative is being funded by an $8,000 grant from the Housing Finance Agency, which is also providing money for similar projects in Grand Forks, Minot, Devils Lake, Jamestown, Williston, Dickinson and the state's four Indian reservations. An effort to curb long-term homelessness had already begun in Fargo last fall, Anderson said, and Bismarck-Mandan hoped to use that model as a guide.

Each of the strategic plans will be used to formulate a statewide plan, Anderson said.

Martin, from Ruth Meiers, said it would be nice if the plan didn't use all 10 years. Her agency served 150 more people last year than the year before.

Business is just as good, which is bad, at the Salvation Army.

"Anybody can become homeless - a lot of us are just a paycheck away," Kriedeman said. "It happens. But there are remedies for most people. Short-term homelessness isn't what this plan is about. We want to stop long-term homelessness, and that's what we're asking the stakeholders to do. We need to find out where the gaps are. Do we have all the answers? No, not yet. But we have a whole lot of good people trying to figure them out."

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