Getting It Right in Texas

As Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas, wreaking extreme havoc – from strong winds, ocean surges, tornados, and flooding – all the controversial issues from the Lone Star State were all but pushed out of the news. A state mocked for its gun-crazy values, exclusionary voter ID laws and ongoing attempts to imbue local statutes with evangelical teachings was facing one of the most powerful storms in recent memory. Death and destruction tested its citizens like no other. Texans, in mass, rose to the occasion.

But that’s not the only place Texans have shone. One story, in what you might have expected in blue states like California and New York, found roots in Texas… and nowhere else. It is one of the best examples of people caring for those unable to take care of themselves anywhere in the United States. Following the Reagan administration’s slow disassembling our network of mental hospitals, relegating the mentally-impaired to jails and streets, through the outbreak of explosive drug addiction to those physically and financially unable to access medical care, one city, San Antonio, Texas rose to the occasion.

It didn’t start with any governmental program. Rather, one of the most effective venues designed to help the homeless and the helpless arose because of the efforts of one man… and the dozens of charities and many more individuals who rallied to his cause: “The vision is that of William E. Greehey, former chief executive of San Antonio-based refining giant Valero. In retirement, Greehey yearned for a cause.

“He and his wife ‘could not figure out what I wanted to do that would make a difference,’ Greehey said. ‘We prayed about it.’… His prayer was answered by a local television report on homelessness… ‘What I saw was that all we were doing was recycling the homeless people that would go to jail, come out of jail, get sick, go to the emergency room, get treated, get back on the street. We weren’t doing anything to address the root cause of why these people were homeless,’ he said.” Los Angeles Times, August 26^th. A man who has actually read and is following the essence of the New Testament? He created the most effective “homeless shelter” in the nation.

“For the next five years, Greehey lobbied San Antonio officials and cajoled other wealthy Texans. In 2010 his efforts culminated in the $101-million Haven for Hope, a Texas-sized shelter… Covering 23 acres, it most resembles a junior college campus. Haven has dormitories for 850, detox and psychiatric observation units, a sobering center and medical and dental clinics. Even a YMCA. There’s a free-standing chapel, serving the program’s faith orientation, and a for-profit call center staffed by shelter residents or, as they’re called, ‘members.’

“At a more typical shelter, those services might have to be brought in or residents shuttled to them by bus. At Haven, everything is a short walk away. At the center of campus, smartly designed buildings encircle a grassy quad. Children play soccer there after returning from school. Adults stroll or relax on park benches between appointments for case management, training, psychotherapy and healthcare.

“More than 60 nonprofit partners are on campus, including St. Vincent de Paul, which feeds the campus, and Street2Feet, a jogging club. Staff members, distinguishable only by their ID cards, intermingle on the grounds, greeting residents by name with palpable affection…

“There’s also an uncomfortable counterpoint. It’s the Courtyard, an expansive slab of concrete where those who are not ready for ‘transformation’ sleep. Every night up to 750 people crowd into an open-air space that was designed for 400. They eat in a large hall, collect their mattresses and find a spot on the concrete.

“The Courtyard was a concession to members of the City Council who wanted a spartan facility that would help motivate the homeless to enter Haven for Hope, which is more attractive but also demands more of residents.” LA Times. The center’s own website adds: “Since opening in April 2010, nearly 3,000 individuals have graduated from Haven for Hope and moved from homelessness to permanent housing. For more information on Haven for Hope, visit www.HavenforHope.org.”

Even tough local lawmen have come over to appreciate the unique solution offered by Haven: “[San Antonio] Police Chief William McManus once had a hard-nosed policy on the homeless. He now concedes it did little but bring him chagrin.

“The frequent arrests under his watch came under fire when local reporters found a homeless man who had received more than 1,000 citations. Then McManus met ridicule when he proposed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to give money to panhandlers… ‘You can’t arrest yourself out of this problem,’ McManus said, acknowledging his error… In 2015 he joined Melody Woosley, director of the city’s Department of Human Services, in committing to a new approach to connect homeless people with services.” LA Times.

San Antonio is a smaller community, for sure, but it has opened a new approach to homelessness. Does it work for vast urban communities like Los Angeles – where on any given night there are 47,000 homeless men, women and children? In March, LA has passed a local initiative – Measure H which created a small ten-year sales tax increase – to fund solutions for homelessness. It’s not just about building housing – a particularly critical issue in high-housing-cost California cities; for vulnerable populations, it’s as much as linking effective treatment, counseling and even training within easy reach for those who need it. No one else in the United States has done it quite as well as San Antonio, and while that effort did not emanate from governmental programs, it does serve as a model for anyone – private and public – seeking a solution to these issues. Hey rest-of-America, it is most certainly worth trying this approach in your communities.

I’m Peter Dekom, and as much as I have called out Texas for innumerable political issues, today I am calling them “up” for that “big Texas heart” I’ve heard so much about.