Citizen Communication Presentation — original pdf

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A Holistic Work Program for long-term unhoused residents of East Austin. Chase Wright Executive Director chase@springdaleparkneighbors.org 512-621-1510 New Website: https://springdaleparkneighbors.com (note – it is .com not .org) Mission/Vision We support East Austin residents on their re-entry journey from unhoused to self-sufficient citizens through a holistic multi-tiered work/apprenticeship program. We seek to establish SPN as a new and more effective model for addressing long-term homelessness that can be replicated within our city, our state, and eventually our country. It is hard work putting people to work. But no one is beyond help and everyone can be productive if given the right opportunities and support. Hidden Barriers keep people homeless The unhoused population we work with have many barriers to participating in normal society exasperated by mental health problems and substance abuse. The City funds a multitude of services but makes little progress, year-over-year, in actually helping people find a way out of the poverty trap they are stuck in. To many social workers, it feels that they are throwing a life vest to a drowning man who tells them they would rather keep swimming. Our peers think the problem is lack of coordination between services. We have a different opinion. The current system doesn’t have a way to establish a relationship that motivates change because help comes from outside the community. SPN’s Relationship-First Holistic Solution SPN has taken a holistic approach to rehabilitating each homeless individual - mind, body, and soul. What works for one homeless individual will not work for all. Because we have an ongoing employment relationship with our clients, we can help them address the barriers that the long-term unhoused face when seeking regular employment: appearance and hygiene, lack of ID/address/phone/bank account, inability to focus due to hunger, work habits, and mental issues / substance abuse. Ultimately, this enables our clients to find their way back into society. We show them by example that hard work is rewarded and that they are capable of working hard. Program Progression Community Services Watershed Cleanup s l a i t n e s s E • Breakfast and Lunch for anyone who shows up to at our work site. • Dinner will be added when funding permits. • Free clothing – durable outfits purchase from Goodwill in bulk. • Laundry – Washing performed while people work. • Showers – Manned and monitored safe space to take a shower. We encourage change through personal counseling, motivational seminars, and confidence building activities y r t n e - e R : 1 l e v e L • Work opportunity @ $10/hour. Up to hours per day. Cash at end-of-day • Expect funded from Parks and Rec. • Restoration, not repetition: 1. Bulk Cleanup 2. Fine Debris Removal 3. Maintenance • Clients learn about timecards. We take what is essentially day labor and turn it into the first step in a recovery program while removing barriers (IDs, mailing addresses, bank accounts, etc.) k r o w m a e T d n a r o i v a h e B : 2 l e v e L Hand Car Wash and Detailing • Work opportunity @ • Funded by East Side car $15/hour. culture. • Clients learn how to work a shift and adjust to weekly payroll • Client earn tips and interact with the public. We build up their work ethic by showing that hard work is rewarded. We help people over the ‘startup costs’ of rejoining the work force (uniforms, phones, paystubs, security deposits, etc.) using payroll advances. t n e m p o e v e D l l l i k S : 3 l e v e L h t a P e v i t a n r e t l A Tradesman’s Apprenticeship • Work opportunity @ $18-25/hour. • Partner with local contractors. • Hands-on demo projects transitioning to paid construction work. Because to the earlier work, it is possible to actually teach our clients. We remove the risk of associated with hiring the unhoused for construction work. Food Service • Work opportunity @ $15/hour. • Operate food trucks we own and partner with. Once employable, anyone can work in food service regardless of age and ability. Team SPN is lead by Chase Wright. Our team consist primarily of people from East Austin with diverse, balanced, lived in experience. Chase Wright Executive Director LBJ ‘08 Kirmet Hyder #2 LBJ ‘08 Steve Johnson Operations Anderson ‘83 Latoya Craney Administration Brownwood, TX ’12 Sherri Beverlin Food/Clothing Dallas High School ’86 Joshua Ellinger Finance SFA ’84 / UT ‘90 From Springdale. From Springdale. Grew up in the hood. Long-Time Family is from the East Side. New Austinite (moved in 2002). From Clarksville. Community Service who has spent 15+ years helping the unhoused. Former Superintendent with 10+ years experience managing work crews. Representative from the long-term unhoused neighbors. Social worker who as operated transitional housing for 10+ years. Former store manager at Goodwill Software Engineer. Tech Entrepreneur. Small Businessman. Past and Current Supporters SPN would not be where it is today without work and financial support from: The McGregor Dey Family Pleasant Grove Baptish Church The Other Ones Foundation Alan Avery Anmol Mehra Six Space The Newby Family The Ellinger Family and many people in our neighborhood We are actively looking for more bridge funding (loans and donations) to maintain our growth trajectory until the City of Austin grants are approved. As you might imagine, the City isn’t fast. We are also looking for contractors who want to support us by becoming mentors. For more information, contact Chase Wright at chase@springdaleparkneighbors.org Current Activity • We are about to open the Hungry Hill Resource Center for the Unhoused at 1189 Springdale Rd. It is at the old Phillips Station. Come to the Grand Opening on Saturday, October 1 from 4-7PM • We are spending $2,000/week on our food program and $2,500/week on L1 Watershed Cleanup. We can’t halt these programs just because we don’t have City Funding because people depend on them. We need support for these programs as soon as possible. • Our L2 and L3 programs are larger but run close to break-even. We expect to fund these through a mix of revenue and grants. Asks • Help finding City Contracts to bid on for: Watershed Cleanup with Parks and Rec (Previously TOOF), Encampment Cleanup near Highway (Current Private companies), Festival Cleanup (Unknown), and anything other “manpower-intensive” work we are well suited for. • Introduction to Wealthy Politically-Active Austinites We are seeking loans ($25-50K @ 8% APR) from private individuals. Part of our model is that we organize several of our programs to generate a small surplus that can service debt to enable capital investments that most non-profits can’t fund at our stage. • Council-Level Support for override certain standard terms in City Contracts The City contracts have terms that are problematic for us. We understand why the terms exist but they are counter-productive and reward behavior that is not in the best interest of anyone.