We Can End It.
Following is an excerpt from a talk by Senator John McKinney commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the McKinney Act and calling for its renewal.
Words of the Week: “We no longer need simply to manage homelessness, we can end it.”
Connecticut State Senator and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, son of the late Representative Stewart B. McKinney, whose commitment on the issue of homelessness led his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1987 to name for him newly passed federal legislation creating the federal response to homelessness and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
“My father was among the earliest and staunchest advocates for the homeless. He watched with great concern in the early 1980s as a flawed and fragmented policy toward homelessness started to unravel. At the time, our country really didn’t have a federal policy to deal with the problem of homelessness. As a nation, we thought then, that state and local governments were better equipped to address the issue. And we didn’t really understand the underlying social and economic problems that were causing substantial growth in the homeless population.
“Local and state resources funded soup kitchens, shelters and public service announcements. But, while these efforts helped people cope with being homeless, they rarely helped anyone escape homelessness. We were, in effect, treating the symptoms, but not the disease.
“Over the past 20 years, the face of homelessness has changed. It is no longer only single men or the mentally ill who are sleeping on streets or inhabiting emergency shelters. Today, it is all too common to see mothers and their children - entire families - arrive at an emergency shelter in need of a place to sleep.
“Another dramatic change has occurred over the last 20 years: we no longer need simply to manage homelessness, we can end it.
“In my home state of Connecticut, we are doing just that - we are working to end homelessness, not just manage it.
“Today we know that people who are homeless need a helping hand out of poverty and distress and into housing stability. One of the most promising solutions to achieve this is supportive housing. For many, the combination of affordability, together with support is the right recipe for personal success.
“…I call on this Congress to Reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Act. Do it in a generous and responsible way. And then don’t stop there.
“As Steward McKinney did 20 years ago, campaign vigorously to end homelessness.