Thank you Rita Lavin, for your explanation of the problem of supportive housing concentrations. I am afraid I get far too mad when I attempt to explain the problem and do not do nearly as good a job as you did in this post. You have caught the essence of the motivation for our Federal Law suit against the City of Minneapolis. It is not because we wish to keep those needing supportive housing out. It is to keep Minneapolis and PPL from continuing to discriminate against these poor people.
Rita says: >>> "The residents of these facilities deserve lovely, safe neighborhoods. Why should they all have to live in the poorer sections of town? Why should they not have the option of living in your neighborhood? If we really care about them, we won't continue to plug all the facilities into the same location. Should they not experience the health of a really livable place?"<<< And she is so correct. Not only do they deserve a really livable place, but the amount of money that is charged to us taxpayers for their housing means they should be able to live in most neighborhoods. Readers sometimes believe and express the opinion that the reason for clustering supportive housing is economics. It is it is not because not enough is being charged by providers. This is, for a fact, the most expensive housing in Minneapolis when you factor in the Hennepin County, State, and Federal funds that go to pay each month's stay. With the amount that such housing is costing, Supportive Housing clients deserve a choice in housing. They are "paying" enough to live in any neighborhood. Does the crime rate increase near supportive housing? You bet it does, and the evidence is not just anecdotal. Read - Galster, G., et al. "The Impact of Supportive Housing on Neighborhood Crime Rates." Journal of Urban Affairs vol. 24 no. 3 (2002): 298-315. This article asserts that high crime rates around supportive housing units are a result of area criminals preying upon vulnerable populations. Also read - United States. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Impacts of Supportive Housing on Neighborhoods and Neighbors. Washington: The Urban Institute, 2000. It found a correlation of close proximity to supportive housing and increased crime rate Is a great deal of the crime perpetrated against the vulnerable residents of the supportive housing? Yes, they are easy victims! We have a shelter for homeless women in a church just off of Franklin. In the last two years I have helped two separate RAPE victims from that shelter alone. How many rapes occured that I was not aware of? A huge number. Each reader should ask themselves how many rape victims they have helped in their lifetime? These vulnerable women, with their feelings of powerlessness and social isolation, do not often even report such rapes. My neighborhood probably has the highest forcible rape rate (per capita) in the "Civilized" world. Why? One might say because you have clustered the housing for sexual predators with the supportive housing of vulnerable victims. That is exactly what the Sector Lieutenant for the Minneapolis Police Department said. Next weekend Karen Clark, Linda Berglin and State Legislators will hold a Legislative hearing in the Phillips Neighborhood to look at legislation about such concentrations. Those interested should contact these wonderful legislators to find the time and place and attend. Karen and Linda are concerned about how the concentration of supportive housing discriminates against vulnerable people. Minneapolis City Council should start having the same concern. Why do we need Federal Lawsuits and new Minnesota Laws to force Minneapolis to discontinue the practice of patterned discrimination against a protected class of vulnerable people? I do not know the answer, other than they wish to help "special" and politically powerful friends, such as PPL, to victimize the vulnerable. We need Federal Mediation of this Federal problem. We need Federal Authorities to "Mediate" between the City of Minneapolis and the "impacted" neighborhoods before there is a court order to close existing supportive housing. Such as occured with the Holman Decree. To wait until such an action has the trauma of the Holman Decree is unconscionable. More concerned residents of Minneapolis need to address this concern. Call and ask YOUR City Council person why "HE" or "SHE" is allowing Minneapolis to continue this discrimination when they have their own ordinances against it. Oh silly me, I forgot, those ordinances were originally enacted to protect "better" neighborhoods, not to protect vulnerable people in poor minority neighborhoods. So call united way and Minnesota Housing Finance and Minneapolis Foundation. Most importantly call your Hennepin County Commissioner! Ask why they are financing and paying for this discrimination. Jim Graham, Ventura Village _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
