Apologies to Homeless Solutions Observers who did not get a notice of the meeting this month. It dropped off my list. We missed you if you didn’t get there. The meeting happened Weds May 21.
There were interesting things that happened on this next-to-last meeting of this iteration of the task force.
The group was small this time. Most of the developers were absent. I’m sure they had reasons, but its interesting that now as the work is shifting to actually helping people who need help several of them don’t seem to be interested anymore.
There were presentations this time from the three most-prominent homeless providers in the area – 7hills Center (director Becci Sisson), New Beginnings (director Solomon Birchfield), and the Fayetteville Community Resource Office (director Yolanda Fields). There are plans afoot for managing the crisis from the bottom. They need community support and a network approach where all hands pull together to solve the ongoing crisis.
June 18 will be the final meeting of this task force. Mayor Rawn has told us that a new group – another task force or a city committee – dedicated to dealing with ALICE and homeless housing will be forming soon after that. There are other options opening up. New staff in the planning department are being hired already to expedite permitting, and a new position focused on housing (especially low income) is being discussed seriously.
These are positive steps. Please do everything you can to encourage the Mayor and city staff to keep pressing forward. We need to see this crisis resolved soon!