Our community yesterday received a huge download from Dr. Joe Savage of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness on the new federal strategy to reduce homelessness – “All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness.” Do we have the community will to finally tackle the issue?
Why does it matter: Dr. Savage identified the two biggest causes of homelessness are lack of affordable housing and poverty — two major issues here.
- According to the latest report from United Way of West Florida, 42% of the households in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties struggle paying for housing, groceries, health care, and other basic needs. The Pockets of Poverty map developed by the UWF Haas Center identifies where those struggling families live in Escambia County.
- Dr. Savage said the federal statistics show that homelessness has been reduced by 33% from 2010 to 2021. Based on the 2022 Point-in-Time count complied by Opening Doors of Northwest Florida, our two-county area reduced its homelessness by 37%, going from 1,160 in 2010 to 727 last year. However, the 2023 PIT identified 1,180 homeless people – a 62% jump over 2022. We’re going in the wrong direction.
- To meet the federal reduction goal of 25% by 2025 from the 2022 PIT, we need to decrease our homeless population to 545 individuals- in other words, cut this year’s count by more than half in two years.
Dig Deeper:
Why did Dr. Savage come here: Mayor D.C. Reeves invited him.
On WCOA, Mayor Reeves explained, “This was spurred from my trip to US Conference of Mayors in Washington, DC and meeting with the director of the interdepartmental agency on homelessness. And Dr. Savage is the Southeaster/Florida representative and represents 19 federal agencies dealing with homelessness. Why get him here?”
Mayor Reeves’ Takeaways from the joint workshop on Tuesday Morning:
- ALIGNMENT: The mayor said, “I think the goal is to build critical mass around an alignment between plans at the county and city. How do we get in alignment? I thought that was a great start today with Dr. Savage talking about the federal strategic plan.”
- MOTIVATION: He said, “It was made very clear today that this federal strategic plan will be a key indicator in our ability to get federal support to try to reduce homelessness here. It’s plenty motivating to make sure that we do have alignment and work together.”
- GREAT FIRST STEP: Mayor Reeves later added, “I’m a believer in getting out in traffic on things. And it doesn’t mean that I believe that we have to do a carbon copy of the entire plan, or it’s not successful if we all look each other in the eye in this community and say here are the one or two things that we could focus on, knowing they are federal priorities and that’ll help us fund it. That’s a great first step.”
What did Dr. Savage say:
He identified three pillars: Equity, Data Collection & Analysis and Collaboration
- Equity requires taking a hard look at whether the systems in place are serving all aspects of our community.
- Data Collection: Are we properly collecting data? The PIT count showed more than Opening Doors needs to be involved here.
- Collaboration: Who is involved in the Continuum of Care? Do we have everybody at the table?
Dr. Savage also mentioned three solutions that need to be part of the local plan:
- Housing Services
- Crisis Intervention
- Prevention
He recommended our leaders look at our homeless strategy – if we have one – and gather as much input as possible to revise it. The federal plan can be the guideline – All In.
View Dr. Savage’s CivicCon talk on pnj.com.
College Lacrosse
The NAIA Men’s Lacrosse Invitational starts today at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex. Eight teams compete over the next four days for the championship title.
Why this matters: Pensacola Sports and Escambia County have successfully recruited several college championships to our area, including the SEC Women’s Soccer tournament and the Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball conference tournaments.
Dig Deeper:
The 2023 NAIA Men’s Lacrosse Invitational will open with four quarterfinal games on Wednesday, May 10 in Pensacola, Fla.
Today’s Games
10 a.m. (8) St. Ambrose vs. (1) Keiser
1 p.m. (5) Webber International vs. (4) Reinhardt
4 p.m. (6) Concordia vs. (3) Cumberlands
7 p.m. (7) Siena Heights vs. (2) Indiana Tech
Players to Watch
Devin Macomber of Indiana Tech – is ranked first in the nation in man-up goals (13).
Tom Piotrowski of Indiana Tech – is first in the nation caused turnovers (56).
Christian Vanover of Cumberlands (Ky.) – is third in the nation in shots on goal (117).
Hunter Scott of Webber (Fla.) – is second in the nation faceoffs (241-364).
Sam Saje of Concordia (Mich.) – is second in the nation in ground balls (156) and third in the nation in faceoffs (232-325)
Jeremiah Loo of Webber (Fla.) – is ranked second in the nation in goals (54) and man-up goals (9).
Cameron Cochran of Reinhardt (Ga.) – is ranked second in the nation in points (103) and third in the nation in assists (55).
The NAIA Network – the association’s official video-streaming home – will broadcast all games live at the 2023 NAIA Men’s Lacrosse National Invitational. To purchase CLICK HERE