6 December 14 - 20, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents him, the experience with rapid rehousing has been positive so far. Before joining the program, Harrison was bouncing from shel- ter to shelter. “It’s better than where I was at,” he said. Most recently, he stayed at Austin Street Center. Before that, he lived at St. Jude’s Se- nior Center off Forest and Josey lanes. And before that, he lived at The Bridge, another shelter in Dallas. Today he’s living in a one- bedroom apartment partially paid for through the rehousing initiative. Because he receives about $915 per month from Social Security, he has to put 30% of his income to- ward rent, about $274. He moved to Dallas from Phoenix in 1995 for a home-remodeling job, but when the job was complete he had trouble finding em- ployment. His money ran out and he soon found himself hopping from motel to motel and, eventually, shelter to shelter before get- ting on rapid rehousing. He now suffers from a lung disease called sarcoidosis, which prevents him from working. When his time in the program is up he’ll have to re-sign the lease or find another place to go. If he doesn’t, he could end up right back in the shelter. He doesn’t suspect he’ll be able to stay in his current apartment because he won’t be able to pay for it with- out a subsidy. He said his case worker is helping to ensure he still has a roof over his head when his lease is up. The program has allowed him to put some money away, but it will likely never be enough to pay for an- other apartment, he said. “It is what it is,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there that need more help than I do.” If he has one criticism about the pro- gram, it’s that people should be given more than a year to get back on their feet. “That’s not a lot of time,” he said. “There are some people out there that don’t have in- come. … And a lot of people are in bad health, so they really can’t work. Or they’re trying to get their Social Security or disabil- ity or something. They’re trying to get started within that year’s time and by the time it does kick in, it’s time to move.” Asked how many people remain housed after being on a R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing subsidy, Housing Forward’s CEO Joli Robin- son said Dallas and Collin counties are above the national average. Housing Forward is the lead agency for the homeless response system in the two counties. Robinson re- cently announced she’ll be leaving the orga- nization to become CEO of Chicago-based Center on Halsted, a service center for the LGBTQ community in the Midwest. “The national average for any program is about 80% remain housed, and we know that we are above that from the last quar- terly report,” Robinson said. “We try all we can so that the system isn’t just churning people back out into the homeless response system.” Even so, some 18% of participants end up reverting to homelessness. The statistic is worrying to Lisa Marshall, a local advocate who started an organization called Fighting Homelessness. She’s concerned that some people are being put on rapid rehousing when they should be given a permanent housing subsidy. Marshall questions how people like Childs and Harrison will get by on their own with the cost of living as high as it is. “I get it. You want people off the street,” Marshall said. “We don’t want to see them homeless on our streets. That’s the message. So, get them in rapid rehousing. Get them into housing. Get them stable. They’ll be all better.” According to Marshall, the problem with that line of thinking is that “there’s no safety net for when the money’s gone.” P aula Baines, 54, is determined not to be part of that 18%. She’s in a rapid rehous- ing program run by the local organiza- tion Under 1 Roof, a group that is also part of the R.E.A.L. Time Rehousing Initiative. Ba- ines is in her second month in the program after moving into a place in East Dallas called The Flats on Bryan in October. Before The Flats, Baines had been staying at Austin Street Center since January. She’s excited about rapid rehousing. “I feel at peace,” she said. “This gives me the opportunity to start from the ground up and work my way up to where I can be, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.” Baines had just been kicked out of her apartment, and she didn’t know anything about rapid rehousing when she started liv- ing at the Dallas shelter. “I did not have any- where else to go,” she said. “I was just that, seeking shelter.” She moved into her last apartment on her own in December 2021. But the complex was sold, and during the transition, she didn’t sign a new lease. She paid month-to- month even though she was already having trouble covering her rent. Luckily, she was able to get rental assistance from the county and nonprofit organizations, which pre- vented her landlord from evicting her. The rent payment during the lease term was $981, but it went up to $1,720 on a month-to-month basis under the new own- ership. Once her rental assistance ran out in November 2022, her landlord kicked her out. This is what brought her to Austin Street Center, where she was assigned a personal caseworker from January to May 2023. She was put through an interview process to de- termine what assistance she qualified for and what the best match was for her. Under 1 Roof was that match. She was in the shelter from January through the first of October, and it was an experience she will never forget. Baines now knows a thick skin is needed to make it in a homeless shelter. “Shelter life is not for the weak. Home- lessness is not for the weak,” she said. “No one ever plans to be homeless. No one ever plans to go to a shelter and basically have someone to tell you what to do – when to go to the bathroom, when to eat, when to stand up, when to go through this door, what time you need to be back from this door. … It’s a totally different animal. I totally understand why there are people that would rather be out in the elements versus in a shelter.” Under 1 Roof set her up with another case worker and moved her into The Flats. Her case worker is willing to help her in any way she needs, but the main focus now is re- turning to school so she can get her degree or some certifications. That way she might be able to get a good job and pay for an apartment on her own. But she’s not sure if she’ll be staying at The Flats. “To be honest, I personally know that I will not be staying after this year because the cost of the rent is insanely expensive and it’s unrealistic,” she said. Her rent is $1,640 a month. She’s two classes away from a bachelor of arts degree in communications. Communi- cations, radio and television is where she has always wanted to work, although her employment history is primarily in cus- tomer service. “The degree that I can obtain will open up doors,” she said. “I’m so close, I could touch it.” Her place at The Flats is a one-bedroom, one-bath unit with a full kitchen. Under 1 Roof also supplied her with a dining room table, a couch and a queen-sized bed. She doesn’t get along with management, but other than that she doesn’t have any com- plaints about the apartment. While she was in the shelter, she heard horror stories about rapid rehousing. She talked to people who said they’d been in three rapid rehousing programs and re- turned to the shelter after each one. She’s confident she’ll eventually be able to make it on her own, but these conversations gave her doubt. “It was discouraging, honestly,” she said. “That made me think this is a one and done, meaning I will not be homeless again ever in life. Never again.” She thinks she could pay for something closer to the $1,300–$1,400 range. The days of paying under a thousand dollars for rent are over, she believes. “Things have changed,” she said. “Money has changed. The cost of living is different.” If she’s going to pay $1,640, which is what it costs at The Flats, she’d like something like a townhome. Her apartment at The Flats is nice, but it’s basic, she said, and cer- tainly not worth $1,640. She said she’s will- ing to consider a roommate, but she’d rather live on her own. Asked how she feels about the future, she said, “I have no choice but to be optimistic.” ▼ ABORTION FRIENDLIER PASTURES TEXASUPREME COURT DENIES DALLAS MOTHER PERMISSION TO HAVE AN ABORTION AS SHE HEADS OUT OF STATE FOR PROCEDURE. BY KELLY DEARMORE K ate Cox, the Dallas woman who sought a judge’s approval to have an abortion under Texas’ medical ex- emption rules, announced her intent to travel out of state for the procedure just hours before the state Supreme Court over- turned a lower court ruling in her favor. Her lawyers revealed her decision to leave her home state to seek medical care on Monday. A Dec. 7 ruling from a court in Tra- vis County arguably would’ve allowed Cox to have the abortion at a Houston hospital without fear of prosecution, but Texas At- torney General Ken Paxton, who had sent a letter threatening legal action against any hospital or doctor who performed the abor- tion despite the court ruling, asked the high court to intervene. The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the lower-court order before issuing its own decision: Cox did not meet the standard for a medical exemption because her doctor did not testify that Cox’s pregnancy seriously threatens her health or life. Cox opted to end her pregnancy after her doctors recently confirmed a fatal diagnosis of full trisomy 18 for her fetus. Also known as Edwards syndrome, full trisomy 18 is caused by a duplicate chromosome that re- sults in multiple structural problems includ- ing heart defects, brain abnormalities and musculoskeletal troubles. Cox’s doctors have warned her that since she has already given birth twice by cesar- ean section, carrying her 21-week pregnancy to term and giving birth by C-section again could harm her health and future fertility. Cox and her representatives say this means that she fits into the state’s narrow medical exemption realm for abortions, but Paxton says it does not. “This past week of legal limbo has been hellish for Kate,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights, wrote in a statement. “Her Mike Brooks Paula Baines is excited about rapid rehousing. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
