Town to join homelessness fight

The issue of eliminating homelessness was brought to the attention of local residents in November during a roundtable discussion, and it has now been made one of the Chapel Hill Town Council’s highest priorities for 2005.

At Thursday’s council planning retreat, Mayoral Aide Emily Dickens presented council members with a recommendation on how to end and prevent homelessness.

The plan was constructed after the Orange County Roundtable Discussion on Homelessness, held Nov. 18. At that meeting, council members and about 150 residents discussed the need for more funding of programs for the homeless, as well as more shelter space and the need to take on the problem head-on.

“We started to accomplish what needs to happen in town,” said council member Sally Greene. “I think this is a great thing we are doing, and I am really excited about it.”

The recommendation suggests that on Jan. 24 the council adopt a resolution that includes a process for further developing a 10-year plan to address homelessness.

If the resolution is accepted, Chapel Hill will officially join a “Partnership to End Homelessness in Orange County.”

Dickens said the goal is then to partner with Orange County, Carrboro and Hillsborough to further develop the plan.

Hillsborough and Carrboro will be asked to offer services and representatives to serve on a committee along with representatives of Chapel Hill and the University.

The new committee would then meet with representatives at the state level and possibly the federal level, Dickens said.

“I think the community sees that this really is an issue and that we can’t do it alone,” Dickens said.

The resolution also recommends that the area hold another public session similar to the November roundtable.

But this time it will be held in the evening for those who couldn’t attend the fall meeting, which took place during the morning.

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen declined an invitation to the roundtable because of scheduling concerns. The aldermen commented that officials should not schedule such meetings on weekday mornings.

One of the resolution’s primary suggestions is to involve the community by focusing on different topics and types of homelessness.

The plan is to find reasons for chronic homelessness, which will save the town money in the long run by having a way to handle these needs, Dickens said.

“There are more homeless families now than previously,” she said. “We want to put systems into place that would prevent that.”

The plan will be implemented with the help of the Triangle United Way, local police departments and hospitals, which will help look at the problem in more detail.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.