City staff, Councilmembers and stakeholders discuss Tent City issue
City of Dallas sent this bulletin at 02/18/2016 06:15 PM CSTFeb. 18, 2016 For more information contact:
For immediate release Richard Hill – Public Information Office
(214) 243-2042
City staff, Councilmembers and stakeholders discuss Tent City issue
Dallas – Key stakeholders from the City of Dallas staff, members of the City Council, Dallas County officials, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, City Square, the Bridge and community leaders met today to discuss how to best deal with the homeless encampment under I-45. The group agreed on a goal of permanently closing the encampment by early May.
Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance President and CEO Cindy J. Crain emphasized that any organized effort to address the growing “Tent City” encampment will need to combine intensive engagement with a thorough needs assessment, connecting to housing resources and case management.
“The solution to this situation will ultimately involve offering people a hand-up and not a hand-out,” Crain said. “This is a growing public safety issue and today’s meeting helped to identify important key areas to focus on, particularly the need to find housing and other resources to help this very vulnerable population. We also don’t want to overlook the impact this is having on the safety and security of residents in the area,” she said.
Crain provided stakeholders with suggested actions based on best practices in other large cities across the country. A Joint Street Outreach taskforce assessed the scope of response needed based on a count of the number of late night Tent City occupants. As of the end of January, more than 300 persons were using Tent City as a residence.
The stakeholder meeting provided several take-away items and partnership opportunities that will require further coordination over the coming weeks.
