ST. LOUIS — The quasi-government body that oversees homeless services in ºüÀêÊÓƵ is seeking a new leader.
The last one was in the position less than six months.
Toni Wade resigned last week as board chair of the Continuum of Care, a collection of local agencies that serve the homeless. The group applies for $14 million a year from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to help unhoused people get off the streets and into housing. Wade had been elected to the position in December.
Her resignation comes two weeks after my column outlining her history of contractual problems with the city and noting that she’d been absent since she was elected, as she was also running a marijuana growing business in Oklahoma.
People are also reading…
“I have come to the conclusion that I am doing a disservice to the board and membership staying on as chair,†Wade wrote in an email to the Continuum of Care membership. “After much deliberation and reflection, I have chosen to resign as chair to ensure the CoC continues to progress effectively without any hindrance.â€
Wade didn’t mention her issues with city contracts. She has been audited over her subcontracting as a homeless service provider during the pandemic and accused by the city of over-billing and refusing to provide paperwork to back up invoices.
Wade’s resignation will be cheered by many in the nonprofit world who provide homeless services in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Her election and early months leading the board overshadowed the important work on the streets. And had she stayed in the position, the city’s federal funding could have been threatened.
So now what?
To begin with, members of the Continuum of Care should listen to the advice of Tom Mangona, CEO of Magdala House, one of the larger nonprofit providers of homeless services in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
“You’ve got to have an independent body where no board members are vested in any individual grant,†he told me.
That’s how the Continuum of Care is set up in two Texas cities — and . Those cities have become national models for how to get nonprofit, government and business leaders to work together on a “housing first†philosophy. In both cities, there is a spot or two on the board for a provider representative, but most members are business, civic and nonprofit leaders who are not directly invested in the daily nitty-gritty of providing homeless services.
There’s another reason ºüÀêÊÓƵ should look to Dallas and Houston. Both areas have Continuum of Care boards that involve not just one city, but also at least one county, as well as representatives from suburban communities.
People involved in homeless services have long complained that the city suffers an unfair burden in caring for unhoused people, some of whom come from surrounding counties. Some are even dropped off downtown by police officers from outside jurisdictions.
“We need a more regional approach,†Teka Childress, founder of ºüÀêÊÓƵ Winter Outreach, said at a recent Continuum of Care meeting.
She’s right, and one way for that to happen is for ºüÀêÊÓƵ city and county, and surrounding cities and counties, to work together on a larger and more professional Continuum of Care — one that can’t get influenced by limited interests and is less likely to elect a president like Wade, whose short tenure was damaging. Beyond Wade, the group has been plagued with dysfunction, and its relationships with the federal government and the city have been strained.
There are quiet conversations going on about regionalizing homeless services, but they need to get louder. And to be successful, they need a Continuum of Care board that can work with a range of government, business and civic leaders.
The people providing homeless services in ºüÀêÊÓƵ do incredible work. They include St. Peter and Paul Community Services, the St. Patrick’s Center, Gateway 180, Horizon Housing Development Corp., Assisi House and so many others. Their work shouldn’t be tainted by organizational squabbles.
As the Continuum of Care begins the process to choose a new leader, it should look outside the group’s membership and find candidates who can create an atmosphere where providers can focus on service and do what they do best.