ST. LOUIS 鈥 At the request of 狐狸视频 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, a regional planning agency may launch a new area-wide effort to deal with homelessness.
Details have yet to be worked out by the agency, the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.
However, Jim Wild, the council鈥檚 executive director, said it鈥檚 likely any such initiative would start with a summit meeting of area leaders and organizations already involved in aiding people who are homeless.
That鈥檚 what Gateway did last year when it started to put together a regional effort to reduce homicides, which also was proposed by Jones.
Jones, the current Gateway chair, brought up the idea of an area-wide homeless initiative at the council鈥檚 May meeting.
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鈥淭he burden often falls on the shoulders of the city to provide homeless services for all of our region鈥檚 unhoused, and that鈥檚 not sustainable,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 think that we all have a part to play in taking care of all of our citizens whether they are housed or not, and (I) wanted to at least start a conversation about putting together a regional strategy.鈥
Jones added that some regional civic organizations are willing to at least fund a study on the subject. She didn鈥檛 elaborate.
Conner Kerrigan, a spokesman for Jones, said Thursday that surveys have shown that 鈥渜uite a number鈥 of unhoused people in the city are originally from other parts of the metro area.
The Gateway board, which is made up of key elected officials and others from both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the metro area, didn鈥檛 take a vote on Jones鈥 idea, but no one argued against it.
Speaking in favor were Clayton Mayor Michelle Harris, Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones and Jefferson County Executive Dennis Gannon.
鈥淲hat we desperately need is a plan,鈥 Harris said. 鈥淓ach individual municipality does not have the resources to stand up housing, for example.鈥
Ella Jones said 鈥渨rap-around services鈥 and summer cooling centers are among the needs.
Gannon said he鈥檚 convinced that some people 鈥渨ill never ever accept living in a permanent place of their own. ... They鈥檙e nomads.鈥
鈥淏ut that doesn鈥檛 mean we can鈥檛 make life better for them,鈥 he said.
After a brief discussion, Wild said his staff would put together a proposal to be submitted to the board at its June 26 meeting.
Doug Moore, a spokesman for 狐狸视频 County Executive Sam Page, said Page has discussed the issue with the 狐狸视频 mayor and is supportive.
鈥淭his is not just about building more shelters鈥 but also about getting people health, mental health, drug treatment and other services, Moore said.
Tim Huffman, who has been active in the 狐狸视频 Area Regional Commission on Homelessness, said he鈥檚 excited to hear that the area鈥檚 elected officials may together address the issue.
He said while the commission got some federal funding during its first two years, it鈥檚 amounted to a volunteer effort more recently.
The homicide reduction initiative, endorsed in March by the Gateway Council, aims to cut murders in the metro area by 20% in three years, focusing on the relatively small number of people involved in many homicides here.
The plan calls for using a 鈥渇ocused deterrence鈥 strategy in which police and social service agencies give people repeatedly involved in violence a choice in meetings with police and others.
Job training, schooling, mental health services and drug treatment will be offered, while those who continue to engage in violent crime are to get targeted enforcement efforts.