| |
|
|
| Future
Looks Bright |
|
| Morrison
Plan emerges with some wins for homeless residents |
| by
Janice Hougen |
After six long months of meetings, data analyses
and financial assessments, heated debates,
emotional appeals, and dozens of meetings,
the long work of the Morrison Task Force is
drawing to an end.
After all this, there appears to be a flicker
of hope at the end of the tunnel. I dare say
that substantial, real, and positive change
could be close at hand for the 205 folks who
call the Morrison home.
On February 27, the Task Force's final recommendations
will have their debut before the Board of
Commissioners of the Seattle Housing Authority,
which owns and manages the building. On February
28, they will be presented to the Seattle
City Council. These two bodies have the ultimate
say on what happens next. They ought to follow
along.
Below are the best of the Task Force's conclusions.
1. Affirm the building's purpose as permanent
housing for the most hard-to-serve homeless
clients. The Task Force is recommending
that the current population be maintained
and that the current income levels (30 percent
or below the area median income) be preserved.
In addition, there should be no net loss of
units.
This is a huge triumph to have this language
put in the final recommendations, considering
that only a couple of months ago SHA wanted
to relocate tenants to make room for those
who did not present the same level of need.
The Morrison is the only permanent housing
in Seattle that, as a rule, accepts the most
challenging homeless clients, most of whom
have one or more chronic disabilities. Several
people at the table did not see the value
of this housing.
2. Seek to transfer management and ownership
away from SHA. Secondly, the Task Force
is recommending that "assuming any legal and
funding barriers are overcome, SHA transfers
ownership to a nonprofit [with] the experience
and capacity to work with the resident population."
For years, many advocates have argued that
the building's sale is the only means to enforce
positive change. Now it appears that SHA is
amenable.
The Task Force would prefer to have the owner
and the manager of the Morrison be one entity.
The most likely and perhaps most qualified
buyer would be Downtown Emergency Service
Center, which runs the building's homeless
shelter. DESC has a proven record of running
quality housing programs and services for
similar residents.
3. Extinguish all talk of closing the shelter
or reducing the number of people it serves.
Perhaps the most troublesome debate in the
process was over the fate of DESC's shelter.
SHA and other Task Force participants wanted
the shelter gone - with no plan to relocate,
or fund the same level of beds and services
somewhere else. This proposal whipped up an
angry firestorm from the community. It also
blindsided some of us on the Task Force, who
thought our purpose limited to discussing
the future of the permanent housing units.
In the end, the Task Force recommends that
the shelter stay put, continue its work, and
maintain the current number of beds.
The financial future of the Morrison may also
start looking up. The Task Force is recommending
that SHA's $100,000 annual payment from Morrison
revenue to the Seattle Senior Housing Bond
Program (SSHP) be resolved in a one-time payment.
In subsequent years, this would take a $100,000
burden off the back of the Morrison's new
overseer, freeing up more operating funds.
In addition, a three-year, $100,000 per year
grant from HUD should transfer over to the
new owner.
The bad news is that too many years of deferred
maintenance have taken their toll, and the
old building needs as much as $15 million
in work. The heating, vents, electrical, and
plumbing systems are unsafe, unhealthy, and
require major capital investment. The city,
King County, and other entities will have
to do this without draining limited funds
needed to build new low-income housing.
If not for the vigilance of housing and homeless
advocates who have ceaselessly advocated for
needed change at the Morrison to ensure the
health, safety and wellbeing of its residents,
it would be business as usual. If all the
above recommendations occur, the Morrison
should be a safer, healthier, saner, place
for folks to live. That can only benefit us
all. But don't just sit back and relax yet...
the jury is still out. n Janice Hougen is
a member of the Morrison Task Force and co-chair
of the Seattle-King County Coalition for the
Homeless. |
|
|
