Standing in the cafeteria of the Code Blue homeless shelter on Guilford Avenue on Thursday, Mayor Sheila Dixon unveiled a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Baltimore.
“I toured this shelter last night, and I met people with jobs and I met families with children staying here,” she said. “It does not have to be.”
As homeless people wandered the halls looking for respite from a winter storm, Dixon said the 10-year comprehensive plan would address the root cause of homelessness.
“The plan we are releasing today is a blueprint for designing a city and society where homeless no longer exists.”
The plan includes adding 500 Housing First subsidized apartments, obtaining special housing vouchers for emergency cases, providing legal service for families on the verge of homelessness, increasing job training in shelters, and providing incentives to local employers to hire the homeless.
The plan would be funded using a variety of sources, including grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the state and the city.
“This is the first comprehensive approach,” the mayor said.
City officials estimate 3,000 people in Baltimore are homeless. Jeff Singer, president of the nonprofit Healthcare for the Homeless, pointed to constant demand at the Guilford Avenue shelter as a sign that homelessness is growing.
“They turn away people every night.”
Nevertheless, Singer said, the plan that he helped author would achieve his group?s ultimate goal.
“When we founded our organization, the stated goal in our charter was to end homelessness in 10 years,” he said.
“That was 22 years ago, but I?m all for putting us out of business.”
Emell Mitchell, 36, who was staying at the shelter, said she was pleased the mayor was addressing the plight of the homeless.
“I have to give the mayor a 10 on this one,” Mitchell said. “But I could really use a job right now.”
