Political Buzz - Martin Luther King Housing board makes it official: The agency will get out of the homeless shelter business

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Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Martin Luther King Housing board makes it official: The agency will get out of the homeless shelter business

Posted by Jason Hagey @ 02:56:00 pm

The board of the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association voted last night to notify the City of Tacoma that it intends to get out of the business of running a homeless shelter.

Kevin Phelps, the former Tacoma City Councilman and current MLKHDA board member, said the organization wants to focus on its core mission of developing housing for at-risk and low-income individuals.

The decision is not solely related to the apparent failure of a pair of grant applications. A citizen's commission recommended not awarding the federal block grants, but the City Council will make the final decision.

"We were very concerned that we would be perceived as our oganization was holding the city hostage," Phelps said. "We understand the process." He added, "At this point, we really feel the money is not going to be coming."

[More:]

The board action did not surprise John Briehl, director of Tacoma's Human Rights and Human Services department. "Conversations over the last few weeks definitely pointed in that direction," Briehl said.

Briehl said the city is talking with potential service providers in hopes of finding one willing to step in and take over running the shelter.

"We're putting out feelers to see what the level of interest is," Briehl said.

Phelps said MLKHDA also is talking with potentially interested parties. He said they are hoping for a "seamless transition" to a new agency.

Categories: Tacoma • 1 comment

COMMENTS:

Comment by escaravelha @ 10:14 - Sunday, May 4th, 2008

This decision brings the continued tension between compassion, law and order and public policy on the issue of of homelessness in Tacoma, back into focus. City Club's meeting on May 7 at Nativity House will be a timely panel discussion on the challenge of addressing the limited resources for the homeless. Call 253.272.9561 for details.

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