Politics & Government

Bethesda Cares: Most Vulnerable Homeless Should Be Housed First

Group is looking to catalog Bethesda's most vulnerable after it says not enough chronically homeless were placed in a new permanent housing facility.

is investigating ways to prioritize housing for the chronically homeless after the group says not enough of Bethesda’s most vulnerable were placed in a new, 12-bed permanent housing facility on Hampden Lane.

Lasko Manor, a new, $4.3 million studio apartment complex, is geared to house the homeless, as detailed in a recent Gazette article. Operated by the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, the complex is part of a county-wide and countrywide push toward a “housing first” model that places the homeless in permanent housing with on-site counselors and support for residents rather than shelters, hotels or transitional homes, the Gazette reported.

The housing first model has been recognized as a national best practice, according to Bethesda Cares outreach social worker John Mendez, especially when it comes to the chronically homeless—defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as someone with a disability who has been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.

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The chronically homeless often have daunting barriers when it comes to getting help, like substance abuse or mental illness, and the population spiked 91 percent in Montgomery County from 2010 to 2011, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments – the largest jump in the metro area.

In Bethesda, Lasko Manor joins another permanent housing facility for the homeless. Cordell Place, operated by the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, opened in December, the Gazette reported. Out of 32 units, about 10 are filled by those who were once chronically homeless, according to Julie Maltzman, interim executive director for the coalition.

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But Mendez said there needs to be more of a countywide focus on placing the chronically homeless in permanent, supportive housing, and he’s hoping to work with groups like HOC and the coalition to emphasize placing more of the most vulnerable in homes.

At Lasko Manor, one of the soon-to-be residents lives on the street in Bethesda, according to Lillian Durham, HOC director of resident services. The rest will enter the facility from shelters when they move in sometime before the end of the month.

Mendez and his group advocated for more of the most vulnerable homeless living on the street in Bethesda to be considered for Lasko Manor.

“When the county developed these units of housing, when they started doing housing first, I don’t know that they were necessarily placing the people who were most vulnerable,” Mendez said. “If you’re in the emergency room and a guy comes in with a splinter, another guy comes in with the flu and another guy comes in with head trauma, who are you going to treat first? When we have people who are essentially living their last days on the street, we should house those folks first.”

In many cases, permanent housing can be a lifesaving solution for the chronically homeless, Mendez said.

Durham said that residents at Lasko were considered via referrals from a wide variety of county groups, and that enough resources weren’t available to house residents who couldn’t live there independently.

“We don’t have the kinds of services you might find even in a shelter, where there’s 24/7 support. We don’t have the money,” Durham said.

A counselor will be on-site at the complex about eight hours a day and provide support and services like job skills training to residents, however, Durham said.

“We had to be a little selective in terms of the homeless population. We wanted people who could survive independently,” Durham added.

Durham said she also had to take into account Lasko Manor's neighbors, some of whom raised concerns about safety.

At Cordell Place, the facility was designed to cater to a variety of types of homeless residents, including those coming from shelters, transitional housing and the street, Maltzman said. The coalition does focus on housing for the chronically homeless but doesn’t want to discount the needs of the rest of the homeless population, she added.

When it comes to housing for the most vulnerable, “It’s a challenge,” Maltzman said. “You have to have a high level of supportive services.”

Mendez is now working to identify Bethesda’s most vulnerable through a national program called the 100,000 Homes Campaign. In November, volunteers from the group will begin a process of cataloging the homeless in Bethesda and identifying those who are most in need of permanent housing, he said.

Mendez discussed the campaign, and housing for those most at risk, in a Monday presentation to the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board.

Patch will continue to cover the issue of homelessness in Bethesda in coming weeks.

This story has been updated.


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