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Five years after Mayor Tim Davlin’s creation of
a task force on homelessness and its formulation of a 10-year plan to end
chronic homelessness in Springfield, changes are being made to the plan. The city has hired strategic-planning firm Sikich
Gardner & Co. to recalibrate the 10-year plan, says Springfield
community-relations director Sandy Robinson, who last year became
Davlin’s point man on the homeless. Robinson also serves as a
co-chairman of the mayor’s task force, formerly headed by Springfield
United Way president John Kelker, who stepped down from the post last
summer. “Measurable goals, more timelines, and
more specifics about some of the bigger pieces that we’re trying to
undertake that need buy-in from all segments of the community: We want to
make sure that those parts of the plan are viewed as being viable,
particularly by the business community,” Robinson says of the
plan’s refocusing. The city will pay Sikich $10,000 for its work, which
will be finished by the end of the year. Springfield businesses requested the revision,
Robinson says, so that if “we ask for investment for things that are
outlined in the plan there’s a reasonable expectation of
accountability.”
He says that the business community has a vested
interest in solving the problem of chronic homelessness because high
visibility can reduce tourism and homeless people, once stable, can serve
as an employee pool for certain types of industries. Drafted in November 2004, the original strategic plan
is organized into four components: coordination of services, public
awareness through local media, prevention of homelessness, and maintenance
of housing supports. Davlin regularly touts the establishment of a
wintertime Springfield overflow shelter under his administration, which the
plan calls for. Other goals that are outlined in the plan but remain
unaccomplished are the development of a so-called safe haven and increased
shelter space in Sangamon County. The recalibration is taking place in conjunction with
several other events that will be held this month. On Thursday, July 17,
President George W. Bush’s homelessness czar, Philip Mangano, will be
in the capital city to meet with Springfield city officials, business
groups, and members of the advocacy group Homeless United for Change, which
initiated Mangano’s visit. The day concludes with a community forum
at the St. John’s Hospital James T. Dove conference center at 6:30
p.m. Around the time of Mangano’s Springfield trip
next week, Robinson anticipates a “drumbeat of announcements”
from area homeless service providers about expansion of shelter beds,
day-center facilities, and housing opportunities, although he declines to
offer specifics.
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 3-9, 2008.
