Task Force To Prevent And End Homelessness
Regular MeetingColumbia, SC · June 29, 2022
Minutes
COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022
The Columbia Task Force to Prevent and End Homelessness conducted a meeting on Tuesday,
June 29, 2022 at the Busby Street Community Center, 1735 Busby Street, Columbia, SC 29203.
The Honorable Aditi Bussells, Chair called the meeting to order at 4:09 p.m. and the following
members were present:
Attendee Name Title Status
Aditi Bussells Chair Present
Edward H. McDowell District II Present
Will Brennan District III Absent
William "Skip" Holbrook Police Chief Present
Matt Kennell City Center Partnership Present
Steve Cook Five Points Association Present
George Whitehead Department of Probations, Pardon and Parole Present
Allison Farrell SC Department of Mental Health Present
John Wilkerson Elmwood/Downtown Coalition of Neighborhoods Absent
Bret Kloos USC Department of Psychology Absent
Amy McCulloch Probate Judge Absent
Matthew Brock Associate Probate Judge Present
Kieley Sutton Assistant Public Defender Present
Antonio Flores Jr. Wal-Mart Absent
Doreen Skelton Advocate Present
Jamar Ogburn Advocate Present
Treacy Dobbins Inspire Real Change Present
INVOCATION
The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr. offered the invocation.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Approval of the May 18, 2022 Task Force Meeting Minutes - The Honorable Aditi
Bussells
Upon a motion made by Mr. McDowell and seconded by Mr. Kennell, task force members voted
unanimously to approve the May 18, 2022 Task Force Meeting Minutes.
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COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
2. Welcome - The Honorable Aditi Bussells and The Honorable Edward H. McDowell
Councilor Aditi Bussells said we held our first meeting almost five weeks ago. Since then, there
has been a lot of activity and great discussion around the ways in which we continue this work.
We have great perspectives and much needed expertise around the ways in which we can
continue to address this complex issue. I want to acknowledge two new members: Mr. Jamar
Ogburn and Ms. Doreen Skelton.
3. Task Force Goals and Outcomes - The Honorable Aditi Bussells
Councilor Aditi Bussells said I want to frame today’s conversation and talk through some of the
things I found to be the most salient in our discussion. We learned how much the city has
invested in homelessness. We have one million dollars for city services specifically around our
Inclement Weather Center. For the last several years that has been awarded to United Way with a
pass through to several other providers. We provide dollars for security at Transitions, which is a
shelter at the end of our Main Street corridor. A lot of our community development funding also
goes towards homelessness. About $2.5 million from our American Rescue Plan Act funding
will be going towards non-congregate housing which is housing that allows people to not live in
shared spaces. We continue to support providers to include Homeless No More and MIRCI. We
expanded the Pathways Unit which is focused on embedding mental health clinicians within the
Columbia Police Department. We cannot solve the entire problem of homelessness. We can do
our part in leading efforts that we can control or influence. This task force will focus on the
chronic and visible homeless. Typically, these are folks interacting with our commercial districts
including downtown, Harbison and Garners Ferry. We are not focused on other populations like
youth in transition, families and other populations that may be interacting with services. We want
to focus on those that are visible and often resistant to services. We talked about the need to
balance the increase in crime with the need to provide effective options and services for this
population. Crime is often a consequence of these other complex factors that lead to
homelessness. We talked about the importance of inclusive language. HUD uses the term
unsheltered homeless. That is the term that we can continue to use. Instead of saying the
homeless, let’s say people experiencing homelessness as a more inclusive way of talking about
the population that we are interested in serving. This task force was created with the intention of
existing for six to eight months. The goal is to develop short-term immediate solutions to address
the urgency of this issue. A lot of systemic change needs to happen. I need your help to find
those short term immediate solutions.
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We talked about how important it is to hold service providers accountable. One strategy that
came out of that was to revisit the request for proposals (RFP) process for city homelessness
service providers and to determine what your accountability metrics will be. Another strategy is
to ask and advocate for regional and state investment around the work we are doing. Many of our
community providers are serving the Midlands but the burden of support often falls on the city.
We talked about having beat cops and a consistent police presence downtown to enforce
regulations. We also talked about holding community groups accountable for waste that comes
from meal sharing and the need to coordinate these efforts. Finally, we learned about our
Homeless Court. We talked about competency and options for pathways out of homelessness.
Perhaps the court can be a partner in making that happen. Are there any other strategies that you
would like to bring up at this time?
Mr. Steve Cook said here is mental illness, drug addiction and a criminal element among the
homeless in Columbia. It is important to be honest and realistic about that. As a member of the
business community, this is important to me. I have a different issue with someone who needs
help versus someone who is actively doing criminal activity in neighborhoods. That seems to get
pushed underneath when we talk about law enforcement.
Mr. Jamar Ogburn recalled interactions with the police when he stayed at Transitions. When you
look and act a certain way, you get labeled. The police have to change their attitude.
Chief Skip Holbrook said it is interesting that the first conversation is about law enforcement.
We spent a lot of time at the last meeting talking about how to get law enforcement out of the
solution. I can assure you that we would prefer not to spend 60% of our time in the Metro Region
dealing with unsheltered homeless. Especially now with the staffing challenges we have, we are
very reactive. For us, public contact is almost entirely based on complaints or a reported crime.
We have various corridors that are more active than others. There are a lot of quality of life and
criminal violations that occur in the area where Transitions is located. More goes on that is
unenforced and that is a sticking point for a lot of the businesses. Law enforcement is always
going to have to interact when there are violations of law. No matter the situation, we have to
treat people with respect and dignity and justify our actions. There are lots of checks and
balances. We wear body cameras. A lot of trespassing charges are based on a business owner
giving law enforcement the authority to act on their behalf after someone has been properly
noticed.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said that is what we hear from constituents as well. How do we solve
this in a way that is meaningful?
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Chief Skip Holbrook said we had dozens of complaints in the Forest Drive corridor. We had to
do a special operations to address this particular quality of life issue. In two days, we made nine
custodial arrests. Every one of those were personal recognizance (PR) bonds and they were right
back out. A lot of resources were drained for two days and those same people are back in the
same place doing the same thing. Then the unsheltered homeless may have had a bad experience.
They are mad at us and the business owner is mad at us because we did not affect a change. I
would like to hear solutions.
Councilor Edward McDowell said we need to recognize that law enforcement officers are there
to enforce the law. What is the responsibility of the providers? We hired clinicians to effectuate
and navigate through crisis in the community. We want officers to be reasonable, compassionate
and sensible, but we also want them to enforce the law.
Mr. Steve Cook said the only tool given to business owners is through the police department. It
is incredibly unfair for officers to be the frontline for triaging this. We would love to have
another agency to call or have the counselors come first.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said we have heard that consistently. Folks naturally call 911. We find
that people struggle to find services after hours. It sounds like we need to identify an afterhours
and first point of contact that can respond in a timely manner without putting the burden on CPD
especially for instances where there isn’t criminal activity.
Chief Skip Holbrook said we have one clinician. We had 337 calls for service, interacted with
214 different clients and made 238 different referrals. Those 214 clients were homeless and they
did not go to jail. The discussion needs to be about the disposition of those 214 clients. We have
to effectively deal with these persons who are experiencing homelessness that come into contact
with the Pathways Unit. They are in crisis whether it is through addiction to alcohol or drugs,
they are on the street, and they suffer from mental illness.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said the challenge is also that our services are all over the city or
beyond the city. It is hard to interact if you don’t have transportation or someone helping you
navigate these things. There is no single point of entry that people have found consistent success
with. We have folks that need services and we don’t have a seamless process for that. We have
folks that are engaging in criminal activity as a consequence of homelessness and it has affected
neighborhoods and businesses.
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Mr. Jamar Ogburn said when working at the Inclement Weather Center, I would call a number
for clients with mental issues, but I was told that they had no one to send out. I had to call the
police and they tell me to call mental health. Something needs to be in place 24 hours a day.
Ms. Allison Farrell said there is a resource called Mobile Crisis that is available in every county
24/7 for 365 days a year. Call (833)364-2274 and two clinicians will be dispatched along with
law enforcement if it is a mental health crisis. When will law enforcement identify it as a
homeless issue? Is it during dispatch?
Chief Skip Holbrook said it could be the complainant through dispatch or after we interact with
them on scene. It could be based on field interviews, arrest reports or incident reports where an
address is not listed. Mobile Crisis works well and it complements our Pathways Unit.
Ms. Kieley Sutton said I represent almost everyone who comes through the City of Columbia
Municipal Court with a competency issue. Competency is when your mental health is so
significant that you don’t understand what’s going on in court and you don’t care to participate in
your defense. That also means that you can’t engage in services. It is not necessarily a resistance
to services; it can be an inability to engage and follow through in an appropriate way. Since
January 1, 2022 through June 22, 20222, there were 113 arrests for 10 different people who have
pending competency evaluations. [Correction received on June 30, 2022: The number of arrests
is 34 for 10 unique individuals who collectively spent 405 days in jail as of June 22, 2022.]
These individuals cannot be tried. They cannot engage in services. There is no solution. They
can’t comport their behavior in a way that allows them to stay in a shelter or participate in
services. They can’t be probated because they usually don’t have family. The hospitals can’t or
won’t engage with them longer than the 24 hour or one-week hold. They don’t have insurance to
keep them in a program. With all of those issues, the appropriate thing would be a competency
evaluation and the restoration process after they are charged criminally. That doesn’t exist but
we are working on this with the city. There was a 2019 State Supreme Court order saying that
the mechanism needs to be developed and here we are mid-2022 with no plans. That is arrests
and days spent in jail by people who cannot be tried, self-advocate, or participate in services.
They are discharged without a plan. At last check, there were 23 people with pending
competency evaluations. We have a robust service provider community but none of the services
are one size fits all. We need an afterhours or on call individual who is well versed on all of the
services available to make appropriate referrals. It is a matter of collaboration, cohesiveness,
clear referrals, follow-up, and warm handoffs. Proposals for afterhours peer support specialists
and weekend peer support have been presented to MACH. There is an issue with transportation.
A lot of the clients that I work with who are interested in engaging in services have been banned
or put on trespass notice from the Comet. There is no clear policy, notification process, or
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appeals process. We are putting a gap in the continuity of care which is an additional hurdle to
the next level of success.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said we have competency up there. We need to talk about clear policies
and suggestions for how we are allowing people to become unbanned from transportation. I
would add that a lot of people are banned from accessing services. What is the process if you
want to engage in services again? What are our accountability metrics to ensure that we are not
creating these unintended consequences? A campaign would help people have access, especially
business owners and community members to numbers and a set of resources that actually work.
I don’t want to hear the desperation of “I don’t know what to do except call CPD.” I want to
have options for those who feel like they have criminal activity on their property or in their
vicinity.
Ms. Kieley Sutton encouraged everyone to recognize that there is going to be two sides to every
coin. If I went into my job and didn’t recognize that on one client I could be the best advocate in
the world but on the next one I am a public pretender - if I didn’t know that those two
perceptions existed, I would be doing clients a disservice. We need to deal with that consistency
of interaction and understanding. If the rumor is that your weekend staff is different from your
day staff, we as agencies, service providers, and advocates need to be aware of those rumors,
recognize if there is truth to it, and be willing to fix it.
Councilor Edward McDowell noted that the Department of Mental Health is the only service
provider in the meeting.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said many of the providers have been invited to our August meeting
where they will be presenting on the services they provide. During the next meeting, I would like
to hear the questions you have for providers.
Councilor Edward McDowell said this is not just a mental health issue; there are layers to
homelessness. I don’t think there has been collaboration with providers to discuss resolutions. In
August, I will ask what is being done collaboratively towards resolutions that can effectuate
themselves. Again, CPD is not in the triage business. We have to do a better job. We have
identified the issues, but we haven’t had the hard conversations about what we can do
collaboratively. We spend one million dollars per year and I am asked if we are getting a bang
for our buck. We will have this conversation in August.
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Ms. Kieley Sutton said there are monthly case conferencing meetings that talks about intensive
case conference based on a list provided by CPD or MACH. There is a youth specific meeting, a
families meeting, and there used to be a VA meeting. Clean of Heart has the next level services
where we do intensive case management as a group table event. The library has partnership days.
I don’t think there has been a collaborative effort to discuss what the city can do differently.
There have been collaborative efforts to coordinate services and better serve our fellow humans.
Councilor Edward McDowell said we are having these intensive conversations with others. Is it
working? If it is not working, we need to fix it or find some resolution. If we are not making a
difference in terms of that conversation, then we are talking about sounding brass and gonging
cymbals. It has to be a collaborative conversation that is going to engender itself around
solutions. We can’t do it by ourselves. It doesn’t matter which agency it is; it is not working. It
becomes a hard pull for CPD when there are issues and situations and the only thing we do is
dial 911. There has to be a genuine conversation between you all. We can effectuate change but
what are the end results. There are no results right now.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said what is currently happening is not working. We have to revisit the
ways in which our community, business owners, and providers are all interacting. We have a lot
of great pieces and they are not all moving together in one cohesive puzzle that allows folks to
engage with services correctly and allows CPD to stay in their lane and respond to the situations
that make the most sense and are in their purview. It is scary to say that. What we are doing is
not working, because it continues to escalate. We keep hearing about the increase in the number
of people experiencing homelessness.
4. Review of Reading Materials - The Honorable Aditi Bussells
Councilor Aditi Bussells said I want to talk about the materials I sent to you all. One being the
2013 Homeless Committee Report. The committee had four subcommittees. I want to summarize
some of the strategies they had that may be interesting for our discussion: Winter Shelter, Main
Street Corridor, Meals and Feeding, and Sanitation. The four key recommendations for the
Winter Shelter Subcommittee were to have a four-year plan to start having effective enough
services where they no longer need an overflow. They wanted to make transportation accessible,
timely, and reasonable. They shifted the times for when meals and services are provided in the
winter. They had recommendations on how to manage overflows. Instead of having those
experiencing homelessness move into MLK Park, they suggested using the existing structure to
address that. In terms of the Main Street Corridor Subcommittee, the city added more “No
Loitering” signs and garbage cans; conducted trash patrols of areas for meal sharing; and handed
out posters on how to address homelessness. They urged the city to pursue vacant properties.
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They talked about the blue store that continues to sell single-serve alcohol, which led to an
increase in alcohol consumption and substance use around that business. In 2013, they urged us
to look at ways to halt single-serve alcohol. Emphasis was placed on the Midlands Area
Consortium for the Homeless (MACH) doing a point in time count to estimate the number of
people experiencing homelessness and launching a public awareness campaign of the different
services available in Columbia. The Meals and Feedings Subcommittee suggested that we have
fixed locations for meals. They suggested having specific times because so many programs were
overlapping. They also suggested discouraging outdoor meal providers and enforcing and
revising city regulations to ensure that they are sharing meals in fixed locations to help address
issues with trash. Lastly, the Sanitation Subcommittee explored options for public sanitation.
They did not include specific recommendations but said they were talking with Savannah and
Asheville to look at models for public bathrooms and sanitation options. This was in 2013 and
we continue to talk about many of these issues. I would love to hear your reactions to these
recommendations and if you think there are some that we should continue to pursue.
Mr. Matt Kennell said the blue store is a major issue. I testified before the Department of
Revenue and for a year or two they were not allowed to sell alcohol. Somehow they were
allowed to open and it has been a major problem ever since. The single-serve alcohol from there,
El Cheapo and other places is a major problem. That is an issue that perhaps council could deal
with by ordinance. The city has put in porta johns and there have been maintenance issues over
the years. Anybody that works in the Main Street District would say that it is better than it used
to be. There are better solutions. Austin, Texas installed The Portland Loo®. It is a beautiful thing
but it is expensive.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said I would like to put that down as a solution. We are brainstorming
and we will see what is feasible.
Ms. Allison Farrell asked why some of the recommendations did not go forward. What were the
barriers to getting some of these recommendations addressed in 2013?
Councilor Aditi Bussells said I will try to find out.
Mr. George Whitehead said during COVID there were handwashing stations all around town but
they went away. I would like to see some of them come back. That was a great resource.
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Chief Skip Holbrook said every one of those areas have been touched in one way or another
since that committee brought forward the recommendations. The winter shelter has been
massaged and worked over and over again. It is not perfect but it has been an important resource
for managing the situations with homeless individuals in inclement weather. The Main Street
corridor has changed. There has been a dramatic shift in the complaints of people relieving
themselves. The porta johns aren’t the greatest thing to look at. It would be awesome if this
group could come up with a solution to meal sharing. It leads to a lot of issues with trash. We
have meal shares that occur throughout the day, every day and in various places. Some are
scheduled but more are not. It is nearly impossible to coordinate. All of these areas have been
touched in one way or another and with various successes. Hopefully we can build on those
successes as those are all important areas.
Mr. Matthew Brock said the problem with coordinating meals can be solved with some type of
technology and by getting all providers and those who share meals regularly in a room. That
way, not only do the homeless know but the police can know and we can have that coordination.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said we have churches and other non-profits that are not traditionally in
the provider community but want to do something kind. These come up and there is no way to
capture all of them until after they happen. Then we get a call about trash and bags of clothes
being left behind. The United Way did a great job with trying to organize the meal shares but
there is much more happening that is tangential and happens on its own.
Mr. Matthew Brock suggested having an ordinance requiring 24-hour notice before going to
feed.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said I like the idea of a 24-hour notice.
Mr. Jamar Ogburn said don’t feed them. There is a major difference from when I moved here in
1988 to what we have today. In 1988, the Salvation Army, Oliver Gospel Mission and the church
on Washington Street were the only place that offered meals. On Sunday, you had the church on
Senate Street. Back then, the Salvation Army and the Oliver Gospel Mission didn’t let you take
food out. Now you have massive churches and law firms. If you don’t feed them, you don’t have
it. Coordinate it in a certain area but move it away from the city and the main corridor. Let the
main people do what they have been doing and stop the extras.
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Councilor Aditi Bussells noted that the city attorney mentioned several cities have tried this
approach. In many cases, these groups sued and they won on the rights of the first amendment to
be able to feed. There are creative ways to help people understand the unintended consequences.
Legally, we won’t be able to say you can’t feed at all.
Ms. Jacqueline Pavlicek, Esq., City Attorney’s Office said pursuant to the first amendment, the
City of Columbia doesn’t regulate churches. There have been numerous law suits largely based
on the first amendment. The City of Columbia cannot have an official policy that would fine
them for that.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said another strategy is continuing to find ways in which we can help
people understand those unintended consequences.
Mr. Jamar Ogburn asked if we can setup a central location for meal sharing.
Councilor Aditi Bussells suggested looking at policies around waste and to-go containers.
Doreen Skelton said one solution is for us to help people have a place of their own where they
can feed themselves. Several states have done it. Cities have worked with social workers and
community programs to have tiny homes where each person has their own sleeping quarters.
They are able to put their belongings in it and they setup bathrooms and resources. A lot of
money has been put out for bathrooms. You can use recyclables to help them and they can help
build the places.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said one strategy we did not talk about but has been key to this task
force is understanding the landscape of our provider network. There are a lot of robust services
and there may be opportunities to strengthen it. What is happening right now is not working for
all of the people experiencing homelessness. We tasked Treacy and his organization with
cataloging these agencies and providing us with a presentation. This will flow into our
conversation in July where we will prepare for our providers to be with us in August where we
can have questions and make sure we are on the same page for how we would like to collaborate
with our providers on developing solutions. Please read the three articles in your packet.
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5. Social Service Network Catalogue Presentation - Mr. Treacy Dobbins, Inspire Real
Change
Mr. Treacy Dobbins, Inspire Real Change said we entered into a partnership with the city to do a
social services advancement project. We realized that there were so many resources and
organizations in Richland County. We needed to understand who is out there, who’s doing what,
and how they are operating. Our goal was to build a functional catalog. It is 41-pages that
contain information on each program to include eligibility and contact information for 102
programs and services. We included the Inclement Weather Center under shelter services. The
transitional housing programs are broken down by the demographic they serve. We have nine
veteran services that are directly related to somebody who is unsheltered or at-risk. There are 33
organizations that serve food and they are linked to a map. This is the first part of our project.
The 102 programs are strictly within Richland County, not Lexington County. Our continued
work is to evaluate and assess the current social services delivery system within Richland
County. We will be looking at how services are delivered from a big picture perspective and
from a service level perspective through case studies. We will evaluate the challenges, the gaps
in services, and the need. The latter part is to provide the task force with recommendations on the
potential restructure or consolidation of services that would improve delivery to these individuals
and bring efficiencies to the system.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said the catalog is available in the task force members’ packets. We
plan on releasing this to the public and sharing it with those who helped in gathering this
information including our providers. There are 102 services in Richland County, yet we are still
seeing these challenges. This continues to reinforce that we have the puzzle pieces but it is not
put together in a way that is working. We have a compassionate city but we are facing a lot of
changes and we need to revisit how we are providing some of this support.
Mr. George Whitehead said there is a lot of transitional housing out there. Is anyone evaluating if
a place should come off the list or if we shouldn’t be referring people to these places? Are you
looking at quality assurance?
Mr. Treacy Dobbins said there is no real quality control within the system. People start sober
living homes under an organizational name and they are chartered to perform services but there
is no real quality control piece to validate who is doing what.
Mr. George Whitehead said my concern is that we will refer people to places that are not going
to make them successful and no one has gone to these places to vet them.
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Councilor Aditi Bussells said for the one million we are investing directly towards professional
services, I am in full support of accountability metrics and outcomes that need to be monitored
over time and treating these contracts as grants where we are able to see what will be
accomplished in the short-term and the long-term. That has not happened. That is a question I’d
like to table for the providers. What accountability mechanisms do you have with each other?
Where is the quality control? How do you work with each other to identify some of that? I am
aware that a lot of federal opportunities are coming down the pipeline through HUD to address
homelessness. We want to make sure that we are receiving those funds and they are making a
difference in our communities. There are certain touch points where evaluation has to happen as
part of those grants. It will be helpful to hear what those look like.
6. Task Force Discussion
Public Input form Ms. Diane Wiley, Belvedere Community resident said we shouldn’t have
homeless in America. People want a roof over their heads. Give them a chance. I am homeless
from the flood and if it wasn’t for my mother I wouldn’t have a place to stay. Give them shelter,
pride and a job. If they have a mental problem, have a place where they can go. There are a lot of
people sleeping in Finlay Park. The tiny homes are a great idea. You need shelter for 24 hours. It
is hot and it will get cold. They need a place to lay their head and go to the bathroom.
Ms. Doreen Skelton presented solutions to help anyone that is experiencing homelessness. My
intent is to provide houses for the homeless to be able to go to every night. Some people are hard
to get off the streets. The benefit is having resources onsite like social workers and employment.
The first phase would be to get the people off the street. The tiny homes do not have bathrooms.
All of the facilities are on community property. They have weekly meetings to discuss issues.
There is a fence around the perimeter. They can’t go out or come in without going pass a guard.
We can use recyclables. Builders donate their time and materials. This is my solution for getting
people off the streets. I give people food and I talk to them. The solution is to give them the
resources and a place to sleep.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said there are great examples of tiny homes across the country and we
will put that down as a potential solution. The committee will receive a link to the video.
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Ms. Missy Caughman said Chief Holbrook addressed what Ms. Farrell was saying about the
2013 study. A couple outcomes from that study were worked on such as the meal sharing
through United Way’s coordination. There’s a food share committee. We will talk more about
that during the August meeting with the providers. We did the solicitation and now we have an
inclement weather center. Other things were mentioned and will be discussed in future meetings.
We will also talk about who will be invited to the August meeting.
Councilor Aditi Bussells said we will talk about the structure of that meeting. I want it to be an
opportunity for all of you to get as many questions answered with the providers as possible.
Before that meeting, send your questions over. I want to have some of those hard conversations.
We will dedicate our July meeting to thinking about some of those metrics; following up on
conversations we’ve had; and responding to the examples we have seen in other cities. This was
an incredible conversation and I appreciate everyone being open-minded about a difficult topic.
7. Closing Remarks - The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr.
Councilor Edward McDowell said what a good day to have this conversation and resolutional
things that we can institute and initiate as our city continues to grow and expand. Thank you for
taking the time out of your schedule to be a part of this dialogue. I want to thank Councilwoman
Bussells for her leadership. Councilman Will Brennan could not be here today, but I am sure he
senses that this conversation was needed within the confines of this community. We look
forward to seeing you in July and August. It is going to be an interesting time.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:57 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
Erika D. Moore Hammond, CMC
City Clerk
Task Force to Prevent and Homelessness June 29, 2022 Meeting Minutes - Page 13 of 13
Agenda
COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS MEETING
AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022
The Columbia Task Force to Prevent and End Homelessness will conduct a meeting on
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. at the Busby Street Community Center, 1735 Busby
Street, Columbia, SC 29203. Members of the public may view the meeting online at
www.columbiasc.gov. For questions regarding the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at
(803)545-3045 or cityclerk@columbiasc.gov.
The Honorable Aditi Bussells, Chair
The Honorable William Brennan, District III The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr., District II
Prior to entering the meeting please turn all electronic communication devices to the silent, vibrate or off
position. All presenters are asked to speak directly into the microphone for recording purposes.
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
INVOCATION
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Approval of the May 18, 2022 Task Force Meeting Minutes - The Honorable Aditi
Bussells
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
2. Welcome - The Honorable Aditi Bussells and The Honorable Edward H. McDowell
3. Task Force Goals and Outcomes - The Honorable Aditi Bussells
4. Review of Reading Materials - The Honorable Aditi Bussells
5. Social Service Network Catalogue Presentation - Mr. Treacy Dobbins, Inspire Real
Change
6. Task Force Discussion
7. Next Steps and Closing - The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr
ADJOURNMENT
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Packet
COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS MEETING
AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2022
The Columbia Task Force to Prevent and End Homelessness will conduct a meeting on
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. at the Busby Street Community Center, 1735 Busby
Street, Columbia, SC 29203. Members of the public may view the meeting online at
www.columbiasc.gov. For questions regarding the meeting, please contact the City Clerk at
(803)545-3045 or cityclerk@columbiasc.gov.
The Honorable Aditi Bussells, Chair
The Honorable William Brennan, District III The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr., District II
Prior to entering the meeting please turn all electronic communication devices to the silent, vibrate or off
position. All presenters are asked to speak directly into the microphone for recording purposes.
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
INVOCATION
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Approval of the May 18, 2022 Task Force Meeting Minutes - The Honorable Aditi
Bussells
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
2. Welcome - The Honorable Aditi Bussells and The Honorable Edward H. McDowell
3. Task Force Goals and Outcomes - The Honorable Aditi Bussells
4. Review of Reading Materials - The Honorable Aditi Bussells
5. Social Service Network Catalogue Presentation - Mr. Treacy Dobbins, Inspire Real
Change
6. Task Force Discussion
7. Next Steps and Closing - The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr
ADJOURNMENT
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COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS
MEETING MINUTES - WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
The Columbia Task Force to Prevent and End Homelessness conducted a meeting on Tuesday,
May 18, 2022 at the Busby Street Community Center, 1735 Busby Street, Columbia, SC 29203.
The Honorable Aditi Bussells, Chair called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. and the following
members were present:
Attachment: TPEH_MN_05_18_22 (7653 : Approval of minutes)
Attendee Name Title Status
Aditi Bussells Chair Present
Edward H. McDowell, Jr. Council Member Present
Will Brennan Council Member Present
Skip Holbrook Columbia Police Chief Present
Matt Kennell City Center Partnership Present
Steve Cook Five Points Association Present
George Whitehead Department of Probations, Pardon, and Parole Present
Allison Farrell SC Department of Mental Health Present
John Wilkerson Downtown Coalition of Neighborhoods Present
Brett Kloos University of South Carolina Present
Amy McCulloch Probate Court Judge Absent
Matthew Brock Associate Probate Judge Present
Jean Burns Magistrate Court Judge Absent
Treacy Dobbins Inspire Real Change Present
Kieley Sutton Assistant Public Defender Present
Antonio Flores, Jr. Wal-Mart Market Manager Present
PRESENTATIONS
1. Welcome and Introductions - The Honorable Aditi Bussells - Received as information.
Councilor Bussells introduced the task force and discussed some of the concerns that the City
would like to tackle with the formation of the task force. This diverse group of advocates and
business owners speaks to the complexities of people experiencing homelessness. The City is
excited to have these voices at the table to help us in developing solutions. Today, we will set the
foundation to understand the state of homelessness. We will hear from City staff on ways we have
invested in homelessness services and other initiatives regarding mental health and public safety.
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COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS MEETING
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
2. Overview and History of the Taskforce - The Honorable Aditi Bussells - Received as
information.
Attachment: TPEH_MN_05_18_22 (7653 : Approval of minutes)
Councilor Bussells said this task force was established on February 15, 2022 at the request of the
mayor in response to the growing number of homeless, a trend that can be seen all across the
country. Columbia is known to be a compassionate city. We have many services available to those
experiencing homelessness. Tackling this issue in a way that is compassionate but again addresses
the multi-faceted issue of homelessness is something this task force will be dedicated to over the
next six months. This is a temporary task force with the goal of releasing a report with concrete
strategies that we can implement with our partners both in the short-term and in the long-term.
According to the 2020 South Carolina State of Homelessness Report, Richland County has the
second highest rate of homelessness in South Carolina. There has also been an increase in criminal
activity and drug related offenses associated with people that are experiencing homelessness.
There is not a direct correlation between homelessness and crime, but we do know that there is an
indirect correlation that stems from things like poverty and drug addictions. The City of Columbia
has at least 14 providers assisting populations facing homelessness in Richland County and
Lexington County. We may not have a real grasp of the scope of services, the number of services,
and the types of providers available in South Carolina. We have commissioned a study with Inspire
Real Change to understand the state of our providers and to catalogue services.
Councilor Brennan said we are here to figure out the root cause of homelessness in the City. We
need to find approaches to really help the individuals as best as we can.
Councilor McDowell asked if it is about the data or about human lives. We have to take the data
and turn it into actual resources. The homeless are always going to be with us. How do we take
what we are doing here today and turn it into a critical balance to give us ideas that will help our
brothers and sisters?
3. Overview of Current Policy Efforts - Ms. Teresa Knox, Esq., City Attorney - Received
as information.
Ms. Teresa Knox, Esq., City Attorney said our ordinances are not focused on the prevention of
homelessness. These ordinances are ordinances that most cities have. These include ordinances on
begging, prohibited acts in City facilities, unlawful urination and defecation, and urban camping.
Over the years, everyone has wanted us to toughen these ordinances up. We have to be careful
because the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Courts have looked at these issues because they deal
with constitutional rights. Mainly the Eighth Amendment and First Amendment. The Eighth
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COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS MEETING
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
Amendment deals with cruel and unusual punishment. Courts have held that fining or arresting the
homeless for sleeping outdoors amounts to an Eighth Amendment violation. There are caveats to
that like safety issues and time and place issues. The First Amendment has to do with asking for
Attachment: TPEH_MN_05_18_22 (7653 : Approval of minutes)
food and falls under the right of free speech. There are caveats for that, too. You cannot be
aggressively begging. Cities have tried to create buffer zones like restricting their downtown areas
but you can’t do that. What we have on the books is constitutionally okay. We have to make sure
we stay that way.
4. Public Safety and Homelessness Initiatives - Mr. William "Skip" Holbrook, Columbia
Police Chief - Received as information.
Mr. William "Skip" Holbrook, Columbia Police Chief said our expectations are professionalism,
policing with respect and compassion, and constitutional policing. We are in a challenging time.
Being in a southern city, we have seen consistent growth of our homeless population over the last
five years. Last year, we made 366 arrests. I would argue that arrests are failures in this situation.
Most of these individuals are in some type of distress, mental health or substance abuse. Most
services are Monday through Friday during business hours. This causes police to often needed to
solve the problem. Oftentimes, jail is not the best place for them but those are our options. The
366 arrests are what we consider quality of life arrests. Our officers over the past winter made 172
inclement weather transports. This is afterhours when there is no available transportation. CPD
has taken measures to consolidate our transport times; however, it still causes a police officer to
focus on transporting and not on police functions. Officers are tasked with completing zone watch
requests each shift. These include businesses, cemeteries, parks, and parking garages that have
complaints or patterns of disruptive behavior perpetrated by the homeless. With the help of
Council, we have established the Pathways Unit (TPU), which provides an opportunity to reach
individuals that may have mental illness perpetuating their homeless status. We have a mental
health clinician embedded with the department. TPU reaches out to community stakeholders and
groups to coordinate and strengthen the focus of actions when addressing a common cause by
attending community meetings, building relationships of support with non‐profit organizations,
and initiating involvement in existing outreach initiatives. We have seen tremendous success and
we are excited to add four additional clinicians. Parks are an area of focus for us and I am anxious
to hear suggestions from this task force on how we can strike a balance. I hope that we have action
items on how we can transition law enforcement from being the tool for solving our homeless
problems so we can better focus on life safety issues.
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COLUMBIA TASK FORCE TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS MEETING
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
5. Current City of Columbia Funding for Homelessness Services - Ms. Missy Caughman,
Budget, Program Management and Grants Director - Received as information.
Attachment: TPEH_MN_05_18_22 (7653 : Approval of minutes)
Ms. Missy Caughman, Budget, Program Management and Grants Director said the City has four
homeless services contracts. The contracts vary between three providers. The contract with United
Way is for the operation of the city’s Inclement Weather Center (IWC). The IWC has been open
since 2014. Prior to the city operating the shelter, it was a volunteer led service when certain
weather conditions were met. Currently, the IWC is operated from November 1st through March
31st. They still provide outreach services throughout the year. Transitions provides the actual
operations of the IWC. There are two facilities: one for men and one for women. Transportation
is provided to the shelter. The Salvation Army provides meals at night and in the morning. This is
the largest part of the city’s funding. The City’s allocations for homeless services are around $1
million a year from our general fund. We have a smaller contract with United Way for service
coordination. The homeless service coordinator focuses on the coordination of meal share
programs. It has been successful in redirecting folks who have generous ideas and have a desire to
help the less fortunate. They also help coordinate services and outreach for the repeat offenders
that are often reengaging with the police. This funding also goes towards the Homeless
Management Information System, a nationwide management system where United Way is the
point of contact for South Carolina. We also have a contract with USC Supportive Housing. That
is a national model providing supportive housing services for chronic and hard to place individuals.
The City funds the supportive services of the contract and the Housing Authority provides the
housing component of the program. The city also funds the Midlands Housing Alliance, which is
Transitions. The funding supports security services. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) provides allocations from the Community Development Block Grant, which
is an entitlement, grant that cities receive across the country to address areas of interest to HUD.
In the current fiscal year, we have funded Homeless No More in the amount of $40,000 and Mental
Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (MIRCI) in the amount of $40,000. The City also receives funding
from HUD for the HOME Program to assist with affordable housing and housing services and
Housing of Persons With Aids (HOPWA). The funding is utilized to help prevent homelessness
for that specific population.
Councilor Bussells said council has allocated some of the American Rescue Plan funding towards
non-congregate housing. That was recognized as a need from our homeless service providers. We
are looking forward to making this investment and continuing to provide housing. Many different
issues that play into homelessness: housing, access to opportunities, access to healthy food, and
others. It is important for us to recognize that while the City is the leader, this is something that
we need other municipalities and state government to help us in solving as well.
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
6. Strategies from other local governments - The Honorable Aditi Bussells - Deferred
Attachment: TPEH_MN_05_18_22 (7653 : Approval of minutes)
COMMITTEE DISCUSSION
Mr. Treacy Dobbins, Inspire Real Change said we did a research project last year in Columbia.
We worked with 30 individuals that were currently experiencing homelessness. Out of the 30, we
had 29 identify some form of health care issue to include physical, behavioral, or addiction. Out
of the 29, 22 identified emotional trauma concerns. Both of those numbers are high and we found
that there were many needs that were not being addressed. When we started the project, we were
focusing on recidivism. Working with this population since 2015, I saw how people would enter
into housing programs but months later, they would end back up on the streets. We quickly shifted
into a bigger scope. When we talk about cost and shelters, out of the 28 individuals that have stayed
at a shelter the average is 173 nights per person. We averaged the cost to be $5,017 per individual
for shelter cost. When we looked at the percentage of individuals that left the shelter as an
unsuccessful outcome, we realized that the majority of those exited by choice. About 70% said
their needs were not being met. We have individuals with behavior issues, addiction issues, and
physical issues and we have to identify their needs. Individuals need a quality assessment to
understand the full picture of their needs and from that integrate it into a service. With our
partnership with the City, we are looking at a service provider platform both internal and external.
This will be something where we can plug in these resources and services because currently we do
not have a collaboration effort or coordinated entry process. This will connect everything together.
There will be an external source that you can plug into to get the individual connected with the
right resources. The thing I like is the accountability component. Someone gets an assessment
based on their needs. They are directed to a service and the clock starts when that person is assigned
to a service. The person has to be contacted and at that point either their needs are filled or they
are redirected to someone who can. You will have an assessment, referral, case management,
accountability, and a public connection component to it as well.
Councilor Bussells said I want to challenge us to think about what we can do in the short term. A
lot of these strategies to make a systemic change are going to be long term and things we all have
to invest in. What can we do to address the issues we are experiencing right now?
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
7. Reflections - The Honorable Edward H. McDowell, Jr. and The Honorable Will Brennan
- Received as information.
Attachment: TPEH_MN_05_18_22 (7653 : Approval of minutes)
Councilor Brennan said thank you all. This is a wonderful way to get to know each other and the
caring community and professionals. Everybody in the room right now has a higher calling for
being here. You are very compassionate, you care about the citizens of our wonderful city, and I
thank you for that. I look forward to the next month and getting to know your knowledge to help
us understand the gaps in the services. I believe that the state has a big role to play in the ultimate
solution.
Councilor McDowell said we can’t play the blame game. This is not the Police Department’s sole
responsibility. This needs to be a collaborative effort. Nothing is going to get done until the whole
community addresses our brothers and sisters. This is just the beginning of what needs to take
place in these next six months. We have a gap in services. Every community has to play a part as
we look at this critical issue in our city. I am appreciative of those who spoke up. Thank you Dr.
Bussells for bringing us together.
8. Closing Remarks - The Honorable Aditi Bussells - Received as information.
Councilor Bussells said I recently joined the Affordable Housing Task Force in hopes of both
committees working together to build some holistic solutions to address the problem. You will be
receiving our future task force meetings and we will be having a meeting with providers that have
been funded by the city.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:38 p.m.
Respectfully submitted:
Erika D. Moore Hammond, CMC
City Clerk
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“What should we do about the homeless problem in the City of Columbia?”
That is the question that everyone is asking. And it seems like everyone also has an opinion on how
to solve the problem. And we agree; it is a problem. Private downtown businesses say it is impacting
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
their ability to conduct business. Local downtown neighborhoods say their quality of life is suffering
because of the homeless traffic and destruction of property. Non-profit agencies are saying their
numbers have increased. Downtown churches say their services and programs are being negatively
affected, but at the same time they want a compassionate and Christian solution to the problem.
Government agencies are asked to provide more with less available resources. So what should we
do?
In October 2012, former City Manager Steve Gantt, with direction from Columbia City Council, asked
David Parker, former staff member at USC School of Medicine, to bring together a group of people in
Columbia to ask this very simple but complicated question. Dr. Parker asked a diverse group of people
to include representatives from government, non-profits, religious congregations, police, and
neighborhood representatives to come together to talk about the problems affecting the homeless. The
group decided a three prong approach: 1. Determine the issues, 2. Research and discuss each issue, and
3. Develop recommendations in regards to the future direction for the community. The goal was to
reduce the impact of homelessness on all citizens in the City of Columbia and to objectively look at the
money the City of Columbia was currently spending on homeless issues.
At the first meeting of this experienced and involved group of people, there was a conclusion that all of
the questions and problems at this particular time revolved around four major areas:
1. Winter Shelter
2. Calhoun Street Corridor
3. Meals and Feeding of the Homeless
4. Sanitation
A preliminary report was provided to City Council on February 15, 2013. Each of the committees met
extensively and then brought their ideas and solutions back to the large group. What follows this
introduction is the summary of what we have determined is Phase I of this Committee’s progress.
Last month in the State newspaper, the new retailer on Main Street, Mast General, said the homeless
are a problem and an obstacle to doing business in Columbia. THE TIME IS NOW TO TAKE ACTION and
Council must take the lead. We are giving you the beginning of the plan. We are not saying this will be a
definitive solution and the homeless will go away. We are also not saying build more shelters and create
more programs with a ten year goal. The eighteen of us are collectively saying let’s do these things. We
want to keep working on this issue.
Thank you for the opportunity to present to City of Columbia Council. We will look to you for guidance.
The City of Columbia Homeless Committee
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 1
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City of Columbia Homeless Committee
Neighborhood Representatives
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
Ellen Cooper – Cottontown Neighborhood Association
Elizabeth Mills – Historic Mills Neighborhood Association
Rick Rowe – Arsenal Hill Neighborhood Association
Non-Profit Organizations
Mary Trivisonno – Catholic Charities
Jeremy Laughhead – Oliver Gospel Mission
Major Roger Coulson – Salvation Army
Craig Currey - Transitions
Jennifer Moore – United Way of the Midlands
Downtown Business
Lee Mashburn – Mashburn Constructions
Matt Kennell – City Center Partnership
Religious Organizations
Rev. Mary Anderson – Midlands Interfaith Council
William Diekman – Columbia Metro Baptist Association
Government Subdivisions
Tom Bolton – USC School of Medicine, Housing First Program
Nancy Stoudenmire – Columbia Housing Authority
City of Columbia
Steve Gant – former City Manager
Deborah Livingston – Community Development
Jeff Rainwater – Community Development
Interim Chief Reuben Santiago – Police Department
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 2
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Winter Shelter Subcommittee
ISSUE: This subcommittee was tasked with developing a plan to assist the City of Columbia in
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
having an exit strategy in their yearly operation, subcontracting, and oversight of the winter
shelter. Although the efficiency of its operations has constantly improved from its inception at
the current location, the Winter Shelter has been and continues to be an expensive operation
to fund. This subcommittee examined the winter shelter through an analysis of the past several
years and utilized that information to develop a three year downsizing plan while responsibly
addressing the needs of the homeless in our community. This subcommittee promotes the idea
that a large emergency shelter should not be a component in the overall solution of
homelessness in Columbia. The following proposal was derived with consideration to the
homeless, surrounding neighborhoods and businesses, as well as the City itself. It sought to find
a compromise that would benefit all of the aforementioned parties.
DISCUSSION: Initially, this subcommittee examined problems associated with the winter
shelter so it could make informed recommendations as to its future. The committee identified
reoccurring issues such as increased foot traffic from the evening meal location to the van
pickup site, trash accumulation while shelter guests wait on transportation, and increased
personal items stored in parks, businesses, and neighborhoods. The subcommittee met
multiple times, each one developing a more refined and educated vision for the winter shelter’s
future. In one such meeting held at the winter shelter, during a staff guided tour, subcommittee
members learned that the shelter averaged 60 people less than its 240 person capacity.
Knowing that the number of homeless individuals, at least that were staying at the winter
shelter, was considerably down from previous years since the arrival of Transitions, the
subcommittee decided to propose a plan for a gradual downsizing of the winter shelter that
would provide a three - five year plan in which the City of Columbia would be left with a
smaller, far less expensive, bare bones emergency winter shelter.
This subcommittee advocates for money saved to be “reinvested” back into homeless services
to fund aftercare case managers. These case managers would monitor guests that leave the
winter shelter for housing opportunities and ensure that barriers to maintaining housing are
addressed, results are efficiently tracked, and recidivism is reduced. Two winter shelter case
managers are already charged with taking people out of homelessness. Post placement case
management can work together with the existing case managers to ensure that these people
that are successfully transitioned to housing do not return to homelessness.
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 3
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
Year One
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
1. Work with the fire marshal to incorporate an overflow shelter within the existing facility.
Mats could accommodate the overflow guests, just as they do at MLK Park, but the change
would eliminate the need for an offsite overflow shelter.
2. Serve a meal on site at the shelter. The Salvation Army would provide this service. This will
eliminate the need for an evening meal at an outside location. The meal will be served for
shelter guests only.
3. Allow guests to leave one bag at shelter. This would cut down on items stored in the
community.
4. Change the transportation time to 5-7 p.m. Meal service starts at 7:30 p.m.. This approach is
more considerate to the homeless who have to wait outside during cold weather.
5. Reduce the time that the shelter is open and save one month of operational cost. Instead of
opening from Nov.1st-Mar. 31st, open from Nov. 15th to March 15th. Potential for significant
savings right away by cutting shelter operations by one month and a possible immediate
funding source for aftercare case management
5. Communicate next year’s plan to the homeless staying at the shelter throughout the season.
Year Two
1. Analyze last year’s changes during the off season and make minor adjustments as needed.
Continue the previous year’s changes that prove to be effective.
2. Remove 60 Men’s Beds in Building A for regular use. Remove beds and convert to mats in
that area. This area will only open when the temperature is at or below 36 degrees and when
the shelter is at capacity. This will essentially become the new overflow shelter and prevent
overflow at MLK Park if that change cannot be made in year one. The total number of regular
use beds will change from 240 to 180 - (40 women and 140 men). The fire marshal should be
contacted to adjust the fire code. The average number of guests, according to Winter Shelter
Meetings and director report was been 180 people for the 2012-2013 season.
3. Communicate next year’s plan to the homeless staying at the shelter throughout the season.
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 4
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Year Three
1. Analyze last year’s changes during the off season and make minor adjustments as needed.
Continue the previous year’s changes that prove to be effective.
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
2. Close Entire Building B for regular use. If overflow is needed, Building B can be used with
mats on the floor. The new adjusted bed count utilizes 40 beds for women and 60 for men – all
with beds. This step will reduce the need for staff and security and in turn save money. An
entire building can be shut down except during an overflow situation. The additional space can
also be used for onsite case management with privacy if necessary or additional storage for
guest items.
3. Shorten the hours of pick up and drop off to one hour only. This will reduce total cost.
Transporting less people in a shorter amount of time will reduce the time that people gather at
the transit station.
4. Cut existing laundry service contracts. With a reduced need for laundry services, high volume
vendors will no longer be needed. Examine the possibility of the Catholic Charities contracting
with the winter shelter through Clean of Heart to provide a cheaper alternative for reduced
volume laundry services on Tuesdays and Thursdays when their facility is normally not in
operation.
5. Communicate next year’s plan to the homeless staying at the shelter throughout the season.
Year Four
1. Remove all beds. Use mats on floor. Only Building A in regular use. Overflow as needed in
building B.
2. Reduce total number of beds from 100 to 80. (30 women and 50 men).
3. Continue to service a low demand, bare bones, and true emergency shelter. At this time the
City should determine need for continued use and if a fifth year plan if needed.
Additional Considerations
For this plan to work, the number of people staying at the shelter has to decrease. As the
recent 2013 Point-In-Time Count indicated, achieving that end is not easy but it is this
subcommittees’ contention that with a virtual centralized intake system (MACH 2014 and 2-1-1
phone system integration), services and housing opportunities would be easier to access, which
would expedite the process of taking someone out of homelessness. In addition, funding
aftercare case managers with the savings would facilitate the downsizing approach because
aftercare providers could help prevent reentry into homeless situations. Front end streamlining
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 5
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and improved efficiency through centralized intake and post placement case management to
reduce recidivism will reduce the number of people that stay at the winter shelter and make
this plan possible.
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 6
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Calhoun Street Subcommittee
ISSUE: The Task Force identified the “Calhoun Corridor” as a significant City issue. The
Corridor, loosely defined as a block on either side of Calhoun Street (North and South of Street)
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
and comprising a thoroughfare for homeless folks moving between Harden Street and the
Elmwood Cemetery and river areas, is subject to numerous problems associated with
homelessness. These issues include litter, loitering, public urination/defecation, sleeping in
unauthorized areas, panhandling, jaywalking, vagrancy, poor information on homelessness,
easy liquor access, vacant lots, and overall numbers for homeless on the streets.
DISCUSSION: The subcommittee focused on the Calhoun Corridor but quickly expanded in
certain areas to all of the Business Improvement District because the issues had broader
implications. The subcommittee met extensively and traveled the area to form
recommendations and solutions. Many actions have been completed and are included in the
recommendations below.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. To combat loitering and panhandling, Robert Anderson put up 7 signs (4 no
panhandling and 3 no loitering) at designated locations. Chief Santiago approved the
signs and locations. The police had already helped Transitions with no loitering signs.
Further signs in the downtown area may be required by the City, but the subcommittee
areas and locations have been accomplished. The Police can determine if anymore are
needed.
2. The City must continue to empty the five new garbage cans that it positioned along
Calhoun. The cans have already become receptacles for large amounts of trash,
covering areas where there were no outside garbage cans. The recommended locations
from the subcommittee were completed by Robert Anderson. He can decide any
locations for future cans based on need.
3. Transitions has increased garbage pick-up to Monday to Fridays. Teams go out in force
in the morning with reduced pick-ups in the afternoons. The Adopt-a-Highway sign will
go up this summer for Calhoun. Transitions must continue trash patrols.
4. City Center Partnership distributed the anti-panhandling fish poster that the
subcommittee made around the BID, and this poster is visible in various businesses.
They also included the message in the CCP newsletter. The Transitions Homeless Card is
now used by City Center Partnership, Lexington Police, Columbia Police, and the
Columbia Housing Authority (modified version). Continue to use the card to educate
homeless and businesses in the Midlands and hang more posters in the BID as CCP
determines the need.
5. AgFirst has occupied one vacant building on Calhoun which dramatically improved that
portion of the street. Other vacant properties remain. The subcommittee has no
current plan to deal with them. The City should pursue filling vacant properties with
the Chamber and City Center Partnership.
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 7
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6. Jaywalking continues in the area. The City needs to provide more consistent foot police
presence downtown to fight jaywalking or better enforcement of the laws. The police
presence will also curb panhandling. CPD can determine how best to accomplish better
enforcement.
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
7. There was a significant community effort to stop a new alcohol store from going in on
North Main, right off the Corridor. Cheap liquor will continue. The subcommittee made
no progress in eliminating single servings of alcohol. The City should decide what
approach is possible with stores that sell alcohol, especially single serving containers.
8. Sleeping in unauthorized areas continues. There are two homeless movement patterns
for the year when the Winter Shelter is open or closed. The City, in conjunction with
MACH, police, neighborhoods, and the CCP, should determine the exact numbers and
locations of homeless folks in the downtown area. They also should use engagement
strategies such as downtown outreach workers to assist with placement of the
homeless into Emergency Shelter beds when they are available. The City should focus
on moving folks to these vacant shelter beds. The Winter Shelter should be full for its
duration, and its average occupancy this past year was only 180 or so. Oliver Gospel
Mission also had vacancies in the winter. MACH is making a virtual entry system for
the homeless where all providers will be linked into it. All beds must be filled every
night. The homeless must seek programs and go to Transitions Day Center to get off
the street in the day if they are not seeking employment or other self-improvement
activity already. Continuing to allow the homeless to camp and pursue no positive
outcome is unproductive.
9. MACH must use the release of the Point in Time Count numbers to educate and inform
the community of good programs and what to do to fight homelessness. MACH must
continue to educate providers and the homeless population on what is being offered to
help in Columbia. MACH should work with the Community Development website from
the City to make a basic site to help the City. All providers can update their basic
information on capabilities, programs, and contact information to MACH and the City
simultaneously. The information must be straight forward, so clients can quickly
determine if that organization can help them. The website must be linked to 211 and
the new virtual entry system. The new MACH system will go beyond just information,
but actually direct and refer clients to facilities that have openings and meet the
individual’s need.
10. Elizabeth Marks from the Robert Mills neighborhood has contacted the proper railroad
maintenance/grounds person. Neighborhoods do not want the brush cut around the
Calhoun railroad overpass down by Harden Street. They do want the railroad security to
patrol the area and remove garbage as necessary. Elizabeth will contact the railroad
periodically. The City should coordinate with her to ensure the railroad security is
properly patrolling railroad property and picking up garbage along the tracks.
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 8
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Meals Subcommittee
ISSUE: This subcommittee was tasked with addressing the impact of meal service to the
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
homeless in our city. If issues were found, this committee would then provide recommendations
to the city to take action in an effort to diminish the impact on our community as a whole. As all
members of this subcommittee agreed, serving the homeless, some without the resources to
provide nourishment for themselves, is an essential component in this city’s respectful and
responsible effort to improve the state of homelessness in Columbia in general. Although meal
service to Columbia’s homeless population has been a consistent standard in our city for many
years, after researching the existing resources, the subcommittee found several elements of meal
service on the whole that can be adjusted to improve the efficiency of this service while
respectfully addressing the needs of Columbia’s homeless while still allowing those called to
give in this manner the forum to do so. In making these recommendations, this subcommittee
considered area businesses and neighborhoods, the homeless themselves, meal service providers,
and faith based organizations. There are currently over 40 established feeding programs in
downtown Columbia; this does not include the sporadic volunteer groups that organize to feed
the homeless.
DISCUSSION: An examination of the current meal service locations and times revealed that it
was possible for the persons receiving meal services to actually have multiple meals during the
same hours of the day. For example, one meal provider could serve their lunch from 11 am – 12
pm, while another could conduct serve their meal from 12:30 to 1:30. This subcommittee
acknowledges that for a person in need, having two lunches is not an absurdity, but the
duplication in services does increase foot traffic in the downtown business area and throughout
the neighborhoods as people traverse from one meal site to another. This subcommittee is not
anti-food, or anti food events for the homeless, but it does recognize that food services habitual
impact our community.
After conferring with area business leaders and local neighborhood officials, the subcommittee
deduced that a reduction in foot traffic would reduce the residual litter that derives from their
respective meals and a reduction in foot traffic to and from the meals would be recommended.
Subcommittee members spoke to established weekday lunchtime meal providers and coordinated
an effort to adjust their times of service so that the chances of duplicating meals are dramatically
reduced. From continued research, this subcommittee realized that the number of providers
serving meals is quite staggering. While acknowledging that it may not be feasible for city
leadership to ask meal providers that serve in nontraditional, outside locations, such as parks and
parking lots to discontinue their services, we do recognize that a fixed site location for meals is
less likely to generate complaints from neighborhood residents and surrounding businesses. This
subcommittee would like city leadership to establish a position on unregulated or unsanctioned
meal service in outdoor locations. This subcommittee contends that if meals can be monitored
and coordinated, positive change will result for the homeless, meal providers, the church
community, area residents, and the businesses that Columbia strives to promote.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
This subcommittee recommends the following to improve aspects of large scale meal services.
1. The City will convene a Feeding Summit to gather input from the community and work to
reach a consensus on these goals.
2. Lunchtime meals may only be served at fixed site locations (established lunch providers that
serve indoors). Washington Street, Oliver Gospel, Transitions, Christ Central N. Main, etc.
Lunchtime meals may only be served from 11:30am – 1:00 pm.
3. During the time that the winter shelter is operational, the Salvation Army will serve dinner at
the shelter and the fixed site dinner meal will not operate.
4. The dinner meal at the winter shelter will be for winter shelter guests only and not open to the
general public.
5. Establish an indoor dinner meal option for the time in which the winter shelter is not open.
6. Meal providers should be encouraged to police themselves and monitor trash around their
location. Providers should be held accountable for their waste.
7. Discourage the continued activities of outdoor meal providers. (Lack of operational
bathrooms, trash accumulation, no DHEC health standards).
8. Encourage the city to establish a position on meal provision by utilizing some or all of these
recommendations and enforce according to city regulations as needed.
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 10
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Sanitation Committee
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
ISSUE: This committee was established to evaluate the facilities for use by the homeless
population and to determine what is available in the City of Columbia as it pertains to:
1. Restroom facilities
2. Bathing facilities
3. Washing of soiled clothing
DISCUSSION: It was confirmed early on that few if any facilities in the city were available to the
general public after 7 pm on a daily basis. This does not speak to the businesses that have
restroom facilities. These are in most, if not all cases, available to customers and patrons, but
off limits to the homeless population as well as visitors that are in town for sightseeing and are
not patronizing a specific business establishment. We began looking at this issue only looking at
the homeless population, but soon realized that we must consider the problem as it pertains to
tourism, impacting thousands of tourists who visit the City of Columbia.
Numerous meetings have taken place with the former City Manager, two assistant managers and
department heads representing Public Works, Utilities plus Parks and Recreation, The City of
Columbia departments have limited and/or direct influence on placing, maintaining and oversight
of bathroom, bathing, cleaning and/or maintain regulatory control of such facilities. All persons
contacted said they understood the importance and significance of planning for, in addition to,
installing and continuous maintenance of sanitary facilities. Interim Chief of Police Ruben
Santiago has worked with the committee and has done a massive amount of homework locating
portable sanitary facilities within the armed forces. As of now such items are in short supply and
the military is making use of every latrine facility they can get their hands on.
The technology and equipment is currently in the market place to facilitate the disposal of human
feces and urine. Prices have been confirmed and currently exist from the affordable port-a-potty
to the very expensive enclosed stainless steel units. A major issue facing the city at this time is
where such units should be located and who will be responsible for maintaining and providing
security for sanitary facilities? Do we look to the city to provide property/ location or do we see
if there are locations that could be utilized for public access outside of the property owned by the
City? What about parking garages or even facilities in or near a police office or district police
headquarters? Do we use city park facilities or upgrade existing facilities for 24 hour use by the
public? These are not easy decisions to be made because all require on-going government
funding to have a working and successful program.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Suggestions have been made to look at what other cities in the southeast are doing with the
homeless population. Two cities were suggested for contacts: Asheville, NC and Savannah, GA.
Contacts have been made with individuals in both cities and visits are being arranged to review
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 11
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sanitation facilities installed to address public use. It has been determined in both locations there
are working relationships between local governmental offices, private services, faith community
and not for profit agencies. This has assisted in preventing duplication of effort as well as
broadening services for the clientele. The intent of the committee is to have conversations with
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
individuals, understand their organizational structure and to obtain information on what
applications worked for their community and what problems were addressed to overcome
possible failures. This compilation of information will assist the committee in making
recommendations for the City of Columbia.
The visits are underway at this time. Updates and recommendations will be made in the very
near future.
Contacts are as follows:
City of Asheville and Buncombe County, NC
Ms. Gibbie Harris, Buncombe County Health Director
Dr. Richard Munger, Buncombe County Human Services Support Team
Savannah, GA City Government
Ms. Earline Davis, Housing Director
Mr. Larry Lee, Savannah Homeless Authority
Mr. Peter Doliver, Director, YMCA
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Conclusion
The four subcommittees have presented to you their ideas and recommendations to solve
some of the social and economic issues of the homeless crisis that are critical to the sustained
Attachment: Homeless_Advisory_Committee_Final_Report_7_29_13 (7655 : Review of readings sent to committee)
development of the City Center, USC, the surrounding economic clusters like Five Points and
the Vista, and most importantly, the surrounding neighborhoods.
The recommendations were based on problems and activities that occurred during the period
October, 2012 to June, 2013. In the scheme of things, that is a very short period of time.
The first Homeless Meeting in Columbia was called in February, 1981 in response to a perceived
problem of the homeless in the downtown area and the need for more affordable housing.
With Columbia’s growth in the last thirty-five years, the homeless problem has now, for lack of
a better word, exploded. Whether the City wants to or not, it has to continue to assume the
lead role in making this work for all involved: business, non-profits, and neighborhoods.
We have completed Phase I of this project based on what we believe were the tasks assigned to
us by Mr. Gantt at Council’s directives. We feel like our work has just begun but to this point,
we have been very successful. The Committee wants to expand to problem solve several other
issues like mental illness and the exit of the prison population into the downtown area.
The Committee is here to serve the Mayor and City Council of Columbia.
The Committee wants to continue to serve in this capacity.
Committee Report on the Homeless, August 13, 2013 Page 13
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