The Platform
Homelessness
Homelessness in St Louis has crisis levels. The organizations that do outreach work with the unhoused community estimate there are currently at least 1500 unhoused people living in St Louis, some of them children. 20% of SLPS kids are unhoused or unhousing insecure, and that is unconscionable.
So what’s my plan? You know I have one.
The goal is always safe, affordable housing for anyone who wants it. Housing is a human right!
As the Alderwoman of the 3rd Ward:
I would work to get an intentional encampment in the Ward to serve as temporary transitional housing while we work with Community organizations and the Department of Health and Human Services to get people permanently housed.
I would also work with other Alders and Community Organizations to reform some processes, like the plat and petition process, that make opening shelters/transitional housing more challenging.
I’d also fight to get the Memorial Community Resource Hub, recommended by the Re-envisioning the Workhouse steering committee, fully funded and implemented. The hub is designed to be a “one-stop shop” for resources and wrap-around services, in addition to providing transitional housing for SLPS families that are unhoused or housing insecure. I’d love to have the Resource Hub anchored in the 3rd Ward.
In addition to working with the Mayor’s Administration to ensure the Affordable Housing Trust fund is always fully funded and easily accessible, I will work to adequately fund the Right to Counsel program, which provides legal representatives to people facing eviction. This will help keep more people, including children, in their homes.
I’ve been unhoused, and I know the fear of trying to figure out where you are going to sleep that night, so this is an issue I care deeply about, and when I become Alderwoman of the 3rd Ward, I will never stop fighting for housing justice.