Joshua Taylor, Mindy Arendt, and Wendy McGee answered questions from Voices United club members about affordable housing and access.
La Donna Womochel
Voices United hosted a knowledgeable panel of representatives from Denton County organizations to share the facts about affordable housing and homeless issues in Denton. Wendy McGee (Executive Director, Our Daily Bread), Mindy Arendt (Director of Marketing and Fund Raising, Denton Affordable Housing Corporation), and Joshua Taylor (Director of Worship and Music, First United Methodist Church and member of Denton Parks Board) are intimately aware of issues that affect the unsheltered and those who teeter on the edge of being unsheltered as their organizations provide assistance.
Ms. McGee noted that Our Daily Bread provides a range of services to 2,000 clients per year without county, state, or federal support. She noted that years ago, and still in effect, the Robson Ranch Women’s Club launched a “garage brigade” to gather and distribute essential items for house keeping to clients who were transitioning from unsheltered to sheltered. She spoke of how the brigade in a matter of days, found cribs and baby essentials for a young woman who was pregnant and homeless. Ms. McGee explained how the individuals who are unsheltered had changed from 75% male and 25% female to 70% male and 30% female. She also indicated that there are minimal housing options for unsheltered families and adolescents under the age of eighteen. Our Daily Bread offers a focused housing program (www.ourdailybreaddenton.org/housing-focused-shelter-program) with complete wrap-around services, along with a day shelter and in-inclement weather services for our unsheltered neighbors.
Ms. Arendt described the community who is helped by the Denton Affordable Housing Corporation. Currently, the demographics for clients of this program can be categorized in many ways: 10% are veterans, 62% have some disability, 23% are single parents, 12% are survivors of domestic abuse, 39% are seniors on fixed incomes, and 60% have been homeless in the past. The residents of this program typically live on 35-80% of the area’s median income; most of their income provides shelter. The corporation, with the assistance of Denton Country MHMR and community partners, is opening McAdams Haven, which has eighty-four furnished studio apartments for those who are leaving homelessness. Besides housing, the program includes onsite services, mental health care, and community spaces. The goal is to help residents heal, rebuild, and move toward independence.
As a downtown church Dr. Taylor noted that though his church does not provide shelter, it offers breakfast on Sunday morning. The goal is to develop trust with the homeless community and engagement between the church members and this community. He repeatedly highlighted that the lack of affordable housing is a moral issue, not just an economic one. He noted that the lack of shelter is not a “do nothing option” because the unresolved issues will return later at a higher cost to everyone.
All members of the panel highlighted that becoming unsheltered can happen in a moment’s notice through a catastrophic illness, a company lay-off, or a myriad of other events. But each of the panel members ended on a positive note: community volunteers, along with financial support and empathy for those less fortunate, can improve the lives of many.
Voices United is a non-partisan group of Robson Ranch women who share progressive values, perform community outreach, provide civic awareness and social contact for members … and have a good time! We are a 501(c)(3) group. Our annual dues are $25.