Robert G. Marbut Jr. Biography
First as a volunteer, then
later as a San Antonio City Councilperson and a homeless service agency
President/CEO, Dr. Robert Marbut has worked on homeless issues for over
three decades.
In
2007, frustrated by the lack of real improvement, and as part of the
concept development for the Haven for Hope Campus, Dr. Marbut conducted
a nationwide best practices study of homeless services. After
personally visiting 237 homeless service facilities, in 12 states and
the District of Columbia, he developed The Seven Guiding Principles of
Homeless Transformation. Since then, Dr. Marbut has visited a total of
496 operations in 17 states and Washington, DC.
These communities
include Salt Lake City, Denver, St. Petersburg, Tampa and Key West.
These Seven Guiding Principles of Transformation are used in all aspects
of his work to create holistic, transformative environments in order to
reduce homelessness.
Dr. Marbut was a White House Fellow to President George H.W. Bush and a
former Chief of Staff to San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros.
He
earned a Ph. D. from The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas in
International Relations (with an emphasis in international terrorism and
Wahhabism), Political Behavior and American Political
Institutions/Processes from the Department of Government.
He
also has two Master of Arts degrees, one in Government from The
University of Texas at Austin and one in Criminal Justice from the
Claremont Graduate School. His Bachelor of Arts is a Full Triple Major
in Economics, Political Science and Psychology (Honors Graduate) from
Claremont McKenna (Men's) College. Dr. Marbut also completed two
post-grad fellowships, one as a White House Fellow and one as a CORO
Fellow of Public and Urban Affairs.
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Robert G. Marbut Panama
City visit schedule
Thursday, January 12, 2012
7:30 am - Breakfast with Community
Resource Center (CRC) Task Force Buccaneer Restaurant, 711 W. Beach Dr.,
PC
9:00 am - Tour Bethel Village,
2533
Transmitter Rd., Springfield
10:00 am - Tour Rescue Mission, 609
Allen Ave., PC
11:30 am - 12:30 pm - Lunch with
Rescue Mission Board of Directors Rescue
Mission, 609 Allen Ave., PC
1:00 - 2:00 pm - Presentation to
Veteran’s Council
American Legion Post #356 in LH, 400 Aberdeen Parkway, Lynn Haven
3:00 -
4:30 pm - Community-wide town hall meeting
First Baptist Church, Panama City Fellowship Hall,
32 West 6th
St., PC
5:00 pm - Dinner with homeless &
less fortunate, meal provided by churches, Law Office of Carroll
McCauley parking lot, 36 E. Oak Ave., PC
Friday, January 13, 2012
9:00 am - Meet with Cities, County,
and key community leaders
Bay County Commission Chambers, 840 W. 11th St., PC
(City of Panama City
Commissioners & Bay County Board of County Commissioners Joint Workshop)
11:00 am - Meet with Homeless and
Hunger Coalition Board of Directors
Bay County Commission Chambers, 840 W. 11th St., PC
12:30 pm - Lunch w/ CRC Task Force
Chair Emily Dowdy & Committee Chairs The Place Restaurant, 429 Harrison
Ave., PC
1:45 pm - Tour community with Mayor
Brudnicki and Emily Dowdy
6:30 pm - Dinner with PC City
Commissioners (invited), Bay County Commissioners (invited), and CRC
Task Force
Ferrucci Ristorante, 301 Harrison Ave., PC
*Dr. Marbut is a nationally recognized researcher, analyst, teacher and
the author of The Seven Guiding Principles of Transformation,
describing best practices for addressing the culture of homelessness
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Coalition
Counting Homeless in Point in Time Census
News
Channel 7's coverage of the 24-hour count that could mean more money
to help the homeless,
click here.
News
13's Additional
coverage here.
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Coalition
Raises Awareness of Homelessness
November
is Homeless Awareness Month, and the coalition hosted several events
to help the community learn more about the problems we are facing.
Read
Press release below:
November 16, 2009 For more
information contact: Laurie Combs, 850-819-2173
PRESIDENT OF HUNGER AND HOMELESS
COALITION CALLS PRESS CONFERENCE ON ELIMINATING HOMELESSNESS IN REGION
PANAMA CITY, FL.- Today City of
Panama City Mayor Scott Clemons and Bay County Commission Chair Bill
Dozier was on hand at 11:00 AM, Monday, November 16, 2009, at the
Homeless Day Center, Panama City Rescue Mission (515 E. 6th St.), and
presented proclamations supporting the National Homelessness Awareness
Week of Nov. 15 - 21. The two local leaders then worked at the
Homeless Day Center checking in the homeless seeking assistance and
later served lunch to the daily guests of the Panama City Rescue
Mission.
During the morning press conference,
Mrs. Laurie Combs, President, Homeless and Hunger Coalition of
Northwest Florida summarized the numerous local homeless statistics
along with the number of federal and state and local grants that have
been recently awarded to various local government and not for profit
organizations to reduce the high number of foreclosed homes on the
market along with lowering the increasing number of local individuals
and families who are without permanent housing, living out-of-doors on
the streets, in the woods, in their vehicles and in temporary shelters
while looking for employment and affordable housing.
Summary: Average number of people
eating each day at the Panama City Rescue Mission: 2008: 402 2009: 617
Increase: 53.6 %
Average number of people sleeping in
the overflow nightly at the Panama City Rescue Mission in the winter
months: Winter Months 2008: 24 Winter Months2009: 53 Increase:120.83%
Number of new homeless Panama City
Rescue Mission served 2008: 607 2009: 893 Increase: 47%
City of Panama City, Federal Funding,
Community Development Block Grant for a Street Outreach Social Worker
to assist the homeless off the City's streets into temporary shelters:
$28,000
Bay County, State Housing Initiative
Partnership (SHIP), Federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Funding, to address foreclosed and abandoned homes: $ 2,523,747.00
Catholic Charities of Northwest
Florida, Federal Homeless Prevention and Re-Housing Program Funding: $
784,000.00
Goodwill Industries, Federal
AmeriCorps Grant funding for 12 workers located at various not for
profit organizations, focused on meeting the needs of the homeless and
unemployed: $ 148,879.00 (includes 24% match by Goodwill)
Veterans Administration and the
Panama City Housing Authority, Federal Funding, Veterans
Administration Supportive Housing (VASH): 35 housing rental vouchers
for homeless veterans in Bay County: approx. $ 200,00 Full time
caseworker for these qualified veterans: approx. $ 40,000
Florida Housing Finance Corporation
& Capital Alliance Group, Inc., Homeless Prevention, Independence
Village, state grant for the construction of 24 rental housing units
for Children Aging Out of Foster Care being built in the City of
Panama City, Downtown: $ 1,560,000
###
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Ten
Things You Need to Know to End Homelessness
by _NONE
(This article was originally
published in GoodwillTODAY)
In July 2009,
The Nation published a "Ten Things" piece titled
"Ten
Things You Need to Know to Live
on the Streets." The provocative and
thoughtful
piece elicited quite a response. We, however, respectfully
disagree
with the premise of the piece. Before submitting to the idea
that
there are things you need to know to live on the streets, we
suggest
that you consider whether living on the streets is necessary at
all.
We're
no strangers to the issue of homelessness--rather, we're quite
well-versed
in the subject. Homelessness, as we know, began in the 1980s
and
has persisted through the decades. Some see it as an inevitable
byproduct
of a diminishing affordable housing supply, a lack of
well-paying
jobs, tumult in the economic sector, and both globalization
and
urbanization. Many see it as an unavoidable social nuisance. Some
don't
see it at all. But here, at the National Alliance to End
Homelessness,
we see it as a problem with a solution.
The
causes of homelessness are many and complex--but the
solution
to homelessness heads toward one straight goal: housing.
Here
are ten steps you need to know
about--and to take--to end homelessness:
1.
Plan. It's simple: our problem is homelessness, and this
complex,
multifaceted problem requires a thoughtful, carefully
concerted
plan of attack. The most successful plans are built with the
input
and support of community leaders, elected officials, lawmakers,
business
leaders, service providers and residents.
2.
Collect and examine the data. You can't know what you're doing
until
you know what you're dealing with. Most communities already have a
way
to count the number of homeless people in the area; some
communities
also collect information on how people become homeless, how
long
they stay homeless, how homeless people interact with agencies of
care
(it's called HMIS). Examine
these
data and learn the characteristics specific to their homeless
populations--good
data will inform which strategies are enacted, how
much
those strategies will cost, and how the plans can be implemented
and
carried out.
3.
Strengthen emergency prevention. As the old adage goes, an
ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Most communities have in
place
an emergency homelessness-prevention program--usually including
rent,
mortgage, and utility assistance; case management; landlord or
lender
intervention; and other programs that pull people back from the
brink
of homelessness. By expanding, strengthening and improving access
to
these emergency prevention services, communities can curtail
homelessness
when people come precariously close to the edge.
4.
Systems prevention. Similarly, we also have a set of systems
that
help the low- and extremely low-income households. Most people and
families
who fall into homelessness were already engaged in programs
that
provide low-income people care and assistance (as most families and
people
who fall into homelessness are low-income to begin with). Others
who
fall into homelessness are "graduates" of various state
institutions:
foster care, incarceration, mental health facilities. If
we
can strengthen the existing assistance programs and create effective
transition
programs for those exiting state institutions, we can ensure
that
those most at risk of experiencing homelessness are kept from it.
5.
No-strings outreach. A key component of ending homelessness is
reaching
out to people who live on the street and encouraging them to
embrace
housing. But it's often no easy task. Those who live on the
street
often suffer from mental illness and substance abuse. Persuading
this
population to accept housing requires an availability of
"low-demand"
housing--that is, housing that doesn't mandate
participation
in treatment programs. While this "no-strings" approach
may
seem controversial, housing minimizes the ill-effects of
street
living (including both mental and physical distress), and stable
housing
creates a sense of safety and security that encourages
participation
in recovery treatments. While this step may seem
distasteful
to many, low-demand housing does encourage those needing
help
to seek it out.
6.
Shorten homelessness. Shelter living is not the answer to
homelessness,
but it is an existing tool that can assist people
temporarily.
One of our goals is to shorten shelter stays as much as
possible
and move people quickly into housing. Strategies to shorten
homelessness
include incentivizing quick placement in permanent housing
and
holding shelters and similar service providers accountable for their
past
and present clients.
7.
Rapid re-housing. One of the hardest parts of a
housing-focused
strategy is finding affordable housing that low-income
or
very low-income families can access. As affordable housing becomes a
rarer
and rarer commodity, fewer and fewer landlords see cause to rent
to
people with lower incomes, little savings, credit problems or spotty
rental
history. But there have been success stories--even in the most
difficult
areas (like LA and NY). What success requires is an investment
from
community leaders and a talented group of dedicated personnel to
forge
relationships with stakeholders, meet with prospective
landholders
and lay out the case for housing everyone.
8.
Services. Once households are successfully re-housed, families
and
individuals should have rapid access to services: therapy, medical
support,
family assistance and other, similar services. These services
can
help families stabilize, promote individual and family well-being,
and
encourage self-sufficiency. Luckily, these services already exist
through
mainstream government programs--including TANF, SSI, Medicaid--and
many
others.
The key is to link housing services with these existing social
services.
9.
Permanent Housing. Permanent housing comes in two forms:
affordable
housing and supportive housing. Most people--especially
families--need
only the former. Some homeless people--especially the
chronically
homeless--require supportive services along with permanent
housing.
While housing challenges will persist for those with
low
and extremely low-income until the supply of affordable housing
increases
substantially, local communities and neighborhoods are making
concerted
efforts to spur the development of affordable housing and to
encourage
state and local participation in securing affordable housing
for
the homeless.
10.
Income. The last step to achieving self-sufficiency. As with
services,
there are government programs
that can assist the formerly homeless,
especially
those with disabilities. Many formerly homeless people can
benefit
from longer-term, career-based employment services as well as
cash-assistance
programs. The faster that people can access those kinds
of
programs, the shorter their route to permanent stability.
CONCEIVED
by WALTER MOSLEY with research by Rae Gomes
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