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OPINION: Putting clients over turf is bold first stepJul 26, 2009 (The Charlotte Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Keith Shue was just a teenager when he did his first of two tours in Vietnam. When he came back to Concord in 1975, he had nightmares, cold sweats and classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Still, he held a job at a boat trailer manufacturer for 12 years, then worked for Cannon Mills for 15 years. He had worked for Freightliner for four years when he was caught up in a round of layoffs in 2005. The bank foreclosed on his mobile home and he lost his car. Right then, another blow: Shue was diagnosed with a 6 cm benign brain tumor. When he got out of the hospital, he had nowhere to go. He was isolated from his family because of his erratic behavior. He was bipolar and manic depressive, but didn't know it and had no medication for it. He was sleeping under a Charlotte interstate bridge in the winter of 2008 when it hit 12 degrees. He decided he had to get help. Shue went to the Uptown Shelter on North Tryon Street. But they were full. He made his way to the Emergency Winter Shelter and got a bed. A spot eventually opened up for him back at the Uptown Shelter, first on the floor and, then, a bed. An important start It was the beginning of a turnaround. He was diagnosed and put on the right medication. He got counseling, and now has a disability hearing scheduled. It has taken too long for Shue to regain his footing. Many others in his situation haven't been as fortunate. That's why Thursday's announcement that the Uptown Shelter and the Emergency Winter Shelter are merging is an important beginning. Charlotte has scores of agencies and thousands of people serving the homeless and others with human services needs. And though there is some collaboration, there is still a silo mentality that wastes money and undercuts our community's ability to serve people in the most effective way. The two shelters have cooperated some before. But as separate organizations, "At the end of the day, I have to look out for my agency," says Uptown Shelter director Carson Dean. "If we're combined, it's: where do we have space for this person?" Because of the merger, the Emergency Winter Shelter will have two case managers this winter serving the men. The shelters will provide transportation between the two sites as needed. Men at the emergency shelter will be able to see a nurse at the Uptown Shelter. In the past, if a man was turned away from the Uptown Shelter, it was up to him to make his way to the emergency shelter. If he made it that far, he might get a bed, but not the supportive services he needed to start becoming self-sufficient. The most exciting part of Thursday's news was that Dean and the agencies' boards envision the merger as the first step toward creating a Transitional Homeless Center. That would be a one-stop shop where the homeless would go for all the services they need, from a bed, to job training to drug counseling. That model would be expensive to launch. But we've seen it work in other cities. It's the kind of coordinated approach Charlotte has lacked and why our homeless problem has been getting worse while other cities' have been getting better. Cooperation has a very real payoff Other nonprofits should take note of these two organizations' cooperation. With the United Way's and Arts & Science Council's cuts, the persistently bad economy and important long-term questions about changes in our corporate landscape and the model of nonprofit funding, we can no longer afford a nonprofit sector that's anything less than supremely efficient and collaborative. That's not a theoretical need. For the Keith Shues out there, it's too real. Shue believes he's stable now, and with disability income, could afford to leave the shelter and live in Section 8 housing. He credits the Uptown Shelter with turning his life around. "It's been a real blessing. My family talks to me now. My sister says I've never looked or acted better," Shue says. "It's a wonderful life now. They saved my life." Reach me at [email protected]. To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotteobserver.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |