Bob's Update: Creating, and Achieving, Bold Visions - November 19, 2008
When the Shelter Association asked for help from the Board of Commissioners more than a decade ago, the system of caring for people who are homeless in this County was broken. They had no funds and no funding mechanism. And the only shelter in town, for both men and women in one small house, was a pretty horrible place.
There has been so much
learned and so much achieved since those dark days. Many of you have
been with the County long enough to see our influence in helping to create
what is now acknowledged as a national model. The work at the Robert
J. Delonis Center has success rates of nearly 60% in moving people from
homelessness into housing – the national average is 35%. The Delonis
partners with and coordinates 30 different expert agencies who work with
individuals, on-site, to help rebuild lives and offer sustainable skills and
services into the future.
The tested political will, the years of meetings and the sheer physical work of creating a public-private partnership and a service center that now stands at 312 W. Huron in downtown Ann Arbor was an incredible journey.
Two things made the difference, in my mind: belief in the ability to create reality from a vision, and personal relationships.
Who would have expected the tireless advocacy, even as his life was ending, of a local banker - Robert J. Delonis?
Who knew that a young woman from Buffalo, with a strong sense of mission, would grow to become the leader of an organization with a nearly $2 million budget now operating in the black? Ellen Schulmeister has now been the executive director of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County for ten years.
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Bob's Update" is a weekly message to Washtenaw County employees from County Administrator Bob Guenzel. eWashtenaw publishes these columns when they are deemed timely and useful to the wider community. Please contact Administrator Guenzel with your comments. |
Who knew that people like Del Dunbar, a very successful local businessman, or Joe Fitzsimmons, retired from very successful business; Sr. Yvonne Gelise, the head of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System; Judy Dow Rummelhart, a busy high-profile entertainer and philanthropist; the Ann Arbor City Council led by Jean Carlberg and the majority of our Board of Commissioners led by Commissioner Leah Gunn would take up this cause, believe in this vision - and in each other – to come this far?
But no one at the Delonis, nor any of the 13 individuals who were honored at the Association's 25th Anniversary dinner the other night, would agree that how far we’ve come is how far we need to go. The next goal is even more daunting: ending homelessness in this community.
And that’s what I thought about the other night as I looked out at the many hopeful faces at the Michigan League ballroom. It was great to celebrate, and honor, those who stepped forward. But I was also struck at the many faces, younger faces, in attendance. Many were hearing that part of the Shelter Association story for the first time. Those faces, those people in our community are the ones who must not let the story end here.
We are tested these days. But I hope you can see and feel confident in creating our future – as long as we believe in the vision and the community of relationships to get there.
Have a great week.
