Viewpoint: It would be irresponsible to commit more county funds to Motels4Now

St. Joseph County went the way of California and helped fund the transformation of the run-down Knights Inn to a homeless hotel during COVID. So far, the county has spent $3.3 million of COVID money that came from the federal government on the project. South Bend contributed less than $1 million in federal monies.

While some say that the program has reduced homelessness in other parts of the city, businesses and neighbors on the city’s west side near the motel are not pleased. They complain about leftover needles in public bathrooms, panhandlers harassing customers and generally an increase in crime in the area, including more than 1,000 police calls to the motel. The South Bend International Airport also has dealt with more panhandling and crime as a result of being so close to the motel.

Support for Motels4Now:Take this moment to end chronic homelessness in St. Joe County

Our Lady of the Road spearheaded the Motels4Now initiative with the help of federal dollars.In 2021, former auditor Mike Hamann told the County Council that the goal was to achieve more of a public-private partnership. While the program attracted some donations, it didn’t win the community support it expected. As a result, Motels4Now wants the county to give them another $1.65 million to continue housing the 120 people at its facility.

Motels4Now is different than other homeless programs in the community. For starters, the Center for the Homeless raises most of its own money. The organizations also has expectations of those who use its programs, including sobriety. That is not the case with Motels4Now. Motels4Now is a “low barrier” facility, which employs the concept of Housing First. This concept revolves around the idea that homeless people need to be in housing first before they can start to heal and rebuild. Therefore, there are no requirements that those who use the program maintain sobriety; get mental or addiction help; get a job or participate in job training; or contribute any funding to housing.

Housing First is responsible for the demise of California and the explosion of homelessness there. “In 2016, California enacted a law that required every state dollar spent on homelessness to be spent on Housing First programs. From 2015 (the year before the new state policy) to 2019, unsheltered street-level homelessness in California rose 47.1% in just four years,” according to the Discovery Institute, a think tank that advocates for intelligent design.

We do not want another San Francisco crisis in South Bend, and that’s why I feel it would be irresponsible to commit another $1.65 million in county funds to the Motels4Now program. While it is true that Motels4Now does offer its guests addiction, mental health and job resources, the fact that no one is required to use them to live at Motels4Now — or even to graduate into more permanent housing — is why this program cannot succeed. It is like welfare with no work requirements. And, overdoses still happen at Motels4Now, including one just a few weeks ago.

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St. Joseph County received about $61 million in federal money in the wake of COVID; South Bend received about $66 million. Despite the fact that homelessness is more of a city than a county issue, the county already dedicated more of its federal money to Motels4Now than the city. In fact, Motels4Now is one of the biggest financial recipients of COVID federal funds in the county. We now have to consider some of the other needs of our county that benefit different areas of our community. We still have about $17 million left to spend and many projects that haven’t received any funding at all.

While South Bend Mayor James Mueller said he intends to contribute $4 million to a new homeless “low barrier” intake center, this is not the answer either. Such a facility will only draw more homeless people to the area. Even the city acknowledged as much in a WSBT story: “You build something great, people will come,” said Jordan Gathers, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Mueller.

While there is no doubt that the staff employed at Motels4Now work tirelessly to help the homeless, this almost entirely government-funded model lacks accountability and fails to incentivize personal improvement and self-sufficiency. If the city wants success, it will need to consider more requirement-based programming that can lead more people out of homelessness and into independent living.

Amy Drake is a member of the St. Joseph County Council, representing District B.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: St. Joe County shouldn't commit more funds to Motels4Now