Comtrea CEO praises housing commission’s plan to fight homelessness

Steven Huss, president and CEO of , Jefferson County’s mental health services provider, is praising the state housing commission’s approval of a $122 million housing plan to tackle homelessness in Missouri.

The plan, put forward by state Treasurer Clint Zweifel, one of four statewide officials who sit on the 10-member Missouri Housing Development Commission, earmarks a third of the state/federal housing tax credits in 2012 to fight homelessness.

The plan received board approval in a unanimous vote on Aug. 25.

“We are applauding this,” Huss said. “With our caseloads in Comtrea, we are seeing an increase in problems with homelessness, and we have been for the past two years.”

Comtrea, a nonprofit organization that provides family counseling, mental health and substance abuse treatment, serves an average of more than 5,000 clients in Jefferson County and South St. Louis County.

Although specific figures were not available for the Arnold area, Huss said homelessness is a growing problem in Jefferson County.

“In Jefferson County, the homeless problem is beginning to rise both for adults and for kids,” Huss said. “We are seeing an increase in problems with our patients who are having problems with becoming homeless. If you have a parent who is homeless, obviously you have children who are homeless.” 

According to Mental Health America (MHA) of Eastern Missouri, which endorsed Zweifel’s plan, one in four adults suffers from a mental illness each year, or about 1.1 million Missourians. Those suffering from the most severe cases are especially at risk for chronic homelessness, according to MHA.

“People do recover from mental illnesses,” Mark Utterback, President and CEO of Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri said in a
statement endorsing Zweifel’s plan. “We know that safe, permanent housing is a prerequisite to recovery. We know that supportive housing has a dramatic impact in reducing hospitalizations and incarceration – and we know that incarceration alone costs our state millions of dollars each year.”

Utterback said Zweifel’s plan efficiently uses existing federal and state resources to create long-term stable housing and reduce homelessness.

“Housing is vital to protect people living with a mental illness,” Utterback said.

Zweifel commended the housing board for its support of the plan.

“The housing commission and the citizens of Missouri are putting forth an unmatched amount of resources to tackle homelessness in Missouri,” Zweifel said in a statement issued Thursday. “We are going to embark on the creation of sustainable long-term housing that begins the process of eliminating homelessness for 24,000 Missourians, of which 5,000 are veterans and 16,000 are school-age children with an average age of eight.

“We are saving taxpayer resources by being smarter and more efficient,” Zweifel said in the statement. “We are being flexible so markets can adjust to local needs and we are being accountable in our use of public money. We know this can work, and we know we have a long road ahead, but with this commitment we are showing our dedication. A dedication that says as Missourians we don’t want our veterans, our family members, our friends, our future sleeping in uncertain conditions with nowhere to call home when we have the resources – the resources to give every Missourian a place to call home.”