Office of Human Rights Holds Panel Discussion; Housing & Human Rights
Published on December 18, 2024
(Ithaca, N.Y., December 18, 2024) – The Tompkins County Office of Human Rights (OHR) held a panel discussion on Monday, December 16, to discuss the issue of homelessness as it relates to basic human rights, from public health, human services and legal perspectives. Over 80 people tuned in live to watch the event and ask questions. A recording of the event is available on the Tompkins County YouTube channel.
Dr. Kenneth Clarke, Director of the Office of Human Rights, kicked off the panel by asking the audience, “How might we imagine and work toward the idea that fair housing can be and should be a domestic human right? Can we envision what Ithaca, New York and the United States would look like if the right to a dwelling was a protected human rights category?” Dr. Clarke introduced the panel of community leaders whose work centers on “bridging the gap between what is and what should be,” to share their perspectives affirming the right to housing.
To set the stage for the discussion, Liddy Bargar, Director of Housing Initiatives from the Human Services Coalition (HSC), detailed the state of homelessness in Tompkins County. HSC manages the local Continuum of Care (CoC), a network that oversees the local homeless response system with a mission to achieving a community in which homelessness is “rare, brief, and one time.”
Bargar shared about the CoC’s “Coordinated Entry” process, where individuals and families reporting homelessness are categorized for placement based on eligibility for different program funding streams, including rapid rehousing, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing. Bargar connects housing as a human right to evidence-based interventions like permanent supportive housing (also known as the “housing first model”), stating that “until people can meet that base level of Maslow’s hierarchy of basic physiological human needs (breathing, sleep, water, shelter, clothing), it’s almost impossible them to reach that self-actualization piece that we are hoping people will be able to do.... where they are going to thrive and reach their personal goals and be an integral member of community.” Permanent supportive housing combines affordable housing assistance with support services to address these needs.
Tompkins Community Action (TC Action) Executive Director Danielle Harrington described how her agency serves the community’s most vulnerable individuals through its supportive housing programs and other community services for people experiencing chronic homelessness. Harrington stated that, “in general, housing affordability and housing availability are the biggest barriers which contribute to some of the rising numbers of our unhoused.”
Harrington described TC Action’s evidence-based “Housing First” model as an essential component to addressing homelessness, illustrating how “when your whole day is focused on survival, it is hard to focus on your education or your employment. That’s where supportive housing comes in.” Liddy Bargar added that Tompkins County’s permanent supportive housing has demonstrated a 90% success rate in moving people from homelessness into more permanent housing.
Tompkins County Youth Services Department’s Coordinator of Community Youth Services, Rick Alvord, spoke to the additional challenges faced by youth who are aging out of foster care, LGBTQ+ youth, youth escaping abuse and those who have been commercially sexually exploited (CSEC). Kudos for at-risk or homeless youth service programs such as Open Doors, The Learning Web, and the Advocacy Center were shared.
Tompkins County Whole Health’s Medical Director, Dr. William Klepack, shared the public health perspective of housing as a human right, citing multiple public health concerns related to this issue. Dr. Klepack stated that, “homelessness often is a result of gaps that we have in our community that lead people to falling into being inadequately housed or homeless.” Klepack links housing instability to the development of additional barriers, such as significant communication challenges, limited access to healthcare, poor sanitation, lack of nutrition, decreased safety and security, and increased likelihood of violence, injury, and mental health trauma and stress (to name just a few). Klepack illustrated his point that “downstream, illnesses become harder and more expensive to care for,” sharing an example of a minor infection that can be easily treated by an antibiotic but can become severe if care is not accessed and medication is not received, resulting in the need for emergency medical treatment, surgery, further health complications or development of chronic conditions, or even death.
Klepack reiterated sentiments expressed by other panelists, adding the need of supportive housing programs. Klepack stated, “We find that the more times that people come back into homelessness or being inadequately housed, and the longer that they are in that situation, the worse their outcomes can be, the worse their PTSD can be, and the more difficult it can be to remember how to live in a home.”
Panelists shared their ideas for system improvements, most centering around the need for additional resources and support. Danielle Harrington added that “the systems within the community play quite a role” in addressing housing instability, and Rick Alvord expressed the need for continued collaboration, “to partner with and strengthen the organizations that are addressing housing, and to advocate at the state level, in order to work towards a community where everyone has a healthy foundation.”
Legal Assistance of Western New York (LawNY) Attorney Dan Pesciotta echoed the need for advocacy and support, stating that “the theoretical right to housing” should include a support system to address the individual needs of the person, to help them stay housed. LawNY provides legal services to tenants threatened with eviction and also refers tenants who are victims of illegal discrimination to CNY Fair Housing, based in Syracuse. “Most of our clients are coming to us in crisis, facing eviction… and we do what we can to help them keep a roof over their head,” citing new NYS Legislation to provide protections against income discrimination by landlords, as well as new legislation for renters to take affirmative action against uninhabitable or unsafe housing.
Harrington reiterated that stigma and stereotypes can and should be addressed head-on. “There is a misconception that there are a lot of people coming to Tompkins County because we are rich in services, but our data demonstrates that these are community members who have fallen through cracks and are a part of our community.” Directly addressing questions about public opinion that those in supportive housing are “lawless,” Harrington added, “Our clients are tenants and as such have a signed lease with consequences and rules as any other tenants would. Our staff work with clients to address root causes of any behavior issues, to help clients move forward.” Panelists agreed that support systems should be in place to help address needs, with Dr. Klepack pointing to the Cherry St. development as an opportunity for supportive, wrap-around services for those who are homeless.
Liddy Bargar concluded, “The fact that housing is not a human right is actually contributing to the scarcity of housing that is accessible to the people who need it.”
To learn more about available emergency shelter during winter months (Code Blue), visit: https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/Social-Services/Emergency-Assistance
Learn more about the TC Office of Human Rights online at: https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/All-Departments/Human-Rights