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collaboration person, they are a point person. In Orlando,they opened a non-profit and called it <br /> the Central Florida Commission of Homelessness,their CEO was Andrae Bailey and he was the <br /> point person. He worked very closely with the Mayor. Although he has no authority over the <br /> non-profits and he has no funding, the reason he had so much success is because he was an <br /> excellent collaborator. So the community changed in Orlando from being known nationally, in <br /> print, to hate the homeless, to being a model of success. It works best if that point person doesn't <br /> work directly for the City. The second important part is an intense awareness campaign. There <br /> are two (2) camps. In the old days, we used a punitive style approach to help people in need. <br /> What that did was it created a lot of barriers to where people can't get off the streets, it's literally <br /> impossible. One time we were doing a veteran search in the City of Orlando. All of us were out <br /> there trying to find all the veterans on the streets. <br /> Mr. Rebman digressed, There was a gentleman named Albert. He had been homeless for twenty- <br /> five (25) years and was living under a bridge. The police were getting ready to arrest Albert <br /> again so they called up Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Bailey had arranged that instead of getting arrested <br /> this time, he contacted the VA and got Albert set up with a non-profit provider. When Albert got <br /> there, they kicked him out three (3)minutes later. The reason they kicked him out is because <br /> they gave him a Breathalyzer Test and he didn't pass. Now, I am not in any way condoning <br /> alcohol use but I will say this: If we're a society that, because somebody has had alcohol, <br /> immediately judges them, we need to look inside ourselves because I submit to you there are a <br /> lot more alcoholics that have homes than are homeless. There are a lot more drug addicts that <br /> have homes than that are homeless. We don't know what came first: homelessness, or substance <br /> abuse. A lot of times it can be substance abuse, but a lot of times it's people just trying to self- <br /> medicate on the streets. <br /> Mr. Rebman continued, Here's the thing, Albert was all set up to get into a program and the VA <br /> was going to house him but because he had a beer five (5)hours before, he called Mr. Bailey and <br /> said `I wish you had left me under the bridge so I would at least die with dignity.' I don't know <br /> how you feel about that but for a gentleman that has been homeless twenty-five (25) years to <br /> have these barriers is not smart. For instance, CEO's of major corporations with the best <br /> inpatient care and family support only beat substances six-to-eight percent(6%-8%)of the time. <br /> What's the chance of a homeless guy to quit drinking to get services? We've created barriers that <br /> make it almost impossible for homeless people to get the help they deserve. So we put Albert in <br /> a hotel that night and two (2) weeks later, Albert quit drinking on his own. I'm not saying that is <br /> going to last,but he was that motivated. Help and hope go a long way.No way can anybody <br /> work themselves out of holes. The reason I know that is because I applied for one hundred and <br /> fifty-eight(15 8)jobs in thirty(3 0) days, with my Master's degree, in the City of Orlando while I <br /> was homeless. My resume was all the same, the only thing was different was in the address block <br /> it said `homeless.' I didn't get a single interview. So if a guy that has a Master's degree, a couple <br /> of Bachelor's degrees and is a US Military Veteran can't get a job, how can somebody with <br /> anything less than that work themselves out of their hole? So back to the three (3)things needed, <br /> we know there needs to be a point person and we know there needs to be an intense awareness <br /> campaign. Getting housing is the first most basic level of stability, and you won't believe the <br /> affect it has on all other categories. These people aren't just getting a free house,there is a lot of <br /> personal responsibility and work that goes into it, but every success rate goes up. Job training <br /> success rates go up, employment goes up, substance abuse success rates go up. These rates don't <br /> 3 <br />