Lawrence, Douglas County commissioners vow to support policy that boosts care for seniors and ends chronic homelessness

Elected officials in Lawrence and Douglas counties pledged to support initiatives aimed at growing the elder care workforce and reducing chronic homelessness Sunday at the annual Justice Action Assembly.

More than 500 members of Justice Matters, a nonprofit coalition of faith-based groups and neighborhood networks, joined local officials to express support for specific policy actions focused on justice.

We will plant seeds of promise and hope for our community. Seeds that will grow into the kind of future we hope for, Ann Spangler, member of Justice Matters at First United Methodist Church, said during the event’s opening remarks.

When I consider the issues we are addressing with the elder care workforce and ending chronic homelessness, they are immense, he said. It pains me to know that we have people in the Douglas County community without shelter and carrying everything they own. It also pains me to see how our elders are afraid of where to go or if they will get decent care as they age.

Justice Matters celebrated a handful of assembly successes in recent years, including the rejection of a jail expansion and the opening of the Douglas County Treatment and Recovery Center. They also encouraged the training of Lawrence Public Schools staff in restorative practices.

This year, they continued to call for two areas: increasing care for the elderly and ending chronic homelessness.

Care team for the elderly

Douglas County Commissioner Patrick Kelly affirmed his charge to continue working to grow the senior care workforce.

Justice Matters has called for several years to implement a program called Dwyer Workforce Development to address staffing shortages in elder care. Dwyer Workforce Development offers financial aid and support to prospective nursing assistants, certified medical assistants and other healthcare professionals. The program started in Maryland and has spread to Texas and Florida.

The plan would be implemented by the Heartland Workforce Development Board, a local nonprofit that provides workforce development.

Gina Coffman, executive director of Heartland Workforce Development, voiced her support for the program on Sunday. He said more than 35 long-term care facilities in Kansas have closed since 2020.

That’s only going to keep increasing, which we don’t want, if we don’t have initiatives, like Justice Matters approved with this senior care program, to support the growth and make people aware of the opportunities available to help them, Coffman. said I think this is a great solution.

Kelly echoed that sentiment, pledging support for a memorandum of understanding between Heartland Workforce Development and Dwyer Workforce Development.

Kelly is a board member representing Douglas County on the Heartland Works Board of Chief Elected Officials. On Sunday, he pledged to push for implementation even in the face of opposition from other county representatives.

It’s been a really great partnership, Kelly said. We have a lot to celebrate when it comes to workforce development in this area.

End chronic homelessness

Douglas County Commissioner Shannon Reid joined Lawrence City Commissioner Brad Finkeldei in pledging support for the A Place for Everyone strategic plan, which aims to end chronic homelessness.

Wanda Haney, Justice Matters member of the Grace Neighborhood Network, said the strategic plan and other initiatives like the city’s new Pallet Shelter Village were simply a start.

It’s important to remember that the work is just beginning, Haney said. A Place for Everyone is a multi-year plan that addresses the continuum of housing needs, which has yet to be approved and implemented.

And most importantly, let’s never forget the individuals behind the statistics — their faces, their stories and their hopes for the future, Haney continued. They are the reason we do what we do. And they must remain at the center of our efforts.

Reid and Finkeldei pledged to support approval of the strategic plan, which will be on the May 7 city commission agenda and the May 8 county commission agenda. The couple also pledged to support funding for the scheme in future budgets.

Thank you for having me and for always providing this opportunity for people to come together in community and make a shared commitment to collective action, Reid said. It’s a powerful thing to be a part of.

Reid praised the work of Justice Matters people who have worked personally with local organizations to support the homeless. He said mutual action between the community and local government is crucial to ending chronic homelessness.

Although Reid and Kelly constitute a quorum of the Douglas County Commission, their attendance and advocacy at Sunday’s event is not a violation of Kansas open meeting laws because the event was noted on the website of the county and did not commit to support the same initiatives.

Finkeldei said one way the community can continue to work with local representatives is to support the new land development code that is in the works.

Homelessness is a housing problem. It’s all about housing, he said. This is a plan that will allow us to increase density, that will allow us to increase housing, that will allow us to build housing.

He encouraged people to think not only about how the code might affect them, but also their neighbors and the most vulnerable in the community. That’s a stance Justice Matters speakers echoed on Sunday.

Justice has a broad reach because it requires system change that affects everyone, said Ted Mosher, a member of Justice Matters and pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Look around you at the people who have come to support and encourage progress for justice. By coming together as a community, this is how we live out this call for justice.

Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He graduated from Lawrence High School, where he was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read more of his work for the Times here .

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