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NLC
Speaker/Feature: Stacey Tieszen & the Sioux Falls Pass-it-On Program
4th Tuesday: February 24, 2009
Brief
Bio of Stacey Tieszen
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Presently the Homeless Coordinator for the Sioux
Falls Homeless
Advisory Board
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Position funded by both the City of Sioux Falls
and Minnehaha County
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Previously employed as Program Coordinator for the Dakota House & as Homeless Outreach worker
for Minnehaha County Department of Human Services
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Has served in the social services arena for
approximately 15 years
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Worked at agencies such as Boys and Girls Town,
Children's Inn, Southeastern Behavioral Healthcare, Volunteers of America,
and the Family Visitation Center
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2003 graduate of the USD School of Law
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Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a
co-major in Philosophy from Creighton University
Brief
History of the Pass-it-On Program
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Initially started in 1988
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Originally known as the "Homeless Bus Pass Program"
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By 2006 program was annually distributing 60,000 bus
passes
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City Planning Commission cut approval for bus
passes from 60,000 to 40,000 starting in 2006 to current
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Program was revamped in early 2007 with
contributions from both the City of Sioux Falls and from Minnehaha County
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Program not only for the homeless but ties in well
with the Mayor’s Ten-year Plan to End Homelessness
Program Administration & Overview
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Program Coordinator: Stacey Tieszen
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Task assigned to Stacey in her role as the
Homeless Coordinator for the Homeless Advisory Board
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The Homeless Advisory Board organized under Sioux
Falls Community Development
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Stacey reports details of the Pass-it-On program to
the Public Transit Advisory Board on a monthly basis
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Stacey distributes the allocated 40,000 bus passes
to the 14 participating agencies on a monthly/periodic basis
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Program Sponsor: Sioux Falls Transit
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SF Transit is organized under the Sioux Falls
Planning Department
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SF Transit honors the bus passes and provides the
bus service
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SF Transit collects the passes and provides Stacey
with the pass collection numbers
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Program Empowerment: City of Sioux Falls Planning
Commission
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The Planning Commission is the primary
community/advisory board to the SF Planning Department
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Commission meets 1st Wed of each month
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Commission decides how many passes will be issued
Program Need/Justification
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Part of the Mayor's Ten-year Plan to End
Homelessness
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Homelessness a cycle of both housing and
transportation
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Cost of transportation greatly adds to the risk of
homelessness
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Transportation is the easiest problem to solve in
the transportation/housing cycle, especially in today's economy
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Fair market or 2 bedroom apartment:
$680
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Fair market for 1 bedroom apartment:
$580
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Cost for 1 month us pass: $25
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Cost for 1 way/ 1 ride: $1
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Cost to the city for a free ride on a
not-nearly-full bus to a homeless person?: $0
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Benefit of a bus free bus pass to a homeless
person?: PRICELESS!
Program/Individual Eligibility
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Homeless Individuals: persons who...
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...lack a fixed regular adequate night-time
residence
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...who are doubled-up (i.e. staying with friends or
family because of necessity)
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...have a primary night-time residence that is a
supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
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...are in an institution that provides a temporary
residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized
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...stay in a public or private place not designed,
or ordinarily used, as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings
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Individuals living in Substandard Housing: housing
which...
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...does not provide safe, adequate shelter
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...has one or more critical defects or combination
of defects
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...lacks indoor plumbing
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...has a non-usable bathtub or shower
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...does not have a kitchen and should have
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...has been declared unfit for habitation by a
government agency
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Individual at risk of becoming homeless: persons
who...
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...are being evicted for financial reasons such as
non-payment of rent or due to disability
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...has lost their home due to a natural disaster
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...have been displaced due to domestic violence and
have no permanent home to return to
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...who are facing a financial emergency (i.e.
recent/sudden unemployment)
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Inmates on work release: including inmates who
are...
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....residing in the Minnehaha County Jail
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...residing in the South Dakota State Penitentiary
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...all of these may be eligible for participation
if he/she meets all established guidelines
Program/Individual Uses
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Job search
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Job training
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Employment (until 1st full paycheck)
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Grocery shopping
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Initial transportation to the job site
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Visits to case managers, representative payees,
counselors, therapists, and social service agenciesHousing search Medical
appointments
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Attend an AA or NA meeting
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Locating childcare
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Education Purposes
Program/Organizational Participants
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Urban Indian Health
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Glory House
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Inter-lakes Community Action
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Children’s Inn
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Community Outreach
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St. Francis House
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Lutheran Social Services Refugee Center
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American Indian Services
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Veteran’s Center
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Arch Halfway House
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Southeastern Behavioral Health
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Kateri Center
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Minnehaha County Human Services Department
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Sioux Falls School Sioux District McKinney Homeless
Center
Program Stats/Success
Final/Closing Thoughts
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Continued success/numbers speaks for itself! This
program is used and is needed
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For some reason,
City of Sioux Falls Planning Commission still finds it difficult to
justify increasing the bus pass allowance from the 40,000 that are issued
each year
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Those within our NLC network could be a positive
influence and persuasion in helping to increase the # of passes issued...say
to 50,000 each year?!
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Any ideas/action in regards to this influence would
be welcome!
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Bottom Line: A Decision by
Planning
Department Director (Mike Cooper) or
mayor (Dave Munson)
could increase # bus passes issued
NLC Initiative to Increase SFSD Bus Pass Allocation:
Approach Document
A. Purpose
for Initiative
Increase
bus pass allocation for the SFSD Pass It On Program
B. Impetus
for Initiative
Presentation by Stacey Tieszen reflecting effectiveness of and increased needs
of SFSD Pass It On Program
C. Target
Audience/People
Debra
Gaikowski {reports to Mike Cooper & Public Transit Advisory Board}
Public
Transit Advisory Board {advisory to SF Transit & decision-making board for Pass
It On Program}
Mike Cooper
{director of SF Planning Dept & reports to Dave Munson...SF Transit falls under
SF Planning}
Mayor Dave
Munson
D. Strategy
for Initiative
Approach
target audience/people in order as listed above
Communicate
impetus for this initiative to target audience/people
Communicate
specific/un-met needs of specific organizations/ministries {ie, CoH, CTP, etc}
Offer to
meet half way: propose NLC as promoting/encouraging donors/grants coordination
with increased bus pass allocation
Let’s
plan our work, & then work the plan!
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