|
The almanac shows typical high temperatures in Phoenix this first week of December are in the upper 60s. What we are feeling is in the upper 80s. The summer heat wave seems to be continuing. The humidity is low, which makes for a chill in the air when the morning temp is in the 50s and the sky is dark. We bundle up for the morning and recline like lizards on concrete in the afternoons, soaking up the warmth.
Through this rather boring weather, the Key Campus continues to shelter over 900 people nightly in four spaces. And today the Keys to Change Outreach team found 105 unsheltered folks in the immediate neighborhood and 447 more in an expanded area that ventures several miles away from us.
Numbers. It's easy to come up with numbers. We have a tremendous amount of data at our fingertips. We write grant applications with the numbers, talk to media with the numbers, and talk to ourselves with the numbers.
One number that is most difficult to track and sum is the number to answer the question, "how many people ended their homelessness?"
Even if I provide the number 1,383 found permanent housing in the last fiscal year through Keys to Change, that may or may not seem like a lot. And it is the number for our organization and does not include the permanent housing placements of the dozen additional organizations at Key Campus who assist people moving into housing.
Using 1,383 over 365 days, 3.789 (let's round up to 4) people moved into permanent housing by Keys to Change. If one were to look for 4 people per day in the sea of 900 to 1,200 people on the Campus every day, it would be challenging to identify the 4 who are ending their homelessness.
The success is hidden. There is no fanfare... read more here...
| 
