Mayor Rawlings creates Homelessness Commission

Mayor Mike Rawlings has announced the creation of a new Commission that will focus on long-term strategies to address homelessness in the City of Dallas.

Rawlings asked Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) Board Chair Britton Banowsky to lead the Dallas Commission on Homelessness. The Commission’s objective will be to make Dallas among the most progressive communities in the country when it comes to this challenging and complex issue.

Over the past several months, the City, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA), Dallas Police, CitySquare and other area shelters and organizations have worked to successfully close the homeless encampment known as “Tent City.”

“We knew that the closure of Tent City was only one small piece of the work we needed to do to address homelessness in our city,” Rawlings said. “We must now turn our focus to long-term strategies to address this scourge that so many American cities are battling.”

The Commission will compare the City’s current system of addressing homelessness to the best practices of similar communities and deliver a focused set of strategies and recommendations to consider going forward. A major objective is to find a way to increase the availability of affordable and supportive housing for homeless in Dallas.

It is important that the Commission include diverse representation from across the City and County and that appointees have relevant experience on these issues.

The Mayor asked each City Council member to appoint one person from their District to serve on the Dallas Commission on Homelessness. The new commission will begin meeting soon.