TWO PROGRAMS GEARED TO HOMELESS TO LOSE D.C. FUNDING

The District government has decided to eliminate funding for two programs for the homeless even though officials have acknowledged that they provide valuable assistance by finding permanent housing for the needy.

After protests and a review of a preliminary decision made earlier this month, city officials have told leaders of the privately run programs that a court decree and a referendum compel them to use city funds for emergency shelters and not homeless programs with longer-range goals.

Officials of the programs have said repeatedly, however, that canceling them will only increase the number of homeless people in emergency shelters because there will be fewer ways for them to move into permanent housing.

Council member Charlene Drew Jarvis (D-Ward 4) said yesterday she will introduce a resolution urging Mayor Marion Barry to make his "best effort" to continue funding for "successful programs that re-integrate homeless people."

One of the programs, New Endeavors for Women, uses a $300,000 grant from the city to take women from emergency shelters and provide them with beds, meals and support in a city-owned building at 611 N St. NW. The goal is to help them become self-sufficient and find jobs and permanent homes. In the first year of operation, 140 women have used the facility and 80 percent of them are now in permanent housing, according to executive director Ann Ryan.

The other program, ConServe, does not operate a shelter but instead uses $300,000 from the city to help families in emergency shelters find apartments and then provide them with rent subsidies for up to a year. Since it began in 1987, ConServe has placed 100 families, according to executive director Tony Russo.

Madelyn Andrews, a spokeswoman for city administrator Carol B. Thompson, said yesterday that both programs are "doing the work that needs to be done to break the cycle" of dependence on emergency shelter.

But she said the city is "hostage" to the demand for emergency shelter. Under the terms of Initiative 17, every homeless person in the District who seeks it is entitled to overnight shelter, while a consent decree in April set standards for emergency shelters that include limitations on crowding. Funding must be concentrated on these needs, the city indicated in letters delivered Tuesday to program officials.

"It was a hard and painful decision," Andrews said.

While Russo said the city's letter never said outright that it is withdrawing ConServe's funding, "it appears that what they're saying is they're no longer going to continue."

A city official who asked not to be identified said ConServe's funding will cease Saturday, the end of the fiscal year, and no new families will be supported financially. It was possible funds would continue for the 21 families still receiving ConServe rent subsidies, the city's letter indicated.

Ryan said she was told that funding for New Endeavors for Women will continue until Dec. 31 to enable officials to "transition your clients out of 611 N St. NW."

"What this letter means is there will be no more New Endeavors, there will be one less opportunity for women to leave the shelters," Ryan said.

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