The St Louis Contrarian

Providing Independent and Intelligent Insight on St. Louis Public Policy Issues

Archive for the tag “st Patricks center”

11 Sep 2020

Ending Homelessness and Improving Health Care at Once

This seems to be too good to be true but is real. Experiments around the country and most recently in St. Louis conclude the same thing, that housing and supportive services for homeless people not only improves their housing situation but their health.

An experimental program started by Barnes Jewish Christian Hospital and St. Patricks Center has demonstrated the point. The BJC staff had found that a relatively small number of homeless people were significantly overusing their facilities and running up huge unreimbursed health care bills. BJC contracted with St Patricks Center to provide affordable supportive housing and wrap around services. The results have been fantastic. The clients significantly reduced their emergency room usage, thereby showing significant drops in health care costs. Furthermore, the formerly homeless people were housed properly and affordable, and had access to good healthcare and jobs. A true win win situation. Let’s replicate it all over the country. Written by Paul Dribin(I played a leadership role in bringing the parties together and getting the program started)

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12 Feb 2019

St. Louis Chosen for ‘Healthy Housing’ Initiative | Catholic Charities

St. Louis Chosen for ‘Healthy Housing’ Initiative | Catholic Charities
— Read on www.ccstl.org/st-louis-chosen-for-healthy-housing-initiative/

This is great news. I helped st Patricks get started with hospital-homelessness initiative

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31 Jul 2018

Another Update on Biddle House

I was at Biddle House today as usual on Tuesdays, to help serve lunch. The facility was vacant as the City of St. Louis is taking over and changing furniture etc. Hopefully services will not be disrupted. I do not have confidence the city can carry out this program until the permanent operator, Home Full takes over in the fall. Written by Paul Dribin

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30 Jul 2018

The Future of Biddle House

As you know, I have written in the past that the operation of Biddle House will soon change. This facility owned by the city houses homeless men overnight and provides meals and supportive services to anyone who wants it. The operators of Biddle House, St. Patricks Center and St. Peter’s and Paul are pulling out. The facility will be run by Home Full, a successful homeless provider from Dayton Ohio.

Under Home Full, Biddle House will change its’ programming. They will now only provide meals and other services to individuals residing in the overnight program. This to me seems to be a small retreat from a full range of homeless services. Written by Paul Dribin

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24 Jul 2018

The Future of Biddle House

We have been following the ongoing saga of Biddle House. As you may know, St. Patricks Center who has been operating it has pulled out due to significant losses. An organization based in Dayton Ohio called Home Full will be operating the facility. They are very highly regarded in Dayton. We wish them well. It will be interesting to see how they function in the St. Louis environment. Written by Paul Dribin

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26 Jun 2018

Homeless Services in St. Louis

The ongoing provision of homeless services in St. Louis is very much up in the air. The story is rather complicated and has been partially described in these pages before.

New Life Evangelical Church led by Reverend Larry Rice had provided overnight homeless services to just about anyone who wanted it. He was always in trouble with the city for good reason; he housed far too many people in his facility, didn’t agree to any reporting, etc. Add to this criticism from newly arrived Yuppies who lived downtown and he was shut down.

To make up for the New Life Demise, the city bought Biddle House on the near north side and hired St Patrick’s Center and St. Peter’s and Paul to operate it. I have frequently volunteered there and consider the facility to be well run. The problem is that both agencies who operate it lost huge amounts of money and cannot sustain the operation. Neither organization nor anyone else has responded to a RFP for continuing the services. Of course where this leave homeless people is very much up in the air. Written by Paul Dribin

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28 Feb 2018

St. Patricks Center

I wanted to write today about the amazing work being accomplished by St. Patricks Center, the largest provider of homeless services in Missouri. I am privileged to offer some help as a volunteer to the organization.

St Patricks of course provides a men’s shelter and meals. More important they provide a whole network of social, housing, and supportive services to help end homelessness. They operate permanent housing communities and provide a whole range of supportive services. Their facility even provides a job incubator.

The Executive Director of St. Patricks Center is Laurie Phillips who is a remarkably talented and caring person. St. Louis is luckily to have this organization. Written by Paul Dribin

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08 Sep 2017

Homelessness in St. Louis

I have some interesting news about the status of homelessness in St. Louis. Earlier this year a major shelter led by Reverend Larry Rice was shut down. For years he snubbed his nose at the establishment, housed more people than code allowed, and didn’t let the city inspect the place.

When the news of the shutdown became known, many in the community predicted dire consequences. What would happen to the clients?

After the dust has settled I have learned that all the occupants were easily rehoused. St. Patricks Center rehoused people who wanted it in their facility. I help serve lunch at Biddle Place associated with St. Patricks. We anticipated many more people for meals after Rice’s facility was closed. Interestingly, this didn’t happen.

I have two conclusions, Either Reverend Rice did not house as many people as he said, or some of those people did not need the level of services provided by St. Patricks. Written by Paul Dribin

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