April 27, 2017

City of Dallas
MichaelS.Rawlings
61stMayor of Dallas

Dear Kindred Foundation,

First of all, let me reiterate my gratitude for your work (we know you spend a significant amount of
time working on this complicated and difficult topic of homelessness. In asking you to remain
steadfast on this effort, we have brought together a group of dedicated and thoughtful people to bring
positive impact to the lives of our fellow men, women and youth currently living on Dallas streets.
The number of people living without shelter in Dallas has increased by 30 percent since 2010, and
they need and deserve the attention of our entire community. As we begin to think about the cold of
winter, I am committed to both short-term action that will offer immediate relief to those living
outside, as well as long-term strategies that will seek to address the many causes of homelessness.
This letter shall serve as support of your Foundation and their efforts to eradicate homelessness.

As you know, the Dallas is pursuing a three-pronged approach to address housing and homelessness
In our city:
Your recommendations. which I received on February 15,2017, to offer quickly
implementable solutions for unsheltered homeless individuals:
A report due in August 2017 from the Human Services Department (HSD) evaluating the
City's investments in homelessness services and interventions-nearly $37 million in total-
with recommendations on better aligning our efforts with national best practices;
and
Recommendations due in October 2017 from the Housing Affordability & Livability
Advisory Committee for creating more permanent, affordable housing options across the
income spectrum, including housing for homeless or formerly homeless people.

Homelessness is a massive societal challenge created from a broad number of other societal
challenges including the growth of poverty. The fact is, even if our criminal justice, mental health
and substance abuse, foster care, and safety net systems were fully funded, we still would not
possess a complete answer to the challenge of our fellow brothers and sisters living among us
without shelter. But the dramatic erosion of State and federal investments i n these systems has
only compounded this challenge and created a full-blown crisis. I know that this situation will
require efforts across all jurisdictions in order to truly address the level of profound human need
that currently exists in Dallas streets.

I have had the opportunity to further review your recommendations and want to offer my
appreciation for the thoughtfu lness you put into meet ng the challenge I set before you. While I will
not be implementing all of your recommendations, I will move forward on a significant number of
them.

Office of the Mayor

1500 Marilla St.
Suite 5EN
Dallas, Texas 75201
Phone: 214.670.3301
Fax: 214.670.0646