Serving On The CConaninee on PUBLIC SAFETY Commitee on (WAYS & MEANS Commitee on “TRANSPORATION ‘& COMMERCE Commitee on PUBLIC UTILITIES ‘cy Hall Omtice 1200 Mat Stee Roni, 230 Saint Louis MO 63103 (9) 3146223287 Wara omce 4730 Margareta Avense Stine Louis MO 63115, (p)314339.8683 wo stoie-mo.gov JOHN CoLLins MUHAMMAD, JR. ALDERMAN OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WARD CITY OF SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURL Wednesday, January 17, 2018 ‘The Hon. Eric Greitens Governor, State of Missouri Capitol Building, 201 W Capitol Ave, Rm, 216 Jefferson City, MO 65101 Dear Mr. Governor I pray that this letter finds you in the best of health and spirit. I want to bring to your attention a very serious crisis going on in Saint Louis and throughout our state, The erisis is homelessness. In Saint Louis, our streets and neighborhood parks are populated by people with canes and walkers, or people strolling along the sidewalks of Natural Bridge Ave., or Martin Luther King Blvd in ragged wheelchairs, with several fully packed bags tainted by soil and stained by rain, They stroll our streets in threadbare winter wear. Homelessness is an ignored epidemic, not an invisible problem, In a major city, where people are pressed beyond their means with rising rent cost, and other stresses that can include, loss of job, family abuse or domestic violence and drug addiction; these challenges can propel an individual or a family into the shelter system. This epidemic won’t be solved easily, by flooding our streets with emergeney shelter beds, nonetheless more are needed, It undoubtedly won’t be solved by the governments’ forceful closure of homelessness housing like the New Life Evangelistic Center locally known as the Larry Rice Center, In the 21% Ward, we have opened an emergency shelter at St. Peter AME Church to house our homeless population because we know these times are far too serious to be unwilling to act. I must thank Pastor Steven Shepard for working in collaboration with myself and the city; he has always been willing to step up, act and respond. According to data collected by the Housing Management Information System (IMIS), and the St. Louis City Department of Human Services; a total of 1,772 individuals ‘meeting the definition of chronically homeless contacted the Homeless Hotline during 2004. ‘We need you to respond to this epidemic, Missouri needs to invest in a comprehensive plan to end this growing crisis and give real resources and aide to the people who need it the most. We need help Mr. Governor, What is your plan to tackle statewide homelessness? Respectfully in Service, Began John s Muhammad, Jr. Member of the Board of Aldermen ce: The Hon, Lyla Krewson, Mayor ofthe City of St. Lous lrene Agustin, Director, Det. of Human Services ofthe City of St. Luis