8 February 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Homelessness has been a growing problem around the country for decades.
As for here in Topeka, previous attempts at trying to fix the unsheltered issue hasn’t worked.
“We’re seeing that there’s a lot of effort community wide being put into trying to address the challenges of the unsheltered,” Topeka City Manager Stephen Wade said. “Lots of smart people involved, and right now we’re not seeing the challenge getting any better.”
So in effort to help fix the problem, the city voted in favor eight votes to two to higher “Sylver Consulting”. The Chicago based firm will take a look at the issue from a different perspective.
While the firm won’t fix the problem on its own, Topeka City Manager Stephen wade said it may help point Topeka in the right direction.
“We hope to find some solutions that the community can embrace, so that we can make progress on this issue,” Wade said.
Wade isn’t the only one that’s hopeful bringing in the firm will do good; District Two Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala agrees.
“I think bringing on a consultant with a fresh vision and mindset will hopefully be beneficial,” Valdivia-Alcala said.
The roughly $76,000 fee will include teaching and coaching support to help the city develop its own possible solutions. While the addition will beneficial to helping combat the homeless issue, Valdivia-Alcala says all hands must be on deck in order for this to work.
“We have a number of partners that really need to continue to come on board,” Valdivia-Alcala said. “You know specifically and hopefully the county, so that we can all get on the same page.
This problem won’t be fixed overnight. City leaders say the process will take anywhere between seven to eight months to complete before they can implement changes.