X Committee Locker Project Victory!

The X Committee has yet again realized tangible success!

Based in St. Paul, the X Committee is a group of people who are experiencing or have once experienced homelessness. For three years now they have defined themselves as “of, by, and for the homeless, working to improve conditions and opportunities for the homeless community at large.”

On August 24, 2005, the City of St. Paul strengthened it’s relationship with the X Committee by agreeing to give a $10,000 grant for the group’s current “storage locker project.”

The partnership between the city and the group started brewing in early May 2005 when Mayor Randy Kelly met with around 50 homeless people at the Listening House drop-in center in St. Paul. Many of the people experiencing homelessness that were present to discuss the struggles they have on a daily basis were X Committee members.

Since that time, the City of St. Paul has supported the X Committee and it’s development, particularly with the storage locker project.

Some may wonder, why focus on building lockers for a population that desperately needs affordable housing?

“It’s tough if you’re tying to look for a job and you don’t have a place to store your things,” said Sue Sazevich (as quoted in the Star Tribune), a founding member of X Committee. “You carry everything with you–your ID, your medications, everything. And the streets are rough enough.”

In addition, with heightened security in many public places, those experiencing homelessness are facing more discrimination in this regard. Bret Byfield of ACCESS recently told of a man whose dream it was to go to a Vikings game. He was lucky enough to get tickets but denied entry to the game because, like most people living on the streets, he had his backpack with him.

Lockers are not only useful places for belongings when hunting for jobs or looking for housing, but have also given the X Committee a chance to see real results. Those experiencing homelessness not only work to build the lockers, but also take the responsibility to manage them. As a result, a sense of ownership and motivation ensues. Those involved feel like they have given to the community, while at the same time gaining real power over their mostly chaotic lives. This type of empowerment is contagious and people realize that they can make a difference, in one realm or another.

In late August 2005, X Committee members sat in anticipation at City Hall to find that council members of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved the proposal for continuation money for the project.

Previously, 50 lockers were built in the Midway area, with another 10 at The Family Place. The group now has the resources to build up to 250 more in various locations around St. Paul.

The next step: finding locker locations! It has proven extremely difficult to find places that will allow lockers to be built on their premises. The X Committee is currently focusing on service providers, area churches and other places that already have social service programs in place. Joe Collins of the Department of Planning and Economic evelopment, along with Tom Triplett, the Mayor’s Senior Policy Advisor, have been helping in this process and continue to support the group.

Though progress has been gradual, the group has been moving forward. Look forward to seeing good things coming out of the X Committee in the future!