CAJE Gets Action On Housing, Mental Health Issues
Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment got action from local leaders on two significant issues during the 2016 CAJE Nehemiah Action, which was held April 25 at Old National Events Plaza in downtown Evansville.
Attendees heard that one in four Evansville families cannot find safe and affordable housing. CAJE’s proposed solution involves city leaders agreeing to use the land bank available to obtain blighted properties, and the affordable housing trust fund to begin changing the paradigm of the city’s housing landscape.
Kelly Coures, director of Evansville’s Department of Metropolitan Development, agreed to approach the City Council with the authorization of Mayor Lloyd Winnecke to request and advocate for the council to annually dedicate 2-5 percent of the Tropicana Riverboat Funds to the affordable housing trust fund.
CAJE also has been working toward a crisis care center to mitigate challenges related to those with mental health issues whose only treatment options involve emergency room visits or, in some cases, incarceration.
Mayor Winnecke and Wyeth Hatfield of ECHO Community Health agreed to co-chair a commission to develop a crisis care center in Evansville.
The pair elicited cheers from the large audience when they announced that the commission already is in place and had met for the first time on April 12, with another meeting scheduled for May.
For the past few years, CAJE also has sought placement of the opiate antidote Narcan with local first responders for use in the life-saving treatment of drug overdoses. Attendees learned that, as a result of positive response from local law enforcement, seven lives have been saved in Warrick and Vanderburgh counties since 2014 by first responders’ administration of Narcan.
