A Board Member Says Good-bye

Yesterday was my last official meeting as a board member of the Presbyterian Night Shelter. Executive Director Toby Owen presented me with a beautiful plaque that is a photo montage of the clients PNS serves—homeless men and women, children from the Women and Children’s Unit, even a couple of staff members. Board President Steve McLauren asked me to close the meeting with prayer. I found myself choking up a bit. I thanked God that during the turmoil of the last six years, the PNS Board has remained focused on its purpose: serving the needs of the homeless in our community. I thanked God for an incredible board, forged by fire; and for an amazing staff, after years of uncertainty.

Steve commented after the meeting that when I prayed about the turmoil of the past few years, some board members might have thought, “What turmoil?” “And that’s a good thing,” he added.

He’s right. We have a lot of new faces on the board. I was surprised that I was the only board member going off having served two full, back-to-back three year terms. While a lot of those on the board now also served during my previous years, none served all the way through.

Serving six years straight meant I worked with four executive directors and two interim executives. I served through the transition of PNS first from a poorly-run warehouse for the homeless to a well-run and respected shelter; and then through a transition in mission, moving from simply providing for our clients’ immediate needs to an organization that facilitates and encourages folks to move from homelessness and into a home.

To my right yesterday was my good friend Tanya Dohoney. Tanya is a county prosecutor and a member of First Pres who is completely dedicated to serving the needy. She and I “spent the night” at the shelter early in my first term as a board member. We stayed at the main shelter, which houses hundreds every night. We spoke with clients and staff. It was overcrowded, mats side-by-side. It was unsafe; clients are always concerned about having their stuff stolen. Night staff was professional and well-managed, but it was a challenge to maintain order with so few.

Most striking was the fact that there were no case workers. Their offices were empty. At the time, there was a budget for a couple of part-time case workers, but they’d just left for full-time jobs. Case management could not be consistent.

Between then and now there’ve been a lot of changes. Mayor Mike Moncrief led the Fort Worth City Council in making addressing homelessness an important city-wide issue. This “Directions Home” program provides money for case management. Case management meant that PNS and other homeless providers could provide counseling, addiction services, housing, and guidance through the bewildering bureaucratic hoops of the social service system. PNS’ last two executive directors, Toby and Carol Klocek, were absolutely committed to this vision.

But the board was torn. Many who’d served for years and knew clients and staff personally were uncomfortable with change. Some viewed the new direction as a threat to our core mission, which has always been to be “a shelter of last resort”—the place where the homeless could go when no one else would take them.

Others believed that we could stay true to the core vision but also challenge our clients to better themselves. I will always remember Carol telling us that “The solution to homelessness is a home.” The Shelter, she pointed out, isn’t meant to be a home. But unfortunately, that’s what it had become for many long-time homeless folks. With case management, we could challenge them to move to the next level.

Board members were split on this. Some saw it as a threat to the core mission. Others saw it as fulfilling our true purpose. To me, it seemed that the real question was: do we believe in redemption? Do we believe that homeless folks are trapped in homelessness, irredeemable; and that therefore our job is simply to give them a hand-out? Or do we believe that they can grow and change, and that our job is to give them a hand up?

A lot of members left the board. But once the dust had cleared, the board knew what it was committed to: paving the way from homelessness to a home.

That mentality guided our search for the next exec when Carol accepted her position at the YWCA. Steve and Tanya and I, along with many others, interviewed several potential EDs and settled on Toby, a former high school wrestling champ, a dedicated Christian with seminary training, the former assistant director at All Church Home, and a man with the biggest heart, brain, and vision you could ask for in this kind of position.

Toby has led a top-notch staff in creating new programming to assist the homeless in transitioning to new lives. He’s led the board in intensive strategic planning. Today’s PNS is so different from the decrepit, poorly run shelter Tanya and I visited five years ago that it’s hard to imagine it’s the same place.

Toby hugged me yesterday and said, “Fritz has been a great board member. But he’s also been a great friend. And I love great board members, y’all, but you just can’t beat a friend.”

Thanks, Toby. And I’ve made a lot of friends, myself, along the way—board members, many of whom I hope will see this, who through their passion, vision, and commitment have made a positive difference in the lives of people in real need—and made a difference in my life, too. Thanks to you all.

And believe me, I’m not going anywhere! Cindy Crain has got me lined up to be on the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition board. I can’t wait to see where we’re all going next!