Columbia has a new group trying to untangle one of the hardest problems a city its size can take on: what to actually do about homelessness. A steering committee formed July 1 has already met three times, and according to KBIA, its whole approach starts from a premise a lot of committees skip past — that helping people and keeping a city safe don’t have to be opposite goals.
The committee is co-chaired by Conrad Hake, program director at Love Columbia, an organization that works with low-income residents around the city. Around the table with him are representatives from law enforcement, faith-based groups, and healthcare — a deliberate mix, since the group’s stated aim is to prevent and end homelessness in Columbia without treating it as a fight between social services on one side and public safety on the other.
“There’s a common perception that people in helping professions focus on the unhoused… and those in law enforcement focus on property and safety… and it doesn’t have to be the case,” Hake told KBIA.
In practice, that means the committee is trying to hold three things at once: getting more people into safe, stable housing; making sure the support that follows is trauma-informed rather than one-size-fits-all; and keeping public safety part of the conversation rather than an afterthought. Sara Humm, the city’s public health planner, is leading a separate piece of the effort — going straight to people with lived experience of homelessness, whether they’re currently unhoused, formerly unhoused, or at risk of becoming so, to ask what interventions have actually helped.
That’s not just a courtesy. It’s a hard admission that the people setting policy in a conference room don’t always know what works on the ground, and the ones who do are the ones living it.
For Boone County readers wondering whether this is a committee you can weigh in on: yes. KBIA reports the group is gathering public input through focus groups and community surveys, though it hasn’t nailed down exactly how many public meetings there will be yet. If you or someone you know has been through it, this is the kind of committee that’s specifically asking to hear from you.
It’s early days — three meetings in, no policy proposals yet — but a city committee that starts by asking the unhoused what they need, instead of guessing, is worth watching. We’ll follow up as the committee’s recommendations start to take shape.