City’s Renewed Focus for Homelessness and Workforce Housing Issues

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – During a news conference earlier today, Mayor Joe McComb and City Manager Peter Zanoni outlined the goals of the new Homelessness and Workforce Housing division which is dedicated to coordinating homeless services and addressing workforce housing concerns.

“The goal is not to create a new service or program,” says Mayor Joe McComb. The renewed focus is to engage existing services and programs to get a complete and accurate inventory of services for homeless; family unification to reconnect homeless citizens with their families; and connect our homeless veterans with available community resources.

During the news conference, City Manager Peter Zanoni provided details that staff will work to identify the specific needs within our community and help facilitate connections between homeless people and service organizations. Mr. Zanoni elaborates “the mission of the team is to provide leadership and coordinate responses among current providers and lead the conversation on a holistic community wide approach to the issues.”

The team has already begun to accomplish milestones in the groundwork of the initiative, such as compiling a draft strategic plan; hosting the Mayor’s Lunch Summit on Homelessness bringing together representatives from 30+ organizations to have a conversation about homelessness; and collecting statistical data from HUD, Texas Homeless Network, the Mayor’s Survey, and the Corpus Christi Police Department.

The City Manager authorized a redirection of resources to create the new division dedicated to leading these initiatives and has appointed Barton Bailey as Administrator of Homeless Services and Workforce Housing, and Emily Shafer Northrup as the Homeless Outreach Coordinator.

Barton Bailey

For the last seven years, Barton Bailey served as Senior Associate Pastor focusing on community relations for First United Methodist Church, where he motivated 1,800 members to focus on homeless issues in our community while partnering with Metro Ministries, the Food Bank of Corpus Christi, the Station, and local elementary school homeless programs. He has expertise working on homeless reunification programs, grant writing, community connections and neighborhood engagement.

Baily received his Master of Divinity degree from Texas Christian University and his Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Texas A&M University - College Station. His experience and leadership will help the City of Corpus Christi coordinate community services and roll back the homeless crisis.

Emily Shafer Northrup

Formerly the Mayor’s Intern for Homeless Issues, Emily Shafer Northrup was tasked with compiling and analyzing data surrounding homelessness in our city. She has extensive experience as a social science researcher and has served as a funded research assistant for several years in support of multiple projects prior to coming aboard at the City.

Shafer Northrup is also a veteran, having honorably served in the United States Coast Guard. She returned to the Corpus Christi area with her family at the end of her tour of duty and is excited to begin a new chapter of service in the community that has always been home.

She is currently a graduate student in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi and will graduate with an MPA focusing on Public Management in December 2019.

Our third position Workforce Housing Coordinator is our currently vacant.  This position is posted for applications on our City website at www.ccjobs.cctexas.com and is scheduled to close on Tuesday, November 19, 2019.

For more information, contact Public Information Manager DeAnna McQueen at 361-826-2940 or by email at deannam@cctexas.com.

Barton Bailey Homeless Division
Emily Shafer Northrup Homeless Div