Front Steps’ New Leader Plans to Help Homeless
With Luteran holding the reins, Front Steps hopes to release its three-year strategic plan this fall. Photo by Gretchen Sanders/KUT NewsAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The organization that runs the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless just emerged from a tumultuous year. Front Steps saw its executive director hired and fired just a few months later. A new leader is now at the helm with and he’s charting a course for the next year.
The new director is Stephen Luteran. Also a licensed clinical social worker, he moved to Austin from the Arlington, Va. area two weeks ago to start his new post. Luteran said he wanted to work for an organization that did more than provide a roof for the homeless.
“They are really into the philosophy of that whole continuum of care – that we take people from the street into our shelter – but Front Steps also likes to take them into permanent housing, long-term housing,” he said. “They are really taking that holistic approach.”
Luteran may still be getting used to breakfast tacos and Austin’s fickle weather, but he’s already shaping a plan to lead the organization that serves over 800 homeless men and women a day.
“What I look for over the next year is I would love to strengthen our case management program and see how we can get more permanent supportive housing on line,” Luteran said.
The organization has 36 permanent supportive housing units around the city. According to Luteran, that’s about 1,500 units short of what’s needed.
“With the clients that come here, it’s sort of a day center where they can wash their clothes, they can get on the computer, they meet with their case managers,” he said. “But [we want] to look at what other services we can offer in terms of education, in terms of skills building – to do more of that.”
Luteran said his agenda’s prerogatives include reducing the number of homeless deaths in Austin and increasing services for homeless women. To achieve all of this, Luteran said he’ll have to strengthen relationships with community partners and bring in more money. Direct conversations with clients to find out what they need and how they can be better served are also a part of his plan.
Two-year ARCH employee Stevie Schultz said Luteran is already doing just that.
“He’s very friendly with the clients and that’s something that’s awesome…for an executive director to come in and say, ‘Hello’ and ‘Good morning’ and ask them questions,” Schultz said. “I think it’s going to be a lot more client based on what the clients feel they need.”
Luteran acknowledged it won’t be easy. He previously served as Executive Director with Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington, where he led initiatives to establish homeless shelters aimed at getting people into permanent homes, and is still trying to pick up pieces that slipped through the cracks while the organization struggled with leadership issues last year. But Luteran thinks his 20 years of management experience and his ability to build relationships with both professionals and the homeless have primed him for success in Austin.
With Luteran holding the reins, Front Steps hopes to release its three-year strategic plan this fall.
