Candace’s Response to the President’s Recent Executive Order
I’ve received a flood of questions from not just Open Door Mission staff, volunteers, and donors, but from my family, friends, colleagues, and fellow partners about the president’s recent Executive Order: “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” It marks a dramatic shift from the federal approach we’ve lived under for over 30 years, with the same mantras, End Homelessness in 10 Years, No Child Left Behind, Rapid Rehousing and Housing First Only.
Measured outcomes and evidence mean little if it doesn’t meet reality. I have seen what happens when systems are built around theories instead of people. The Open Door Mission has carried the weight of it. Open Door Mission staff and volunteers deal with the grief of it, every day. Honestly, I have to say it reads like someone finally stood back, took a hard look at the people and broken outcomes, and finally said: “Enough. This isn’t working”. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32
For the past three decades, I’ve been in full-time ministry. I have not spent the majority of my time in an office, but I have been on the frontlines and on the streets serving people. I have been walking alongside people experiencing homelessness, the addicted, the mentally ill, and the deeply marginalized. I’ve watched firsthand as entire systems failed the very people they were meant to serve.
Billions have been spent, countless initiatives launched, and yet conditions have only worsened. People are dying, and not just physically, but spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, every day, right in front of us. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Psalms 82:4
So when I saw this executive order, I felt a spark of something I hadn’t felt in a long time around public policy: HOPE. Not because I believe any single policy will be perfect, but because someone, somewhere in the leadership, finally seems willing to admit that what we’ve been doing isn’t working.
I’ve sat in on task forces, been in focus groups, joined planning meetings, and listened to experts from all corners of the country, trying to push for smarter, more compassionate, and truly effective strategies. But this moment feels different, not because of politics, but because of the potential. If we can finally align government agencies, service providers, and faith communities on a better path, we just might begin to reverse decades of decline. Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22
Many advocacy groups are pushing back. I realize that my opinion is different and often not welcome. And yes, I know the phrase “Housing First is evidence-based” gets repeated like the Gospel. But I’ve seen what “evidence” looks like when it’s disconnected from reality on the front lines.
When shelters turn people away because they’re not “housing ready,” when mental illness and addiction are treated as secondary. When people die alone in tents just a block from help. Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? James 2:15–16
This isn’t about right or left for me, as many of you know, I cannot even vote. I don’t carry water for any party or politician. I carry water literally, for people living under the bridge, the woman battling schizophrenia on a park bench, the teenager who’s aged out of foster care and into the street. This is about them. Always has been. Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40
It’s time to try something different. With open eyes, open hearts, and a firm commitment to results that restore dignity and save lives. We owe people that much.
Thank you for your support of Open Door Mission and God’s work. For believing that change is still possible through Christ. He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
