Guilford County’s 2008 homeless count shows drop in number of unsheltered homeless people
The Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County has released totals from its annual Point in Time Count of the homeless, conducted last month. The total number of homeless people counted in the county was 981, which was 33 less than last year’s count of 1014. But there was a dramatic drop in the count of unsheltered homeless people.
Here are the numbers:
EMERGENCY SHELTER
Greensboro, 2007: 280
Greensboro, 2008: 303
High Point, 2007: 127
High Point, 2008: 112
Emergency Shelter Total, 2007: 407
Emergency Shelter Total, 2008: 415
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
Greensboro, 2007: 302
Greensboro, 2008: 323
High Point, 2007: 102
High Point, 2008: 135
Transitional Total, 2007: 404
Transitional Total, 2008: 458
UNSHELTERED
Greensboro, 2007: 122
Greensboro, 2008: 57
High Point, 2007: 81
High Point, 2008: 51
Unsheltered Total, 2007: 203
Unsheltered Total, 2008: 108
COMBINED TOTALS
Greensboro Total, 2007: 704
Greensboro Total, 2008: 683
High Point Total, 2007: 310
High Point Total, 2008: 298
GUILFORD COUNTY TOTAL, 2007: 1014
GUILFORD COUNTY TOTAL, 2008: 981
The Housing Support Team has moved several dozen chronically homeless people from the street to permanent housing in the past few months, and that has certainly made an impact on the number of unsheltered people in Greensboro, although it doesn’t completely account for the large drop in that category. There is likely to be a correlation between the decrease in the number of unsheltered homeless people counted and the increase in the number of people counted in emergency shelters and transitional facilities.
I look forward to seeing more detailed information, including the number of homeless families, homeless youth, and chronically homeless individuals who were counted.
» HPCGC Press release about 2008 homeless count
» Printable copy of Guilford County 2008 homeless count totals
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Moses Cone VP offers solution to help homeless at HealthServe
On Monday evening, Moses Cone Executive Vice President Tim Clontz joined in a discussion with homeless Greensboro residents at the Winter Series at the downtown public library, along with Guilford County Commissioner Paul Gibson and directors and staff from various County departments. One man asked Clontz why HealthServe (a clinic operated by Moses Cone) charges a $6.00 co-pay for homeless clients who have no income and no way to pay the fee. And most of the homeless and formerly homeless people in the room raised their hands in response to the question, “How many have had difficulty accessing services at HealthServe?” Clontz listened respectfully and responded to the questions and concerns on Monday night. But he didn’t stop there.
I just got off the phone with Tim Clontz. He’s come up with a solution to help homeless people who receive medical services at HealthServe: If we will verify that they are homeless, HealthServe will agree to declare that they meet eligibility requirements and waive all co-pays. Wow! This is huge!
We’ll be following up to work out details, but he hopes to begin implementing the change as soon as next week. Thank you so much, Tim Clontz and Moses Cone! Thank you to the homeless gentleman who initiated the discussion about HealthServe at the dinner on Monday night.
There are some amazing things happening in this town lately. It’s a beautiful thing when we focus on hearing one another and then use our collective gifts and talents to create a more respectful and caring community — for all of us.
Thank you, Jesus. 
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Greensboro Urban Ministry explores Housing First for families in Greensboro
From an email conversation with Mike Aiken, executive director of Greensboro Urban Ministry:
“GUM is exploring the feasibility of establishing a Housing First for Homeless Families to help with the long waiting list of families at Pathways… [and] looking for other agency partners as well. As we all know, we must work together to end homelessness.”*
This is exciting news and I hope that other providers and funders will step up and join Mike and his board and staff as they explore the possibility of doing Housing First for families in Greensboro. It’s very much needed and Mike has the vision and the heart to get this done. Go, Mike!
Mike pointed me to the video “Keys: Ending Family Homelessness” on the web site of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Check it out.
Note: The video link doesn’t work for me in Firefox. Try this link for FF instead.
P.S. What is Housing First?
“Housing First is an approach to ending homelessness that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly and then providing services as needed…” keep reading »
*Posted with permission from Mike Aiken.
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Serving Greensboro Together 2008
Serving Greensboro Together is an annual, all-day community event that supports Greensboro Urban Ministry. Participating restaurants will donate 10% of their total sales on Tuesday, May 6th to help Greensboro Urban Ministry fight hunger. In 2007, 120 restaurants participated and raised $25,000. Dine out on May 6th and help raise even more for hunger in 2008!
ยป Restaurant Owners: Click here to sign up to participate in Serving Greensboro Together 2008.
UPDATE: CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND A LIST OF PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS.
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Help wanted: Computers and internet access for formerly homeless people
Now that a number of our homeless friends are moving from chronic homelessness to permanent housing, I’ve discovered an interesting conundrum: Many of them are losing access to the internet. Most of them were previously sleeping and spending their days in the vicinity of downtown and UNCG, where they had access to computers at the public and university libraries.
Many have email accounts that they use as a primary means of communication. One is a writer and techie who is developing an online business. As they’ve moved into permanent housing that is not within walking distance of a library, they’ve lost computer access.
If anyone knows of a grant program or community service project that could provide computers and internet access to our formerly homeless friends, would you please contact me? I realize that this is more of a want than a need, but I figured that it couldn’t hurt to mention it.
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Letter to the Editor: Progress on Ten Year Plan?
A social work student writes a very optimistic letter to the editor of the News & Record:
“Guilford County has moved forward with a 10-year plan… efforts are solidifying.”
Really? Please tell me more, because I’m actually on the Task Force and I haven’t heard a thing in months.
“In January 2007, more than 1,200 people were homeless in Guilford County, and more than 200 of them were chronically homeless. However, during the previous year, 243 people moved from transitional to permanent housing. This is a major step in the right direction.”
Moving people into permanent housing is always a good thing, but the total number of homeless people in Guilford County actually increased from 1108 in 2006 to 1269 in 2007. So that’s a major step in the wrong direction.
“… discharge plan … … 24-hour resource system … … day center …”
Those are all needed and wanted — agreed!. And proposed under a plan that is not yet implemented. Fortunately, there are some other groups of folks who are coming together to find ways to create some of these resources.
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Commissioner Gibson brings County department heads to hear from homeless residents
Guilford County Commissioner Paul Gibson returned to dine and dialogue with homeless folks at the downtown library on Monday evening, and this week, he brought along a team of folks to join the conversation — Director Merle Green and Asst. Director Ken Carter from Public Health; Exec. VP Tim Clontz from Moses Cone/HealthServe; Transportation Director Mark Kirstner; Asst. Directors Debra Moore, Steve Hayes and Jenise Davis from DSS; Brenda Spach from Veterans Services; and Joe Fortin from Guilford Center.
A gentleman asked about transportation to work and Kirstner told him about a county program that provides “24-hour employment-related transportation… [to] help with job training and a few months after that while you get yourself stable.” Kirstner gave details about how the program works and provided a phone number to call for service.
A young woman asked about cleanliness — homeless people have little or no access to bathrooms, showers or laundry facilities. There are few public restrooms. There is one shower at the Hospitality House on Arlington Street, and it’s only available from 4:30 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. on some weekdays. I’m not aware of any free laundry facilities. Green had an idea about possibly providing showers at locations where homeless people go for meals, and she asked for more information so that she could explore the idea further.
Green also urged those in attendance to get on the waiting list for the County’s new dental clinic on Friendly Avenue: “There is a waiting list but go ahead and get on it… We will need a way to get in contact with you. It may take a couple of months for your name to get to the top of the list… If you’re in bad pain, there’s an opportunity for you to be worked in earlier.”
Jen Worrells asked if there was a way to make the information about the dental clinic public. Green replied: “I want everybody to know that the services that are available are packed. Sometimes we purposely stop advertising.” Paul Gibson then commented, “If we’ve got a backlog that large, then maybe at budget time, we need to take a look at this.”
There was further discussion about the need for a day center, and the need to simplify the process of receiving assistance from homeless service providers, as well as making the process more respectful to homeless people. There was discussion about “draconian” rules at shelters, which rob homeless people of their dignity. One gentleman noted that the needs of the homeless have primarily been funneled through specific service providers and “that isn’t working — there need to be alternatives.”
One young woman suggested that homeless people who are able to work should “get a job” and not “abuse the system.” But others spoke of wanting to work and not being able to find jobs — because of their homelessness, criminal history, etc.
One gentleman questioned HealthServe’s practice of charging indigent clients with zero income a $6.00 co-pay on each visit. Clontz responded that they could still receive service, even if they couldn’t pay. So I followed up and asked what was the point of charging the co-pay? Clontz seemed to agree that there really wasn’t a reason to charge it. Hands all over the room went up in response to the question, “How many have had difficulty accessing services at HealthServe?” I was encouraged to hear from Clontz that recent changes have been made to simplify the system and that he is aware that more needs to be done. (Update: Clontz offers solution to issues with eligibility and co-pays. Read it here.)
Another gentleman asked the County folks to pass around the heavy backpack that he carries with him everywhere he goes, so that they could get a sense of how tired he is after lugging it on his back all day long. And he pointed out that everyone who sees him with his bag knows that he is homeless — which often affects how he is treated.
One of the ideas that came out of the evening’s dialogue was to have homeless people operate a day center, like this self-governing daytime shelter and resource center in Milwaukee. Repairers of the Breach aims “to bring forth homeless people to act collectively to change the present conditions under which they live, through advocacy/education and direct action.”
Thank you to Paul Gibson and all of the County folks who came out on Monday evening. It was very much appreciated!
Stay tuned…
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