Monthly Archives: February 2008

Guilford County’s 2008 homeless count shows drop in number of unsheltered homeless people

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Michele (CM)| Leave a comment

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

Posted on February 28, 2008 by Michele (CM)| 2 Comments

HealthServeOn 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

Posted on February 27, 2008 by Michele (CM)| Leave a comment

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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