But there’s the unspoken: mental illness, alcoholism, addiction, trauma, family dysfunction. Obtaining or maintaining a job or housing is difficult (and out of reach for some). A number of folks I’ve seen just this week are newly released from jail or prison. Their chances for jobs and housing seem to rise and fall with the economy.

I think of the words a homeless friend once said to me, “If we could get a job, we’d have one.” And another, referencing Greensboro’s wealth of free meal sites and dearth of affordable housing, “We appreciate the food. But you can’t cover up with a chicken wing.” True word.

>> Related post: “Urgent needs for our ministry to unsheltered homeless people: Please help!”

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday to open “The Journey House”. The “Journey House” is a place for young women to transition from foster care into the world. The facility will provide life-skills programs that will help the women to be successful in their lives.The non-profit agency, I Am Now, Inc, received the donated home from a Greensboro resident who wants to remain anonymous. The home is located on Rocky Knoll Circle in Greensboro. ‘I Am Now’ is an organization devoted to helping homeless youth in the Triad.

via Greensboro Homeowner Donates House To Non-Profit at digtriad.com

Event: Carwash Fundraiser
Host: Joseph’s House
Time: Saturday, July 30 · 10:00am – 2:00pm
Location: AutoZone; 3916 Battleground Avenue; Greensboro, NC

Come and Support Joseph’s House at our Carwash Fundraiser!
Fundraising Activities:

• Carwash – Free with Donations
• Baked Goods For Sale
• Hot Dogs For Sale

If you’re not able to attend this event, but would like to support our cause we are accepting donations either via checks made out to Joseph’s House (PO Box 13241, Greensboro, NC, 27415) or click here to donate online through our website.

We so much appreciate your support and your generosity. We truly hope to see you at the event.

Joseph’s House provides homeless young adults in Guilford County with shelter, food, clothing, and other supportive services to assist them into becoming self-sufficient. Services are provided in an atmosphere of caring, compassion, love, and instruction with absolute respect and unconditional love.

>> Visit “Joseph’s House Carwash Fundraiser” event page on Facebook.
>> Visit JosephsHouse.net.

Here is a list of the Guilford County providers who received renewal funding, along with the amount each received this year and last year:

PRESS RELEASE

Jehan Benton-Clark
For Immediate Release
336.553.2715 (O)
336.215.1295 (M)
Jehan@PartnersEndingHomelessness.org

State of Homelessness in Guilford County

Guilford County, NC—March 22, 2010– Homelessness has become a national issue of significant proportion with over 300 cities and counties across the country implementing plans to address this human tragedy.  In Guilford County, the Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative focuses on actively implementing, evaluating and updating Guilford County’s Ten Year Plan which is aimed at improving the quality of life for all residents of Guilford County by ending chronic homelessness and reducing all types of homelessness by 2016. The Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative focuses on generating housing and strengthening prevention & supportive services.

Homelessness is defined by the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) as a person sleeping in a place not meant for human habitation (e.g., living on the streets, or residing in an emergency shelter, or transitional housing) while, chronic homelessness is defined as an individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.

Three methods of data collection are used to gain an accurate picture of homelessness trends and the people experiencing homelessness over time in Guilford County. These methods include an annual Point in Time Count, an annual local school system count, and information and data collected by the State of North Carolina’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

Point in Time counts, conducted annually across the nation, are designed to collect data on the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness on any given night. The information collected provides a snapshot of unduplicated sheltered and unsheltered individuals and families experiencing homelessness as defined by HUD. On Wednesday, January 27^th the Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County conducted Guilford County’s Annual Point in Time Count. The survey included only individuals willing to answer questions about their living status within a single 24 hour time period.  Every individual or family experiencing homelessness are not included as some refuse to participate, avoid the survey, or are not found within the 24 hour time period. The 2010 Point in Time Count reveals that 1,064 individuals experience homelessness on any given night and 131 of those individuals are experiencing chronic homelessness. This year’s snap shot shows increases in homeless veterans, domestic violence victims, and homeless children, with a 55% increase in the number of Veterans living on the street or in emergency shelters, a 31% increase in the number of domestic violence victims who are experiencing homelessness (with 40% of those victims being male), and an 8% rise in the number of homeless children.

The Guilford County School System reports data annually on the number of children experiencing homelessness over the course of the school year. This data, based on the US Department of Education’s definition of homelessness, includes children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations. During the 2008-2009 school year the Guilford County School system reported 1,585 children experiencing homelessness over the course of the school year. In addition, to the 2008-2009 school year count, on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Guilford County Schools conducted an additional count to help provide a snapshot, with a total of 1,230 children experiencing homelessness on that day.

HMIS, a software application that records and stores unduplicated counts of client-level information on the characteristics and service needs of homeless persons. The Carolina Homeless Information Network manages North Carolina’s HMIS system. It is used by homeless assistance providers to coordinate care, manage their operations, and better serve their clients. Aggregated data in the system gives insights into the extent and nature of homelessness over time. Data collected in the HMIS system reflects that Guilford County had over 4,770 individuals and families who experienced homelessness over the course of the year in 2009.

Guilford County has made many strides over the past three years to address the issue of homelessness, however the economic downturn and housing crisis has disrupted the stability of many people. The challenges of living without permanent shelter are great and all the more heartbreaking when children, veterans and victims of Domestic violence are involved. The three pronged approach to data collection used in Guilford County reveals only a glimpse of the problem. It does not include the many people surviving outside of the system who are imminently homeless or precariously housed.

Unemployment and underemployment are the top reasons people in Guilford County experience homelessness, according to this data. Respondents state that jobs, affordable housing, shelter and healthcare are the most important community services needed in Guilford County. Families and individuals experiencing homelessness are not the only ones harmed by this situation. Guilford County citizens and the economy as a whole are impacted as well. It is essential that all groups pool their resources and coordinate efforts by strengthening existing partnerships and creating new ones. Our community has great needs, but through your support of the Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative we can help …connect…support ….and restore lives. We know that Time Counts and that with your help, together we can ensure that Guilford County will be a community that ends homelessness.

About the Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative

The Partners Ending Homelessness Initiative works to encourage public understanding of the causes and conditions of homelessness and lead a strong and stable system of care for individuals and families to reduce homelessness in Guilford County. For more information, please visit www.PartnersEndingHomelessness.org. Partners Ending Homelessness can be contacted at 336.553.2715 or by email at info@PartnersEndingHomelessness.org

About the Homeless Prevention Coalition

The Homeless Prevention Coalition is a diverse, community-based coalition working to end homelessness in Guilford County through advocacy, information, funding, and networking. For more information on the members of the Homeless Prevention Coalition, please visit http://www.hpcgc.org. For more information about the 2010 Point in Time Count contact Shanna Reece, Executive Director, The Servant Center at 336.275.8585 or shannareece@theservantcenter.org, or Steve Key, Executive Director, Open Door Ministries, at 336.885.0191 or skey@odm-hp.org.

# # # # #

The Myrtle Beach City Council has placed serious restrictions on group that feed the homeless in city (public) parks.  Church groups are currently feeding the homeless and hungry in obedience to their faith — weekly in one park and monthly in another.  A new ordinance will require them to obtain a permit and restrict feedings to four times per year.  The ordinance is a response to  neighbors’ complaints, such as perceived safety issues for children  in the park, and crimes alleged to have been committed by some of the homeless people in the parks.  But those who serve the homeless point out that children are among those being fed (children and families are homeless, too), and that homeless people will be in the parks whether meals are served or not.

Feedings in the parks apparently began because the homeless were already there.  The Swash Park Ministry of First Baptist Church serves meals to a group of homeless people that includes some who aren’t allowed at the community kitchen or shelter and don’t have anywhere else to eat.  Another church’s youth group serves bag lunches monthly at Chapin Park.

Bruce Crawford, pastor of Myrtle Beach First Baptist Church, asks:

“If Jesus came back and tried to feed 5,000, would he able to do it in Myrtle Beach?   We just need to think about our actions.”

Amen.

» More from Myrtle Beach area news outlets: here, here, here, here, here

UPDATE: Map links to parks where homeless are being fed — with images from Google street view:

• Chapin Park, 16th Ave. N. & & Hwy 17
• Withers Swash Park, off 3rd Ave. S. (Withers Swash Rd.)

Note:  I created the image used with this post, using a sign generator.  As far as I know, there is not a sign at Myrtle Beach that says “Don’t feed the homeless.”  (Yet, anyway.)  The image is intended to graphically depict the absurdity of the city’s position and to provoke a reaction in the viewer.

Thoughts from a friend:

“Usually the cop would do the opposite of that. They wouldn’t stand there and watch you and make sure you’re alright. They’d run you away… [The youth are] gonna be there with all their friends, in one spot. They’re in a fenced-in area. That ain’t nothing like being homeless… I understand what they’re trying to do and instill in their minds, but that’s not how it is.”

So, to recap: Youth groups are sleeping outside at the church on Friday night to raise awareness of homelessness, but if actual homeless people try to sleep there on any night, they can be charged with trespassing.  Isn’t that… well, kind of wrong, somehow??  (OK, I’m trying not to get stuck in “justice mode”…  moving on… )

The great part: While these young people probably won’t have their own authentic experience of homelessness on Friday night, they will have a unique opportunity to focus their time, their energy, their thoughts and their hearts on some of the realities that our homeless brothers and sisters face every day.  This could be a life-changing event for the participants.  I’m praying for all: for eyes to see and ears to hear, and for God to grow in them His own heart for the poor.  Go and be a blessing to the homeless in Greensboro and around the world!

Update: This event was planned to take place in a park, but when the location didn’t work out, New Jerusalem asked Grace if they could do it there.  Grace said yes and their youth were also invited.  I posted about this because I found irony in doing a homeless simulation in which people did things that homeless people actually can’t do.  But I very much appreciate their desire to raise awareness of homelessness.

People I know at New Jerusalem are very involved in local homeless efforts, including the day center, housing for chronically homeless people, the homeless coalition and the partnership to end homelessness,  and they’ve told me that homelessness is a priorty for their church, as well.  Grace has focused on serving the homeless for many years, and current ministries include: Grace currently provides a weekly meal for 200+ people; a HUD voucher program that houses the homeless; and winter shelter for women.

“This is not a sad story, this is a fairy tale. You better know it.”

[video link]

Joseph’s House is saving our sons from the street. Visit Joseph’s House online. Donate online to support the work of Joseph’s House, and help Miss Nancy save our sons and daughters.

Multimedia presentation by Carly Calhoun.

The idea behind the series of the meetings is to allow homeless people to speak out and advocate for themselves, and to let those with the power to make changes to the system know what’s working and what’s not working in the system from the perspective of those who are accessing services. The first meeting produced tangible results within days — changes are being made to the way that unsheltered homeless people access care at HealthServe.

Last night’s first question was about programs for unemployed single men who don’t have substance abuse or mental health issues — who are just unemployed. The perception is that there are more programs for women. (I’m not sure that’s true, though.) This was more a question for the homeless coalition than the County folks, though, so I offered to ask them and get back to him.

One homeless woman is new to Greensboro from out of state. She is a nurse and needs to get her license transferred here so that she can work, but she doesn’t have the money. She said that she’s not looking for a handout, just a “hand up.” She said that if someone would help her she is willing to “pass on the blessing,” and that she is willing to volunteer.

She also asked about transportation, which was covered in the previous meeting at the library. One gentleman spoke up and and gave the phone number for the county’s transportation service and mentioned that the list has been posted at the Weaver House shelter as well.

One man spoke about the need to “to get the monkey off your back” — referring to addiction — before you can work or get housing. He talked about his own struggle with crack cocaine, about spending seven months in rehab to get clean, and said that he was offered a job by the state of Georgia, where he was then living, because no one else would hire him. That job obviously made a big difference in his life, and his story emphasized the need for substance abuse treatment and for employers who will give second chances to people with criminal histories.

I asked how many people knew about Bridgeway, the new county treatment center that’s just opened. Few people raised their hands. Bridgeway will eventually offer medical detox, intensive outpatient treatment, and residential rehabilitation services. Joe Fortin from Guilford Center explained how to access services at Bridgeway by calling Guilford Center’s toll-free 24-hour phone number: 1-800-853-5163.

A woman asked about the needs of homeless youth and said, “They don’t need to be with older people.” She talked about their need for education, employment, health care and help dealing with sexual abuse that happens after they become homeless. She talked about homeless teens turning to prostitution. She stressed the need for a specific shelter and specific services for homeless youth — which we do not have now. As the woman spoke, a very recently homeless young lady was kneeling beside me, listening intently. A Christian ministry just moved her off the street, where she had been on and off since her early teens. After hearing the older woman speak passionately about the needs of homeless youth, the young lady looked up at me and said, “Well, I guess she covered it all. I’m going to go.” She seemed relieved.

The subject of a day center for homeless people came up again, and there does appear to be momentum on this issue, although Gibson said that it wouldn’t happen overnight. A formerly homeless gentleman asked, “How long? Three years, a lot of them be dead.” Another man spoke up and said that if money was the issue holding up the creation of the day center, then homeless people themselves could get involved in fundraising: “Bake sale, chicken, fish fry!” The group applauded in agreement. Liz Seymour of Food Not Bombs then invited the group to an upcoming meeting about a day center at the HIVE. It will be “for homeless people and by homeless people.”

After about an hour of dialogue, the group moved next door for Grace’s weekly community dinner, where the conversation continued during the meal. Stay tuned…

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