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Waynesville, Mo. —
“Homelessness is a complex problem,” Executive Director of Good Samaritan Resource Center Connie Chambers said.
Chambers has extensive experience with the problem beginning in childhood and extending to the present day. Chambers worked in the mission her parents ran in Kansas City when she was young and she has been able to see homelessness in its many forms throughout her career.
The complexity of the problem begins with an individual's circumstances that led to becoming homeless and ends with trying to find solutions to help that individual end their homelessness forever.“It's not a simple problem,” Chambers said.
She pointed out that individual circumstances vary wildly and many factors can contribute to homelessness including job loss, drug and/or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, poor education, mental illness and emotional problems. Chambers said some of these factors can contribute to “chronic homelessness,” a situation in which a person is periodically homeless due to one or more contributing factors.
According to Chambers, homelessness isn't simply a matter of helping someone find a home, it is treating the whole person individually and addressing the issues that contributed to becoming homeless in the first place.
Many organizations have expressed a desire to help with the homeless problem emerging in Pulaski County by opening another shelter, but Chambers pointed out that this may not be a viable plan as money, programs and other issues should be considered before “something like that could be tackled.”
Chambers said decisions such as who a shelter would serve would have to be made, what kind of treatment would be available and whether or not the community could support such a facility would all have to be considered.“
A person who has a mental illness that has contributed to their homelessness is an example,” Chambers said. She pointed out that the average person is not equipped to effectively help a person with a mental illness.
The typical homeless person in Pulaski County is a woman and her children, according to the snapshot Good Samaritan took in the two week period they collected statistics for the Daily Guide in December.
The major contributing factor in those cases was domestic violence and Genesis House is in place to address those situations, but Genesis cannot hold every woman and her children in need in the county at once.
Situations where families are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless due to economic issues also have programs that attempt to address their problems such as HUD's public housing program (Department of Housing and Urban Development), MOCA 's (Missouri Ozarks Community Action) Housing Choice Voucher Program, MOCA's utility bill program, the two benevolence funds administrated by Good Samaritan Emergency Services Coordinator Vicky Hurlbutt and low income housing available through landlords who are part of low income housing programs.
“Homelessness is a complex problem,” Executive Director of Good Samaritan Resource Center Connie Chambers said.
Chambers has extensive experience with the problem beginning in childhood and extending to the present day. Chambers worked in the mission her parents ran in Kansas City when she was young and she has been able to see homelessness in its many forms throughout her career.
The complexity of the problem begins with an individual's circumstances that led to becoming homeless and ends with trying to find solutions to help that individual end their homelessness forever.“It's not a simple problem,” Chambers said.
She pointed out that individual circumstances vary wildly and many factors can contribute to homelessness including job loss, drug and/or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, poor education, mental illness and emotional problems. Chambers said some of these factors can contribute to “chronic homelessness,” a situation in which a person is periodically homeless due to one or more contributing factors.
According to Chambers, homelessness isn't simply a matter of helping someone find a home, it is treating the whole person individually and addressing the issues that contributed to becoming homeless in the first place.
Many organizations have expressed a desire to help with the homeless problem emerging in Pulaski County by opening another shelter, but Chambers pointed out that this may not be a viable plan as money, programs and other issues should be considered before “something like that could be tackled.”
Chambers said decisions such as who a shelter would serve would have to be made, what kind of treatment would be available and whether or not the community could support such a facility would all have to be considered.“
A person who has a mental illness that has contributed to their homelessness is an example,” Chambers said. She pointed out that the average person is not equipped to effectively help a person with a mental illness.
The typical homeless person in Pulaski County is a woman and her children, according to the snapshot Good Samaritan took in the two week period they collected statistics for the Daily Guide in December.
The major contributing factor in those cases was domestic violence and Genesis House is in place to address those situations, but Genesis cannot hold every woman and her children in need in the county at once.
Situations where families are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless due to economic issues also have programs that attempt to address their problems such as HUD's public housing program (Department of Housing and Urban Development), MOCA 's (Missouri Ozarks Community Action) Housing Choice Voucher Program, MOCA's utility bill program, the two benevolence funds administrated by Good Samaritan Emergency Services Coordinator Vicky Hurlbutt and low income housing available through landlords who are part of low income housing programs.
These programs attempt to get families into affordable housing or help them keep the housing they already have. Unfortunately, the programs aren't able to keep up with the demand that has been developing in these economic times.
The waiting list for HUD, according to MOCA representatives who recently spoke about the subject at the poverty simulation in Waynesville, is more than two years long.
MOCA's funding has been cut on the national level and there isn't as much money available to help with utility bills as there has been in past years.
Families attempting to get into low income housing are having a little bit better luck, according to Good Samaritan, but it still can be difficult because issues such as transportation can restrict a family's options.
The benevolence funds are not meant to put people into new living situations, but Hurlbutt does manage to help people keep their utilities on with the funds she has available. Individuals are limited in the amount of money they can receive from the benevolence funds within a six month time period.
Good Samaritan attempts to address the homeless problem and all the facets of it as much as they are able, but they are limited by the funds and resources available. “There isn't an easy answer,” Chambers said.
