RICHLAND COUNTY, Ohio — Homelessness in Richland County isn’t running rampant, but it still affects a “steady population of people,” according to Harmony House Director Vicki Kane.
Harmony House, which provides emergency housing, food and supportive services to individuals and families who are homeless, served 500 people in 2014, including 268 men, 144 women and 88 children.
Kane said by Harmony House’s definition, homelessness means to be without a permanent, stable place to sleep at night. “So that includes people living on the street, people that have been evicted, people getting out of jails and prisons without a place to go…but not anyone that’s doubled-up, she said.
“[Homelessness] is not really visible here, but there’s a steady a population of homeless people. I mean we served 500 people last year, and that’s just in this building–that doesn’t count the other shelters or the people on the streets.”
Fortunately, the number of those who lack shelter is minimal. “We don’t have many in this community,” Kane said.
Richland County Coalition on Housing and Homelessness point-in-time results from Jan. 27, 2015 – Jan. 28, 2015 showed that only two men between the ages 25 and 60 were unsheltered.
When conducting the one-day count, Kane said, “We check with the police, we check with hospitals, we check with all of the shelters, we look in abandoned buildings–we actually go out and search places we think people might be living in. We try to search throughout the whole county.”
The results also showed that there were 78 people living in shelters at that time, including 43 men, 22 women and 13 children.
“It’s like a one-day snapshot,” she said of the results, adding, “If it were to be done in June instead of January, [the number of homeless individuals] would be much higher.”
She continued, “People hole up for the winter. Our numbers are lowest January through May, every year, always, and then we get busier June through December.”
How Harmony House helps
Open since 1990, Harmony House provides clients with emergency shelter for a maximum of 90 days.
The nonprofit provides, on average, 20,000 nights of lodging and 60,000 meals to homeless individuals each year, according to the website.
Services include weekly job readiness and life skills meetings, transportation for job searches, assistance with first-month rent and deposit, laundry services, medical screening and referrals, education in utilizing community resources and more.
To be eligible for services, individuals must be 18 or older (unless accompanied by legal guardian), willing to follow a case plan and program rules and not actively using alcohol or drugs.
“We have two case managers–one for the men and one for the women–and they try to help the individuals develop a goal plan and get them connected with whatever services they need. If they need employment, we do a weekly job readiness training. We also do life-skills training and we have a program that can help pay their first month’s rent and deposit if they qualify, she said.
“If they follow through with their goal plan, they can get housed at the end of the 90 days.”
The facility located at 124 W. Third St. can house 60 people, Kane said, with separate sleeping areas arranged for men and women.
“We try to keep families together,” she said.
Harmony House also owns a six-unit apartment building on West Fourth Street, where individuals can rent a one-bedroom unit for $200 a month. “Most of them either stayed here or were referred to Harmony House,” Kane said of the tenants.
She said they also recently purchased a building on West Dixon Street to be used for additional housing space.
Collaboration
Harmony House collaborates with a number of local agencies to help connect individuals with area resources.
One group they partner with frequently to help local youth is the Student Achievement through Family Engagement (SAFE) program at Mansfield City Schools.
“We communicate with [Harmony House] almost on a daily basis,” said SAFE co-coordinator Louise Yochheim.
Yochheim said approximately 190 students at Mansfield City Schools are considered homeless; the majority of them are doubled-up. Doubled-up means sharing living space intended for only one person or family. About one-fourth of the students who have been identified as homeless are living in shelters, Yochheim said. And none are unsheltered.
“We’re pretty lucky there,” she said.
The SAFE program helps ensure that students who have been identified as homeless are getting the services they need, especially when it comes to education.
Each year, the program applies for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Children and Youth Program grant, which helps homeless children by paying for their school supplies, lunches and other approved activities.
“These homeless families are moving from location to location a lot, and so the biggest thing that I see we do for kids is we make sure that they get to stay in the same school, said SAFE co-coordinator Phil Mitchell.
“If a family moves, we help provide transportation so the students can stay in the same school and something is consistent in their life.”
Lacking permanent or stable housing can take a toll on students’ performance in the classroom, Yochheim said. “Their grades can suffer and attendance is sporadic, so it does have a negative impact,” she said.
That’s one of the reasons why raising awareness about this issue is imperative.
“We have to create awareness–that’s our big mantra,” said Yochheim.
SAFE relies on the assistance of teachers, principals, secretaries, among others who can help identify children in need.
“We try to connect families with area resources because there are a lot of things going on in the community to help the kids; but unless the families know about it, they can’t be used,” said Mitchell.
Recently, many members of the community joined forces in support of the SAFE program’s mission. Over 200 items, including a variety of hygiene products, along with monetary donations, were donated to help homeless students.
The McKinney-Vento grant is geared toward education, so the donations could help the students with other needs that they have, like hygiene, clothing, etc., Yochheim said.
How you can help
Yochheim noted that a pantry is going to be set up at the Raemelton Administrative Office Building at 856 W. Cook Road in Mansfield, where people can make donations for homeless students.
She added that families in transition often have no way of taking their belongings with them from place to place, “so if anyone has storage units that they would like to donate, that would be great,” she said, “otherwise we have to start all over again.”
Those interested in donating are encouraged to call 419-525-6400 ext. 56413 for more information.
Donations are also warmly welcomed at Harmony House. “We need community financial support, said Kane.
“Our biggest source of funding comes from the Ohio Housing Trust Fund. In the Senate right now they’re trying to cut the Ohio Housing Trust Fund by 50 percent. We get $165,000 a year from them, so a 50 percent cut would be 80-some thousand dollars a year. That would close us.
“We need about $450,000 a year to operate, and that’s for 24-hour staffing in two areas, utilities, food, supplies and special programs.”
Harmony House is holding a fundraising event Sept. 25. For more information about the event, visit the website.
“If we shut our doors, you would recognize homelessness,” Kane said. “But it’s not visible, I think, because we’re doing a pretty good job of serving most of the homeless that come to us.”
“We try to connect families with area resources because there are a lot of things going on in the community to help the kids; but unless the families know about it, they can’t be used,” said Phil Mitchell.
