County's homeless count set for Jan. 22
The Highland County Press
Highland County commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer signed a proclamation for the Highland County Homeless Shelter during their Wednesday, Jan. 16 board meeting.
The county's official homeless count will be Jan. 22-23, according to Homeless Shelter executive director Bill Fife.
There were 30 homeless people in the county's previous count.
Currently, the Homeless Shelter is serving 21 people in its 28-bed capacity facility in Hillsboro, Fife said.
"Last fall, we were completely full for a while," Fife said.
The shelter served 176 people in 2012, up from 131 in 2011.
Fife presented the following information to commissioners.
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that communities receiving Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grant funding to complete an annual sheltered and biennial unsheltered Point-In-Time Count during the last 10 days of January. The date collected during this count assists the CoC locally and across the state to plan future services geared toward ending homelessness, understand changes in trends among homeless populations, comply with reporting requirements from HUD, other funders and local stakeholders and justify the need for continued resources to aid the homeless.
A statewide count of homeless men, women and children living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, on the streets and other places not meant for human habitation is being coordinated by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and the Region 16 Continuum of Care locally. The count will be conducted from sunset Jan. 22 to sunrise Jan. 23. This is the first year that data will be collected with the state-defined region of Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Ross and Pickaway counties. Last year, 209 individuals were counted over the five-county region.
"The information collected during this count directly impacts our ability to identify gaps in serves and compete for funding," Highland County Continuum of Care Chair Bill Fife said.
HUD defines "homeless" as persons who are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation, sleeping in emergency shelters or living in transitional housing having come from a shelter or place not meant for human habitation.
Locally, the Point-in-Time Count will include persons staying at the Highland County Homeless Shelter and CAC Transitional Housing. Last year's local count revealed that there were 19 homeless persons living in shelters or transitional housing programs. The Point-In-Time Count also counted people that are considered unsheltered, meaning that they are living on the streets, in their cars, in abandoned buildings, etc. It revealed that there was one unsheltered homeless person in our county.
"Before I started working with the homeless, I was completely unawares of the homeless population in our small community," volunteer and SSI Ohio Specialist Melinda Hellard said. "It was something that just didn't cross my mind because it's not something you see when you stop at a red light or go into the grocery store.
"Most individuals, like me, have this pre-conceived notion that a homeless person will be standing on the street corner holding a sign or pushing a Kroger shopping cart down the street, wearing layers of clothes. This isn't something we see here in our rural community, but they are out there."
The Ohio Point-In-Time Count includes homeless men, women and children living on the streets or places not meant for human habitation, emergency shelters or transitional housing programs. The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio produces an annual Homeless Report, which can be found at www.cohhio.org.
For more information about this year's count, to volunteer or to donate, contact Fife at (937) 393-0634 or hchs2004@sbcglobal.net.