A Conversation About Homelessness
tpearson May 13th, 2008
The issue of homelessness in Richland and Lexington counties has received much attention over the last several years. One group that is addressing the issue of homelessness in our area is the Midlands Interfaith Homelessness Action Council (MIHAC). MIHAC was born out of the work of the Interfaith Homeless Coalition, which was initially organized by clergy and laypeople from several area churches.
Rev. Amos Disasa, Associate Pastor of Discipleship & Mission at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, is the chair of the MIHAC. A recent interview with Larry Snipes of Central Carolina Community Foundation is the beginning of a series of conversations that will, we hope, bring us a broader understanding of homelessness as an issue and as an opportunity to bring meaningful change to the Midlands.
Q: What is homelessness?
DISASA: There are a number of reasons people might be considered homeless: if they do not have a permanent place to live or if they are living in a place that’s not intended to be permanent, like a shelter or a motel. We also consider whether they are at risk of becoming homeless because they are about to lose their housing, they’ve lost their source of income or if they are being discharged from an institution or a hospital.
Q: Who is homeless in the Midlands?
DISASA: According to the Blueprint to Address Homelessness in the Midlands, in 2005, more than 1,700 people in the Midlands were found living in shelters, on the street or in other places not intended for human habitation. But, this is probably an underestimate of the true number of homeless people in the Midlands.
Of those counted, 70% of these homeless men, women, families and youth are from South Carolina. Of the 600 individuals interviewed in the Midlands in January 2005, the most frequently reported cause of homelessness was job loss.
Q: How can I tell if someone is homeless?
DISASA: You can’t tell most people are homeless just by looking at them. Some homeless people are staying with friends or relatives, living in abandoned houses or living in their cars. Some are living in motels, shelters and transitional housing. Others are at risk in that they are one paycheck away from homelessness.
Many others who you see daily - cashiers, food service workers, retail sales clerks, house or office cleaners, gardeners, child care workers, home health and nurses aides - are at risk because of illness, a cut in work hours, or the loss of just one paycheck could spiral them into losing their housing.
There’s another group of homeless who are not visible: children in foster care, especially those reaching the age of eighteen when they are no longer eligible for housing through the foster care system.
Q: How, or why, do people become homeless?
DISASA: There are many reasons why people become homeless. These include loss of employment, divorce or long-term illness. Others include domestic violence, substance abuse, institutional discharge and many other factors that make it difficult, if not impossible, for people to pay rent or make house payments.
Factors which contribute to homelessness include lack of affordable housing, lack of preventative services to keep people from losing their housing, and inadequate treatment programs for those suffering from substance abuse and mental illness.
Q: Is homelessness only an urban problem?
DISASA: Homelessness cuts across all social and economic lines, and across ethnic and racial lines. As housing costs soar, many people working at entry level or minimum-to-moderate wage jobs can’t afford to maintain housing and are losing their housing in both suburbs and cities. Many families and individuals are being forced to move to worse neighborhoods, or into motels or shelters.
Q: Is there a housing crisis?
DISASA: I would say that the crisis is in affordable housing. The United Way of the Midlands receives over 800 calls a month from people seeking rent or utility assistance. The demand for housing assistance vouchers is so high in the metro area that the Columbia Housing Authority only opens the waiting list every two or three years. There are currently over 4,000 people on the Section 8 housing waiting list in region.
Q: What is the impact of homelessness?
DISASA: According to the Urban Institute, on average, homeless families experience homelessness once or twice, usually for less than a year. Families tend to enter and exit homelessness relatively quickly.
Homeless children suffer more health problems than children with stable housing. 38% of children in homeless shelters have asthma. Middle ear infections occur 50% more often than the national average, and over 60% of homeless children are under-vaccinated (Redlener & Johnson, 1999). Homelessness often precludes good nutrition. Homeless children often experience physical and mental development delays.
The Institute for Children & Poverty reported in 2001, nearly one-fifth of homeless children repeat a grade in school and 16% are enrolled in special education classes - rates 100% and 33% higher than housed children. Much of this is due to their high mobility rate.
Now, homeless single adults are more visible and more likely to live on the streets. They experience longer or more frequent spells of homelessness. These homeless adults will suffer chronic physical health conditions such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, diabetes and hypertension, at a much higher rate than housed individuals because treatment is difficult without a stable living environment. Homeless adults also utilize public services (hospital emergency rooms, mental health facilities, jails) more frequently, and usually experience higher rates of violence and victimization.
Q: What challenges do people face when trying to resolve homelessness?
DISASA: Overall, the cost of living in Columbia presents the greatest challenge. A single adult with no children needs to earn about $8/hour in order to secure basic necessities. A single parent with one child needs to earn more than $13/hour.
About 10% of the workforce here earns less than what is needed to support a single person in Richland County. Add a child to a single-parent home and more than 30% are in trouble. Add one more child to a two-parent family and you create a situation where two incomes are required because 43% of the workforce in Richland County doesn’t have the earning power to support a family of four. Families without access to affordable child care or reliable transportation have greater difficulty moving towards self-sufficiency.
Q: Is it really possible to end homelessness in our community?
DISASA: While incredibly ambitious, our goal of ending homelessness in Richland County is an achievable one. Across the country, communities have made enormous strides, achieving 30%, even 50% decreases in their homeless population.
The Midlands Interfaith Homelessness Action Coalition (MIHAC) will adapt strategies proven successful elsewhere to meet the needs of our community in an effort to end homelessness within ten years. MIHAC has taken on primary responsibility for improving coordination between and among local jurisdictions, providers, the business community, neighborhoods, local houses of worship, the homeless and other stakeholders.
Q: What’s being done now to address homelessness in the Midlands?
DISASA: The best way to address homelessness is to prevent it. Toward that end, we will inventory current prevention services and use that inventory as a guide to analyze gaps in services, develop programs and services to prevent initial homelessness, and reduce the likelihood of individuals falling back into homelessness.
Homeless services in the Midlands are conceptualized as a continuum of care, a comprehensive and coordinated housing, and service delivery system. This framework helps our community provide a balance of emergency, transitional, and permanent housing and critical services to successfully support families and individuals transition out of homelessness. Prevention services are also a critical component of the continuum of care. Although resources have increased over the past decade, significant gaps in services for homeless people remain.
Q: What can I do to help end homelessness?
DISASA: The first thing to do is become knowledgeable about homelessness in your community and elsewhere in the country. Educate yourself, your friends, family and colleagues about the issue of homelessness and how we can work together to solve it.
- E-mail your friends and send a link to this website to spread the word and continue the conversation about how we can address homelessness in the Midlands.
- Get involved and show your support of policies and programs that serve people who are homeless and create affordable housing on the local, state and federal levels.
- Share your views with public officials and the news media.
- Make a difference by volunteering your time.
- Make a financial investment in the future of the Midlands by supporting one of the organizations that provide services and assistance to homeless citizens.
Rev. Amos Disasa explains his personal link to homelessness.
- Homelessness
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