More families coming into shelter off the streets

CINCINNATI, OH – July 10, 2014 – As many as 19 families who were living on the streets, in cars, and other places not meant for human habitation entered emergency shelter in recent weeks. These households were identified through the Central Access Point (CAP), Hamilton County’s centralized shelter intake service operated by Strategies to End Homelessness. Local experts say that families are becoming homeless due to a variety of factors, some of which recur annually, and some which are unique in 2014.

These factors include:

  •       Less homelessness prevention means more homeless people- due to reductions in homelessness prevention funding, the number of households served in prevention programs has declined by 2/3 since 2011. As a result, households that would have previously been diverted away from homelessness are finding themselves on the streets.
  •       Evicted by family/friends- families who have lost their own housing often temporarily double-up in housing with friends and family who are willing to host them while children are in school. However, such arrangements frequently end when summer vacation begins, and hosts demand that their guests leave.
  •       Fewer families exit, fewer families can enter- certain factors make it more difficult for current shelter residents to exit shelter and return to housing during summer months. Specifically, a family must be able to access utility services to move into housing, but during warm weather months higher payments are required to activate utility services. This dynamic keeps families in shelter longer, and prevents other families from entering.
  •       Funds exhausted- at-risk families frequently stabilize themselves temporarily early in the year with tax return funds, which they use to pay a few months rent or to compensate family/friends for allowing them to stay in their home. Such funding is frequently exhausted by June/July, and then families find themselves without options.
  •       Federal government funding delayed- in 2014, government funded housing programs for the homeless are experiencing a delay in receiving funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a result, non-profit organizations have had to front rental payments until their HUD funding arrives. Without HUD funding, shelter providers can’t move families from the shelters to housing, further clogging the system and making an already bad situation worse.

Susan Schiller, executive director of Bethany House Services explains, ”Our shelter is overflowing with families sleeping in both lounges and the living room.  We have sent six families to a motel in spite of the fact that we have no money to cover the cost.  We just can’t let the families sleep in abandoned buildings, the park, or in this heat, in their locked cars.”

“One advantage to having a coordinated system of homeless services is the ability of the system to adapt to meet needs”, said Kevin Finn, president/CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness. “However, in recent years we have seen a drastic decline in funding to prevent homelessness, followed by delayed funding to house those who are already homeless. This has created somewhat of a perfect storm,” Finn added.  “In 2013, only about 25% of the people in homeless families who reached out for family shelter were able to be taken in.”

For information about how to get involved, donate or volunteer with one of the 30 partner agencies, call 513-263-2798 or visit www.strategiestoendhomelessness.org.