Community coalition focuses public spotlight on homelessness

Camped out on park benches, on city streets and in back alleys and woods, America's homeless struggle daily to survive.

Nationwide, more than half a million people are homeless, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Half of them are over the age of 50.

Fifteen percent of homeless people are considered "chronically homeless" -- defined as a person with a disabling condition who has been homeless continuously for at least a year or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years.

The numbers come from a single point-in-time survey of homeless people that is conducted in January.

Locally, numbers are hard to come by. But Cape Girardeau County has its share of homeless, said Sharon Braun of the Community Counseling Center, which is working with a community coalition to draw attention to the problem.

The Community Counseling Center is one of 23 social service organizations and agencies that make up the Cape Girardeau Housing Needs Committee. The group is seeking to inform the public about homelessness as part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, which began Sunday.

This marks the sixth year a local display has been assembled in the lobby of Wehrenberg Theatres Cape West 14 Cine to bring attention to the issue. The display, which can be viewed through Nov. 28, includes an interactive board where moviegoers can test their knowledge of homelessness.

Other displays about homelessness are scheduled to be erected at 937 Broadway and at Southeast Missouri State University's Towers residence halls and the University Center. Boxes have been placed in residence halls for students to donate food items before leaving for Thanksgiving break, Braun said.

Hundreds of area schoolchildren are homeless, she said.

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson school districts had 343 homeless students enrolled in classes in 2014, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Jackson public schools saw its number of homeless students triple, from 67 in 2012 to 207 in 2014.

The Cape Girardeau School District saw its homeless-student population climb from 107 in 2012 to 136 in 2014.

"There is a lot of couch hopping," Braun said, explaining homeless people often move from one friend's house to another to find shelter.

Braun said local churches serve about 2,000 free meals each month.

In 2015, nearly 6,500 people were reported homeless in Missouri as of a single date in January. That included 3,379 in emergency shelters, 2,032 in transitional housing and 973 that were unsheltered.

Homelessness often is overlooked by society, Braun said.

"In some instances, the homeless are ignored," she said.

She said she sees people almost weekly holding cardboard signs at busy intersections in Cape Girardeau seeking to find work or financial donations to help them survive.

Motorists routinely pass by, with few offering help, she said.

People tend to have a negative view of the homeless, she said. Family members often reject them. Some of the homeless suffer from mental-health problems, Braun said.

"I know it is the old scenario: Unless you are in somebody's shoes, you don't understand," Braun said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

402 S. Silver Springs Rd., Cape Girardeau, Mo.