Local advocates: Homeless might be out of mind because they're out of sight

One of the biggest misconceptions local homeless advocates battle is this: Just because homeless people are not always seen in public doesn't mean they don't exist.

The latest figures from the Missouri Housing Development Commission show this past winter, Cape Girardeau County had 159 sheltered homeless people, nine unsheltered and one who was "doubled up" -- meaning a person does not have a home and is staying temporarily with friends or family.

These numbers decreased from the last survey in summer 2013, when 151 people were sheltered, 26 unsheltered and seven doubled up.

Scott County had 86 homeless people last winter, between the sheltered, unsheltered and doubled up; Perry County had six sheltered individuals; and Bollinger County reported none.

One of the reasons the numbers could be decreasing is because of the variety of resources being offered.

Natalie Sandoval, a housing case manager for the Community Caring Council in Cape Girardeau who has been in the area for more than a decade, said the grant she works from is able to fund 27 housing units, unlike her co-worker Jaime Ludwig, a community case manager, who helps people by the number and not the household.

"The grant that I work under works to serve individuals and/or families where at least one adult member of the household is disabled," Sandoval said. "But the disability can be really broad. It doesn't mean that they're getting a check. Most people, when they think disability, they think that [someone is] getting some sort of benefit. That's not a requirement, so I deal a lot with people who have chronic addiction issues, [are] chronically mentally ill, [have] HIV/AIDS, [are] developmentally different and have some sort of physical difference as well."

Sandoval finds landlords to house people permanently, while Ludwig can only offer shelter for a two-year period.

"[I work with the] emergency solutions grant, and ... the goal is to house those who are meeting that HUD definition of 'literally homeless,' but I don't have to focus on that disability component, so that does open the door to more folks," Ludwig said.

Homeless definition

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definition of "literally homeless" is when people stay in places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, abandoned buildings, an emergency shelter or a transitional shelter, after having been on the street or in an emergency shelter previously.

Sandoval said she uses that definition when evaluating people and deciding what the next step for them should be.

Ludwig is housing 10 adults and 10 children in six homes, with the possibility of one more person. With her emergency solutions grant, funds were cut significantly over the past year.

"Last year we got about $250,000; $130,000 of that was directly toward us and our program. We only got $48,000 this year," Ludwig said. "So I was housing 30-something households, and then I had to pretty much wipe out 60 to 70 percent."

Both social workers say community resources now are some of their strongest assets. The Community Caring Council works closely with the United Way of Southeast Missouri, which provides different supplies, funding and volunteers to help with the CCC's needs.

After finding shelter for someone who is homeless, there's a whole other range of problems to assess, from employment to food to transportation and clothing.

Organizations such as The Salvation Army, First Call for Help and SEMO Food Bank supply many of these resources.

Missy Rice, chief administrative and programs officer at the food bank, said the organization serves one homeless shelter in Cape Girardeau County -- the Amen Center in Delta.

The Amen Shelter is by far the largest shelter in the area and houses 58 people, but its capacity is 95, said founder Danny Hollowell.

Since Jan. 1, Rice said the food bank has supplied the shelter with 7,591 pounds of free food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The idea of a shelter in Cape Girardeau is fraught with mixed emotions. Hollowell, who has operated Amen Center since 2011, said he believes Cape Girardeau isn't the right place for a shelter. He says it's too close to the problems people with drug and alcohol abuse issues are trying to escape.

The Amen Center is 21 miles from town, and once people are situated there, "we introduce them to the Lord and let Him work in their life," Hollowell said. "That's our main goal."

Rice said she feels differently about the situation.

"Just because you don't see someone walking down the road with a shopping cart, you think, 'Oh, there's no homeless people here,' because that's how you see it in the movies. But there is a problem."

No particular area appears to be a homeless hot spot, she said. Others agreed.

No shelter in Cape

Sandoval said the lack of a shelter in Cape Girardeau is because people don't want to live near one.

"It has been a highly political issue in this community since I moved here," Sandoval said. "There's also the mentality that if you build it, they will come. ... Yes, we need a shelter, but then when you say, 'Oh, well, there's a nice lot behind your neighborhood -- but then they respond, 'Oh, not in my backyard.' It's that mentality."

Others want to find a solution, but perhaps not in the form of a shelter.

"So you have people who want to help, but not like that, and then 'if you build it they will come,' but my response to that is they're already here, so let's service them," she said. "And will you start to get more people who emerge? Sure, because there's never been an opportunity for them to get help before. So when you provide [for] that gap, people are going to say, 'I don't want to stay with my cousin anymore. I'm willing to take the risk to go to a shelter,' which is not an easy decision to make."

Sandoval said there have been attempts at a shelter before, but with resources already stretched thin, the project has yet to succeed.

Other smaller homeless centers in the area include the New Beginnings Church of Deliverance on William Street, run by Pastor Dorothy Wilson and her husband, Bishop Carey Wilson. The other option is the Revival Center in Jackson, which opened in 2001.

The United Way also is planning a mobile unit to assist the homeless in the form of a "one-stop shop."

"We are focusing on three core areas," said Melissa Stickel, director of community development at United Way. "One of them is income support -- so are [people] eligible for food stamps, Medicaid, that sort of thing? And ... the second one is education and workforce, so getting them on the track to finish their GED, go on to technical school, help them find employment, whatever that looks like for that individual. And the third section is financial education, so when they do get money, do they know how to handle that money?"

On Oct. 3, the third annual Project Homeless Connect will begin at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau. The event is meant to help the homeless and financially unstable with a variety of resources. Rice said the food bank has been involved in the past and is looking forward to participating again.

"As a community we have services, but it's still hard -- it's never enough. That's the reality that I think people don't see," Sandoval said.

smaue@semissourian.com

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