By Maryann Schroder
On a warm November afternoon in downtown Athens, a woman sat on a concrete barrier holding a cardboard sign that read, “Homeless. Anything helps.” A styrofoam bowl in front of her contained two dimes and a quarter. Next to her were garbage bags, two stuffed with clothing, one partially filled with canned food.
The Sparrow’s Nest, a mission serving homeless in Athens, had just distributed winter clothing and blankets. The woman wore the jacket she received and kept other items close to her.
Outreach and services for the homeless help people survive. National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day is December 21st, designated to remember those who died while homeless and advocate for those still unsheltered. The date is set to coincide with the longest night of the year.
“Sometimes people die out there,” said Jamie Scott, executive director of the Sparrow’s Nest. “They just don’t get services or medical attention.”
The U.S. Center for Disease Control promotes the day of remembrance and considers it an urgent reminder of what needs to be done. Chief among those is the need to bring public and private resources together to help people survive and find housing. New mandates by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also call for coordination to streamline the process of bringing people into a system of care to meet those goals.
Katie Smith, assistant director of Athens Area Homeless Shelter, thinks it makes sense.
“People can be on many different waiting lists at one time. We’re working to reduce the number of times a person has to explain their situation to get help,” she said.
Not only does that make it quicker, it also makes it easier on people already stressed.
Ryan Halsey, community development coordinator with Athens-Clarke Unified Government, stated that agencies and organizations have been working together informally for years. The new mandates require that coordination be addressed more formally.
One of the qualities of coordinated entry is fair and equal access. People needing services become known in different ways: showing up at service locations, calling, registering online, or even through contact with an outreach worker. They are often unaware of what is available or what they need to do to get help. The idea is to make that known, regardless of where or how people present.
Two points of entry into homeless services in Athens currently exist – Homeless Day Services and the Salvation Army. Halsey explained that as coordination is more fully developed, the goal will be to make sure that people using services anywhere in the community are directed to those entry points.
David Pirtle, education director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said that coordinating efforts reassures people that they are not left to fend for themselves in navigating what may seem like a puzzling array of programs and services.
The woman sitting on the concrete barrier panhandling that November day has experienced the dilemma. Marlene became homeless at age 38 due to a disruption in Social Security disability after a move. That was two years ago. She uses resources in town for day to day living but admits she does not know where to go for housing or other help.
“Some people don’t mind being out here,” she said of some homeless friends, “but that’s not me. I really want a place to live.”
Her disability check has since been reinstated, and Marlene also takes in a small amount from panhandling. She wishes someone would just point her to an affordable apartment or even a women’s boarding house.
“That’s all I need,” she said. “If someone would tell me where I could find a place to live with the money I have.”
Marlene started a part-time job in the kitchen of a local pizza restaurant and has tentative plans to move in as a third roommate with two male friends once she can meet her share of the rent. Until then she sleeps on brick pavement under the overhang of a building and occasionally treats herself to a night in an inexpensive motel.
Her situation highlights the purpose of the new mandates – to guide people through what may seem like a confusing system. It also brings to mind that supportive counseling to help her think through her plans could be useful. But she does not know where to go for that either.
Pirtle said it is typical for someone on the street to not know how to put the pieces together.
“It’s good to try to reach people when they come to meal programs and like that, to try to steer them to other services,” he said.
That takes place to some extent, Halsey noted. A staffed information table is available at breakfasts and lunches provided by Action Ministries. The Sparrow’s Nest hands out a listing of churches and organizations that help the homeless and people in poverty. And the Northeast Georgia Homeless and Poverty Coalition distributed a “Helpful Handout” to local businesses to give to people on the street in lieu of money.
Still, Marlene has been on the street for two years and had not seen the Helpful Handout. Much of what she knew of programs had come by word of mouth, some of it wrong.
This is the kind of shortcoming that the coalition plans to address by better coordinating efforts.
Also panhandling in Athens on that November day was Toney, a 52 year-old man who sat on a bench talking with friends. Toney and his friends compared items received from the clothing distribution, and a couple of friendly trades were made. Their main topic of conversation was the weather.
“It was cold out here this morning,” Toney said.
Toney could benefit from information about housing. Homeless since 2013 and sleeping outdoors for the past couple of years, he knew only of emergency shelters, which he rejects, and public housing. He placed his name on the waiting list for public housing about six months ago at the suggestion of a street preacher. He has not heard back.
In Toney’s case, it would also be helpful to consider application for disability based on a medical condition he has developed since homeless. That would provide him some income and priority status for help with housing. Toney’s reluctance to do so might be allayed by having an intake coordinator to talk it over with. Like Marlene, he knows how to use services to meet everyday needs but not how to find longer term solutions.
Toney and Marlene are examples of Pirtell’s message about the need to reach out to people wherever they are. They also highlight the wisdom of the U.S Housing and Urban Development guidelines and Center for Disease Control recommendations – to improve survival chances for those experiencing homelessness by coordinating public and private services.
Having a day set aside in memory of people who died while homeless is a reminder of the potentially deadly consequences of life without shelter. Advocate and governmental entities alike recognize the importance of sustaining people while homeless – often a function of private charities and organizations that provide food, clothing, and other essential items – and to help them find longer term solutions, often through federally funded programs for housing and support.