While many think of the homeless as people who sleep on streets and beg for change, the local homeless population looks different, often consisting of people who sleep on couches or in motels for a few nights at a time, but don’t have a permanent address to call home.
During the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and with a statewide stay-at-home order firmly in place, it is hard for people who don’t have a home to know what to do. So, local organizations such as KIC-IT and No Place to Call Home are continuing outreach services for people who are now facing even more uncertainty.
To avoid having individuals in potentially perilous situations, the goal of No Place to Call Home, which currently serves 21 households, is to keep people in their homes, said Nancy Lohr Plake, director of the United Way of Johnson County, which has a partnership with No Place to Call Home.
“Our goal right now is to really try and keep people in their homes,” Plake said. “We are hoping there will be no huge surge as it relates to homelessness.”
During a three-week period of time between late March and early April, 16.8 million people filed for unemployment as non-essential businesses closed and restaurants switched to carry-out and delivery only, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
No Place to Call Home has the capacity to assist 44 households, and works with case management agencies, such as ASSIST Indiana, Adult and Child Health, KIC-IT and the Children’s Bureau to help with the multitude of issues that might come with housing insecurity, said Deshea Jones, director of No Place to Call Home.
“With case management, we do have an assistant who helps them over certain hurdles,” Jones said. “If they’re trying to pay their car payment or pay a utility bill or if they’re newly housed. We’re working with individuals who may have lost housing or run into a situation that may have affected housing. We assess where they’re at financially. Sometimes, we are able to provide financial assistance to get over the initial hump and fine-tune their budget to sustain the housing they’re in.”
Money for financial assistance comes from the United Way, which gets its money from grants and donations.
County agencies are using virtual methods to overcome the challenges of not being able to meet with clients in person.
“Although many case managers and clients (usually) meet face-to-face, they’re focusing on utilizing other technology and other means in order to connect with clients,” Jones said. “They’re utilizing Zoom, Google Hangout, Facetime, telephone messages and text messages, and maintaining that connection more frequently.”
Housing insecurity also affects students in the county. During the 2017-18 school year—the latest data available—518 Johnson County students did not have a permanent address, according to data collected from the school districts in compliance with the McKinney-Vento Act.
KIC-IT, which works with youth and young adults aged 16 to 25 who are either homeless or at risk of being homeless, has seen a significant increase in requests for services in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, said Katie Sparks, executive director.
Homelessness doesn’t just have one circumstances. It can include people who are sharing housing with other people, living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or campgrounds because they don’t have permanent housing, she said.
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the increased restrictions, KIC-IT has seen a significant increase in our requests from youth for immediate assistance in food, hygiene and emergency shelter,” Sparks said. “Our requests have more than doubled in the last few weeks, and we anticipate this to continue as the ripple effects of COVID-19 and the economic hardships have not even begun to fully unravel.”
Face-to-face meetings between the agency and the people it’s working with have ceased, but the agency has responded to increased need by delivering food and hygiene items in order to save them travel costs. So far this year, KIC-IT has served 62 people, Sparks said.
KIC-IT is hosting a donation drive Friday at its drop-off center in Franklin to collect food, hygiene, child and baby items, which it will distribute to community members in need, she said.
Although people might not be in permanent housing at the moment, it is important for individuals to stay put if it is safe and possible, Plake said.
“We encourage them to stay with the person (they are currently with) if they are safe to stay where they are at,” Plake said. “It is much easier to work with that individual where they’re at than to place them in a new location right now.”
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What: Better Together and KIC-IT will co-host a donation drive for food, hygiene, child and baby items.
When: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today
Where: 592 Ironwood Drive, Franklin
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