Home for holidays is too often a box

A caseworker said many people are one paycheck away from being homeless.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- "Hello, is anyone home?" Terry Vicars identified himself as he trekked through the snow and approached a rectangular shelter covered with plastic tarps.
On this sunny but cold December morning, the wooded riverside camp was empty.
Although there is heightened public awareness ofpeople in need during the Christmas season, and of the homeless in particular during the winter months, Vicars' work as case manager to the homeless for Catholic Charities Regional Agency is not seasonal.
His aim is to ensure the safety of people left without shelter by the circumstances of their lives. He offers help to find emergency shelter, then connect the homeless to people who can help them regain a firm footing in society -- a permanent address, medical help, counseling if needed, and employment.
Vicars makes several trips through Youngstown each week, checking on the welfare of a small percentage of people who are chronically homeless, and searching for people who may have recently become homeless.
His trek along the Mahoning River was to check on a man he has known for about five years. Although the man has places where he could stay and sometimes does, he maintains a riverside camp and has begun to lay the framework to expand the shelter.
Vicars said there are three campsites used by the homeless along the Mahoning River on the city's South Side, but during the winter, only one is occupied. The homeless left without shelter in the city also seek it under bridges and in abandoned buildings, he said.
Searching together
Vickers works closely with Mike O'Brien, another full-time employee of Catholic Charities Regional Agency. Vickers said O'Brien often travels with him to search for homeless people. They search remote areas and abandoned buildings.
O'Brien works with jail and prison inmates who suffer from mental illness to help them transition back into society after they complete their sentences.
Vicars' message is that there is no "typical" homeless person. Although many homeless people become homeless as the result of mental illness or addictions, many people are simply a paycheck away from being homeless.
He has helped homeless people not only from Youngstown, but also from surrounding areas such as Canfield and Boardman.
Good people, bad times
Vicars has worked with people who were employed all their lives but had difficulty making ends meet when they retired. He also worked with a man who became homeless after he lost his job, then was injured on a job he'd had for only a few weeks.
Vicars said it's difficult to know how many people in the Mahoning Valley are homeless, because many stay with relatives.
Many people become homeless because they don't realize the help that is available, he said. Making people aware of their options is a big part of Vicars' mission.
"Poverty wears people down," he said. "Much of the time it is an issue of self-esteem, so the key to working with homeless people is respect."
Drawn to help
Vicars said he has always been drawn to ministering to people in need. He has worked with Catholic Charities Regional Agency for eight years, including 21/2 years in his present position. Previously, he was the manager of the St. Vincent de Paul Society's dining hall on Front Street.
He sees the full-time job both as a career and a ministry.
"It is a vocation in social service, but on a personal level, it is a ministry," he said. "Those of us who call ourselves Christians -- followers of Christ -- have a responsibility to follow his example and serve others, and especially to look out for the poor. We have a gospel mandate."
tullis@vindy.com