Program provides temporary home

Homelessness is often caused by the loss of a job, or illness or other trauma that wipes out family resources.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Sharon, 32, was sitting in the waiting room at St. Elizabeth Health Center with her children, Thomas, 31⁄2, and Jessica, 6 months, who were ill.

With no place for herself and her children to sleep that night, she was “very, very depressed and lonely. I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she said.

Then she noticed a phone book, and it was open to the page with the number of the Rescue Mission.

“I had no other place to go. I called the number,” said Sharon, who has been a resident of the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley for about a week.

Sharon had been reluctant to call the Rescue Mission for help and admits that it took a “couple of days to warm up to the place.”

After just four days there, she is smiling and already making plans to go to Youngstown State University to study accounting or teaching.

“I was never one to ask for help, and I thought coming here was the lowest point of my life. Now, I feel its the beginning of my life,” Sharon said.

“My kids have a roof over their heads, a dry, warm place to live, and food in their bellies, and the staff is wonderful. I would advise anybody without a place to stay to not hesitate to call here,” she said.

Sharon, a native of Youngstown, and her children are representative of the growing number of single parents and their children who face homelessness.

A homeless person is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a person sleeping in a place not meant for human habitation, such as a car, abandoned building or parks and sidewalks; a person sleeping in an emergency shelter as a primary nighttime residence; or a person in transitional housing who originally came from the street or an emergency shelter.

People living “doubled up” with family or friends are not considered homeless, nor are people being released from institutions who have other housing options, according to HUD.

People are having to make a choice between paying rent and utilities or buying food and medicine. Their situation is often caused by a trauma in their lives, such as loss of a job, death or loss of the breadwinner, depression and chemical dependency, Illness or anything that drains their resources, said Jim Echement, director of development at the Rescue Mission.

With cold weather upon the area, the 18th annual Cold Weather Emergency Shelter Program goes into effect today.

The program, administered by Help Hotline crisis center, was established to provide shelter to homeless people and families in Mahoning County during the winter months, December through March, said Robert Altman, program coordinator.

It is an effort among community organizations to provide assistance, with the goal of no one freezing to death because they do not have anywhere to sleep, Altman said.

To access the program, call (800) 427-3606 or 211.

alcorn@vindy.com