Amid funding cut, don't let homeless become helpless

Federal bureaucrats recently and unceremoniously yanked out a critical step on the ladder leading from abject homelessness to sheltered security for millions of Americans.

Two months ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development decided to decimate funding for transitional housing services for the nation’s vast and growing homeless population.

In the Mahoning Valley, that translates into a sudden loss of approximately $550,000 to Meridian Health Care, Beatitude House and Catholic Charities, all of which provide temporary transitional housing or services to dozens down on their luck in our community.

As Larry Moliterno, chief executive officer of Meridian, put it, “Every community needs to have a full continuum of services for homeless. ... If you just eliminate transitional housing, how do you go from emergency housing to permanent housing?”

According to Moliterno and other advocates for the homeless in the Valley, that move is not a small step. For many, it is a giant leap.

According to Sister Janet Gardner, director of Beatitude House, which lost nearly $300,000 for its transitional housing in Youngstown and Warren, obstacles to permanent shelter abound for many. They include arrest records, heavy debts, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of job skills and a sluggish job market.

As a result, agencies here and across the nation are scrambling to find replacement sources for the lost funding. Though it’s unlikely that HUD will reconsider its decision, we join those who urge it to reconsider and implement a more gradual phase-out of the program. HUD’s intent, after all, has some logic attached to it. Permanent housing lessens the chance of recurring homelessness and costs less. HUD spokesman Charles McNally said, “Permanent supportive housing has demonstrably better outcomes at a lower cost.”

Yet even he acknowledges “transitional housing programs play an important temporary role for people experiencing homelessness.”

GROWTH OF HOMELESSNESS

The loss of 20 percent of the Valley’s federal funding for homeless services also comes at a most inopportune time: The scope of homelessness is widening.

According to a census conducted last fall in Mahoning County by the Continuum Of Care consortium, some 368 homeless individuals were counted, a rise from 183 in 2010. Most readily recognize that those numbers fall short of the true scope of the problem because many in the homeless community prefer to live in the shadows.

It’s therefore not surprising to hear Moliterno argue the need for more transitional beds in Mahoning County or to understand Sister Janet’s cry that the cutback “hit us hard.”

The retrenchment in funding transitional housing seems to deny the complexity of homelessness and the many social, behavioral and psychological factors that figure into it.

Finding suitable lodging for individuals lacking it is only part of the equation. For many, securing such housing and surviving in it are secondary to resolving issues of domestic violence, multigenerational poverty, opiate dependency, mental illness and others. None of them can be resolved with quick overnight fixes.

Therein lies the true value of transitional housing. It provides individuals and families with stable interim homes while equipping them with the skills, resources and behaviors necessary to live independently and successfully.

To help fill the funding gap, others must step forward. Leading the way is the Valley’s COC agency, which comprises about 30 public, private and nonprofit agencies coordinating homeless-assistance programs.

Individuals, organizations and philanthropic foundations seeking a structured and formal means to aid the homeless in our community during this troubling time should contact COC.

Those of us blessed enough to have comfortable and protective housing can adopt more productive and proactive attitudes toward those who do not and assist such agencies as Meridian, Beatitude House and Catholic Charities directly.

In addition, all of us should understand that a house is not merely a home. It also is a launching pad for human potential. As such, the public and private sectors must do all possible to lead the homeless along the often long and circuitous journey to stable sheltered security each and every step of the way.