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Help Network’s 10th annual Homeless Awareness Walk brings attention to needs
By SAMANTHA PHILLIPS
YOUNGSTOWN
At least 35 local agency representatives and community members braved a chilly Friday morning to walk from the Covelli Centre on East Front Street to Our Community Soup Kitchen on Mahoning Avenue.
“The walk helps the community recognize that there are individuals who are homeless in the city,” said Vince Brancaccio, chief executive officer of the Help Network. “We do this each year to make people aware of that. There are a number of community partners in Mahoning County that assist people who are homeless.”
During the Help Network’s 10th annual Homeless Awareness Walk, Brancaccio acknowledged that many homeless people have to make long walks three times daily in more formidable weather to get their meals.
Before the walk, Bob Altman, director of Shelter and Support Service at Help Network, reminded participants there are people sleeping on streets, in abandoned buildings and in cars.
The Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley and the Warren Family Mission provide emergency shelter when the weather is dangerously cold.
The Cold Weather program, an umbrella term for various resources offered by the Help Network and its partners, has been operating for 28 years.
The Mahoning County Continuum of Care is a partnership among local organizations that provides resources to help people obtain safe, permanent housing and get treatment for medical, mental health or addiction issues.
The Help Network is a major player in the continuum. Anyone can dial 211 to be referred to programs within the network or community agencies. People also can go to HelpNetworkNEO.org to look through lists of available resources.
“There is a lot of support out there, not just for people who are homeless. If you are struggling with getting your utilities back on, if you need food, we have resources you can get linked to,” he said.
The Help Network’s Project for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness works with Catholic Charities to seek out the homeless and attempt to link them with resources and stable housing. “The goal is to work with them, give them treatment if that’s what they need, and get them into housing,” Altman said.
Another program offered by Help Network and Catholic Charities is the Cooperative Agreement Benefitting Homeless Individuals. It works to immediately get individuals into housing, and for up to a year it tries to provide clients with any additional resources as needed.
Rapid Rehousing is a short-term option for Catholic Charities that helps individuals obtain housing and then get services such as financial counseling to help them avoid future housing instability.
The Help Network has the Coordinated Entry program to assist with getting people housing as well. Brancaccio said Coordinated Entry keeps a database of people requesting housing assistance and helps them find available options.
The Continuum of Care has housing agreements with landlords and offers programs such as rental assistance. The Help Network, COMPASS Family & Community Services and Meridian Healthcare collaborated this year to create an apartment complex with 40 one-bedroom rooms for people who have addictions and mental illness.
One challenge agencies and shelters face is the shift from homeless individuals to families needing help. Altman said his organization used to see clients who were typically older men, sometimes with addiction issues, but now he is seeing younger people and families, sometimes single parents with children.
At the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, the family services floor is always full, and there are families and single women who stay on the waiting list for months. The shelter can make accommodations for people who need to stay overnight during extreme cold but doesn’t have the space to house families temporarily.