Recent conversations on homelessness here

Homelessness is a big issue here in Columbus. I’ve attended two meetings in November concerning the topic. The first was Nov. 1 at First Presbyterian Church, which was hosted by the church’s housing committee and focused on Permanent Supportive Housing. The other was conducted on Nov. 16 at the Donner Center and was put on by members of the city council.

The First Presbyterian meeting involved several leaders of area nonprofits, as well as other invited guests, totaling 20 folks. The Donner Center event was a community conversation that was open to the public. I’d estimate the crowd numbered over 100 people, including several who either are now or have been homeless.

Both meetings served great purposes. We all learned a lot, and the feeling was that attendees are motivated more than ever to do what it takes to solve the problem. There are more conversations to come as this is a complicated issue that needs to be hit from many angles.

Here are some of the ideas, concerns and discussion that came up at these meetings:

First Presbyterian meeting

Ben Jackson, Columbus Township Trustee, talked about the importance of housing the most vulnerable first, not the least vulnerable. He thinks Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is the missing tool/step in our current system. Unlike Rapid Rehousing and other programs, PSH provides support at the housing site, and without this support, too often those in need do not get the help they need to successfully stay housed.

Bloomington has PSH.

People qualify for PSH in different ways. Some PSH buildings require a specific situation (like a mental health diagnosis or like families with children); others rely on the person’s VI-SPDAT (a vulnerability index).

Elaine Breek from Horizon House has had Emergency Housing Vouchers for people who are willing to participate in supportive programs in order to receive housing (scattered sites). Jackson believes we can serve more people at a single site than with scattered sites. ASAP and Centerstone in Columbus have scattered site housing similar to PSH.

The number of homeless in Columbus varies, and official numbers are arrived at by different means. A Point in Time count revealed 17 homeless people sleeping outside in January 2023; Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. identifies close to 500 homeless students (who do not have their own permanent address).

Kelly Daugherty with Love Chapel and Brighter Days reminded the group that the emergency shelter at Brighter Days was never designed to meet long-term housing needs and cannot be a substitute for PSH in Columbus.

A 2017 PSH initiative in Columbus was unsuccessful–several guests tonight represent groups that helped with that initiative, which failed due to community backlash and lack of support from the city. The biggest issue in 2017 was NIMBY (not in my backyard). Thrive and Centerstone were instrumental in the 2017 initiative.

Daugherty said the mayor’s office is unlikely to support a new PSH initiative. But city councilor Grace Kestler said the change from Columbus’s designation as a third-class city to a second-class city will shift some influence from the mayor’s office to the city council. We anticipate that the city council will have a more involved role in any new housing initiative compared to 2017. Daugherty emphasized that support from the city is critical; Stephanie Zhang from Hoosier Action said that the city pulled its support in 2017 after the neighborhood/community rallied against PSH.

There needs to be a plan of how to rally community support for a new PSH initiative.

Kevin Johnson, Director of Housing at Thrive/HPI, mentioned other possible obstacles/things to think about: funding stream, grants, and building location (and renovation and qualification).

Aida Ramirez from the Human Rights Commission encouraged people to get involved in city government by being appointed to a board, committee, or commission.

Donner Center meeting

The Navigating Homelessness Together community conversation was put together by city council members Kestler and Frank Miller. It was moderated by Lena Blackstock. Panelists were Daugherty; Diane Doup, Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center; and Megan Cherry, executive director of Anchor House (Seymour).

The panel answered several questions the moderator posed before the public added input. Among the information discussed during the panel Q and A was:

*Some of the myths regarding homelessness are that people aren’t trying to get out of their situation, they’re just looking for handouts and nonprofits are just giving handouts, and that it’s easy to get out of poverty.

*There have been some successes in this area. When Brighter Days was forced to close at the start of the pandemic, seventeen people were placed in permanent housing within ten days. Since then, the program has found housing for 115 people. Several nonprofits in the county work together to provide services for individuals, whether they need help with mental health care, finding jobs, housing, etc.

*It’s important to deal with the root causes. Trauma, mental health issues, substance abuse issues, other things of this nature, need to be dealt with or else people who get homes won’t be able to stay there. Often, there is a history of poverty through generations and little to no support system. There must be a support system in place. People who are released from prison and treatment centers are particularly vulnerable.

*The strain put upon people who need help can be overwhelming. They can have appointments with various caseworkers and may not have reliable transportation. To get a job, they need two forms of ID, which if they don’t have, takes up to two weeks to get.

*Most long-term transitional facilities or PSHs require residents to save a particular percentage of their income, which serves as downpayments for permanent housing.

*We sometimes expect them to fit into certain boxes that we’ve constructed in our minds. We need to meet them where they are instead of doing what we think they need without asking them.

*We need to address poverty, teach people where they can get resources, teach them how to handle their resources. We also need to give incentives to people who are trying instead of rewarding people who aren’t. There are times when someone gets a raise at work, but that raise puts them over a threshold where they might not be eligible for certain programs (food stamps, for example). With the increased costs associated with food, the raise may not cover that, so they’re even further behind than if they hadn’t gotten the raise.

*Even though there are resources for the homeless in the county, we need to expand them. Some places have put on a Poverty Simulation, where various groups of people (lawmakers, school leaders, and more) role play to find out more about being in poverty. The program shows how much of a barrier it can be to get help, when people can’t make it to agencies during their operating hours or other issues.

*Columbus is not an affordable place to live. We need to work on getting more affordable housing.

*There are many types of homelessness. There are people sleeping outdoors or in their cars. There are people who couch surf, stay with different people for short periods of time, live in shelters or hotels, etc.

*It takes all of us, and a committed government to solve this. We need to get the viewpoints of both the people with these lived experiences and the decision makers.

*A key word is “empathy.” What is our duty to other human beings?

*We need to keep these conversations going. Hopefully, this is the first of many conversations.

Some suggestions from the public comment included:

*Changing zoning laws so people can live where they need to in what way they need to, even if it’s in a trailer or a tent.

*Figure out some way to allow people to bring their pets with them into shelters or other housing. One lady said that these people have so little, their pets often become emotional support animals and family.

*When the government goes to the homeless camps in town and takes all their “trash,” whet they’re really doing is taking every belonging these people have, which forces them to start over.

*There is a huge need for housing for families.